It's something about Mary

TRM

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Mar 18, 2011
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Hey fellas,

Tossing this one into the ring!!!

The USS Maryland SSBN-738

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I got this one from my friend Brian (Tbadger) here on SMA as part of the Secret Santa we had over the holiday season past. It is time to finally break into this. A fairly straight forward build I think with a couple of modification but nothing to far gone!!

The kit:

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There is two boats in this kit; however, I will only tackle the Mary for starters and save the Windy City for a rainy day!

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It doesn't seem like much yet but there was a little work to get the hull together. Everything lined up OK for the most part.

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I decided to go with the "closed-up" look by having the bay doors all closed. There are a few of these to glue into place and then some minor filling on the hinge-side seam. I also began removing all of the bulkhead/weld lines that are molded on the kit. These are not quite what is seen on the actual boat. Once I get this situated I will add back in some light welds throughout and I should be good to go!!

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This kit is not only special as it was a gift from a friend, but in part because Brian served aboard her. Brian also went above and beyond with the addition of many special goodies to accompany the kit....

A plaque

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A nice set of coveralls, the same as used on the boat, with my name added...I am very honored:

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Brian also added some memorabilia from the Chicago, Washington and Alaska. Truly wonderful gift all around! I only hope to do the build the justice it deserves by the time I am done. No rushing on this as there is always something on the desk, but it should move right along and be fun!


As always, Thanks for stopping by!!
 
TRM, this will be a great build, lovely goodies to go along with the build too,

cant wait to see more,


cheers,


Shane :)
 
Hey Shane!! Thanks for swinging in and glad to have you along for the ride!! ;)
 
Yo Todd! I was wondering when this was going to happen! Cool. Looking forward to this man ;)
 
Hey John!! Thanks for swinging by for a spell!! Glad to have you along for the ride!! Sanding sanding sanding at the moment!! Should be up to speed soon on this one! I have a few things that need painting and it has been just too damp to even think about it! Patience!! ::)
 
That is was spud!! ;D


No real "shock and Awe" here but an update just the same. I have been sanding down a lot of the surface details on this one only in preparation for adding others. You will need to excuse the bench top pics just going with the flow at the minute.

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As you can see I sanded as far as my hands would take it, leaving a small filling session...well small may not be the correct word for this.

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After covering everything on the main hull I went after popping the bay doors on all the silos...I decided to add a couple of styrene strips to the interior to keep these lined up.

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Even with lining these up properly there is a small gap at the bottom hinge side. I will take care of this with some filler and tackle the recessed molded weld lines too.

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I am in for a nice sanding session a bit later but should all come together quickly!!

Thanks for swinging in!

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T... that is going to look so sweet when it's fininshed... But I got a question... why close all the silo doors? Every sub kit I've seen has all the silos closed... I think it would awesome if you had a couple open and ready to fire or just fired a missle with the missle coming out and the other ready to be fired. You don't see that ever in these builds!
 
LrdSatyr8 said:
T... that is going to look so sweet when it's fininshed... But I got a question... why close all the silo doors? Every sub kit I've seen has all the silos closed... I think it would awesome if you had a couple open and ready to fire or just fired a missle with the missle coming out and the other ready to be fired. You don't see that ever in these builds!

Thanks for tagging along on this! I thought about leaving them open to which the kit was designed for, including the torpedo doors but decide for a sleeker look this time around. Might have that the next time as I build a flotilla out here!!

Should have some more pics later on as I am into another round of sanding...just about there!! ::)
 
Worked the hull pretty hard on this one.

Close after the sanding!

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A little filler on some spots and then some welds...then some prime to check everything out!!!

Thanks for stopping by!! ;)
 
Puttin in some hard yakka on this one T.

You plan on replacing all the recessed panel lines with raised welds?
 
Hey Rook!! I filled in all of the recessed line already and sanded flush. The only one that stays is the squiggly one that runs from befor the CT to aft the bay doors. This is a saftey tag line track for anyone on deck. Slight weld lines will be going on as well as a couple of plate and holes. Thanks for swinging by!! ;)
 
Nice work! I build that thing about y yer ago, but I didn't put half the work in. This is going to be good!
Bravo Zulu!
Cheers,
Guido
 
Thanks Guido!! Now if I can only meet that deadline over on MSW!! ::) Either way, she is on the move!!! ;)
 
Feel like I'm reporting aboard a bit late :p Looking great so far ! I'll give you some from the source info for some modifications done on the countermeasure launcher orientations and some things on deck. I can also tell you to stock up on some Salt Streak Effect, Light/Dark Slime Effect, and be ready for some Rust ! The Non-Skid texture on the deck will take some finesse. It was sa pretty high pile and very literally sharp paint. Reproducing with ultra fine sand and stippling it onto a masked area should do just fine. That tag line track needs worn down a bit, plus depending on how you plan to display her, I can help you construct a Jacobs ladder, the Buoy retainer, and i can even help you replicate our towed buoys and towed array sensors.

Cant wait to see more progress!
 

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