Russian Typhoon Submarine

Part 1 - Manufacturing the Missile Tube Hatches

After deciding which two (2) missile tubes will be operational, I taped the hatches with masking tape and drilled the round parts. Then, after removing the tape, I used my Dremel® cutting tool to finish opening the hatch doors. Since my hatches will be manufactured from Celtec, I didn´t worry too much about saving the fiberglass.
	After removing the excess material, I used flat, round and triangle files to smooth the edges.
Next, it was time to transfer the opening onto a piece of Celtec. This was accomplished in the same way as the door on top of the sail. Masking tape was placed over the opening, and a pencil was used to draw the edges.
	I used a jigsaw to cut out the hatch doors from the Celtec. This took a little time because of the curves and angles on the doors.
But ... as you can see, the extra time paid off. A little fine tuning with the files was all that was needed to get the doors to fit inside the hole. I will have to fine tune a little more because the hatches will have to be separated, and the tops will have to be shaped to the curvature of the hull.
	I´ve shaped the hatch tops to the curvature of the hull, cut the hatches apart and temporarily taped them in place so you can see what they will look like.
The underside of the hatches were shaped using my Dremel® cutting tool and a Dremel® grinding cylinder in a drill press. True, the RPM´s on the drill press are much slower than the Dremel® tool but that didn't matter. The Celtec material was removed very easily. Next Step - Part 1b - Manufacturing the Missile Tube Hatches (continued)

Return to Weapons Index

If you have any suggestions or comments about this site or construction, please send me an email by clicking here!