MOEBIUS ‘SEAVIEW’ VOYAGE SUB UPDATE

SMN report:

Moebius Models have posted some extra pictures of the latest Seaview submarine kit. When assembled, the kit should measure some 990 mm (39 in) long, and it looks very good indeed. In the words of one pleased modelmaker: “When they say huge they mean it. It is a big sub with some great detail work. I made the mistake thinking after I built it, my son could play with it in the tub, WRONG. I do not know what I was thinking...”

Cool model

He goes on to to say: “It was entirely my fault thinking he could play with it in the tub but it is really cool how big it is! Regardless, with exception of the few little antennas on top, it is very durable for a model.” So all big sub fans, the queue starts here!

Aurora models

Both the Seaview and its marsupial Flying Sub have had several model kits created of them, both being originally offered by the Aurora Model Company back in the 1960s, when the TV show was running, and they’ve since been re-released several times. Moebius Models have issued versions of both the Seaview and the Flying Sub, each to a different scale. While these have been better than the 1960s-era kits, purists have noted that they haven’t been quite true to the lines of the original sub. This new one is in every way better - 'the real deal' seems to be the opinion of lucky modelmakers who have already got one.

Production background

In fact, the Seaview changed quite a bit during production of both the TV series and the 1961 movie. Three models were made, ranging in length from 1308mm (51.5 in), through (2590 mm (102 in) to the granddaddy 17-footer (5.18 m). The bow window arrangement changed too, with the first TV season and movie featuring an eight-square pattern, a simplified four-group appearing after that.

Restoration job

The three Seaview subs were constructed for $200,000 USD by the Herb Cheeks model shop at Fox Studios, the biggest of these having been partially restored and reportedly on show at the Science Fiction Museum, part of the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, Washington State. Now, we say that, but can’t find any reference to the sub, the series, or the movie on the EMP website, so if you can confirm or deny the boat's presence there, let SMN know. 

Relax on the lawn

Sci-fi addicts might be amused at the words of one travel site: “This museum is not for everyone. Younger children can get quite restless, and non-science fiction fans will likely be bored. If your group has mixed interests, consider splitting up. While the science fiction-lovers enjoy this museum, the musicians can record their own CD at the Experience Music Project (located in the same building), the kids (of any age) can play in the arcade or go to the Pacific Science Center, or just relax on the lawn.” 

Ha - let them be restless! Well, at least architecture lovers can enjoy the wango-tango curves of the Frank Gehry-designed building (above): we reckon it’s totally mad, totally ace.

Reviews of the kit

Back to the Seaview, some reviewers point out accuracy mismatches between this kit and the various models used in production, but most are awarding good marks. This one is fairly typical, from James D. McWhite: “This model is large enough to convert to a working Radio Controlled (RC) submarine model. There are kits provided at Caswell Inc. that will help the model builder convert the very detailed Moebius model into the RC version. There are also internal and external LED lighting kits that can be added to this plastic model from Just and Illusion to enhance this model. Some of the lights are compatible to be immersed into water, and can be added to the RC version. It take approx 80 hours to convert the plastic model into the working RC version, add another 15 hours to equip the lights to the model.

James goes on: “...Joints are clearly defined and have been engineered to provide the most possible concealment. If you have any fond memories of the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series, you will enjoy putting together this model, as I have.”

Summation

Looks terrific - yes please.

Moebius Facebook page here.

Buy Seaview here, where you also see zoom construction views.

AHOY THERE... ‘SKIPJACK’ AND ‘SEAVIEW’ NUCLEAR SUBS APPROACHING FROM MOEBIUS

SMN report:

Mat Irvine reported from the 2011 iHobby Expo in November, and one of the upcoming kits that looked very interesting indeed was the 1:72 scale USS Skipjack nuclear submarine. Well, the sub’s now coming into view and should be available very soon indeed.

TV star submarine

Moebius has another big submarine on offer too, and that’s the Seaview, star of 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea', a long-running TV series that was aired from 1964-68. To this science-fiction fan, the Seaview is probably the more interesting of the pair, not least for its mini-sub - included in the Moebius kit - and for the windows in the bow section. Perfect for a TV series, big, square windows up front are the last thing a working submarine needs, but kudos to the special effects team - it looked really good when you saw crew figures walking about behind those four holes in the pressure hull.

