1/96 Romeo - Wherefor art thou?

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  • HardRock
    Vice Admiral
    • Mar 2013
    • 1609

    1/96 Romeo - Wherefor art thou?

    I've been resisting this madness for some time now but the urge is once more upon me and I have submitted with a whimper and a shrug. I cut a centre board to the dimensions shown on my new Romeo plan (supplied by Gantu - much thanks, Mate) so that whole affair would be rigid and relatively close to the final, scale dimensions. Then I stuck a bunch of foam to it, cut slots at the points that had frame information on, made the frames in clear acetate, cut them in half and glued them into the slots.

    Then came the sanding, and the sanding and later some more sanding. This is what the hull looks like.

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    Those little acetate frames might look flimsy, but when they are glued in they provide just the right amount of resistance to let you know that you are at the right depth.
    After I had the hull roughed out I did some work on the tower.

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    Once I'm happy witht the overall shape I'll coat the foam with something. Glass or drywall filler - not sure which just yet. Learning, learning, learning.

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    I'll get on to the appendages while I work out the best way to cover the hull.
  • trout
    Admiral
    • Jul 2011
    • 3545

    #2
    That looks really amazing already! Looking forward to learning from you.
    If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

    Comment

    • greenman407
      Admiral
      • Feb 2009
      • 7530

      #3
      Some people just have the knack of things ya know
      IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

      Comment

      • greenman407
        Admiral
        • Feb 2009
        • 7530

        #4
        There are those who "make things happen". Then there are those who say "what happened"?
        IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!

        Comment

        • gantu
          Commander
          • Apr 2009
          • 360

          #5
          Regards Gantu

          Comment

          • Davidh
            Captain
            • Nov 2010
            • 719

            #6
            Hardrock,

            I really will have to get off my backside, come down and check out this boat, show you the progress on Yuri Dolgoruki, and talk shop. The Romeo has personality. This is going to be good. Will chat with you soon.

            dave h

            Comment

            • He Who Shall Not Be Named
              Moderator
              • Aug 2008
              • 12253

              #7

              OK, here's how you skin this cat. Did that same thing with the 1/60 ALBACORE master, illustrated here; a good analog to your wonderful looking ROMEO project:

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              The density of the foam I used on the ALBACORE is a bit higher than what you're using on your Romeo, but ... hey! .... same deal here.

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              Blow down the foam to get all the just out of the cell-holes at the surface of the work -- you want resin to fill e'm, this will keep air-pockets from forming under the resin, which, when sanded, would reveal awfully pock-marks.

              Mix up a batch of two-part laminating resin (epoxy!) and thin it back a bit with a high quality (automotive supply house) lacquer thinner. Pre-heat the master to about 150-degrees and just as soon as you pull it from the oven scrub the resin into the work. The heating caused the air in the cell-holes to expand. As the air in these voids cools (like when you slap on the resin) the temperature of the entrapped air drops and the slight vacuum produced pulls the resin into the cell-holes, this assures a deep penetration of the resin into the work. No need for the pre-heating step from this point on. (This same trick applies to putties, fillers, and primer applied over porous surfaces).

              Once the first layer of resin has cured, do not sand, only a heavy abrasive-pad scrubbing, then another coat.

              Sand, fix with Bondo as required, then another coat of thinned resin. Sand. Skin the master with four-ounce cloth, light sanding, then a final resin coat to fill the weave. Light sanding and ..... done.

              If you have not figured it out yet: you want to undersize the uncoated master by the thickness of the build-up I described. Undersizing the mater by about .070" would put you in the ball park.

              Once you have skinned the master with glass, you can now add superstructure and other items not easily worked around during the initial hull master fabrication. Like this, the ALBACORE deck and superstructure:

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              David
              Who is John Galt?

              Comment

              • HardRock
                Vice Admiral
                • Mar 2013
                • 1609

                #8
                Great advice. The hull is 1.25mm undersise to cope with the outer coating. Heating the thing is a neat trick - I hadn't thought of doing that (and no I am thinking of an appropriate explination for Her-in-Doors that won't involve me getting killed) I'm working on an upper deck like the Albacore and a keel plate to keep everything streight and in scale. Just ordered a set of brass props and shafts for the Prop Shop in the UK as well. Onward. Now - where did I put that yellow spray putty?

                Comment

                • HardRock
                  Vice Admiral
                  • Mar 2013
                  • 1609

                  #9
                  Thanks aagain. Great photographs.

                  Comment

                  • HardRock
                    Vice Admiral
                    • Mar 2013
                    • 1609

                    #10
                    Two coats of resin later...... Click image for larger version

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                    Meanwhile I have been doing a bit of work on the appendages. Click image for larger version

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                    And a bit of work on the tower. Click image for larger version

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                    Comment

                    • HardRock
                      Vice Admiral
                      • Mar 2013
                      • 1609

                      #11
                      Periscopes and do-dads.
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                      • HardRock
                        Vice Admiral
                        • Mar 2013
                        • 1609

                        #12
                        Making railings today..
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                        And putting on the top deck..
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                        Attached Files

                        Comment

                        • bwi 971
                          Captain
                          • Jan 2015
                          • 896

                          #13
                          I’m catching up……work swallowed all of my time last few weeks.
                          It’s a nice project Scott…….you hit the hull shape spot on, the bow and stern are not easy to do.

                          Is the tower 3D printed? I think I see printing lines on the vertical surfaces?
                          I’m not asking to question your craftsmanship but out of curiosity, I think there still is too much taboo on the subject.

                          Grtz,
                          Bart


                          Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience.
                          "Samuel Smiles"

                          Comment

                          • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                            Moderator
                            • Aug 2008
                            • 12253

                            #14
                            Originally posted by bwi 971
                            I’m catching up……work swallowed all of my time last few weeks.
                            It’s a nice project Scott…….you hit the hull shape spot on, the bow and stern are not easy to do.

                            Is the tower 3D printed? I think I see printing lines on the vertical surfaces?
                            I’m not asking to question your craftsmanship but out of curiosity, I think there still is too much taboo on the subject.

                            Grtz,
                            Bart

                            Taboo? Yes, to me it's taboo. 3D printing, CNC and the other computer directed, machine derived additive/subtractive processes is akin to hiring someone else to do the work you display. Robots do what we do better and cheaper. But, where's the craftsmanship in hiring out the work?

                            If your hands are not involved, it's not craftsmanship.

                            Did you build it, or did you assemble parts gathered from other sources?

                            David
                            Who is John Galt?

                            Comment

                            • HardRock
                              Vice Admiral
                              • Mar 2013
                              • 1609

                              #15
                              Hi Mate. Yep, the basic tower is a 3D print job. I've been trying to get a mesh surface on it so that I can skin it with paper tape and produce a proper "oil can" effect. So far I can get plenty of horizontal lines but the vertical ones are much more difficult. You might be able to see at leat two vertical lines towards the rear of the tower, the rest have mysteriously disappeared. I received a 1/44 Trumpeter 33G in the mail a few days ago. Lots of details and a great source of inspiration. I might make a 33G tower as well as the standard one to fit on the hull.
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                              I'm working in the garage tonight because its still 28 degrees C here. To hot for the workshop!

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