L'Arsenal
1/350 Rubis Class Submarine –
Améthyste Configuration
L'Arsenal
1/350 Rubis Class Submarine –
Améthyste Configuration
| Reviewed
July 2024
by Felix Bustelo |
||||||||||||
| HISTORY | ||||||||||||
|
TheRubis
class is a nuclear attack submarine operated by the French Navy. The lead
boat in the class, Rubis,
was laid down December 11, 1976 and launched July 7, 1979. However, fine-tuning
of the design needed over 1,000 hours of underwater testing before she
was finally commissioned on February 23, 1983. Eight submarines were planned
but only six were built and commissioned. The six boats are Rubis
(S601), Saphir
(S602), Casabianca
(S603), Émeraude
(S604), Améthyste
(S605) and Perle
(S606). All boats were named after gemstones, expect for Casabianca,
which was named in honor of the famous World War II submarine which escaped
the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon to join the Allies and served
with distinction. As launched, the submarines measured 236 feet long (72
meter) and are the most compact nuclear attack submarine to date. They
were fitted with four 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes capable firing torpedoes
or Exocet anti-ship missiles.
The
initial design of the Rubis
had unexpectedly high noise levels. This led to the AMÉlioration
Tactique HYdrodynamique Silence Transmission Ecoute (Améthyste)
silencing program. This translates to Silent Acoustic Transmission Tactical
Hydrodynamic Improvement. The program included upgrades to the sonar, reshaping
of the hull form and rounding the bow to improve silencing and additional
upgrades of the electronics. These improvements were applied hulls of the Améthyste
(S605) and Perle
(S606). The reshaping of the hull and bow increased the length to 241 feet
(73.6 meters). After testing and proving of the upgrades, the original
four boats were rebuilt to incorporate the changes between 1989 and 1995.
Even with the additional length, the class remains the most compact nuclear
attack submarine to date.
Saphir
was decommissioned in July 2019 and the other five submarines are still
commissioned but only four currently active. Perle
caught fire in dry dock while undergoing major renovations on June 12,
2020. The fire was intense but confined to the forward section of the submarine.
Fortunately, there were no weapons or nuclear fuel onboard at the time
of the fire. Later that year, it was decided to use the forward section
of the decommissioned Saphir to
repair Perle,
which completion planned in 2023. The Rubis
class submarines are scheduled to be gradually replaced by the new Barracuda
class submarines.
|
||||||||||||
| L'Arsenal Rubis Class Submarine - Améthyste Configuration | ||||||||||||
| L'Arsenal has been gradually but surely expanding its catalog of 3D printed accessories and aircraft in various scales. Now L’Arsenal has gone a step further by producing a fully 3D printed kit of the Rubis class submarine in Améthyste configuration. Other than a small decal sheet, the entire kit is 3D printed. | ||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||
| HULL | ||||||||||||
| To be completely honest, I was surprised and a tad disappointed to see that the hull is in two parts, fore and aft. Regardless, each half has a good amount of detail, such as the torpedo tube doors, sonar dome, numerous hatches, and mooring bitts and chocks. The sail, incorporated into the forward half, is nicely done with an open cockpit and forward diving planes. The cockpit doors could be carefully removed and placed into a closed position if you are feeling a little adventurous. The aft half is also nicely done with aft diving planes and rudders incorporated. Both halves come on a printing raft with thin attachment points along the edges that are to be mated. There are small bits of printing supports, for lack of better term, on the bitts, sonar dome and cockpit hatches that need to be removed. | ||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||
| SMALLER PARTS | ||||||||||||
| The smaller printed parts include a hub ring that is to be fitted in between the hull halves to provide support and help align the halves. There is a nub on the ring that is meant to fit into notches on each hull halve to assist fitting it correctly. The other smaller printed parts are comprised of the 7-bladed propeller and base and the array of periscopes, radars, snorkel and communications equipment to fit onto the sail. Again, the parts come on a print raft with fine attachment points. | ||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
| TEST DRY-FIT | ||||||||||||
|
Being a two-part
hull split fore and aft raised some concerns about the fit and a potential
gap at the joint that would need to be addressed. Each hull halve has inner
tabs to which the inner hub fits up against. As you can see from the photos
of the admittedly rough dry fit, there is a substantial gap between the
halves. The halves will fit a little closer than what is shown in the photos
which are suffering slightly from the effects of gravity, but a gap remains
that needs to be filled in without damaging the surrounding details. I
may remove the tabs in one of the halves to perhaps gain a tighter fit
to mitigate the gap as much as possible.
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| DECALS | ||||||||||||
|
A
small decal sheet is provided with draft markings and white stripes. I
apologize that they are not a clearly visible as they could be in the photo,
but it is difficult to photograph white decals printed on white paper.
|
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
| INSTRUCTIONS | ||||||||||||
|
A
single two-sided sheet of paper contains what could be loosely described
as assembly instructions. The assembly instructions are comprised of a
single blow-up image of the parts showing how the go together and a closeup
of the sail to show the placement of the equipment array. There is no painting
guide, though the submarines are overall black. However, the equipment
on the sail is typically metallic with black tips. Also, some guide to
show proper decal placement would have been helpful. Thankfully there are
photos on the Internet to help with painting and decal markings placement.
The flipside of the sheet has a Rubis class history in French and English.
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| FINAL THOUGHTS | ||||||||||||
|
While
the detail and overall quality of the printing is very good, the two-part
hull and resulting gap is disappointing as well as the lack of more complete
assembly instructions. These criticisms are not insurmountable, but they
do make assembly more challenging and therefore the kit is recommended
for experienced modelers. It is nice to have a modernized Rubis
class kit with sail equipment and decals provided, which are omitted by
another producer of 3D printed submarine kits. This kit is available directly
from L’Arsenal (https://www.larsenal.com/).
The kit is also available in 1:400 and 1:700 scale.
My
thanks to L’Arsenal for providing the review sample.
|
 |
|||||||||||
