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I will be constructing some new kits to fill some needs in the Nautilus Drydocks model submarine kit line. Bob and I have discussed his appraisal of the kit market and he has given me guidance on which kits he would like to see in his inventory, and the priority of each kit. I have a few of kits underway for him and I will work on these kits as time allows. The first kit I will show progress on here is the SSN 21 SEAWOLF in 1/96th scale. The original Kit that Dave Merriman and I created back in the late 1990s was a big hit and it handled very well, not to mention how fast it was with the initial propulsor design we used. Dave did a magnificent job detailing up the hull with his scribing mastery. I will attempt to achieve the same quality of detail, but Dave is a very hard act to follow.
After some unwanted attention by the guys in dark sunglasses at the SubCommittee Regatta, I made some changes to the propulsor that really spoiled its performance and to be honest it completely ruined the functionality of the propulsor. So, I am returning to the original design and instead of producing these the old fashion way by creating the patterns out of granite with a chisel, I will utilize CNC machining, 3D Printing via filament, and 3D printing via photo-sensitive resin.
The first item to be produced with be the post-swirl stator assembly. The blades will be a tad thicker than scale due to the need for more structural strength than the extremely thin cross-section which made the entire after propulsor assembly a bit too fragile for long term use. The original propulsor utilized a thicker cross-section of roughly .082" at its 1/3 chord.
Here is the general arrangement drawing of the kit:
After a few hours of CAD development, the post swirl stator assembly is ready for printing in the resin printer.
After some unwanted attention by the guys in dark sunglasses at the SubCommittee Regatta, I made some changes to the propulsor that really spoiled its performance and to be honest it completely ruined the functionality of the propulsor. So, I am returning to the original design and instead of producing these the old fashion way by creating the patterns out of granite with a chisel, I will utilize CNC machining, 3D Printing via filament, and 3D printing via photo-sensitive resin.
The first item to be produced with be the post-swirl stator assembly. The blades will be a tad thicker than scale due to the need for more structural strength than the extremely thin cross-section which made the entire after propulsor assembly a bit too fragile for long term use. The original propulsor utilized a thicker cross-section of roughly .082" at its 1/3 chord.
Here is the general arrangement drawing of the kit:
After a few hours of CAD development, the post swirl stator assembly is ready for printing in the resin printer.
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