USS Tucson

[CC Clarke]

This keeps getting better and better!

The fairing is for the towed array cover, (The array is stored inside a steel tube under the fairing when retracted.) The handling system with winch and hull penetration, (static and dynamic seals) for the tow cable is located under the forward leading edge of the fairing.

Constructed of fiberglass mounted to a steel frame, the towed array covers' center offset makes it an ideal location to mount the safety track with close hatch access.

CC

[JHapprich]

Looking good! Messy bench? Looks like work beeing done to me!
i thought you were bulding that hull directly , but now i see this is the master plug under construction, right?

Jörg

[SSBN659]

To add the safety track faring I started with a half inch dowel rod, drew a 3/8" chord for scale and mounted the rod to a jig with hot glue to hold it in place. Then I cut the rod at the bandsaw, shaped the ends and mounted it to the hull with blue tape for a first fit. The forth photo shows the placement was off by about a half inch at the pencil mark so I moved the rod back, re-taped it and drilled pilot holes for nails. The next step will be to secure the rod in place with epoxy and nails. There is a lot more to do but our garage is still a bit cold so the work progresses slowly. Oh, hope you don't mind the messy work bench. It works for me.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Oops, don't know how that happened. The links above should have been posts number 47 and 45.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Thanks again for good information CC. Looking back at post D&E MINIATURES SUPPORT I see Toledo had no inset on the sail so your comment about a one-off makes sense. The pictures you posted above and item 2 on post KMC DESIGNS SUPPORT will help me include them on my model.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[CC Clarke]

As a former ST, I can tell you the WLR-12 (9, 12, 17) systems all used the same hydrophone configuration topside and on the keel. Two, small, (high-freq hydrophone fairings) and a larger, low freq hydrophone fairing - normally, only the topside, bow-mounted fairings are ever photographed. The smaller fairing on top of the sail and lower fairing on the bow (Kamehameha shown) are pictured.

The square panels on the sides of the sail may be one-offs on this flight for another sonar, but they aren't from the 12.

CC

[SSBN659]

Thanks David, right on.

Found this in Norman Friedman's U.S. SUBMARINES SINCE 1945.

"Unlike earlier designs, Los Angeles shows no separate sonar dome for an acoustic intercept receiver, so presumably her WLR-12 arrays are behind windows faired into the sail; for example, some photographs suggest that there is an acoustic window on the after part of the sail."

I will include this in the sail.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

sonar window?

[SSBN659]

Tucson arriving Pearl Harbor shows same inset on port side.

[SSBN659]

Too cold out in the shop to work on the model so researching details for scribing Tucson sail. Found this photo of Tucson coming alongside Emory Land in the Philippines. Can anyone identify what the 2 areas in red are? The larger area appears to be set in.



Thanks for any help.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Scribing the fairing covers for the Vertical Launch System has been a challenge. I haven't done any scribing since the Kilo I did several years back and my eyes aren't as sharp as before. I found some templates I used on my Visitor III and tried them.



The problem was they were too round and didn't come close to matching the real thing so I created new templates from Polystyrene Sheet. This one was better in that it was closer to the real thing..



I've tried several times to get it just right but still not there yet. I fill the mistakes with glazing putty, sand, prime and re-scribe.


I will eventually get there. Stay tuned.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Thanks CC for the info.

I found this photo of hatches on Toledo SSN 769 and wanted to include the detail on my model.



I used a Forstner bit to create a flat indent on the hull for my polystyrene hatch plate. Then masked around the hatch plate and filled in with glazing putty. Next I sanded around the plate to get the contour with the hull. Hopefully this will look close to the real thing once I get the final coat of paint on the model. That will take awhile as I still have a lot of work to do on the hull before getting back to the sail, rudders and planes.


Happy New Year everyone!

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[CC Clarke]

Can't make out any detail of #1, but Forum is the same shape and profile of the Active Emissions Intercept LF hydrophone (also mounted topside on the bow) used from the WLR-9 to at least the WLR-17. A smaller, nearly identical fairing for HF acoustic reception sits on top of the sail, and along the keel. Mounting the pair of dual-acoustic band hydrophones above and below the ship's centerline gave optimal threat coverage against targets below (submarines or skimmers joining them) and surface contacts (nearly always skimmers). Forum has an oval mount projecting from the keel with the hydropone suspended from it. Heavy pigs; I never enjoyed having to remove / install the lower from scaffolding.

[SSBN659]

Too cold to work out in the garage so I've been searching the web and found this shot of the GREENVILLE on dock. These two areas don't show on the drawings I have. What are they?



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SubICman]

They are indeed on both sides.