My loving wife Amy presented me with this model kit several years ago as a combination birthday and Valentine's Day Gift. While it was quite some time before I began work on this project, I was able to finish this Copeland 1/96 scale fiberglass Los Angeles class attack submarine model in just a few months.

The Copeland model, intended for R/C use, was an average submarine kit at the time of its release. Now, better large scale R/C submarine kits are available, with fully scribed detail and a variety of fittings. While the hull sections did fit together well, the hull itself had little detail, and the conning tower and control surfaces had virtually none. Literally all of the detail on the boat had to be added. To assist in this task, I purchased a set of 1/96 scale Los Angeles class submarine plans from Deep Sea Designs. The highly detailed plans served as my guide in every step of the detailing and painting. I detailed the hull by scribing, scratch building, and adding parts as I went. Some of these parts required more than a bit of creativity. I carefully trimmed down brass HO scale train vents to use as the zincs. A variety of 1/25 scale photo-etched brass headlight covers and brake pedal pads were pressed into service as intake grates or vents.

The conning tower was the worst part of the kit. It was barren of detail, thin, frail, and the halves fit together poorly. It required many hours of sanding, puttying, and scribing to complete it. The antennae arrays were built by sanding styrene strips into shape, then cutting and piecing them together.

With plans in place to build a scale dry dock in which to display the boat, I wanted to weather the hull to reflect a submarine in need of a refit. Fortunately, one of the pathologists with which I work, Dr. Collie Trant, retired from the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner after serving in Honolulu, and provided me with a number of unclassified photos of a 688 in dry dock. Using his photos and generous portions of pastel dust, Krylon Matte Finish and Testor's Dull Coat, I was able to weather the model to match the real submarine's appearance.

The biggest frustration in building this kit came in trying to find a suitable propeller. Beautiful scale brass props are available from a variety of sources, averaging about fifty to seventy dollars. Unfortunately, I ordered from an Internet vendor who was advertising the lowest price. While the prop was certainly a beautifully crafted piece, I waited four months for it, and received it only after my numerous emails were followed with a formal complaint to Pay Pal and my credit card company.