# Moebius Proteus



## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

This thread will chronicle my efforts to build the Moebius Proteus kit. I had the privilege of helping to make this model a reality, and I’m grateful to Frank and Dave for providing me with an advance “test shot” of the parts.

Having built a couple very fine Garage Kits of this subject I hafta say it’s WONDERFUL to finally be working in injection-moulded styrene! 
1 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The instructions are well laid-out, and are accompanied by pix of Moebius’s test build.
2 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
3 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr


So let’s get started!

PHASE 1

The first order of business was making a few modifications to the upper and lower hull halves. It’s important to note that none of these tweaks are required, and the modeler is free to either emulate or ignore them. I should also note that this kit (which I’m building for a friend) will not be lit. I’ll save that ad-on for my own Proteus build.

The large intakes below the windows have always posed a bit of a dilemma for Proteus modelers. On both the full-scale mockup and hero FX miniature the intakes are simply a pair of scooped-out cavities painted to create an illusion of depth. In the film the area just goes dark, but for my purposes I decided to add a pair of scratch-built styrene inner-grills. This required me to Dremmel out two openings in the intake part to accommodate the grills (the model comes with the six outer-grills moulded in place. I removed these, and will replace them later with sections of styrene T-bar). 
4 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

On my test shot the intake part did not seat well against the interior of the hull. The part has since been corrected, but the poor fit required a bit of puttying before it would blend seamlessly into the lower hull.
7 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
8 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
9 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The custom grills, designed to be inserted after the hull is finished, are just dropped temporarily into place here, but you get the idea. The surrounding area will eventually be airbrushed in progressively darkening tones to recreate the transition from white to black seen in the film.
10 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

As with any model kit, certain inaccuracies crop up. In this case the factory in China failed to properly recreate the sub’s keel, and the goof wasn’t discovered in time to correct (I’ll take the heat for that one). On both the full-scale mock-up and hero miniature the bottom of the keel should be even with the bottom of the lower hull where the two areas meet just forward of the lower hatch. This is where putty comes in handy.
11 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

A strip of styrene was glued into place along the bottom of the keel. The sides were then built up with putty. It may seem like a lot of work, but it took less than an hour to complete (I use Evercoat sanding putty, which makes tasks like this a lot easier). 
12 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
13 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
14 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
15 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
16 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
17 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

The model comes with ballast vents moulded into the hull. The detail is a little soft, so I removed the details in question. Eventually they’ll be replaced with either parts built from scratch, or aftermarket photo-etch (the etch shown here is just some stuff I had on hand).
18 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The model comes with the rear windows sealed (which is how they appear in the film). I chose to open them up, and will add clear styrene windows later.
19 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The sunken footholds looked a tad soft and shallow to me, so I opened them up, reshaped them, and fashioned simple backings, which were then bonded to the interior.
20 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
21 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
22 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

The next addition is more a matter of personal taste than screen accuracy; I added a thin strip of styrene to the leading edge of the prow. The intension is to create a more streamlined profile, but as you can see the effect is subtle.
23 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
23a by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The propulsion nozzles are, unfortunately, moulded into the upper and lower hull halves (a cost-cutting choice). To avoid alignment problems later, I decided to carefully saw the nozzles away from the hull halves and assemble them separately. The parts will eventually be filled with putty, the thruster openings will be drilled out, and small locator pins will be attached for bonding the parts to the completed hull.
23b by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
23c by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

Other than the issue with the keel, my biggest regret is the tail. Owing to another factory error that wasn’t caught in time (blame me) the shape of the inner rudder frame is off. As a result, the six slats which comprise the rudder are irregular in shape. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Hopefully this flaw will be corrected for later editions of the kit, and in any case some modelers will no doubt decide to live with tail the way it is. It’s one of those things that drives me crazy, so eventually I will either scratch an all new replacement tail, or modify the existing part to accommodate aftermarket photo-etch (hurry up, Paul!). (-:
24 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

On to the interior. I’m always surprised by how many parts there are inside the Proteus. I tend to think of the interior as being rather simple, but it’s actually filled with detail. Per my usual approach to this sort of assembly, I pre-painted all the parts.
25 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The only reference we have for the interior color scheme of the Proteus comes from the film itself (the miniaturizer room sequence is the most helpful owing the the relatively neutral ambient lighting). Lunadude’s CMDF site is a great resource for frame grabs, for those who don’t have a DVD of Fantastic Voyage. 

