CW_Tom

I want to join Ken in wishing you and your pooch well, OC.  Hopefully today isn't quite so eventful.

The CH-54 is one of my favorite helicopters.  You guys may be familiar with this already, and I believe it still stands, but its a CH-54 in 1968 that holds the record for fastest climb to 30,000.

"On 30 December 1968, Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) James P. Ervin and CWO William T. Lamb climbed to over 30,000 feet in their CH-54A. The two Skycrane pilots, using a standard CH-54A with the hoist and four-point system removed, broke the previous altitude records held by the Soviet Union. Ervin flew the aircraft straight up with vertical speeds exceeding 6,500 feet per minute with zero forward speed until 20,000 feet. When the Skycrane passed through 30,000 feet, it was still climbing at 995 feet per minute. The flight had to be terminated because of darkness and the absolute record for the Skycrane will never be known.  

During the record flight, air traffic control (ATC) tapes were notably affected. One ATC controller notified a commercial airliner flying at 17,000 feet about traffic stating, "be advised there's a helicopter at your 9 o'clock position descending outof 27,000 feet at a rate of 4,000 feet per minute." The pilot of the commercial airliner responded with, "Good Lord, you mean they're up here now?" Another pilot according to ATC tapes asked, "What kind of helicopter is that?"

History of CH-54 Tarje.pdf (pilsch.com)

Another update on the Tinosa.  I'm excited that I've been able to plug away at the model nearly everyday, even if its only 10-15 minutes.  There are many small details I've been able to take care of that will help the main project run smoother as it continues... I hope. 😁

This update shows the quick, but major step of cutting out the templates.  Below, I've got three pictures.  The first two are precut for the middle lifts, and then the outer lifts, respectively.  Plus, its a great shot of my father-in-laws band saw, and who doesn't like that?

The final picture is the current state of affairs.  All the pieces are cut out and will be ready for gluing soon.  I have just a couple details to take care of beforehand, namely marking the station lines along the hull on the inner and outer lifts.  To keep the two outer lifts from shifting when I glue, I'm thinking about drilling through the middle lifts, and partially drilling into the outer lifts so I can slide two dowels in there, essentially pinning the pieces in place.  However, since the entire model will be painted, I suppose I could drill all the way through.  The dowels would then get shaped into the hull via chisel/sanding and the paint would cover up any evidence of that.

If anyone has any other suggestions for keeping the lifts from sliding while I glue, I'd love to hear them.  

Thanks for your interest!

Tom

Thank you Mike, and thank you all for the warm welcome.  I'm excited, seeing how diverse everyone is here, location wise at least.  I must admit, I haven't had a lot of personal interaction with Australians.  As far as other nationalities, my flight instructor for helicopters was English, and had served in the Royal Army.  We had a some good laughs in the cockpit and he had a few good stories to tell.  He was good help in finding the local restaurants that served up a decent Fish-n'-Chips with good beverages to boot.

Thanks for the tips. I’ll remember to include a short story or two now and again. 
 

It’s also good to hear/meet people who also can appreciate the finer things in life, like being able to fly backward. 😉

I just found this thread and read through it today.  Your work is very impressive.  I look forward to seeing more updates as the model nears completion.  I too am impressed with the builders receptivity to your inputs.  

Regards,

Tom

I know the Army has it planned to remain in the inventory through 2040. 

Ah yes, the mighty hooker. Have you guys seen the new F model?

Rik,

The build looks great so far.  I'm excited to monitor its progress!

Regards,

Tom

Rik,

I've enjoyed looking through your builds.  You keep up an interesting and engaging writing style.  I hope your Flirt build goes well.  I will be keeping an eye on your build log for that!

Regards,

Tom

I enjoyed looking through this log, seeing your experience as you revisited the Dallas.  Its an impressive looking ship.  I really like the highlighting you did with the danish oil.

