Improving the SubTech 1/60 ALBACORE phase-2 Kit, Part-2

A Report to the Cabal:

OK, on to the actual master making here. The major effort for the moment is
to work to produce the needed twenty fittings kit for the phase-2 version of the
SubTech 1/60 scale ALBACORE kit -- the most current order placed by SubTech.
This order will usher in the first of several 'improvements' in the kit to occur in over
ten years.

So, the emphasis will be on the phase-2 work for the next few installments of the
Cabal Report. However, as time and opportunity permits, I'll slip in some master
work and tools needed to produce the more exotic versions of the ALBACORE.
That would include how she was initially configures (phase-1), later in her
career, when the boat got the X-tail and counter-rotating propellers (phase-3 and
onwards).

To produce the final production master of the phase-2 tail-cone (which will feature
two cast-in-place horizontal stabilizers) I'll make a simple tool of the horizontal
stabilizer, cast two epoxy intermediate masters from that tool, stick those resin
pieces on a cast epoxy intermediate master of the tail-cone, and use the result as
my production master of the phase-2 tail-cone ... anyone figure all that out on the

first read??

I've resized the propeller hub ... meaning I've had to make an entirely new propeller master and tool -- fortunately, this propeller will serve for ALBACORE models from phase-1 through phase-3. Things won't get interesting again, on the propeller fabrication front, till I start work on the phase-4 counter-rotating wheels, a few months from now.

... Stop smiling, Steve Reichmuth. I won't botch the blade count on that one! I promise.

... You too, Darrin Hataway: Shut up!

I've taken my once very thick 'ALBACORE' folder and have divided into four folders. One dedicated to the vessel in her phase-1 configuration, a folder for phase-2, one for phases 3, 4, 5 and 6 and the master ALBACORE folder, which covers information pertinent to the submarine regardless of configuration.

Segregating the information this way has helped me keep readily at hand drawings and other hardcopy information that is now at the ready as I work up masters for fittings packages unique to each phase the submarine appeared in. Under the folders are two 1/60th plans, one indicating the tail-feathers on the phase-1, the other the tail-feathers of the phase-2. Neat!

Initially the stern plane and horizontal stabilizer masters were laid out and worked as a single piece. Once they had been brought to correct outline and section I sawed off the stern planes; rebuilt (with a thin strip of Renshape) the lost kerf and additional radius needed at the leading edge of the stern plane; rounded out a concave channel within the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer; and rebuilt the inboard and outboard bearing pieces of the stern plane.

Take note of the two aluminum endplates on the master(s): Templates used to assure that I achieved both symmetry and exactness of form as I sanded and filed the unit to shape. These templates were lofted off of the working drawing and are outfitted with holes that permit their attachment to the root and tip of the master with 2-56 roundhead machine screws.

The stabilizer and stern plane masters pulled apart to show how they connect together with a single operating shaft. Just like the real thing. Like many of the unique and hard to find documents needed to detail this model, the photo you see here came from the files of Steve Reichmuth -- a builder and researcher without peer (well, maybe I'm his peer ... but that's it, I've had the others killed).

I initially built the stern planes to rotate about the horizontal stabilizer with a very light interference fit between stern plane leading edge and horizontal stabilizer trailing edge. To loosen things up in a controlled manner I lapped the two interference areas with a piece of #600 sandpaper till a very narrow noninterference fit had been achieve ... I wanted this to be a close fit. I hate sloppy looking hinged control surfaces!

The lapping is done by attaching the two surfaces together with the operating shaft, sandwiching the sandpaper between them, holding the sandpaper secure between thumb and forefinger onto the stern plane, and rotating the stern plane --this ground away just enough material from the trailing edge of the stabilizer to insure a noninterference fit; a gap that was uniform of distance through a significant portion of the stern planes leading edge radius.

(A neat trick I learned as a Torpedoman -- we had to lap in the poppet-valve backup valves on the MK33 u/w torpedo tube launcher system aboard the TRUTTA. Old School! In that case we used jewelers rouge, iron oxide in a petroleum grease ... I can still smell that shit today!).

The kit supplied vacuformed sail is too simplistic for me. I decided that the customer of this kit should have a well engraved, equipped with a practical dorsal rudder, hollow resin cast sail. Here you see the first stages of turning a kit vacuformed sail into a master from which highly detailed cast resin parts will result ... once a tool is pulled off the master, that is.

This particular sail master (I'm making two) will represent the phase-2, and later sails. What differentiated them from the phase-1 sail is that they had a different shape atop the sail, the dorsal rudder was longer, and they did not have the row of square windows set into the leading edge about two-thirds of the way up (that feature only seen on the phase-1 sail).

The stern plane lapped to a very close interference fit with the horizontal stabilizer.

The nearly completed phase-2 rudder and stern plane-horizontal stabilizer masters ready for primer. Note that I've done some filling with Evercoat to touch up some sanding dings and fill some cut marks.

There are instances when you need two or more identical, symmetrical parts. It would be foolish to make multiple masters to support the tooling needed to create those multiple parts.

As master making is the most exacting and time consuming model building chore one is faced with it makes more sense simply to make a single master of the item you need multiple copies of. In this case the initial master is called an 'intermediate master' -- it's used to form an 'intermediate tool.' From that tool is cast the required number of cast resin or cast metal 'production masters'. The required number of production masters are then ganged together in one 'production tool' -- from the production tool are cast the 'production parts', the actual model parts used to build the model...

...Whew!

What you see above are both production and intermediate masters being readied for intermediate and production tool making.

The just primed masters. Most of this work in support of the phase-2 enhancement package. Soon these intermediate and production masters will be turned into intermediate and production tools.

The phase-1 sail master was scratch-built from Renshape 40 Pattern makers dense foam. Here you see the two piece sail master taking form -- I've already made the first slice on the bandsaw. The two aluminum sheet guide templates to the right will be glued atop and on the bottom of the roughed out sail master, I will then take the work to the sanding machine where I will refine the 'airfoil' section of the sail down to almost the edge of the two templates. Final sanding with blocks will take the surface of the Renshape down to the height of the template edges.

Later, the sail will be hollowed out on the milling machine, split, and worked to separate the narrow dorsal rudder and build up its upper hinge bearing support arm. The ready-for-scribing phase-2 sail master is to the extreme left.

Serving as backdrop is the enlarged drawing I got of the ALBACORE phase-1. Information kindly provided by Steve Reichmuth. That drawing, and photos I had on file, clearly showed that there was a big difference between the shape of the two sail tops.