That's right, I said 'build'. Not 'assemble'! This is a scratch-built model. The tools and model parts produced by my own hands. What a concept!
The D&E Miniatures 1/96 SKIPJACK r/c submarine kit. I've been without one of my own long enough! Time to get ready for 2021's Groton, Fleet-run, Nauticus, and SubFest events this coming new year.
Here's one of the several 1/96 SKIPJACK's I built for a customer back in the day. It's dressed out in the pre-commissioning color scheme.
A previous 1/96 SKIPJACK running at the now defunct Newport News Fall Festival event. The SKIPJACK is fast, tight turning, and demanding of the driver's full, undivided attention. These boats were the Navy's Maserati's: Fast, Loud, and very Sexy!
The demarcation line between black and anti-foul red is at the designed waterline on this model. This is the pre-commissioning color scheme. I favor it as it produces better visibility of the model than the post commissioning scheme.
This SKIPJACK is busy making the local JCC outdoor swimming pool safe for Democracy!
"Shove off Ivan, the Sheriff is in town!"
Notice that this model has the anti-foul paint demarcation line from centerline down. This is the post commissioning scheme.
I've been producing this kit for over thirty years now, and have built at least five of them to operational status. These things are second-nature to me now. Now, it's time to build one just for me. Not a commission, not given away to a deserving friend. No. This one's for me! I'm recently retired, and it's come time to address my bucket-list.
My most recent tools are of the mother-mold, glove-mold type; the rubber element imparts all the fine detail to the GRP parts. The stiff mother-mold gives rigidity to the tool during the lay-up process. The hull is GRP. The sail, tail-cone, appendages, and SD saddles are cast from polyurethane resin. The propeller, yokes and small detail parts are cast white-metal.
Documentation is everything. We're talking 'scale model' here. Not a toy.
Yanking a GRP hull part out of the glove-mold that gave it form during the glass lay-up process. The rubber glove is given support during work as it resides within the mother-mold, seen on the bench.
The tooling employed to produce a D&E Miniatures SKIPJACK kit.
About two years ago I started another 1/96 SKIPJACK, getting it as far as primer gray and functional. But, that work had to be set aside as I became ever more involved in SD production work for the market. Now that I'm a free man, time had come to finish this bad boy and build up my fleet.
Preceding any priming or painting step the model parts are wiped down with a de-greaser. This insures perfect adhesion and forestalls the development of 'fish-eye' and other faults than can result if the models surface is not receptive to the adhesion process.
The red anti-foul has been applied. Next step is the black (a very dark gray, actually -- one must account for 'scale effect').
I use industrial strength paints. All you need are the primary colors, black, white, flattening agent and a color wheel and you have any color and sheen you desire.
David
The Horrible
The D&E Miniatures 1/96 SKIPJACK r/c submarine kit. I've been without one of my own long enough! Time to get ready for 2021's Groton, Fleet-run, Nauticus, and SubFest events this coming new year.
Here's one of the several 1/96 SKIPJACK's I built for a customer back in the day. It's dressed out in the pre-commissioning color scheme.
A previous 1/96 SKIPJACK running at the now defunct Newport News Fall Festival event. The SKIPJACK is fast, tight turning, and demanding of the driver's full, undivided attention. These boats were the Navy's Maserati's: Fast, Loud, and very Sexy!
The demarcation line between black and anti-foul red is at the designed waterline on this model. This is the pre-commissioning color scheme. I favor it as it produces better visibility of the model than the post commissioning scheme.
This SKIPJACK is busy making the local JCC outdoor swimming pool safe for Democracy!
"Shove off Ivan, the Sheriff is in town!"
Notice that this model has the anti-foul paint demarcation line from centerline down. This is the post commissioning scheme.
I've been producing this kit for over thirty years now, and have built at least five of them to operational status. These things are second-nature to me now. Now, it's time to build one just for me. Not a commission, not given away to a deserving friend. No. This one's for me! I'm recently retired, and it's come time to address my bucket-list.
My most recent tools are of the mother-mold, glove-mold type; the rubber element imparts all the fine detail to the GRP parts. The stiff mother-mold gives rigidity to the tool during the lay-up process. The hull is GRP. The sail, tail-cone, appendages, and SD saddles are cast from polyurethane resin. The propeller, yokes and small detail parts are cast white-metal.
Documentation is everything. We're talking 'scale model' here. Not a toy.
Yanking a GRP hull part out of the glove-mold that gave it form during the glass lay-up process. The rubber glove is given support during work as it resides within the mother-mold, seen on the bench.
The tooling employed to produce a D&E Miniatures SKIPJACK kit.
About two years ago I started another 1/96 SKIPJACK, getting it as far as primer gray and functional. But, that work had to be set aside as I became ever more involved in SD production work for the market. Now that I'm a free man, time had come to finish this bad boy and build up my fleet.
Preceding any priming or painting step the model parts are wiped down with a de-greaser. This insures perfect adhesion and forestalls the development of 'fish-eye' and other faults than can result if the models surface is not receptive to the adhesion process.
The red anti-foul has been applied. Next step is the black (a very dark gray, actually -- one must account for 'scale effect').
I use industrial strength paints. All you need are the primary colors, black, white, flattening agent and a color wheel and you have any color and sheen you desire.
David
The Horrible
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