Scratch build HMS Resolution Class SSBN

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thanks David for the great photo's.

I have been an avid reader of the Cabal reports but havent seen any new ones for a while. With what you know about scratch building, you could write an incredible book on the subject. Yeah i know,you dont have the time/ too small a market. Understood.

Thanks for the advice. I realise now how the uneven surface of wood plays havoc with your scribing tools. Anyway I appreciate the comments and any advice you have. I am happy with how the masters are turning out.


David h

Thanks, David.

Model Building is a dying craft. Soon SkyNet will be making everything for us (till someone forgets to pay the utility bill). Over time our fingers will fall off ... as we have no use for them. And the Union's killed the apprentice-journeyman-master system; they don't teach the Crafts in school anymore; and what we are pleased to call Machinist's today are little more than shop-drones suitable only as CNC machine bit changers, and sweeping shavings off the floor.

... and idiots who stick plastic models together call themselves, 'model builder'. NO, DAMIT!!!! They are kit-assemblers!

In my world, words still have meanings. Specific meanings

(secure from rant)

I've added a few thousand photos to the hard-drive. You have a specific model building question, let me have it and I likely have a photo that will help illustrate the answer.

M

[Von Hilde]

Back in the day when a presentation of your craft was the credetation, be it a bricklayer or diamond cutter. Not a credential hangin on the wall from some flakeyazzed institution that says "YOU DA MAN" or a self written bio for a resume'. I hung out with some, older than me, Modelers Guild members at the San Diago Maritime Museum and we were discussing that very same thing about modelers being kit assemblers. Samo samo situation with just about everything. Mechanics are just parts changers the custom motorcycle builders just are assemblers of aftermarket parts.... on and on. Now days if you want something done..."Theres an App for it" is the usual refrain, rather than having to figgure it out. Like I say " When you get old, there aint a whole lot of stuff left you have to learn the hard way anymore" I try to pass it on but sometimes them yunguns is a hard of hearin, ya know.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Back in the day when a presentation of your craft was the credetation, be it a bricklayer or diamond cutter. Not a credential hangin on the wall from some flakeyazzed institution that says "YOU DA MAN" or a self written bio for a resume'. I hung out with some, older than me, Modelers Guild members at the San Diago Maritime Museum and we were discussing that very same thing about modelers being kit assemblers. Samo samo situation with just about everything. Mechanics are just parts changers the custom motorcycle builders just are assemblers of aftermarket parts.... on and on. Now days if you want something done..."Theres an App for it" is the usual refrain, rather than having to figgure it out. Like I say " When you get old, there aint a whole lot of stuff left you have to learn the hard way anymore" I try to pass it on but sometimes them yunguns is a hard of hearin, ya know.

I know.

We are one power-outage away from savagery. Dumb-asses won't even know how to shave a spoke.

I wish the bugs good luck when their turn comes up.

M

[Von Hilde]

I know.

We are one power-outage away from savagery. Dumb-asses won't even know how to shave a spoke.

I wish the bugs good luck when their turn comes up.

M

Savagery and meyham was my middle name once. When the grid goes down it should be like ridin a bicycle, never forgot how to make fire, or nasty water, potable. People dont taste too bad if ya cook em right. I still breath underwater and see at night. The Mayans were a tad off on the date. Thats only because modern society has tweeked the clocks with the daylight savings time and threw off the calculation a few years. You wish them buggs luck? There's 2 kinds of luck. a plus and a minus so Luck is a mute factor: Confucious say" Sience and Skill Trump Ignorance and Superstition " I say to those young scallywags " May the Sons of a thousand cammels spit in their milk"

[Davidh]

Hi Dave and all,

Thankyou for your encouragement.

Yep, I could vent here and maybe I will about how society puts certain forms of creativity on a pedestal, to the exclusion of all others. We have an over abundance of dime a dozen average musicians and dancers and actors and "creative" people. I am sick of the brain dead TV shows like 'dancing with the stars" (you probably have equivalent rubbish in the states.) But our form of creativity gets no mention, no air time and little respect. In the extremely few times in the mainstream media when I have seen model builders, mainly RC aeromodellers portrayed (of which I am one) I can't help but get the feeling that they create what seems like a ridiculing view of us.

I see myself as creative, but people simply don't see what we do as creative. I have seen magnificient model ships sailing in a pond and people walking past completely not interested and ask myself, why? why do you not find that fascinating?

Anyway, enough on that.

I mentioned that I contacted the MOD in London regarding an FOI inquiry about declassifying or at least issuing some photos of the stern of the Resolution class SSBN. They said they would get back to me in twenty days. Well they did get back to me to tell me that they would need a further 20 days to deliberate on this one as it comes under national security and defence restrictions.

These boats have been sitting at Rosyth for nearly twenty years!!! They are no longer operational. They are all there, pick your boat! How can some deck plate and hatch details of the rear end compromise national security? Seriously. It's not like I want the full run down on Chevaline or something... I am impatient to get the back end scribed and think now that these details probably won't happen. I am told that Ron Perrot had restrictions put on how he could use the photos that he took, then again I don't know what he took pics of. He has still to get back to me.

