You're Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor and you are about to build you first Radio Controlled submarine from scratch. Is there any question which sub you'll choose to model?
Although I may not be Tim Taylor, there is no doubt that when it comes to power and SIZE, The Russian Typhoon SSBN is as big as they come. With a length of 650 feet and a width of 75 feet she carries enough fire power to level the largest city in every state within the United States. SHE IS BIG!!
After coming off a successful launching of my 1/72 Akula, my mind began to ponder the next project. While there is still much work left on the Akula, mostly in the area of ballast system and bells and whistles, I felt I could spend some winter time starting on the next project.
Actually, the Typhoon project was in the back of my mind before starting the Akula and the Typhoon was the main reason for my choice of 1/72 scale. I was trying to balance my desire for a larger Akula sub that would look more realistic cutting the waves while keeping the size of my potentially largest project under 8 feet. Couple this with an interest in modern Russian nuclear forces and 1/72 scale becomes a logical choice. An Alfa SSN is still large enough to hold the necessary equipment an RC sub needs and the Typhoon SSBN is all a sane man's back can probably take.
Since starting my Akula I have kept an eye out for different ways to scratch build a submarine and one method that has intrigued me is using readily available polystyrene foam to create the mast plug. I have worked with wood in the past to build the master plug and it works very well if you can turn it on a lathe, but the Typhoon is not simply a body of revolution like the Akula was, and my Akula plug weighed 30 pounds. How could I handle a plug for a sub with 6 times the volume of an Akula. I had to use a different technique. After watching others work with foam, most notably Craig O'Neil and Jeff Jones, I decided - Foam Was The Way To Go.
Using standard high density polystyrene insulation foam, or Blue Board as some call it, I have managed to put together the core master plug piece very rapidly. Plus the Typhoon master is considerable lighter than the old wooden Akula master. Since starting this project in late November of 1999, I have had a few people ask me some questions about how I am going about building a submarine hull from scratch, and in particular, about using foam. In response to these questions, I decided to take the time and put together this website as a project diary to share the knowledge and lessons learned.
It is important to note that this is a work in progress and that I have no intention of breaking my neck to finish this project. I suspect it will be summer of 2001 before this submarine sees water and therefore this website will also be a work in progress. With that said, I do intend to keep a fairly thorough diary of the project and hopefully steering those that follow around a few pitfalls.
Keep in mind that this is my first go at using foam and I am sort of blazing my own technique trail so if you have any advice, suggestions, or hard learned lessons to share, I would greatly love to hear from you. I will also post any helpful tid-bits in their appropriate places. These pages will focus mainly on the work accomplished to date, but I'll summarize my plan of attack for future steps within the project.