Yeah I know I posted about buying a sub a couple weeks ago, but prices and such have driven me to the unthinkable (well maybe thinkable), scratchbuilt. I Have the space and the tools to cut the foam to lay the fiberglass on and all. I just need some advice beginning with how do i draw the plans up with no cad program (well yeah a cad but a very poor one not useful. So any ideas will be helpful. The sub is going to be one of the Virginia-class, thinking maybe Hawaii
PatternD

need ideas here guys. Any (helpful) and all (serious) ideas are accepted.

basicly a cylinder design...
after building the Robbe Seawolf, i also said, hey this is not that big a deal, i mean we have a cylinder with a more pointed end at the rear!
so even i thought, hey i could build a similar model with stuff from a local hardware store, and some skill with fiberglass!
i know that CAD is a wonderful device, but like you, i do not have access to the good software, or experience with such...
but i think that a basic scale down 1/350 or such would be a good dimensional guide...
wish i could be of more help, but in reality they are a regular cylinder with tapered ends, about as straight forward as one can go...
not that i have ever hand made anything!
all my work is from kits.

thanks for sharing your knowledge. I appreciate it.

PatternD

try this out http://www.hrfsbo.com/sub/

A large PVC pipe might make a good first hull.
If you are free flooding the hull and using a Water Tight Chamber for your equipment, then the pipe could be cut in half so you can access the insides by pulling off the top.

John Vanderheidens site(hfbrso) is a good "how to".

Good luck with the scratchbuilt...

I don't want to rain on your parade, but I have found that the scratch built process does not save much money. After a few design failures, or ideas that don't work as well as hoped you end up paying almost as much. With that said, I am not discouraging you from doing it. if you are going to do it, do it for the love of scratch building. It is a very demanding hobby, and requires a lot of time and patients, but it is very rewarding. I am in the process of getting my first boat in the water. It is a Seawolf conversion with a scratch built WTC. it has been a great project, and the next one for me is going to be a scratchbuilt sub that I am going to start this winter.

Adam

how about a PVC pipe sub

http://web.ticino.com/Submarine/



Cobalt zero