If the french can put their SSBN Redoutable on display then surely some pics of the rear end of Resolution can't be that much of an ask surely?

Anyway that's enough for now. Another exciting installment probably on the weekend,... if you're behaved.

David H

Frustrated with that one.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Hi Dave and all,

Thankyou for your encouragement.

Yep, I could vent here and maybe I will about how society puts certain forms of creativity on a pedestal, to the exclusion of all others. We have an over abundance of dime a dozen average musicians and dancers and actors and "creative" people. I am sick of the brain dead TV shows like 'dancing with the stars" (you probably have equivalent rubbish in the states.) But our form of creativity gets no mention, no air time and little respect. In the extremely few times in the mainstream media when I have seen model builders, mainly RC aeromodellers portrayed (of which I am one) I can't help but get the feeling that they create what seems like a ridiculing view of us.

I see myself as creative, but people simply don't see what we do as creative. I have seen magnificient model ships sailing in a pond and people walking past completely not interested and ask myself, why? why do you not find that fascinating?

Anyway, enough on that.

I mentioned that I contacted the MOD in London regarding an FOI inquiry about declassifying or at least issuing some photos of the stern of the Resolution class SSBN. They said they would get back to me in twenty days. Well they did get back to me to tell me that they would need a further 20 days to deliberate on this one as it comes under national security and defence restrictions.

These boats have been sitting at Rosyth for nearly twenty years!!! They are no longer operational. They are all there, pick your boat! How can some deck plate and hatch details of the rear end compromise national security? Seriously. It's not like I want the full run down on Chevaline or something... I am impatient to get the back end scribed and think now that these details probably won't happen. I am told that Ron Perrot had restrictions put on how he could use the photos that he took, then again I don't know what he took pics of. He has still to get back to me.

If the french can put their SSBN Redoutable on display then surely some pics of the rear end of Resolution can't be that much of an ask surely?

Anyway that's enough for now. Another exciting installment probably on the weekend,... if you're behaved.

David H

Frustrated with that one.

Yeah, I've done some TV and movie work dealing with models. And those outside the craft regarded the work as one would a squished tube of grease-paint. Society has been dumbed down to the point where they admire celebrity, not craft. ANY celebrity!

Grab your crotch, inject four letter words into an angry word poem, strut around the stage with your ass hanging out, and you're the toast of the town.

However, should you be talented enough to simulate spaceflight with miniatures so well that your audience suspends their disbelief -- your pay-off is an angry note from the stage-manager that your van is too close to some celebrities parking spot.

Old news. But, Chevaline, for its time, was pretty slick. You guys had room for three bombs in the A-3's we gave you, yet you settled for two bombs and a hand-full of pen-aids. But, I'll give you Britt's this: you were determined to put at least one nuke on Ivan's head per launch should the balloon go up.

Hey, at least the Admiralty has not hit you with the easy 'no' answer. Be nice, you might have a friend in court over there.

M

[Davidh]

Hello all,

The missile deck etching is virtually complete and now its about time to produce the mould. I was originally thinking of just moulding the missile deck by itself. This would mean that the bottom edge of the mould would be where the part would be cut. When I make moulds that have a distinctive edge to them I often like to extend the length of the mould longer than what would be necessary so that I can cut it back. Often I would do the sail moulds and make them longer than needed. Then I can cut them back.

I will do the same for the missile deck. So at the bottom of the missile deck there is the gap that runs along the bottom edge and is just above the curved round surface of the rest of the hull. In order for the glass mould material not to go up underneath the missile deck I will fill this space with plasticene. I will then scrape it off. So the mould will extend in a continuous slope till it meets with the round section of the hull. Plasticene works well, I can get a really nice profile when I scrape it off.

Around the edges of the work I have been masking off the outside of the work so that no resin gets on the rest of the boat.

At the rear of the boat I have sculpted the plasticene with a gentle curve till it meets the rear of the hull. Once I have scraped back the plasticene and get rid of any plasticene residue where its not wanted I have then added PVA as my release agent. I have always used this. I know most people use waxes but I have found that PVA works well so several coats of this are in order.

Once this is done I can put down a get coat. I have decided to colour my moulds bright orange. This is because orange stands out and also I have plenty of orange pigment so why not? I made this layer quite thick.

Give the gel coat an hour or two to cure then add the first layer of glass. I have been using weave and chopped strand. This mould is one of the easiet moulds to do. No complex radii or bumps and bulges.

I think I'll change topic for a while here.

Dave,

From what I've been reading the Chevaline project was quite a hot potato. Sounds like an amazing project that went the way of the TSR 2. Top secret for almost ten years.

You mentioned you have photos and documents on almost every aspect of modelling that you have done. I would love to read about how you have done scratch build jobs like this. The whole process that you go through certainly interests me.

