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TomDougherty

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Everything posted by TomDougherty

  1. I recently purchased two tool caddies form Charliesplasticmodels. These come in a couple different forms, are $10 each, and I have found them extremely useful for corralling many frequently used tools, glues, files and paint brushes together in one space. They come in two varieties each of both "tool" and "finishing" caddies. Just thought I would pass this along... https://charliesplasticmodels.com/product-category/3d-printing/
  2. Clamagore (SS 343) was a WWII Balao class fleet submarine that underwent several upgrades postwar. Finished in June 1945, Clamagore was upgraded in December 1947 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard with a Guppy II modernization and installation of a snorkel. Guppy II submarines had new higher capacity batteries installed, and the number of battery cells doubled from 252 to 504 cells. Their geared electric motors were replaced with quieter direct drive, lower RPM electric motors, and the snorkel permitted recharging the batteries while submerged at periscope depth. Physically, the submarines were modified externally to reduce underwater drag. The Guppy II conversion had deck guns removed, were fitted with a streamlined sail structure and a modified bow structure. These submarines were capable of submerged speeds of 16-17 knots vs. unmodified fleet submarine top speed of 9 knots. More significantly, they could cruise longer distances at higher speeds without depleting the batteries. The Guppy submarines became one of the mainstays of postwar submarine operations against the USSR. They served alongside the postwar diesel submarines (Tang class) and early nuclear powered submarines. In the 1960's, the nuclear attack submarine building programs were lagging, both due to the Polaris missile submarine program priority as well as modifications following the loss of Thresher. To maintain operational numbers, a further Guppy conversion was undertaken to extend and enhance nine of the existing Guppy II submarines. With Guppy III, the submarines received a new sail (fiberglass with internal metal skeleton). But the most important modification was the cutting of the hull forward of the sail and insertion of a 15 foot long hull "plug" to create a dedicated sonar room. Also added were the three AN/BQG-4 PUFFS (Passive Underwater Fire Control Feasibility System) sonar "fins" on deck. These used the hull length as a baseline to determine the bearing of a target by the time of arrival of an acoustic signal at the three sonars. iClamagore was one of the submarines upgraded to Guppy III configuration. After service and with the added Permit and Sturgeon class SSN submarines, Clamagore was decommissioned in 1975. She was a museum ship at Patriot's Point until 2022, when she was scrapped due to poor upkeep by the museum. You can read more about the submarine and see photos from the interior from a tour I took just 2 years before it was scrapped here: USS Clamagore. Guppy III The model is an OOP resin and white metal kit from Yankee ModelWorks, now sadly no longer in business. However a similar resin & 3-D printed features Guppy III model may soon be available from another kit manufacturer. Stay tuned!
  3. Sailfish was originally built as a postwar (WWII) radar picket submarine, and commissioned in 1956. The diesel powered submarine was equipped with BPS-2 and BPS-3 radars installed in the sail and on a short pylon aft of the sail. The postwar radar picket role was short-lived and the radars removed. In 1965, Sailfish went into the Philadelphia Navy Yard for upgrades, and emerged with the 3 AN/BQG-4 PUFFS sonar "fins" on deck. These were employed to derive bearings on nearby ships and submarines by using the deck length as a baseline to discriminate the time of arrival of acoustic signals at each unit. Sailfish served until 1978, when she was decommissioned and eventually sunk as a target. The Iron Shipwright 1/350 scale kit consists of a resin hull and 3-D printed pieces (sail, masts, rudder, planes, propellers and PUFFS units).
  4. That rendition of the Blue Angels F11F is extremely well done! And it looks like the kit had its challenges. The first time I saw the Blue Angels, they were flying this aircraft, and at the end of the show, one of the solos would break the sound barrier. Here's a few photos of the F11-F at Pima Air Museum, in Blue Angels colors. The starboard side has a lot of weathering but the port side paint job is still decent (back in 2018).
  5. Very sad news indeed. His craftsmanship and attention to details on the Nautilus Models conversion and correction kits were superb. I worked with James by providing research material on some of his submarine resin conversion kits for the Revell Lionfish and Trumpeter Gato kits. A very good time, and a fond memory.
