1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

I am sorry to report that the Alfa is where I left her over a year ago. I am getting married in June, and hope to get back to her before winter comes around.

[salmon]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Congratulations on getting married! May you be blessed and a lifetime of happiness!
Subs can wait!
Peace,
tom

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Thanks Tom!

I know it has been some time since I posted anything new on this poor sub, but I am dusting her off. The IXD2 has hit a road block for now, so the Alfa is getting my full attention. I hope to have updates to post here soon.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

I do have some progress today! I worked on new safety rails for Alfa. Here are the old ones





I went to my local hobby shop, bought a 3 ft section of N gauge flex track for locomotives,



From there I removed one track to give me the shape of the safety track in the prior pictures, cut lengths and soldered some brass rod to the bottom for extra strength.







The one I had installed before was a strip of plastic. I think the Railroad track will look better in the long run. I will need to sand some of the solder down though still.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Good news on the Alfa, she now has new safety rails installed!

First, I stripped the old rails off and drilled holes for the new rails



Then I mounted the rails. On the front of the sail, I made the railing match the pictures I have of K123.









Tomorrow I will try to finish up the mounting system for the hull halves.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Brass pins and alignment rods installed. I messed around almost all day trying different things out. I settled on the simplest thing I could come up with. 2 pins in the lower bow, along with two alignment rods and two more alignment rods amidships. I also installed a rib in the upper hull near the reactor compartment to take the warp out of the hull in that spot. I will update with pictures as soon as the resin cures.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Alignment pins are in:

Here are the ones for the bow:





and amidships]http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv23/thedarkknight_1988/Project%20705%20Alfa/025_zpsd79d8ffb.jpg[/img]

The rib that I installed near the reactor compartment to fix some warp-age there



And the more I looked at the free flood doors I installed under the conning tower, and none in the rest of the free flood holes, the more it bugged me. So, I installed some more of the doors.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Added some more details to the Alfa hull. I am not sure what these covers are for, but they are on the plans and in pictures I have found of K-123. I made them from styrene, and used my etching tool to make the indents from the backside to give the appearance of bolts. The camera did not capture this detail well, but it is there. Hopefully when it is painted they will show up better.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

So, after my temporary cradle for the Alfa fell apart, I decided today to build a newer better one.





After researching cribbing ships in dry dock, I decided I liked the look, and decided to make my Alfa look like she is drydocked when not in the water.

[salmon]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Nice touch. I like it!
Peace,
tom

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

Thanks Tom! I wanted something that would set my Alfa apart from other ones that might be on display. I might add one more set of cribbing blocks under the stern. I am torn between painting the base grey, like a dry dock floor and stain the cribbing, or stain the whole thing. Decisions, decisions......

On another note, I will turn my attention to the stern tomorrow since it is supposed to rain. I need to smooth the planes and rudders, and drill out some of the free flood holes I accidentally filled with resin a few years ago when I fixed the warp-age near the reactor intake tubes.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

More progress today!!!!

Sanded the stern down to get rid of some extra fiberglass that was there. I also sanded the stern planes down, as well as the rudders.



I also added the scribe marks for the retractable bow planes. The port one is higher than the starboard on the real one, so I replicated this. Here is the starboard marks



Tomorrow I plan on cutting the stern off and rotating it a few degrees to port. The stern planes and rudders are off a bit to starboard, and it is driving my OCD up the wall!

I bought the blue ray version of Das Boot today. I think I will watch that tonight to keep me in a submarine mood!

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

I love Das Boot! I forgot so many little things in that film. On to the build!

I cut the stern off today to rotate it to port.



Then I measured, checked alignment by eye, and double checked with a level.



Then after some CA glue, the tail is back on, and strait as an arrow! Finally, after 2 years of it driving me nuts it is fixed.



Tomorrow I plan on fiberglassing the stern on to make it permanent. Since I cut the stern off with a fine razor saw, there is almost no gap left! I will bridge the gap with some CA and sand it down.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

More progress, pics to follow tomorrow. I have soldered the shafts of the dive planes and rudders to the control surfaces. I also soldered some wiring in the WTC that needed to be done. Next stop is some minor bondo work, clean up some free flood holes, and I feel confident this thing is ready for paint.

[the dark knight]

Re: 1/72nd scale alfa class ssn

I have decided the upper hull is done. If I do not stop modifying her, she will never be finished. I painted the hull top and bottom in more dark grey primer. Then I clear coated the brass that makes up the masts, painted the ray-dome white, painted the emergency buoy (at least I think that is what it is) and the two hatches over the bow torpedo room.







I put some of my 1/72nd scale German U-boat crew on the sail for fun.

For the buoy, I painted it white first, then masked off the areas to stay white and painted the red. Next I will fix a few minor things around the stern planes, prime one more time and paint the red on the lower hull. I will also make the linkages, propeller and drive shafts within the next few weeks.