Scaleships Akula II

[Peter W]

Mark, I have got some ABS sheet at home 1/4" thick, was hoping to use that to brace it and double up as WTC saddles. Was worried that the amount the spring in the lower hull would also bend/warp the ABS. The brass stud arrangement was only a temporary measure until I got it hot, the hull then cools down and theoretically stays in new shape, brass then removed, worked well. I am really grateful that I followed Mr. Merriman's advice as although painful it got me out of a bit of a deep hole . Would be happy of any advice on the saddle /bracing idea and the use of the ABS.

Peter

[greenman407]

Nice Job there Peter. A question you asked earlier about a way to reinforce the hulls shape. I like your long bolt Idea. What I did was go by a Plastic supply shop and buy a piece of scrap. I bought 1/8". I cut them up and shaped and fitted them to the Oscar, and then epoxyed them in. Worked great.

[Peter W]

Yesterday saw the me break out the heat gun and insulation tape again, I am feeling braver now so am using red tape instead of black, flash eh? It worked a treat and hull is now where I want it. Small word or warning the heat gun nozzle gets very hot as my forearm can now attest.......ouch! Plus much swearing. Anyway after that episode I am now ready to do the stern upper hull cut that is so much the fashion also marked the position of the reactor scoops. Pictures to follow.

Peter

[Peter W]

Ok, last weekend saw some more progress. Now all of the top hull brass is fitted and for the most part any filling has been done and sanded, a few spots to go but nearly there.

I then decided to to fit what I assume are the the safety rails, 2 rails run fore and aft. For this I used 3/64 styrene rod, I had thought to use 1/16 rod but I prefer the more subtle smaller section. I have seen these fitted using brass rod but the weight so high up put me off. The stern pair are relatively simple and took no time at all, especially with careful measuring and marking out done. The rear ones however are a slightly more complicated shape. Again careful marking out was laid done on the hull and then the rod was marked and bent to shape, a slow process that worked beautifully on the 1st piece I did but the 2nd took 4 attempts before I was satisfied ( much swearing ensued)


As you can see I have also added the front emergency buoy. The rails were superglued on 1st by spotting then I went over them with a brush and glued them on properly.
The image below shows the starting point of the hull before I started, for comparison.

The other thing I have done is to start getting the 2 hull halves to marry up better. As advised by Mr.Merriman earlier in the build I had to get the sub hot with a heat gun to reshape the top hull, I now believe I may have to do it a little more. As previously stated the lower hull needs opening up by about 3mm ( 1/8"). I went about making a tool to do this. The picture below shows M3 studding cut about 6mm (1/4") narrower than the hull, 4mm (a bit bigger than 3mm) brass tube was then sleeved over the end the idea being that the the nut can be tightened or slackened to push the sleeve thus opening the hull up.



I thought of that all by myself.............not bad for a young un' !

Peter

[HardRock]

Hey Peter,

Thanks for the reply. Great diagrams. I had to make several frame for the Alpha to maintain hull diameter and I found that after trying several options, the best result came from laying up some glass cloth with polyester resin and trimming it to size once it had hardened - a bit. The trick is to get it hard enough to maintain shape but soft enough to cut easily. Otherwise you're into the grinding business. In any case, you end up with a rigid, light weight form which is easily glassed into the hull and once fixed, will remain so.

Scott

[Peter W]

Hello Scott, Scaleships only provide a set of plans (very nice too) They show Rim Hat in 2 options as seen in picture below.





They then show a side elevation of the scopes with the more intricate version whereas they supply the simpler version. My scope came with one of the sides broken off so that will need re-soldering.

I do have a question regarding the hull itself. I know by reading other build logs of this kit and others that the hulls halves need opening up of squeezing in. I am happy with the top half, although it is 4.5mm narrower than the plans, but the bottom half needs widening to bring the indexing lip tighter to the top half. Now my question is what material is best to use to make a rigid rib type thing to open it up and not let the hull squeeze it back to the original shape ?

Peter

[HardRock]

Outstanding job. Seems like every version of "Rim Hat" I see is different. Did the kit maker supply any photographs of the original?

[Peter W]

Well I have continued with the masts and now have the back 4 scope "boxes" made.



overhead shot, as you can see the Pert Spring box (2nd from left)needs squaring up a little.



Mast loosely in place


"Rim Hat" box. This needed a bit of shaping after it was made as it is right at the back of the sail, where it curves quite a bit.

Peter

[Peter W]

Right I have made the holes so better start doing something about it. I am starting with the "Pert Spring" scope, it only has a single hatch so easier to set up.
I made a box to insert into the scope hole and drilled a hole in the bottom. I am still deciding whether or not I am going all Manfred on this and having the scopes operate so this one is the test bed, would be easy if I had a milling machine (muses) much harder to do at 1/96 scale me thinks.


Brass in place in closed position

Pert Spring scope in place all shy and hiding

There she is


Last one showing the hatch loosely stood in position, open a bit too far but you get the idea. The bottom of the hatch is sat in the groove to take the hinge.

Peter

P.s. Anyone know why I am struggling to load pictures via Google chrome ?

[Peter W]

Well after a long lay off for various and thankfully non serious reasons, I have returned to the Akula. I haven't been totally inactive but the few little things I have done haven't really been worthy of a mention. Starting back I have once again concentrated on the tower. I decided that the time had come to open up the various, larger periscope hatches. As I have said previously the plans and the hull scribing differ. So as the brass etch is designed after the plans, the srcibed detail was ignored and the plans were plotted onto the hull. Next I have to build the styrene platform that will take the perisope heads and tubes etc.




As you can see above the scribed detail is a little bit off.


I have also marked out the safety rail positions but haven't decided how quite I wish to do them.

Peter

[Peter W]

With only 1 picture to go from it is a big pinch of artistic licence that goes with my rendition of the bridge. It is also really small especially for my very limited modelling skills and the amount of tiny bits of styrene and brass that are lost on my floor is many. I have decided to add a few more bits to it beforeI declare it finished.

Watch this space...

Peter.

[greenman407]

Well now, that looks right smart there sir. When you look at the picture of the full sized boats bridge, you get the distinct impression that there wasnt much room in there.

[Peter W]

Continuing with the bridge area I am either finished detailing the bridge ....................or I am not, can't make my mind up......sigh!

Anyway here are the efforts of today...




More to follow...

Peter

[greenman407]

Thats what filler is for, "IF your going to make Omelettes ya gotta break some eggs"
Actually I was just joking about the engine telegraph and wheel. Im sure you were too.

[Peter W]

Mark,

Yes all that is going in, I am going to try and get it as close to the pic you posted as I can. I know it is hardly going to show but I have gone a bit crazy and I now can't help it.........twitch twitch! Not going to lie the hole in the second picture, on the base bit is a screw up. I got a bit carried away trying to drill it for 1 of the masts and it caught and tore...................hump. Cutting that bit off and starting with a better idea so all's well that ends well.

Peter