High-speed sub

The Moebius 1:72 scale USS Skipjack was one of the most advanced subs of its time, powered by a nuclear reactor that gave the boat a range of nearly 160,000 km (100,000 miles) before needing to refuel. An amazing improvement over her predecessors running on conventional fuel, as was her speed, officially logged at 37 km/h (23 mph), though that’s generally thought to be a conservative figure - the real speed remains a closely guarded secret.

Conversion possibilities

The Moebius Skipjack looks to have ideal combo of features, satisfying both display modelmakers and those who wish to take their model underwater. The Moebius team claims the design is suitable for conversion to radio control (RC), and as the model will be more than 1016 mm (40 in) long when assembled, it’ll be an impressive size on the shelf, and not too tiny in the local pond.

Submarine tow craft

Nuclear subs are a popular item among RC modelmakers, and the shots we show prove this well - note the interior, packed with the complex necessaries to give full control through the water. Do take time to visit the SubCommittee site (link below) as there are some terrific pix there, including one that shows an RC sub towing its owner through the water! Thanks for the pix, SC.

Summation

The Moebius USS Skipjack looks a good bet for submarine fans, and it's made to a model aircraft scale too, which opens up possibilities. As for the Seaview, it's another kit to send sci-fi model makers into kit heaven - or in this case, an undersea paradise. Just be sure you have the shelf space for either sub.

Mat's iHobby Expo article here.

The Moebius Seaview is available here.

The Moebius Skipjack will be available shortly. Meantime, here are some other subs worth a look.

Visit the SubCommittee here.

Seaview model pic courtesy Le Neptune website here.

There's more...

And here's the real USS Skipjack, ploughing through surface waters. The boat had a teardrop-shaped hull, perfectly suited for running submerged, not so much in the waves above.

MOEBIUS MODELS AT THE 2011 iHOBBY EXPO

Mat Irvine reports:

The 2011 iHobby Expo show took place from October 20-23, at the Rosemont Center, near Chicago, Illinois. It's an amazing place to visit, as it showcases a mind-boggling array of model and hobby products. 

Tempting new kits

It’s good to see that smaller companies are on the increase and mostly producing brand-new kits, and one of the best-known of these is Moebius Models. Created by Frank Winspur a few years ago, Moebius was initially known for recreating old Aurora kits, but has now taken on a distinct identity of its own.

Hudson Hornet, in sedan and convertible forms. 

Classic autos

First there was the recent 1:25 scale International LoneStar truck, and now there’s an excellent 1953 Hudson Hornet, accompanied by convertible and Stock Car versions. Fans of retro-Americana will also love the 1955 Chrysler 300, due soon.

Dave Metzner of Moebius (left) shows model car enthusiast Dean Milano the body pattern for upcoming Chrysler 300.

Batmania!

On the movie front, Moebius will be adding a 1:25 scale Tumbler Batmobile from Batman: The Dark Knight. The Batpod from the same movie (above) should already be on release. I'm pleased to say that these items keep to conventional car scales, instead of some of the ‘odd’ ones used previously. 

The Green Lantern, a brand-new Aurora-style figure kit.

The Creature from The Black Lagoon with an armful.

More movie kits

Staying with movies (and comics) a Green Hornet figure has just been released, and a new kit of the Creature from the Black Lagoon is to follow. A hubcap-sized 1:35 scale Jupiter 2 starship from Lost in Space will have a lighting system installed. It will also have a metal hull and landing gear, giving it a hefty all-up weight of nearly 10 kg (22 lb).

Light-up interior of the Jupiter 2.

Skipjack nuclear sub

If you’re a fan of marine models, especially in larger scales, there’s a 1:72 scale kit of the USS Skipjack, an early US nuclear submarine (above). This is another biggie kit, with a length when fully assembled of some 1077 mm (42 in). Skipjack-class boats were the fastest subs of their day, with underwater speeds reckoned to be nearly 60 km/h (36 mph). 

CEO Frank Winspur, holding the Cylon Raider from the reinvented Battlestar Galactica.

And to follow...

Finally, it’s not giving too much away to say that we will also be seeing “something” from The Munsters in the near future. No prizes for guessing what the subject might be!

