HMS Meteorite Project Help Please

[Albacore 569]

[Albacore 569]

Todays work above.... Mahogany decking CA glued to under frame. Wood painted and sealed. I saw a little cap on a primaer paint can nozzle about 2 mm square that will make a nice little bridge crew urinal - you peed into the funnel and it washed away under the casing into the sea. A gimballed compass and some gages, cable conduits and all ready to slide the fair water (pre painted inside) over the deck. The periscope will be fixed (not raising or lowering) but it has a metal thread I added to screw the periscope mast inti the hull and remove for transport.

The fair water needs a cable track for a tow line release, the side railings and arriving soon, the new brass 3 d printed side name plates for the boat to be added after the boat is near done.

[Albacore 569]

[Albacore 569]

The Fairwater name plate & the HMS Meteorite's 'ships crest'. Its nice that even being a Ex U- Boat & what it represented to the people in the United Kingdom nearly starving them out during the war, the Royal Navy accorded the newly refurbished HMS Meteorite its own ships crest as well...as a brief notable blip in RN submarines history. Professor Walter and his staff brought their families to live in Barrow in Furness living in fairly free but monitored guests of the UK. Barrow was night bombed a few times during the war situated at the extreme range of Luftwaffe bombers. So it must have taken a bit of getting used to to have some German families among the citizens of Barrow 1945-1949. Later Walter would emigrate to the United states.

[Albacore 569]

[Albacore 569]

Manfred? Would you know the roles of Lench & Ulrich in the above photo please?

Thank you

Steve

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Steve, have you started a book? You're doing a deep dive on peroxide plants and the people involved. I hope so! Something from V80 up to the Type-18 I hope.

David

[Albacore 569]

Steve, have you started a book? You're doing a deep dive on peroxide plants and the people involved. I hope so! Something from V80 up to the Type-18 I hope.

David

Hell that's a good Idea David. 'Evolution for speed': V-80 to Albacore'. I just made that up. I just enjoy digging and learning about something, I see what I can find sometimes. The British Intel report I shared earlier in back mentioned the list of Germans scientist engineers 'adopted' by the western Allies as part of the 'Naval Technical Mission in Europe' Lead by Captain Albert Mumma USN.

So compelling was the Walter concept in its possibilities foreseen then, the Walter shops were even visited by Britain's First Sea Lord Cunningham & America's Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal.

The United States had seized U-1406 as part of the Potsdam agreements on U-boats - transported to Maryland where the Walter turbine was dismantled & examined. But it would be the British that really pursued the Walter submarine concept to even restoring a operational submarine test subject (U-1407) with leadership in its development by Walter and his associates. The result was HMS Meteorite. Steve

[Albacore 569]

[Albacore 569]

Captain Albert Mumma USN in Command of the Naval Technical Mission in Europe (with side arm).standing next to his new 'Trophy Scientist' and 'new best friend' (lol) Professor Helmuth Walter. Looks like the British had found Walter about the same time (standing in background judging from their uniforms). Photo taken May 5th, 1945 when Walter was 'captured' the day before Nazi Germany officially surrendered.

Mumma had a long impressive technical career in the US Navy. Mumma was in early in the US Navy's starting nuclear submarine program till 1948, Pushed the Albacore submarine concepts, later became Rear Admiral Bureau of Ships. These were exciting daring times as the war was ending. Technical missions tear assing around roads in Germany without many maps, franticly looking for & finding German scientists, the situation fluid - often going behind enemy lines. See the good movie 'The Monuments Men' to get the flavor of what it must have been like. Except here, the targets to be recovered were not art treasures , but another kind of treasure.,

[Albacore 569]

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Captain Albert Mumma USN in Command of the Naval Technical Mission in Europe (with side arm).standing next to his new 'Trophy Scientist' and 'new best friend' (lol) Professor Helmuth Walter. Looks like the British had found Walter about the same time (standing in background judging from their uniforms). Photo taken May 5th, 1945 when Walter was 'captured' the day before Nazi Germany officially surrendered.

Mumma had a long impressive technical career in the US Navy. Mumma was in early in the US Navy's starting nuclear submarine program till 1948, Pushed the Albacore submarine concepts, later became Rear Admiral Bureau of Ships. These were exciting daring times as the war was ending. Technical missions tear assing around roads in Germany without many maps, franticly looking for & finding German scientists, the situation fluid - often going behind enemy lines. See the good movie 'The Monuments Men' to get the flavor of what it must have been like. Except here, the targets to be recovered were not art treasures , but another kind of treasure.,

Stop toying with us, you *** tease! Write this up in a book!!!!!

Do it now! Before we all croak!

David
Don't let this **** fad away...

[Albacore 569]

Added 1/8" x 1/8" C rail brass into fairwater. Preformed the brass to fit (curve at top) Sliced Fairwater open with cutting disk in hand piece, Ca glued and added baking soda to ca glue - rock solid. Puttied with Bondo...sanded primed. Slot is for a towing cable with release from bridge to towline in bow. I'll add the hand rails and glass folding window against the sea and spray next. then lights. White Ensign (silk flag) arrived from UK yesterday. The boats name plates in brass being delivered soon. Leaving those off till nearer end of build and testing. Steve

[Albacore 569]

A few days ago, the brass vertical slot for the towing cable didn't quite seem right. So I had some 1/16 inch C channel around the shop & after a little light filing inlayed the styrene c channel into the 1/8 in channel puttie and sanded, primer painted. Now it looks more to 'scale'.

Waiting for some tiiny hand burrs for my hand piece to ream out fairwater stanchions for the hand railing. 0.075 MM railing. add a trailing edge navigation light in brass, & the Meteorite brass name plates will arrive from 'Shapeways' next Wednesday.

Added a bridge watch urinal drain pipe, a gimble compass, Hell, probably over doing the detail, but I have the drawings and there they are in the National Maritime museum official drawings.

Made a hinged fold down brass wind screen frame next. Then the fairwater work is done & it time to stop avoiding and get down into the 120 limber holes to be cut next.

Will post comprehensive pictures of work progress then in a few days I hope.

[Albacore 569]

Photos of hand rails. Most U -Boat Sub model seem to make chunky looking hand rails. I wanted to make as scale as I could. I ordered 2 packages of the smallest ball stanchions (see photo for part #) from Cornwall model boats in UK. The problem often with railing is often getting the diameter of the hand rails correct in scale. They are either too slim or too fat & chunky. I found that K&S brass rod stock 0.81 MM stock was perfect for 1/32 scale. The only issue is the stanchions from Cornwall take 0.50MM brass rods, so I have a 701 dental burr. It has a tapered shank perfect for this, I place in a pinvise tool & carefully by hand gently ream out the brass on each stanchion. Then I placed the parts into the pre drilled holes I made earlier. Important s to get the radius of the curve bends right. The resut seems 'scale' & are remarkably very strong when CA glued in place.

Shapeways 3 D printed the brass nae plates for HMS Meteorite for placement on the fairwater sides. The parts are printed with the curve in place so the glue flush to fairwater sides. I will liquid mask the raised parts frame and letters and glue on and spray the name plates and pel off the mask. I designed these parts & shapeways saves the programs on line in my account file for printing new or replacements. The plates are solid brass! At least in feel and wegt they seem to be...amazing. Ill add the rear navigation light and add the hinged bridge wind spray shield today. The the fairwater is done, and on to the dreaded limber holes...lol.

Steve