  6. Great job, so far, Chris. If you need any photos of one of the shuttles (Discovery), I have 24 Mix photos of a walk around. I have distance shots, but the closeups may be the most valuable to you. Here are some samples:
  7. Here's some photos of the real thing, at Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ.
  8. As built, which is what this kit depicts, roughly around 11 inches long. The Special Projects version with the added hull section was roughly 52 feet longer.
  9. New kit prototype build of test shot-resin & 3-D printing USS Seawolf SSN 575, the US second nuclear submarine was built alongside of the first SSN, USS Nautilus in Electric Boat’s South Shipyard. Although built roughly at the same time, several external differences were apparent. The BQR-4A bow sonar in the lower bow of Nautilus, was moved to the upper bow on Seawolf. The sonar “windows” were initially individual rubber coating backed by thin steel (later replaced by a single, curved fiberglass window). The “step sail” similar to the contemporary “Guppy” conversion fleet submarines, allowed the fitting of a small, pressure cylinder conning tower in the sail itself. Moving the periscopes up allowed the submarine to be deeper in the water at periscope depth. Also modified from Nautilus, although less visible, was the stern. On Nautilus, the twin propellers were mounted directly on large, stern fins which fully enclosed the propeller shaft. Seawolf instead had smaller fins and an exposed section of the propeller shaft, with a bearing housing and support struts for the screws (See Seawolf 575 stern at 1956 launch photo). However, the biggest difference between Nautilus and Seawolf was the reactor. While Nautilus had the S2W (STR) pressurized water reactor, Seawolf was launched with the S2G (SIR) liquid sodium reactor. The sodium cooled, beryllium moderated reactor could operate at much higher temperatures and lower pressures than the S2W pressurized water reactor. This offered the possibility of generating superheated “dry” steam at significantly higher temperatures and greater thermal efficiencies. The sodium reactor pumps were electromagnetic, with no moving parts. The steam generators had a system of tubes within tubes, with the liquid sodium, and intermediate tube with a sodium potassium mix, and the last tube having the secondary loop water to generate superheated steam. The intermediate tubes kept the water and sodium from mixing, a highly undesirable event. In practice, however, the high temperature sodium proved highly corrosive to the stainless steel materials employed for the superheaters, and pinhole leaks in the heat exchanger forced the operation at reduced power and abandonment of the superheated steam loop. She was limited to using lower temperature saturated steam. Seawolf cruised for >20,000 nautical miles over 2 years with the liquid sodium reactor at 80% power. In late 1958, Seawolf returned to Electric Boat and the sodium reactor replaced by an S2Wa pressurized water reactor virtually identical to Nautilus. After operating in the 1960’s, Seawolf was converted to a NURO Special Projects platform with an extended hull plug (with special operations equipment) installed forward of the sail. The Model The model represents Seawolf in the early 1960’s. I was approached by Jon Warneke of Iron Shipwrights who was looking for candidate submarine models that had not yet been kitted in 1/350 scale. Jon and I exchanged numerous back and forth design details, with detail input also from Jacob Gunnarson, Jim Margerum, Jim Christley and David Grogan. The finished model shown in the photos is the prototype version that Jon sent me for assembly, which is all 3-D printed from his design files. There are minor (but important) differences in the finished kit, most notably in the bow sonar panels, a subtle revision in the sail sections blending, sail running lights relocated and the aft deck details revised, all updated based on the latest information. The final kit is a resin hull, generated from a 3-D masters rubber mold and all of the other model pieces are 9K 3-D prints. Many of the parts are provided in multiples (masts, propellers, propeller shafts, etc.) so these delicate items can be successfully removed even when “disaster strikes” on some tries (been there, did that). And then there is the “no questions asked” parts replacement policy at Iron Shipwrights. Kit available from Iron Shipwrights starting October 1. Seawolf launch photo of stern design, different from Nautilus. Prototype test shots of the build of the Seawolf model in 1/350 scale
  10. Ed, With regard to: Submarines: 413B (1/350. 1946 and later). Entries in this category are true submarines in that they have a shape optimized for extended underwater operation; streamlined, enclosed conning tower and few if any rails. I think there are points to consider before putting a 1946 date and then the description of the category. The post war period was an era of relatively slow changes, and many new roles were tested for the large number of fleet submarines remaining. They didn't all get the same streamlined conversions and many retained fleet boat features but had specialized postwar roles which are often interesting modeling subjects. A select number of fleet submarines were converted slowly to the streamlined Guppy designs, with streamlined bows, sails,, and snorkels. The modification were through the early 1950's and some (Guppy III) were in the mid-1960's. Some fleet boats (many) were never modified but often the deck guns were removed, and the submarines were employed for training or other purposes (e.g. Lionfish, Archerfish) and a few had little modifications but received large deck tanks to hold Regulus missiles (Carbonero) and some received the Migraine radar installations on deck. Also, some were never streamlined but did get new streamlined conning tower fairwaters (Fleet Snorkel versions). So, I would suggest that you might modify the category to just Post WWII. I realize that this muddies the definition a bit without the 1946 date, but a lot of interesting ideas were tried on fleet submarines post war before submarine design settled down to the familiar streamlined tube variations in the 1960's.
