Scratch build HMS Resolution Class SSBN

[Davidh]

Hello all,

I have lost count of how many coats of resin and sanding back I have done on this master hull. 10-15. But slowly I think I am getting closer to the right shape.I have had to look at the towed sonar array housing and have turned to getting that onto the port side of the hull. This is essential if I am going to mould the housing into the top hull which I intend to do. This has to be done reasonably soon so that I can work out how the mould will relate to the positioning of the port side stern hydroplane. I will be designing this plane to integrate with the base of the housing. So two moulds will need to be created for the stern planes, one port and one starboard, the port one being slightly different as it will have the housing coming out the end.

My original rear planes are swept in the trailing edge, The biggest misconception of the R class. they were never swept. Si I have got some scrap pine from the workshop at school and sanded them down to size. They are rough but in these photos show the general placement. I will also need to adjust the top vertical fin, it's a bit too high and will need to be reduced however I think the back end in these pics is certainly looking rather lafeyette class.


So I'm now spending time trying to develop drawings of deck arrangement and also re-coating the hull and sanding back, re coating and sanding back until the profile is as good as I think it's going to get then smooth it down to a glassy finish and started scribing the lines.

I looked into getting hold of some Renshape. I found a supplier down in Sydney. Asked for a quote. Sent me back one within the hour for a block 1mx1m by100mm $380!!! O.K, I guess pine is looking rather good right now...

David H

[Davidh]

Hi all


Now that I have smoothed the hull to the shape and smoothness that I am after I can consider scribing detail. Firstly I need to lay her up on the board and go around her bean with a marker pencil to get the required concentric lines I need. I especially need one that goes from the lower edge of the missile casing towards the bow. This will indicate the upper surface and edge of the conformal bow array. This also goes along way to giving me the outline of the bow hull at waterline.

I have spent a couple of weeknights after work going over photographs trying to glean as much info as possible on the shape and arrangement of all bow details. The rectangular casing hatched forward of the main planes and also where the safety track comes and goes aft of the planes. Also working out a couple of the big hatches just forward and on top of the planes casing. There is one large circle hatch just forward of the planes in the middle. In one photo of revenge at port shows a red ring painted around this hatch. I have decided that I will make a small brass plate turned up on the trusty new lathe. I will drill and small recess into the deck and mount this just a fraction above the surface. I have the same Idea for the hatch at the back just in front of the rear fin and also the raised deck section that the forward transducer is mounted to.

As can be seen the brass hatch sits in a small recess drilled out with a spade bit. After this was done I then looked at the creation of the two side fore planes mountings. I have decided to go with resolutions last refit design for its forward planes. This featured a rather boxy and in my opinion must have been the least hydrodynamic looking plane /hull interaction. The second refit with the planes shafts mounted inside a faired structure that looked like the planes continued all the way to the hull would have surely been the most efficient. Surely there would have been eddying coming off this ensemble.

Dave H

[Davidh]

I used a small piece of aluminium sheet to make out the profile of the missile hatches. These missile hatch doors extend down the side of the missile deck and feature a double hinge that concertina's outwards. There were two modifications to the missile hatch doors during the lifetime of the R class boats. some boats finished up service with a design that had faceted angled surfaces immediately around the perimeter of the hatch doors. I don't know when this modification was done and to which boats. Another mystery. This would be a lot of work to reproduce so I am going with the earlier design. I will then start cutting out the tiny little raised hatch hinges that protrude just slightly above the flat deck. Tweezer city here we come.
Weaving its way in between all the hatches is the safety track. I am not a good etcher. I agree with Dave Merriman that wood is frustrating and hard to scribe in however at $300 a sheet, forget Renshape, that's a rip off. If you look at some of the pics of the weaving deck safety track it almost looks raised. I am tempted to use a slither of styrene to simulate this but I think it's just a lighting thing..

The Bow conformal sonar window is the next big job. This would be raised. As mentioned the big fat structure over the front of Resolution makes interpretation really difficult. Thanks Cammel Laird!Like lots of other things that have changed on Resolution I'm sure that this bow array has evolved too. I am making mine as I believed she would have looked towards the end of her service. Mine would involve the gluing of small strips of styrene along the edges of the array outline. Once this is done a layer of Filler is screeded over the area inside the box and carefully profiled to leave a minimum of filler needing to be sanded back.

