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Project
description & history: |
This project will tell
you a little about the OHIO Class submarines, and walk you through the building
of my model, illustrated and explained along the way. Many of the pictures
come from various Internet sites, but it’s only a small selection of the available
pictures.
The realization of this project was started in November 2002, and is as such
code-named RHH0211. All of my projects are named after my initials, followed
by year and month in a two plus two digit format. Please keep in mind that
this is my first sub ever, and build from scratch. Some ideas might have room
for improvement, and surely this will be announced in later subs to follow.
This project will guide you through the entire construction of the sub, spanning
from the hull, fittings and the inside mechanics and electronics.
You will
be guided through the creation of the hull from scratch.
If you chose another sub, then you might be able to find a suitable hull
on the marked. Here I'd like to recommend ThorDesign.com, who comes highly recommended with
his great sense of details, at absolutely reasonable prices. I had to
build the hull my self as no one had a hull to offer at the time, that I
could use. What you chose
is up to you, but keep in mind that building your own hull takes many many
hours, and requires a bit of training before the details are just right. You
will be given detailed schematics, but not the PCB (Printed Circuit Board)
layout as some might want to use the time required to produce real custom
made PCB (Printed Circuit Board), while others might prefer to use the pre
etched type with a million holes. This guide will give you the information
needed to use either approach, as well as needed for repairs. While it would
be possible to put every single schematic into a microprocessor and software,
I chose not to. Choosing a microprocessor limits the ability for everybody
to use the ideas and circuits, and I would very much like to share my findings
as much as possible.
My interest for subs goes far back, and by viewing the Internet’s many sites
about model subs, it became clear to me that building a model was not that
complicated. It is possible to buy a kit, but wouldn’t it be greater to build
the whole thing your self? The choice fell on the USS Kentucky because
I lived in this great state for two years a while back. When I decided to
build an American sub, and when I decided on the Ohio class, then there was
no doubt in my mind when I also discovered that one of these sub’s was named
after the Blue Grass State, Kentucky.
This model is build over a military sub, a power full boomer with enough firepower
to destroy entire countries, and with a size larger than a World War One aircraft
carrier. However, do remember that sub’s are used for much more than just
chilling war machines. Thousands of civil sub’s work with oil exploration,
deep sea geological and marine life studies that constantly finds new unknown
life forms, rescue- (DSRV) and scientific missions, just to mention a few.
A fine example of this is the discovery and subsequent exploration of the
Titanic. Without sub’s we might still have found the wreck, but we would not
have been able to visit this once great ship, and finally determine the full
extend of the damage, and the cause of the sinking once and for all.
Submarines comes in all forms and shapes, some are towed after a surface ship,
while others are strange looking mechanical spiders that can go into some
of the most hostile environments. Some holds only a very limited number of
crewmembers, while others hold several hundred. Some of the sub’s in the Ohio
class has been rebuild to carry troupes, bringing the total of passengers
way over 250 persons. Still I chose a military sub, as the shape, size and
look impresses me the most. What you chose is up to you, but no matter what
you chose, sub’s are an amazing piece of engineering, and a great achievement
by man. To fully understand the amazing technology that has given us the sub,
please read the chapter on submarine history. This chapter covers much of
the history from 1580 to 2000, both the technical inventions, and the military
wartime milestones.
|
Stage: |
Started: |
| Very first
thoughts about building a model sub. |
July ‘02 |
| Deciding to
build, research, brainstorming, selection of a row model, initial list
over “things / systems I want” (Incl. fail-safe systems) |
November ‘02
|
| Circuit design,
completion of list over things and systems, writing this book as I go
along, Internet debates. |
December ‘02 |
| Circuit design
finished, blue prints bought, initial circuit tests. |
January ‘03 |
Building a
stand, deciding to buy finished hull from Thor Design. (Hull later canceled, see October '03)
Purchasing rest of electronic components for all systems, test-building
all circuits, starting on PCB's. |
February ‘03
|
| Finishing
both PCB's & ALT mechanism, starting to plan / build the insides for the
WTC holding electronics, motor, receiver etc. Designing engine compartment
/ mechanism, buying engine. |
March '03 |
| Buying servos,
regulator, switches, gears, ballast pump, shaft, stuffing box & getting
hold of plastic tube used for WTC's / MBT's. Designing WTC1, researching
watertight plugs & batteries. |
April '03 |
| Buying water
tight plugs & various small parts incl. bellows, building WTC1, starting
to design WTC2 and air system. Work partially stalled due to delivery
problems. Addressing financial issues. |
May '03 |
Testing sealing
of WTC's. Starting construction of WTC2, ordering valves etc.
Work partially stalled due to delivery problems. Addressing financial
issues. |
June '03 |
| Finishing
WTC2, running series of tests. Adding battery compartment to, and nearly
finishing, WTC1. Looking into compressed air-tank issues. Researching
transmitter & receiver. |
July '03 |
| While waiting for hull and shaft for WTC1:
Soldering all wires inside WTC1, researching transmitter / receiver, and
air system devices. Calculating needed buoyancy, and re-designing MBT's. |
August '03 |
| Building MBT 1 & MBT 2, buying
transmitter, receiver, charger and 3rd. mini switch (For
remote light control), fitting all R/C
components within WTC1. Received final word that the hull will be
delayed six month.. :-( |
September '03 |
| Looking for air tank, starting
to construct air system. Received word that hull has been postponed
indefinitely, deciding to scratch build. Researching for hull
details, and planning scratch build. Recalculating scale, and changing to 1:81 |
October '03 |
| Buying air system
components, and materials for scratch build hull, starting hull work. |
November
'03 |
| Had to
move to a new place to live, so only very little work done. |
December
'03 |
| Resumed
hull work, waiting with the air tank construction. |
January
'04 |
| Middle
section and bow now complete, continuing with aft end, and mock-up of
missile deck. |
February ´04 |
| Aft end
complete, working on missile deck, and
control surfaces. |
March '04 |
|
Propeller arrived, and ready. Work well under way on control surfaces.
