[dhanners]

My fourth modern submarine build is U-DON’s Los Angeles-class fast attack sub, which I built as the USS Columbia.

U-DON’s model comes in 1/144th scale and I rescaled it to 1/250th to match my current fleet. His model is of an early Los Angeles-class boat, but Columbia is a Flight III, or improved (688i) version. The biggest visual differences are that the hyrdroplanes have been moved from the sail to the hull, and there is an extra set of fins at the tail, ala the Seawolf and Virginia class submarines.

The build was straightforward. I scratchbuilt the new hydroplanes and fins. I got the model printed at my local print shop and, unlike their printing of Seawolf and Jimmy Carter, all the grays came out the same shade. No idea what's up with that.

USS Columbia is named after three cities — Columbia, SC; Columbia, MO; and Columbia, IL. The submarine was nicknamed “The Last Slider” because it was the last boat to slide down the Electric Boat Division’s 1,300-foot wooden ramp in Groton, CT, when it was launched in September 1994.

The boat was commissioned in October 1995, and was sponsored by then First Lady (and later U.S. senator and Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton. It's homeport is Pearl Harbor.

All in all, it was a fun build and it is nice to add it to the collection. If only there was an HMS Astute out there in 1/250....