Moebius Models 1/128 S.S.R.N. Seaview By Gordon Erickson Photos by Tracy White

Introduction

The S.S.R.N. Seaview was commissioned in 1973. She is supposedly owned and operated by the Nelson Institute of Marine Research, a private science foundation directed by Seaview’s creator – Admiral Harriman Nelson, USN, Ret.

The Seaview is the most complex submarine ever built and her mission is the exploration of the world’s oceans - which she is capable of doing like no vessel before her. The most unique and distinctive feature of this 420’ nuclear-powered submarine is her bow with it’s 4 large observation windows. She is equipped with a minisub to explore places too small for her and a diving bell to explore depths that would crush her. Her supersonic atomic-powered Flying Sub allows Admiral Nelson to quickly dispatch science teams to any location in the world.

But in fact, the NIMR is just a “cover” organization – the Seaview is actually operated by a covert arm of naval intelligence. She is equipped with a full complement of nuclear missiles and during her service she has been instrumental in defeating many nefarious plots by shadowy foreign governments to subjugate or destroy the United States. In later years she has proven to be the mankind’s first line of defense against rampaging sea monsters and alien invaders.

With the success of his 1961 film Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea writer/director Irwin Allen was approached by ABC to create a TV series based on the movie. Due to the popularity of the early James Bond films, Voyage was originally intended to be “high adventure” not science fiction. From the original Writer’s Guide for the series:
… The vast majority of stories take place largely away from the sub, which is used primarily as a means of conveyance to the scene of action…
…There is a James Bondian flavor to the series…

The first episode aired in September of 1964. Many of the first two season’s plots remained true to the original intent – mad scientists and nameless enemy nations trying to destroy Seaview or the U.S. And while the first season had the occasional encounter with man-eating seaweed or giant sea creature, it isn’t until the latter part of the second season that monsters started to show up more and more frequently, with Voyage eventually becoming the “monster-of-the-week” show that most people remember.

To save on production costs the first year it was decided to use the sets that had been constructed for the movie. In addition, model footage from the film was used whenever possible. When that footage couldn’t supply the shots needed for a specific scene, the movie Seaviews, with their 8-window bow were used.

After a successful first season the Seaview sets and models were revamped. The control room and observation nose were redesigned and moved next to each other, the miniatures had the number of bow windows reduced to 4 along with other modifications (but not all of the changes made were the same on both models – more about that in a bit). That’s why the first season Seaview looks so different inside and out from later episodes. Also, a new vehicle, the Flying Sub, was introduced in season 2 and was an instant hit.

The design of the Seaview is iconic in the history of science fiction. From its audacious, yet improbable, observation windows to its manta ray-inspired bow contours, streamlined sail, seemingly propeller-less thruster pods and V-tail she is simply a thing of beauty. It could have been a very different story, though - one pre-production design for the movie Seaview featured a short, conventional teardrop hull with the observation room being a dome attached to the aft part of the sail. Fortunately the 20th Century Fox art department had better ideas.

The Kit

The Moebius Models 1/128th scale kit of the S.S.R.N. Seaview has been one of the most anticipated science fiction models since the Polar Lights 1/350th Refit Enterprise from Star Trek.

When finished you won’t want to (or be able to) display her on a desktop – it is a model made for a mantle. In 1/128th scale the Seaview is a full 39” long. In addition to the submarine itself, the kit includes an in-scale Minisub, Diving Bell and Flying Sub. Moebius has also provided a detailed control room interior to go behind those huge bow windows along with a hangar for the Flying Sub.

You have a choice of building two different versions of the Seaview because the two filming models were not identically updated. The 8-1/2 foot miniature used for shooting the Seaview submerged was given raised frames around the bow windows and a 16 tube missile deck while the 17 foot sub used for surface shots somehow wound up with no raised frames and 20 missiles! The instructions clearly indicate which parts to use for each version. I like the look of her with the 16 missile deck better.

