USS Tucson

[SSBN659]

Making slow progress. Upper and lower rudders. Next will be stern planes with fat line and thin line towed arrays.

[SSBN659]

Had some spare time this morning so here are fat line and thin line arrays as I formed the bottoms to conform to the hull. Next I'll permanently attach them with CA.

[SSBN659]

Finally was able to do a dry fit of the countermeasures to check alignment before permanently attaching them. Looks like I need to make some adjustments. The fat line and thin line arrays are now permanently attached



Lots more to come.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Ok, I need some help David or others too. The alignment I did in the post above is not working for me. After two tries I still can't seem to get the 2 countermeasures aligned to my satisfaction. Anyone have any tips or ideas for an alignment jig?

Thanks,

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Ok, I need some help David or others too. The alignment I did in the post above is not working for me. After two tries I still can't seem to get the 2 countermeasures aligned to my satisfaction. Anyone have any tips or ideas for an alignment jig?

Thanks,

Will Rogers
SSBN659

Girdle the ass-end with a temporary alignment jig. Like this one used to get the tail-feathers right on a 1/96 SEAWOLF.

[SSBN659]

Many thanks David, you gave me an idea. Always appreciate your help. I marked up my right triangle with felt tip marked and used it as my jig. For the starboard side I just reversed the triangle. I'm happy with result. Now, back to work



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Many thanks David, you gave me an idea. Always appreciate your help. I marked up my right triangle with felt tip marked and used it as my jig. For the starboard side I just reversed the triangle. I'm happy with result. Now, back to work



Will Rogers
SSBN659

Slick trick with the right-tringle, Will. Very slick! I'll file that away -- much simpler than my deep-sea-nuclear-powered-overkill alignment jig. KISS on display.

David

[SSBN659]

A quick update on the forward planes progress.



The last photo shows where I used baking soda and crazy glue to fill the void between the plane and the hull. Doesn't look good right now but some sanding will fix that.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[DrSchmidt]

What a nice big boat.

[SSBN659]

Work continues on Tucson, although slowly as I'm the sole care giver for my wife who had another bad fall but is now doing well with her recovery.

Tucson is beginning to take shape nicely, even though looking a bit rough. And yes, the workbench looks a bit rough too.


Once I clean up the scribing I'll start some of the finer work such as masts, capstan, cleats, strainers, ballast vents, etc.

A question for the audience. My drawing shows only one auxiliary seawater intake and discharge but I suspect there are two each. Can anyone out there confirm which is correct?

Thanks in advance for any help on this.


Will Rogers
SSSBN659

[DrSchmidt]

Your boat is a beauty....

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Work continues on Tucson, although slowly as I'm the sole care giver for my wife who had another bad fall but is now doing well with her recovery.

Tucson is beginning to take shape nicely, even though looking a bit rough. And yes, the workbench looks a bit rough too.


Once I clean up the scribing I'll start some of the finer work such as masts, capstan, cleats, strainers, ballast vents, etc.

A question for the audience. My drawing shows only one auxiliary seawater intake and discharge but I suspect there are two each. Can anyone out there confirm which is correct?

Thanks in advance for any help on this.


Will Rogers
SSSBN659

Yupe. Mirror the MSW and ASW suction and discharges -- one set on each side near the stern.

[SSBN659]

What would be nice would be a look at the Docking Plan showing the locations of the intake and discharge openings.

Will Rogers
SSBN659

[SSBN659]

Without a look at a Docking Plan I made a guess based on cooler seawater intakes being forward of and higher than the warmer seawater discharges. Work on the underside (in red primer) is almost complete except for a few spots needing touchup. Then I will install grates on the intakes and discharges and do a final coat of red on the underside.



Will Rogers
SSBN659

[wlambing]

Wayyyy tooo far aft! There are some very good illustrations floating about in the ether that show the placement of the sea chests. The Greg Sharp drawings come to mind, locatable in long past issues of the SCR. There are also several renditions in different scales of the 688 hulls that have the locations marked. Years ago, I had a Thor 1/96 I started as Tuscon and sold it to a USMC Sergeant who worked at Fleet Headquarters in Pearl Harbor. What are those monstrous holes on the keel for? Faster flood/drain of the hull? Not really necessary! All of the teardrop hulls produced in 1/96 and larger have no problem filling/draining via the free flood ports! Perhaps you are gonna surprise us with a neat feature, or two? Like maybe dropping M-80s on unsuspecting opponents? I always wondered why we hadn't thought up some nasty thing to drop on Ivan that could be deployed via the TDU. THAT woulda been fun!!!!