1:72 Los Angeles

[spankey]

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to fill it again...the first time I filled, I used evercoat, and when I went back over the scribing, It would 'skip' into the old channels. Better than it was originally, but still not great. I'll fill again with CA this time instead.

Doing the MBT flood holes tomorrow...should have some photos then.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I stand corrected. There are only two ballast tanks in the after group -- four MBTV's.

The stanchion foundations are 'bumps' on the pressure hull (remember, other than the bow, stern, and ballast tank areas, what you're looking at is pressure hull) around the two deck hatches, that stand about three inches proud of the deck. In the center of each stanchion foundation is a taped hole that receives a screw-in type stanchion.

Pretty ratty looking engraving. You'll improve in time. Tip: make many light passes with the scratch-awl, not a few heavy ones.

One of these days I'll show you guys how the big-boys do it.

Press on!

David

[spankey]

this is that tail end shot, with only two sets of MBT vents... That right? Most of the time, those things are underwater, when the boat is at the pier anyway, so its hard to see them.

[spankey]

Haa, I always say that to the car parts store when I am buying brake cleaner....they keep trying to sell me this enviro-friendly stuff...might as well be blowing smoke rings at my car's brakes to try to clean them off with that stuff. If its not nasty, it doenst work!

I just finished with a bit of the corrective scribing.

I attached a scan of the tail end...I think greg's plans only showed two sets of vents on the stern. Anyone have any confirmation on this?

She looks a bit better now.

Another scribing question....there are gobs and gobs of stantion mounts all over the hull...indicated by #11 on Greg's LA plans. Should I scribe these? I'm wondering if it'll get too cluttered.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Retard curve, indeed. You're doing fine! (Kerry's going to kill me, first opportunity, I'm sure). The LA's had three ballast tanks forward, and three aft, so that's only six MBTV's per group (one each on the A and B side of a tank).

Primer over the filled area is a good idea. But, go to a Matto's store or other automotive refinishing supply house and get some DuPont Lucite 131S Fill 'n Sand auto primer and thinner -- don't horse around with that rattle-can ****! And stop using that hobby store putty -- it's ****; formulate to be safe, not useful!

Next time before you ladle on the filler, put some masking tape down on those areas you don't want the goo to stick too!

Now, as to where to buy your consumables: Do you want volatile solvents, putties, fillers, primers and paints that are safe or effective?...

... Pick one!

The good **** comes from an automotive refinishing supply house, not your cheesy local hobby shop (usually attended by a kid with face studs, a Mohawk haircut, and who smells funny). If that filler or putty is not carcinogen, flesh-eating, make-your-eyes-pop-out, or has Ebola inducing chemistry -- then, it's no good to us!

The good stuff is dangerous! That means it works good!

I'll forward you a C.A.R.E. package of LA dope when I get your address. But, you have clearance to proceed with the Deep Sea Designs drawings, Greg Sharpe did a magnificent job with those and they are 90% on-the-money.

David

[spankey]

quick followup...
I just sanded all the excess filler from the top of the boat. Maybe this isn't a good idea, but I put another coat of grey krylon primer over the spots I sanded, because I have trouble seeing where the scribe marks are in the white gel coat.

I'm going to be correcting the ballast tank vents on the bow...

I have a set of deep sea designs drawings... I just screwed up when I located the ballast tank vents on the bow.
I sent you my address...just in case there is some better information... I'm just working my way up the retard curve now...!

[spankey]

you are right about the five sets of ballast tank vents FWD...I screwed up in the placement of those damn things. I'm in the process of fixing them with filler now....

The first batch of filler I put on, I followed the directions for use of hardener...yeah, use less of that stuff....WAY LESS. I got it on there, and went to add more to other places, intending to come back to correct it, and when I came back, about 2 minutes later, the stuff was already hard.

Kerry, No worries on the midline cut....I'm learning here, and no damage done!

I should have more today later.

[ADDINGTON]

Ok- it was just a thought- but I should really be more responsible.
Spankey, the only advice you should take from me is to follow David's instructions to the letter and disregard random freelance junk like I dropped on this thread and any other similar departures from sanity you may encounter. Midline seams are a matter I am resolving with a therapist. If you want a beautiful boat that actually works, Mr. Merriman will bring you home.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

So here are some pictures. Had a little trouble getting some of the detail to show up.

The scribing...Dont beat me up on it too bad, I'm correcting a number of problems right now with the Evercoat Metal Glaze.

I've never done scribing on a model like this, so its a big learning curve. Being the engineer I am, I'm running into the trouble with wanting perfection...

