Permit Kits now in production.

[thor]

Guys,

I have a delay in a job I was preparing for which has opened up a couple of weeks of shop time. I started working on Permit kits this afternoon. If you want one, let me know and I'll get one kicked out of the shop for you.

[thor]

I just had a gentleman change his mind from getting a Permit now to waiting for Sturgeon kit in April. So, I now have an unspoken for Permit kit if anyone would like one. I am making 10 kits which are all in process now. They will be all done by the end of next week.

PM me if you are interested.

[thor]

All kits are now spoken for. Thanks, guys! The first 6 went out today. The remaining 4 will go out next week.

[thor]

The next batch of Permit hulls is now complete. Here is the last hull of the batch. I have been working for a while to lighten the hulls up and stiffen them up. This results in a model that is much easier to handle and assemble. The glass is not 1/8" thick which takes forever to open of all of the floods and vents. This goes MUCH faster and easier!

These new hulls will, also, require a significantly smaller ballast tank due to the lighter weight. This hull is 2/3rds the weight of a standard Permit hull and much stiffer due to the use of aerospace grade biaxial glass and carbon fiber stiffening bands. This one it for Tom Spettel.

[Parallax]

Hi Matt,
Thank you for sharing these pictures, it is amazing to me how much detail you can put into it. I am not familiar with adding the bands, are they actually encased in the glass, or laid down on the inside of the hull? Do you think you will be using the same plan when you get a chance to work on the sturgeons?
Thank you,
Mike

[thor]

Hi Mike,

They carbon fiber is actually encased between the 2nd & 3rd laminate of Biaxial glass. In order to take full advantage of the strength & lightness of the carbon fiber it really needs to be completely embedded in the glass. Carbon fiber is really finicky stuff to work with. It is MUCH less friendly and pliable than the glass cloth. If it was simply laid up on the inside and not bagged down, it would eventually separate from the inside laminate. All of my hulls will be following this basic layup process, including the Sturgeon. The larger boats like the Oscar II and Type XXI will use a different laminate schedule and varying number of laminates due to the difference in shape and size. All of my hulls will now be MUCH lighter than my older hulls due to this small advance.

[ccontrol]

That's funny as your "older hulls" were works of art.

[thor]

Thanks for the very kind words, Steve! I am always trying to find ways to improve my work.

[subdude]

"works of art"

And THAT'S the facts. For anyone who has never held one of Matt's hulls in their hands and seen the craftsmanship up close and personal, you really do need to do so. Those hulls are magnificent.

Jim

[tommydeen]

I agree with jim here if you never seen one of these kits they have great detail
And glass work is great.
My first sub was one of matts first gen
Alpha’s in1/72nd scale and have a sturgeon in progress

[thor]

For the fun of it, I pulled out the old vacuum bagging system and laid up a new PERMIT hull. I employed the bagging system on it and now I remember why I started to use it in the first place. The finished hull came out so nice! But, the biggest bonus is that it allows me to accurately control the resin-glass ration very closely. The end result was a hull that was a full 3.5 ounces less in weight than the hull I just laid up for Tom. Another added bonus is the laminate schedule is more compact and even stiffer than the simple hand laid up part. I am putting together a video with photos to show you how it is all done. This will further reduce the required volume for the ballast tank and make the hull even simpler to open up the floods and vents.

I started providing the first Sturgeon hulls back in November of 1991. At the time, I was still a design engineer on the B2 bomber project. All of my hulls were vacuum bagged, but did not include carbon fiber reinforcement. in 1993, I stopped bagging my hulls and just went caveman with plain old hand layups. The hulls were significantly heavier. As the years have passed, I have learned many new tricks to get the hulls lighter and stronger. So, all of our hulls will now be bagged and include carbon fiber in the proper locations to stiffen them up.

I like to leave my hulls 'see through' so the customer can inspect the quality of the glass work themselves. I have never tried to hide my work with gel coats (completely unnecessary with epoxy) or tint my resin dark. If you are going to spend $300-$600 on a submarine hull kit I want you to know you are getting the best work possible utilizing the finest products available. Photos and video will follow soon.

[JWLaRue]

.... So, all of our hulls will not be bagged and include carbon fiber in the proper locations to stiffen them up.

Matt,

I am almost certain that you meant to type "our hulls will now be bagged and include carbon fiber...."

And I fully echo what others have stated about the quality of Matt's hulls....accuracy and quality from start to finish. I have one of his earlier Sturgeons (or is it a Permit?!?) that was done with the vacuum bagging. It's just gorgeous.

-Jeff

[thor]

Yes, Sir! You are correct. I fixed that. Thanks, Jeff!

[sam reichart]

Let’s see.
Alfa
Sturgeon
LA
Seawolf
Type XXI

I’ve had a few...
And the Alfa was still the best running out of them all.

Just realized that I never built a Permit. Huh.

[JWLaRue]

Sam,

If you once owned both a Sturgeon and a Permit but did not build the Permit...then that must be the hull that I have as I got i from you.

-Jeff