Scaleships Akula II

[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

[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

[Subculture]

Are you building this as a static model, or for R/C?

[Peter W]

Hello Andy, Definitely RC, rude not to really.

Peter

[Subculture]

Okay.

Ramesh built one of these up, but he doesn't bring it out much- he found all the little bits and pieces on it were a bit fragile, and kept getting knocked off. So you might want to think about making some of bits removeable for when running it in the drink- perhaps make use of some magnets to hold bits on. Either that or ruggedize them.

He used a 500ml engel tank in a 10cm diameter acrylic tube. Initially he had some problems with stability, which were remedied by adding some foam in the upper hull, and a bit more lead in the keel. I believe he had to accept a slightly sub-scale waterline, but the boat was stable and it was very close indeed.

A chap in Spain pretty much carbon copied the design of the module, but used a bigger piston tank to try and get a scale waterline. He found problems with too much pressure inside his cylinder. So you might want to consider a different ballast system, or a hybrid based one which keeps the internal pressure within sensible limits.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I like your work with the tools. Careful stuff. Cary on, sir!


A magnificent kit. A smart purchase.

David

[reddevil]

HAve a look at YOU TUBE "AKULA II SEA TRIALS". That's mine sailing. Problems with pressure inside the WTC are solved, and Ramesh WTC desing performs superbly. You'll have to make a little choice between scale waterline and stability, but as you can see, the sub looks really well sat on surface. I haven't any problem with all the items around the hull. I normally make a patrol every weekend if weather is fine. More than an hour running. Tomorrow is a big holiday here (Magic Kings Day; all the children receiving their Chistmas presents), and have dated at the pond with two boys to make a patrol with my sub and the RC ships they're receiving.
Happy New Year to all the crew from Madrid.

[reddevil]

By the way: Did you contacted with Vladimir? Cause I've been trying and had no answer.

[Peter W]

Andy- duly noted, I have been wondering about the SOKS sensors and how to keep them from being wrenched off, ruggedizing is probably the only way to go but was considering not fitting the below surface SOKS.

David- thank you, praise indeed.

Juan - have watched the you tube video of your sub a few times, very nice model. Have sent you a PM.

Peter

[greenman407]

Great start Peter. My appendages such as the four water scoops I installed using small screws from the inside and CAed them. DONT HIT NOTHING!:biggrin:

[Subculture]

It was the SOKS sensors that I remember kept doing a vanishing act.

Not sure what the kit originals are made from, but if they're not brass, I'd remake them from some and then hard solder them together, and make sure they're very firmly bonded into the hull with some mechanical locking on the underside. Can't see them goign missing then unless you hit something very hard, and wipe out the rest of the hull!

[Peter W]

Sound advice Mark, I plan to pin, screw, glue and anything else I can think of the small parts to the hull.

Andy- that is something to think about for sure, consider me pondering.

Right here are some more and 1st a quiz. What is the difference between the 1st pic and the 2nd pic ?

The above has been previously posted. But can you tell the difference with the one below ?



Below I have marked out where I want to add 2 extra pairs of hole using Tamiya tape.



And here is the holes I have added drilled and filed, the new ones are marked with a bit of the tape above them. 28 holes down 6 to go.


Peter

[greenman407]

The difference between the first and second pics? Looks like you put a bulkhead or something behind each hole. If you do have to rebuild your SOKS aerials , here is a picture of the ones on the deck in front of the sail.

[Peter W]

Mark, Good try but no. There was a touch of the rant about that part of the post the actual answer is 2 hours of filing. I just couldn't get the holes to my liking but now I am happy.

Thank you for the picture, I do actually have this one. We obviously both patrol the same rather wonderful Russian websites. I have been wondering whether to take the weathering that extreme, as in the picture, over the whole model. Something else to think about.

Peter.

[greenman407]

If you ask Dave, his answer would be an obvious and resounding YES! Bird droppings and all(dont forget the rust). However , if you dont have the experience at weathering, more to likely you stand a chance of disappointing results and a desire to scrub her all down and repaint. Its best to get a good deal of practice first on stuff you dont care about, have a plan as to exactly what you want to accomplish first. It might be best, if your going to do it, to do it a little at a time.Sail her some and then come back and do a little more. That way you wont overdo it.