I have machined up a stern hatch. This is just in front of the rudder and was used in the late 1970's for the DSRV tests with Repulse. I have sometimes thought of doing this boat just to do the cool and awkward looking white skunk like stripe running down the back of Repulse. I don't know how long she had this scheme but it would certainly be unique amongst boomers. Still If I did do this I would have to revert back the earliest forward plane housing design. Drilled a hole to slot the hatch right in and then filled around it and sanded down. Soon ready for etching the various other details that would be found around the stern.

I have been adding further hull detail and deliberating over the feint line that runs at an angle from the bow sonar corner up at and angle and then abruptly turns vertical just in front of the fin. This then rides up and over the top of the hull before meeting itself on the other side. I know it the line of tiles where I assume they end at their northern most point. I have decided to simply denote this with a really small strip of Styrene plastic that will demarcate.

David H

[Davidh]

Hello All,

Once the front sonar array was done I then turned my attention to gluing down a sail profile. This is simply a piece of pine shaped like the outline of the sail and slightly raised. For the kit it will obviously show the positioning of the sail. It also means that if the bottom edge of the sail is not even then light will not come up from underneath. Will sand this surface down nice and smooth.

There is not a lot of good above photo's showing the stern top hull between the rear of the missile deck and the top rudder. There are some pics near water line that show the subtle rise of the DSRV hatch but most of the pic's are from angles that make distances hard to judge and also you get textures that throw off shapes at lower angles. There seem to be a lot of tiles missing in some photo's, once again it depends on the boat.

I have turned up the rear escape hatch, the one that the DSRV attaches to in emergencies. Turned it up out of a small piece of brass. Drilled a hole in the deck and then glued and filled around it. Once again study of as many rear photo's gives me some idea as to the rest of the hull detail, hatches and all.

As mentioned I have made a start on the stern planes. Resolution didn't have swept planes, a misconception that has perpetuated over the decades. The Jecobin plans that many people have used adhere to this and that may be apart of the problem. The have a straight trailing edge.
I have cut out the profile of these planes using pine and then attacked them with the sander. These planes a quite tapered as the profile narrows towards the tip. The leading edge is straight. As I designed these planes, in the back of my mind I had to think about how these would be integrated into a kit and to make sure that the pivoting axis line ran straight through the hull and parallel with the other plane out the other side. Getting these angles right would be crucial for creating accurate parts of the future kit. A lot of fine sanding involved and trial and error fitting to the sides of the hull. Matching up and aligning small holes where the shafts will be arranged.

David H

[Slats]

Hi David
I can see the photo links for the photos you posted are coming for the Subcommittee site but the photos are not visible in these threads.
Can you please re post them.
Thanks

John

[Davidh]

Thanks john

I'll get onto that soon

Dave

[Davidh]

Hello all,

I haven't moved the sail any further back. The sail is just slightly ahead of the start of the missile deck slot. I have built a raised deck profile that makes it easier for the builder to simply place the sail over the top and glue it down. It is also designed so that if the bottom edge of the sail is not exactly flush up against the hull then light from the other side will not come through.

I emailed Babcock whom I believe are responsible for overseeing the R class boats in Rosyth. I also emailed BAE systems. They haven't even bothered answering. How hard can it be?..

I have done a little more modification to the stern towed sonar array as it curves around the front of the port side stern plane. I have angled up the leading edge of this plane to meet the housing as it snakes up the side of the hull and then meets the missile deck rear section. I think its looking OK. I have also re-modelled the Vertical fin. My original fin was too thick and wide as well as too big. I have also reduced the height at which the fixed fin sits. I will be putting some light detail on the rudder surface. The rudder now sits on the raised profile that will act as a locator for kit builders. It also gives some clearance for the swing of the rudder.

As I am near the end of the work on the masters I have been looking at the set up for the mast moulds. As mentioned this build will be different to how I originally did the top hull moulds. I will be creating another silicon glove hardback mould. The Silicon is reinforced by a fibreglass shell and then will have further reinforcement with a pine box structure that will stop any warping. I have created a low wood wall around the hull as it sits inside the bottom fibreglass mould. This wall also features small little blocks inside. This is a registration feature to make sure that the silicon mould will align with the fibreglass shell. It will also act as a dam wall for the runny silicon that will well at the bottom before I use the silicon mixed with thixo to cling to the sides of the hull further up.

As mentioned john I will get some previous pics up..

Dave

[Davidh]

Hello all,

I clamped down the wooden wall around the outside of the master. Clamping the structure to the bottom hull mould flange and making sure that it is level and flush so that no silicon will seep under the wooden structure. It's not hugely critical as the silicon is quite thick and doesn't run far. This mould will most likely use up about a litre of silicon so it is a fair investment, it's not cheap so you do want to get it right. It's important to make sure that you have the right amount of catalyst to harden the silicon. I use a silicon called 'Silastic 3481 Base' by Dow Corning. It is a condensation hardener. Usually sets in about 10 hours depending on temp and humidity.

