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[portside II]

Rich ,why dont you have a go with styreen foam (the expanded bead type) ,cut and shape to your requirements then cover with PVA and tissue and then cover with fiberglass resin and matting/cloth/tissue (your choice) .when its all set you can then pour a thinners luquid that will melt the styreen and your left with a shell  .
daz

[das boot]

Daz, now you talking my kinda language...that sounds much easier than chopping great lumps of wood about for hours on end. Question...where do I obtain styrene foam...is there a specialist supplier? I like the sounds of  this...tell me more.

Cheers,

Rich

[Subculture]

You know that link I posted earlier, and suggested the 'lost foam' process. Well that's how you do it.

Builders merchants for foam.

Andy

[das boot]

Got it...all of a sudden it seems an ideal way to do the job.

Thanks gentlemen, I'm on the case.

Cheers,

Rich

[Subculture]

You may want to take a look at the 'Shellshock' resin Dave Welch used for his Flying sub in the thread link I posted earlier.

It's a brushable polyurethane resin, needs no reinforcement and dries very quickly.

Not cheap, but you're almost guaranteed a good result. You won't need to PVA the foam either, as PU resin has no styrene in it, it doesn't eat the foam like Polyester resin does. Polyurethane resin doesn't pong as much as polyester either.

4D modelshop stock it-

http://www.yellowcatshop.co.uk/shop/default.asp?clientid=14&gid=4dmod&viewstate=32769&tabcatid=3500021&subcatid=3500028

Bottom of the page

[das boot]

Things seem to have changed radically since I last built a sub...we had watertight radio boxes made from resin coated ply and fitted with Lexan or Macrolon tops, not fancy transparent WTC's.

I'm doing some research prior to taking delivery of a USS Blueback kit [thanks Pete] and I have a question: is there a favoured method of installing the radio in a WTC [I'm making my own] or do you just shovel it all in and fix it as and where it fits?

Cheers,

Rich

[Mankster]

Things seem to have changed radically since I last built a sub...we had watertight radio boxes made from resin coated ply and fitted with Lexan or Macrolon tops, not fancy transparent WTC's.

I'm doing some research prior to taking delivery of a USS Blueback kit [thanks Pete] and I have a question: is there a favoured method of installing the radio in a WTC [I'm making my own] or do you just shovel it all in and fix it as and where it fits?

Cheers,

Rich

Shove it all in where it fits  :) Ballast tanks work best below the conning tower if you have a single tank. Batteries and any thing heavy need to be kept as low down as possible. Try and keed the Rx away from the ESC and motor.  Other than that, you can do pretty much as you wish.

[Subculture]

The same rules apply for a cylinder as a box. A box is a very poor pressure vessel though, and a cylinder will give you much less problems long term, so long as you build it right from the start.

The main thing you need to address is to make everything so that it slides out of the tube, most people mount stuff on a tray.

The best advice is tom look at how others have done it. OTW, D&E miniatures and Small world models all make wtc's or dive modules as I prefer to refer to them as.

One last thing- think about investing in a small lathe if you haven't got one already. Very valuable for making bits and pieces, and it will soon pay for itself when weighed up against the cost of buying readymade parts.

Andy

[das boot]

The same rules apply for a cylinder as a box. A box is a very poor pressure vessel though, and a cylinder will give you much less problems long term, so long as you build it right from the start.

The main thing you need to address is to make everything so that it slides out of the tube, most people mount stuff on a tray.

The best advice is tom look at how others have done it. OTW, D&E miniatures and Small world models all make wtc's or dive modules as I prefer to refer to them as.

One last thing- think about investing in a small lathe if you haven't got one already. Very valuable for making bits and pieces, and it will soon pay for itself when weighed up against the cost of buying readymade parts.

Andy

Thanks Andy, much appreciated. I only live in a small flat now, so no chance of having a small lathe...however rarely I get the girlfriend into my bedroom I know she wouldn't appreciate sharing it with a lathe!   :-\

Cheers,

Rich

[Subculture]

You can get very small lathes very cheaply these days.

This one by Sieg will fit in a small box that can slide into a broom cupboard, so no need to kick the missus out!



http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-SIEG-Axminster-SIEG-C0-Metal-Turning-Lathe-559017.htm

[das boot]

Now THAT is neat, I like that...that would fit nicely into my hall cupboard and she'd never know it was there [don't get her into cupboards nowadays.... ::)]
That looks an ideal tool for turning up all those small pieces that we always need....thanks Andy.


Cheers,

Rich

[HS93 (RIP)]

If you are interested here is a site may help.

Hs93

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/C-O_Lathe/?yguid=280365235

[HS93 (RIP)]

this is the same lath but a bit cheaper they also do all the spares

Hs93


http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/Lathes/C0-Baby-Lathe