Scratch-built 1/96 Oscar II

[PaulC]

Kevin,

It looks great! Ive heard

[color=#000000]Kevin,

It looks great! Ive heard a lot about Renshape but never seen it used up close like this -- thanks!

Question]

[KevinMC]

Hi Paul,

To a point you're

Hi Paul,

To a point you're right, the planes are symmetrical. Where the planes blend into the hull, however, will be decidedly left- or right-handed because I plan to include the hull-fillet with the fins. (Like on the Thor Alfa, amongst others.) While I could mold the filleted base into the hull and use a single fin for left and right, the time saved on not making a second fin master will definitely be eaten up by the resulting increased complexity in the hull mold. Consequently I've decided to take a page from Matt's book* and mold a left and right set of fins so I can leave the hull mold as "clean" as possible.

Of course the "blending" argument doesn't hold for the bowplanes, but by making two masters I can also make a single mold that will produce two parts simulaneously.

(*Note- I should qualify that I don't know that Matt Thor was the "first" to mold his hulls/fins in this way, but I'm using him as a reference as his kits are the first place that I took notice of it. I've read over his Permit construction manual many times and it has given me many ideas for things that have and will be used in this project. Thanks Matt!)

[PaulC]

Kevin,

There you go. I appreciate

Kevin,

There you go. I appreciate the explanation. And it does definitely make the hull work easier. The Type XXI I produce has the fillets in the hull and two identical prop shaft fins. Easy to cast the fins, a little harder to lay up the hull with the fillets.

Keep up the great work!

[anonymous]

Kevin,

Just to let you know

Kevin,

Just to let you know I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth you can find my latest scratch build here. I'm just to busy fighting off the Alligators of my screwed up life to post on two forums not to mention I can't post larger pictures quite as fast or easy on SC as my own forum.

http://subpirates.com/viewtopic.php?t=323

Steve

[KevinMC]

Steve! There you are! Actually

Steve! There you are! Actually I have been lurking around in the bowels of SP. (Great job!) And I have been keeping tabs on your new build, which is coming along very nicely might I add. (I wish I could crank through mine as quickly as you do!) Was your laser use "OSCAR inspired"?

[anonymous]

Thanks Kevin,

Yes it was My

Thanks Kevin,

Yes it was My wife got me one for Christmas.

Try not being able to get a job anymore, have everyday off and you'll become the fastest builder on the planet but not quite the most happy either.

Subs are my job now. I give up on the film industry. It's dead.

So I'm making a whole line of small subs in the 20-36 inch range. All vacuum form, alumilite and metal cast. I plan some boats too and some small EDF's.

Move out of CA. Lower my cost of living and relax. And get some peace too. Oh and a piece too. LOL This place stinks.

Steve

[KevinMC]

Okay, here's the last photo

Okay, here's the last photo I should have inlcuded in yesterday's post. It shows the ventral fin with the hinge drilled. Note the "square" bottom to these fins- I never would'a thought that was right, but that's what the pictures say...



Last night I got the ventrals "blended" into the bottom of the hull. This was done by beveling the "inside" half of the fin root, and building up the "outside" half with Icing. (I've used the packing tape treatment on the bottom of the hull again to prevent a permanent bond.) Here's starboard ventral in place, Icing not yet trimmed. The wood bar across the top of the fins is there to keep the ventrals square to each other and to the hull.



And again, with the 'kicked' Icing trimmed away. Note that this is just to put the right contour on the root, the "outside" will be covered up by a fillet (that I'll do next).



Both rudders with the corrected root contour now...



"Full right rudder!" Maybe this beast won't handle like a pig in the water...



I've layed down masking tape here to limit how far up the fin the filleting will go. Next I'll squeeze Icing into the corner with the rounded end of a popsicle stick.



And here are the ventral fins poped off and ready for priming. Note that there's definitely a left and right.



Last step for the ventrals- scribe a mark on the hull to outline where the fins go.

[KevinMC]

I also got the main

I also got the main planes cut out and ready for fitting to the hull. These were done using the same process as the ventral fins.



Here's a detail shot of one of the main planes that shows off the outboard hinge. Notice how the moveable portion "cups" around the fixed surface. Have I mentionned how impressed I am with what can be done with RenShape and Icing?





Final shot- Ventral planes ready to be primed, main planes ready to be fitted and filleted to the hull.

[wayne frey]

Fine work Kevin. I am

Fine work Kevin. I am really excited about this project.

Steve---Texas, the wind whispers....



Edited By Wayne Frey on 1140025593

[KevinMC]

Thanks Wayne. I'm pleased to

Thanks Wayne. I'm pleased to say that my list of remaining tasks before molding is getting very short...

[anonymous]

OUTSTANDING!!!!!

Steve

OUTSTANDING!!!!!

Steve

[KevinMC]

Thanks Steve!

This next part I'm

Thanks Steve!

This next part I'm really pleased with. To fair in the main dive planes I needed to make a jig to properly align the planes while the Icing cooked off. I needed something that would keep the hinge axis of the left and right planes in alignment, support both planes at the correct height with respect to the hull, and still allow me to push the roots of the planes up against the hull to force the excess Icing to ooze out from around the edges. I'll let the photos do the talking, here's what I came up with]http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/new_appendage_planes19.jpg[/img]











The idea is that the brass hinge rod can slide from side to side along the top edge of the masonite jig. The two white pieces of styrene maintain front-to-back alignment in the horizontal plane. The flat upper edge of the jig holds the planes at the correct height off the build table, and ensures that both planes pivot about the same axis. The only remaining variable is "angle of incidence", which was maintained by yours truly using pencil marks on the hull. BTW, it took me quite a while to get the correct alignment between the jig and the hull. Once accomplished, I actually glued the jig to my table to ensure it couldn't move on me!

Having trimmed away the excess Icing, I applied the same filletting technique as used on the ventrals.

[KevinMC]

Last set for today, I

Last set for today, I just couldn't resist taking a shot of everything together...

Just in front of the hull is the D&E WTC3.5MOD2 I'll be using. Although I had to wait a bit to get it, my patience was rewarded in spades. (Thanks David!)

[Antoine]

Kevin,

I have to disagree

Kevin,

I have to disagree with everybody here !
Horrible job you made.
Comparing with the drawings on your wall, it does NOT look like an Arado 234.
You did not even build the wings !

Shame on you

Antoine

[KevinMC]

Antoine, I'm impressed! But those

Antoine, I'm impressed! But those drawings are for my other "little" project. I'm building the Blitz in 1/6 scale, and it will be twin gas turbine powered. Here's a comparative photo I took a about 2 months back that shows the relative size of my OSCAR with the '234 plug in behind.