--Originally posted 12/18/10--


(All assemblies [dry-fitted], sail ready for molding/casting, December, 2010)

Entering 2010 with momentum carrying over from late '09, the basic structural elements of the sail were all in place:


Click on Image to Enlarge At left and center, volume shapes and (especially) the surface finishes are highlighted by silver paint, while at right, stripping all paint back off reveals where- and how these structures had been adjusted - using plasticard (white) and/or superglue-putty filler (off-white) - over the foundational plastic (gray and dark green) parts.

Soon after this point, further detailing of the sail was heavily crippled by a lack of references - some of which had been lost in a key backup crash - thus prompting another pass at photo-research, especially on the sail, however by the time this was completed, momentum was lost. The sudden onset of a blistering-hot summer, heralded by an air conditioning failure and then personal health problems, then put paid to further work on the sail until late in the year (see below).

4/25/10
Before the ravages of the very unproductive summer, some progress on the hull and deck had been achieved, in the spring:


Click on Image to Enlarge At left, a sort of rounded knuckle - resembling a "turn of the bilge" in what should otherwise have been a smoothly-curving hull - remained from the original construction and was deemed unacceptable. At right, the solution was to cut out and replace the knuckle with crescents of more gently-curving hull stock - "fished-in" with temporary handles of stock rod (white), later cut off flush (see below).

A start was also made on the deck:

Click on Image to Enlarge Made of heavy plastic plate, the deck would also serve as a structural foundation (unlike on the real thing) from which to hang the top casing down to the hull. A scale plan-view drawing was glued directly onto a plastic slab, to define and cut it out, and likewise on sections of thin "V-groove" card stock, for the overlaid (raised) planked areas.

I opted to depict coarser planking on the circular gun platform, whose reference pics indicated between about 40 to 50 planks across its central diameter. At this scale, "O"-guage car siding would provide 14 planks, 0.04" V-groove stock would provide 24 and 0.025" V-groove very near the minimum calculated - and certainly in the ballpark - at 39. Nevertheless, I judged the 0.04" V-groove looked closest to the desired texture - and the more accurate 0.025" V-groove simply too fine - but was chosen as again looking just right for the finer texture of the remaining planked deck areas.

Thus, it was in the following state that the (dry fitted) build went through the complete "power-down" of last summer:

Click on Image to Enlarge Clearly looking more than ever like an S-18 class boat...

12/5/10
In November and December work began slowly to resume on both the deck (not shown) and especially the sail:


Click on Image to EnlargeAbove, by mid-December a completion strategy and corresponding detailing were in place, prior to molding for a developmental, intermediate casting. Such strategy is complicated because some details optimally go on before (the first) casting, while others are best sculpted - and all are best refined/finished - from the resin of the first casting(s). This is because additive superglue adhesives and fillers can contain pits, are relatively more brittle and tend to pop off when carved - whereas the uniform, cast resin is ideal for anything (subtractively) sculpted.

At right (despite overexposed pics), stripping the silver paint back off reveals the compositional structure - now including brass PE, cut in-place from 350-scale, 2-rail bars, to simulate the wave-guide vanes (strakes?) lining the "top boat" of the sail. Note also the preparations to make an (optionally) open crew access hatchway.

Again, all the rough spots will be far easier smoothed out of the cast resin - and of course far less risky, as any botched casting(s) can simply be replaced, with another.

So, still not (near) completed - but with major progress, and firmaly on track for a build of very high quality - as 2010 draws towards a close.

Cheers,

-Matty