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HMAS/m AE2, Scratchbuild


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Ahhh Vegemite the great strain favorite spread........

 

Better on toast .....but bloody hard to spread here downunder as were upside down n all that i keep dropping the knife

 

Loving the Sub n tools n stuff too...mmmmmm i think i NEED a drill press 

 

Cheers

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Some holes in the boat

 

Here's the last-seen state of play with this project and I'm happy to say that most of the big pieces are sort-of present now. So I'm quite keen to start sticking things together - but there's a good reason why I can't do that just yet. There are some details that are much easier to add while the hull can still be disassembled. Let's have a go at them now.

IMG_7002

 

Submarines have holes in them - that's what makes them submarines, and on AE2 some of these holes were on the flanks of the middle bit, just above where it met the pressure hull. These little holes are important to the whole look of the model and now's the easiest time to add them. 

 

I started with a very thin piece of evergreen styrene sheet, cut it to the right size and shape and stuck on a section of plan with all of the relevant details present.

IMG_7031

 

I also roughly cut out the points where the dowels will travel through the boat when it's all finished so the sheet doesn't get in the way of assembly.  In retrospect I think that I probably could have done this a bit smarter - but there you have it...that's what I did, just cut out some rough embayments.

IMG_7033

 

And now I cut out the little vent holes (or whatever they are called).

IMG_7034 

They look a bit rough here but I subsequently tidied them up a bit and don't worry too much because about 80% of each individual hole will be hidden under the saddle tanks anyway. You'll see what I mean soon enough.

IMG_7036

 

Also need to cut out the anchor locker (I think that's the correct term).

IMG_7037

 

And then I had this... yet more parts to my 'kitset'.

IMG_7040

 

So now I have some holes - but the problem is that there's no depth to them. Anyone who peers into the holes when the thing is put together will just see solid Sappelli. This needs to be fixed.

IMG_7071

 

Let's drill out the Anchor locker to make a 3D hole in the hull 

IMG_7072

 

A very unattractive bit of woodwork this; looks more like battle-damage.

IMG_7073

 

Grab a fretsaw and start cutting out a larger hole.

IMG_7081

 

Clean up the rough bits with a rat's tail file.

IMG_7082

 

Drill a whole heap of holes in just the right spots to fall under the holes I've cut in the plastic sheet.

IMG_7084

 

And now we have a series of holes with holes behind them...(I've actually made the 'underneath' holes a bit bigger since this photo was taken so don't worry about the small amounts of wood that are still peaking through.)

IMG_7085

 

And here's what it all looks like put together. There's a thin sheet of plastic between the pressure hull and the centre bit with defined anchor lockers and a series of drain holes (or vent holes or whatever) that you can look through and see a deep void behind.

IMG_7091

I'm going to have to judiciously semi-fill these holes so that you can't look straight through the boat, but this will do for now.

 

I'm quite pleased with this step as these are the first details I've added in this project - everything else to date has involved large components. Seeing the first details in place makes it look a bit more like a proper model than a bathtub toy.

 

Best regards and stay safe,

Bandsaw Steve.

 

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Just love watching a cunning plan come together.......

 

Making Holes in holes very Alice in Wonderland

 

You need the jury on this but........

I seem to have some recollection that the flood/vent holes line up and you can see across the boat.

 

I'm sure the learned Gentlemen will put us right

 

Kev

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3 hours ago, longshanks said:

 

I seem to have some recollection that the flood/vent holes line up and you can see across the boat.

 

Kev

 

The thought did occur to me that that might be the case - but I just figured I couldn't be that lucky. if anyone knows for sure please let me know.

 

2 hours ago, hendie said:

 I must admit to still being just a tad confused as to what is going on

 

Well Hendie, if you are only a 'tad' confused you are doing very well indeed. Over here the confusion is complete - soon I will be asking you what I should do next. :penguin:

 

BTW - I was on a minesite in the middle of W.A. and read your comments on New Orleans where you said something to the effect of 'The French sector was nice but Bourbon Street was smelly and basically :poop:'

 

Not ten minutes later I overheard one of the Mine Geologists, who had just returned from a holiday in the USA, telling a friend of hers that 'The French sector was nice but Bourbon Street was smelly and basically :poop:'.  It was truly uncanny - the timing and the sentiment and the wording was almost perfectly synchronised.  It was a bit spooky actually...

 

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Steve

 

Not knowing much about submarines I'll just sit beside Hendie over there and maybe between us we'll figure out what your scheme is  ;)

 

Sure is a fascinating story though and I'm rivetted to the screen like watching a good murder mystery led by a quirky detective who's not sure what to call himself but I  have a feeling he knows how to solve this one. 

 

When's the next episode showing?

 

Frank

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

isn't it about time you put some wings on this thing ?   :P

 

 

I'm missing my weekend-long-lie-in-bed-with-a-cup-or-two-of-coffee-while-I-catch-up-on-my-fave-BM-threads  relaxation

Edited by hendie
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Wow, it's nice to be missed!

 

I do apologise for the lack of updates over the last three weeks. Don't worry, the project hasn't been abandoned just reprioritised. I've been sinking time into a renovation/ redesign of my work shed which should result in much more efficient future builds. Am hoping to be fully up and running two weeks from now.

 

in the meantime I have made a little progress on the sub and might get an update posted in the next few days.

