Hello Roedj,
The masts had to be dismantled before diving. This large array would I guess been used for the Marconi style radio set. On earlier boats they also had to pull down and stow the large exhaust stack for the Paraffin engines. This all took time and took vital minutes to do if you needed to dive quickly. This class of boat was among the earliest German U boats to have the new Diesel engines installed making the large smoke stacks redundant.
After spending a lot of time sanding down and getting consistency, length wise and symmetrical across in section I decided to start sheeting. However before starting this I decided to cut out Renshape strip for the top decks. The three top decks, the raised middle one and then two lower slightly smaller side ones will be made of Renshape. This will be glued over the top of the Bulkheads and the stringers as they run the length of the boat. In order to do this I took my ridiculously big chunk of Renshape provided generously by Hardrock to school and the table saw to cut strips. This stuff is heavy. I cut strips of about 5 mm thick that will make up the decks and the sides.
I have also in the meantime created with a small block of Renshape the base of the Conning tower. This was placed on a strip of Renshape and placed onto the hull to get some idea of the overall positioning and look.
These decks will be scribed before being glued down to the hull. This will simply make inscribing easier. I am sure that HWSNBN will be watching this one, do I hear a whip crack?
Anyway, back to the sheeting. I bought some sheets of 2mm Balsa. The plan is to wrap this sheeting around the hull and glue down to the frames. The longitudinal separation of the sheets will be determined by the location of the stringers and the sheets will end over the edges of a Bulkhead where needed. The first piece of Balsa sheet will run the length of the starboard side and will run from the top of the hull (Gunwale) down the side to run along the lowest stringer before the keel. This would effectively cover about 70% of the side surface area.
Mark out the profile and then cut out. I then marked the location of the bulkheads by line. Because of the nature of the sheeting and hull shape I will be taking a flat sheet of balsa and wrapping it around
a compound curve. The curve inwards of the hull line along its length and also the curve downwards. So material has to give. In order to make this easier I cut lines from the bottom of the sheet up untill about 80% of the width of the piece. I then sanded to make a slightly tapering gap. When the piece is pinned up and glued the curve will mean that the balso sheet will close at each cut causing the sheet to confrom to the complex compound curve a bit easier.
Pins and pegs.
Repeat with the other side.
David H
The masts had to be dismantled before diving. This large array would I guess been used for the Marconi style radio set. On earlier boats they also had to pull down and stow the large exhaust stack for the Paraffin engines. This all took time and took vital minutes to do if you needed to dive quickly. This class of boat was among the earliest German U boats to have the new Diesel engines installed making the large smoke stacks redundant.
After spending a lot of time sanding down and getting consistency, length wise and symmetrical across in section I decided to start sheeting. However before starting this I decided to cut out Renshape strip for the top decks. The three top decks, the raised middle one and then two lower slightly smaller side ones will be made of Renshape. This will be glued over the top of the Bulkheads and the stringers as they run the length of the boat. In order to do this I took my ridiculously big chunk of Renshape provided generously by Hardrock to school and the table saw to cut strips. This stuff is heavy. I cut strips of about 5 mm thick that will make up the decks and the sides.
I have also in the meantime created with a small block of Renshape the base of the Conning tower. This was placed on a strip of Renshape and placed onto the hull to get some idea of the overall positioning and look.
These decks will be scribed before being glued down to the hull. This will simply make inscribing easier. I am sure that HWSNBN will be watching this one, do I hear a whip crack?
Anyway, back to the sheeting. I bought some sheets of 2mm Balsa. The plan is to wrap this sheeting around the hull and glue down to the frames. The longitudinal separation of the sheets will be determined by the location of the stringers and the sheets will end over the edges of a Bulkhead where needed. The first piece of Balsa sheet will run the length of the starboard side and will run from the top of the hull (Gunwale) down the side to run along the lowest stringer before the keel. This would effectively cover about 70% of the side surface area.
Mark out the profile and then cut out. I then marked the location of the bulkheads by line. Because of the nature of the sheeting and hull shape I will be taking a flat sheet of balsa and wrapping it around
a compound curve. The curve inwards of the hull line along its length and also the curve downwards. So material has to give. In order to make this easier I cut lines from the bottom of the sheet up untill about 80% of the width of the piece. I then sanded to make a slightly tapering gap. When the piece is pinned up and glued the curve will mean that the balso sheet will close at each cut causing the sheet to confrom to the complex compound curve a bit easier.
Pins and pegs.
Repeat with the other side.
David H
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