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About a decade ago I was lucky enough to find on the SubSwap forum a Matt Thor hull that he had not put into general production, a 1/72 scale Akula II. Only a few of these were ever made, and I am thrilled that I was able to come across one. I've been staring at this hull for years....time to actually build this beast!
The fiberglass work is what you would expect from Matt, however, much heavier than normal. I'm not complaining. Over the past 10 or so years the hull has only warped an eighth of an inch.
The boat is not 100% accurate. It is bit lengthy as compared to the actual Akula II class. But no matter. It will still be built as a generic Akula II using plans and photographs I've collected from various Russian web sites. The plans that will be used for scribing had to be adjusted to fit the size of the hull. But more on that later.
The first thing I needed to do was fabricate some indexing strips to correctly mate the upper and lower hulls. A method I've used for a while is simple yet effective for this. First, three rows of duct tape are laid within the lower hull half, carefully squeezing out any bubbles or wrinkles.
Next, a generous coating of Vasoline is smeared onto the tape with a small painting brush. This will act as a release agent and keep the fiberglass resin from adhering to the duct tape.
Finally, three lengths of 2" fiberglass tape were cut. Three layers provides a very strong indexing strip. I prefer to use West System's 105 resin and 205 hardener. A bit pricey, but there is a West Marine within driving distance, so I don't have to wait for shipping when I need restocked.
The resin was mixed and wicked into the cloth one layer at a time.
Now it's just a waiting game for the resin to cure. This process will be repeated for a second indexing strip: one for the port side, one for starboard.
The fiberglass work is what you would expect from Matt, however, much heavier than normal. I'm not complaining. Over the past 10 or so years the hull has only warped an eighth of an inch.
The boat is not 100% accurate. It is bit lengthy as compared to the actual Akula II class. But no matter. It will still be built as a generic Akula II using plans and photographs I've collected from various Russian web sites. The plans that will be used for scribing had to be adjusted to fit the size of the hull. But more on that later.
The first thing I needed to do was fabricate some indexing strips to correctly mate the upper and lower hulls. A method I've used for a while is simple yet effective for this. First, three rows of duct tape are laid within the lower hull half, carefully squeezing out any bubbles or wrinkles.
Next, a generous coating of Vasoline is smeared onto the tape with a small painting brush. This will act as a release agent and keep the fiberglass resin from adhering to the duct tape.
Finally, three lengths of 2" fiberglass tape were cut. Three layers provides a very strong indexing strip. I prefer to use West System's 105 resin and 205 hardener. A bit pricey, but there is a West Marine within driving distance, so I don't have to wait for shipping when I need restocked.
The resin was mixed and wicked into the cloth one layer at a time.
Now it's just a waiting game for the resin to cure. This process will be repeated for a second indexing strip: one for the port side, one for starboard.
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