Albacore continued

[greenman407]

Thanks Dave for keeping a watchful eye this way and that. I dont like dog-poo, especially when I take a lot of upclose shots. Some of the delay is due to going too far with the sanding block or Dremel and then having to go back and re-do it. Also I have to moderate my activities to take care of my own sanity.:biggrin:

[greenman407]

While I am continuing to file and fuss over the rudder and sail, I took the opurtunity to map out the dive brakes and to mark and fill in the limbar holes that are not used on this last version of Albacore.
Also while Im at it, I marked out the large grill work on the sail. Im headed to the hobby store to find some plastic shapes to cut up and modify for the grill elements. Stay Tuned.

[greenman407]

In this picture you can see a flat strip on the port side of the turtleback and extending down almost to the props. I emailed Jim Wakefield who is in charge of maintanance on the museum Albacore. He told me that it is a early cover for a cable to an early form of towed array sonar. He suggested that I leave it off. I am thinking, however, that I should put it on. What do you think?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Unless you know what the extension aft looked like -- employed to fairlead the wire past that mix-master at the ass-end -- leave it off as the Curator suggested. What's wrong with you?! Don't have enough to do with that dorsal rudder?

Oh, picture-boy ... one more thing:

Got any good shots of post war Type-15 periscope heads? Need 'em right now!!!!! For the SKIPJACK job I'm working for Moebius.

David

[greenman407]

Let me take a look.

[greenman407]

Ok Dave, I havent seen anything real good but ill post under "general topics" a file named "Skipjack Class Periscopes"

[greenman407]

OK, heres the latest. This is the present shape of the rudder. A little touch up and itll be ready to mount. Ill drill a hole in the top and mount a 1/16" brass stub shaft and a coresponding hole in the underside of the rudder overhang. Then when I re-CA the sail, ill reattach the bottom of the rudder to the deck. As for the grill work I have cut out the hole and filed it pretty good at this point. Using the displayed plastic extrusions I will fabricate as close as possible the grill work.

[greenman407]

If youll notice in these two pictures, there appears to be a thin frame around the grill, perhaps of thin sheet metal, painted over several times. Im thinking of using this paper thin plastic sheet that I have acquired to try to reproduce it. After CAing it in place ,I can use a sanding block to go over it and subdue it a little more. If it doesnt work out, then ill sand it completely off.

[greenman407]

OH........and by the way.............the dishing that you see in between frames on the sail sides.........well........I wont be trying to reproduce that. LOL! :biggrin:

[ManOwaR]

That'd be a ton of work for sure...Awhile back Dave posted and article showing how he painted to get that very affect. I'm pretty sure it was a Skipjack if I remember correctly. What I can confirm, however is that is looked simply fantastic and achieved the desired effect. Maybe worth a try for sure...I'll see if I can find that report

Joel

[greenman407]

Thanks Joel. In these two pictures you will see the Dive Brakes and my attempts at locating them with pencil, to be followed by etching with a scribe. There were ten of the radial Dive Brakes. They go all the way around.

Also of note is that they open forward, which surprises me( no wonder they didnt work). And the demarcation between them on the upper area of the hull was exactly inline with the rectangular limbar holes.

[greenman407]

To reproduce the grill Im using these small pieces of plastic shapes and rounding the edges and CAing them in place. What can I tell you. Its a start.
Once we get them all in place and touch them up, I think itll be pretty good. As for right now..................patience................one piece at a time. The pieces are so tiny that manipulating them and getting them cut, sanded and in place is difficult.

[greenman407]

Just after I posted this I realized that I had used the starboard side picture when I was working on the port side. Its got to come back out and be reassembled with the large flat louver starting from the rear on the port side. Glad I caught it before I got any farther.

[greenman407]

There...........thats better.

[greenman407]

Its funny. As you are trying very carefully to maintain the uniform distance between louver to louver. As you apply the CA in very small amounts, capillary action causes the louvers to be irresistably drawn together, spoiling your positioning.Give him a soapbox!