# Cutaway sub



## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

If I remember correctly some on here this past year was asking about the old Renwal or Revell George Washington subs??? Because Revell has just reissued the old Renwal kit.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yes I am working on one right now. It came out about a month ago. They did a nice job on the reissue, although the box is obnoxiously large. 

I have the interior of my kit mostly done. Everything fits well WITH CARE. Test fit the bulkheads and floors a lot. And, don't just glue one in without making sure you can get other parts in around it. Some of the stuff you glue to the floors prevents them from sliding into place so you have to fit the floor and then the bulkhead. 

The missile firing option is NOT included in the kit despite the box art (original). But its easy to figure out. A small coil spring goes under a plunger/trigger in one of the missile tubes. The trigger is included... 

The only catch I have encountered is that the three periscope housings that go on the command center deck are all different lengths. They vary by up to 1/8". The taller ones interfere with fitting the deck into the hull so they must be cut back a good bit. 

The interior of these subs is more or less conjectural but Renwal did a decent job of imagineering things. Photos of real period subs will help with color call outs since the kit instructions are a bit hinky. I chose co cut away part of the outer edge of the command deck to expose more of the mess deck below. THere is just a lot of dead empty space on the command deck so you aren't missing anything and it shows off more of the galley area.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

I had the Revell issue back in the '80s so I'm aware of the fit problems with deck pieces and bulkheads.
Also the hobby shop where I found this kit had 2 of the old Revell kits on their consignment shelf and both were open so one could take a peak inside them.
Pieces in both had been removed from the parts trees and it looked to me like most had been painted. And who ever was trying to sell them was asking 25.00 for each while the new reissue was 38.00. 
Hmmm, $25 and work done by some one else versus $38??? No contest, I'll do me own painting thank you very much!!!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Actually everything fit perfectly aside from two of the three periscope tubes. There is a lot of cleanup though with the parts. And careful test fitting.

Oddly, and I had never paid attention/noticed, but this is a different tooling than the usual Revell/Renwal reissues. I had always assumed that Renwal's sub kits were all identical, and just sold as the Andrew Jackson, Patrick Henry, Ethan Alan, George Washignton, etc. I know at least some issues of the Thomas Jefferson had a clear hull half. But, the GW from Revell differs subtly from the Revell Andrew Jackson reissues. The missile decks are different, as are the missile doors on the outside of the hull. The AJ kit has side opening single doors and the GW has inner and outer tube doors that open rearward. The Gyro room is also in a different location between the two kits. In the AJ its at the bottom of the missile tubes and its a section farther forward on the GW. 

It's odd Renwal bothered to move around details in their fictional interior, but they did.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

The scale that's printed on the box say's 1/200 while the others at the hobbyshop say 1/260. And the old Revell GW does not have the side of the hull with the hinges, instead it has a few fairly large open 'windows' that could be filled in with some clear sheet styrene.
also on a slightly different note this past fall revel also reissued their old 1/530 scale USS Lexington, only this time it carries the name Hornet and has pieces for the Apollo 11 recovery scenario.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Scale on the Renwal subs varies as they sell the same kit as both George Washington class boats, and also Lafayette Class boats. Lafayettes were 425 feet long or 25.5" in 1/200, while the Washingtons were 381 feet long or 22.86" The Renwal kit is about 24" long. The accepted scale for the Renwal kit is 1/191 and that matches the length of the GW. The kits were really just fit the box size. Renwal made a 2 foot model.

Revell's own "Polaris Sub" is more or less 1/253 scale. Original issues had only 8 missile tubes too and the kit was retooled at some point to add another 8 tubes. My kit, molded in grey, black, and green plastic, has solid hull sides that split apart to show the interior. The cut out hull side appeared sometime later (my 70s kit had that). Overall the Renwal kit is better for the shape of the sub itself.

Revell sold their angle deck Essex kit in a number of boxings. It's been out as the Essex, Bon Homme Richard, Oriskany, Ranger, Hornet, and Lexington. The original kit came with a bit of an odd air wing of A4 Skyhawks and F8 Crusaders plus a chopper or two. I have a Lex kit with T2 Buckeyes, T28 Trojans and some other trainers. The Apollo recovery kit is a reissue of a late 60s or early 70s kit. They had a Wasp issue with a Gemini capsule as well. The basic carrier kit is the same as always but the air wing includes just trackers, radar planes and choppers. The wire deck antennas from the original kit are also not included. The hull on the Revell kit is a real mess and the fit of the kit is pretty poor. Still she builds into a nice model. The decals in the current Revell Germany reissue look good but are not overly accurate. Starfighter sells decals for these kits as well as more planes to make a real air wing.

Revell also reissued their big USS Midway kit, but it is sold only via the USS Midway Museum gift shop. I ordered 3 kits off their web site and they have EXCELLENT, prompt service. I think I ordered my kits on a Saturday and they got them off in the mail that same day or the following Monday. Delivery only took two business days or so. I got mine from CA to FL by Tues or Weds.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

I had 3 of these cutaway sub kit If I remember correctly, the Revell GW, their Ethan Allen and another from Renwal but I don't recall the sub name on the box.
Also the 2 kits at the hobbyshop have 2 different box art designs.


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