The great thing about silicon is that you don't really need to use a release agent so that to apply silicon to the master and the flange of the lower mould will not need PVA or wax. I mixed up a large batch of silicon and than started to pour about 40% onto the side of the mould around the channel made by the gap between the wooden wall and the side of the upper master. This will make a nice thick rim around the side of the mould. Then I added a small amount of 'Thixotropic-M' which is a thickener for the same silicon and allow the material to cling to walls and slope and not run down. Literally all I needed was a couple of drops to do the job. I then pasted it onto the sides and top of the mould.

This mould would need at minimum, two layers of silicon. It is important that the mould is at least 4=5mm thick. Once you put the first layer on you need to survey the thickness all over because if there is a big difference in thickness between different sections of the one mould you really need to rectify it before you go any further and add the hard back. If this happens then when you finally pull the silicon mould from the hardback the worst that could happen would be a tear and that really really sucks. If not then the lay is so thin that it weeps and will not sit in the hardback without sagging, SO MAKE SURE THAT ITS THICK ENOUGH! You lay up the fibreglass and once pulled form the mould sections of your work will mould the saggy wavy pattern where there should be smooth flat missile deck for example... Make the silicon rough. Paste it on and make it uneven so that the material that you back it with will key with it effectively.

Once you silicon layer is thick and consistent enough then I removed the wooden wall around the outside, being careful not to lift the silicon mould at the rim off the flange of the lower mould. Once done I add a PVA release agent to the rim of the bottom hull mould flange which is f'glass. Then I can start laying up the resin. First I lay up a gel coat that is nice and thick. I use an orange pigment. For years I have used orange as my 'tooling colour'. I have just recently bought an orange pigment for silicon so the turning to the dark side is complete! Once the initial gel coat is down you can then layer it up with an obscene amount of glass cloth.
David H

[Davidh]

Hello all,

So after the last layer of silicon has cured I applied a thick coat of resin. As can be seen from the previous photo my tooling is almost always in orange. that's just what I do. Once I have done this and allowed the resin gel coat to set, I'll start laying up layers of glass. mainly chopped strand and weave. I put down a resin coat first in order to stick to the weave and glass above it. You have to use a fair bit of cloth/ strand. This shell needs to be rigid and sturdy. you do not want any flex or warp in this hardback as it will hold the silicon mould in the shape needed. I have found in the past particularly here in Australia that if a mould is not rigid enough and left out in the December heat it will warp, sometimes badly. I've had to chuck moulds away.

I put about 3-4 layers of cloth and then start building the wooden 'egg crate. This is a cheap way of using wide pieces of timber to reinforce the mould and save some money and resin. Two strips down the side and 3 bulkheads across the hardback. Make sure they are glassed down along the length of the mould. This wooden frame will resist the buckling and warping that may occur.

Once this has all been done and given a couple of days to dry then you can think about pulling the master plug from the silicon mould. Firstly I release the lower hull shell. On resolution it is a split mould. Two side pieces held together with wing nuts. Once that is pulled off you have the underside of the master sticking up and ready to be pulled from the silicon and hardback.

Now is the moment of truth. you want to take your time with this. It always makes me nervous as I need to gently pry them apart. I do not want to create or provoke tears. This is why it's important to make the silicon mould THICK. Once you have pried the master out of the silicon you will see if all that effort has translated into a straight aligned, detailed silicon negative image. So far so good, I don't have any tears..


David H

[Davidh]

Hello all,

It's been a while as I've been busy with school reports and the like. Still I feel like I'm in the home stretch with this boat. I'm making the moulds for the rear appendages now that the hull halves have been made. So I have created the rear planes out of pine and several coats of resin and sanding back later have given me a nice smooth surface on all of the pieces.

Once again I will be making RTV silicon moulds this time I have a nice orange pigment for the silicon in keeping with the orange of the hull moulds. I make my moulding box out of mdf and carve out the profile of the parts on the base. Then drill partially into the base to create the registration points around the parts. I then mark out the air vents and the sprue channel. Once this is done I can build up the sides of the mould with mdf blocks screwed in the sides. Pour the RTV silicon and come back the next morning.

I then pull the silicon off the base with the master mould pieces still inside. Then Flip it over ready to mould the other side. Re-insert the parts, sprue and vent lines although I can easily cut these in later if I wanted to. Repeat the process and then you are ready to start moulding by pouring resin in the sprue channels.


