Modeling the last of the forty-one for freedom

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I posted the Hovering & Depth Control diagram thinking it was part of the missile compensating system David told us about earlier. Now, after reviewing it again, I don't think so. So back to the work bench.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

The Hov system is a bit removed from the missile compensation system, yet the two systems were very much partners in the ship control tool-box during, 'battle stations, missile'

Here's how they came together:

As soon as the boat jumped into 1SQ the OOD commands the Diving Officer to, 'prepare to hover'. The boat is slowed down and brought up to launch depth; the Chief-of-the-Watch (BCP operator) started to pressurize the flooded Hov tank and vents the dry tank inboard (watch your ears, sinus clearing time is at hand); as the boat slowed to 'hovering speed' (patrol speed was not much faster) the Diving Officer had the COOW fine tune the water between trim tanks and water in or out of auxiliaries to get the boat in as good a trim as possible (nothing like slowing the boat down to find out how good your underway guesstimation of weight management had been going the last couple of days); a second man took his seat to the left of the COOW to run the missile compensation board, part of the BCP; and everyone twiddled their thumbs till the command, 'Hover' was issued by the OOD. A rotary switch at the dive-stand is turned and the hovering system kicks in to maintain the boat at a specific depth plus or minus a bit.

And then the intermittent racket of air rushing in to the blown Hov tank and the inboard venting of the flooding Hov tank -- an old SSBN's way of shouting out to the world (and bad-guy attack boats out there): 'Here we are! ... take a shot before we kill all your kids, parents and wifes!"

[SSBN659]

After several weeks of sanding the superstructure is beginning to take shape. Here is a shot of the port side of the superstructure looking forward. To get the thickness I wanted for the break between the hull and the superstructure I used a layer of blue painters tape and over that a layer of double-sided tape. Then I used the Evercoat Easy Sand to build up to the double-sided tape.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5128.jpg

This picture shows where the double-sided tape was used to represent how the forward end of the superstructure fairs into the hull on the port side. Notice how the tape was cut to get the “notch” effect. I used the same technique to get the “notch” where the superstructure fairs into the hull aft.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5126.jpg

It helps to have pictures of the “real thing” when trying to get the right look for your model. This first picture is the aft end of the superstructure roughed in. The second picture is a comparison between the “real thing” and the model after adding a second coat of Easy Sand.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5088.jpg

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5414.jpg

Here’s what the aft end looks like in red primer. Alternating colors of primer helps when correcting and sanding. It makes it easy to see if you are sanding too deep.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5437.jpg

After roughing in and priming the forward end, it was back to the blue tape again. To get the effect of the superstructure fairing into the hull a 1/8” strip of tape was used to mark the intersection. Then a wider layer of tape was added to protect the hull and finally the filler was added. By the way, the blue tape technique is something I learned from reading David Merriman’s Cabal Reports and watching his You Tube videos. Thanks David!

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5423.jpg

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5424.jpg

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5425.jpg

Finally, here’s the forward end in red primer.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/USS%20WILL%20ROGERS/IMG_5436.jpg

There’s a lot more work to do yet so stay tuned.

“Will” Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

During the construction of my model I took a break to assemble a Tamiya model of the M-4 Sherman tank for a neighbor. It was a welcome break from sanding and shaping but I have to say that building from scratch is a lot more satisfying than assembling a model from a kit. So now back to the USS Will Rogers.

Here’s the hull and superstructure almost complete. There is some touch up work needed but that will come later. The strange looking pieces on the bench next to the hull are not for the submarine. They were for the M-4 Sherman.



My research of the Forty-One For Freedom turned up several pictures that are invaluable in building my model. Since the basic shape of the Lafayette and Benjamin Franklin Class boats is the same in most cases it was easy to get photos of details I wanted to represent. In many ways the photos are even more help than the set of drawings I found because they depict shape, color, contrast, etc.

My next step was to tackle the BQR-15 Towed Array as depicted in the following two photos. Interestingly, I found pictures of SSBN 619 with a towed array and one of 629 without one. Go figure that one out. Anyway, I was able to confirm that Will Rogers had one. Note the detail these photos provide.




From the drawings and photos I drew an outline of the array fairing on the hull and then taped it. Using the polyester filler I built up a rough shape. I tried using a screed made from a used iTunes card with a semi-circular notch cut in the side. This didn’t work out very well so I finally “troweled” on the filler using the flat edge of the card.



After sanding and shaping the array began to look pretty good compared to the photos.



When it looked like I thought it should I pulled the last of the tape away from the filler to reveal a sharp edge depicting where the fairing intersected the hull. There were several holidays that needed filling but that was easily corrected.