I have been reading the thread on Joel Stadnick's Seawolf. My boat won't be done to that level. I don't think I will ever be that good however reading a long detailed build like that is fascinating.

Anyway, that's enough for now.

David H

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

[Davidh]

Killer work Dave,

Thanks

Dave.

[Davidh]

Back at It.

Thanks for the pics. Great to look at and get ideas.

Anyway, the next step is to lay up the Glass on the mould for the missile dack and see that take shape. Once that has been in the sun for not very long it can be pulled. It's a great time of year to be doing this work. November (bushfire season) and it's about 28-29 degrees. At this rate the resin is set in about 15 minutes.
Pulling this mould has been easy as it's a really simple shape. There's no tricky undercuts or any really tight radii. The plasticene does its job really well and gives a smooth transition between the missile deck and the sloping sides of the hull. The great thing about the mould is that the detail that it has come away with is fantastic. The etch lines have come out really well and the missile hatches are all there. One of the photos clearly shows the etch detail in the light reflecting off the mould surface.

In one of the photos you can also see that the moulds for the sail. I mounted the sail sides onto an acrylic board and used this as the surface to mould the sail sides. I would hopefull get similar detail for the sail too. I drilled a small hole in the back of each sail halve and with a small self tapping screw placed it through a hole in the back of the board and into the back of the sail half. Then I would screw it down tightly. Place a little plasticene around the edges to seal and then wipe back. Once again started by using a orange gel coat as the internal coat and then a glass layup.


Thats enough for now. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

David H

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Egg-crate the backside of the GRP tool or it will warp on you.

M

[Davidh]

Been another busy week.

As the weather warms up it will become ideal for glassing. We just had a scorching 40 degree day today.

After moulding up the missile deck it would be time to pull it off from the hull. I have deliberately not moulded the rear towed array that runs at an angle down from the back of the missile deck to (I think) the rear hydroplane. I'm not sure about this one. Thats why I want the MOD in the UK to de-classify photos of Reolution in dry dock (still waiting). I haven't moulded it as it would therefore make the mould of the top of the hull have an undercut and I would then need to make a split mould for the top as well as the bottom. I will then make my own towed array bulge that runs at an angle down the side of the rear hull. I will cut a small groove in the rear side edge of the missile deck housing for the rear towed array bulge to fit under.

The sail mould has also turned out really well. (well good for me, not quite to Joel stadnick or he who shall not be named, standard ,but reasonable) I have the two mould halves joined together and then have laid up polyester resin and glass weave. The top of the sail also has its own mould. Originally I would mould the top of the sail as the sides of each sail mould and the detail would'nt be all that great. I have a separate mould for the top that really allows me to do a better job of the sail all over. I will then glue this over the top of the sail and cut out the various holes for masts etc...

After these parts have been created it would simply be a case of finishing and assembling these parts by themselves. I have decided that the sail will be detachable. I will use a bolt that will be glued into the bottom of the sail and then a nut that will attach it to the bottom of the missile deck. I will also soon need to look at the masts. I will need to dsiguise one to be the air induction for the subdriver pump.


Anyway It's time to go. Another week, another dollar..

David H

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Well done, sir. You just keep plowing ahead. You get things done. I like that.

M

[Davidh]

Thankyou very much Dave,

I have really slowed down in my model development and will spend a fair amount of time, just trying to 'get it right'. But you reach a point where you just have to go ahead to the next step that I suppose locks in that design feature. I know my models will never have the accuracy of yours or Joel Stadnicks, but I like to think I can get to within 80%!

Do you find that you still need to do a little etching on the finished part or is the fidelity in your moulds that good that you dont need to?

Dave

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thankyou very much Dave,

I have really slowed down in my model development and will spend a fair amount of time, just trying to 'get it right'. But you reach a point where you just have to go ahead to the next step that I suppose locks in that design feature. I know my models will never have the accuracy of yours or Joel Stadnicks, but I like to think I can get to within 80%!

Do you find that you still need to do a little etching on the finished part or is the fidelity in your moulds that good that you dont need to?

Dave

Yes, parts I produce today are ready for degreasing and priming out of the tools. I'm that good at it.

You? You're learning. Your work, currently, is unsymmetrical, rough, and the scribing is awful.

So was my work in the beginning. Nobody comes out of the gate an expert.

In the future you will look back on this current effort with horror and shame -- because by then you will have progressed so far ahead of what you started with that the difference between old and new work will stagger you.

You are near completion of this piece -- then there will be another piece, and so on. With each new project you will bring to the table the lessons learned from the past. And your work will improve. In time, you will assume the mantle Joel and I now hold.

You are learning techniques from the best; we, the current Masters of the Craft. With time, and study -- as Joel and I have -- you will become a master of this craft. The masters of today stand on the shoulders of the masters that came before us. It has always been that way. It always will be that way. The magic ingredients: dedication, and time.

Go get 'em, Tiger! We're there to help when you need it.

M