by George Warren
1/350 HMCS Okanagan (Resin Shipyard)
HMCS Okanagan served from 1968 to 1998 and was one of three O-Boats used operationally by the RCN/CF and referred to in Canada as the Ojibwa class. The other two being Onondaga and Ojibwa and one is preserved in Quebec. The Resin Shipyard model can be used for anyone of these. A fourth was acquired from the RN, ex-HMS Olympus, as an alongside training aid,. The O-boats were also used by the RN and RAN and the navies of Brazil, and Chile. In Canada, they were replaced by the four ex-HMS Upholder class diesel electric submarines referred to as the Victoria class which have proven to be somewhat problematic so far.
Resin Shipyard choose the upgraded and last version as the basis of their kit. This upgrade program was completed in 1986 which can be visually indicated by the tear drop sonar dome on the bow. The kit includes a resin hull, resin detail parts including a separate "sail", decals, and PE. All components are neat, clean, and tidy and the deck is also very detailed. The decal sheet covers the ships in the time frame covered by the kit as well as the originally built version and the announced Resin Shipyard Victoria class sub model. The periscopes, etc. are duplicated in resin and PE and I used the resin versions. A minor detail difference with Ojibwa, the battery hatch, is even accounted for. The instructions cover five pages.
I airbrushed it with hardware store black paint to get the semi gloss finish. This was before I knew that dark grey was the way to go but overall I am pleased with the finish and it did not fill in or obscure the detail. It was done entirely "out of the box".
References
The Canadian Submarine Service in Review, J. Perkins, Vanwell Publishing