Please note that the images I’m posting here have not been color-timed, so the grays I used are reading much greener than they appear to the naked eye. For the most part I've attempted to recreate the look of the film, I did take some liberties here and there (blue-grey floor instead of slate green, and so forth). Point being, please don’t mistake the images here as being the last word in screen accuracy… I just went with what I thought would look good.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

As I mentioned up-thread, this model *will* not be lit, so most of this detail will never be visible once the model is complete. My next Proteus model will be lit, so this was my opportunity to mess around with different techniques to see what worked. That said, here are a few paints that came in handy…
26 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
26b by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
27 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Model Master no longer makes Pontiac Engine Blue in lacquer (grrr), but I believe it’s still available in enamel and acylic. I mention it because that particular shade of silver-blue appears throughout Fantastic Voyage, as well as in many of Irwin Allen’s shows (it shows up inside the Planet of the Apes spaceship too). Fox must have had a ton of the stuff on hand, LOL.
28 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
29 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
30 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
31 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

A hole-punch came in handy for creating small paint masks for the chart table (I still need to find something suitable scale-wise to use as protruding charts; suggestions welcome!).
32 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

There are five reading lamps inside the Proteus. These are not included as parts, but they are easily recreated with a little wire and styrene chip. A drop of thick crazy glue promptly accompanied by a spritz of accelerator was used to fashion the shades.
33 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

Semi-accurate seat-belts were made from from Tamiya masking tape, along with bits of silver pin-striping tape. The circular air vents, accidentally omitted from the kit, were fashioned from aftermarket etch I had laying around. The vertical bar of “elevator lights” (also omitted from the kit) was similarly added, along with random print-outs, charts, file-folders, etc. 
34 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr
35 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

36 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

Test-fit of the interior assembly mated with the upper hull (the inner window frame is not yet attached, hence the gap between the inner bulkhead and the support braces). 
37 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The windows come moulded as a single piece, which, when mated with the inner window frame, nests perfectly against the inside of the upper hull. This will no doubt be completely acceptable for 90% of Proteus modelers. For those wishing a more scale-appropriate glass thickness, the clear styrene window part can be trimmed into four separate panes, which may then be used as scribing templates for the creation of replacement panes (I used a suitably thin gage of clear styrene sheet, carefully scribing around the edges of the template parts to get the correct shape).
38 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

The most visually important feature of this kit (IMO) is the window assembly. One's eye goes right to that area, so a crisp, clean look is highly desirable. Fortunately, because of the way the upper and lower hull halves are engineered to fit together (with the seam semi-hidden along the lower hull’s flange), it should be possible to completely paint the upper hull prior to installing the windows. Not only is this is a HUGE time saver in terms of window masking (none required!), it also means that if the builder takes his time to install the windows carefully, avoiding glue smears, the windows should set perfectly into to the surrounding hull and frame with no jagged or irregular paint build-up due to masking. 

Which leaves us with the issue of the black weather-stripping around the windows. I wish I had an easy solution, but I’m still pondering my options (as always, suggestions are welcome!). 

This brings ya'll up to speed with my current progress. Next up: dealing with the aforementioned tail/ rudder irregularities. By the time of my next post an aftermarket solution will hopefully have presented itself (tick tock, Paul). Otherwise I suppose I’ll have to CAD up an accurate rudder assembly template and scratch a new tail from styrene.

Thanks for looking! And stay tuned!!


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Thanks for putting up the build thread, looks great so far. Personally I don't think I will be worrying about fixing the keel or nose profile but little additions like the lamps look like a good idea.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Lots there, and excellent work (as expected!). So, just a couple of things.

1. Control grips at the pilot station. Been a bit of time since I've seen the movie but my mind wants to tell me they used the same surplus control sticks that were used for the Flying Sub. Is that just imagination on my part?

2. I assume no interior for the diving lock?

3. That back area looks cozy, but a lack of bathroom makes me question the mission duration ability of the original design 

4. weatherstrip on the windows. Maybe using the puffy fabric paint* pushed thru a hypo needle? ( *see Robiwan2's Star Destroyer build thread)

It will be interesting to see the working R/C subs built from this. 

I really like that tip about the desk lamps. It really adds to the interior. 

I am in envy of the casual skill on display. I await further.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

Steve H said:


> Lots there, and excellent work (as expected!). 1. Been a bit of time since I've seen the movie but my mind wants to tell me they used the same surplus control sticks that were used for the Flying Sub. Is that just imagination on my part?


Nope, the FS used the same joysticks. I've forgotten what aircraft they originally came from.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Carson Dyle said:


> Nope, the FS used the same joysticks. I've forgotten what aircraft they originally came from.


Something in the back of my mind says "B-17" and "remote pilot control"(aka what we now call drones). 

Now, I know there was some experiments with remote pilot bombs near the end of the war, and I know that a number of B-17s gave their lives as remote piloted target aircraft, I'm not sure if I'm conflating dis-connected data points in my mind. 

I do know that in the '50s and early '60s there were a number of remote piloted weapon systems (usually guided atomic weapons, glide bombs and the like) fielded and discontinued in rapid succession. Damn. Now I'm figuring a new gap in my cold war library.


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## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

Always enjoy looking at your work and appreciate the time you take to show the mods that add a level of realism to the build, fine work as always.....


