 |
|
|
|
I mixed small portions of Evercoat's 'glazing putty', a two-part polyester contouring filler, with its cream hardener catalyst, and filled
the bulkhead wells. I worked small quantities of the filler at a time, owing to the stuffs quick cure rate. Once the masses of filler had hardened to a working state, about five-minutes, I went at it with sanding
blocks to get both bulkheads to a flat surface.
Most polyester fillers have a 'golden' few minutes: the point after when the stuff gels, but before it gets too hard to cut easily with
tools. Pace your applications and abrasion of the filler well and the work goes quickly. Time it wrong and you'll be stuck there, blasting away, for hours on end!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Once I had smeared the
forward and after bulkheads with filler, the hardening mass was first worked to a flat with course files, then further abraded with descending grades of sandpaper backed with stiff wood blocks to assure
I ground down the filler to a flat plane. Here you see sanding blocks backed with #38 (really, really course stuff!), #100, and #240 sandpaper. To work tight radius curves, such as those at the lower and
side lips, where the flat after bulkhead transitioned into the lower hull and vertical stabilizers, I used #240 backed with a soft foam block. The foam blocks edges had been shaped to the desired radius,
making the sandpaper it backs to cut the same shape. This kind of shaping work is an acquired skill. Practice, practice, practice!
|
|
|
|
The vertical bulkheads
that form the bow and stern are integral to the lower hull half of the kit. This greatly simplifies construction and also affords the bulkheads a great deal of inherent strength. Unfortunately, Rick did
a poor job representing the recessed and raised details of these bulkheads. My second task, after opening up the holes in the top and bottom of the hull halves, was to file down the raised portions and
fill the depressed 'detail' items cast onto the bulkheads. I favor the two-part heavily filled polyester fillers offered by Evercoat. This automotive contouring putty is available in three formulations
that I'm familiar with. The one I favor is their, Polyester Glazing Putty. It has a fine grain and is ready for priming once worked with sandpaper. Unlike the Bondo products, the Evercoat fillers do not
leave a gunky film on the surface of the hardened filler to foul files and sandpaper (f…f…ffff… fiasco!) – the Evercoat cures hard throughout. Note that I use a commercially available plastic pallet to
mix the filler with its cream hardener catalyst.
|
|
|
|
Once the stern vertical
bulkhead was worked to a true flat I made styrene masters of the access door and two corrugated panes over which the two exhaust nozzles sat. Note the two photos in the foreground. Shots of an effects
miniature. These photos served as prototype as I made the door, nozzle, and corrugated panel masters. Note that there is a major variance between the shape of the vertical bulkhead on this miniature and
Rick's kit. Damit! It would be just too much work to re-contour the kit to make it more faithful to the actual miniature, so I let that one slide. One advantage to the difference between prototype and
Rick's kit is that the kits stern permits the inclusion of larger nozzles, better water flow from the internal pump-jets.
|
|
|
|
The significant change I
made to Rick's FS-1 hull was a re-contouring of the upper bow. Examination of the shots I have of the miniatures and review of video clips from the TV show reveal a much sharper point to the upper bow
than represented on the kit. I broke out the Evercoat Polyester Glazing Putty and went to work after first temporarily laying down and bonding a length of brass wire atop the hull. The wire represents
the true (as best as I could eye-ball it) longitudinal centerline; the forward end of that wire representing the desired terminus of the pointed bow. I then laid catalyzed filler onto the hull, first one
side, working it with file and sanding blocks; then the other side where I did the same. Once I had the new shape I pulled out the wire and filled the resulting channel, smoothing over it in such a way
as to preserve the sharp crease we see on the effects miniatures.
|
|
|
|
The bow of the FS-1 r/c
submarine is vulnerable to collision damage. Once the filler had been worked to shape I covered it with a layer of seven-ounce glass cloth, saturating with West System epoxy laminating resin. This
toughened up the bow to prevent damage of the prominent pointed bow from moderate handling and boating collisions. The glass cloth was cut to shape, draped over the re-contoured bow, catalyzed epoxy was
brushed onto the cloth and, working from the middle outboard, the resin was pushed into the cloth with careful, even brush strokes. Excess resin was wicked out with the brush and the work left to cure
hard overnight. Next day the surface was sanded and another layer of resin brushed on to fill any remaining open weave of the cloth. When that had cured, the entire bow was sanded with #240 used wet.
|
|
|
|
|
