Scale Models - View Single Post - 1:100 'Typhoon' Submarine Building Thread

Mankster · 25-07-2006

Well almost 4 years after a purchased my first one, I have taken delivery of my second Engel Typhoon in 1:100 scale. I sold my original before it ever saw any paint and had only been tank tested, for a fair price. It was the boat that got me back into this hobby after an 8 year absence, but this new boat has made the pain much easier to bear!

This latest version, is one of the so-called ‘Master Scale’ Series. The biggest difference between the two kits is the hull which is now fully scribed looks very impressive. The depth of the scribing of the acoustic tiles is just right IMHO that when it’s painted will look very realistic. It molded with a light grey, as apposed to white, gel coat. The tower is now made of resin and is about 20% lighter. The hull molding is now thinner and little more flexible compared to the rigid hull of the previous one. There are now a couple of reinforcements needed for the hull to keep its shape If nothing else this will mean that the volume of the material will now be less and it will be easier to achieve a scale waterline with the 1.65 litre ballast tanks. The front hull closing mechanism is improvedand so is the manual, now with a few photographs on how to build the front dive plane retract system. I notice that Engel have changed some of the measurement on the construction plan, I know people have had trouble getting the planes to operate properly before using the old measurements. The manual now recommends the ‘Option’ of thrusters to help maneuvering the boat, though Engel don’t sell an upgrade for this at the moment. With the weight of this boat, I suspect any thrusters will be to aid docking maneuvers rather than help with the turning circle when under way, The optional periscope mechanism has been altered and the scopes themselves are more realistic, though some accurizing and repositioning will be necessary

Well second time round, having learned from some mistakes, and having gained a little more modeling experience, I am going to be making some changes to the kit to improve scale appearance, performance, ease of maintenance, and to add some new working features. Hopefully with Wayne Frey’s new book and with the information I have gathered on the Typhoon over the years I will make this as ‘Scale’ as possible. I haven’t decided if I should build her as TK-208, or her later incarnation as Dmitri Donskoi; it will depend how much info I can dig up in the mean time. This is not going to be a quickie build by any means and I will be taking my time on this and working on other projects in-between. So there may not be frequent updates.

Completed, this sub will come out at aprox 68” (1.72m) and weigh nearly 50lb (22Kg). I consider this to be a wet hull boat, its just that the pressure compartment is rather large and hence buoyant, so a lot of keel weight will be needed to balance it out. Still this will make the boat pretty stable and its momentum will allow it to plough through the roughest waves on the surface. Also there’s plenty of space for upgrades, modifications and such. Being such a large sub I don’t see this as one that will be used too frequently in the lake, so I hope to be able to convince the wife to allow it to be displayed in the corner of the lounge somewhere!

I ordered it direct from Germany, my credit card was only charged on the day of shipping after I received an email with tracking details, and it arrived 3 days later. Customer service was very good. At the time of writing the kit in this configuration is not yet for general sale, and the diving system (which takes 3 channels to operate properly) had to be built to order for me which took 2 weeks. Well this is what you get when you order. The long box (nearly 7 foot long !) contains the hull and plans and the smaller one, everything else.

Everything was well packed and there was no damage. As you can see even in kit form it is of impressive size with a lot of presence. This one will hold its own amongst those pesky 1/32 and 1/40 scale UBoats when out on the lake. And those 1/96 frigate force guys with their ‘little’ 9lb targets, that tried to ram my HMS Trenchant recently, had better get out the way!

The kit comes with, ready mounted twin drive motors and gear box with ball bearing supported shafts, the front plane retract gearbox and motor, 2x 825ml piston tanks and controller, 5kg of lead ballast and polyester lamination resin. The 3 large GRP moldings are the top and bottom hull and the pressure hull. There are two full size plan sheets and foam to trim the boat.The working periscope mechanism is an option which I purchased. The instructions are comprehensive, as always its worth reading thoroughly and digesting – as you’ll find that deviating from the recommended build order is beneficial. Power is from a 6v 12Ah lead acid battery and I will be running 2 ESC’s for the twin drive. I hope to use a throttle/ rudder mixer unit, rather that twin throttle sticks.

The pressure hull with the central opening. The lid/hatch that will cover the opening is the 3mm thick alu sheet to the right. Sealed via an O-ring cord and held down with 14 nuts and bolts in the traditional way. This type of pressure hull compared to the now more usual Water Tight Container, whislt more laborious to seal, allows for for easier component placement, the easy addition of working features like scopes, missles etc, and easier trimming of the boat (there'll be no foam used in this one

)

Ok so thats what you get in the basic kit, I have had to purchase other bits like batteries and ESC's etc.I have also gathered the extra working features I will be building into the sub. Thats it for now, more to follow as I get to it!

