My 1/350 scale H.L. Hunley build is finished and on its display base, with a simple “dock plank” style cradle, a country identifier flag, and a QR code so viewers can jump straight to the real-world story behind the model and as always a human scaled down to 1/350 in order to see the relative size of the submarine (just to the top and right of the flag). The goal was to keep the presentation clean and museum-like while still showing off Hunley’s distinctive riveted iron hull and cigar-shaped silhouette. In this small scale, I focused on crisp construction, a convincing dark iron finish with subtle variation, and a restrained, realistic look that fits an 1860s prototype built for hard use rather than show. The kit is resin and was manufactured by 3D-Wild. I added the wooden upper spar and supports along with the rope to adjust the lower boom for attack along with the copper canister filled with explosives and the tiny detonating line along with the rudder steering mechanism.
Historically, H.L. Hunley was a Confederate (Civil War-era) hand-powered submarine that became the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat, when it attacked and sank the USS Housatonic off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. The mission was successful, but Hunley did not return and was lost with her crew, turning the little submarine into one of the most haunting “what exactly happened?” stories of naval history. The Hunley was just under 40 feet and had a crew of 8 men. Today, the recovered vessel is preserved and studied, and even in 1/350 scale it’s still an eye-catching reminder of just how experimental (and dangerous) early undersea warfare really was.
No comments:
Post a Comment