9/21/05, Now to get motivated.
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I started with the periscope. The periscope stand that came with the kit was damaged on top. Several
of the nuts were marred so the top was filed off, a brass washer was
drilled and replaced with new nuts from the Tichy
Train Group. Both compasses were deformed. Each compass was filed
flat, a new ring was cut from aluminum tubing, CA glued on, then filed to
the correct height. A compass graphic was printed at 2400 dpi, CA glue was
placed on the back of the paper to set the ink, then the graphic was set
in side the ring and 5 minute waterproof epoxy was placed on top to form
the glass housing. The foot rest ring was shaped, then held in place
with .010 wire shaped as U bolts. The wire was CA glued in then a very hot
soldering iron was very quickly tapped on the brass, soldering the the
ring and U wires together, without melting any plastic. The signal light
had a brass handle installed, and the dead reckoning sight is surgical
stainless steel. The cable will be added on later. |
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Next the conning tower was opened up and filing and
sanding began. Several air bubbles were discovered and filed with CA
glue. Spot putty was mixed with acetone and several layers were wiped
inside with sanding in-between each coat.
With the interior walls sanded smooth. Several coats of
black automotive
primer were sprayed inside the tower, with sanding in between.
The compass / fuel housing was added, CA glued, and then screwed from the
inside. Gap filled with CA and contour sanded.
Using my Dremel hand tool and the light duty cutting wheel, a ridge was cut into the side of the tower to accept the brass deck.
The front and sides of the brass deck was also ground down for a better
fit.
The holes for the hand railing were located and drilled
out as well as the hole for the horn and that other hole and the running
light boxes.
The insulator tube is styrene tube. A 5/16th X 1
inch tube was inserted into an opening - epoxy in and sanded to the appropriate
angle.
A paper hole punch was used to make the bottom round disk, a hole was
drilled in the center then attached to the bottom of the tube. Many of the panel lines were re-scribed. A bottom plate was added using PVC foam board and epoxy resin. Large
holes will be added to aid in flooding and draining, and additional
hardware will be added to secure the tower to the deck. |
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Instead of keeping the deck as two separate pieces, the brass deck was joined together and a supporting beam
was added for additional strength. This gave me a clean joint between
the two halves and aids in the securing of the Wintergarden. The navigation scope support was soldered through the deck,
afterwards security bars were added. The excess that was inside the tube
was filed away using a diamond grinding bit. To accommodate the UZO a brass washer was solder into the deck. This
adds a little height to the UZO which is a little short. To add a bit
more height to the UZO, I added a security ring.
Later on in the project, I discovered that the UZO was still too short. So I recast the lower portion,
elongated the column, and recast that one to give me a UZO that was the correct height. |
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A wooden plug was formed for the aft ventilation
towers. A mold was made of the plug. A resin casting was made. The
casting was cut in half, and hollowed out.
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| The hull from 32nd Parallel is thick and rigid (~.08 to .1); however, the original assembly was done
inaccurately which allowed for severe stress cracks along the seam. Originally, CA glue was used to tack the hull together about every foot or so then automotive filler was “smeared” in to aid in the joining. To remedy this I used my rotary tool with a
60 grit sanding drum attachment to grind out the automotive filler and rough up the inner surface of the hull. Next I mounted the hull on an
angle and used painters tape on the outside edge of the hull to help hold the hull together and to help dam the liquid epoxy. Next I sprinkled glass fiber shards into the inside of the hull. I mixed my epoxy resin and poured it onto the glass fiber shards. With the mixing stick I worked the glass shards and epoxy together. The next day, a perfect joint and seam, and stronger than the original.
