Riich Models 1/350 USS Los Angeles with DSRV

The last item, well two items actually of interest from Dragon Model USA newsletter is the USS Los Angeles attack Submarine with DSRV. USS Los Angeles is a nuclear powered submarine and is the main attack sub of the US Navy. It is in 1/350 scale, the biggest scale for ships. Made by Riich Models. The DSRV is also available as a separate kit.

DSRV is an abbreviation for "Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle". From Wikipedia :

DSRV-1 Mystic is a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle that is rated to dive up to 1500 metres. DSRV1 was built by Lockheed for the U.S. Navy and launched 24 January 1970. 

The senior engineer responsible for the project was Paul Philip Prelitz (father of Chris Prelitz). Mr. Prelitz was also the senior engineer for the Sealab II "Man in the Sea" project. 

Mystic was launched on 24 January 1970. The submarine, intended to be air transportable, was 50 feet (15 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) in diameter, and weighed 37 tons. The sub was capable of descending to 5,000 feet (1,500 m) below the surface and could carry 24 passengers at a time in addition to its crew. The sub was stationed at North Island Naval Station in San Diego and was never required to conduct an actual rescue operation.

Mystic was decommissioned on September 30, 2008. The submarine may be donated to the Naval Undersea Museum.

Both kits are available in March 2013. Check back often with their Dragon Model USA webpage for availability:

• 1/350 USS Los Angeles "688" Class SSN w/DSRV-1 (Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle) 3 in 1 Kit
• 1/350 U.S. Navy Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle - DSRV-1 Mystic (Contain 2 Kits)

Coming Soon From Bronco USS Fort Worth - GPW 4x4 with AT M3A1 mod 1942 - US Truck Crew

Bronco models is set to release three models, one, a modern US Navy vessel, USS Fort Worth. Two, a US WW2 jeep with AT Gun in tow. Three, a US Truck Crew Set.

Fort Worth, the third LCS delivered to the Navy and the second of the steel, semi-planing monohull Freedom variant, is designed to operate quickly in shallow water littoral environments to counter challenging threats in coastal regions, specifically mines, submarines and fast surface craft. The Fort Worth will maintain a forward presence and deter hostility while projecting power and maintaining sea control.  

Source: US Navy

US GPW is a Ford made Jeep that is widely used during WW2 by the US Army. It was manufactured between 1941 to 1945 and together with Willys MB formed the iconic "Jeep" trademark for small 4x4 vehicles.

The 37mm AT-Gun M3A1 is the US answer to German PAK 35/36. The AT Gun was in service with US Army and Marine Corps.

Two models of the weapon were made: the M3 and the M3A1. The latter version had a threaded barrel end to accept a ported muzzle brake. This accessory saw very limited combat service, which showed it was unnecessary. M3A1's could be used without the brake and were issued interchangeably with the M3 version.

Source: WW2 Gyrene 

The WW2 US Truck Crew Set is a nice complement to the GPW Jeep above, or it can also be used in other settings. Note that Truck means Jeep in this case, since the 1/4 ton 4x4 vehicle is often referred to as Truck by the US Army during WW 2.

News Source: Military Modeling