An idea - 1/14 Alvin Submersible

[Damocles]

I'm thinking about building a 1/14 scale Alvin deep submersible. Why 1/14? The pressure sphere on Alvin is 84 inches in dia. Using a 6" sphere would give me 1/14 scale. Approx 18 or so inches long too. I've been working on rough drawings and research for about a week. I haven't really seen too many people do it. There was once an R/C kit available, but it looked expensive. I'm just interested in a static display. This Sketchup model isn't done yet. Alvin is currently undergoing a renovation and rebuilding which will enable it reach a dept of 6500 meters. I would like to build this newest representation.

<em>Alvin</em> Gets an Interior Re-design : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

 

[yuumi2891103]

Do you build this with vacuum forming or something ?
This is going to be a great model as always.

 

[Damocles]

Thank you Katsu!

Yes, that would be the most efficient method. Either that or just carve it from urethane foam.

 

[terryr]

Neat. Alvin has been around a long time, even though it's been many ships, not one.

 

[tsenecal]

Damocles,

use a 7" sphere... you will get a lot more people interested in a kit if you decide to do one if the thing is 1/12 scale... (hint hint)

terryr, yes, the Alvin was "commissioned" in 1964, and now has over 4000 dives to its credit, and it goes through a major overhaul every 2 years, so, yes, every single part of the submarine has been replaced at least once, and upgraded at least once, with the current refit being the most elaborate yet, more elaborate even than the one done in the late seventies when the original steel personnel sphere was replaced with the titanium one.

back to Damocles, my favorite personal Alvin kit is one of the r/c kits you spoke of in your original post, i also have a tiny 1/144 japanese static model, and the Viking Models 1/35 resin kit. safe to say i have a certain affinity for this particular submersible. I remember seeing it for the first time in a National Geographic magazine when i was about 10 years old and thinking it was the coolest thing i had ever seen.

Long overdue Alvin build photos - RC Groups
Alvin in the local pool on Vimeo

please keep posting here on your endeavors to make the latest version of the Alvin. I for one am very interested in seeing this build thread.

 

[Damocles]

Tsenecal, thanks for the input and for sharing your build! She looks great, the detail is incredible! I wasn't really planning on producing a kit. Maybe, but I hadn't really thought about that.

I'm still in the planning mode and have other projects in the build stage at the moment, so it may be awhile. :thumbsup

 

[enjay]

I'm currently renovating a model I started for university over 14 years ago. The model is of the Alvin circa 1986 and is 1:15 scale. I never got a chance to finish the model for my end of year show. As it was, I had to sand and spray up the pieces as they were, assemble them and throw together some sparse detail really quickly so that I had something to display. The models specs, proportions and measurements were based on some really poor resolution images that were available in 1998 from the internet. As a result every measurement contradicted itself and it turned out to be a very frustrating thing to get right. Since then thankfully I'm at a stage now where I have a ton of good info, some schematics, high res images to work from and a model that hasn't faired too badly in a box these last 14 years. These pictures are ones I had done at the time and the last image was taken yesterday after I loosely assembled the chemiwood/modelboard pieces. I'm currently cutting it up to re-proportion it now based on the new measurements and info. This will be a static museum piece.