Check out Moebius Models here.

And a whole range of stuff here.

COMING SOON - DEEP DIVING SHINKAI 6500 SUBMERSIBLE IN TWO SCALES

SMN report:

The Japanese Shinkai 6500 is the world’s deepest-diving crewed submersible. It’s capable of going down 6500 metres (4.03 miles), carrying two crew and a researcher inside the titanium pressure hull.

And now there are two upcoming kits of this interesting DSV (deep-submergence vessel), one at 1:48 scale from Bandai, and a 1:72 scale kit from Hasegawa. Both should be available soon.

Bandai kit features

Of the two, the Bandai kit is interesting for the wealth of detail that has been incorporated into the model. Among the features included are manipulator arms, detachable ballast, LED floodlights, removable maintenance panels, detailed interior. Several figures are included, and give an excellent sense of scale to the model.

Figures a useful plus point.

Manipulator arms used for grasping underwater objects.

Submersible in space?

The exotic looks of this DSV may give sci-fi modelmakers pause for thought, as it’s not unlike the space pods from the classic movie 2001 A Space Odyssey, and could easily be pressed into service in a fantasy diorama - for submariners read astronauts, for deep-sea fish read weird-looking aliens!

Bandai stern thruster looks good.

Hasegawa kit

The new-tool Hasegawa kit will be to 1:72 scale, and have 55 components. A clear plastic stand will be part of the package, too. More on this when details are available.

Other Shinkai models

The Shinkai 6500 has been modelled elsewhere too - there’s a rare Takara model (above) to 1:144 scale, and a much bigger Lego item. This looks pretty convincing as Lego kits go, though the restrictions of the popular block-builder system mean that it can be only an approximation of the real thing.

Lego kit includes a strange underwater rock formation.

More on the Bandai sub at the excellent Japanese Hobby Search site here.

Various submarine kits here.

Two views of the real thing, an impressive research tool.

UNDERSEA ATTACKER - THE GERMAN BIBER MIDGET SUB FROM ITALERI

SMN report
Italeri’s latest 1:35 scale nautical kit is the neatly produced Biber (‘Beaver’) one-man midget submarine from World War II. To this big military-model standard scale, even the Biber works out to a fair size in model form, in this case some 186 mm (7.3 in) long. It comes with two well-sculpted figures, as well as decals for three different subs, and a small etched-metal fret with super-detail parts.

Biber on view at the Imperial War Museum
There are quite a few Bibers on display in military museums across Europe - the one pictured above is on view in the UK’s Imperial War Museum, London. It’s a place well worth visiting, and if you build the Italeri Biber kit, seeing the real thing complete with its quota of lumps, bumps, scrapes, dings and dents, will allow you to add those extra details to take the Italeri sub from smooth-but-a-bit-dull ‘stock’ to knocked-about-and-real ‘superb’.

Biber armament
In service, the Biber could carry two 530 mm (21 in) torpedos or a pair of mines, but the tiny U-boat was introduced late in the war and never became a big threat to its primary target, Allied coastal shipping. It had a limited range of some 185 km (115 miles) and could manage a speed of less than 10 km/h (6.2 mph) underwater. Over 300 Bibers were built, but they met with little success in combat operations, and most were damaged or sunk by Allied forces.

One-man Biber operations
Spare a thought for the man at the Biber’s controls - military operations generally lasted for one or two days, and the pilot-operator had to stay on combat-alert throughout the mission. To help do this, he refuelled on a diet of caffeine-boosted chocolate, or downed tablets of D-IX, a cocaine-based drug brewed up by Nazi scientists to keep him wide-eyed and awake. Apparently, earlier tests with D-IX on full-pack carrying troops had resulted in non-stop marches for anything up to 90 km (55 miles) before total collapse.

SMN note - A couple of the pictures look somewhat squashed, which is a software issue... we'll see what can be done. Meantime, if you click on any pic, the usual enlargement will show it undistorted.

Visit IWM London here.

See the Biber here.

View other Italeri military kits here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:
1  Italeri kit box.
2  Cleanly-pressed injection parts.
3  Italeri supplies details for three different subs.
4  Accurately printed decal sheet.
5  Biber mini-sub in the Imperial War Museum, London.
IWM picture courtesy Conny Liegl.