I’ll have more later on the problems I had with the intersection of several compound curves where the fairing, the hull and the superstructure meet. That was a real challenge.


“Will” Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

After making the fairing for the towed array I started the “hump” that I found in a couple of photos below. I didn’t know what this was until posting a picture of it and asking the question. Turns out this was the cover for the towed array reel which is located outside the pressure hull but inside the superstructure. I also found out the towed array and reel covers were added later in life as the boats went into overhaul and drydocking. That explained why some photos showed boats with and some without the array. Anyhow, here are the “humps” (the reel covers).



Since the drawings I had did not show the reel cover I had to “guestimate” it’s size and shape from the photos. I taped a piece of sandpaper to the superstructure and used a piece of scrap Renshape to match the curvature needed. The black lines mark the plan view of the cover. After getting the curvature I cut and sanded the piece to get the final shape.



After attaching the piece I taped (there’s that tape again – it really is versatile!) around it to protect the superstructure as I finish sanded to get the curvature shown in the photos.

Then I looked at the photos again and realized the reel cover didn’t look right. It was too wide. Close examination of the photos showed the width of the reel should have been just about the same width as the missile hatch covers.




There was only one thing to do, chisel the first try off start all over again. I hated to do it but there was no good option.



The next photo shows how much smaller the second piece is and the lines I laid out to get the angles right.



It took some filling and sanding but after several tries I think it is pretty darned close to the reel thing (pun intended). And yes, there still is some minor fill in needed but the major work on the reel cover is done.



So far in this project I’ve learned:

1. It pays to do your research before starting,
2. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes,
3. Don’t be in a hurry,
4. Be critical of your work, and
5. Take a break now and then so the project doesn’t overwhelm you.


“Will” Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

In this post I’ll cover the “Buick holes” as they were sometimes referred to. That’s for those of you who remember the Buicks from the 50’s. For those of you don’t, the holes are for the explosively deployed evasive device launchers. I think that’s close but please feel free to correct me. As you can see this drawing of Simon Bolivar does not show the “holes”.



Perhaps these were also installed later in the boat’s life. The cover picture of SSBN659 on issue 41 of the SubCommittee Report confirms USS Will Rogers had them so I’ll represent them on my model. But the question in my mind was how?

The answer was “ Back to my research.” The photo below of one of the SSBN’s on drydock gave me the detail I needed. I won’t won’t name the boat for obvious reasons but take a real good look at the photo. Just below the forward end of the sail you can see the “Buick holes”. You can also see the axis of each opening is angled down and outboard from the boat’s centerline axis. Also, two openings are aft the forward end and two are forward of the sail.



Using my “guestimates” of the angles I laid out and drilled the holes on both sides of the boat.



Then I inserted styrene tubes and lined them up for glueing using toothpicks as shown. This allowed me to step back for a realty check before making them permanent.



Once the glue had set I cut off the tube ends and filled around them and sanded them smooth. The final product looked realistic as far as I could tell.





In my next post I’ll show how I did the rudders and stern planes.

“Will” Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Masters for the rudders and planes were formed from balsa wood using some latex paint for sealer and for identifying spots needing more work. Later the masters were sprayed with gray primer and mounted on bamboo skewers for easier handling.






The masters were laid in a bed of clay with dowel rods positioned for pouring and venting the silicone rubber. For the containment box I made up 4 L shaped pieces of 1/4” MDF and clamped them to fit the clay bed. The masters and the L shaped pieces were waxed and polished several times and then spray with mold release before pouring the silicone rubber. The L shaped pieces can be positioned to fit a number of different shapes and sizes.



After the first pour of rubber had cured the clay was carefully removed and the masters readied for the second half of the pour. Mold release was applied to the masters and the box before the pour.



The finished stern planes were positioned on the hull and an outline of the joint marked with a “Sharpie”. The contact surface was roughed up with my Dremel and a mask made of blue painters tape. With the mask in place to protect the hull the stern plane was epoxied to the hull and supported with tape until the epoxy cured. The photo shows the starboard plane already attached with the outlet tube of the towed array in place. The port stern plane is yet to be attached.



Continued in next post

[SSBN659]

This photo shows both stern planes attached and the after end of the towed array in position but yet to be sanded into it final shape. The styrene tube has not been glued at this point. That will be one of the last steps in finishing the model. Little pieces like this are too easily broken off while working on the model. The opening in the hull is a signal ejector located on the port side just forward of the stern plane.