  11. Nice work on the rust streaks. One suggestion would be to delineate the waterline with a gray scum line and maybe some light green (algae). Also, don't extend the rust down below the waterline. It should terminate at the waterline, as the water would disperse any rust streaks. I usually don't "dirty up" my submarines, but when I do, I find that pastel chalks are great for weathering. Make a mistake and just wipe it off a wet paper towel. After you get the effect you want, seal with a clear coat (dull coat).
  12. Thanks, Mark, for your comment. The Navy tried one more DC turboelectric drive submarine, the modified Sturgeon class Glenard P. Lipscomb. It was very quiet, but again slow, like Tullibee. DC does not scale well as power is increased. However, the upcoming Columbia class SSBN class, the Ohio replacements, are currently planned to have AC turbo electric drive. The AC electric motors will be more compact than the massive DC versions, and much quieter than steam turbines and gear trains currently in use. At one point, later block versions of the Virginia class were also planned to have turbo electric drive, but I think that was dropped.
  13. This is a model of USS Tullibee SSN 597, a 1960 attempt at a small nuclear powered hunter/killer submarine. During the 1940-50's, an SSK program consisted of both converted WWII fleet submarines, which were equipped with a large BQR-4 bow sonar, as well as building small, diesel SSKs with a bow that had both the large BQR-4 and a smaller "chin" mounted BQR-2. The goal was to have a "barrier" strategy and use the long range BQR-4 low frequency sonar to detect Soviet diesel submarines and hunt them in the event that a war in Europe broke out. While the fleet boat SSK conversions worked reasonably well, the smaller SSKs (K1, K2, and K3) were found to be deficient in a number of areas, and only three built. Most alarmingly, however was the arrival of nuclear powered submarines. Nautilus (SSN 571) and Seawolf (SSN 575) quickly demonstrated the ability to move rapidly in three dimensions underwater, largely defeating the 1950 era sonar sets such as the BQR-4. The solution was to equip submarines with a BQQ-2 sonar sphere, a large metal ball with multiple hydrophones (1200+) aimed in three dimensions. To test this concept, a nuclear powered, small hunter killer was designed and that was Tullibee. The hemispherical bow was given over to the BQQ-2 sonar sphere, with the torpedo room and torpedo tubes moved further aft and the tubes angled out at 10 degrees. Also, the submarine was equipped with an early version of PUFFS fins. The PUFFS was a passive fire control system that used time of arrival of sound along the baseline of the hull to generate a target bearing. The hull was long and narrow (273 feet X 23.7 feet) to place the bow sonar sphere as far away from the machinery spaces as possible. Displacement was only 2300 tons surfaced, and test depth 700 feet. Because the early nuclear submarines proved to have noisy steam propulsion plants with turbine and reduction gear noise, Tullibee employed quiet turboelectric drive. A compact, 2500 shaft horsepower S2C nuclear reactor provided steam to drive electric turbogenerators. The electrical power from these generators was then employed in a DC direct drive electric motor system coupled to the propeller shaft. In service, Tullibee proved to be very quiet, albeit slow (16 knots top submerged speed). Her turboelectric drive plant proved to be troublesome over time. The decision was made not to have a separate hunter/killer SSKN and attack submarine SSN, but to combine the hunter/killer and attack missions in the Thresher/Permit class. These submarines had sonar spheres, relocated torpedo tubes, and were quieted by placing the steam turbines and gear machinery on sound isolation rafts, greatly reducing sound transmitted externally. Thus Tullibee ended up as a unique, one off experiment, and not the prototype for a fleet of SSKN hunters. The model of Tullibee is the old 1/350 scale Yankee ModelWorks resin kit. I pinned the various control surfaces to the hull with metal wire inserted into pre-drilled holes and fastened with cyanoacrylate glue. The kit has a photo etch propeller, which I replace with one of Mike Fuller's superb 3-D printed propellers. Early in her career, Tullibee had a five bladed propeller and a small set of PUFFS fins on her upper hull. There were three PUFFS installed, but the center fin is abaft the sail, beneath the aft turtleback. These items were later replaced by a 7 blade J-propeller and a larger set of PUFFS fins. The resin kit did not have ballast tank openings, so I added a set of photo etch vents in the appropriate places. After priming, Tullibee was finished in her "as launched" color scheme, with the rescue buoys still in orange. It is a unique looking early nuclear submarine.
