It's that time of year again.  

Students show up Wed, but I'm trying to get everything set up so we can get this show on the road from day one.  

For 2015-16   We are going to try to build a model of a German U-Boat, Type VIIc.    I wanted to do a WWI boat, but I couldn't find any plastic models that we would need to get correct dimensions.    I'm hoping we can build a replica of the U-96, the boat in the movie "Das Boot".    That is at least what we are going to shoot for.   We will see if we can make that happen.


The area this will be hung in is about 30' long and about 10' wide.  My classroom doorway is only about 34" so we are going to have to stay around 31" 33"wide for the main structure.  That would put the length at about 27ft or so long when done.  My goal is to try to approach this as building it in two sections that we can put together on a stand, and also when it is hung from the ceiling.  Also, just realized, I'll have to have the majority of this put together out in the hallway, as there isn't a straight shot though my door.   I'll never make it though the door at 30" wide and 14ft long. It will be made of plywood ribs, 2x4 main beam for hanging strength, 1x2" for structure, and probably drawing boards for the skin.  They should help us keep the weight down, and allow us a good canvas to paint and detail.

The robotics team says they still want in on this for moving parts and sounds.   Hopefully they can come through.  They are still not done with the dragon from last year.  I asked the math dept if they would like to get involved, but I got the normal head shakes.   I really could use help with the scaling, and getting dimensions for the structure.   No one seemed like they thought they would want to get their kids in on it.  Maybe they will come around.  Anyway, I'll approach this project with what I've learned from the past.....don't depend on anyone else's class to do anything.  

Should be a nice fun project.  Come along for the adventure.

Here is what we are going to start out with:
This came last week.   It should allow us to get a good idea of the details and shapes.   I'm also going to try to get some students to scan it with their phones and get a 3D image of it, then use that image to slice into sections like a banana.   I need those cross section shapes so we can make the ribs of the structure.


I found these online.   I'm getting large prints done right now, so the students have a good reference for scaling.


I like this model for coloring.  We will try to mimic this type of finish at the end.

Funny guy.  

We are going with grey and bronze.     Right, wrong......what ever......    the bronze is just pretty.  

Update 1/26

First up, what's next!!  
This large black bear was harvested by a former student.  He also shot the white tail this year.  We are going to do a full body mount of the bear eating the buck.  

Many of my crew are getting ready to start this project over the next week or so.



As for the stern section of the sub, we are getting close to painting.  Possibly Thursday.

Lots of caulking left to do.


The lost torpedo bay door.....outlined with small rivets.


All those details finally installed.






Bouy hatch....


Finally, the habitat for the elk is starting to come together.  Notice the nice scrape on the small pine, that is similar to what an elk might do.  

The pines are real limbs, stripped of needles, then drilled to accept parts of my old Christmas tree.  Needles are cut and glued on to the limbs to look more real.  They will add snow later.  

Killer...!!!




The young woman with the artistic hands did a most excellent job...!!!

The life jacket is too clean. Put some oil and grease stains on it. Every on I wore looked like it came from a dumpster.

 

"OMG, does that student have a weapon on his person?"

Great job

I watched a show yesterday on the Nazi U-Boat pens.

LMAO a pink knife at that!

Update 1/29

This is why you don't have pep assemblies in the morning between classes. Get them all wound up, and send them back to class to concentrate.

A simple task of painting below the freaken blue line and I get this........

Sophomores........


There are a few seniors who want to go head hunting.

Ooops!  How hard do you think it will be to blend away the sins of the sophomores?  



 

It's getting done right now.    Not a huge deal, just shows a lot of disrespect for the work already done.   The sophomores have been reassigned.........  

at least it was sophomores   freshmen would have spilled the paint all over the floor

I'm sure your seniors can and will handle the off the books conversations...just try not to be there when they do.  



 

If it ends up being a problem with it showing through the other paint you could cover it up by painting it in one of the various schemes the Germans used during the war IE:



Or:





 

Update 1/29.2

The Sophomores managed to knock off one of the props too, but I decided they both needed to come off anyway so we could properly paint them.  

