1/96 Ohio SSBN/SSGN build underway

[feet wet]

I seem to remember talking

I seem to remember talking to both Skip and David about getting long boats to turn. The issue arose in my 1/48th LA and again in my Carter. Both suggested moving the center of mass as far forward as possible. When this is done the boat wants to turn around the COM, which being in the bow causes the stern to pivot. In as much as the stern moves to steer the boat in the first place, this makes it easier for the stern to pivot and the boat to turn. Worked well in my LA, and am moving bateries around i my Carter now.
PS Bow thrusters are pretty much ineffective avove 3-4 knots, in scale that would be pretty slow.
Jonathan

[wayne frey]

Any new pics Pete? Progress

Any new pics Pete? Progress report?

[Rogue Sub]

Pete,
I have left for sea

Pete,
I have left for sea and returned and still I se no updates whats going on man!

[wayne frey]

I just got in the

I just got in the DVD from Caswell on painting and finishing (super detailing), techniques for, get this, the old discontinued Copeland 1/96 Ohio!!
At the beginning of the DVD, It shows the Ohio briefly running in the water. If you want to see the finished boat in advance, this is one way It even shows an underwater shot in a pool.
And watching the work of super detailing the hull is pretty good also.
I had this video years ago in VHS and loaned it out, to not get it back. I am pleased to see it in DVD format.
If you are getting one of Pete's hulls, this will for sure get you fired up.

[pirate]

Ok guys, I'm back. Got

Ok guys, I'm back. Got my room almost complete—a few details to nail down. But in between I'm getting back to parts of the Ohio.

I tried to get back to detailing it a few weeks ago, but found that my eye-sight up close has diminished greatly in just the last few months off the job. I think it happened exactly on November 16, my 44th birthday. That's my guess anyway. So off to the eye doctor I went and now have some very effective reading glasses that do the trick.

Over the weekend I played with some molds that Matt Thor very generously GAVE me from when he was working on his Ohio-class kit; sail, sail planes, stern stabilizers and planes, and rudders. I casted some of the parts to see how they looked. As most of you know, Matt's work is superb, but some of them I will use to start new masters to get them to fit recent photos and my plans, which Kevin Price will tell you are most accurate (thanks to him).

I'll get some photos up of the process soon.

Pete

[wayne frey]

Ha!
I am almost 50.

Ha!
I am almost 50. I am having Lasik this week, on my targeting eye But that does not help the up close vision.
I bought an Opti-visor last summer. I noticed even Merrimen uses them, and several others. Many of the modellers are in the "over 40" group that experiances this problem. I was blown away at how much the hood helps.
Looking like a Jeweler, you can see real close with one of those rascels.
Get the real deal, not the cheaper one. Micro Mart carrys them.
Good news Pete!!!!!

[pirate]

What did you say Wayne?

What did you say Wayne? Huh? What? I must need a hearing aid too. Maybe I turned 84.

Anyway, it was very hard to accept that I need glasses of any kind. I used to be able to see a hair, the third hair from the bottom, on a fly's leg. Not any more. Although I'm still 20-15 on my far vision. Ha!

[bigdave]

Ask anyone over 40. That

Ask anyone over 40. That is about the time the close up vision starts to go. Su--S to get old!!
I was lucky as I only need mine for reading. With my glasses off I can still see a wart on a nats rear end up close. BD.

[Rogue Sub]

ha Im screwed. Im 28

ha Im screwed. Im 28 and just got my first pair of glasses. What are you old people bitching about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rogue Sub]

oh yeah i want pictures

oh yeah i want pictures

[wayne frey]

Nuke,
You just wait http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif

Nuke,
You just wait I was wearing glasses at 13.
I checked on the pictures. No stills avalible. I could take some freezes from the DVD, but I will get permission first, and credit due, if I do.
However, I still say it is a highly reccomended DVD from Caswell.

[tmsmalley]

...and Mike Caswell is a

...and Mike Caswell is a big supporter of the SubCommittee. He'll be at SubRegatta 2008 if you want to meet him!

[Rogue Sub]

darn it I want pics

darn it I want pics pete!!!!!!!!!!!! Im money is burining a hole through my pocket and its threatening to burn straight to the center of the earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pirate]

Well, when I last posted

Well, when I last posted I was kept from working on the Ohio model to finish my Man Cave. Here is the finished thing.


















