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| A Zwaardvis class boat in action, picture from the web. |
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| A Zwaardvis class boat in action, picture from the web. |
| The author made a static model of the Dutch Zwaardvis class boat. The plans were obtained from the Dutch modelers association (Nederlandse Vereniging van Modelbouwers, No. 10 11 040). Please buy the plans when you decide to build this boat. Below, the building of the boat is elucidated. |
| Class | Zwaardvis |
| Build | 1999 |
| Length | 0.78 m |
| Width | 0.10 m |
| Weight | X kg |
| Transmitter | static model |
| Balast system | static model |
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| Model of a Zwaardvis class submarine, scale 1:85, 78 cm long. |
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| After Xeroxing the original plans to the desired scale on A4 paper, all of the bulkhead drawings were glued on wood panels. I chose the scale in such a way that the bulkheads would fit onto 10 cm wide wooden panels I had in stock. The complete model is 78 cm long, leading to a 1:85 scale. |
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| All of the bulkheads cut out with a fret saw. The bottom part of the picture shows the elements of the conning tower. Each wooden panel has a hole drilled in the center. |
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| The bulkheads are kept into place by two brass rods. Centering the bulkheads is easy. First a couple of bulkheads were fitted on top of each other using a brass rod in the center hole. After aligning them a second hole was drilled. |
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| Small triplex strips were glued onto the bulkheads and were kept into place by pins. After the curing of the glue, the pins were removed. In the entire model not a single nail or screw was used! |
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| Raw model of the sub just before the first layer of plaster is applied. A large number of plaster layers was used, each layer was rigorously sanded before the next one was applied. Notice the bow of the boat, consisting of stacked 10 cm thick balsa elements. Because balsa wood is soft, the bow can be shaped easily with sandpaper. |
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| Gluing the dive planes to the conning tower. Notice the brass rod that will form the attack periscope. Just like as for the bulkheads, this rod was used to align and center the separate parts of the tower. |
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| The decks fitted to to model. The decks were made from 0.4 mm thick brass plates into which the details were fotoetched. The negative used in the etching procedure can be found below. |
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| The sail (to the right) attached to the hull. This picture shows a detail of the brass fotoetched decks. |
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| Model airbrushed in the base color. The details of the decks were made more pronounced by filling them with black ink. |
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| Detail showing the conning tower of the model. From left to right, the navigation periscope, the attack periscope, the radar mast, the radio mast and the snorkel mast. The details of the deck are also nicely shown. The depth scale (white) and the (black) vent holes were airbrushed on the model using a stencil that was fotoetched into a 0.1 mm thick brass sheet. |
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| Top view of the Zwaardvis. Overall it took the author one year to complete the model. |
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| Plans of the Zwaardvis. Drawings taken from the Dutch modelers association. Please buy the original drawings when building this boat!!!! Large picture (8395 x 2845 pixels, 571 kBytes) here. |
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| Negative to fotoetch the decks of the zwaardvis. Large picture (2880 x 5575 pixels, 216 kByte) here. |