 

Best Regards,

Steve

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2 hours ago, longshanks said:

 TWO WEEKS !!!

 

You can't leave us dangling like that :banghead:

#

Kev

I'll see what I can do. Not much likely to happen tonight though - there's a new episode of 'Game of Thrones' on. 🐉🔥🔮☠️👹👑🦑🐉🐲💥😀😀😀👍👍👍

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Was working, very incompetently, on this project last night. Might manage an update tonight ( or maybe tomorrow night) but I have to warn you - its a pretty sad story of bumbling rework. Definitely not a 'masterclass' 😱😩🙁

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Measure Once - Cut Twice...

 

OK -  Testing complete. Can now respond to my own thread after about 2 hours of faffing about with this $#%%!ing computer. Got there...and look - I think I can even post photos.

 

Anyway - it's a fairly sad story this one, but I think I've learned something.  Last time I finished with this shot and was feeling well happy with myself.  'First details on the boat' and all that...

 

IMG_7091

 

Anyway - in an idle moment I was reviewing some of my AE2 research guff and noticed this image of the starboard bow - about the only good photo of this part of the boat that I have come across. And I noted the complete absence of an enormous anchor locker  like the one that I have made. 

 

Hmmmm I thought, whoever build this submarine did not refer sufficiently carefully to my model!

 

 

AE2 Starboard bow

 

And then I looked at the plans that I'd been using... plans I note for E29; a mid-war  E-class submarine. Now I knew this all along and I'd already, very perceptively, noted that this one had a gun and AE2 did not. I had also noted that E29 had a completely different shaped conning tower.  What I had not noted were that the anchor locker was completely different - ludicrously different in fact - and that there were many, many more flood-vent holes in the mid-war vessel than in AE2 (perhaps to assist diving speed?) and upon further investigation it turns out that the 'middle bit' on the mid-war sub is way, way shorter than on AE2 (AE2's goes all the way to the rear hydroplanes) and there were numerous other differences, especially concerning the masts and aerials etc.

 

The bottom set of drawings are simpler and 'rougher' than the beautiful set at the top - but they are actually of an early war E-class sub and are therefore much closer to what I need to build.

 

IMG_7263

 

I am not a rivet counter. Far from it, in fact I like to think of myself as the sort of cool, groovy, hair blown back in the wind kind of modeller that doesn't give a flying hoot about 'accuracy' and 'detail' and all that jazz .

 

But actually I sorta do...

 

Have a look. The top bit of plastic has an the enormous overblown mid-war anchor locker  that I cut in the last posting- the image at the bottom has a teeny tiny one, (and looking at the photo I'm not even sure if that should be there!)

 

IMG_7266

 

So here we go again... mark out and cut out the relevant bits of plastic.

 

IMG_7268

 

 I will draw to your attention my new set of Teflon-covered, heat-tempered steel scissors. They are my newest purchase and are awesome - get some!

 

IMG_7299

 

Now cut out the relevant holes that we need - try to get them in the right place and the right shape, and the right size and everything.  Here I'm using a circular hole punch to make the little cubby hole where the chain goes. To my dismay I have also learned that the anchor locker on the starboard side was actually a completely different shape to that on the port side.

 

IMG_7302

 

Port side complete - much smaller anchor locker, fewer but larger flood / vent holes and mooring points. They look a bit untidy because they are all different sizes. I think it's correct though - both the plans and the photographs show that they are not highly uniform.

 

IMG_7304

 

And another view; just in case that's not enough. 

 

IMG_7305

 

So what have I learned?

 

Well everyone in model building always goes on and on about the importance of research. 'Research, research, research' they say. What they never tell you is that you actually have to do all this research stuff before you build things.

 

Measure twice - cut once... not the other way round as I tend to do.

 

Bandsaw Steve

 

 

 

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Some very good advice there Steve and it looks like a great recovery 

I always say to the lads at work you learn from your mistakes or you get the sack. ;)

 

So for now we will put you on objectives check and measure twice and if your not sure do it again. :idea:

 

beefy 

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Imagine a figure strolling out of the heat haze with a chainsaw in each hand....................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

I like to think of myself as the sort of cool, groovy, hair blown back in the wind kind of modeller

 

doesn't really fit with my mental image of you

 

:rofl2:

 

None the less I Doff my Hat to you sir it takes a big man (with wavy hair) to admit his mistake in front of thousands and go onto to correct it!!

 

1 hour ago, beefy66 said:

So for now we will put you on objectives check and measure twice and if your not sure do it again. :idea:

 

beefy 

Perhaps the motto hence forth should be research thrice, measure twice and cut once....................

I'll try but it sounds boring to me ;)

 

Joking aside it's good to see you moving forward on this (our) incredible journey

 

Kev

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what took you so long ???

 

 

Nice update, even if some of it is going backwards.  We've all been there, done that, and I've done it on my train build a couple of times so far - and I designed the darned thing.... and I'm sure I'll do it again before I'm finished

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1 hour ago, hendie said:

We've all been there, done that, and I've done it on my train build a couple of times so far - and I designed the darned thing.... and I'm sure I'll do it again before I'm finished

 

dammit !!!!!   I spoke too soon.   I just made an almighty super sized male chicken up on my train build... I am so ashamed...... I will now have to see if I can rectify it without causing too much damage

 

 

arrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

 

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