Hmk 1/72 hms astute

[greenman407]

Count me in to on one of those hulls. 54" is a really good size. Give it your usually overwhelming detail treatment.

[Slats]

For those who don't know. Jim Russell and I ordered from Joel boats 1 and 2 of this simply awesome boat a year or so back. It's a simply awesome subject, built by the finest submarine kit craftsman I have ever come across.
Money well spent IMHO and well worth the wait too. A joy to see this bespoke kit underway, as is any of Joel's engineering.

Joel I too am hoping that this boat will be more maneuverable due to the bigger control surfaces compared to the Wolf.

J

[ManOwaR]

It's going to be slightly under 54". A nice sized model that will fit between the 60" Seawolf and the 46.5" Permit. Hopefully with those huge control surfaces she'll handle like the Permit, though. As for getting it done in a couple months, well, we'll we see about that my friend!

[greenman407]

OH MAN, Hes serious about this. At the rate hes going itll be done in a couple of months. Joel, I dont know if I missed it or not but how long will it be overall?

[ManOwaR]

Chap. 1

So, let’s going on this thing…
I’m basing my version of the Astute on the beautiful plans done by Jacobin out of the U.K. These are very accurate when it comes to all the major things like hull shape, appendages, sail etc…However, I learned a valuable lesson way back when I did my Permits that still haunts me to this day; one can never look at enough pictures and study them over and over. I’m still finding small details that I missed, and truth be told, it bugs the hell out of me! So, yes, I’ve been looking at tons of Astute class pictures and yes, I’ve found discrepancies…all part of the game.



The hull will be built in four major parts: Stern section, bow section, top/middle superstructure section, and the cylindrical pressure hull section in which all the other sections lay their foundations on…just like on the real boat. Seen below are the planks of white pine ready for ripping on the on the saw to proper dimensions. This pine was initially designated for Seawolf patterns but was put aside in lieu of Renshape material. This project will use the wood as core, structural bearing material for the model and will be encased in a more suitable detail-able and finish-able surface. There’ll be much more on what I’m doing for this later.



This is my 13” Dewalt thickness planer used for achieving precision wood thicknesses with a finished surface - a must for cabinet door building. I’m using it here to prepare the wood surfaces for gluing together.



Here, the dimensioned wood is being marked out and readied for gluing



Clamped up and waiting to dry. I’m just using plain old carpenter’s glue here. Strong like bull.




Superstructure, bow and stern sections glued to balsa wood and waiting to be cut out. Although these are very good, it looks like I will have to draw out some of the mid boat superstructure sections as the prints don’t quite give me enough to do what is needed there

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thanks guys!

Mark, feel free to post any obscure pics or resources that you can find...it would be much welcomed!

Dave, I'm sure some sort of yet another unholy allegiance would be in the cards

Excellent (I have ten, 80% done PJ's here for you).

David

[ManOwaR]

Thanks guys!

Mark, feel free to post any obscure pics or resources that you can find...it would be much welcomed!

Dave, I'm sure some sort of yet another unholy allegiance would be in the cards

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Standing by to assist any way I can, Joel.

Man! This guy does great work!

David

[greenman407]

Joel, Very exciting indeed! I will be watching this thread closely because I have learned from experience that your threads are in depth and detailed. VERY VERY GOOD!

[ManOwaR]

The short term goals are to build to build this model at far more reduced cost and time derived from lessons learned on my last project, Seawolf. There will only be one master hull pattern made as opposed to two last time around. The patterns will be made from materials such as: Balsa, white pine, cardboard, paper, epoxy, polyester auto body filler, and whatever else I have kicking around the shop. The final hull mold will most likely be a hybrid of fiberglass and silicone rubber much like the one done on the Seawolf to accommodate all the detailing and undercuts that I predict will be present. I still haven’t decided if the extra-large sail will integral with the top half of the model or not…probably not because of shipping issues and costs that it would ensue.



Long terms goals are to only make a very limited run of just a few model kits. My priorities lie solely on advancing my main career instrumentation because the ratio of work to return is about a hundred times better – kind of a no brainer. I want to have fun with subs again and that’s what I plan on doing from hereon in, a fact recently brought to light when I took a look around my shop and noticed my own sorely neglected sub fleet.







Anyways, here we go and I hope you enjoy!
Joel

[ManOwaR]

Hello again,

For those that aren’t familiar with me, my name is Joel Stadnick and am the owner and sole model maker at HMK Creations – a part time business that allows me to make a few extra dollars here and there by making submarine kits, a bit of finishing carpentry, and instrumentation consultation on the side. By day, I’m an instructor of instrumentation technology and apprenticeship at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. My background includes many years of construction experience all the way from cabinet building to industrial instrument installation
I’m back with another project in the form of HMS Astute in 1/72 scale – another large scale model submarine to compliment my small line of subs: Permit class, Jack (modified Permit) and Seawolf class. The Astute promises to have more detail than anything I have done up to this point, and in its building will display some (hopefully) great new experimental building and detailing techniques I have come across.


My reasons for doing Astute? The number one reason is that I just love the lines the designers put on this boat…especially the front end where it looks like some sort of dragon or crocodile poking its ominous eyes above the water looking for prey. I’ll be honest though, when I first saw initial pictures of the boat at its launching I wasn’t impressed, especially by the aft humpback. Time has made me do a 180 on the subject. I liken it to an album done by a good band, the true beauty and genius doesn’t start to de-cloak itself until after multiple listening sessions!