The kit parts are molded in light grey and clear styrene, no parts count is given. They are sink-mark free and the ejector pins were placed where the divots won’t be seen. Mold seams are absent except for the thruster pod halves. Moebius used a 3-piece mold to do the intake vent detail and there is a small step around the vent area. It should be easily knocked down with a sanding stick. The clear parts for the bow windows are relatively thin and clear, but I’m tempted to use them as a mold to vacuform even thinner ones (the better to show off that interior). No decals are provided or needed.

The hull comes in four quarters. For something this large the important question is “Are they warped?” There was just the smallest amount of warp in three of my hull sections - the worst was out-of-true by 3-4mm and one section was dead solid perfect. There are internal ribs molded into the hull pieces to add rigidity to the finished model. The instructions say to assemble the hull in fore and aft halves before joining them but I’m thinking of doing port and starboard halves instead.

The model has been designed to significantly reduce the number of seams you’ll have to contend with, and in a 39-inch-long model that’s a blessing. From the test builds I’ve seen online there will be some puttying to be done around the bow window insert, but it shouldn’t be too daunting a task.

The attention to detail in this kit is phenomenal. The control room interior is incredibly faithful to the original set – the bow window support girders, chart table, helm station (with separate yokes & wheels!), periscope island, computer panel, and vertical plotter are all there as are the sonar and radar stations – they even provided the radio shack. The chairs are separate parts and you get 6 sitting crew figures to place in them (remember – red jumpsuits for crewmen with dialogue, blue for those that are just extras). Two standing figures (officers?) round out the bridge crew.

The Flying Sub, Minisub and Diving Bell are kits in and of themselves (in fact, I have heard that Moebius is thinking about releasing them in a separate packaging). The Flying Sub is made up of 9 parts and includes a basic interior with pilot and copilot seats. You can mount it docked in its hangar or, in a nod to the original Flying Sub model kit, on an Aurora-style clear plastic stand. The Minisub also has 9 parts and the Diving Bell has 6.

If you’ve ever wanted to light a model the Seaview would be ideal kit to start with due to its size. In fact Moebius actually engineered some parts to make it easier to light. There is a channel molded into the tail fin parts leading to the fin-tip lights allowing you to run a fiber-optic strand there or wires for an LED or light bulb.

The instructions are on 3 8-1/2” pages. A separate Painting Color Chart lists the paints needed referencing Testors Enamel, ModelMaster Enamel and ModelMaster Acryl paints.

The interesting and comprehensive liner notes were written by Jeff Bond. He discusses in depth (pun actually unintended) the submarine, the original Voyage movie, the TV series and the filming miniatures. In fact the liner notes are so extensive that they wouldn’t fit on the instruction sheet – they had to be given their own separate pamphlet.

So, you’ve got it put together - what color do you paint it? The Seaview paint scheme was designed to mimic the coloring of a shark – dark grey on top, light grey on the bottom. The instructions call for the upper surfaces to be painted Light Ghost Grey (FS 36375) and the undersides Vietnam Camouflage Grey (FS 36622). This will result in a very nice looking model but I like the topside a bit darker - I plan to use Neutral Grey (FS 36270). FS 36622 is a bit too brown for my taste so I’ll be using FS 36495 on the bottom, which is a bluer grey. In the Seaview pamphlet David Merriman reveals that in the course of his restoration of the 17’ miniature he discovered that the original movie sub colors were Dupont Lucite automotive lacquer 131S – Primer Gray and White.

Conclusion

Now that I’ve gushed over every aspect of this kit I’m sure you’re asking “Is there anything he didn’t love?” Well, I do have two, very minor, nits to pick. The instruction sheet diagrams are too small - it is hard to determine where some of the smaller parts go. Also, some parts shown in the drawing are not referenced in the text and vice versa.

Secondly, it would be nice to have actual painting diagrams. Those of us who are fans of the Seaview and have acquired a boatload (pun intended this time) of reference material will have no trouble accurately painting the Seaview and her auxiliary vessels but there are complexities to some of the paint schemes that are too subtle for a short verbal description to convey.

Moebius Models was founded to not just re-create horror and science fiction models from the past but also to develop new state-of-the-art kits of long-desired subjects in these genres. With the release of this kit they have hit the ball out of the park their first time at bat.

Review model provided by Skyway Model Shop. For reference purposes here are some screen captures from Voyage