  14. Thanks! These modified submarines were overshadowed by the emerging nuclear powered submarines in the late 1950’s-early 1960’s. In fact, it would take more than ten years to build enough nuclear powered attack (SSN) submarines to fill the numerical gap that the Guppy boats filled in the early postwar era. I have one more Yankee ModelWorks/Tom’s kit of the heavily modified Guppy III class to build. This is a model of Clamagore, a Guppy III museum ship at Patriots Point, SC.
  15. This model is USS Becuna, SS 319, after conversion to GUPPY IA configuration. The early Cold War Guppy program (Greater Underwater Propulsive Power) modified existing WWII fleet submarines for increased speed, more advanced sonar and added a snorkel. Lessons from the advanced, streamlined German Type XXI class were studied and adapted. This was a response to the Soviet Union’s postwar submarine building program (Project 613, NATO Whiskey class). The WWII Balao & Tench class conning towers were enclosed by a streamlined sail covering, having a bridge on the lower level and enclosing the various masts in the upper level. Included among the masts was a snorkel allowing the batteries to be recharged while submerged as a shallow depth. In the Guppy II program, new batteries with more plates were also installed, and the lower areas rearranged to accommodate 512 battery cells, vs the WWII 256 cells. Becuna as a Guppy IA, instead retained the number of batteries, but received the improved Sargo batteries. The bow was modified from the World War II “bull nose” to a more rounded bow that handled better in rough waters of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. On Becuna, this is the Electric Boat “step sail” design. A somewhat different “step sail” design by Portsmouth Naval Ship Yard was also employed. Various streamlined coverings were placed over deck sonar equipment, and a BQR-2 “chin” sonar added later in the program. Configurations varied over time as new equipment was developed. Various modifications of these Guppy submarine “smoke boats” carried the deployment load until the mid to late 1960’s, when the growing numbers of nuclear powered SSNs could gradually assume these duties. Becuna is preserved as a museum boat, and can be visited at the Independence Seaport Museum at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, Pa.. This construction is a hybrid of the accurate Yankee Models resin Guppy hull combined with the more accurate Tom’s Modelworks resin Electric boat sail. The BQR-2 chin sonar was built up from Milliput and sanded to shape. Various domes were also employing Milliput sanded to shape. I sanded off the molded sail rails and added wire hand rails to the sail. The 5 bladed propeller employed on Guppy submarines was included in the Yankee Models kit. After painting by priming with Mr. Surfacer 1000 and airbrushing Badger acrylics, I outlined the deck safety rail with a fine tip silver pencil. Pastels were employed to make diesel exhaust smudges. I mount my models on home made oak bases with brass rods.
  16. Really a nice job on the conversion! I had a chance to photograph the real thing at Pima Air Museum, and you captured it exactly!
  17. Very nice and really interesting to see it in the folded version. Having been around 2 or 3 of these at museums, I have always marveled at their landing on slant deck converted Essex Class carriers. How big is this model in terms of inches?
  18. Very nice job on the model. Excellent work on finishing a decent kit. Nice touch to add the after market propeller. I have a set of 3D printer propellers on order from “Mulsannemike”. He has created a series of very accurate propellers. These include Ohio class, Sturgeon J- propellers, and 3 variants for the different LosAngeles class submarines. Florida was never in combat. She was an early Ohio class SSBN conducting deterrent patrols with Trident ballistic missiles for many years. She was one of a handful of SSBNs that were converted to SSGN, with her Trident missile tubes refitted with multiple launchers for Tomahawk cruise missiles. Each tube holds multiple Tomahawk cruise missile, allowing a massive launch capability. Two of the tubes were also converted to Special Forces lock out chambers. A deck hanger for Seal Delivery Vehicles was also fitted. As these SSGNs age and reach end of life, they are planned to be replaced by newer Virginia class submarines (Block V) with a midship multi mission module that will hold cruise missiles.
