Modeling the last of the forty-one for freedom

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

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

It's the same wheel (or close to it) as you'll find on any boat that used the S5W plant (the early five-bladed propeller of the SKIPJACK's and GEORGE WASHINGTON's an exception). You get this seven-bladed wheel right for one boat with this plant, you have it right for any other boat that used the S5W tea-kettle.

Matt Thor produced an excellent seven-bladed, 1/96 propeller. Check with him.

David,

[redboat219]

How come US boats don't have vortex attenuators like those on Russian boats? BTW, aren't photos of the screws considered classified documents?

[Kazzer]

It's the same wheel (or close to it) as you'll find on any boat that used the S5W plant (the early five-bladed propeller of the SKIPJACK's and GEORGE WASHINGTON's an exception). You get this seven-bladed wheel right for one boat with this plant, you have it right for any other boat that used the S5W tea-kettle.

............seven-bladed, 1/96 propeller.

David,

OK! So what are the actual dimensions of this prop? I'll bet Raboesch has one and I may be able to get it.
see http://www.raboesch.com/propellers/7_b_l.htm

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

How come US boats don't have vortex attenuators like those on Russian boats? BTW, aren't photos of the screws considered classified documents?

Starting with the STURGEON boats, we have replaced traditional dunce-caps with vortex attenuators, of one sort or another.

As to the security classification of the wheels: Yes, propulsors on American attack and missile boats are classified -- for the most part. However, with the exception of the LOS ANGELES class and up, that horse has pretty much gotten out of the barn.

The S5W seven-blade wheel has been common knowledge -- blade count, diameter, pitch, blade area, rake, and skew angle since 1961. So too has been the downgrading of the security classification of the NAUTILUS/SEAWOLF and SKATE class boat wheels.

What makes me so informed on the subject? Let me tell you a tail, gather around children:

'Revealing' the specifics of that S5W seven-blade, skewed back, propeller got me investigated by the Naval Investigative Service (NIS) in the mid 1980's. An activity that usually is followed by a Courts Marshal or Captain's Mast. Not good.

The model propeller that got the NIS involved was based, to a high degree, on a beautiful photo of that wheel attached to the ass end of a post GEORGE WASHINGTON class SSBN boat, in dry dock; that picture originally appearing in an issue of the Norfolk Ledger Star back in the early 60's. I presented a copy of that picture to the NIS with other public domain acquired photos of the propeller. Photos of a propeller gathered during the research phase of the build. That file, presented to the NIS, kept me from being busted out of the Navy! Though no one in the DOD ever acknowledged it ... I'm likely the guy who got that particular propulsors classification down-graded; if the left hand was paying attention to the right hand in the navy, then the NIS findings would have revealed for one and all just how poorly the yards, bases, and contractors had been restricting access to classified materials. Again, all my research material was acquired from public domain sources -- and this was in the days before the Internet! That folder eventually proved to be the vital tool needed to get me out of really hot water.

Continuing on with this little horror-story:

As I found out later, I was ratted out by one Admiral Mckee, at the time in charge of the navy's nuclear propulsion office. Apparently he saw the offending model propeller on display at the Babcock & Wilcox company. B&W makes reactor containment vessels and one of their sails guys had commissioned me to make several navy submarine models for their executive lounge. The good Admiral, as I hear it, upon seeing the model, actually ripped the propeller off the hull; he reportedly saw the models display in a space not secured from 'outside eyes' as a potential security breach. The boob didn't know about the Norfolk Ledger Star photo and the other good dope that had been out there for decades? Anyway. Mckee, through his NIS underlings (who by the way, were professional and rock solid all-business, even when they served a warrant and went through my shop and home ... Ellie even made e'm some ham sandwiches if I remember correctly) made my life 'interesting' for a number of weeks.

And the remainder of my naval career? Interesting.

Yes, I've seen some revealing stuff on LOS ANGELES wheels and later class boats that shouldn't be out there. But, I won't be the one to pass it on. And yes, it kills me to build a model/assemble a kit of a modern American Nuke submarine with a less than perfect propulsor.

There's good reason to keep blade count, blade geometry, and attenuator specifications out of the hands of the bad-guys!

David
TM2 (SS/DV) Ret.

[redboat219]

Wonder if the Norfolk Ledger Star ever got a visit from the NIS?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

No longer in business ... no, not over this.

