Blue Tube Attack Sub
This year I decided to start up a model club at my school. With the help of a local hobby shop and modeler who was selling off his collection of unbuilt kits, I was able to get enough stuff together to offer 20 students a chance to make a model.
But! I was restricted to using non-toxic glue which meant I was going to have to use Testors glue in the blue tube. I had never used this glue before so, I figured I better try it out and know what I'm doing with it before I try to instruct my students! I had the Hobby Boss 1/700 JMSDF Harushio class sub in my stash so I figured it would be a good kit for a quick glue experiment.
And a quick build it was! There's not much to a model of a modern sub, especially in 1/700 scale. The kit only has 11 parts including three that make up the stand. I used the blue tube glue for everything but the screw. The glue did a fair job but, it's not something I'd use again unless there were extenuating circumstances.
The glue didn't weld the plastic together. Rather, it seemed like it acted like a very quick drying epoxy. The hull halves were a little warped and needed clamps to hold it together overnight while the glue fully cured or dried or whatever it does in this case. I hope the parts hold together for the long haul!
So, even though it feels a little like I'm cheating since this kit was quick and easy to make, I'm counting it as model number 10 completed for the year. Still on pace to get at least 12 kits done this year
Great idea. It would be interesting to see what some of the students managed to achieve.
A Polish friend of mine wants to do something similar to get kids away from PlayStations and Pokemon for a change.
Probably swimming against the tide on that one...
Thanks Rob. I probably am swimming against the tide but, there's a lot of excitement in my room as the kids work on those models. I will post an article about it all when we are done.
"...we all live in a yellow submarine..." - oh wait, it's a BLUE submarine (I got lost in the moment). The kids probably won't get the analogy anyhow. 🙁
Seriously, though, it certainly turned out well for such an 'easy' build. Hope it inspires your students to use they're skills for something other than idle finger manipulations via hand-held "devices".
Thanks Craig. They are having a great time so far!
Worthy project! A gentlemen in our club recently started a similar club for students at his school, and ended up with 8 or 9 takers. Luckily for him, no such restrictions on glue type...perhaps that's chalked up to ignorance of school administration to the hallucinogenic properties hobby supplies! He even brought in his airbrush to give the kids a chance to try their hand at that. Not sure how he ventilated...!
Thanks Greg. Eventually I'm going to have an "advanced" group who get to use the good stuff. And I like the idea of bringing my airbrush for the kids to use when it warms up this spring.
Nice build, Nice idea about the kids and the club.
Thanks Robert.
Excellent idea! I currently have a casual job at a hobby shop and I continue to be surprised by the number of young modellers who are buying kits. Many for the first time. I have a feeling there's something about the satisfaction of creating a physical object. One can only hope this is the start of a trend towards 'old fashioned' pursuits as an adjunct to more modern pastimes, such as computer based gaming and which I should add are quite legit in their own right! Good for you Scott.
Thanks Nick. I agree with you about them having that tangible object. They were so cute when they said "We get to keep these?!"
Good project, hope it works out well. Tamiya do a Limonene cement in a bottle, not sure if it's actually non-toxic, here's the link: http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/87113limonene_cement/index.htm
Thanks George. I'll look into that stuff.