Below are photos of Renwal’s 1/200 scale (25” length) U.S.S. Ethan Allen (SSBN608) U.S. Navy Ballistic Missile nuclear submarine. I built this model in 1995. It was always a dream of mine to build one of these very old kits into a nice display. Renwal issued this kit (and three nearly identical others-George Washington/Thomas Jefferson/Andrew Jackson) around 1962, and although tens of thousands have been sold over the decades there are very few finished builds posted on-line. Revell also issued a smaller 1/260 scale Ballistic Missile cutaway submarine kit around the same time, but I have always liked the Renwal model better. The fit on many of the kit parts is poor and some of the smaller parts are way out of scale. It is also highly inaccurate, as Renwal had to guess at what most of the interior looked like. I mean seriously, the Control Room is the size of a basketball court! However, to me the cool factor of this kit is a 10 out of 10. The cutaway presentation has always reminded me of educational displays you see in museums. Several of the modifications I made are listed below:
Plastic “piping” replaced with small diameter wire-
Cut out sections from the control room floor and bulkhead for a better view of the lower decks-
Scratch built chairs and tables-
Added photo-etched ladders/radar screen-
Ballistic Missile made from “Stuka” airplane bomb-
Many of the decals came from the Revell cutaway submarine kit-
Also attached are a few construction progress photos, as well as great looking box art and instructions from the original issues. I hope you enjoy the photos.
Love this! Yes nostalgia but also like you said it’s museum display cutaway look makes a very interesting model. And now I’m going back in and clicking on the pictures to enlarge them for a closer look which I didn’t even do yet …
Gorgeous work, Phillip! The extreme cleanness of your build makes the almost cartoonish Renwal representations of the parts look quite natural and correct. Bravo Zulu!
Armorsmith/RDT1953/Damraska/KoSprueone/Namabiiru/Tojo72/TimReynaga-Thanks for the compliments as they are appreciated! This is one of those kits where massive numbers have been sold over the decades but very few finished builds are ever posted on line.
Outstanding work, Phillip! Far more refined than I could pull off.
I had this model when I was a kid… I would have been 12 in 1962 when it came out, so I probably assembled it when I was 13 or 14. This was the Ethan Allen SSBN608. Little did I know at the time that I would serve on the Sam Houston SSBN609, almost an identical submarine. I was a reactor operator. Of course, this model has a lot of empty space, and the real thing was packed to the gills with equipment, steam pipes, etc. But in the spirit of model building this is a great one, and your build is outstanding, Philip.
I have no idea what happened to my model. I imagine Mom threw it out after I left home and joined the Navy. But the single thing I remember most about the model that I had… In crew’s berthing, barely visible on the wall was the outline of a pinup poster! My adolescent mind was shocked, and I was afraid my parents would find out. So of course, I didn’t paint the poster, but just left the outline as my little secret.
Phillip, you didn’t mention that, or maybe your version didn’t have that. Did you notice it?
Mike6-I never noticed the pinup engraving on any of my kit parts, but then again I wasn’t looking for it (ha! ha!). By the way thank you for your military service for our country. It is appreciated.
