Scratch type 17 project begins

[anonymous]

More progress today. First side

More progress today. First side of the mold is open and fine. Second side or bottom has it's surface coat. Tomorrow I'll add two more coats of RTV to the bottom half. Sunday I'll make a two piece mother mold.

Next week I can finally start casting up parts and start the building of the boat!

Steve

[anonymous]

With the RTV all set

With the RTV all set up and covered well I laid up a parting line with keys out of EM 210 water based clay. Then the Ultracal 30 gets laid up and backed up with a second coat with burlap.

The last picture is the finished mother mold. Tomorrow I can open the mold. It's best to let the RTV sit in the air for a few days to make really #### sure that cured all the way.

After that I will start casting the hull and the appendages. Then we finally get to see a boat built at last!

Steve

BTW Those raised areas you see will be for drilling through and attaching a bolt and nut to keep the two pieces together.

[anonymous]

Ok boys. The molds are

Ok boys. The molds are all done didily done. This weekend I'm going to lay up the first sub. for myself that is and get to building. My favorite part.

Steve

[anonymous]

Well guys I've been busy

Well guys I've been busy working on special effects for the History Channel. I've copied over from E Zone the last posts. Far more easy to do a quick post over there than here. Pictures are a bear to upload here. Sorry for the delay.

Got a first beta kit is cast. It went very smooth. No problems. I had a few air bubbles in the appendages but not as bad as I thought I might first get.

Once I see how the molds for the appendages are doing I can then put in small vents where the problem areas are.

Next one is for some lucky guy on my list. Tomorrow I'll pull the sail and hull parts.

The white thick stuff you see in the molds before I lay the glass in is thickened epoxy and micro balloons to get in the tight corners which captures the detail and makes it easy for the glass cloth to conform to in lay up.

Steve

[anonymous]

Parts at last. I was

Parts at last. I was working on fumes here as I need to get more cloth and resin. I used what I had but this hull really needs a thick gel coat to come out right. The details caught some bubbles where I ran out of gel coat and used just straight resin.

As you can see by the sail the gel coat cuts it well. Perfect really. I have to remind myself this is not an airplane, doesn't need to be so light either. Old habits die hard. But after running two I feel I have the system down for this particular mold. Everyone is different.

I was disappointed to find that the clear RTV was un cured in a few small areas which means before I can send you a kit I'll have to point them up a bit and primer them. Any one have a problem with that?

I couldn't figure out how it happened. The appendage molds had no problems. But they were pored and I walked away.

Now with the hull I stood over the two sides for quite awhile keeping the RTV in place. Then it hit me as it was so hot in my garage and I was sweating like a stuffed pig. I remember now I dripped on it. and guess what? Our sweat and body fluids do have sulfur!

So a word to the wise when making molds with this stuff. Don't sweat on it!

Lesson learned and I'm moving on.

Next week I'll get some more materials and run off about 10 of these. Contact me about the beta price which is lower than the full kits with all the goodies that Merriman will make for it. Deck fittings, prop, instructions and #### be making new molds and producing the kits.

Steve

[anonymous]

Ok guys. For those of

[color=#000000]Ok guys. For those of you that might want a beat kit please contact me for the price at]sneill@socal.rr.com[/email]

After I sell about 10 or more D&E will make the kit a full kit including plans, instructions, metal fittings and prop. Periscopes and more.

My 1/35 beta kit will include]

[anonymous]

Well I had a little

Well I had a little time today between renders for the History channel and couldn't stand looking at my beat kit just sitting there anymore.

1. First I taped the hull halves at the scribe line both sides for a guide to cut. I then took a dremel tool and a cut off wheel a cut it to just slightly above the scribe line.

2. Then I flat sanded both halves to the scribe line exactly.

3. Next I then flat sanded the sail to the scribe line too.

4. The next step is to tape the scribe line for the hatch both sides for a guide. Then using a exacto to get the cut started I cut a 2 inch section. This allows you to take an exacto razor saw and finish the job and remove the hatch.

