Type II Class of U-boats - models

[JWLaRue]

Here's a few shots of my in-progress Type IIC. This an epoxy hull that Matt Thor laid up using Dave Manley's old molds.

Here's and overall view of the starboard side...



This one is a close-up of the midships deck area. The test plot of the CAD drawing for the photo-etched deck can be seen as well.



Here's the conning tower.....also with test fitting of deck drawing.



All of the dive surfaces needed to be scratch-built. Here's a photo of the masters and the molds.



The lower stern with cast rudder and stern planes in place. The skeg is made from my favorite R/C sub material, G-10. The A-frame is a hacked up one from a Type VII...it's being replaced with a scratch-built one.



-Jeff

[mylo]

Scale ?

Scale ?

[JWLaRue]

That would help, wouldn't it!

It's

That would help, wouldn't it!

It's a 1/32nd scale Type II.

....and one of these years, I'll find someone who is interested in producing a kit of this boat! I've got the CAD drawing for the decks completed, as well as the masters & molds for the diving appendages and rudder......

-Jeff

[JWLaRue]

This has turned into a

This has turned into a (very) long-term project!

I had the Type II out for it's initial run this past Saturday at the SubRon4 fun run at Groton. The boat is essentially complete except for the installation of the photo-etched main and conning tower decks as well as the RCABS ballast system.

Here are some photos showing it in the water:





And a photo of it on the table after it's first run.



-Jeff

[petn7]

Nice

Will the air bags go

Nice

Will the air bags go in the middle of the sub between those two WTCs?

By the way, are those cookies in the background, or are those pieces of fruit and cake?

[JWLaRue]

...and here are some close-up

...and here are some close-up shots of various internal and external details:

First up, the internals. This is a shot showing the rudder and stern plane linkages. The keel skeg is so thin that I had to mill it out and then rig up a pulley system to actuate the stern planes...



The aft end of the rear dive module showing the OTW-supplied linkage bellows and the universals used to connect the motor shafts to the prop shafts...



Next up is the top view of the rear dive module showing the two motors, speed controller and APC-4. When the ballast system is installed, the pump and Clippard valve will go beneath the SCR and APC...



This is the space that a pair of RCABS bladders will be installed. For the surface running this past Saturday, I temporarily placed four pieces of foam that equal the amount of water that needs to be displaced to get the boat to surface. The two black tubes are the wiring chases used to connect the two dive modules...one is for all power leads and the other for the servo cables. The rubber bands held the foam in place...



The forward dive module is where the batteries and receiver are placed. The SES will also be placed here when the ballast system is installed...



....other than a big block of foam, a nice empty bow area, just waiting for the torpedo firing unit...



Now for some external views. Here is an overall view of the Type II back in my workroom...



Here a close-up of the conning tower that shows some of the paper printouts of some of the photo-etched details that will be added..



The A-frame and rudder.....everything here except for the props has been scratch-built and still needs to have a final sanding and some details applied...



Finally (for this batch) a view from aft and below showing the twin props and single rudder of the Type II...



-enjoy,

Jeff

[JWLaRue]

By the way, are those

By the way, are those cookies in the background, or are those pieces of fruit and cake?

...Fig Newtons...

[petn7]

I envy all that room

I envy all that room you've got in there.

[essayonsǃ]

Nice boat, But I have

Nice boat, But I have pond envy!! Finding clear water is a challenge in South Texas!

Randy

[jeffrey j]

..

I really like that type II,, those are my favorite subs. I had some photos of how I scratch built my 1/32nd type II on here, anyone seen them. Looks like they fell off. Thanks Jeff J. SC# 258

[jeffrey j]

..

never mind, found those photos,, page 2 wasn't showing up. OK Jeff, I want that type II of yours, when can I pick it up,, lol.. Man, that hull is really empty, mine is packed with junk. Jeff J. C/S# 258

[JWLaRue]

Hi Jeff,

Hehe.....actually, I'm looking to

Hi Jeff,

Hehe.....actually, I'm looking to free up even more room! I think I can replace the 3.5-inch diameter dive module with a 3-inch by dropping the batteries into their own mini-dive module beneath the main module.

-Jeff

[JWLaRue]

Another update in the progress

Another update in the progress of my Type II build. This time I am pleased to be able to finally show the photo-etched main and conning tower decks!

This first shot is of the entire PE fret. You can see the main deck, split into a forward and stern half. Same for the conning tower deck. Also visible are a number of detail parts that will be applied to the hull and tower.



Next up are two photos showing the main deck installed on the upper hull. I added styrene strips 0.060" by 0.030" at the very outer edges to represent the way the hull casing extends up beyond the deck. The two deck sections dropped right in. (whew!)





I spent some time fitting the conning tower deck into the tower, including roughing out the bulkheads that separate the upper and lower deck sections. Here are two views showing the work-in-progress.





Last up is an overall shot of the entire upper hull with the deck installed.



That's it for now. My next step is to install the various other PE detail parts.........

-enjoy,

Jeff

[junglelord]

What keel ballast if any

What keel ballast if any is required to compensate for the photoetched weight addition?

Nice boat by the way, very nice build.


Cheers
Dean

[JWLaRue]

Typically, placing the batteries right

Typically, placing the batteries right down in the keel is more than enough to offset the slight addition of weight.

-Jeff