  19. The model still looks great, despite the painting challenges! Interesting concept spacecraft. Some of those 1000 layers of paint will burn off during reentry
  20. Great job and the finish is superb. Maybe Atlantis Models has those Aurora molds and will reissue the kit. Or maybe they were lost in the train wreck... I had an opportunity three years ago to walk around a B-58 at Pima Air Museum in Arizona. They also have a B-36 and two B-52s. Took several hundred photos with a Nikon DSLR. Unfortunately the finish on their B-58 was faded from sitting out over the years. I think they work through and refurbish them every few years. The 36 looked very nice. Again, a really nice job on an older kit from my childhood! Tom
  21. Let me know, we can set up a Dropbox for the photos.
  22. Rick, I have a lot of Nikon DSLR 25 Mp photos of Discovery, as a complete walk around. Some photos were taken from about 7 feet away. And, yes, she is scorched, you can see the streak marks. Tom
  23. Rick, I just checked Amazon, and unfortunately the LM book is out of print. I paid $32 for it, and it is now going for 10X that price!! Ouch! If you need any particular views, let me know. I have a 25 Mp Nikon and a scanner. I can make you copies of pages. Tom
  24. Very nice (re)build of an old and mediocre kit. Did you use the Scott Sullivan “Virtual LM” book as a source? I find it great for the details and the subtle differences between the earlier H and later J series LM. Extremely well done; congratulations! Tom
  25. I recently completed a build of a 1960's era Russian Golf II ballistic missile submarine. This kit is the Polar Bear Models Golf II resin kit. Polar Bear operates out of Severodvinsk, Russia, and makes virtually all Russian submarines in resin. I This kit is a bit of a challenge, as there are prominent seams that run the length of the submarine on both the deck and the keel. Removing/filling in without destroying details is....interesting. There are some other areas of the model assembly as well that can be perplexing, to say the least, but with some planning, skill and patience you can obtain a very good result. The upside of the kit is that the kit matches exactly photographs and the very large set drawings I obtained from Russia of the Golf II some years back. One should not confuse this kit with the recently released Hobby Boss Golf I. The HB kit is of the highly modified Chinese Golf I, which carried only two Chinese designed missiles. The Golf II (Project 629A) was a diesel powered submarine that housed 3 missiles in the sail. These were large, liquid fueled missiles that required a keel extension to accomodate the missile length. They were launched from underwater, and their range was 750 nautical miles. The warhead was a 1 megaton hydrogen bomb. In 1968, one of these submarines, the K-129, was lost in the mid Pacific Ocean in 16,400 feet of water. The Russian Navy was unsuccessful in locating the missing submarine, but five sets of US hydrophones had detected the noise of the loss. Using the hydrophone triangulation data, a probably location was established. After the wreck was located by the Special Projects submarine USS Halibut, employing towed camera/sonar, it was decided to try to recover the front half of the wreck (which was in 3 pieces on the ocean floor). This part of the wreck contained one intact missile tube and would also potentially have code equipment and other items of interest. The CIA directed expedition, Project Azorian, built a large ship, the Glomar Explorer, which lowered down a sophisticated grappling device to enclose the wreck on the ocean floor and lift it to the surface. This 1974 mission was partially successful. The director of the lift operation, David Sharp, has written a book about the operation (The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation: Inside the Daring Mission to Recover a Nuclear-Armed Soviet Sub), which is currently under development by producer Ridley Scott as a feature film (tentatively entitled "Neither Confirm nor Deny"). I have emailed David over the years and was surprised to find that he did not have a model of the Golf II, although he still has a small piece of the K-129 hull itself. I bought two kits, one for him and one for myself, and the photos below are of the kit I assembled for him. I will be driving down to Annapolis from the Boston area once the virus pandemic settles to hand deliver it, 'cause I don't trust any of the delivery services to get it there in one piece.
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