This is my first model ship build, my first scratch build, and my first wooden model build.  I have done plastic model aircraft in the past, but have been looking to move into something different.  I have been reading a lot about sailing ships lately, Patrick O'Brien's Master and Commander, Forrester's Hornblower series, as well as some non-fiction books on the subject.  I initially wanted to get into rigged model shipbuilding, but I realized that required skills I hadn't even come close to being acquainted.  Then the idea of scratch building a model submarine presented itself, especially after having read about how to bread-and-butter build a hull.  It seemed doable, with my modest woodworking skills.  Plus, my interest in submarines runs deep.  My dad served in the US Navy in the early to mid 70's as a sonar man aboard the USS Francis Scott Key - SSBN 657 and USS Tinosa.  I was able to find some designs for the Thresher/Permit class in general so the Tinosa is what I've gone with.  Now, for the ship rundown, I'll keep it brief.

USS Tinosa - wikipedia

http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08606.htm

Commissioned October 1964

Decommissioned January 1992

278 ft. long and 31' 8" wide, at a 1:200 scale brings it to 16 3/4 in. long and just under 2 in. wide.

For the model, I chose poplar boards.  From my research, poplar seemed a decent wood to use, plus it is relatively inexpensive and easy to find here in the US.  I picked up a 1/2" x 6" x 4' board and positioned my templates.  I realize with a 2" wide hull and 1/2" boards, the bread-and-butter method is giving me only four 'lifts' on the model.  I think this will still be doable though its making it more like building from a solid block than I originally thought.  I am positioning the lifts according to buttock lines, versus doing them off the waterline.  This way, I can attempt to cut the sail and rudders out with the hull, keeping them together.  I'll have to individually manufacture the sail and stern planes, however. 

In this picture below, I've already begun laminating the two center boards, which straddle the submarines vertical centerline.

Here, I've removed the clamps from the centerboards, with the hull template on top.  Above I've got the two outer lifts with the template for those on one.  The next step will be cutting them out.

Finally, here is a picture of my hull templates at the various stations, cut to the diameter of the hull, from stern to bow.

Hopefully that was explained clearly.  I'm always open to helpful comments/critiques.  

Tom

I too enjoyed the Hornblower series. An additional book I really enjoyed by Forrester was The Good Shepherd, one of his non-Hornblower novels. The recent movie “Greyhound” is based off of this, and while the movie does a decent job, the book is by far the better story.

Looks great!  I’m looking forward to seeing more. 
 

Did you have any knowledge of this particular ship before you bought it on eBay?

Welcome JC!  I’m a newbie here as well. I’m excited to see your progress on your yacht. 

Greetings!

My name is Tom and I hail from central North Dakota, USA. As seems to be common among this thread, I too am a beginner ship modeler. I will be starting a build log on my new/current project, scratch building the nuclear fast attack submarine USS Tinosa, SSN 606. My dad served on her as a sonarman in the mid 70’s. 
 

I’m a 35 year old family man, helicopter aviator, and currently reading through a couple books, Patrick O’Brians “Master and Commander” and “The Line Upon a Wind: The Great War at Sea 1793-1815” by Noel Mostert.  I found my way here by trying to self educate on terminology and construction of sail powered men-of-war. 
 

Im looking forward to getting to know you all and am eager to learn and broaden my understanding of sailing ships and modeling through conversations here.  (One of these days, I plan to get into something that involves rigging😉). 
 

Best Regards,

Tom
 

Welcome Jon!

I’m new here myself. 

I had my first sailing experience with a friend of mine on Pelican Lake in Minnesota. I’m from North Dakota myself. Zorbas was right across the street from where he had his dock. 
 

I just started O’Brians works after having made it through all the C.S. Forrester Hornblower books. Also really enjoyed “The Good Shepherd” which, if you enjoyed its motion picture  equivalent, “Greyhound”, which came out recently, the books better (as usual). 
 

I hope all is well in Cali.  Wish you the best. 
 

Tom