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Andre’s Akula Build: K-267 Дракон (Dragon)To Those Interested In Large Models, The Next Entries May Peak Your Interests:
[b]Short History] This Model Was Originally Developed By Bob Buchanon, A Dedicated Model Builder And Friend. His Akula Boat, A Beauty To Say The Least, Is In 1/48" Scale. I Cannot Remember How I Met Him, But I Signed On To Help. He Provided The Masters, I Provided The Raw Materials To Start Work. About A Half Dozen Pulls From The Developed Molds Yielded Varying Quality, Workable Parts From Our "Production Staff". Not Exactly What We Looking For.
One Decent Hull Made The S/C Regatta Raffle Table, One Nice Hull Assembly As A Christmas Gift, Later Returned To Me, Two Fair Units Made It To Bob. I Was Glad He At Least Got Several Units To Work. We Commissioned, Paul Chamberlain, In The UK To Produce Props For Us. Outside Of The A Few "Historical Facts" We Settled On. Bob Developed Several Versions That Were Reproduced By The Lost Wax Process. Let Me Say This, If You Have Not Seen One Of These Babies Close Up, You Are Really Missing A True Artisan's Work. Pictures Will Follow Of These.
With My Hull Parts, The K-267 Dragon, Started As A Top Only, Natural Epoxy Colored And With Few Air Voids. I Had To Cast The Lower Hull Myself. The "Returned" Hull Would Be A First Generation Boat. Well, All Things Being Equal, I Found This Was Not Going To "Pan Out". After Close Examination, The Lower Mold I Had, Was Unusable. Switching To The "Returned" Boat, The Top Of The Unit Had Air Voids As Large As My Thumbs, Making It Usable For Practice Only. The Lower Hull, Thinner Than My "Beige Top Unit, Was Now The Way I'd Have To Proceed. The Working Hull Now Sports This Lower Section Of The Returned "Gifted" Unit. Considering Everything Else, This Worked Out. The Lower Hull, Dyed Black, Didn’t
Come Out As Envisioned. It Was Thin And Brittle. I Had To Think About What I Could Do. Adding More Epoxy And Cloth Might Work.
This Idea Was Tossed, As I Would Have To Lift This Boat Alone At Some Point. Age Should Make You Smarter. Well, What I Did Was To Make A Set Of Ribs And Longitudinal Runners, To Transfer And Spread All Flexing Forces Throughout The Center Of The Hull Structure. See These Photos Later. Note: Everything Is Hand Formed
From 1/8 inch G-10 Fiberglass Sheet, With The Exception Of The Center Rib Which Is ¼ inch Thick. All Runners Are 3/16 G-10 Rod.
More To Come!
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