David H

[bwi 971]

It's a pity the pic's show up small David.

Grtz,
Bart

[Davidh]

Hello all,

As mentioned earlier I have started working on the rear tail feathers. I always find doing the rear a fiddly affair. I decided this time to use my lathe and machine up some small horns for the horizontal planes connecting pushrods. They came out as little brass discs that I simply ground down so they are rectangular, drill a hole through the centre and at the lower corner and then solder them to the pushrods inside the planes.

The vertical rudders were simply joined onto a brass rod that is simply bend to go around the propeller shaft. I then soldered a small brass plate that will be where the clevice fits to go to the rudder servo. I have spent a fair bit of time fine tuning and getting the movement to be free and un encumbered. This also included making sure that the top rear hull that slides over the top of the top rudder pivot sits neat and doesn't bind with anything. Once this is nice and free I can then look at fixing the lower and upper rudders.

The last photo shows a mock up for a display that I am working on. In August there is a large model show in Newcastle called the "our town model show". In previous years I have gone and been a bit frustrated that about 60-70% of the displays are model trains. There is the Task force 72 mob but no subs, So this year I applied to be an exhibitor / vendor and was greeted with enthusiasm as the organiser has desperately wanted new and different displays.... I think that the use of flags will make a good backdrop with mike and Resolution.

[Capn Scuttle]

Hi Dave
Just came across your post and joined to reply. No idea when you posted it so your model may be old and headed for scrap by now, but in case this helps...

I am also planning a model of Reso and have done some research that might help. I was AMEO in Reso 40 years ago and can still remember something! And I recently checked out the Docking Plan, in the 'Ship's Book', by courtesy of the curator, Submarine Museum, Gosport. I am currently making the MicroMir 1/350th model and correcting many glaring errors, all caused by the lack of hard information until now - but the docking plan and photos on the Associati0n website, plus memory and engineering common sense, can put a lot right.

Starting at the sharp end: 7 bladed 14ft diameter scimitar propeller from Reso is on show outside the sub museum. (I don't remember the unsharp tailcone!) Ahead of that are the rudder and planes. The Jecobin plan was the only one available to modellers for years and shows swept planes - NO! The planes were straight athwartships , though the stabilizer fins in front had swept leading edges, and a hinge support bars about 1ft thick extending past the (balanced) front of the planes. In 1976 the port stabilizer had a 1ft tube led from 7ft aft of the trailing edge, curving around the front along and up the ballast tank and hull to disappear under the port aft end of the missile casing, where a towed array winch took the place of the port ALP float aerial. (So no doors that side). Covered with a fairing like the two bilge blisters. (with two huge dents in it, where it collapsed dramatically on our first deep dive - not enough filler under it!)

MicroMir's model is apparently on the wrong plan! (I had hoped they had referred to KGB archives, as the MoD are so obstructive about releasing our secrets). There is lots wrong with the model - fin, blisters and foreplanes are all too far aft etc. The fin front is approximately 113'-1.5"aft from the FP (nose) - the docking plan only gives measurements along to the nearest 1/6th of an inch! The bottom rudder is all-moving, with no skeg and the top rudder is too short, while the plane's span is too great on the model - 40'-6" fwd, and 41'S/42'P aft (with towed array tube).

Moving on, the only protrusion on the after hull is the flat 5'-6" diameter surround of the escape hatch, for mating with a rescue DSRV (diving bell) - front and back are flush, but the edges stick up sharp above the circular ballast tank cone surface by a couple of inches.

The missile casing is all parallel as far as the back of the fin and there starts to slope down and become narrower, very slightly at first, which is why the horizontal drainage slot 1ft high between the missile deck and hull appears to slope up about 1ft at the front, beside the fin (Not SAIL! RN, not USN!), although the angle of sloping sides is the same. The top of the slot is mostly at 28' above the keel.

From level with the radar mast (the front big mast) the upturned drain slot stops and is replaced by a ~1" gap between the fairing and the hull - this is because you can't weld stuff onto thigh-tensile steel hull at a shallow angle, but only at right angles, or you compromise the strength and end up with a crevice or lump, either of which might spoil the nice strong circular section that kept us safe! So the thin slot or edge is visible in the launching photo. (Other joins, like the ballast tanks at the ends, are similar steps, but were then filled with filler compound to fair them off. I think the slot visible at launch was filled later, as I have never seen it in another photo.)