Now for the sanding and re-drilling of the slots and holes. |
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| The deck hatch is too small for the opening in the deck. I mounted a “flange” to the under side to accept the hatch and give a small shadow line. The hatch was re-cast, and a brass spring and handle hardware was added. A test fit was
undertaken to located the aft vent housing locations and to map out the RF loop housing. |
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| When the aft vents were molded in resin they
were to bulky, I didn't like the way the aft vents looked. So I took it
a step further. I made new wooden plugs and used Repro
Cast to build a new mold. I laid three layers of fiberglass and epoxy resin into the
mold then re-attached the mold back on to the wooden plugs. This gave me
a perfect aft vent, the walls and curves are perfect. I
then used more epoxy resin to join the vents to the conning tower. I
used a piece of .020 sheet
styrene to contour the vent to the wall from the inside of the vent and
then used CA glue as a filler on the outside of the vent. See picture
below. |
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I used the brass light boxes securing them with CA glue and Epoxy, then covered the light
boxes inside with .010 sheet styrene to give the box more of a crisp edge. Pictured above is the first styrene
dashboard I made. It sits behind the navigation scope.
Here is the second dashboard I made. The first one look to "flat". This one follows the contour
of the floor and has more detail. It wraps around the navigation scope. The cover on the left side was later removed and I did a bit more
shaping before making one in resin.
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Next to the dashboard is the "teak" rails. I found some HO scale 1X6 boards, created a jig and
set them up. When it comes time to mount them - just cut to length and glue them in. More on that later.
I had a set of plans scaled from 1:50 to 1:32. Afterwards, I traced the railings onto tracing paper,
then using carbon paper traced the railings on to a scrap of wood. This will be my jig for setting up
the rails. The plans also helps in a 1:1 placement of the scribe lines and other deck markings. |
| After reviewing several photo and an e-mail
to Jeff LaRue, I finally figured out how to do the side navigation
lights. First I cut into the hull with my rotary disc. I then drop the
tear drop cover into the slit and contour the top with Milliput Putty. I
cut an aluminum tub to the desired shape and drop it into the light box.
It is not exact - I know - I have a picture of one next to the tube I
cut; however, I believe I achieved the general shape. The lights will be
LEDs hooked to a separate battery supply. The rear navigation light
required much more reshaping. it sits inside of a brass tube mounted and
shaped into the hull. Again I think I achieved the general
shape. |
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I felt that the front refueling access panels
were to large, so a portion was trimmed off. The brass was soften by heating
and then quenching in water. Afterwards the brass panel was easily form
to the curve of the housing.
Brass railing were added. Popsicle sticks, layered and sanded to the
correct thickness, ~6" for the steps and ~4" for the rails in
scale, were used to make all brass railings exactly spaced. The rails
were taped in place, soldered together, then CA glued through the holes
and from the inside. Waterproof epoxy was placed over the CA glue for
addition holding. |
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| The aft vent units were filed and
blended into the hull with CA glue and styrene. A template was created
to aid in the placement of the splash shield stand-offs. Each square is
0.38 long giving a perfect spacing for the 23 brass stand-offs. Also a
.040" half round styrene strip was added to the lip of the conning
tower as seen in several reference photos. I ended up getting ahead of
myself and this was removed to accommodate the steps needed to install the
slash/wind deflector. |
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| Placing the splash shield to the
conning tower was definitely a learning experience for me. A major
failed attempt cost me two days worth of work. However, time and
patients prevailed. After finding out I misaligned the shield struts, I
had to pull all of them out, soak the brass pieces in acetone to remove
the CA glue, and fill all the holes with epoxy/micro-balloon mix. Wait
12 hours, sand and re-shape. |
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| I used my laser to align the template dead center. I cut several slots, as I did the
first time. But this time I turn the conning tower upside down, and placed a .010 styrene sheet
under the brass strut. This gave me the perfect clearance between the struts and tower as seen in a photo.
It also allows an uniform placement of the struts. Next I CA glued strips of sheet styrene across the
brass struts. Using two layers of .010 X .020 strips allowed me to follow the curve tower with the
concave shape of the struts. (Do not use zip kicker on the CA glue. Zip Kicker creates heat when
curing and will melt the thin styrene strips, learn from my mistakes.) Afterwards, I used gel CA glue
as a filler. Now to sand, and sand, and sand. |
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| After a day of sanding, priming,
sanding, and priming. The final result. |
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