Now you see why it took so long, but man! I ain't never seen a Super Bowl so big and clear and being so comfy before.

Now back to the sub.

The last time I worked on it I thought I'd be able to start putting down the drafting tape to start making the details on the hull. But as I looked at it over these last few months, I realized that if I wanted to indicate where the stern plane shaft openings should be with marks, I needed to fit them and get that all done first so it wouldn't screw up the detail lines later.

As I said previous, Matt Thor was very gracious in offering me his molds for the Ohio-class appendages he made for the model he was working on. So I had to get some castings from these to see where I was at. MOst will need some adjustment, but what a great head start.

Here you can see one of the stern plane elevators? stabilizers? not quite sure what this part alone is called.



Now one problem with this is how am I going to get that flat edge to attach up to my rounded hull?



I could have slapped some body filler up against the hull and positioned the plane root up against it to add the hull shape to it, but then I'd have to make a new mold for the whole thing. I didn't want to do that. What I came up with was this.

I cut about 1/16 inch of a slice off of the plane root. Then with sand paper fastened around the hull where it would attach, I sanded the inner side of the sliver piece to the shape of the hull. I also adjusted the thicknessh of it at each end to correctly position the plane directly perpendicular to the center line of the hull when looking down from the top.







Now I needed a way for the whole thing to fasten in just the right position every time, so that other builders could get them close without to much difficulty. That's where the two holes you see came in.



Here you see the finished piece laying on the stern plane root offset just so you can see it. I then coated the root end of the plane with PVA as a separation agent. When it was dry, I very lightly tacked the piece in place on the plane root with a dab of super glue so it wouldn't move. I then drilled two holes through the new piece and into the plane root. I also iced around it and sanded it to perfectly fit the contour of the existing plane. I then used water to melt the PVA which released my new part.



By inserting short 1/8-inch pieces of brass rod into the plane root, the whole plane could then be positioned into the hull in the exact right position. (These pieces for holding are too long of course) All that will be left to attach the planes is to adhere them to these new pieces on each side and make sure each side lines up in a perfect line to one another, perpendicular to the rudders.

The next pics show the mold that was made for the new thin pieces so I could get two of them identical. Then a shot of the pieces glued onto the hull in the correct places. These will now become part of the master mold so that every casting will allow the planes to attach in the same way. You can also see the indications made for the plane elevators shafts and the rudder shafts. I will then use the original new piece I made to make a drill jig so that the holes drilled into future planes will be identical too.





It takes so long to post this stuff. I know it gets you guys pumped to see, but I'd rather be building. So back to building I will go, and still take pictures along the way and post when I get a chance.

Until then.

Pete

[pirate]

After gluing the sliver pieces

After gluing the sliver pieces to the hull, I gave them a shot of primer and then filled in around the edges where they meet up against the hull so there wouldn't be any grooves.

Then sanded it down smooth and hit it again with some primer to get it all nicely blended.





Now on to the details—again.

I started by making a printout of the bow section of the deck details from my computer. If you're not using your own plans that come from a file, you can either scan the section you want from the hard copy plans you have, or get a Xerox. Keep in mind both processes may distort the drawing a bit.

I took the print-out and cut out pieces in such a way to use as a drawing template to mark the details and their positions onto the model. I used a pencil for this since it's easy to see, it will keep nice contrast between the markings and the black chart tape so I won't get lost as to where to add the tape next, and it's easy to erase if I make a mistake. It's also easy to smudge, so you have to be careful.





The chart tape works great for straight, and even some curving lines, but for the circles it ain't so good.

Where the main ballast tank vent go I'm going to use photo-etched pieces I got from Jeffrey LaRue to get detail in the mold, so I need to leave a recessed area in the shape of a circle for these parts to lay in once the paint is built up. To do this I use an old David Merriman trick. You lightly file down the edge of a brass tube in the diameter you need to a sharp edge. Then turn it with pressure into a piece of tape and you can get as many circles as you need all in the exact same size. For my purposes I used a X-acto knife to cut out the inner edge of the tube so I could get the full outside diameter of the tube for my cutting edge. A little bit more tricky. In most cases filing the outer edge will work just fine.





Then down goes the chart tape over the pencil lines.







Pete