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That looks about the same
That looks about the same way Steve would do it, nice work Pete!!!
Brian
That looks about the same way Steve would do it, nice work Pete!!!
Brian
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MISSILE RIPPLE???
OK now your not
MISSILE RIPPLE???
OK now your not allowed to say that unless you come out with a cam system to accomplish that task!!!!
Looks awsome. I see youve started adding the details in with pencil.
Im waiting to see how you do the dive planes and prop.
Have you ever thought about making a retractable snorkel with a check valve in line so you could bring the boat to pd and us a low pressure air pump to blow ballast and surface? That what ive been thinking about at work.
Also have you considered molding hollow tubes into the towed array lines just incase some of us wanted to get retarded with detail??
AIIIc Pete!Comment
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I'll leave the "gettin' stupid"
I'll leave the "gettin' stupid" details to you other guys. Heck, if I were to try to do all that stuff you guys would never see one of these finished.
Yes, I started to work on the detailing of the hull, but then realized it will be a lot easier to line things up to each other if I do them with the missile deck in place. So... missile deck(s) first.
What does AIIIc in your close mean Kevin?
Thanks Brian.
PeteComment
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AIIIC = All Ahead Flank
AIIIC = All Ahead Flank CavitateComment
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Pete,
She's looking good! I for
Pete,
She's looking good! I for one am inspired to keep plugging along on my current project. Thanks so much for sharing!
DonComment
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Couldn't do it without your
Couldn't do it without your help Don. Thanks.Comment
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More on the missile deck,
More on the missile deck, or turtle back.
I've been plastering and sanding, and plastering and sanding some more. Trying to get this puppy straight. Well, it's straight as an arrow. Got a few coats of shellac on it, and now it's ready to glass.
Fun. Fun.Comment
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Fiberglass... yea!
http://upload2.postimage.org/641717/DSC01582sm.jpg
http://upload2.postimage.org/641723/DSC01583sm.jpg
http://upload2.postimage.org/641728/DSC01584sm.jpg
http://upload2.postimage.org/641731/DSC01585sm.jpg
After the re
Fiberglass... yea!
After the resin started to get set up, but before it hardened, I used and Xacto knife to trim the excess glass and create the edge of the misslile deck.
I put the tape on the hull underneath to hopefully protect the hull's surface, along with wax paper, from the resin and the knife blade. Found out that epoxy resin soaks through wax paper, and my sharp Xacto blade easily cuts through the tape into the finish on the hull. So I've given myself a setback as I'll have to go back and repair that.
In the last pic you can see some of the resin on the hull's surface below the edge of the missile deck.
Before putting on the icing, I re-prepared the hull surface with some PVA mold release where the front of the missile deck would touch the front raised portion of the hull.
And since I cut through the previous wax paper, I had to re-wrap the hull in new stuff.
Here you see the icing body filler going on to fill the weave and straighten out the surface.
In order to get the fairwater edge of the missile deck right I marked a line where if the sides came all the way down they would touch the hull. Then I ran a tape line up against that, for one, to make it easy to see, and two, give me an edge to run my putty knife along while filling with icing. I needed to do this to build up the width of the fairwater edge so it would stick out from the hull the proper distance to get that shadow cast against the hull below it. Besides, it would be nearly impossible to put filler right up to the existing edge and not go over it anyway.
Then I filled in all the way down to the top all the way around the fairwater edge.
Then, before the putty set up, I ran the putty knife along the top edge of the tape, feathering the filler out to the same contour as the sides of the missile deck. I put three layers of tape on for the tape guide edge because I guessed that was how thick I would need to make the proper overhang.
I waited until the putty got set up just enough to where it was still soft and kind of rubbery, the with the Xacto knife I re-established the fairwater edge, keeping it horizontal to make the bottom edge flat.
Then again before it set up, I could peel the excess away leaving a nice clean edge.
And the three layers of tape turned out to be just right.
Some more damage to the hull—the acrylic stand I made was just a little small, and pushing down on it to sand the turtle back in 90 degree heat ended up denting in the bottom sides of the hull. I'll have to fix that when I repair the cut marks in the top.
As far as the deck goes, after putting the filler putty all over it to fill the glass weave and square the shape up better, I sanded it down with a sanding block.
Then I sprayed on a few coats of filler primer, and used a body shop technique I got from Brian Stark to help identify knicks and low spots. I mist coated the whole deck with a contrasting color of primer.
Once it's dry, I block sanded it again. Wherever the contrasting spots are it indicates low spots, and that's where to put either more putty or glazing, depending upon the depth that needs filling.
This revealed a few dents, but lots of deep scratches from the course sand paper I used to cut the body filler down. So instead of screwing around a little at a time, I coated the crap outta this thing with the glazing putty.
More block sanding to get it level.
And more filler primer to see where I'm at.
Well, looks pretty good, but I'm going to do one more misting coat to make sure I got everything and then wet sand with 400 grit paper to finish up the deck.
As you may have noticed, I filleted in the body filler over the edge of the raised portion of the front of the hull where the missile deck connects. This gave me a perfect transition from one to the other, as on the real boat there's no separation here. I'm doing it this way for moulding reasons, and to be able to remove just the missile deck to access the mechanicals, instead of separating the whole top half of the hull.
More to come.
PeteComment
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Looks great Pete. A lot
Looks great Pete. A lot of hard work but worth it.
SteveComment
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Looking good can't wait to
Looking good can't wait to add it to my flleet.
DuaneComment
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Looking superior every day Pete,
Looking superior every day Pete, I am on your list do not forget!!
I guess the plan is to gain access to the inside hull by removing the missile/turtle deck?
BrianComment
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Thanks Steve and Duane.
Yes Brian.
Thanks Steve and Duane.
Yes Brian. That will be my plan to be able to turn the thing on and off and check the batteries and WTC by only lifting the missile deck, and not the whole top half of the hull.
PeteComment
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Wow this is an impressive
Wow this is an impressive build! Great pictures and commentary too. Thanks for taking the time out to post the continuing wip like this for us.
I gather you will eventually be taking a mould off the completed hull so you can reap the benefits of all the hard work many times over, could you also make a 'one off' using this method - ie strip out the foam core at the end of the build and use the hull as is
Comment
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Nope. Pete will make a
Nope. Pete will make a mold either out of GRP or silicone. That means more boats!
SteveComment
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SteveUK,
I believe this is the
SteveUK,
I believe this is the common method used here in the states for making one-off models. Although I think you'd want to go without the plaster layers, as I don't know how one would get all of that out of the fiberglssed pieces. The foam is easy. Just let acetone eat it out.
I will be making molds of all the pieces to this model though. As this was not MY first choice of boat to build for myself, I am building it now because I've had so many inquiries into when, or if, I could build one so others could get their hands on one too. And it will be cool to have one. It's also the favorite boat of my 14-year-old son. So he'll be happy.
PeteComment
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