Today's building

[Albacore 569]

there is another thread on Meteorite here if you search

[trout]

What a joy to watch you build this. Will Oudmayer is just crazy good at building piston systems. He has taught me a lot. Can’t wait till you get this in the water!

[Albacore 569]

Completed Buildng today 48 hours ahead of schedule before the display at the Fly Casting ponds in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park near famous Speckels Lake, the site of the oldest continuous model yacht club in the United States (since 1898). The yacht club in NYC's Central Park is older but has not operated continuously. (according to the SFMYC).

Dolphin 2 INS Tanin will be pulled out of the builders shed for SF show first time. Internal linkages clevises in dive module set. Prop shaft and frame in. After the show will immediately start floatation, static dives balance and trim tests next.

Started building her in November 2023, completed (construction) 9-25-24. 1/48 scale. 56.5 inches long. Uses the same Dive module as the French 1/32 scale model Argonaute.

It was special and strange in a happy sort of way gazing at her completion ......sitting on my butt tired and drinking more ice tea to re hydrate myself - I sat back on my bench stool looking at model what was done in the hot garage with the air fans now turned off. My radio classical station started playing Jewish music! It sounded like a Jewish wedding for 5 minutes in my garage LOL....I was smiling laughing. I said 'thanks boss'. These special coincidences we have sometimes. As Antonio Salieri says in the classic movie ' Amadeus' "What was God up to!"...lol

When this boat is completed too, will restart building HMS Meteorite again in 1/30 scale. I put her on hold to accumulate more experience and practice studying Argonaute and building Dolphin 2. I will convert Meteorite from a single European style hull to a double hull with a WTC built years ago for me by Will Oudmeyer and it has already been fitted well to the Meteorites now free flood hull.

[Albacore 569]

Adding the dry transfers, I sent pattern of and had delivered months ago. Time to go on boat small letters spell 'No Tug'.

[Das Boot]

Very unique and unusual color.

[Albacore 569]

Painting of most of the sub minus the prop stern cone completed. Ill add the dry transfers tomorrow then a light clear coat to seal them in.

[Albacore 569]

Starting to paint some components. The sail is done, painting it. Will install the stern clevises' parts I made months earlier now. When that is done the stern cone, prop and prop shaft will be next. I have to adjust the shaft length now to the now established position of the dive module.

Hate the Rustoleum Paint. But it works. But I have to rub it down and buff out some for the surface texture I want. The masking lines particularly. But I am using because the colors used seem to match the real sub exactly! Who knows, maybe the yard in Israel uses the same Rustoleum Paint? You never know. lol.

The colors are Rustoleum 'Midnight Blue' and 'Ink Blue'. Unfortunately, they only make in a 'satin' finish. So, after dried completely overnight, I rub it down with a soft clean white cloth and then coat the sail in a Testors clear flat. There is a - what looks like a pit sword sticking out horizontally to starboard. the port side is uncomfortably clean and cries for detail, but that's the way it is on the real sub. The starboard side has a walkway around the sail and access to the pit sword, countermeasure ejectors and the single starboard side only brass handrail.

The navigation lights are still there forward; they are still masked off till I can apply the dry transfers I had made months ago & then will seal with a light coat of clear flat one last time.

[Albacore 569]

That boat sure does have some excellent detail.

Thank you Danke Das

[Das Boot]

That boat sure does have some excellent detail.

[Albacore 569]

Painted (blacked out) the inside navigation light areas in sail. Hand sanded carefully polycarbonate Plexiglas clear windows for the lights & added C A ed in place. added light fixtures carefully without gumming up windows. Take your time here.

Added air vents (holes) in casing under sail and on deck. These vent holes will be less conspicuous once the deck is painted black soon.

Shop is looking like someone's building a sub...lol. A work of art somehow miraculously emerging from a messy sea of chaos. Laments from another of the fellow afflicted. lol.

[Albacore 569]

Cool solution! Did you use that kind of "wet" battery pack before? Any long-term-effects/-issues?

Jörg

Credit goes to Bob Martin who employed a wet Nicad battery successfully in my 1/32 scale French Argonaute submarine. So, I am duplicating building my own battery same way with a different configuration. I rearranged my battery in a 2 x 5 single stick brick pattern. Bob in the Argonaute Nautilus drydocks he built for me is also 2 x 5 batteries, but they curve up each side around the saddle tanks between te outer hull and the dive module mid-ships on the CG (center of gravity)

If this Israeli sub design didn't have those large AIP fairings along the bottom with ample extra useful space - I could not have gotten away with it applied this way. What is also nice is access to the battery is easy either by reaching into the free flood hull area from forward after unlocking the bow section and pulling out after removing the dive module, or simply remove the 4 strong flush bolts on the bottom of hull and drop the battery out the bottom like a cannon ammunition pack on a Hawker Hunter jet. The battery has been water tested & it stays dry & provides the boat with its power. Scroll back a few pages in this tread for battery construction. 12 volts 5 amph. same as Argonaute's. This makes safe recharging of both boat since they both have the same recharge settings. Planned it that way for what it's worth.

[JHapprich]

Cool solution! Did you use that kind of "wet" battery pack before? Any long-term-effects/-issues?

Jörg

[Albacore 569]

Test fitting 12 volt 5 amph nicad waterproof brick battery in 'keel troff' as I call it. Good clearance (phew) for dive module above it. Dive module slides in smooth and easy. Next is making the end stops for longitudinal positioning.

[Albacore 569]

More details of sail before painting. the counter measure ejectors already made and painted. Just waiting installation after sail pant.

Apology for Pictures being out of sequence.

[Albacore 569]

Thank you Jörg.

I believe based on its relative size and shape; it is submarine HDR (High data rate) satellite communications mast like current American & British submarines use too.

The Sub HDR connects submariners to the above-sea world by giving them high-rate data multi-band SATCOM capability. Submariners deploy Sub HDR by raising a mast-mounted antenna above the ocean's surface, while the submarine remains submerged at periscope depth where the boat is difficult to detect. The satellite / submarine communicates via lasers directing its signals to broadcast its signals very narrowly discretely.

The system can send and receive mission-critical information such as secure wideband multi-media, voice and data traffic real time , imagery, and video teleconferencing. Sub HDR enables underwater forces to participate in coordinated fleet battle group operations.