Merriman's Submarine Modelling Masterclass

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merriman said:
View: https://youtu.be/GbD6-ITqpjE
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Albacore is definitely one of the most interesting subs to look at visually, especially in Phase 4 configuration like you modeled.

The "pancake" diesels had been used in the post-war Tang-class boats but were pretty rapidly replaced by 3 of the old standby Fairbanks-Morse 38D 8 1/8 opposed piston engines but uprated from 1300hp to 1600hp. Replacing the pancake diesels required lengthening the Tang boats by 9 feet. 4 boats cut in half, the last 2 were still on the building ways so were lengthened in construction.

So Albacore could use all the Tang spares, but once those spares were gone there wasn't a good option to replace those engines with.
 
On the models with X-sterns, are you doing signal mixing or just treating them as a normal rudder and stern planes but rotated 45deg?
 
Scott Kenny said:
On the models with X-sterns, are you doing signal mixing or just treating them as a normal rudder and stern planes but rotated 45deg?
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Mixing from a 'V-tail' mixer aboard the model which translates the receiver yaw and pitch outputs to drive the two sets of control surfaces in the proper directions to achieve the commanded yaw and pitch as directed from the transmitters stick positions.
 

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merriman said:
Mixing from a 'V-tail' mixer aboard the model which translates the receiver yaw and pitch outputs to drive the two sets of control surfaces in the proper directions to achieve the commanded yaw and pitch as directed from the transmitters stick positions.
Click to expand...
Purely mechanical mixing?

Or an electronic one?
 
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publiusr said:
That is the best secondary hull I have seen in a model...fitting it took a submarine modeler to do it justice. I remember seeing this at Culttvman.

Franz Joseph Drew the Enterprise secondary hull as a teardrop, but your bridge-B/C deck that terminates more sharply-that from the Sinclair blueprints?
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I worked off the excellent Allen Everhart drawings. He was killed in the #2 turret explosion. What a waste!



 
Lovely job on the USS Enterprise. Have to ask, what did you use to hold it together structurally? Models, especially larger ones, have a tendency to sag, both the saucers and the nacelles.
 
jeffb said:
Lovely job on the USS Enterprise. Have to ask, what did you use to hold it together structurally? Models, especially larger ones, have a tendency to sag, both the saucers and the nacelles.
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I took care to keep structural weight down. Less weight of the engine nacelles, the less sheer and bending loads on their pylons and secondary-hull interface. CA adhesives exclusively. The sheer loads presented by the nacelle-pylon elements were absorbed by a V-shaped crutch structure with in the secondary-hull. The pylons themselves featured full-length leading and trailing edges of aluminum tube which gave them incredible rigidity.
 

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Assembling Several 1/60 SubTech ALBACORE's​

Towards the end of the last century, Skip Asay's outfit, SubTech, produced a vacuformed and resin plastic model kit suitable for operation as a r/c submarine. At a price-point affordable to the average kit assembler interested in getting into the r/c submarine game. Our outfit, D&E Miniatures had a hand in the kits development; producing the drawing and cast white-metal detail items.

Post introduction of the kit, we produced 'supplemental fittings kits' that permitted the assembly of the 1/60 scale ALBACORE kit into a more faithful phase-2 configuration, or that boats phase-3 and phase-4 arrangements. Presented here is just some of that work, as well as shots of a phase-4 configured ALBACORE going through it's paces under the water.

















































 
merriman said:
The sheer loads presented by the nacelle-pylon elements were absorbed by a V-shaped crutch structure with in the secondary-hull. The pylons themselves featured full-length leading and trailing edges of aluminum tube which gave them incredible rigidity.
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I thought a good approach would be to have a V-shaped bracket including a bit of the nacelles and a segment of the secondary hull.

Image an old AMT kit assembled if you will.
A water-jet cuts across the whole model port to starboard.

Two cuts..one just forward of the nacelle supports, one aft.

You now have a bracket.

Imagine that cast.

Now the strut join from nacelles to secondary hull is part of the model detail.

Now you can slide forward and aft nacelle/secondary straight in…slot/tab, thread, whatever.

No more fighting toe-in or toe-out…droop…what have you.

This way—it has to be straight.

I wonder if the model makers at AMT forgot they were wedding three cones together…if it really sunk in.

In terms of that bracket with two small loops at the tops of the “V” with a wider loop at the “point”…

I swear I saw something like that on a truck or something.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled sub proceedings…
 
merriman said:
I worked off the excellent Allen Everhart drawings. He was killed in the #2 turret explosion. What a waste!
Click to expand...
More information
Leslie Allen Everhart jr. (1957-1989)
He work as lighting technician for various companies like Disney and Movie studios
As a fan of Star Trek, He made excellent working blueprints of the USS Enterprise and other Spaceship.
1988 he enlisted in the Navy, and in March 1989, was assigned to the USS Iowa.
On April 19, 1989, Allen, and 46 fellow crew men, was killed when Gun Turret #2 on the USS Iowa,
exploded during training exercises...
 
Michel Van said:
More information
Leslie Allen Everhart jr. (1957-1989)
He work as lighting technician for various companies like Disney and Movie studios
As a fan of Star Trek, He made excellent working blueprints of the USS Enterprise and other Spaceship.
1988 he enlisted in the Navy, and in March 1989, was assigned to the USS Iowa.
On April 19, 1989, Allen, and 46 fellow crew men, was killed when Gun Turret #2 on the USS Iowa,
exploded during training exercises...
Click to expand...
Yup. Ellie and I helped his widow with estate matters. Tough times.
 
Always amazing Merriman. Have you ever tried moulding plastic yokes for the control planes?
 
jeffb said:
Always amazing Merriman. Have you ever tried moulding plastic yokes for the control planes?
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Yes. But found that the operating shaft set-screw threads would easily strip out. Best to go with the white metal
 

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