MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

[bill rogers]

I started this thread in the Static Modeler section but since this is a build that will take some time I'm posting the rest my build here. If you haven't seen the first few posts in Static Modeler section, you might want to check those out first to see what my plan is.

I mentioned previously that I wanted to layout the bottom details so I knew where to locate the clear plastic rods for supporting the model. Laying out the openings in pencil over the primed hull and confirming their accuracy is necessary to avoid mistakes before cutting into the hull. The picture below shows the main seawater suctions and discharges port and starboard as well as number 4, 5 and 6 main ballast tank inlets port and starboard. The circle on the far right is where the after support will be located just forward of MBT #4.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4962.jpg

The forward MBT inlets as well as the anchor and other details are shown in the next picture. The forward support rod will be located just aft MBT #3 inlets. It’s important to remember the docking plan shows the hull as if you were inside the hull looking down. But when laying out the details the hull is upside down so port and starboard orientation can be confusing. Note my crossed out marking forward of the anchor.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4963.jpg

Blue painters tape can be used for several different tasks. Here the tape is used to mark locations that were cut out for MBT inlet grates that will be installed later. A hole was drilled in the hull between the taped boundaries and the opening enlarged by filing up to the edge of the tape. The tape also protects the hull for those times when I might have otherwise scratched the hull by accident.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4981.jpg

Finally, here is where the hole for the forward support rod was drilled just aft MBT #3.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4977.jpg

To be continued.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[pirate]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

You go, Will. I use my drill press the same way. I always say, what ever you can make work. That's kinda half the fun, thinking how the heck can I make this part now. Good luck. Thanks for sharing your build and enthusiasm.

Pete

[greenman407]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Ahh! a man after my own heart, bring out the power tools. Just a thought, A Forstner bit might be better for that hole than a flat wood bit, less stress on the parts perhaps. I bought a set from Lowes and I am always looking for an excuse to use one.

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I will look into the Forstner bits.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[Rogue Sub]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Thumbs up for the Forstner bit
I find spade bits a dangerous venture when working on our precious models.

[greenman407]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Deep in the archives of the greenman work shop comes these pictures of a Forstner bit set.

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Went out to Home Depot this morning and bought a set. May even make some sawdust this afternoon.

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

We’re making progress on the under side hull openings. There are 16 openings in way of the missile tubes. At this point I want to publically thank the SC members who have been giving me help with information to build this model. I especially thank Bob Harris, SC member and former crewmember on SSBN659 for telling me what these openings are. According to Bob these are for the tube breather valves which “…are part of the missile tube compensating and hovering/depth control system. During a ripple fire launch the birds are leaving to fast for pumping to compensate for the water weight gain so the muzzle door closes and the system blows the tube down to a predetermined level at which time the depth control system takes over for fine control.”

So, having identified what they are, here’s how they are represented using styrene tubing.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5811.jpg
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4983.jpg
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4991.jpg

The holes were laid out and drilled. Then I CA’d short lengths of tubing in each opening. After looking at my documentation I decided the tube diameter was too large. I then glued smaller diameter tubing inside the larger tubes. At this point the tubing was ready to sand flush with the hull.

Some touch up and fill in using a Bondo glazing putty was necessary. Note the tooth picks used to keep the Bondo out of the tube.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4995.jpg

After a final sanding with the tooth picks removed the hull was ready for red primer. But, there was more to do using the styrene before the red primer. I’ll cover those steps in my next post.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

The next step on the underside was to represent the Main Ballast Tank (MBT) grates. On a previous model I had used square brass tubing but found grinding down the brass left too many gouges in the hull that had to be filled and sanded. This time I went for 1/8”square styrene tubing which was easier to work with. First I taped around the opening to be drilled and filed to shape. There are 16 of these so it took some time to complete the openings. Several pieces of square styrene cut to about ¾” long were glued together to form the MBT grate as shown in the following picture. Also, this time I used more blue tape to protect the hull. In this picture you see the after MBT openings, some drilled, some filed, and one test grate to see how it would look.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4966.jpg

Satisfied with the look, I went on to complete the openings and assemble and install the remaining grates. They would still have to be filed flush with the hull and each tube had to be chased with a small tool to remove the burrs from sanding. What you see in the next two pictures are the fwd and aft MBT grates glued in place before sanding. Each opening was hand fitted to its particular grate.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4987.jpg
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4986.jpg

After sanding the grate the open gaps around the perimeter had to be filled and sanded. For this operation I used the blue tape to protect the grate openings and filled the gaps with red glazing putty. The same process was used to fill any gaps around styrene tubing used to represent the various circular water suctions and discharges.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_4992.jpg

Finally, a rectangular space between MBT’s 5 & 6 was opened for eventual mounting of the Secondary Propulsion Motor (SPM). Although the SPM is complete, it won’t be installed until the model is just about complete. I don’t want to have to do another SPM.
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... IONM-1.jpg
http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5035.jpg

More underside work later.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Now to some really interesting stuff. In my research I found the following picture showing one of the Forty-One For Freedom on drydock. Having worked in a shipyard I immediately recognized the main condenser cooling water suction and overboard discharge because of their large diameter openings. The intake has a grate to prevent large objects from being pulled into the main condenser cooling water pump suction. What I didn’t understand was the discharge that had 6 smaller diameter openings.


