Road to Victory 2012: USS Barb 1:72 Model

I've been extremely busy the last several weeks teaching two 6-week classes during our summer semester, so not much being done on the hobby front. But here are some more photos from this year's Road to Victory Reenactment.

This year, the Central Florida chapter of the US Submarine Veterans set up a display. Several retired submariners were present to talk about working on submarines. The photo to the left is their trailer they take to their events--I thought it was pretty nifty. This past spring semester, I was lucky to have as one of my students a retired Lt. Commander submariner, who had been based out of Saint Marys, GA for many years. My young college students really admired him and worked harder because of him! He really inspired them, and loved telling them stories of working on submarines.

USS Barb (SS-220)

The main draw for me was the 1:72 scale model of a Gato class submarine, the USS Barb (SS-220). From the USS Barb's Wikipedia entry: "During the seven war patrols she conducted in the Pacific between March 1944-August 1945, Barb is officially credited with sinking 17 enemy vessels totaling 96,628 tons, including the Japanese aircraft carrier Unyo. In recognition of one outstanding patrol, Commander Fluckey was awarded the Medal of Honor and Barb received the Presidential Unit Citation. On the sub's 12th and final patrol of the war, Barb landed a party of carefully selected crew members who blew up a railroad train. This is notable as the only ground combat operation that took place on the Japanese home islands." Below are some photos of the model and the fellow who built it. If you ever thought of using a submarine in a game, this is how big it would be in 1:72. If you wanted a sub for 28mm gaming, it would be about 130% larger. Yipes! I hope you enjoy the photos.

The entire 1:72 model of the USS Barb in its display case.

Another shot from the front. You really need to click on these photos to enjoy the model!

The gentleman in the red vest built the model himself. I didn't get his name! Nuts!

A professional painted and weathered the model. He did a great job!

It even comes with a painted crew!

Click on the photo to go to the US Submarine Veteran's homepage. Tons of great info on submarines!