HMS Repulse 1/96 RC scratch build

[steveuk]

Thanks for that in depth explanation Dave. Clears up a lot of questions. I especially like your idea of making undercuts so that the silicone part is held in place inside the hardback. And also to make the silicone part thick rather than thin. I will use this advice on my other personal projects. As for Repulse that is going to be handed over once I've finished the build, so moulding that is out of my hands - someone else's headache.

[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

[steveuk]

Hi Dave. Yes indeed, you are on the home straights. If you were wondering about mine, it has gone backwards..more than I wanted. Hence no updates on mine for a while now.

[Davidh]

Hi Steve and all,

Yes I know what it's like to go backwards. I'm currently battling undulations in my top hull mould that are frustrating. As I said the top hull parts come out of the silicon mould and they are not perfect. I still have to do some filling and bogging to get the hulls up to standard, however I am slowly developing means of correcting these niggling problems in the mould stage.

I have completed the silicon moulds now for all the rear surfaces. I have just repoured the mould for the top of the sail. I am finally starting to rebuild over the old resolution hull. Place the new top hull 9grey) next to the old boat (black) reveals just how incorrect the old hull was. you will see what I mean by the photographs. It amazing how wrong you can get it without realising. I will be using the lower hull from the old boat as I did not touch it to recreate the rest of the sub, more accurately this time.

I'm going to punch out a few hulls hopefully to sell at a model show up in Newcastle in August.

David H

[steveuk]

New improved version looks good Dave. It was worth putting all the extra work in. Well done.

[Davidh]

Hi Steve,

thanks for the encouragement. I think it's starting to look the part now. It's just amazing how wrong I got the original. when I built it at the time I thought it was really good and that it looked the part. Then over time I realised that it simply didn't stack up to the photos of the full size in so many ways. The more I analysed the full size pics the more I realised I needed to change things. I still don't think I've totally nailed It but I think I am way closer.

As mentioned my biggest challenge at the moment is undulations along the hull. I have a few ideas up my sleeve as to how I may be able to fix this as at the moment it means that when I pull a top hull part from the mould there is always variation and it means I have to do a couple more hours of sanding and filling to get the surfaces good enough to sell. I certainly ain't going to make a profit off these. I do it because I enjoy it...

These photos show the final assembly of all the recreated parts. I am using the bottom of the old hull as it's perfectly good. I've binned the old top hull as it was soo incorrect. way too high as you observed and the missile deck not wide enough. I'm then rebuilding the boat in the same way as before with the bow lower section attached to the upper hull and the stern upper hull attached to the lower hull. I will start work on the rear controls and then details like the transducer, forward planes and sail and masts.

David H

[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.

David h

[Davidh]

Hello all

I've been busy. I've been on school holidays and have had a fair bit of time to work on finalising Resolution. The boat is almost complete. As mentioned I have model show in a couple of weeks time and so have been flat out trying to produce some kits in order to sell. I don't know what the response will be, I would love to sell something..

Anyway, Resolution I think is looking really good. I have finally finished up the tail section and glued down the rear top hull at the stern. I remoulded a new set of sail pieces, the side pieces and the top of the sail. So I have created a new sail as I did some modifications to the top of the sail as it was originally too high. I have taken the old air pipe out of the old sail and re-installed it into the new one. I have also machined a small mast end piece. I'm not sure what exactly it is but it's a cone shaped piece on the end of a mast. Maybe a radar mast. I will cast this in polyurethane along with the forward planes and the forward mounted transducer. These are the only parts left to create moulds for to cast the parts. Then I can finally have a complete kit of Resolution up and running.

Painting these boats is always a challenge. In some views they look grey. I always find that a satin black is probably the safest option however good colour photos of this boat have been hard to get. The overall hull is sprayed with satin black and then I decided to spray with deck with the anti-slip surface a shade of matt black. That didn't really work. It was really hard to see the outline and distinct difference between the sprayed satin surface and the rougher anti slip one. It almost looks like a rough sandpaper that's been glued down to the hull top.

Anyway I have decided to go with a very dark matt grey. As can be seen in the photos you can certainly see the difference.
When you study photo's of the Resolution and her sisters, you have to pick a time period in which to mark her. As describe in numerous instances during these builds these boats went through numerous modifications and paint schemes. You have to pick one. that's what I've done. I have also added a scumline around the waterline. I'm not sure if it's too bright. I can always re-do it. What interests me is that I find very few photos of Resolution class boats with rust lines and stained on them. Is the royal Navy very vigilant about touching up rust spots? I know the Russian Navy aint.

These photos aren't the beast however they give you an overview. When I get a proper backdrop I will get better images to put up...

David H

[steveuk]

Hi Dave, Congrats on finishing your Resolution. Handsome model you have there! I'm sure you will make sales.

Small nit pick - I think your stern planes could be extended back longer toward the prop. The night time drydock photo shows the stern planes to be quite large slabs. And that can only improve the functionality and response of your r/c models.

You will be pleased to hear that I have now finished my loft hatch install and so am back onto the Repulse project. Accurised new bow form coming up soon!

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Davidh]

Hello all,

I have had a friend of mine do a proper weathering job of Resolution. Here is the end result. I think, much better.


This kit is available at

https://zerobubblemodeldesign.jimdo.com

Email me!...

[JWLaRue]

David,

Very nicely done!

-Jeff

[steveuk]

Update Sept 2018

bout time I brought an update on this.

...Having met with Dave and received some more great reference (Thank you Dave) and also being given the bow sonar angle (70 degrees). I have now rebuilt the bow. As you can see it looks very much more upright. And is now finally resembling the launch photo's correctly. It was worth all the rebuilding.

Pencilled in shaded area is the 'launched with' bow sonar area. Outline border around it shows where the refit streamlining blister cover will come to.

[steveuk]

Next pic showing the new sonar blister added. Bow plane fairings also added. These were another part of the streamlining program. Looks like they were successful as Vanguard class went on to have them too. Lastly, tiling panels are starting to cover the hull (white plasticard). Getting closer to finishing...

[salmon]

I really like the fact that you keep plugging away to get it right. Kudos to you!

[steveuk]

Thank you. I have to give things my best. I want to like this when it is finished.