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You're going to raise a lot of paint and sanding dust, so have both simple particulate (surgical mask) and vapor (charcoal mask) respiratory
gear at hand. Safety glasses are a must during some operations. And squirt-bottles of fresh water should be kept handy for eye irrigation should you get chips or chemicals into your peepers. A dry chemical fire
extinguisher nearby is a good idea, and make sure there are two working smoke detectors in your workspace. And hook up your electrical distribution so that everything can be shut down with one or two master switches
(wired in series), situated will away from the work areas and near the entrance/exit door - when that centrifuge motor controller fails, as the thing starts flinging shrapnel, you don't want to attempt a shut-down
anywhere near the damn thing!
Can't afford all that stuff? Well, you can't afford not to have all that stuff!
Working big structures like the twenty-four inch wide FS-1 kit will keep you on your feet for most operations. Make sure you have some thick
carpet remnants on the floor. Eight hours of standing model work can be a killer unless you start the day with thick socks, good soft shoes, and some carpeting. No comfy chairs in the shop, I want you on your feet,
and when you sit down, I want you uncomfortable.
Oh, and keep your damned computer well removed from your shop – there is time enough in the evening to chat with your buddies. Your shop is
for work, not gossip. And that goes for the phones too, keep 'em out of there. Your shop is your Church; that workbench is an Alter; and the adhesives, fillers, putties, primers, paints, and polish you anoint with
great ritual and reverence upon your creations are the Sacraments. In this shop, this sanctuary, this place of warship, this house of Craft: you are a God! … and God does not tolerate interruptions of his Great
Works! (Unless it's Ellie with the coffee).
THE FITTINGS KIT – FOR A STATIC OR R/C SUBMAIRNE VERSION OF THE FS-1
Rick Teskey's twenty-four inch wide FS-1 basic GRP hull is … well … very basic! The moment I opened up the box and saw what the kit did, and more importantly, what the kit did not, provide I sat down and made a list of the things I would have to make. Most of the additional work would be simple 'window dressing': items serving no practical purpose other than to make the display as faithful of the 'real thing' as possible. A few items, such as the stern propulsion nozzles, bow intakes, and hemispherical hull domes are practical items that not only had to look the part, but which were also vital to the successful operation of the model as an r/c submarine.
The 'fittings kit' I produced for this FS-1 model was done with one major objective: to make each and every item as true to scale as
possible. I can honestly say that the only intentional departure from scale taken with my fittings kit was the diameter of the two stern propulsion nozzles: In order to assure reasonable propulsion efficiency
of the installed pump-jets (PJ) I enlarge the nozzle pieces to one-hundred-and-thirty-percent of prototype. Examination of pictures of an effects miniature reveals this.
Part-3 of this article will go to the specifics of master making as well as the particulars of resin casting. You'll find the fittings kit
work to be an extensive demonstration of advanced model building skills, so stay-tuned.
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