3D printed 1/48 Thresher

[SubDude]

I added some strips of fiberglass tape to help add a little strength. This is the first time I have tried this. Another option could be adding some carbon fiber cloth which would really stiffen it up if needed. My plan is to get a coat of primer on it tomorrow.


I did the same thing to the upper hull.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

What lighting did this boat have? White on top of the rudder, red and green on the sail? Did it have a yellow blinking the letter 'S' or was that something that got introduced later?

I believe the 'submarine identification light' was on a portable mast put in place by the bridge watch-standers while cruising on the surface. It was Amber of color. Ed can tell you all about it.

The rudder was supposed to have both a white stern light (32 points port-starboard... Ed? Help!) And a solid white anchor light above it. The sail mounted port-starboard running lights were in retractable housings.

David

[SubDude]

What lighting did this boat have? White on top of the rudder, red and green on the sail? Did it have a yellow blinking the letter 'S' or was that something that got introduced later?

[SubDude]

Nice work adding the PUFFS end plates and propeller to your model, that's a very quick turn around! Looking forward to seeing the finished model.

Thank you sir and thank you for all of your good information on the end plates.

[jphatton]

Nice work adding the PUFFS end plates and propeller to your model, that's a very quick turn around! Looking forward to seeing the finished model.

[SubDude]

I had to make my own...



I also made the PUFFS hydrophones...


And the other side...

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I agree David. I wish we had something more definitive on the Prop. I think all this clearly shows that there were a lot of changes to the progression of these boats during that time as advancements in technology permitted. No pun intended. Good stuff!

Nice thing about my eventual 1/72 model: I already have five and seven-bladed wheels for that boat at hand. As to the five-blader, its the same for SKIPJACK, THRESHER, and WASHINGTON class boats.

[SubDude]

I agree David. I wish we had something more definitive on the Prop. I think all this clearly shows that there were a lot of changes to the progression of these boats during that time as advancements in technology permitted. No pun intended. Good stuff!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Wow! Most of the wreak photo's I've never seen. Two-inch plate just twisted like a hand-towel. Gives me the willies!

Both items you referenced are now in my hard-drive. Most useful. Thank you, sir. My eventual 1/72 THRESHER will be all the more accurate owing to your good works here.

David

[jphatton]

I did a bit of analysis of Thresher PUFFS end plates a few months ago, based on photos and comparing to drawings in incorporating into a basic CAD model. The thread which includes links can be found here;

https://forum.rc-sub.com/forum/general-topics/147016-thresher-permit-control-surface-bearing-blocks-hydrophone-end-plates

The photo's of the PUFFS end plates on the Thresher wreckage are on page 25 and 26 of this report on the Trieste survey of the wreck;

http://navsource.org/archives/08/pdf/0859368.pdf

[SubDude]

Yeah. In the early days there was PUFFS -- a passive means of getting useful, real-time, range and bearing -- a system that required three equally spaced transducers over the length of the hull. Later the concept matured into the big arrays we see on the hulls of SEAWOLF and later attack boats. The small vertical stabilizers (on some boats of the class?) reportedly housed the after most elements of that system.



This is the BARB, so outfitted.

The follow on class, STURGEON, were pretty much the same hull as THRESHER class, but with an altered internal arrangement, a monstrous sail, and enlarge vertical stabilizers -- likely so big to stabilize the boat in yaw because of the destabilizing effect of the enlarged sail so far forward of the boats center of gravity.

David

So did the Thresher have them? You say they were affirmed from photos of the wreckage? I have seen many photos but not that one.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Vertical stabilizers!?!

Yeah. In the early days there was PUFFS -- a passive means of getting useful, real-time, range and bearing -- a system that required three equally spaced transducers over the length of the hull. Later the concept matured into the big arrays we see on the hulls of SEAWOLF and later attack boats. The small vertical stabilizers (on some boats of the class?) reportedly housed the after most elements of that system.



This is the BARB, so outfitted.

The follow on class, STURGEON, were pretty much the same hull as THRESHER class, but with an altered internal arrangement, a monstrous sail, and enlarge vertical stabilizers -- likely so big to stabilize the boat in yaw because of the destabilizing effect of the enlarged sail so far forward of the boats center of gravity.

David

[SubDude]

Agreed. Jury is still out regarding the below centerline color at time of launch.

However near the end of the video on a the pier, still braced within its shipping cradle, is a S5W five-blade screw. Portsmouth elected to launch the THRESHER without her screw. Was this the wheel they put on the boat? Likely. There remains controversy if this particular boat ever got a seven-bladed, skewed back propeller before her loss.

I'm about six months away from detailing my 1/72 THRESHER and two things remain in question regarding the arrangement of the boat at time of loss: Was there a red anti-foul coating, and if so where was the demarcation line; and did the boat sport the five or seven bladed screw? The abbreviated vertical stabilizers at the tips of the horizontal stabilizers were affirmed from photos of the wreckage, so I'll have to add those. I want to do this boat right.



David

Vertical stabilizers!?!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I found this colour film of the USS Thresher in the building shed and launch on Youtube;

https://youtu.be/EIFroFoVQu8

There are some brief views of the underside (1:45 time mark onwards) but as it is inside the building it is quite dark - it looks like it is black but it is difficult to be sure. The actual footage of the launch is nose on, so the underside is out of view.

Agreed. Jury is still out regarding the below centerline color at time of launch.

However near the end of the video on a the pier, still braced within its shipping cradle, is a S5W five-blade screw. Portsmouth elected to launch the THRESHER without her screw. Was this the wheel they put on the boat? Likely. There remains controversy if this particular boat ever got a seven-bladed, skewed back propeller before her loss.

I'm about six months away from detailing my 1/72 THRESHER and two things remain in question regarding the arrangement of the boat at time of loss: Was there a red anti-foul coating, and if so where was the demarcation line; and did the boat sport the five or seven bladed screw? The abbreviated vertical stabilizers at the tips of the horizontal stabilizers were affirmed from photos of the wreckage, so I'll have to add those. I want to do this boat right.



David

[jphatton]

Never had the seven-bladed screw?

I'm finishing up a 1/72 THRESHER (mine, not Fred's). I'll do the red anti-foul on the Admiral's say-so.

David

I found this colour film of the USS Thresher in the building shed and launch on Youtube;

https://youtu.be/EIFroFoVQu8

There are some brief views of the underside (1:45 time mark onwards) but as it is inside the building it is quite dark - it looks like it is black but it is difficult to be sure. The actual footage of the launch is nose on, so the underside is out of view.