A little metallic paint....plus, the nose to the torpedo.


End of the torpedo all painted with the sensor installed and ready to test on Monday.




The paint came a long way to day.  
Both colors fully covered


Top camo going on to match the bow section.....sophomore slip up is all covered over, thankfully.


And the weathering of the paint starting......


These are the panels that will connect the two sections.

You going to have them leave the screws  bright or are they going to put a patina on them? Can verdigris even form on a moving screw?

Dont know yet.

I've looked at some photos, but it's hard to say what it should look like.  Some of the museum pieces seem to have a little, but others seem pretty clean and brassy.  

I'll probably leave it up to the kids to decide  when we get to more weathering.

This is a great video.  Thanks for posting that.  

I'll try to show that to students.

found this after I posted the above.........thought it might interest. It appears that it is not unusual to clean the screws on ocean going ships. It also appears that they do tarnish quite a bit.

Hmmmmmm........


How the hell can we make the canopy??????    

Vacum forming using heated acrylic in plaster form.

 

You can do it without vacuum - use a two part compression mold, heat the acrylic in an oven.



 

Yep, Either one will work.

Fail, should have made it big enough 1 200lb adult could fit in it with a  troller motor.

That's cool.

I know they scrape and clean bottoms for barnacles, but I never knew they cleaned and polished propellers.

there is available a type of clear plastic that can be "plunge formed" using a wood or plastic mold.....just heat the plastic and pull it down over the mold.

That is cool.  Depending in how big our model would be, we might be able to handle that.  I might have to see how big the ovens are in the kitchen.   We might have to do something in sections.

Not sure how you would get the metallic finish to come out right?
       Do an A-10 to lend some aircover to the guys on your wall.
 

aluminum foil.

Type VII C I believe








Just for the hell of it, Type IX C

I have just seen this, she did fantastic work on that bust and I am glad she liked painting it. As for Vikings there are a lot of choices there. I will send her one if you guys do a Viking long ship.  

They did a Viking ship a year or two ago.

How did I miss that? Damn it.


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Maybe a series entitled German Wartime Technology ? We have the 1:1 scale in our hangar !

Is that Me-262 one of the five that were recently built?  Boeing engines, right?

GE's

Boeing doesn't build engines

This the first flyer, we now have over 125 hours on it. Proably the highest time 262, ever ! She has GE CJ610-8A engines.

I saw that bird at a couple of Houston airshows. Got to go in the hanger and check it out once, VERY cool!!

Back to the subject, this project is awesome!!

Use Top Flite Monokote. They make that color.

A local guy has both...a lot of us have been asking for this. He always sends up the Me262 alone....

Well, after conferring with my team, that shape is just not going to happen under the stern.   It will be wrong, but structurally, we just can't make that happen without causing structural integrity failure.   Things might just start popping apart back there if we take out enough to do that recess.  

You can use some of the hobby/kraft antique paint that looks like oxidized copper or bronze.................also some mixture or some artificial plants that look like marine growth/barnacles

guns,

No two ships of the same class have ever been built identically.  No model is 100% authentic.  And no ship ever laid down was ever constructed entirely faithfully to the original plans.  Y'all are good.

Update 2/2

Stern weathering.  The base levels of paint are done and they are on the the weathering of the gray paint, as well as the adding of the rust.  My main rust painter should be back tomorrow to take over.

At some point, we want to throw the two halves together to make sure the paint flows well.    Thats going to be a little difficult, as the hallway and breakout next to my room just won't alow that and students to freely pass.  

Hopefully, we can do it in less than an hour and then do some moving again.

Who's idea was the "We build U-boats..." sign?
Johnny Cash, ok, but Nickelback? Really? Aren't they banned by the Geneva Convention as instruments of torture?

It's looking great!

Have you considered doing a project book? Where you list the kids, and the jobs they did, along with pictures of construction and final results?
Or is it getting documented by your yearbook staff?