S.M. U-1 (a new RC project)

[DrSchmidt]

On Sunday I laminated the first halve of the conning tower mold and filled the box with a mixture of resin and quartz sand. Literally it makes for a rock solid mold. Today I removed the box and the parting plane. Worked out quite smoothly. Then I set up the box for the second halve of the mold. Quick job with such a small mold.

[DrSchmidt]

While making molds, I have to take care of the additional parts that will be needed. On example are the sub deck structures that house the air intake masts. In my first U1 these were 3D-printed and I'm going for 3D-printed parts again, but with a big difference. The first ones were thick-walled monsters that displaced allot of water and that's above surface. So they contributed to the problem of having large enough ballast tanks. The new ones will be cage like structures with much less volume and only rigid walls, where they are needed, e.g. where the bearings for the mast axis will be set in.

[DrSchmidt]

I finished the molds for the conning tower and opened them. Went reasonably well, but again, I had little section of surface primer stuck in the mold, that had to be removed with brute force, resulting with partially rough surfaces. Not really happy about it, but I guess the mold will be able to produce good parts. We'll see. On the bright side: The PE sheets have arrived.

[DrSchmidt]

laminated the second conning tower today. First try wasn't perfect with voids here and there. So it's a second ne, this time with thinner, more flexible glass and some more thickened resin in the corners. Worked well, we'll see the result in 36 hours...meanwhile: I printed control planes, hatches, and some accessories....

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

That always evident German slavish pursuit of perfection to the most basic of items.