New project

[bharris]

After following the bow plane thread for a while I noted the following problems. With exception of Mr Lambing no one has a clue what they are talking about.
First of all the planes did go to horizontal on the real 571 boat. Been there done that, worked on and around them for about 40 years so I know a little about it.
First problem, your bow plane design is all wrong, it is flat across the inside edge it should taper toward the trailing edge to allow it to clear the superstructure in the full rise position.
Using a dry dock picture of planes in a maintenance position for a reference is another problem if you are not aware of what is actually taking place, the cables are on them to hold them in that(maintenance) position, the Raise/lower ram is at the bottom of the slot as it is obviously detached in the superstructure for maintenance also.
All of the Tang class SS and early (non teardrop shape hull) SSN's had similar sloping superstructures and all had bow planes that went horizontal, they also had tapered trailing edges to allow them to clear the superstructure in the rise position.
Attached a pic of a close to correct 1/48 scale bow plane for the Skate class with a deployed bow plane pic in the background.
But feel free to build it in any config you feel works for you as it is absolutely stunning so far (except for the bow planes), just trying to help

[wlambing]

Sonar Dome Rivet Work= Nice!!!!!

B^)

[thor]

Thanks for that, Bob.

[drschmidt]

My design is flat on the inside edge, as it is on the real thing. So actually, I know what I'm talking about......



With respect to the Skate: Completely different bow plane design. They were sliding out of slots and not folding down from the hull. So I doubt that a comparison makes sense here:

[thor]

I believe Bob means that the inboard surface is not level with the horizontal when retracted, but it is angled upward on the trailing edge to accommodate full rotation when deployed to the horizontal. That is quite evident in the photo you posted.

[bharris]

You are correct Matt, the Nautilus bow planes are angled upward from the pivot point on the inboard edge to the trailing edge at about 5 to 6 degrees as the picture shows to clear the superstructure in the rise position. This angle is applied in differing amounts on most post war non teardrop hull subs with sloping superstructures.
Bob.

[drschmidt]

Some more weathering...

[thor]

What type of paints are you using? The finish is very, very nice.

[drschmidt]

The base colors are acrylic spray cans. The white I used to weather the underwater section is a Vallejo airbrush color applied in the toothpaste technique I learned from David Meriman. The additional gray tone on the superstructure as well as the darker gray of the sonar dome are Vallejo airbrush colors as well. The white lining and the green algae effect are colored pencils. Then I use some white color for the vertical striping in a dry brush technique. Everything is then blended with green and gray filters from M.I.G..

[drschmidt]

The first segment of the brass deck is painted and installed. The hatch is a cast of resin and the hand wheel is photo-etched:





All masts are assembled and tentatively installed. In the end only a few will end up extracted:





As expected, the props look awesome:

[wlambing]

Aft hatch is installed backwards. All US submarine escape trunk hatches opened forward. Balancing spring should be facing forward.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

I looked for image of rear hatch.
Found it in a 1:39 minutes original commissioning film.
The open rear hatch can be seen at 1:00 minute mark and even closer at the 1:37 mark.... be ready to hit pause.

[drschmidt]

Thanks for the reminder....actually I knew this and I have the hatch position correct in my CAD drawings. I just glued it the wrong way around. Fixed it today

[drschmidt]

On we go....second deck segment:



Sail numbers (decals) with weathering:







Boat name and draught marks - again decals:

[drschmidt]

The work on the outside of the boat approaches its preliminary end. The sail is pretty much done. The masts are installed, painted and the whip-antennas are mounted as well:







The bow planes are finally installed in the still controversial v-position. The bow segment of the photo-etched deck will only be installed after the boat is trimmed to allow access to the bow for additional ballast/foam for trimming: