USS Tucson

[SSBN659]

When we moved from California to a retirement community in Arizona I donated most of my models and tools thinking my model building was over. A year and a half later I decided to do one more while I still could. I thought an LA class boat would be somewhat easy to do. Our community is about 25 miles north of Tucson so that's the boat I'll model. I found a piece of 3" PVC conduit up in the construction area and that got me started. Then found an interesting article that gave me an idea for shaping the bow. Tried shaping 1/4" MDF sections on the drill press but wasn't happy with result. I had better results using high density pink foam. Much easier but still had to refine the shape. Once I finally get the bow and stern formed I'll cover them with fiberglass and epoxy resin.



Will Rogers
SSBN 659

[SSBN659]

Progress on the stern using pink foam sections turned on my "drill press lathe", something I learned recently from the Master.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[DrSchmidt]

A classic approach to build a master....very good.

[jphatton]

Progress on the stern using pink foam sections turned on my "drill press lathe", something I learned recently from the Master.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

Thanks for posting photo's of the setup used to turn the rear hull master. To sand the foam do you put sandpaper on the edge of the template shown in photo 3, then slowly advance it until you arrive at the correct profile?

[SSBN659]

Yes. First 1/2" wide 60 grit then later 100 grit sandpaper glued to the template with 3/4" plywood guides. I don't have a digital printer but this method works well for me.



Before doing any topside work I marked and drilled the positions for mounting holes.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Fiberglass has arrived but still waiting resin so to keep the project moving forward I cut out templates for the sail, the rudders and the anhedrals for countermeasures. I ordered a new disk sander for shaping these. Then I started looking at rubber for molds and for casting resin. This project is going to take awhile.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

New Micro Mark Benchtop Disk Sander arrived today so had to try it out, even though it was over 100 F in the garage. I found something similar to Renshape on Amazon and tried it. So far it seems to work well. The real test will be how well it scribes. Time will tell, but that is months away. The material was crazy glued to an old hotel plastic room key to keep my fingers clear.

Meanwhile look back at my original attempt at the bow in the first post. I couldn't get the measurements within 2 mills at each point around the bow so I started over. This is the current bow in works. Plywood and pink foam glued to the bow will be glued into the hull to secure the bow to the hull, just as I secured the after end to the hull. Still needs some glazing putty.I hope it works.

Fiberglass resin has arrived so now to glass the bow and stern. Standby.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

My first attempt at shaping the sail using the pink foam like material did not work well. The problem was not so much the material as much as the method. It was good practice. For the second attempt I used plywood, glued an old plastic membership card to the bottom of the sail and hot glued a square to the side of the sail. Did the starboard side first then reversed sides and did the port side. Looking ahead I drilled holes for mounting antennas and masts. Long way to go before working those items.



Next step is shaping the rudders. I'll put off shaping the stern planes for awhile and start on epoxy resin and fiberglass for the bow and stern.

Will Rogers
SSBN 659

[JHapprich]

Will, is this going to be the actual sail or the plug for a silicon mold?

[SSBN659]

I'm glad you asked that question because it made me think. I could use this as the actual sail but scribing on wood is difficult. I could make a silicon mold and then scribe. But thinking about this made me look back at the sail I made for my Kilo years ago. There I used the lost foam method and that worked out well. So, to answer your question I'm leaning towards the lost foam method. You really got me thinking - thanks.

Will Rogers
SSBN 659

[SSBN659]

Quick update. Temperatures in our garage running 100 degrees during the days so this morning early I finally fiberglassed the bow and the stern.



Will Rogers
SSBN 659

[SSBN659]

My first pass at fiberglassing didn't work well, probably because I didn't mix the components well enough. The resin didn't cure completely and was a sticky mess. I spent several days scraping, sanding, sweating in a hot garage until I got all the uncured resin off. Then I started on a second coat of fiberglass and resin. I made cloth templates for cutting the the bow and stern fiberglass pieces. There are still some rough spots to be sanding before I put on anther coat of grey primer. This his taking a lot longer than I thought but I have a lot of time.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Adventures in Model Building... ReeeEEEeeee!

[Subculture]

I use very accurate digital scales when mixing epoxy.

If you need to cover a rough surface, best to smooth with polyester putty before priming.

[SSBN659]

The scraping and sanding continues and I think I have most of it done. At this point I would primer it first to spot the places needing the glazing putty, then primer again. Am I missing something Subculture?

Will Rogers
SSBN659