Here’s what I found out from David Meriman]http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392/SSBN659/IMG_4985.jpg[/img]

This was my attempt using plastic screening for the grate on the cooling water suction. I wasn’t happy with the way it looked and scrapped that idea. I found some brass material in a train hobby shop that I think will work out much better and I’ll work on that later.



The next three shots show the primed bottom side opening starting aft and moving forward. I’ll scribe in the anchor outline and a couple other manhole covers before going to work on the topside.









That's it for today.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Work on the topside has taken much longer than I thought it would. It would have been easier had I been working from a detailed set of cross sections for the superstructure but I’ve not been able to find any. So, with several pictures of SSBN’s of this class and Outboard Profile and Main Deck drawings I set out to shape the superstructure as best I could.

My plan was to cut pieces of 3/16” scrap MDF to shape, glue them to the hull along the centerline and use Plaster of Paris to rough in the shape. BIG MISTAKE! Yes, the material was cheap but not easy to shape when wet and a bear to sand not to mention the mess. So the solution was to start over using a polyester glazing putty called “ Easy Sand” by Evercoat.

This shot shows the aft end of the superstructure as I began to chip away the Plaster of Paris.


After roughing in the aft end I glued some pink foam filler pieces in place to start shaping the missile deck. The foam was painted with some left over latex paint to prevent the polyester putty from attacking it.


Here you see the beginnings of my “Yellow Submarine”. You can also see the roughed in fore and aft ends of the superstructure with the centerline and main deck tangent lines layed out with a black “Sharpie”. Finally, you can see how I’ve used blue painter’s tape to mark the intersection of the superstructure with the hull.


At this point the rough in is covered with Evercoat “Easy Sand” and the superstructure is ready for sanding and shaping. But how to get the correct shapes?


In my research I was able to find several pictures on the web to help me with the shapes. Following are some of them. The first is the Casimir Pulaski on drydock followed by the Francis Scott Key, both showing the forward end of the superstructure.




Next are after end shots of Kamehameha and Andrew Jackson.




Using the shot of Casimir Pulaski I estimated the angle between the side of the superstructure and the vertical somewhere between 15 to 20 degrees. I split the difference and made a tool for sanding the curve at the main deck tangent line as well as the side.


If anyone out there knows for sure what the angle really is, I’d like to know just for the heck of it. Meanwhile, back to the workbench for some more sanding and shaping.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[PaulC]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Have you looked at Jeff LaRue's SSN grate & strainer PE set to see if the MSW intake grate will work? The design is the same, I don't know if the size will work for you.

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Paul, Thanks for the tip. Jeff and I have been exchanging e-mails and a PDF of what he has. Unfortunately he doesn't the scale I need.

"Will" Rogers
SSBN659

[bill rogers]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

After several weeks of sanding the superstructure is beginning to take shape. Here is a shot of the port side of the superstructure looking forward. To get the thickness I wanted for the break between the hull and the superstructure I used a layer of blue painters tape and over that a layer of double-sided tape. Then I used the Evercoat Easy Sand to build up to the double-sided tape.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5128.jpg

This picture shows where the double-sided tape was used to represent how the forward end of the superstructure fairs into the hull on the port side. Notice how the tape was cut to get the “notch” effect. I used the same technique to get the “notch” where the superstructure fairs into the hull aft.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5126.jpg

It helps to have pictures of the “real thing” when trying to get the right look for your model. This first picture is the aft end of the superstructure roughed in. The second picture is a comparison between the “real thing” and the model after adding a second coat of Easy Sand.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5088.jpg

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5414.jpg

Here’s what the aft end looks like in red primer. Alternating colors of primer helps when correcting and sanding. It makes it easy to see if you are sanding too deep.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5437.jpg

After roughing in and priming the forward end, it was back to the blue tape again. To get the effect of the superstructure fairing into the hull a 1/8” strip of tape was used to mark the intersection. Then a wider layer of tape was added to protect the hull and finally the filler was added. By the way, the blue tape technique is something I learned from David Merriman in one of his videos on You Tube. Thanks David!

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5423.jpg

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5424.jpg

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5425.jpg

Finally, here’s the forward end in red primer.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p392 ... G_5436.jpg

There is still a lot more work to do so stayed tuned.

"Will Rogers"
SSBN659

[Rogue Sub]

Re: MODELING THE USS WILL ROGERS

Just found out my current master chief qualified on this boat. Weve been talking alot about this class boat now... Many weird things as far as the nuclear world goes. Amazing how much we learn as we go.

Kevin