Another image showing the structure from the starboard side.

Hi Phil.
very nice update. your hours of work have paid off.
Ian

That`s a lot of work you have put in there, but the end result seems far better when compared to the real thing.

Well done.

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

I have to agree with everyone else, all those hours you put into the modification makes a hugh difference.

Great job

For the next part of the build I will concentrate on the Engine Room.

As I have opened up the Motor Room /Aft Torpedo Compartment to expose detail, I wanted to have the bulkhead door between the Engine Room and Motor Room open to create a sense of flow. This would generally be the case on the real thing [unless during emergency] so that verbal communication could take place between the two spaces.

At this point I have already fitted the upper port plastic hull piece as supplied with the part-works. This in itself required a bit of filing to get it to line up correctly.

The next stage was to dry-fit the etched-brass upper-aft engine room bulkhead and check for fit. This also required a lot of material removal as the profile didn't allow this part to sit square and in-line. Once I was happy with the dry-fit, I removed it and proceeded to cut-out the bulk head door profile form the brass bulkhead.

The attached image shows the door removed. I will build this up later, adding the details from the part-works and also add hinges so it can be in the open position.

I then offered up the upper aft bulkhead to the Engine Room to measure and cut-out the profile from the MDF support.

Once it was marked out, I then removed the material. This was quite fiddly as the MDF is very dense and the space I had to drill and file to open up the bulkhead was limited.

When this was done satisfactorily and slightly over-size [the bulkhead itself would provide the correct location], I proceeded to file and fit the lower aft Engine Room bulkhead.

This proved to be a little test in itself as I had to have this sitting perpendicular so that the drive shaft holes were parallel; more of which later on.

My engineers square was too large to offer up and in thinking of a way to check the lower bulkhead was vertical, I spotted some etched brass sheet cut-offs. Taking a corner piece, I checked it against my engineers square and low and behold it worked a treat!

See attached image of my micro engineers square. This now belongs in my tool kit as it will no doubt come in handy for the future. Happy days!

Great job Phil, your mods are excellent.

Graeme

Thanks Graeme!!

Now that the lower bulkhead was fixed and lined up correctly, I drilled through it into the Motor Room.

On the real boats, the engines [Port & Starboard] were connected via shafts to the main motors in the Motor Room. These main motors could be switched between direct drive from the engines when surfaced or switched to battery power when dived. As I want to scratch-build the main motors in the Motor Room it is important to have everything in-line when I come to build them. This starts with having their shafts parallel. Around these shafts I can then build and profile the main motors. I will construct them at some point in the future of this build.

The attached image shows the holes drilled through to except a 2mm brass rod which will be cut to length later and provide the shafts for the main motors.

A 2mm washer was slid down the uncut shaft and glued around the hole where it enters the Motor Room. This will act as a support for the front of the main motor drive shaft.

The attached images show the shafts cut to length and in place. They have a secure fit but still allowing the shafts to be removed at anytime until the main motors are complete.