If you draw a staightish line from the edge of the flat missile deck to the centreline aft end of the torpedo loading hatch, each side, between those line is straight across, flat casing (very lightly humped fore and aft, but flat across, and covered in in rough deck paint). Outboard of that line the shape is curved, tangential; the sharpish (3ft?) radius of the missile deck edge becomes gradually bigger as you go forward, and the angle it turns to flat sides becomes flatter, so the intersection with the hull ahead of the slot slopes down, as you can see in the docking photo, and also becomes more and more nearly tangential to the hull as you move forward.. Where the visible edge stops is probably the front of the cylindrical main hull, the point where there is a sharp reduction in hull diameter to the fore ends, with ballast tanks around it. Then there is no need for the visible edge, as the casing side becomes part of the less-stressed 1/2" ballast tank casing.

The bottom of the hull is a revolved profile, so circular, and the straight sides of the midships casing become more curved all the way from the circular bottom to the casing deck tangent as you move forward; the sharp transition by the top getting larger and blending more and more gently with the sides as you move forward. From the torpedo hatch aft end forward, the whole cross-section is curved, egg-shaped - but then two flats appear in the sides, , being the sides of the sonar. This sonar is a single curved plate, 6ft high, wrapped around the curve of a waterline about 2'-3" above the midline, all at the same angle of 70 degrees to the horizontal, with the ballast tank plating tangential above and below - which accounts for the 'sperm-whale-like 'forehead'. My recollection is that the sonar was flush with the hull - only after 1978 or so was a bigger fibreglass cover fitted over it, extending a foot or so higher and longer, and sticking out a few inches - the space between was probably filled with water or gin. Before that it was always covered with tarpaulin during photo sessions, as it was shy. (Incidentally, the reason there are no good photos of the after hull exposed in dock is simple. It is huge; if you had a backside that big, would YOU want anyone taking photos of it?)

The big fairings around the fwd planes roots (and their rounded tips) were added at about 1980, not to reduce 'drag coefficient' - we had 80 million Watts to play with and hardly ever went full speed in Murmansk harbour, or wherever - but to reduce NOISE! The whole casing and fin, especially forward, was incredibly smooth and streamlines compared to most ships - gaps between hatch panels were almost as close as car door panels and there is not a single unfaired protrusion at the front. The 'barbeque' sonar behind the foreplanes has masses of fairing compound to blend it with the casing. (At the back end there is thicker turbulent boundary layer, and it is further from the sonars, so the protruding escape hatch sides were of less account). All holes like ballast tank flood holes (18" x 36") had diagonal louvered vanes to smooth the flow of water passing, so it did not whistle. It was all about being able to hear, as if you were in a fast moving car listening for what is going on outside so you could stay away from everyone. The big fairings around the foreplane bosses are similar to the contemporary Vanguard design, and obviously very cleverly designed to help silent passage, not to disturb the sonars, especially at the front. (Or 'bow' as sailor peoples liked to call it; or 'blunt end' as I'd say to confuse them).

As I say, I have gone into all this quite deeply as I like to research models much more than to actually make them! And I want to get it completely right, as I'm a 'rivet-counter'.

Good luck with yours, if it is not too late to say that!

Cheers

Mike

[Davidh]

Hello Mike,

Thanks for your very detailed run down of various aspects of Resolution. I just wished I could have conversed with you about 6 months ago. You seem to have a very good memory for dates and features and fitting. I would love to see all you have described ,in drawing form.

One of the things that Steve Price and I have discussed ( steve started the Scratch build Repulse build over on the subcommittee site ) is that these boats all had different modifications during the same refits. No two boats ever seemed to look the same at any time. This makes dating most photos quite tricky. The most conspicuous evolution is with as you mentioned The gradual change in design of the foreplane housings. Do you have any further dates for when these ,what seem like three distinct evolutions occurred? You mentioned the last change was made around 1980. Thank you!

Do you have further dry dock photos? I have exhausted all avenues with the Mod. Any more information you have would be greatly appreciated. I am surprised that you are bringing up these gems as when I tried contacting the various associations for R class boats all I got was very little and citing that most members probably wouldn't talk because of the official secrets act.

One modeller I am aware of Ron Perrot was allowed on board the decommissioned Resolution a couple of years ago. I believe he took photos but was told never to release them. What could possibly still be secret on s 45 year old hull that has been decommissioned. Could you enlighten me.

Once agiain, thank you for these gems. If you can, keep talking...

This photo is of the latest work on my boat

DAvid.

[trout]

Mike,
Great information! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for your service protecting the world. Any images or plans you can share would be helpful to anyone else looking to build or correct a Res sub.
Peace,
Tom