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Re: Typhoon

On Tue, 06 Jul 1999 00:04:40 -0700 Rick Lucertini  writes:
>Actually, no.  I've worked with FG and it's awkward at best, although 
>I enjoy what is possible with it.

I've never tried the moldless thing.   I've left that to my buddy who's
building an airplane.

>The beauty of the Typhoon is that the deck and bilges are straight 
>panels; no twisting, torturing,
>cold molding, steam bending, etc. 
> The stern is a wedge shape: very simple.  No cones.  The only 
>challenge - albeit a minor one - is
> developing the bow bulb.  But, even that is very straightforward if 
>you use ply molds as formers
> to get the arch shape.  A cylindrical hull requires a paraboloid 
>bow, not a simple arch.

I'm looking at the Revell model of the Typhoon (it sits over my
computer).
There's nothing at all complex about it, as you say.   Only the bow would
be an irritation, but not a challenge.

>That's certaily the challenge with design software.  

In general, CAD is a pain in the butt to learn.   I find Chine Hull
Designer
to be fairly simple and comprehensive (go to <www.carlsondesign.com>).

>Eventually I realized that some sci-fi
>illustrator or Russian designer had already accomplished what I was 
>struggling with: a hydrodynamic shape that was easy to build.

Sci-fi illustrator?   I'm still pointing out to some folk that the
Seaview
was designed by a car stylist.   

Stick with the Russians.   Their ideas were, it seems, intended to be
easy to build.  Most of the ships are curiously uncomplicated.   That
broad and heavy sail, however, owes more to high-speed requirements
than it does to anything else; in this respect, we'd be well-served to
skip the sail altogether, or use the British WW2 shapes. 

>I could literally develop it on napkins if I had to.

When you get drawings done, I'd like to see them.


Mike Holt
-- 

>

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