Russian Typhoon Submarine

Part 3 - Manufacturing the Missiles

There is an excellent article on manufacturing missiles for submarines located on The SubCommittee web site. You can access the article by clicking LAUNCH THIS! I plan to pattern my missiles after the ones described in the article. The missiles in the Typhoon are the SS-N-20 type pictured to the right. Mine will be patterned after these.
	I started with a piece of 1/2" PVC, Schedule 40 pipe rated at 600 PSI. Next, I pressed and glued Celtec into both ends.
After letting the glue cure overnight, I then drilled one end to press and glue the business end of a tire valve into one end of each missile. The tire valves were the standard, rubberized type. I simply removed the rubber with a knife and cut the brass tubing to a length of about 1 1/4".
	The nose cones of each missile were made from two (2) pieces of Celtec glued together and shaped on the belt sander. Actually, I drilled a hole to accommodate the threaded tire valve first, screwed the nose cones on and then shaped them on the sander. Here, you can see they have been rough shaped. Fine tuning will come later. Note: I also tested the tubes with compressed air to ensure tightness. There was no sense in proceeding if the tubes ends leaked!
The missile nose cones have been sanded down to shape and the missiles have been primed before installation into the tubes. I haven´t yet manufactured the launching pins, but I wanted to make sure the missile hatches closed properly. Here, you can see the two missiles in their launching tubes.
	Fuel for the missiles will be Propel gas that is conveniently available at your local hobby shop. I purchased a 14 ounce can made by Badger™, but there are other brand names available.
There are vendors out there who provide adapters for charging missiles and torpedoes, but I elected to manufacture my own. It was cheaper (under $10.00), and I didn´t have to pay for shipping. First, I went to my local hardware store and purchased a standard tire inflator chuck. These are common in stores that sell tire repair supplies and/or air-compressor supplies. Next, I purchased a Propel can valve at Hobbytown USA. It has the standard 1/4" pipe thread for the inflator chuck. Before connecting the two, make sure you use Teflon® tape on the threads! Next Step - Part 3b - Manufacturing the Missiles (continued)

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