USS Tucson

[trout]

Geez David, now I have to go out buy some lacquer thinner, more CA and raid my wife's pantry for some baking soda. Does it ever stop? :)

Tom, I sprayed the masters with Rust-Oleum primer sanded down to 600 grit then sprayed with mold release. But I think you are right on about plugging the holes because they were deep. Don't have a pressure pot as this is likely my last build.

Thanks, as always.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

Some paints work and others do not (even in the same brand) - I have had rust-oleum react badly with my platinum silicon. Anyways, love watching you work.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Geez David, now I have to go out buy some lacquer thinner, more CA and raid my wife's pantry for some baking soda. Does it ever stop? :)

Tom, I sprayed the masters with Rust-Oleum primer sanded down to 600 grit then sprayed with mold release. But I think you are right on about plugging the holes because they were deep. Don't have a pressure pot as this is likely my last build.

Thanks, as always.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

LOL. Whaaaa... whaaaaa! (you're here to be punished!)

[SSBN659]

Geez David, now I have to go out buy some lacquer thinner, more CA and raid my wife's pantry for some baking soda. Does it ever stop? :)

Tom, I sprayed the masters with Rust-Oleum primer sanded down to 600 grit then sprayed with mold release. But I think you are right on about plugging the holes because they were deep. Don't have a pressure pot as this is likely my last build.

Thanks, as always.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[trout]

I am going to make some statements without knowing if you did or did not do. I spray my parts with a paint that I know will not react with the rubber. The times I have had uncured rubber were from me not mixing well or a reaction with the part (like oils or paint). On holes, I do not let the depth go deep, meaning, I put a stop on the depth of the holes (fill them with a wire or bondo). The reason is if you are pulling the master out, it is too easy to rip fine details or long filaments in an original. Again I do not know if that is what happened with you. Also, putting your mold in a pressure pot and curing under pressure assures that the rubber will get into the recesses or holes you do have.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Still trying to get satisfactory copies of the masters for the stern planes and countermeasures. It hasn't been easy.

Empty yogurt cups with the bottom cut out are my mold boxes for the second try. Hot glue sealed the bottom around the upside-down cup on the base. Once the rubber had cured the cups were turned right side up and the masters removed. I can work with the stern planes copies but the countermeasures are still a problem.



The red arrows mark the problem areas on the countermeasure canister where the rubber didn't fully cure or came loose when I pulled the master from the mold. I will do a two piece rubber mold of the countermeasures for the next try.



Any suggestions are welcome.


Will Rogers
SSBN659

Clean the counter-measure parts in lacquer thinner and scrub away all uncured area. Rebuild those voids with baking soda and CA adhesive. The nubs can be got at with knife and small rotary tools. Work with what you got, no need to make another tool.

Finish it, already!

David

[SSBN659]

Still trying to get satisfactory copies of the masters for the stern planes and countermeasures. It hasn't been easy.

Empty yogurt cups with the bottom cut out are my mold boxes for the second try. Hot glue sealed the bottom around the upside-down cup on the base. Once the rubber had cured the cups were turned right side up and the masters removed. I can work with the stern planes copies but the countermeasures are still a problem.



The red arrows mark the problem areas on the countermeasure canister where the rubber didn't fully cure or came loose when I pulled the master from the mold. I will do a two piece rubber mold of the countermeasures for the next try.



Any suggestions are welcome.


Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Had some issues with silicone not curing completely so ordered more for another try - it's been several years since I've done any molds. While waiting for more silicone I moved on to scribing the sail.

I built a light box to trace details from the sail print to a sheet of polystyrene. Then using a scribing needle I cut out each of the details using several different steel templates. I will use this polystyrene template for both sides of the sail. This assumes the details are the same on both sides. They probably are not exactly the same but this works for me.

The plywood shape screwed to the bottom of the sail gives me a handhold for scribing. Several strips of blue tape hold the template in place. Taping top, middle and bottom allows me to move a strip back to uncover sections while keeping the template in place. There are some places of scribing that I need to do a bit of work on before it's satisfactory but I'll get it.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Work on Tucson continues, slowly. I've been working on the countermeasures, upper and lower rudders, forward and rear planes preparing the masters for molding. Seems like it's sand, prime, inspect, fill, sand prime, inspect - several times until it's as near to right as you can get it.

I built the mold box using discarded base secured with hot glue. Not all the masters will fit so I'll do more than one mold. Turns out the volume of the box is almost the same as the volume of silicone rubber I bought so I'll have to order more rubber.



I'll get there one day, slowly.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Almost finished with the countermeasures after 5 tries to get it right. It's in prime now with some of the other masters for inspection. They're mounted on board with hot glue to hold at arms length for priming.



Now working the fwd dive plane master. I will do only one half of the plane then cast 4 pieces all the same size and shape, glue them together top and bottom to form 2 symmetrical planes. That's the plan anyhow, hope I can pull it off.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Thanks David.

I did not get a tight fit (red arrow 1st shot below) and thought it needed fixing, Caulking on the end of the dowel rod pushed out through the brass tube and smoothed off seemed to fix the problem. Hope it holds up for the mold. Still more work to do on countermeasures.


Will Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

looking good, Will.

David

[SSBN659]

Back home now and back to work on Tucson. During our visit I found this model of USS Sturgeon I did years ago. When we moved to Arizona I gave it to our granddaughter and was pleased to see it made the move back East with only minor damage. With a bit of CA the repairs were easy.



The master for Tucson's countermeasures is probably the most difficult piece of work I've ever done - this is my third attempt and I'm still working on it. Eventually I will get right.



More later.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Still working on countermeasures. Turned my drill press into a milling machine and using my Dremel tool on the pink stuff machined the following,





Still lots more to do but we are taking a break to visit family back East. More when we return.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

I'm still trying to get the countermeasures right. Recall my first attempt in the first picture below. It was nowhere near what it should be so back to work. After trying several different materials I'm on attempt number 6 now using a pink material I found that is similar to Reshape and easy to sand. Picture 2 shows several throwaways. Each attempt is glued to my plastic Ace card for shaping on the sander. When one side is finished I reverse the piece on the card to shape the other side. When I finally get a piece I'm satisfied with it will become the master to mold 2 identical pieces. More to come.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Really appreciate all the help I'm getting from you submariners. Thanks.

Will Rogers
SSBN659