Shawn sent my son Monogram's 1/20th scale Sea Quest DSV Stinger in a trade. I had informed him that I had built the kit years ago for a friend but it turns out I built the main submarine. You know the one, it looks like a Klingon marital aid.
:evil:
Anyway, the Stinger is supposed to be a pursuit submarine which chases and destroys pirate submarines.
My son handed me the kit and asked me to make it look like a shark. Obviously, he failed to see a resemblance. Indeed, it looks like a gravid guppy instead of a war machine.
This plan comes from a book on technical specifications which the publisher decided against printing...
Looking it over, I wondered if the TV series designers ever thought what a mini-submarine was. Looking at the technical plans, I was left wondering were the armor was, where the armament was kept, and several things started to bother me immediately.
While watching the TV episodes on-line, I noticed that the Stinger in the TV series mock-up is much different. The diver had no mask, flippers, dry suit, nor scuba apparatus which leads me to believe the vehicle's cockpit is pressurized. In the cockpit, I did not see any guidance systems, communications systems, nor escape apparatus.
The outside of the vehicle has fins with position lights but none seem to assist in maneuvering. The tail is low and rigid. Headlights are placed in the perfect position to obscure lateral views. The engines look like turbines and even have petals (for afterburners? ) yet the intake is a tiny snout at the tip!
This will not do. As much as I fought it, my terminal AMS took over.
The tadpole tail...
The lower hull lacks maneuvering fins so I plan to place an intake here, a sharkmouth if you will! B)
The combat diver in all his unarmored glory. I glued his head looking slightly to starboard.
First cuts with my sushi knife (in preparation for soup?)
A sheet of thin styrene for the shape with thicker slivers to build it up.
The canopy was modified and cutting off the rear part. this will be used as an escape board.
I have now filled in the rear fin with epoxy putty which was smoothed with wet fingers. After two hours, I will sand and carve to final shape before switching to Mr. Surfacer. Epoxy putty will be placed within the stern portion of the keel to strengthen it before cutting out the intake.
Maneuvering fins and a trademark shark fin will be added. The slots locating the previous fins may be used for armament so I have not filled them yet.
The combat diver will have his silly baseball cap removed and a proper re-breather (a futuristic Dräger set), dry suit, flippers, gloves, and depth gage. The re-breather will be housed in the escape board behind the diver. Solder wire oxygen hoses will lead to it.
Till the next installment (trust me, with this kid on my tail, it will get done).
Regards,
:evil:
Anyway, the Stinger is supposed to be a pursuit submarine which chases and destroys pirate submarines.
My son handed me the kit and asked me to make it look like a shark. Obviously, he failed to see a resemblance. Indeed, it looks like a gravid guppy instead of a war machine.
This plan comes from a book on technical specifications which the publisher decided against printing...
Looking it over, I wondered if the TV series designers ever thought what a mini-submarine was. Looking at the technical plans, I was left wondering were the armor was, where the armament was kept, and several things started to bother me immediately.
While watching the TV episodes on-line, I noticed that the Stinger in the TV series mock-up is much different. The diver had no mask, flippers, dry suit, nor scuba apparatus which leads me to believe the vehicle's cockpit is pressurized. In the cockpit, I did not see any guidance systems, communications systems, nor escape apparatus.
The outside of the vehicle has fins with position lights but none seem to assist in maneuvering. The tail is low and rigid. Headlights are placed in the perfect position to obscure lateral views. The engines look like turbines and even have petals (for afterburners? ) yet the intake is a tiny snout at the tip!
This will not do. As much as I fought it, my terminal AMS took over.
The tadpole tail...
The lower hull lacks maneuvering fins so I plan to place an intake here, a sharkmouth if you will! B)
The combat diver in all his unarmored glory. I glued his head looking slightly to starboard.
First cuts with my sushi knife (in preparation for soup?)
A sheet of thin styrene for the shape with thicker slivers to build it up.
The canopy was modified and cutting off the rear part. this will be used as an escape board.
I have now filled in the rear fin with epoxy putty which was smoothed with wet fingers. After two hours, I will sand and carve to final shape before switching to Mr. Surfacer. Epoxy putty will be placed within the stern portion of the keel to strengthen it before cutting out the intake.
Maneuvering fins and a trademark shark fin will be added. The slots locating the previous fins may be used for armament so I have not filled them yet.
The combat diver will have his silly baseball cap removed and a proper re-breather (a futuristic Dräger set), dry suit, flippers, gloves, and depth gage. The re-breather will be housed in the escape board behind the diver. Solder wire oxygen hoses will lead to it.
Till the next installment (trust me, with this kid on my tail, it will get done).
Regards,