5. Starting at the bow I line up the two halves and applied CA. Moved to the stern and did the same thing back there. Moving from the stern forward by hand bit by bit glued and aligned the hull halves.

6. Using fiber glass taped and epoxy resin I fused the two halves together.

Tomorrow I'll index the hatch and start drilling out the limber holes.

Steve

[anonymous]

Here's a couple more before

Here's a couple more before I joined the pieces. I wanted to check the fit first and just used tape.

Also as you can see there's more than enough room for the 3 inch D&E WTC. I will have to raise it up to the middle of the hull with mounts. Plenty of room for torpedoes too!

Steve

[anonymous]

I decided to work on

I decided to work on the planes and rudder first before I went any further. These would be the most complicated part of the build as I figured but found in the process it was quite easy to do.

1. first I removed and sanded all the flash on the appendages.

2. Using the drill press I drilled small deep holes into the the appendages to except brass pins to hinge the parts together.

3. On the dive planes I cut with a cut off wheel deep slots to except the polyester hinge plates I made. These are to allow the hinge pins to have a hinge point through the holes drilled into them and the plane itself.

4. Once all this was done I checked the fit and moved on to drilling a tunnel in the appendage to except the brass golden rod and housing.

5. I then trial fitted the golden rod and marked on the planes and rudder the point at which the brass cable would connect via a Z bend to the plane to move it.

6. Once I trial fitted the whole assembly and was happy with the movement and fit I filled in the tunnel with 5 minute epoxy and micro balloons. Done!

Tomorrow I will sand flush the epoxy and the appendages are ready to primer and attach to the hull.

You can do this using any method you might prefer. I did find this very solid and it hides most of the un scale appearances since the actual boat had an internal linkage assembly which would be hard to do on a model this size.

I will also cover over the gap between the hinge points with thin ABS to keep the scale appearance.

Steve

[anonymous]

Hi steve PERFECT WORK http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_razz.gif

Hi steve PERFECT WORK


Gantu

[anonymous]

Thanks Gantu!

steve

Thanks Gantu!

steve

[mylo]

Steve,

Wow !!

Mylo

Steve,

Wow !!

Mylo

[anonymous]

There's more. Hang on here

There's more. Hang on here while I up load.

Steve

[anonymous]

Continuing on here.

7. Sand down

Continuing on here.

7. Sand down level the epoxy and micro balloons and then fill any flaws with Bondo Spot Putty. Once that dries sand them smooth and primer to make sure you got it all.

8. Next cut out holes in the stern inside the tail planes indicators at the leading edge. This is to allow your cable to pass through to the inside of the hull. Also mark and drill the holes that are guides for the plane's brass tubing. Enlarge them a bit so you have some play for better alignment.

10. Mount your hull in a stand and make sure using a level that she sits level on both axis. Tape it down to the stand so it can't move.

11. Make sure you remove any primer and ruff up the surfaces of the roots to the appendages and the root locations on the hull.

12. Start with the top side rudder plane. Make up some 5 minute epoxy and micro balloons to a peanut like consistency. Coat the base of the root with some of your mix and slide the plane into place. Align the leading edge to the leading edge of the locator on the hull. Then using a square align it vertically.
Wipe off excess and hold in position. The five minute epoxy will go off quick but can still be adjusted for another 5 minutes before it retains memory. Once set we move to the bottom rudder plane.

13. Start by having the rudder installed and the Z bend and cable hooked up.
Follow the same procedure as above but once you get the rudder in place push the hinge pin in and this will lock it all together. Again check against the square until the rudder is aligned properly.

14. Next we do the dive planes. Again one at a time. You'll need to drill the holes again for the cables to pass through. I used a small level bubble to get the plane level. You can make a simple gig too for this.

15. Once all this is set you make up more epoxy and micro balloons to fill the gaps and create a filet. Let it dry over night, sand smooth and primer.

Tomorrow I'll make a bulkhead to fix off the cables and mount the prop shaft.

Steve

[mylo]

Who's the guy in the

Who's the guy in the photo on the wall ?

Mylo