The gelcoat problem has been solved. When I rerturned the 'defective' batch the manager told me I was using the wrong type of gelcoat for molding, this being gelcoat with "air dry". I explained that when I bought it her employee told me I needed "air dry" which I questioned because I'd never used it before. I decided he probably knew what type was best, which turned out to be a mistake. I have a new batch of the right type but have to remove the peeling gelcoat from all 4 molds and rewax them. Production will resume Sunday - should be able to make #2 and #3 by the 27th. Bob
I-400 production is not going well. The new batch of gelcoat without air dry is also giving problems. It's runnier than the last batch, which was returned and replaced, and tends to lift away from the mold surface while reacting with the glass and matt. The fourth attempt resulted in the second I-400's upper hull needing skim coating and sanding of several areas where the gelcoat was dished in about 1mm - not much but enough to be noticeable. That increased the production time by about 50%. To make I-400 #3 I applied two coats of the too thin gelcoat but this morning found one area of star-shaped crazing about an inch square in the lower hull gelcoat. I'll lay the matt and resin tonight and hope the area doesn't enlarge. In that case it can easily be filled and sanded. If the defect enlarges that will be the 3rd molding failure out of 5 attempts due to gelcoat problems. Only I-400 #1 turned out flawless, using the last of a previous gelcoat batch. It was expected that five I-400s would have been finished by now but only two of six orders are finished, both for NABS members. At most I'll have two more done before I leave for vacation in a week. I'll make the remaining two in August or try to persuade Ralph to make and sell them. Bob
Ok everyone, I have pics of a completed I-400 hull. The hull is in 4 parts, upper and lower hull, hanger and bridge. Here are the 4 parts, This is all your opponent will see before the cold, dark water takes him, There are a bunch of profile pics, she is a big sub. J
I have to do this in a couple of posts, my computer is acting up. A bow shot of the upper and lower hull parts, A stern shot, Inside the hull. That is a standard 12 inch metal ruler put in for scale. Your inch in the States is the same as our inch up here isn't it? A close up of the previous shot, Here is the width. Keep in mind that it is wider a little lower in the hull and this top part is pulled open about another 1/4 inch or so, The depth to the hull bottom, the keel is a bit deeper for ballast. The hull is bigger than some destroyers and light cruisers I have seen. The actual boat is about 40 feet longer than an LA class and about 500 tons smaller in displacement, but it is bigger than any other sub from the war. J
I have a few more. Here are the two pieces of the superstructure, the hanger and the bridge. Port side forward of the assembled fin, A stbd view, Port profile, Top view, and A close up of the top of the hanger so you can see the plank lines Bob put into the mold. If you look hard you can see them in some of the other pics. That's all for now, J
That's way too cool, ill have to pick one up as soon as they are available in the states. No idea how to go about building a sub nor do i see one being real effective but it'd be something cool to try no doubt. Guess by that time im sure someone will have a nice build thread i can borrow ideas from.
Thanks Tugboat, It was the most difficult 1/144 project I've been involved in. Credit also goes to Dave for his CAD work to deepen the hull plans and revise the lines, and to Jay Jennings and Steve Hill for work on the hull plug. Good news is that last night Ralph Coles agreed to take over I-400 production and fill the remaining orders. l have little interest in making hulls to sell, so am glad Ralph can take over production. He's finishing the QE/Valiant mold at present and will pick up the I-400 molds on August 14 . Once the orders are filled I'm going to make a few more I-400 hulls for Jay and I to experiment on re ballast tanks size and internal arrangements. Hopefully we can offer a building guide for a sub capable of static dives using CO2 capsules (spurt gun armed and unarmed convoy versions). Once we have a working model I may make a mold for a fiberglass deck with openings for access hatches. We're confident this model will not have the stability problems of the one I built from a deepened BC hull because the new hull is 1/4" deeper and has considerably more volume in the forward half, which began tapering amidships in the BC version versus much closer to the bow as per the plans we obtained. It has an enlarged box keel that can hold lead ballast at the lowest point in the hull, and with bow and stern ballast tanks vs saddle tanks the battery pack can be at the bottom of the hull versus standing vertically between saddle tanks amidships. The compact spurt gun design that allowed the gun to be installed in the hangar was completed years ago and worked well after diving and resurfacing. Instructions will be posted for its construction. Bob
Good news! Ralph Coles will pick up the sub molds tomorrow and make the remaining I-400s on backorder: the 2 going to Ontario and 2 to Florida. He hopes to finish them all in a couple of weeks. If anyone else wants one now is the time to order. Ralph can continue production until early October. Bob
they look great Bob, your work is so good once again, let me know how much to send you and I will fire it off right away. Right now I have Original I-400 working but not firing, will try one of your compact guns, I have changed to disposable 12 gram capsules in stead of the 16g size, (Cheaper and easier to source). The battery is approx 2x capacity, and weight is lower so so far so good, i will do more experiments this winter to make it more stable. Looking forward to your new model and plans.