Missile deck work temporary stalled. |
April '04
- June'04 |
|
Completing control surfaces, and starting work on sail. |
July '04 |
|
Completing sail work, redoing sail dive planes. |
August '04 |
|
Starting missile deck work, and work on scopes. |
September '04 |
| Work
partially stalled due to problems with missile deck, redoing part of
missile deck. |
October
'04 |
|
Completing missile deck,
preparing to Z-cut hull, and mounting missile deck
& control surfaces. |
November
'04 |
| Major
difficulties finding a way to Z-cut hull, researching methods. |
December
'04 |
| No work
done, busy elsewhere. |
January
'05 - February
'05 |
| Splitting
main hull. |
March '05 |
| Hull
now split, preparing to fit control surfaces. Re-designing bulkheads |
April '05 |
| Top
half cut, crtl. surfaces fitted, bulkheads (for WTC's) under
construction, tons of details fixed. |
May '05 |
| Fitting
bulkheads in top half, finalizing the lower parts. Preparing to fit
missile deck. |
June '05 |
| Fitting
missile deck and sail. Preparing control surface linkage work. |
July '05 |
| Fitting
control surfaces, linkage, making and fitting towed array housing,
various hull details. |
August '05 |
| All
control surfaces now complete, and fitted! Moving on to air system
construction. |
September
'05 |
| Air
system complete, considering bigger tank.... |
October
´05 |
|
Complete rebuild of air system, and solving issues. |
November
´05 |
|
Finalizing new air system, and designing wet dock. |
December
'05 |
| Various
hull details, getting various bits and pieces. Researching hull
trimming methods. |
January
'06 |
|
Constructing wet dock, fitting shaft bearings, starting periscope
mechanism. |
February '06 |
| No work
done, busy elsewhere. |
March '06
- April '06 |
|
Continuing work on dock, got floatation material,
and making floatation pieces. |
May '06 |
|
Continuing May's work, completing floatation pieces. |
June '06 -
July '06 |
| Tests /
trimming in wet dock, research and deployment. |
August '06 |
| Tests /
trimming in wet dock, fitting modules. |
September
'06 |
| Fitting
modules, modifying bulkheads and making module locks. MBT modules'
brackets scrapped. |
October
'06 |
| Making
new bulkheads for WTC / MBT's, finalizing
module fitting. |
November
'06 |
| All
wires completed, all systems / modules / wires tested OK. WTC1
upgraded with bow thruster control (RS-5). Control surfaces connected,
aft light and bow thruster ports fitted. |
December
'06 |
|
Painting lower part, fitting switches & charge plug &
missile deck hatch, bow thruster pump, WTC2,
MBT1 & MBT2. Connecting all hoses, making and fitting ballast pump incl. filter.
|
January
'07 |
| Fitting
WTC1, bollards and connecting prop. shaft. Fixing little things. |
February
'07 |
|
Designing and making closing mechanism, emergency buoy, and hatch
mechanics. |
March '07 |
|
Continuing work on emergency buoy & hatch. Painting
sail and preparing lights (Fitting when sub's painted), making, painting and fitting scopes.
Fitting "low bat." indicator. |
April '07 |
|
Making and fitting emergency buoy, building linkage
to sail dive planes. Finalizing closing mechanism design (upper- lower
half) |
May '07 |
Repairing a flaw in sail paint job, and making top half lighter. (For
a better surfaced waterline)
Securing various bolts and nuts, preparing to implement closing
mechanism. |
June '07 |
| Summer break |
July '07 - Sep '07 |
| Fitting
closing mechanism, preparing final paintjob on top half |
Okt '07 |
| Fine-tuning closing
mechanism. |
November '07 |
|
Awaiting time slot at the docks. |
December '07 |
|
Fitting and finalizing closing mechanism. |
January '08 |
| Fitting
foam, and researching problem with emergency buoy release mechanism. |
February '08 |
| Preparing water test tank,
and final trim. Working emergency buoy issue (actuator over-heating). |
March '08 |
| Sea trail in
test tank. Read results. |
April ´08 |
| Rebuild WTC1, WTC2, parts of inside of the hull, and electronic board |
May '08 |
| Completing WTC2 incl. new rubber seal! Designing new MBT, and working on new WTC1 design. |
June '08 |
| Completing WTC1, and painting the remaining part of the hull. Fitting WTC2, completing new linkage, and hoses for new MBT. Cutting foam for bow and aft, and adding a zink anode to the sub. (Preventing corrotion). Constructing the new MBT. |
July '08 |
| Fitting the MBT, and WTC1, prop shaft, rudder rods etc. Run tests in test-tank, and prepar sea trail. |
August '08 |
| Trimming and final touches. |
September '08 |
| Trimming failed, and some redesign is needed. Read results. |
Oktober '08 |
| Project on hold due to low funding, and low temperatures. |
November '08 - February '09 |
| Rebuild the inside wire-grid, and replacing the main master plug. Writing documentation as well... |
February '09 |
| Awaiting warmer weather for new wet dock tests and (re)trimming. |
March '09 - ? |
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Visiting nationalities include:
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Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia (Hrvatska), Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic,
Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong,
Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea (South), Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Netherlands, New Zealand, Niue,
Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine,
United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, US
Commercial, US Educational, US Government, US Military, Vietnam, Yugoslavia..
...and more.
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