Hmk 1/72 hms astute

[ManOwaR]

[ManOwaR]

Chapter 8

So, onward with the stern section of the hull. As I think I mentioned before, is that I turfed the sectioned version of the part and have started from scratch. The simple reason being is that I didn’t like how the gradual blending looked from one section was to another. It just wasn’t consistent and if I stayed with it, it would have ended up being more work to fix than if I was to redo using a more tried and true and consistent method by using a lathe to shape the part coming off the pressure hull and then building the required superstructure on top of it.

The methodology is fairly similar to how I tackled the bow, in that I made a cardboard frame, filled with foam, and then put a 3/8” thick exoskeleton of body filler on top of the foam. The filler was then machined to shape on my wood lathe using the copy attachment. To use the attachment I, traced out the stern outline on paper, glued it to some ¼” thick plywood and then carefully cut it out to shape and finalizing with some fine block sanding. Final observations and conclusions on this copy attachment would say that it is good for rough work on hard filler substrates or for softer wood (the original purpose behind its design. At the end of the day, I found it wasn’t rigid enough for fine work and it had some slop in the moving mechanism…both of which are 100% required when doing high precision work of this type. I ended up making a female template from cardboard to check my shape of which I had to re-add filler and then sand down to final shape. The moral of the story? Buy a metal lathe that has the ability to hold and turn large diameters and lengths. My medium size lathe is just slightly too small to do the job.

Once the shape was completed, I added some wasabi to the end cone. This was to build the insertion part of the hull on which the pump-jet assembly will be glued to. Anyways because this is on the narrow end of the stern I was able to chuck this part into the metal lathe because it enables me to move the carriage out of the way of the wide part of the stern. Ooh do I ever appreciate using the metal lathe here. So much more sturdier. So much more accurate!

Pics in next post...also I upload tons more pics of the project on my facebook page under the astute album

[ManOwaR]

So, onward with the stern section of the hull. As I think I mentioned before, is that I turfed the sectioned version of the part and have started from scratch. The simple reason being is that I didn’t like how the gradual blending looked from one section was to another. It just wasn’t consistent and if I stayed with it, it would have ended up being more work to fix than if I was to redo using a more tried and true and consistent method by using a lathe to shape the part coming off the pressure hull and then building the required superstructure on top of it.

The methodology is fairly similar to how I tackled the bow, in that I made a cardboard frame, filled with foam, and then put a 3/8” thick exoskeleton of body filler on top of the foam. The filler was then machined to shape on my wood lathe using the copy attachment. To use the attachment I, traced out the stern outline on paper, glued it to some ¼” thick plywood and then carefully cut it out to shape and finalizing with some fine block sanding. Final observations and conclusions on this copy attachment would say that it is good for rough work on hard filler substrates or for softer wood (the original purpose behind its design. At the end of the day, I found it wasn’t rigid enough for fine work and it had some slop in the moving mechanism…both of which are 100% required when doing high precision work of this type. I ended up making a female template from cardboard to check my shape of which I had to re-add filler and then sand down to final shape. The moral of the story? Buy a metal lathe that has the ability to hold and turn large diameters and lengths. My medium size lathe is just slightly too small to do the job.

Once the shape was completed, I added some wasabi to the end cone. This was to build the insertion part of the hull on which the pump-jet assembly will be glued to. Anyways because this is on the narrow end of the stern I was able to chuck this part into the metal lathe because it enables me to move the carriage out of the way of the wide part of the stern. Ooh do I ever appreciate using the metal lathe here. So much more sturdier. So much more accurate!

Pics in next post...also I upload tons more pics of the project on my facebook page under the astute album

[Sublime]

These days, some guy at a "chalkboard" thinks up all kinds of new things a submarine can do to earn its keep. Hence "engineering afterthought" will be the curse of every submarine. The Dry Dock Station they are adding to the sail seems to be the latest trendy rage in carrying Swimmer Delivery Vehicles.

[ManOwaR]

Sometimes its not very hard to spot the engineering afterthought...and this case isn't an exception in my humble opinion. And yes sir, I've been plugging away for a few hours here and there. I've got the base stern done and I think I'm almost ready to join the hull parts together. I'm just taking my time and making sure I don't miss anything or **** something up. Lots of pictures coming soon.

[Slats]

Joel any new works in progress?

J

[Slats]

There appears to be a flange inside the butchered part as if its a removable segment

Looks IMO bloody awful. Taken me quite awhile to like the hump. This looks really ungainly. The sail opening looks like a half arsed emergency tracheostomy.

[ManOwaR]

Interesting...I remember reading something back in the day that the extension of the sail to make it larger was one of the factors in Astute being so late in delivery. I wonder if this was the reason for that extension?

[Albion]

There appears to be a flange inside the butchered part as if its a removable segment

[Slats]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...nch-water.html

Looks more like some kind of Pod with a pressure tight door on the end

Looks like they have butchered the back of the sail?

[Albion]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...nch-water.html

Looks more like some kind of Pod with a pressure tight door on the end

[Slats]

This is good use of cardboard templates. Very ingenuous...
J

[Slats]

Wonderful stuff Joel.

J

[ManOwaR]

Getting to work on the stern. Those who recall from earlier work in the project started by doing the stern via sectional technique. Well, that part is sitting comfortably in the bottom of our garbage bin alongside a failed meatloaf. I've decided to go the same route I did on the bow using cardboard, foam and Evercoat. I figure I want to machine the basic shape on the lathe and build the superstructure portion of part later after attached to the main hull. I'll get a better fit going that route I think.


Anyways, here's pictures that show proof of the work. If your wondering what the baby ****/ wasabi looking material is, it's my new discovery of a material called Rage Gold by Evercoat. It's still a lightweight filler, costs twice as much as the regular light weight stuff, but man does it spread on easier and sands 10 times easier. I like it alot. I really like how it turns lime green after mixing to change things up visually.


So, before I can chuck the stern up in the lathe I forgot I still had work left on the pressure hull. this was a beautiful skim coat using the wasabi, a quick wet sand, then to get my circumference scribes inlaid that represent the large rubber tiles for the boat. It's a beauty doing scribing with this method...saves on the hand cramping!

[ManOwaR]

Here's some pictures of the bow. The general shape is pretty much complete excluding superstructure refining and tweaking. I'm not going to do that though until the bow, stern and pressure hull are connected and superstructure is installed, because i have a feeling it won't match perfectly anyway.

The theme here is I removed the cardboard and backfilled with auto body filler and blended.