MBD British WWII "U" class sub Build

[Kazzer]

Stop whining! ..blah! blah! blah!......So, suck it up, crack the lids to the epoxy and breath in the fumes.

..blah! blah! blah!.............. then make posts about how funny you dress.

David,

1. There are no fumes with this stuff, just a mild aroma - no solvents.
2. We've all seen your T shirts pal - your pink panties and girly white socks - you're a fine one to talk!

[roedj]

Mike,

Thanks for the instructions. I'll give it a try later today.

David,

The way I dress? This from a guy who wears PINK shorts (Oh sure, ***** about the picture was doctored)

Dan (Can give as well he takes)

[pjdog]

David:
You really missed your calling. You should be writing to a TV sitcom comedy. You would make millions. Plus with all the money you would make you would not be forced to beat Ellie and Rose to make them do parts production.
You are so funny. I really enjoy your rants.
Jack

[Kazzer]

David:
You really missed your calling. You should be writing to a TV sitcom comedy. You would make millions. Plus with all the money you would make you would not be forced to beat Ellie and Rose to make them do parts production.
You are so funny. I really enjoy your rants.
Jack

Don't encourage the bum! You'll just make him worse and I'll spend all day editing all the rubbish he churns out! (Why me oh Lor'? Why me?)

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Mike,

Thanks for the instructions. I'll give it a try later today.

David,

The way I dress? This from a guy who wears PINK shorts (Oh sure, ***** about the picture was doctored)

Dan (Can give as well he takes)

Oh, hell!

Gee ... thanks for the back-up, Mike.

David,

[roedj]

This is a test of the Gel-coat adhesion as well as opening up the limber holes. The Gel-coat appears to be OK, so far. I am also showing the various Dremel tools and files I used. Many more limber holes to go.

Dan

[Subculture]

If you can open up all the slots with out chipping the gelcoat, you're a better man than I. It's what Isopon (UPOL, Evencoat, Bondo etc.) was invented for!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Very, very good adhesion between gel-coat and glass. As Andy pointed out, you can expect some chipping around the limber holes, but so far it looks like you have a very sound adhesion between substrate and foundation. And good clean work on your part. To insure that all the limber holes in a row are of the same height (sometimes the master is asymmetric), scribe a light engraved line under all the indentations in a row and work the punched out holes to that datum -- you'll have a much neater looking row of holes that way.

OK, show-off, everyone can see that you have a super-duper-wounder-deep sea Dremel tool with ergonomically designed handle. We're all jealous and now can't sleep. Mission accomplished.

Another trick to insure same size and shape to the limber holes: cut a stick to the same cross section of the limper holes, but just a tad smaller at the half-way point along the length of the stick, tapering the stick from handle to end slightly. Coat it with CA, then wrap some well worn #400 sandpaper around it. Us this as your 'final pass' tool to dress up the diameter and shape of each limber hole, Dan.

A good trick I recommend here, that will expedite the work, is to grind away a good portion of the fiberglass on the inside of the hull pieces under the limber holes. Less material for your drill and grinding bits to chew up and the resulting hole will reveal a 'plating' thickness more in keeping with scale.

Get back to work.

David,

[roedj]

To insure that all the limber holes in a row are of the same height (sometimes the master is asymmetric), scribe a light engraved line under all the indentations in a row and work the punched out holes to that datum -- you'll have a much neater looking row of holes that way.

Another trick to insure same size and shape to the limber holes: cut a stick to the same cross section of the limper holes, but just a tad smaller at the half-way point along the length of the stick, tapering the stick from handle to end slightly. Coat it with CA, then wrap some well worn #400 sandpaper around it. Us this as your 'final pass' tool to dress up the diameter and shape of each limber hole, Dan.

A good trick I recommend here, that will expedite the work, is to grind away a good portion of the fiberglass on the inside of the hull pieces under the limber holes. Less material for your drill and grinding bits to chew up and the resulting hole will reveal a 'plating' thickness more in keeping with scale.

Get back to work.

David,

Assymetric... assymetric...I should be so lucky. Whoever molded in these limber holes must have had several "pulls" on the old rum bottle before setting to work. They're all over the place. I started out thinking that I should follow the master's limber holes but after while I realized that it just didn't look right. Got out some "U" class pictures to verify how the limber holes looked. WOW! I have some fixing to do. I already scribed in a line but I'll do more including that limber hole shape stick thingy - neat trick. When I'm done with the holes they're all going to be slightly oversize to match the screw-ups I've already created but what the hell maybe it'll dive faster with less trapped air - yeah, that's the ticket.

OR maybe I should fill in part of the hole with some Evercoat Easy Sander I have and go from there. Wadda ya think?

Dan (I'm workin' Boss)

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

You're do'n fine, Dan. Glad to hear you're also using your documentation. No, don't finesse the hole size yet, just punch them out and get onto the next operation -- you get too bogged down in the detail work now you'll lose heart and quit. Just keep slamming on the various tasks involved.

I work a kit assembly like this: Put things together straight, but quick and dirty and in primer gray; outfit the thing with the SubDriver then go to the pool and check it out. Only after that initial flurry of assembly activity do I sit down and finesse the hull to make it look better ... in my case, museum quality; a standard the rest of you uni-brows can only wish to attain. [By museum quality, do you mean entombed in dust-covered glass? - ED]

Here are some shots on how I tackle limber and flood-drain hole punch-outs:


David,

[roedj]

Gap between casing and hull

David or ??,

While punching out the limber holes I keep looking at the space on the mold where the gap ought to be between the casing and the pressure hull. Is it worth punching it out too? I realize it means more work, perhaps a lot more work, but it bugs me just having it molded in. Oh well, maybe I can "fake it" with clever painting at the end to give the appearance of depth. The picture of Unswerving clearly shows the gap.

Dan

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

David or ??,

While punching out the limber holes I keep looking at the space on the mold where the gap ought to be between the casing and the pressure hull. Is it worth punching it out too? I realize it means more work, perhaps a lot more work, but it bugs me just having it molded in. Oh well, maybe I can "fake it" with clever painting at the end to give the appearance of depth. The picture of Unswerving clearly shows the gap.

Dan

Yeah, that's the free-flood gap between the tank-tops and superstructure. Leave it be for the time being. Right, paint it dark later, not worth the effort, or the potential structural problems opening up such a long slit along the length of this hull would present.

David,

[roedj]

I need a do-over

David,

Family biz took me away for awhile but I'm back at it - for better or more likely worse. I'm "punching out" limber holes but they are totally FUBAR. Please tell me you have a way to fill in this mess and do some holes (OK, a lot of holes) over.

One pic shows difference between a diamond cutter (better) and a carbide cutter (my shaky hand can't handle it well).

Dan (I may be old but I am shaky)

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

No sweat, Shaky. Here's how you do it.

Put a little gap-filling CA in a shallow dish. take a 3/32" dowel and round the end a bit. Stick the dowel into the glue and transfer the glue to the chipped areas. Blow on some baking soda -- which immediately hardens the adhesive.

Drink five cups of coffee and continue with the careful carbide work. Dynamite goes quicker.

David,

[roedj]

David,

Not sure what you mean by "bow on some baking soda"

I've got some spatulas from my chemistry days or some wooden craft sticks to basically slap some baking soda on the CA. Is that what you meant?

Dan