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Scratch-building a Russian Typhoon SSBN - Plans and Information
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Plans and Research Information
Typhoon model available from www.sovietski.com for $1300 - Ouch!
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All scratch builders know that before you can start construction, you first need to have plans and information about the subject. For some, plans may just be a mail order call away, but others require some research.
A nice set of plans is the starting point for the scratch built project. While some may argue a set of 'nice' plans must be historically accurate, my definition here for a set of nice plans is one that provides enough information for the modeler to build the project. For a scratch built submarine, this will generally require top and side views as well as hull sections. To use the foam method that I outline here, hull sections are an absolute necessity and the top and side views will be helpful in validating the sections. External views will naturally be handy when detailing the sub.
If you want to model a submarine that was built prior to the end of WWII, one can typically find a copy of the original plans. But if you want to model late nuclear submarines then your search get tough and - oh, you want to model Russian nuclear subs - then the search can be even tougher. Fortunately there are some good folks out there that have taken to the time to put pen to paper and create a set of plans for some the world's most modern submarines. Unfortunately these people do not have access to official plans of the subs so they must take some artistic liberty with many below waterline details. On the plus side, these plans are usually meant for the modeler and thus contain everything one needs to get started.
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Typhoon plan set from a Russian book.
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So when I decided to build a model of Russia's Typhoon SSBN, I knew official plans would be out of the question. Early plastic models of the Typhoon, most notably DML's Typhoon, were extremely inaccurate when it came to stern details such a propellers and stern plane arrangement. It was not until speaking with Greg Sharpe of Deep Sea Designs, that I found a set of Typhoon plans that seemed to be credible. After combining these plans with a drydock photo of a Typhoon and models that were emerging from Russia, as shown above, I felt I had enough information to put together a respectable set of plans from which I could build an impressive RC model of the world's largest submarine.
While I was happy with the set of plans I had, they were only on a 8-1/2 x 11 inch piece of paper and it was obvious that I would need to create some intermediate hull sections and well as all the sail sections. The plan set did include sections for the main hull but after some careful inspection these did not exactly match the top and side views. Given that more hull sections would be needed I set out to draw up a set of improved hull sections. I used the old sections for shape and the top and side views to calculate the width and height. With the hull sections done, I then used the top and side views with the addition of some actual photos of Typhoons to come up with a set of sail sections.
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Hull and Sail Sections.
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Of course, all of this can be avoided by the modeler lucky enough to already have a 'nice' set of plans. And the only piece that needs to be the proper scale is the sections. On the other hand, if you are drawing your own hull sections you have the advantage of spacing them such that the sections are spaced at the points where the foam sections join - which will be made from 1" or 2" thick sheets of polystyrene foam.
I have included a copy of the plans along with the hull sections that I created. I would appreciate it if anyone has any information as to the origin of the plans. They appear to be from a Russian text. The hull sections are included for any use that can be derived from them. I will add that these are the sections I started with and for the most part are a fair representation of the final hull shape with one exception - I did round the top of the sail a little more. The hull section numbers refer to their position along the 'keel' of the hull and are the measurement in inches from the tip of the bow. Naturally these numbers only work for 1:72 scale but can easily be scaled for any size desired.
Typhoon Specs:
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