25-07-2006	#6 (permalink)
Mankster Scale Model Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London My Models: RC Postwar Subs and Naval ships Visit Mankster's Gallery Posts: 262 Thanks: 1 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Well almost 4 years after a purchased my first one, I have taken delivery of my second Engel Typhoon in 1:100 scale. I sold my original before it ever saw any paint and had only been tank tested, for a fair price. It was the boat that got me back into this hobby after an 8 year absence, but this new boat has made the pain much easier to bear! This latest version, is one of the so-called ‘Master Scale’ Series. The biggest difference between the two kits is the hull which is now fully scribed looks very impressive. The depth of the scribing of the acoustic tiles is just right IMHO that when it’s painted will look very realistic. It molded with a light grey, as apposed to white, gel coat. The tower is now made of resin and is about 20% lighter. The hull molding is now thinner and little more flexible compared to the rigid hull of the previous one. There are now a couple of reinforcements needed for the hull to keep its shape If nothing else this will mean that the volume of the material will now be less and it will be easier to achieve a scale waterline with the 1.65 litre ballast tanks. The front hull closing mechanism is improvedand so is the manual, now with a few photographs on how to build the front dive plane retract system. I notice that Engel have changed some of the measurement on the construction plan, I know people have had trouble getting the planes to operate properly before using the old measurements. The manual now recommends the ‘Option’ of thrusters to help maneuvering the boat, though Engel don’t sell an upgrade for this at the moment. With the weight of this boat, I suspect any thrusters will be to aid docking maneuvers rather than help with the turning circle when under way, The optional periscope mechanism has been altered and the scopes themselves are more realistic, though some accurizing and repositioning will be necessary Well second time round, having learned from some mistakes, and having gained a little more modeling experience, I am going to be making some changes to the kit to improve scale appearance, performance, ease of maintenance, and to add some new working features. Hopefully with Wayne Frey’s new book and with the information I have gathered on the Typhoon over the years I will make this as ‘Scale’ as possible. I haven’t decided if I should build her as TK-208, or her later incarnation as Dmitri Donskoi; it will depend how much info I can dig up in the mean time. This is not going to be a quickie build by any means and I will be taking my time on this and working on other projects in-between. So there may not be frequent updates. Completed, this sub will come out at aprox 68” (1.72m) and weigh nearly 50lb (22Kg). I consider this to be a wet hull boat, its just that the pressure compartment is rather large and hence buoyant, so a lot of keel weight will be needed to balance it out. Still this will make the boat pretty stable and its momentum will allow it to plough through the roughest waves on the surface. Also there’s plenty of space for upgrades, modifications and such. Being such a large sub I don’t see this as one that will be used too frequently in the lake, so I hope to be able to convince the wife to allow it to be displayed in the corner of the lounge somewhere! I ordered it direct from Germany, my credit card was only charged on the day of shipping after I received an email with tracking details, and it arrived 3 days later. Customer service was very good. At the time of writing the kit in this configuration is not yet for general sale, and the diving system (which takes 3 channels to operate properly) had to be built to order for me which took 2 weeks. Well this is what you get when you order. The long box (nearly 7 foot long !) contains the hull and plans and the smaller one, everything else. Everything was well packed and there was no damage. As you can see even in kit form it is of impressive size with a lot of presence. This one will hold its own amongst those pesky 1/32 and 1/40 scale UBoats when out on the lake. And those 1/96 frigate force guys with their ‘little’ 9lb targets, that tried to ram my HMS Trenchant recently, had better get out the way! The kit comes with, ready mounted twin drive motors and gear box with ball bearing supported shafts, the front plane retract gearbox and motor, 2x 825ml piston tanks and controller, 5kg of lead ballast and polyester lamination resin. The 3 large GRP moldings are the top and bottom hull and the pressure hull. There are two full size plan sheets and foam to trim the boat.The working periscope mechanism is an option which I purchased. The instructions are comprehensive, as always its worth reading thoroughly and digesting – as you’ll find that deviating from the recommended build order is beneficial. Power is from a 6v 12Ah lead acid battery and I will be running 2 ESC’s for the twin drive. I hope to use a throttle/ rudder mixer unit, rather that twin throttle sticks. The pressure hull with the central opening. The lid/hatch that will cover the opening is the 3mm thick alu sheet to the right. Sealed via an O-ring cord and held down with 14 nuts and bolts in the traditional way. This type of pressure hull compared to the now more usual Water Tight Container, whislt more laborious to seal, allows for for easier component placement, the easy addition of working features like scopes, missles etc, and easier trimming of the boat (there'll be no foam used in this one ) Ok so thats what you get in the basic kit, I have had to purchase other bits like batteries and ESC's etc.I have also gathered the extra working features I will be building into the sub. Thats it for now, more to follow as I get to it! Last edited by Mankster; 25-07-2006 at 11:22.