To everyone in general,
And now for something completely different - a man building a MBD "U" class sub without a whole lot of experience in subs and depending on a little (or lot of) help from my friends or anyone else who has an opinion.
Here's the background:
I have talked to Mike Caswell about a build thread idea I had in mind that I hope will turn out to be a win-win situation for both Caswell and me. I have some experience building surface fiberglass boats but, aside from putting together a 1/96 scale USS Blueback kit, no experience in fitting out a large sub starting from basically just a hull.
I have purchased a 1/32 (approx) "U" class hull from Caswell. It's made by MBD from an old Darnell design. I have also purchased a lot of other items from Caswell to complete the build such as a 3.5/2 Sub Driver and lots of Kevin Mc's electronics.
Here's where y'all come in. Frankly, I need your help and guidance. I have some ideas on how to do this but I figured, "Why wander down the wrong dead end road when there's so much talent and experience right here on this forum."
Here's the plan:
1) I keep everyone fully up do date on all progress, or lack thereof, by posting lots of pictures and associated data and then ask everyone, "What do you recommend I do next?"
2) As many as cares to chimes in with advice or direction on the next step and,if some sort of consensus can be reached, to the best of my ability, I go do it. Please don't be offended if I don't choose to exactly follow your idea (or ignore it all together) for I have some of my own ideas on this as well. On the other hand, I'm certainly not going to ignore the advice from those who have years of experience.
3) There a only a few "givens and druthers." a) I shall to the best of ability and budget use only products sold by Caswell, b) I would like to use WEST System Epoxy whenever possible as I have experience with it. Beyond that I'm open to just about anything.
4) I live in Michigan which means that right now it's cold and snowy which means I don't have a lot of ventilated areas to work in - hint - I don't want to gas me nor my family.
If, at any time, you think I need to purchase some new supply, tool or other gizmo, just let me know and I'll get it, budget allowing. At this time I have a reasonably well equipped workshop consisting of Dremels, scroll saws, files, drills, sanders and lots of other "stuff".
Criticism of my work is required and encouraged. I guarantee you that you will not hurt my feelings. After several years of marriage, I'm used to being told I did something wrong.
And please don't leave out any steps or warnings because it's obvious. Obvious to you, maybe, but perhaps not to somebody else and almost certainly not to me.
One more point that probably doesn't need to be said but I'll say it anyway - I have absolutely no commercial ties with Caswell nor anyone else associated with Caswell. When I finish this build it'll be a win for me because I'll have a nice model and a win for Caswell because they'll have a thread utilizing a lot of products that they sell and that they can use as they see fit - or not.
I'm doing this because I would like to end up with a very nice model of a "U" class sub but I need some experienced help. My first goal is to get something that functions in the water and surfaces as many times as it dives and comes back to the shore. That's it. Long term goal is to add "little bits" as I see fit to add more detail to the model. I am all for a fully rusted, tired looking sub half covered in seagull guano, but that's phase two.
I'll start posting pictures of what I have now in about 2 weeks time or sooner. Thanks for your attention to this long post and I hope to be hearing from a lot of you soon.
Dan
And now for something completely different - a man building a MBD "U" class sub without a whole lot of experience in subs and depending on a little (or lot of) help from my friends or anyone else who has an opinion.
Here's the background:
I have talked to Mike Caswell about a build thread idea I had in mind that I hope will turn out to be a win-win situation for both Caswell and me. I have some experience building surface fiberglass boats but, aside from putting together a 1/96 scale USS Blueback kit, no experience in fitting out a large sub starting from basically just a hull.
I have purchased a 1/32 (approx) "U" class hull from Caswell. It's made by MBD from an old Darnell design. I have also purchased a lot of other items from Caswell to complete the build such as a 3.5/2 Sub Driver and lots of Kevin Mc's electronics.
Here's where y'all come in. Frankly, I need your help and guidance. I have some ideas on how to do this but I figured, "Why wander down the wrong dead end road when there's so much talent and experience right here on this forum."
Here's the plan:
1) I keep everyone fully up do date on all progress, or lack thereof, by posting lots of pictures and associated data and then ask everyone, "What do you recommend I do next?"
2) As many as cares to chimes in with advice or direction on the next step and,if some sort of consensus can be reached, to the best of my ability, I go do it. Please don't be offended if I don't choose to exactly follow your idea (or ignore it all together) for I have some of my own ideas on this as well. On the other hand, I'm certainly not going to ignore the advice from those who have years of experience.
3) There a only a few "givens and druthers." a) I shall to the best of ability and budget use only products sold by Caswell, b) I would like to use WEST System Epoxy whenever possible as I have experience with it. Beyond that I'm open to just about anything.
4) I live in Michigan which means that right now it's cold and snowy which means I don't have a lot of ventilated areas to work in - hint - I don't want to gas me nor my family.
If, at any time, you think I need to purchase some new supply, tool or other gizmo, just let me know and I'll get it, budget allowing. At this time I have a reasonably well equipped workshop consisting of Dremels, scroll saws, files, drills, sanders and lots of other "stuff".
Criticism of my work is required and encouraged. I guarantee you that you will not hurt my feelings. After several years of marriage, I'm used to being told I did something wrong.
And please don't leave out any steps or warnings because it's obvious. Obvious to you, maybe, but perhaps not to somebody else and almost certainly not to me.
One more point that probably doesn't need to be said but I'll say it anyway - I have absolutely no commercial ties with Caswell nor anyone else associated with Caswell. When I finish this build it'll be a win for me because I'll have a nice model and a win for Caswell because they'll have a thread utilizing a lot of products that they sell and that they can use as they see fit - or not.
I'm doing this because I would like to end up with a very nice model of a "U" class sub but I need some experienced help. My first goal is to get something that functions in the water and surfaces as many times as it dives and comes back to the shore. That's it. Long term goal is to add "little bits" as I see fit to add more detail to the model. I am all for a fully rusted, tired looking sub half covered in seagull guano, but that's phase two.
I'll start posting pictures of what I have now in about 2 weeks time or sooner. Thanks for your attention to this long post and I hope to be hearing from a lot of you soon.
Dan
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