Scaleships Akula II

[Peter W]

Not much of my build is going to be new to many of you, quite a lot of what I do has been gleaned from the other builds here, notably the other Scaleships builds and especially Mark's very thorough account of his Oscar II.

OK then, I have started this project by opening up the 28 or so holes on the bottom of the hull. On the etch fret you get a cover for each one that can be shown open or closed.



In the picture above you can see the brass in position, all you do is drill, cut file the depressed mark in the hull a little bit shy of the edge and this give you the platform needed to attach the etch to the hull.

I am however building this as a working boat and have decided not to fit the brass and have filed out all of the depressed mark.



I have already filed out 20 of the holes so there are 8 of them remaining. I will be adding another 4, in 2 lots of 2, as there are 2 points where there is quite a stretch between holes. 1 thing I have learned about sailing my Sheerline Trafalgar is that, within reason, you can't have too many holes in your lower hull to let in water.

Peter

[Peter W]

Hello all, so as to keep a close eye on my behaviour Mark has asked me to start this thread.

As some of you may know I am also scratchbuilding a 1:144 HMS Vengeance at the moment, in fact I hadn't any plans (or money) to buy the Scaleships Akula until my Grandmother sadly died in September last year and left me a little money. My wife at the time said was there anything special I wanted to get and hey presto, Russian sub. So the Vengeance is on hold for a little while.

Most of you are probably familiar with the kit but for those of you who are not, some info;

Scale is 1/96 the model measures 45.8" (1163mm) long and 5.5" (141mm) beam

you get a 7 blade prop and propshaft all the planes and rudders SOKS sensor parts, scopes/masts etc a full brass etched fret, plans, decals/transfers and 2 brass nameplates.

I am not the fastest builder in the world as I have 3 young children but as and when I get stuff done I will post it.

The hull


The planes and rudders


The beautiful prop


The etched fret


The biggest and in my opinion the best of the masts. ( the detail on this thing is stunning compared to its size)



More to come,

Peter