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Jay
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I've had a PM request for photos. I'm a little shy about my first build, so take your best shots. I know the kerf is huge between the deck and hull. I'll fix it. This is totally off topic, but I had just finished taking the trash to the curb ( It's a long way so I drive it out with a truck ) and as I park a helicopter is coming right at me! I jump out of the truck just as he slows down. I motion for him to land and he puts it right in my front yard. He won't shut down, so I run out to introduce myself and it turns out to be the young man I let fly from my strip out building time in a Robinson R22. So cool, too bad it was just about dark and I couldn't get a photo.
Jay -
enjoying your build thread Jay. Hang in there.
JackComment
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Wow! What a ragged looking POS! What did you cut that hull with ... dynamite!?
David,Who is John Galt?Comment
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Jay:
Did you use a variable speed Dremel tool for the cut or was it a nigh speed dremal tool.
I found that I did allot better cutting plastic if I could run my Dremel tool at a lower speed. At high speed the cutting wheel moved around allot. In fact I bought a new battery power Dremel that has a speed control for the power.
The nice thing about cutting plastic is you can always fill in the gaps and sand it down to fit. I didn't have the balls to cut the hull in half like David does.
I took the easy route and just cut the top of the hull. No need to then fill anything. However I have allot of trouble getting ready for a mission.
Jack
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Jack has identified why you should, as you have done, split the hull at its maximum breadth point -- access!
Clean up those ragged edges, work out a good closure system between the two hull halves and every time you install/remove or service the SD and structure, you'll thank your self for going through the extra work of splitting the hull as you did.
David,Who is John Galt?Comment
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Jay,
Hang in there! I too am enjoying your build. Please keep the photos coming - we all learn from them, including our mistakes and I have made a few of them.
Peace,
TomIf you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.Comment
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Your getting there!IT TAKES GREAT INTELLIGENCE TO FAKE SUCH STUPIDITY!Comment
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Well, here's the whole story. I couldn't find a saw like cutting wheel as David uses. I did find at Lowes the Dremel EZ lock cutting system that has a serrated cutting wheel you can buy seperatly. And it has a larger diameter than the abrasive cutting wheels. The problem is the EZ lock uses a spring loaded lock that once you start cutting lets the wheel wobble. Which explains the wide kerf along the hull. The Dremel is also the least used tool I own.Comment
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Never fear David, the fill process is about 1/3 done. Looks good so far. Wax paper is the only way to go for a release border. I tried a Saran Wrap product for fun, but it has too many wrinkles even though it's thinner. The Rage filler works great as well just as long as you keep an eye on it. If you pull the deck off too soon you loose the shape of the fill. If you wait too long it gets really hard to trim nice and neat with a knife. I wish I had removed the weld lines first as trimming the filler would be easier without the bumps from the weld lines. I would share with some photos but the camera was left on while plugged into the computor all night. Go figure, it usually charges my cell when it's plugged in...
David, as most of us have never seen a "working sub" up close, what kind wear and tear do they usually have on the outer surface? I've only seen two subs with my own eyes and both are museum pieces. Were they usuall in pretty good shape or do they rust very fast in high use areas? What about dings and dents? I'm thinking ahead of weathering and detail.
JayComment
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Post war American submarines are well maintained. Most 'weathering' evidienced is vertical streaking as a consiquence of rain water pulling dust, oil, and bird-**** down from upper surfaces and streaking along the sides of the sail, upper rudder, and above waterline hull. Think how gravity will streak the water as it falls and that informs you on how to pull down the streaking effect. Rust is not in evidence. Streaking is. Another weathering opportunity for the modeler is the waterline: White at the surface to about a foot down where sea-grass has died and bleached out, green for a few feet deeper, then a light green-brown scum over the anti-foul black/red.
Japanese submarines towards the end of the war were in terrible shape and are the perfect canvas for those who enjoy weathering. But, post war the JSDF Navy is even more anal about cleanliness and ships husbandry than the American's.
Attached FilesWho is John Galt?Comment
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Dave: On my 1:144 Seawolf, I have been thinking about this and I wonder, for other than the larger models (maybe even the larger boats), are you sure that allot of this detail would even be visible to the human eye.
I go back to my model airplane days when we were fond of scribing panels and emphasizing rivets. My brother, who was somewhat of an artist, suggested that we were making planes look like boiler plate specials, when given their size, equated with the visual acuity at the distance that reflects that size, the surface would appear smooth.
An anechoic tile of say 15 - 20 inches square and its seam, would not be visible from the distance you would observe a real submarine equated to a 1:144th scale model, would it not?
I know that you like to detail and your weathering is impressive. But, would a real sub viewed from a distance that would make it the same size as a 1:144 viewed from say 3 -4 feet be anything more than a smooth black surface?
Hope I am making sense.Doodah
If you ignore the problem long enough, it will go away. Even flooding stops eventually!Comment
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You're making sense.
And your brothers observation is a valid one. Adherence to a straight proportionate ratio on all aspects of the model to the prototype would indeed present a seemingly blemish-detail free appearance to the model at any but a close-in examination distance. That's what makes scribing, riveting and weathering such a subjective and difficult to quantify expression; engraved lines are over-stated as to depth and width. Rivets have to be terribly tall and wide to be seen. And weathering is there to represent service use.
The successful addition of engraved lines, little detail bits, paint-job, weathering, and display are the key steps that separate the True kit-assember from your average hack kit-assember.
David,Who is John Galt?Comment
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It is frightening to imagine the size of the bird that creates the properly scaled poop streaks....Doodah
If you ignore the problem long enough, it will go away. Even flooding stops eventually!Comment
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Please ... I'm eating.
David,Who is John Galt?Comment
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I think this hobby is basically immune from the "average hack kit-assembler". Even after many years of model making and RC boating, I find myself truly "out there" in assembly and fabrication. It's not for wimps.
As I found with RC sail boats, different people are in it for different reasons, Detail (basic finish and/or details) – mechanical/electrical (quality, elegance) – wind usage (submersion) – tactics (not sure if there is a comparable one here for subs). Some of the people with the prettiest boats couldn't trim a sail if their life depended on it or know how to block another boat upwind. Others have ****py looking boats that are things of beauty when you open the radio box. I guess the idea is to tie together detail, mechanical, and usage in a manageable and pleasing boat that does what you want it to do. If your raison d'être is to detail your boat, so be it.Doodah
If you ignore the problem long enough, it will go away. Even flooding stops eventually!Comment
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