Retracted masts on a Virginia class sub?

[Timothy L]

I am looking for a photo of the sail on a Virginia class sub with all masts are retracted. I have searched - but to no avail.
Extended resin masts on a 1:72 sub seem highly susceptible to damage. I could scratch build more robust masts but first I would like to explore retracted masts - might be kind of different and look cool but not sure.

Thank you.
Tim

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I am looking for a photo of the sail on a Virginia class sub with all masts are retracted. I have searched - but to no avail.
Extended resin masts on a 1:72 sub seem highly susceptible to damage. I could scratch build more robust masts but first I would like to explore retracted masts - might be kind of different and look cool but not sure.

Thank you.
Tim

A bit complex for you at this point in your 'journey', Tim.

How about removable masts? Easier, and gives you the option to run the boat with, or without them. Here are some examples:

[Timothy L]

Got it. Thank you David - very helpful examples which will help me find a practical approach (kinda wish I had a lathe but can’t happen right now ;-)

[Timothy L]

David - are most of your sails removable for ease of transport? Thank you.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Got it. Thank you David - very helpful examples which will help me find a practical approach (kinda wish I had a lathe but can’t happen right now ;-)

Get a Taig lathe. Won't put you out too much.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

David - are most of your sails removable for ease of transport? Thank you.

All but the Soviet boats (the Rubin design bureau boats an exception) feature removable sails.

[Timothy L]

All but the Soviet boats (the Rubin design bureau boats an exception) feature removable sails.

Thank you David. Almost every building decision I head scratch over occurs overnight while sleeping. I love waking up with a clear direction LOL. The sail will use fabricated metal masts and be removable. Onward!

[Ken_NJ]

David, can you repost additional pics of the process for this one? I get the jist of it, I like the precision and detail of such a small and complicated part. D0 it in your 'today's work' if you want.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thank you David. Almost every building decision I head scratch over occurs overnight while sleeping. I love waking up with a clear direction LOL. The sail will use fabricated metal masts and be removable. Onward!

Excelsior!...

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Ask and ye shall receive, Party-Boat Boy!

[CC Clarke]

Having a full set of masts imports flexibility in your build options.

A set of 1/72 masts printed in ABS-like resin are pretty tough, and the more expensive engineering resins are even more durable.

When building custom boats, I print the sails with all mast openings clear, then insert a raised or lowered version to fill the openings. Generally, the periscopes (two types for the 774 class) are the only raised masts, but the customer gets the final say. A dab of RTV to the bottom of the masts allows easy replacement if required.



This is a current full set of masts as carried by the Block IVs.

CC

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Although I’ll fabricate the masts, I won’t aspire to the level of detail and quality so masterfully demonstrated by David ;-) For one thing, I don’t have the skill set - but I also lack a lathe. My saving grace is that I normally aspire to a level of detail that 1) is durable and 2) is viewable / realistic at a minimum distance of perhaps 6’ from water’s edge. I’m not a rivet counter and I don’t like things to break. I like to operate. Just food for thought.
For example, here are photos of my San Pedro and Nancy L tugs plus a the real tug that inspired the heavy rusting on Nancy L. The detail on the tugs have two things in common. First, The detail is not designed to be examined from 12 inches - It’s created to have a realistic look at several feet from the water’s edge. Second, There are some things that I enjoy or have fun with that are not necessarily on the real vessel. Rather, it might be just something fun that I like to see on a vessel (ie creative license). I tend to agree with Frank’s approach: it’s my boat and I’ll do what I want LOL.
My Virginia class, as another example, Well on the surface will be able to play a variety of Music: Ranging from Navy versions of anchors away to The Andrews Sisters. Does that have anything to do with realism? Nope - But it’s an aspect of modeling that I just happened to love!

The San Pedro

The model Nancy L


The real tug.

Love the rusting.

All figures need to be finished with a flat, flat, flat clear-coat. Unless it's wet leather or a sequined dress, figure flesh and clothing are presented as non-reflected FLAT!

You people!...

[Albacore 569]

Masts are very important from a visual sense too, they provide detail and scale to the rest of the sleek clean sails and hulls very often. I usually make mine removable and can do mast 'flower arrnging' if I want to practice periscope depth keeping, I will have just an attack scope up and the rest down or not inserted.

David, can you if you remember the paint colors or formulas for the grey blue and black? Primarily the blue please? Its (of course perfect!) I read the camo then in that period was a grey shade same tone, for Atlantic fleet boats, and a grey blue for the Pacific fleet boats. Correct?

[Timothy L]

I agree 100% - they actually are flat - but the photo conditions made a bit of a gloss look. Nothing more ridiculous than glossy figures!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Masts are very important from a visual sense too, they provide detail and scale to the rest of the sleek clean sails and hulls very often. I usually make mine removable and can do mast 'flower arrnging' if I want to practice periscope depth keeping, I will have just an attack scope up and the rest down or not inserted.

David, can you if you remember the paint colors or formulas for the grey blue and black? Primarily the blue please? Its (of course perfect!) I read the camo then in that period was a grey shade same tone, for Atlantic fleet boats, and a grey blue for the Pacific fleet boats. Correct?

Above waterline: no blue. Just black and shades of gray.

SubLant and SubPac had/has submarine painting manuals (wish I had stolen a copy out of the TRUTTA's and WEBSTER's Engineering log rooms). At any one moment in time, the two fleets had varying schemes. In my time we Deck Ape's simply called them, the SubLant scheme and the SubPac scheme. To the best of my knowledge, the only 'blue' was during the war years, and it was feathered in aft along the sides of the superstructure.