Thanks Bryan, Ralph's made two I-400 hulls as of yesterday. Like me, he's found they are a pain to lay up due to the narrow but deep hull and the narrow slots for the catapult and box keel. He took a different lay-up approach than me, using one ply of 1.5 oz. matt throughout plus a second layer on the sides of the upper and lower hull sections where the BBs will be hitting. That wt. of matt could not be curved into the catapult and keel, so being a trained fiberglass tech (which I'm not) Ralph filled the box keel with a mix of sand and resin for ballast at the lowest point in the hull. I used 3 layers of 0.75 oz matt for the box keel, hull bottom and deck, a single layer of 0.75 oz everywhere else in the hull and in those areas (where BBs will hit) a layer of 1.5 oz. matt. Ralph's hulls may be a bit lighter than mine. Ralph inserted a small piece of pine and some resin into the gelcoated catapult slot, which is only 1/4" wide before gelcoating. That's a very small piece of wood and may be lighter than my version of the lay-up that adds three layers of 0.75 oz. cloth, a laborious process that can damage the catapult's gelcoat, which then needs filling and sanding. I've forgotten the name of the other OAF member who wants an I-400. Ralph said someone called Chase(?) contacted him last week and said he'd decided to order a QE/BValiant hull instead. If two are still wanted I can ship them together when the conning towers and hangars are made. I still have those molds and am making another set before they go the Ralph on Saturday. He'll make those items out of 0.75 oz. matt as I do to keep the topweight low. I'll let you know when they're ready and I have a shipping price. Bob
Hey Bob, I'm interested in the cannon designed for the subs. You mentioned posting on how to build one? Mike
Bob, I'm the other OAF member. I didn't realise you had forgotten my name. If you go to page 8 of this long thread, your post which is at the top mentions me by name. Bryan has met me, and can confirm I'm real. --Chase Hargraves The "Other" OAF member
Hi Chase, Sorry I forgot your name but I had no doubt you were real. From your contact with Ralph Coles last week he got the impression you wanted to cancel your I-400 order and buy a QE/Valiant hull. If that's what you want to do please let me know ASAP. Ralph agreed to make 4 back-ordered I-400 hulls for you, Bryan, and David Ranier and sell them directly to the buyers. If anyone cancels after their hull is made I'll probably have to pay Ralph for it. Bob
Bob, I emailed Ralph that I would like to continue with the I400 order. Very sorry for all the confusion. Although I do like his QE/Valient hull, I don't think the IRCWCC rules are condusive to sheeting it (I was only considering it for the Admiral/gf). --Chase
Hi David, Chase and Bryan, I talked to Ralph Coles yesterday. He decided he didn't like the box keels filled with sand and resin and cut them off. He's opted to redo the hulls with a void space in the keel for heavier lead ballast, which is how I make them. He'd made 2 hulls with the sand ballast and will put them back in the mold, then gelcoat and glass hollow box keels. There may be some cosmetic defects in the gelcoat due to the revision but we'll have to see what comes out of the mold. Defects will be filled with gelcoat and sanded out. Ralph was unable to do any fiberglassing last week due to excessively high temperatures that made the working time with resin too short . He resumed work 2 days ago and is finishing a run of 6 QE/Valiant hulls before completing the four I-400 orders. Due to the hurricane that hit us last weekend and being on-call since and restricted to 20 minutes response time to the hospital I wasn't able to leave the city to deliver the conning tower and hangar molds to him. Ralph will pick them up Saturday and make the 4 sets of parts to go with the hulls. When your I-400s are finished I'll let you know on this thread. Ralph will deal directly with you for the sales, as all I'm doing is providing him with the molds. Regards, Bob