David,

[SSBN659]

Interesting story about the Admiral pulling the prop off David's model. The pictures I have all came right off the web. It's amazing how much you can find out there now. But's that's a bit off where I'm headed. I know I can buy a prop that will be very close to what I need. I can also try to modify an existing spare prop I have from one of my other boats. I could ask permission to use the prop off my Thor Permit to make copy for this model. Finally, I could make one myself. I have some time to think this over before I need the prop but my first choice is to build it myself.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

In this post I’ll show how I scribed some details on the main deck including how I corrected some mistakes caused by not taking my time. It’s the scribing that really improves the look of the model and the excitement in seeing it come together can lead to some careless mistakes. The mistakes can be corrected but it takes time and patience. Had I been more careful when scribing I would have saved myself some extra work.

Here are the tools I am using. From left to right are: a commercial scriber, a compass with a sharp point, a needle taped to a dowel and a toothbrush for cleaning out the details as they are scribed. In the upper left corner is a piece of 400 grit paper for keeping the tool points sharp



For correcting mistakes I use the “Easy Sand” and the “Glazing & Spot Putty”. The “Easy Sand” (from Caswell) is my favorite for larger corrections. It is an easy to work with two-part filler. The “Glazing & Spot Putty “ requires no mixing, is easy to work with but in my opinion doesn’t hold up as well.



Once I’ve laid out the details in pencil I tape my template to the model to hold it in place while scribing.



I use light passes with the tool, maybe 20 to 25, frequently brushing out the dust with the tooth brush and sharpening the point of the tool with the 400 grit paper. Each pass cuts a little deeper.



Check out David Merriman’s Cabal Reports and videos for more extensive details and tips on scribing.

In this picture you can see a couple mistakes I made on the safety track at the forward hatch. The curved track lines are too wide compared to the straight track. Also, I’ve accidently scratched the hull when I was cleaning some dust out with the tool. If you look carefully you can also see I’ve already made one attempt at correcting the mistake using the “Easy Sand”.



I think tried three times to fix the mistake before I finally got it right. Here you see how I covered the hull with blue tape to keep the filler confined to the spot I was trying to fix.



There, that looks better. By the way, the two long rectangular cuts at the forward end are for the retractable cleats. I plan to use HO gauge railroad tie spikes to represent the cleats deployed. We’ll see how that works later.



Scribing the torpedo tube doors has been a challenge. I first tried David Merriman’s trick of heating a piece of styrene to mold its shape to the bow and then cutting out the door shapes for a scribing template (Cabal Report) but at 1:120 scale I couldn’t make it work. So then I laid out two doors on styrene so I could make the template. For uniformity, and to better fit the curvature at the bow I decided to use a two-door template for all four doors as you’ll see in the next couple of photos



Then I came up with a somewhat oddball mounting for working the hull in the vertical position. It was much easier to work this way.



Here you see the template taped to the hull ready for scribing the first two doors. When the bottom two doors were finished I repositioned the template and scribed the two top doors.



Now that the hull details are finished it’s time to move on the sail. I actually started the sail months ago but set it aside to complete the work on the hull. I’ll cover the sail in my next post.

“Will Rogers”
SSBN659

[Albion]

OK! So what are the actual dimensions of this prop? I'll bet Raboesch has one and I may be able to get it.
see http://www.raboesch.com/propellers/7_b_l.htm

This link is for the standard, old school props, as with my Permit, the hub is going to be too big, what we need is the 186-10 which has the small hub, but i cant find anyone who stocks it.

I plan to get the 186-10 with the small hub, and then turn a nice pointy taper onto the round bit

[Subculture]

Have you tried contacting Simon at Prop Shop?

He has a huge range of props, including a lot of special submarine wheels.

http://prop-shop.co.uk/index.php?id=35&section=store&sub_section=products&product_type=35

[SSBN659]

Thanks for the link. I've looked at it and have a question. Is the prop in the photo below a left hand or right hand prop? I'm assuming RH because viewed from aft the prop turns right (clockwise) to move forward.



"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thanks for the link. I've looked at it and have a question. Is the prop in the photo below a left hand or right hand prop? I'm assuming RH because viewed from aft the prop turns right (clockwise) to move forward.



"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

You got it.

David,

[SSBN659]

The sail has proven to be a real challenge in reaching the level of detail I was hoping for. My blueprints of SSBN641 were close but didn’t show what I could find from photos on the web. The photos I was able to find helped a lot but they also showed a lot of fine detail I would not be able to model at a 1:120 scale. So, I proceed with the idea of adding everything I can that would be within my ability and hope for the best.

Another challenge was figuring out what SSBN659 might have looked like because in researching the boat I found many variations between the different classes within the forty-one for freedom. So, as I proceed I’ll be happy to take any information or suggestions from those of you who may have crewed on Will Rogers.