Hopefully these pictures come through ok.[ATTACH=CONFIG]8697[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8698[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8699[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8700[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8701[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8702[/ATTACH]

Pictures came out fine. Awful application of the filler. Next time use a putty knife so you won't have so much over-fill to knock down with file and sanding block. Oh, and when you fill engraved lines: you need to cut into the bad engraving with a scratch-awl or you won't reach the still residing mold-release agents. Failure to do so risks future masking tape application and removal pulling out your fill from the bad engraving work. Also, the fill of choice is CA adhesive, not a two-part filler.

I don't remember that class having five ballast tanks in the forward group. Tell you what, send me your address and I'll send you a set of proper drawings for the Flight-1 and Flight-2 and 3. How about that? Then you can enlarge them to scale and do a proper scribing job!

David,

[spankey]

Update

So here are some pictures. Had a little trouble getting some of the detail to show up.

The scribing...Dont beat me up on it too bad, I'm correcting a number of problems right now with the Evercoat Metal Glaze.

I've never done scribing on a model like this, so its a big learning curve. Being the engineer I am, I'm running into the trouble with wanting perfection...

Hopefully these pictures come through ok.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Anyone who can get their pinkies (or tools) into the ass-end of a 1/96 SKIPJACK has my respect.

Up till the Navy went with all-black hulls, the anti-foul red went up to the waterline when built, working up, commissioning, and pre-patrol house-keeping. Dry docked around the time of acceptance, the red anti-foul-black demarcation went from waterline down to the centerline and stayed there -- this to make the boat less observable from air and space.

Most glamor photos of a boat (the ones likely to grace the pages of a magazine article or book) are when it's fresh from the Yard; at a time when it still has the protective coating applied to all below waterline portions of the hull and appendages.

David,

[spankey]

That loud noise we just heard was the sound of David's close air support potentially keeping me from getting overrun in the jungle!

Fair enough on the dimensional issue of the hull being too small to work inside of. I still curse the times that I have to work on the tailfeathers of your 1:96 Skipjack! Thats tough back there!

You pointed out another point that I was trying to rectify....the paint line. The 688 boat's i've seen have had no red anti-fouling paint at the waterline...It was at the centerline, so I wondered what the story was there. I've seen pics of the Greenville in Drydock, and she had the anti-fouling at the centerline.

Either way, I'm on a learning curve for this boat, so thanks all for the input!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thanks, that sounds like the ticket.

Does anyone out there have any pictures of a nuke boat that has been cut at the waterline? I was just skimming the Gato presentation of David's, and it might work, but pictures of a nuke boat that had a waterline cut might give me some courage!

OK, stop right there!...

... You don't want to separate the LA hull at the waterline, and here's why: American submarines, since the SKATE class, have given up a great deal of their reserve buoyancy to go the 'single-hull' route (a very bad call in my opinion). The consequence is that the boats from SKIPJACK on up don't have the constant double-hull void space in which to put to use as ballast tanks. The Soviets still retain the double-hull feature and they have boats with at least a 35% reserve buoyancy. American submarines are now blessed with only a 10-15% reserve buoyancy. Put an LA up against a VICTOR-3. Now, punch a hole in the center of each boats engineering space. At the end of the day you'll find the VICTOR-3 at its pier. Bag-pipe time for the LA. That's how important reserve buoyancy is: can you flood a main space and still make the surface? They can. We can't.

What does that mean to you? It means that your very un-cork like LA has a waterline only ten or so feet from the top of the hull. In 1/72 model terms that puts a horizontal separation plain on that cylinder/hull of yours that is hardly wide enough to push and pull a SD in and out of its interior, nor at all willing to let fat fingers in there without biting!

Don't break this model at the designed waterline. No room! (Damn you, Kerry!). You don't need courage here. You need brains.

Break the upper and lower halves where they break now ... at the centerline. And that's already been done for you. OK, so you get a nasty looking separation break line; minimize it by good filler and sanding work. Suck it up! Man up and live with the seam!

Oh, by the way: If you paint this thing as an operational LA (not pre-deployment) the black-red demarcation line is at the centerline, hiding the break. Take THAT Kerry Addington! HA! ... in your face!

I have spoken, so let it be written!

David,

[spankey]

Thanks, that sounds like the ticket.

Does anyone out there have any pictures of a nuke boat that has been cut at the waterline? I was just skimming the Gato presentation of David's, and it might work, but pictures of a nuke boat that had a waterline cut might give me some courage!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Use the same cut-off saw arrangement I showed in the GATO presentation.

Don't worry, the 3.5 SD's now come as a 'kit' with nearly a 30" long length of tube that you cut to suite your specific ballast tank volume.

David,