Vanguard tower size

[Peter W]

Hello all, first post here so be gentle. I am in the process of scratch-building HMS Vanguard and need a few pointers as to the tower the plans I am using have the tower a little on the small side, can anyone point me in the right direction.

All the best,

Peter.

[Subculture]

The Jecobin drawings look about right to me. But if you want to double check, you should be able to extrapolate enough information from all the pictures I posted up on the Sub Com forum. There's a slim chance anyone here will be able to give you exact dimensions, but in my mind, if it looks right, it is right.

Dave did a lovely retool of the sail for the Vanguard, which is now included with the OTW kit along with the improved appendages. The original sail was too tall.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

[greenman407]

Dave, thats the one that gave you so much trouble with the warping of the hull wasnt it? Looks like you got it all straightened out. Who was the manfg.? OTW?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Mark,

The warping of the OTW VANGUARD hull was all my fault:

As delivered, both halves of the hull have a big inside flange at the longitudinal parting line, this inboard flange works to keep the hull halves warp-free. But, at the time -- being the unthinking-hack-and-slash-idiot I'm sometimes famous for -- I cut those stiffening portions of the hull halves out. Initially, everything worked out fine and I got a near seamless fit between the two halves when they were assembled.

Two months later ...

... the two hull halves bowed out. Awful!!!

I spent two weeks building up, installing, and re-working the matting surfaces of the two hulls.

The moral of this horror story: Don't mess around with a fine product!

However, I did make an entirely new appendages set for the 1/100 OTW VANGUARD kit and sent those tools to Bob as an upgrade to the product.

[Peter W]

Andy, Your pics on Sub com were excellent and were just what I needed, Thank you. but the Sub-com site seems very quiet of late and this one a lot busier therefore I repeated the question especially with Dave having done an upgrade to the OTW kit.

Having spent some time on your pics I am getting some mixed results, a common outcome seems to be that the tower is bit thin at the bottom. I know I am being a bit pedantic but I would like to be sure, In all fairness as I am building it at 1/144 scale it probably won't matter anyway.

Thank you Andy and Dave for replies,

All the best,

Peter.

[Subculture]

A British SSBN has to be the toughest subject to find information on. These are kept under tighter wraps than the attack boats. They have been subject to alterations over the years, notably the propulsor has undergone revision, although I don't know exactly what those alterations are.

Bronco Models do a 1/350 scale Vanguard, that looks rather good.

[Peter W]

In the pics you posted there seems to be an alteration to at least one of them as it has something stuck onto the hull just below the hinged part of the missle doors.

Bronco's Vanguard is in my sights.

Peter.

[Subculture]

I believe the plates you speak of were some sort of protective fencing- nothing more.

I don't like them- breaks up the lines of the boat, and from what I've observed they weren't fitted to all the boats of the class, although there are others better qualified to confirm or deny that.

BTW, at the Summer Dive-in at St Albans in June, there should be at least two Vanguard models present, so come along and you will get to see one in action (details in the events section of this website).

Andy

[Peter W]

If I can I will, I must live reasonably close to you and St.Albans is just a quick hop on the picturesque M25. BTW I will not be modelling the protective fencing.

All the best,

Peter.

[Subculture]

Whereabouts are you based then, Peter?

[Peter W]

Rochester.

Peter.

[Subculture]

Oh that's not too far away at all. The Brockwell Dive-ins at Herne Hill are easier for you, being South of the river. Although St Albans is just off the M25, so travelling time might be about the same. We tend to get the best turnout at St Albans too.