USS Tucson

[SSBN659]

Some guys in Arizona are lucky to have AC in their garage, I'm not one of them. 105F yesterday in my garage so little or no work on Tucson. I did manage a coat of flat primer on the hull early this morning before it got hot. Until it cools off a bit progress will be slow but it is beginning to look like a submarine.




Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Still working on scribing details on the sail but 102F in the garage means further corrections will have to wait.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[CC Clarke]

Looking good! Scribing is an art.

I spent four hours in the garage polishing a 53" hull with 1000 grit yesterday - @ 112 outside, I keep the garage at 78 and the deltaT coming in from the backyard makes it feel like a refrigerator. Being able to print year-round is an added bonus. I'm sure glad the previous owner had the foresight to install a seperate unit dedicated to the garage! I didn't see any other cooled garages when I bought this place last year. Of course, the main AC system was just replaced last month ($20K!) so I'll be skipping meals to save money for food - the alternative in AZ is an agonizing death without it. Having a 12k gal test tank in the back yard is another good deal.

Keep up the great (inspiring) work!

[SSBN659]

Thanks CC, how about posting a picture of what you are building. I'd be interested in seeing it. Might give me some ideas. David's recent post about using JB Weld for deadlights gave me an idea for my Tucson.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Still hot as blazes here so some work on Tucson could be done in the kitchen - much cooler inside. Tucson drawings and photos show 4 sets of hinged cleats forward of the sail and 3 sets of two fixed cleats aft of the sail. Years ago Steve R showed me how he made cleats on his Permit and I've used his method on my models.



They work fine for the hinged cleats but the fixed cleats aft the sail are different as shown in this photo of Tuscan arriving in Honolulu.



So two large spikes back to back using CA and baking soda got very close.



I ground the back side of the spikes flat, held 2 of them back to back with waxed paper (what part of bonds instantly to skin do we not understand?), hit them with a shot of CA and dipped them in baking soda.

Next job is to sand off the excess to get the shape I need.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[wlambing]

Think skinny American football when sanding to shape! ;)

[SSBN659]

The past few weeks have been too hot to work in the garage so I brought some work inside to the kitchen - much cooler. I had reworked the openings in the hull for seawater intakes and discharges some time back.



Now to fill in the details and make it look real as much as possible at this scale.



I found this in a bottle of aspirin and thought it might work as an overboard discharge grate. We'll see how works out.

Other grates details were formed from polystyrene sheet, screen repair mesh, and CA of course.



I tried to make it look like you could see up through the grates into the sea chests on the main seawater intakes. If you use a bit of imagination it might work:)

The underside of Tucson is nearly complete in red primer.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

I remember asking what these were and thought I should include them on my Tucson.


So made a special template out of polystyrene sheet and secured it with blue tape.



I flipped up the template keeping it secure until I checked the scribing. It looked OK to me so on to the Port side.

To get the Port side done I flipped the template so the Stbd side faced up and secured it again with the blue.



The green covers my first attempt at scribing the retractable cleats. I wasn't satisfied with my first try so I gouged out the work with my Dremel and filled in with Evercoat Body Filler.

Work continues, slowly.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[wlambing]

Those are free-flood area vents to help get rid of air trapped in the missile tube support structures. There are several levels of horizontal structure in there that keep the tubes in place. Air has a very convoluted path inside the shell plating to get out. It gets in there during surface transits, 'cos these guys punch holes in the swells and waves instead of staying on top like skimmers do. It's a hell of a ride to watch to watch the bow as you bounce around in 30' seas in the Irish Sea!!!! Green water over the bridge- The only way to fly!!!!! ;)

[SSBN659]

Finally mounted the sale after weeks of trying to get the scribing to my satisfaction. It's NAGAM, but it's close.




Several months back I bought a new airbrush, compressor and some Acrylic paints. Since I haven't used an airbrush for a few years and have never used acrylic paints I thought some practice would be good.

I set up the first hull that had the epoxy failure and brushed on some different colors and mixes.


Then I tried the airbrush with several different mixes of black paint and distilled water thinner. Looks like I need a lot more practice.


Any tips on airbrushing acrylics will be greatly appreciated.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[CC Clarke]

I'm a fan of Vallejo airbrush (AR) paint. Some colors need slight thinning, but the majority work well between 15-25 PSIG. Before practicing on a hull, use sheets of paper to get your technique down from different distances and flow rates. As always, clean the airbrush well between uses.

[Das Boot]

Rattle can works for me. Flat black and red primer. Practice on paper for the airbrush, or you’ll wind up with a mess.

[SSBN659]

Thanks guys. I've done the rattle can and oil based paints with the Badger airbrush and syphon cup long ago. Now I'm trying acrylics with a gravity feed brush, all new to me. I'll keep at it till I get it right.

Wil Rogers
SSBN659

[wlambing]

Don't use flat black! It's too dark. Use some dark, charcoal gray hot rod primer. If you have to, make your own dark gray color and go from there. For the lower hull, go with something that hits right between your patch of "100% flat red matte (right half, midships) and the "100% something" (lower aft) and you will have a nice color base to weather over.

[SSBN659]

Still playing with the right mix of red but making progress. Also been practicing with new airbrush and getting Tucson ready for painting. Once painting is done I'll install masts & antennas. retractable capstan, hinged cleats and maybe a hinged chock. One drawing I have shows what may be the chock aft but I'm not sure of that. Anyone know more about that?

Oh, forgot about a prop. That needs to be made and that will be a real challenge. I've never made one but I'll give it try.



Will Rogers
SSBN659