Since my blueprint showed only the starboard side of the sail I looked to the web for a shot of the port side also. The two shots below gave me a good start and I also found others that were helpful.





The next step was to scan my blueprint of the 641 sail and reverse it with Photoshop so I could pencil in some details from the photos.



Then I cut out a plan view of the sail and glued it to a piece of plywood for rough shaping using my bench sander. It helped to attach the plywood to a piece of MDF. Once the first side was done I reversed the plywood on the MDF and shaped the other side.



I glued a dowel rod to the sail for holding it while I did some more sanding to get the taper for the after end. This didn’t work out as well as I had hoped and I cut off too much of the taper on the after end of the sail. To correct this mistake I glued a popsicle stick to the after end and filled in with the “Easy Sand” to get the shape I needed.


Here’s a shot of the starboard side after filler and primer. At this point I’ve attached the sail to a piece of 1x2 with screws for ease of more sanding and painting as I add the details.



In my next post I’ll show how I did the planes, scribing and some of the masts.

“Will” Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

When working on a model like this there is always a point where you have to stop to let filler cure, epoxy set or paint dry. Fortunately there are other parts to work on so down time is not wasted. During some of these times I molded and cast the sail planes and made up some of the masts using brass, aluminum and styrene shapes. The masts were a challenge because, you guessed it, each class of boat had something a little bit different even within the particular class. Also at this scale it would be a trick to model every mast. Finally, there were probably not many times when all masts were deployed at the same time. So I will display those shown on my favorite photo of the Will Rogers which is from the book Sharks of Steel by Yogi Kaufman and Paul Stillwell with photography by Steve and Yogi Kaufman.

As an interesting aside, Yogi Kaufman, more formally known as Vice Admiral Robert Y. Kaufman, USN (Ret.), earlier commissioned Will Rogers during his 38 year navy career.



I needed some small sanding sticks to work on the sail so rather than buy them it was very easy to make my own using popsicle sticks and tongue depressors. Two different grades of paper were glued to the stick and the grade penciled as shown. I also used a circular paper glued to a piece of melamine and rectangular pieces of sandpaper folded in half and CA’d to make the squares. The squares were another trick I learned form David’s Cabal Reports.



You may have noticed the brass rod embedded in the sail planes as they were cast. This was to help position the plane and add strength to the joint when I attached the planes to the sail. To make sure of a good joint I first laid a strip of clear tape on the sail then buttered the plane with filler. I held the plane in place for a minute or so. When the filler had partially cured, I removed the plane and used a hobby knife to remove the excess. Yes, there was some follow up sanding needed but when all was finished I had very good surface to surface contact for attaching the planes.



Before attaching the plans I started scribing using the details I had taken from photos and my blueprints of the sail. Here you see a set of four cover plates for access to the snorkel intake/exhaust mast. The template was cut from a piece of styrene and of course held in place by blue tape.



In the picture below you see my laser level to check the alignment and position of the sail on the hull before final attachment.



Here are two shots of the sail. One from above showing more of the scribing and the running light on the starboard side, and one of the port side. Each of the masts and the snorkel will have a rod that fits into the holes you see drilled in the top of the sail. For those of you who are very alert, you will have noticed the slant on the after end of the running lights is wrong based on the photos I’ve found. This was one of my mistakes and it has been corrected. Also, note the sail is sitting on a piece of paper with the safety track lines laid out. The safety track runs along the port side only to the watertight door. Sailors had to go aft to connect to the main track on the starboard side.





Here’s another neat trick. I needed several small parts for this model but wasn’t sure how to mold them. Then I remembered something I saw in one of David’s reports and “Bingo”. By punching several of various shapes into a pad of flat clay I had a very inexpensive mold. Then I mixed up a small amount of casting resin and poured it over the holes. Finally I covered the resin with a sheet of waxed paper. What you see below is the result. I picked the best of the castings and rubbed them over my flat sandpaper to get rid of the backing.



If you are like I am you frequently want to see how your work is progressing. This picture is a bit out of sequence but it shows how things are beginning to shape up.
Excuse all the filler and the masts. They were just temporarily set in place for this picture.



Oh, by the way, I just ordered my prop from the Prop-Shop in the UK. I thought I had better order it now in case there is a long lead-time to get it.


“Will” Rogers
SS

[Subculture]

Just a heads up with Simon at Prop Shop. Having ordered props from him on at least four occasions, I can tell you now you will probably have to chase your order up with him. I usually need to make at least two telephone calls before I get my merchandise. He is well known for this amongst the modelling community.

He may have tightened up his game since I last ordered. On the plus side, his props are excellent quality, and he never charged my credit card until the props are dispatched.