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## lunadude (Oct 21, 2006)

She's coming together beautifully!

I am curious about the differences between the test pull and the final kit.
Photo-etch details do crisp up the scale.

Thanks for sharing this build with us.


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## Hunk A Junk (Jan 28, 2013)

Brilliant work! Can't wait to get this kit. I really hope that Moebius one day gets the POTA license so they can give the same treatment to the Icarus. That would be the last of my pre-Star Wars childhood grail kits.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

It's a bit odd that they got the aft support beams correct, but the connecting flanges are missing from the forward beams. Do you think that may also be fixed in future production runs?












Steve H said:


> . . . That back area looks cozy, but a lack of bathroom makes me question the mission duration ability of the original design


As I believe someone pointed out in an earlier thread, there's room for a small portable chemical toilet under the couch.


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

Yeah, but how is it in the bathtub?



> That back area looks cozy, but a lack of bathroom makes me question the mission duration ability of the original design.


Most mini-subs don't have toilets. Could be why they didn't want her along.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

scotpens said:


> It's a bit odd that they got the aft support beams correct, but the connecting flanges are missing from the forward beams. Do you think that may also be fixed in future production runs?


I honestly have no idea -- although replacement beams could be the sort of thing Paul at Paragraphix might wish to consider. I wouldn't be able to make use of them on this build, but I'd certainly do so on the next one.

As I mentioned earlier, the Proteus interior is far more complex than even I had initially given it credit for. The factory did a good job under the circumstances, but there were a few details that fell between the cracks. Most of these are easily scratched, but unless you're lighting your kit I wouldn't bother. The area which needs the most attention is probably the ceiling (the snorkel housing is missing, the red valve is on the wrong side of the compartment, there are no rivets or exposed pipes, etc). These are easy fixes, and again, unless you plan on lighting your model, I wouldn't bother.


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

About that toilet...

well, since they could only stay miniaturized for an hour, I'd say just hold it in.

to me, the most glaring omissions are the round vents on the front faces on the bulkhead walls.

and I'm working on window gaskets


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

Lou Dalmaso said:


> and I'm working on window gaskets


Great to hear, I was wondering how to represent those. :thumbsup:


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## RogueJ (Oct 29, 2000)

I pointed the Support Beam issue out to Moebius at WF and was blown off. I guess it didn't matter to them.


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## lunadude (Oct 21, 2006)

Carson Dyle said:


> ...The only reference we have for the interior color scheme of the Proteus comes from the film itself (the miniaturizer room sequence is the most helpful owing the the relatively neutral ambient lighting). Lunadude’s CMDF site is a great resource for frame grabs, for those who don’t have a DVD of Fantastic Voyage...


:cheers2: Please use the references to your heart's content.


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

A few shots of the finished model...

DSCN1348 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

DSCN1319 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

DSCN1308 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

DSCN1352 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

DSCN1333 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr

DSCN1294 by Carson Dyle, on Flickr


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

lunadude said:


> :cheers2: Please use the references to your heart's content.


This is a new subject for me so I went over to that site out of curiosity (never seen the movie). Unfortunately, those reference plans appear to be scanned at such low resolution that they appear to me that they would be quite useless as references.


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## lunadude (Oct 21, 2006)

bigjimslade said:


> This is a new subject for me so I went over to that site out of curiosity (never seen the movie). Unfortunately, those reference plans appear to be scanned at such low resolution that they appear to me that they would be quite useless as references.


I could get you higher resolution versions. What have you got in mind, bigjimslade?


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

lunadude said:


> I could get you higher resolution versions. What have you got in mind, bigjimslade?


I was just looking because it was something I was not familiar with I could not see anything really.


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## JeffBond (Dec 9, 2013)

Cool, you put those circular things in front of the windows on the nose--I did that too. I actually extended the frames on the upper edges of the top row of windows to get a little bit more curve there instead of the sharp right angles molded in to the window area, so I'll have to find a way to adjust the Aztec Dummy window gaskets to match the shape...


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

JeffBond said:


> I actually extended the frames on the upper edges of the top row of windows to get a little bit more curve there instead of the sharp right angles molded in to the window area, so I'll have to find a way to adjust the Aztec Dummy window gaskets to match the shape...


Yeah, I thought about it, but decided to save that fix for my next Proteus (this one was built for a friend). I also want to light the next one, but first I need a little break from building Proteus kits. :smile2:

BTW, Randy Cooper's resin window gaskets are designed with the change you mention in mind. FWIW. I was frankly surprised by how good the vinyl masks look (no offense, Lou). I was worried they'd look a little cheesy, but I'm really happy with the final effect.


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## JeffBond (Dec 9, 2013)

Yeah, Lou's gaskets look fantastic! I might order some of Randy's hatches and nozzles.


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

Bravo!! Very nice work. :cheers2:


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