I tried a different approach to attach the rudders. The outline of the rudder connection with the hull was laid out and then covered with clear hockey tape. Why hockey tape? Because I had some and it was clear. Simple as that. Then I mixed up some Easy Sand filler and spread it on the clear tape followed by the rudder secured in position. Once the filler cured the base of the rudder had a curvature for a better fit to the hull. The clear tape was removed and rudder epoxied to the hull.











For some reason the lower rudder was a bit too short so rather than create a new master I taped a dam around the base and filled it with epoxy as shown in the next photo. The clamp was used to hold the rudder upright.



The epoxy brought the rudder back to where I should have made it in the first place. From here the rudder base was shaped and attached the same way as the upper rudder. I could have used filler instead of epoxy to get back to the original dimension but I thought epoxy would be stronger. It was also quicker than using filler.



While all this was going on I was being closely watched by my constant companion Caper. She follows me just about everywhere I go and doesn’t correct me when I make a mistake.



With the rudders and stern planes attached, the towed array and the reel cover in place the boat is beginning to look like I want it to look.





“Will” Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Damit, Mark!! ... enough with the, 'Some really nice work' bull-**** posts. Keep these posts here focused on information exchange, not pleasantries.

Don't make me come over there!

David,

[greenman407]

I wish you would come over here! I would put you to work on my Oscar!

[SSBN659]

Once the hull was looking like I wanted it to look I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would scribe the main deck details, particularly the serpentine shape of the safety track. Had the safety track just been two straight parallel lines there would have been no problem. On a previous model I soldered two needles together and easily scribed a straight track. But because of the curving track I felt this tool would not work well on this model. I decided to use only scribing tool for both lines but for this I needed a special template.

I copied a section of my drawing and darkened the track with a black felt tip pen so I could see the track better.





Then I glued the drawing to a piece of clear plastic using a spray adhesive from 3M. With my Dremel tool I cut close to the final line as shown below.





Finally I hand sanded down to the line checking frequently to make sure I didn’t over sand. (What you see in the picture is the second attempt because I did over sand the first piece I made.) Notice how close the safety track comes to the missile hatch cover.



The next step was to make a template for the hatch covers. For this I used a piece of 10 mil styrene, a circle temple and a straight edge. Except for the safety track all my templates were made from a combination of circles, squares, rectangles and straight lines. To avoid scribing problems with the distance between the safety track and hatch covers I made the hatch cover diameter 2 millimeters smaller than shown on the drawing.



(CONT'D)

[SSBN659]

When making a custom template it helps to lay out the details on a piece of paper to make sure it looks right before making any cuts. Once the template looks good on paper I lay it out on the styrene and tape it down to a piece of melamine board.



Depending on the shape to be cut I use a scriber or an “Exacto” blade. In the picture below I used a scriber tool to carefully “cut” out the template for one of the torpedo doors. I’ll use the same template for uniformity when I scribe all 4 doors.

In some cases I use a draftsman’s eraser template for difficult shapes.



Once the templates have been made and the longitudinal centerline penciled in, each detail to be scribed is laid out in pencil on the main deck while it is still in gray primer. This is a very important step as you can see by the changes I made in pencil in the pictures below. If it isn’t right in pencil, it won’t get any better after scribing. Make sure you measure carefully off the centerline and longitudinally. At this scale (1/120) I like to measure in millimeters because it’s easier for me to think millimeters than eighths, sixteenths, etc.







In my next post I’ll go into how I scribed the details on the main deck and cover how I corrected some scribing mistakes.

“Will” Rogers
SSBN659

[redboat219]

Have you seen David's Youtube video on how he scribed the safety track on a 1/96 Ohio?

http://www.youtube.com/user/caswellsubs#p/u/27/12pYUrLyZqg

He has a unique scribing tool that makes the 2 parallel cuts in one pass.
Maybe the Wizard can show us how he made it.

[SSBN659]

I have to say that most of what I've learned over the years was from watching David's videos or from his Cabal Reports.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Will,

It's nice to be acknowledged. Particularly by such a talent as yourself. Thank you, sir.

Let me again state that the level of Craftsmanship I have achieved has been possible only through my study of the work of those who came before me; the Masters who gave of their time to pass on what they knew to those who came after them.

There are no secrets. Only fools who think there are.

Pass it on.

David,

[SSBN659]

The acknowledgement is well deserved. Looking way ahead I've started thinking about a prop and would like to know what others have as ideas for making one. I suppose I could buy one but where's the satisfaction in that? I'm guessing the prop below is pretty close to what was on the Will Rogers at some point in time. Suggestions anyone?




"Will" Rogers
SSBN659