1:72 Los Angeles

[spankey]

So I did some quick math in CAD, and found that with a waterline cut on that sub, I'd have 4.873" of space from 'gunwale' to gunwale' [if you will]. Round that down to about 4.5" after a joining lip, and I guess I'd still have enough room for one of david's 3.5 subdrivers. I suspect that I may need to get a longer section of Lexan cylinder, and stretch the ballast tank on that 3.5" SD. Anyone have thoughts on that? I'll have to figure out how much mass I'll have above the waterline, etc...

Whats the best way to make a waterline cut, and have the two halves go together? That is very much new to me.

David, I'm all the way out in Bremerton....I dont think I can wait that long for the Evercoat to come! I just got one of your Revell viic fittings kits, and will be getting a SD for it shortly, so dont worry, I havent forgotten where to send my money!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

The word, Bondo is to fillers what the word, Kleenex is to nose-wipe.

Yeah, The Evercoat brand of two-part fillers is the way to go. Use their Metal-Glaze -- great stuff and won't clog files and sandpaper like Bondo.

Get filler and putty from Caswell or we will track you down.

Sounds like you got one of the rare 1/72 hulls that is not warped -- count your blessings.

Kerry's a crazy man!

Go get 'em, Tiger!

David,

[ADDINGTON]

I built and later sold a 1/48 Scale Shipyard LA years ago. I split the hull at the painted waterline. The color change and any scum/weathering band really hide the break and no nasty midline seam to obsess over. Of course, you'll need to check and see if in 1/72 you have a wide enough opening for your SubDriver, and access to the rear cone and control linkages could get tight in that scale. I know this all sounds nuts but a big nuc hull with no midline seam is one nice sight.
-Kerry

[spankey]

Yeah, as I inspected things more carefully, If I tried to make the Z cut in the bow any further back than the sonar dome, I'd be cutting through the FWD MBT flood holes, which is possible, but a recipie for breaking them later...

I scribed parts of the safety track in last night. Had a little trouble with my thick plastic templates....I had to shift over to my metal rulers/scales, as the plastic stuff began to shift. Filler here I come, then gobs of low grit sandpaper...

Right now the two hull halves are taped together with the blue painters masking tape. This stuff is great for all sorts of stuff. The two hull halves dont have any interfacing trouble. As you get closer to the bow, the halves do begin to separate up to about 1/16". I honestly dont expect this to be too much trouble once I make the cut near the bow, and glass the lower sonar dome half to the upper hull half.

Like David said, there will be bondo work to do, but I should be able to survive. Speaking of bondo, I wondered if that was the right stuff....or are either of these two products better? (Nitro-Stan or Evercoat)

Dont fear...pictures are going to be coming soon! The camera accidentally went with my sister after she got married.

[SSBN659]

I'd go with the most logical place, i.e., the seam where the nose cone meets the parallel mid-body. With a good cut and a backing strip at the cut your Bondo will make the seem almost invisible. Don't over engineer it. As David said, your big problem right now is to get the upper and lower hull to fit. Good luck.

SBN659

[spankey]

YES!! I will become intimately familiar with Bondo! I've been reading as much as I can about the best ways to do that (as cleanly as possible). I will use the standard 'Z' cut, I have just been debating where to make the cut... The most logical place in the Bow is at the seam between the Fiberglass/GRP sonar dome, and the Steel hull, but it might work further aft, where the fluid flow is not transitioning onto/around the nose cone. Thoughts?


Daniel-

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

How the fit of the upper to lower hull?

(Break out the Bondo)

David,

[spankey]

I’m just starting my latest project… a 1:72 Los Angeles Class Fast attack boat. The boat is a whopping 60 inches long (without the screw), with a 5.5” beam. She’s going to get some real attention when she puts to sea in Lake Washington!
I still haven’t decided which flight boat to make this thing. Having been to sea on the SSN 714, USS Norfolk, that boat is a prime candidate, but I’m debating the merits of the increased controllability of the flight 3 boats with the retractable bow planes. I welcome anyone’s thoughts on this.
This hull is from Lee Upshaw at the Scale Shipyard. He didn’t have the 1:72 LA hull in full production, so the hull has the bottom scribed already but the top is not scribed. The Escape trunks are molded into the upper hull half, so that’s good.
The fiberglass layup on this hull is excellent. After having seen some other fiberglass work on stuff like this, I’m quite pleased. The thickness is good, not too floppy.
My camera is being borrowed, so I cant send any photo’s out yet, but they will be forthcoming.
I’m getting all the scribing marks/detail from the top of the hull drawn up in Autocad, and then that’ll be printed on Mac-Tak type paper, and will be used to make a scribing template. I also welcome any advice on scribing.
More to follow…