Washington class 598 scratch buiding thread

[steve nuttall]

Is it just my screen

Is it just my screen or is the hull hourglass shaped?
i.e. got a narrowing to the new section

[anonymous]

No your screen is fine

No your screen is fine but your eye's are even better. No surprise here! LOL!

That's a result of the white foam being wire cut with a bow. No lath here so it's the old airplane modeling techniques at play.

It's only on the back and the missile section will hide it. just the same I'm evening it out with putty and sanding bit by bit.

Steve

[steve nuttall]

Opps sorry; did i let

Opps sorry; did i let something out LOL; I just thought maybe it's my screen
Ok now I understand;yes the wire tends to pull in

Here's what I've been working on today and yesterday

For the Armed Sloop Kearsage circa 1861
The 11" Dahlgren and a bunch of 30 pound Dahlgrens
I'm just finishing up the 32 pounders; all in 1/96th for the Revell kits

[anonymous]

Nice! Hey the hour glass

Nice! Hey the hour glass is gone.

steve

[steve nuttall]

whats the toaster oven for?
Late

whats the toaster oven for?
Late night snacks

[anonymous]

Vacuum forming. Curing. Drying. Yada,

Vacuum forming. Curing. Drying. Yada, yada. It's a fan jet oven or convection oven.

Steve

[anonymous]

Well after having the putty

Well after having the putty eat through in spots the thin coat of glass I used some balsa fill to fix the problems. Then I glassed it again. Now I can do just one beauty pass and it's time for primer.

Next time I'm usiing a lath.

Steve

[anonymous]

http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/first primersc.jpg

Well guys got the



Well guys got the first coat of primer on. this is before spot putty. I'm in shock how smooth it is. OORAW!!!

It only gets better from here.

steve

[captain nemo12]

Ahhh, she looks much more

Ahhh, she looks much more cleaner now! What's next? Putting on a second coat of paint or the electonics?

[anonymous]

more filling and sanding and

more filling and sanding and then the mold. Also working on the missile deck. This isn't the actual hull just a plug for the mold so I can off a few kits. I can't have all the fun.

Thanks man,

Steve

[steve nuttall]

I know where your at

I know where your at bud;my Yamato plug was all but finished; then I started to really feel the bumps etc; by eye it looked great; but your hands and finger tips will be the real judge
As a Tool and Diemaker; i can tell you that the human finger can detect a bump of 0.0002" with a bit of training if it is a corner; over a palm sized area you can easy feel a depression of 0.005"
I had the sheer of the hull (just behind the bow) down to the red surface putty; but I started to feel an error the more o got it smooth; I dug out about 2 sq "FT" and restarted just to get it perfect
My huge plug is Urethane Structural foam (bread and butter layup) with alayer of cheese cloth; then many thin layers of Durabond 90 (self hardeing spackle) sanded down after each layer is applied
You know it would be way nicer for you Steve to try my method than screwing up your health with resin etc; a simple sanding mask is all you need to stop the fine white dust; you can apply the red surface putty right on top of the Durabond (Home Dept has it; ask for bathroom drywall mud if they dont have Durabond 90; it will be the same stuff; but make sure to get 90 min set time)
Because Durabond will not attack foam itcan be applied to any type offoam; I used Urethane becuse i have a whack of it for some of my other projects

My first test lay-up was a 1" think piece of foam with cloth and Durabond both sides; it was very tough to bend it; and thats when i decided to try it as a plug material
I have built many plugs out of MDF and ply etc; they all move with the weather; small cracks open up and they need a constant enviroment to maintain a good surface; this plug for my yamato has now been through 2 winters here; and a hot humid summer with no air conditioning or heat in winter; my tools often need attention becuse of humity causing surface rust; but yamato just stays exactly the same; it's a good long term test of my system and it's passing with flying colors

Give it a go Steve; you'll like it way better

[anonymous]

Steve,

thanks very much for the

Steve,

thanks very much for the tips. I know exactly what you mean about feel over eye site. This plug is almost done. So no more bad chemicals from this point on as the mold will be made of Ultracal 30.

But I'm Doing a larger Type 17 next so I will try your method.

thanks again!

steve

[anonymous]

Had a set back last

Had a set back last month with the finished plug being dropped to pavement from about 6 ft. Needless to say it was bad.

So David Merriman ordered me a nice piece of polycarb cut to length. It was slightly smaller OD than the Skipjack hull so I glassed it to bring the OD up to match the Skipjack. Then I used putty to final smooth.

At this point I'm wet sanding and primering to get it smooth and all the scratches filled. With any luck I will be able to make a mold soon.

More to come.

Steve

[anonymous]

Well i'm getting close to

Well i'm getting close to molding the deck and hull now. Merriman will be doing the sail and all the other parts soon as I get him a deck and hull.

Here's how it looks now.

Steve

[Stephen Vick]

Hi Steve,

I want one... My

Hi Steve,

I want one... My dad served aboard USS Robert E Lee SSBN 601. I have always wanted to build that boat. I have patches from the boat which I treasure.
I will be watching this one close!
V/R
Stephen Vick