Topic: U.S.S. Nautilus scratch build (Read 42796 times)

Dr.Schmidt · « **on:** August 11, 2015, 07:58:26 am »

Hi,

my name is Andreas, I'm from Germany, big time submarine enthusiast, and I started to build the U.S.S. Nautilus SSN-571 a while ago. I've posted this build in some other forums as well, but I thought it might be interesting for here as well.......comments, criticism and help are always welcome.

So that is the early stage of the CAD design:

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Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:00:11 am »

The basic concept with piston tank (blue and LiFePo battery (red):

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #2 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:01:52 am »

Detail work:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:02:58 am »

Milled pre-forms for the mould build:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #4 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:03:42 am »

Propeller design....

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #5 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:04:12 am »

That's about how I envision the upper part of the sail....

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #6 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:04:45 am »

A glance into the living resin & glass fiber hell.......

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #7 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:05:34 am »

More concept work.....this time the anchor:

Original:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2549/3953530408_1ebf3b2d4f_z.jpg

CAD:

And on the boat.....

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #8 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:06:14 am »

First tool done....upper half of the bow:

More mould making mayhem

bow - lower half:

bow complete:

deck - main mould:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #9 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:06:37 am »

The last milled pre-forms. The conning tower....

And the rudders:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #10 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:07:09 am »

Right in time for Christmas I got a big package full of 3D-printed parts:

Propellers - turned out really good, even the profiles. Excellent for only 28 mm diameter.

Stern bulkhead - notice the 7° kink for the tilted prop axis:

deck hatches:

Sail cover, bridge, mast housing and small parts like periscopes:

That's going to be plenty of work to make moulds for all these parts.....

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #11 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:07:53 am »

The first mould for the stern section:

Actually it's two moulds, as there will be a service hatch here:

Now I have to take an involuntary break.....I ran out of glass fiber

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #12 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:08:18 am »

O.K., the upper half of the stern mould is done as well:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #13 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:09:10 am »

One can already guess from the pictures above....it's going to be tight in the stern section:

Really not much space in the stern section, but just enough to get conventional hook ups in there:

The bow planes are not quite trivial, too. Right now I plan to keep them fixed. The whole alignment will be done with a single bulkhead:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #14 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:09:50 am »

Small update. The moulds for the hull are done and only minor adjustments have to be added. The moulds for the sail will be ready by end of the week...hopefully. And to avoid boredom, I've started to fabricate the silicone moulds for the smaller pieces. All cast in PU resin:

top of the sail, mast support, bridge, sonar dome, hatches etc.

Hatches:

And again the lid of the sail:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #15 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:10:07 am »

Well, the moulds for the sail....done.

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #16 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:10:27 am »

The design is getting close to finalization as well.....

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #17 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:10:51 am »

The first sail is out of the mould. Not that bad and the resin-cast cover fits quite perfectly:

The moulds for the aft control planes are ready as well:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #18 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:11:10 am »

The bow:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #19 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:11:41 am »

Interior design:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #20 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:12:22 am »

First set of milled structure parts arrived and it looks quite good:

And as I had the pleasure to spend last week sick at home I tried what my CAD offers in terms of making sketches for build instructions…...looks good:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #21 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:12:44 am »

Even if it doesn't look like it.....this is going to be the mould for the rear bulkhead:

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #22 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:12:59 am »

This will be the motor feed through of the Nautilus. Basically it's an advanced version of the ones I have in my U-1. Took a while to find a workshop that is now doing the parts. I guess I'll make some more.... The parts will be made of bronze and brass, it will have a ball bearing and an ID 4 mm rotary shaft seal. It will be attached to the rear bulkhead via a simple M16 fine thread and sealed via an o-ring. Advantage: only one hole in the bulkhead, no additional holes that have to be sealed. And it saves so much space in your boat....

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #23 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:13:20 am »

And the first half of the mould for the rear bulkhead...

Dr.Schmidt · « **Reply #24 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:13:37 am »

The moulds for the rear bulkhead are done...

And the first part has turned out quite nicely. Notice the round flat surfaces that will help to seal the motor fedthoughts.

News:

Author Topic: U.S.S. Nautilus scratch build (Read 42796 times)