Russian Typhoon Submarine

Part 5 - Preparing the Inside Hull

	Ok ... now it´s time to take over the kitchen island countertop. Why? Because it´s level and makes for a good platform for determining where to cut the hull in half. As you can see, I´ve manufactured two stands to hold the hull in a level position as well. Then, after using a ruler and marking the cut line 4 ¾" from the countertop, I placed masking tape horizontally. Before cutting, I'll place another strip of tape above this one leaving about 1/16" for a line, and then another strip covering the line. The masking tape is thin enough for the line to show through, and it will keep the jigsaw from scratching the hull or the blade chipping the resin.
You can see that I've purchased my first part for inside the hull. It is a 9 ounce CO2 bottle manufactured by Brass Eagle. It was purchased at Wal-Mart because the price was less expensive than one from a local Paintball store. I will, however get it filled at the Paintball store. I plan to use the CO2 bottle to store pressurized gas. The gas will be used to operate my Clippard valves which will in turn operate my ballast tanks, bow plane doors, torpedo doors/launchers and missile hatches/launchers.
	After letting the hull sit on the kitchen countertop for an entire day (I wanted to think about the next step real hard to ensure my markings were correct before cutting the hull), it was into the garage we went. First, I drilled several pilot holes at the place where the horizontal cut line met the vertical cut line. This was to provide a spot to insert the jigsaw blade. I used a drill bit the width of the blade itself, and drilled 4 or 5 holes in both directions. Next, I took my time and cut the hull in half along the line. Surprisingly enough, the process went rather quickly without any problems. The duck tape surrounding the foam held everything in place, and besides the saw blade was not long enough to reach all the way through to the other side.
During the process, about every foot or so, I placed masking tape across the cut to ensure the hull would not fall apart. This ended up not being necessary, but it was a good safety measure just in case. I didn´t want one half of the hull falling off the table and causing a ding. Ok, now the hull was cut in half but still connected. A wire cutter would have been nice to have for splitting the center portion of the foam, but I didn't have one. I did however, have a thin bladed Ginsu knife (don´t tell my wife.) This knife sliced through the foam just like it does cutting the tin can on television. I hope it still slices tomatoes just as well.
	With both hull halves sitting on the table, it was time to sit back and savor the accomplishment a little. If my wife would´ve left the camera home this day, you´d be able to see a pic of the hull halves with the pink foam inside. But, she didn´t and I began removing the foam. I did leave a small amount of the pink foam in the stern section for the moment. I still have some sanding and shaping to do there, and I wanted it to be sturdy. I used a small putty knife to dig the foam out. Getting the process started was the hardest because it literally had to be dug out. Once started however, each foam piece was removed relatively quickly. And ... the resin did not stick to the duck tape as planned. That came out real easy! It also enable the inside of the hull to be semi-smooth.
The dark spots in this pic is the Bondo patching material I used to fill low spots and imperfections. The primer paint covered them up on the outside, but they show on the inside. I´m not sure yet what I´ll do about them later on. Anyway, this is it for Preparing the Inside Hull. I now have to get serious about buying and manufacturing stuff to go inside. I also have to manufacture the rudders, stern planes and bow planes as well as the mechanical linkages that make them work. Next Step - Part 6 - Inside Hull Hardware

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