One of the latest items provided to the IPMS-USA Review Corps by OKB Grigorov was this 1/350-scale submarine representing the Barracuda-class of submarines developed after WWII. The boat is 3D printed and is under the Trimotium Historic Miniatures name within the OKB Grigorov company that comes from Bulgaria. The kit contains a total of ten pieces and should not present too much challenge to any modeler familiar with working with either resin or 3D printed kits.

The kit itself is packaged in a sturdy cardboard box that is lined with a piece of bubble wrap to protect everything from damage. The hull was wrapped in a small paper bag perfect for the job, and submarine parts 2 through 8 are contained in a small, plastic, sealable bag, while the stand is the only part packed loosely in the bubble wrap. The instructions are contained on a single sheet of paper, and the only thing to point out is that the propellers (parts 4 and 5) do have the correct sides to mount on the submarine shafts to set the proper directions of rotation.

History

This was the third US Navy vessel to be named USS Barracuda. The subject of this kit was the lead boat in a group of three submarines (along with the USS Bass and USS Bonita) that were part of a new class of hunter-killer submarines used to track Soviet submarines. These boats were equipped with BQR-4 bow-mounted sonar arrays, which were to experiment with passive acoustics. The boats were limited in their abilities due to their slower speeds and a need to rise to snorkel depth to recharge the batteries used when submerged. The lessons learned from this class of boats would later be invaluable to the nuclear-powered submarines that would follow.

For this build I decided to represent the USS Barracuda itself, whose keel was laid on 1 July 1949 by Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 2 March 1951 as K-1, and future president Jimmy Carter served on her from pre-commissioning until October 1952. She would later be designated as SSK-1 on 15 December 1955 and was again redesignated as SST-3 on 15 July 1959 as the newer, nuclear submarines took over the hunter-killer role. Her final designation would be SS-T3 as of 1 August 1972 before being decommissioned on 1 October 1973. The boat likely had the designation SS-550 reserved as a hull number, but this was never officially used.

Construction

As mentioned earlier, consisting of only ten pieces, one of which was the stand, construction is quick and relatively easy. I first sanded the hull to remove a few bumps left from the removal of the supports used during 3D printing. There was a single support inside the hull when I opened the kit. Otherwise, the manufacturer took care of the clean-up prior to packaging the hull. I installed the conning tower and parts 6, 7, and 8 using a thin CA glue prior to painting. I would highly recommend leaving part 8 off until after painting as, in hindsight, I broke it off during the painting process and lost it to the great beyond.

I first applied Stynylrez 3D Prime Black to the entire submarine and remaining parts (dive planes, propellers, and stand). This was my first time using the product, and it applied well using an airbrush with a 0.5mm needle and nozzle combination. I applied a total of three coats, as recommended, and even with light sanding between coats, I ended up with some printing striations present when I finished. After masking with Tamiya tapes, I applied Model Master Acryl Haze Gray 5-H to the sides of the upper hull and conning tower. I added my own dry-transfer markings from Woodland Scenics to replicate the “1” seen in photos after the boat was designated as SSK-1. I used pieces of 0.010-inch phosphor wire for the arms used to raise and lower the dive planes, as these are not included in the kit. I sealed everything with AK Ultra Matte Varnish at this point and then used AK True Metal Brass on the propellers and highlights on the stand nameplate.

Conclusion

My hits for this kit include the details created by the printing process and the historical importance of this class of submarine. The 1/350 scale produces a model that, when finished, measures roughly 6-3/4 inches in length with a 1-inch beam, so it will not take much room on a display shelf. While I had no misses on this kit, it would have been nice to have decals included to represent the three boats of the class in either the “K” designation or the single-digit number designation.

I highly recommend this kit to any modeler who wants to represent the first US Navy hunter-killer submarine in their collection. Any modeler with experience of working with resin or 3D printed kits should have no issues with the construction of this submarine. My thanks to OKB Grigorov for providing this kit to the IPMS-USA for reviewing and to the Review Corps for allowing me the opportunity to perform this assessment.