by Ken Hart
1/300 USS Nautilus SSN-571 (Aurora)
In the early 1960s, the Aurora kit no.708 SSN Nautilus was a popular model kit, but it was far from an accurate representation of the actual ship. In the scale of approximately 1/300, the hull, for the most part, wasn't too bad, while the sail and the stern end were very inaccurate. Whether that was intentional due to national security seems ludacris, especially since most plastic model kits in those days were targeted toward the ideal "grandpa and grandson" market.
In the 1960s, a set of blueprints and detailed photographs of the actual USS Nautilus SSN-571 would have been nearly impossible to acquire, so who would've known the difference, right...? Well, for one thing, just compare the model in the box to the box cover artwork. Painted from a Navy photograph of Nautilus, the box cover depicts an accurate likeness of the actual ship. The Aurora kit also included a large cylinder and a launch rig for what looked to be a type of REGULUS missile -- something which the real Nautilus never had.
When an old friend found the remains of one an original Aurora Nautilus model, he asked if I could rebuild it for him. I agreed to give it a shot. What he brought me was nothing more than the basic assembled and unpainted hull, complete with gluey fingerprints and misplaced decals. The model's few additional parts were long since gone. But that was okay, because they were all wrong, anyway. Especially since he wanted this model to represent USS Nautilus SSN-571 in her late 1970s configuration.
The hull and sail on this model was cast as one piece, split down the middle top to bottom, except that there was an assembly part making up the front of the sail. The stern end of the model was totally wrong in its contours, and the model featured one long, unbroken line of equally spaced inaccurate limber holes. This thing was going to require some major surgery and a lot of scratchbuilt parts.
Using very thick styrene card stock, as well as other stock and some various odds 'n' ends from my ol' junk box, I fashioned the stern propeller struts, stern diving planes, forward diving planes, and a top for the sail. I also made masts, hatches, anchor, and a few assorted deck details.
Cyanoacrylate (super glue) was used to fill in the line of dimples representing limber holes, since Nautilus's limber holes were all welded over by the 1970s. A drop of cyano was dabbed into each one of them, which were then dusted over with baking soda, which cures the super glue immediately. Beware of noxious fumes when doing this, though. After sanding the hull smooth, automotive putty was applied to all seams and gaps, and the hull was sanded smooth again. Then the assembly process began.
The first coat of gray primer serves to reveal remaining flaws, and so the model was wet sanded where needed, putty was applied, and the flaws were taken care of. The assembly was completed, and the model was painted and detailed.
While rebuilding and correcting this old Aurora model, I was fully aware that the sail and the stern end were inaccurate, but I assessed the work involved in correcting them, and decided against it. I would have had to removed the sail and the stern end completely, scratchbuild new ones, and install them. If I were to go that far, I might as well have just scratchbuilt an entire Nautilus. So I just worked with what it was.
Using drawings and photographs of the actual ship as she appeared during the 1970s, I scribed accurate deck detailings and torpedo tube shutters, and added an avoidance/detection array housing upon the bow deck. In short, I was able to resurrect the hulk of that old model into a fairly nice 1970s-era Nautilus model. It was mounted on wood keel blocks under a plexiglass dustcover, and was presented to my friend, who proudly displayed it on his desk at work.
Anyone who remembers this old original Aurora kit probably remembers that they also offered their kit no. 706 as SSN SEA WOLF... If not the models, then you might at least remember the box cover artwork for these two old model kits. That artwork was amazingly accurate and quite inspiring, though, sadly, both kits contained the exact same model and parts, only with different decals. It was a major disappointment to open that SEAWOLF kit box and find that there was no stepped conning tower, and no raised sonar bow -- just another lame Nautilus hull inside... Ah, those were the days...
