637 Class (Stretch) 3D Printed Submarine in 1/72 Scale

[X Bubble Head]

Just completed one of my favorite boats, the USS Parche (SSN-683) - the most decorated ship in the history of the US Navy. Being a highly modified "SSN Unique," the Parche underwent two conversions. This is the first converted version completed in the late 70's. The second version, finished in the early 90's was lengthened by 100' forward of the sail. It's on my build list after I finish a couple of higher priority builds.

Designed, 3D printed, and assembled by me. There were about 90 keel blocks with each individually embossed on the bottom with position and location. Each has a pad bonded to the mating surface with the hull to prevent scratches. Parche will get another paint job, (weathering) before it's sent to its new home. Total length (including the base) is 60" x 8".




CC

 

[bowwild]

That is so neat!

 

[John McQuaid]

Beautiful job, I spent 4 years on one of the of the other 637 stretch hulls, the Archerfish SSN678 lots of differences.

 

[SSMM1]

Fantastic model . Are you going to ever sell copies of the files? I'm trying to make a 637 long hull boat.

 

[BradNSW]

Beautiful work!! Love the dry dock dunnage/bracing you made!

I served as the Dry Deck Dept Head on three 637s (Tunny, Cavala, and Bates) in the early 1990s!

The Dry Deck shelter was basically a parking garage, for our SEAL Delivery Vehicles (mini-subs). It looked similar to your DSRV but larger/closer to the sail. See photo of the Bates below:


Your propeller 3D print is compelling! It might have landed you in prison 50 years ago !

Thanks for sharing!

 

[X Bubble Head]

Beautiful job, I spent 4 years on one of the of the other 637 stretch hulls, the Archerfish SSN678 lots of differences.

Archerfish was a hot runner!

 

[Phoscar]

Je suis absolument émerveillé par ce que je découvre aujourd'hui dans le domaine du modélisme. Vous êtes l'une de ces personnes, monsieur.

 

[X Bubble Head]

Fantastic model . Are you going to ever sell copies of the files? I'm trying to make a 637 long hull boat.

Thanks! Parche was the first prototype for a series of hulls based on the original 637 design to allow building them in their various configurations. It was a fun build, and I learned a lot. Making a 3D model is much easier than designing a 3D model that prints well.

The hull design that followed (for Seawolf) incorporated many Lessons Learned from the Parche build that made 3D printing and assembly a lot easier. With that in mind, I'm going to re-design the 637 class with these changes included at some point, but . . .

At the moment, I have a very busy US Cold War submarine design schedule. I get a lot of requests for the George Washington class, (my qual boat) and since it has many similarities with the Skipjack class, the build will produce two classes.

When I complete my US Cold War Nuclear Submarine Collection, I'll consider selling my work online.

You can purchase an inexpensive 637 short hull STL here: https://www.rc-submarine.com/product-page/us-sturgeon-class-submarine-3d-stl-files

CC

 

[X Bubble Head]

Beautiful work!! Love the dry dock dunnage/bracing you made!

I served as the Dry Deck Dept Head on three 637s (Tunny, Cavala, and Bates) in the early 1990s!

The Dry Deck shelter was basically a parking garage, for our SEAL Delivery Vehicles (mini-subs). It looked similar to your DSRV but larger/closer to the sail. See photo of the Bates below:
View attachment 581595

Your propeller 3D print is compelling! It might have landed you in prison 50 years ago !

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Brad!

The admiral who was our guest speaker that night said the same thing - but let his hand do the talking!



I still need to design a DDS to add to my 637 and 688 topside accessories. It's on the list!

CC

 

[X Bubble Head]

Je suis absolument émerveillé par ce que je découvre aujourd'hui dans le domaine du modélisme. Vous êtes l'une de ces personnes, monsieur.

Merci beaucoup ! Je serai toujours un élève de l'artisanat.

CC

 

[John McQuaid]

Archerfish was a hot runner!

Thank you, she was, I served from 1982 to 1986. IMO I lucked out, the experience set the tone for the rest of my time in the navy and government service. I plan on looking into the link below and building one as a future project. Attached is a image and scale version I built from a piping tab and wire. My first northern run in between events.

 

[X Bubble Head]

Very creative!

I use piping tabs and other official drawings to ensure the models are created exactly to scale using orthographic views superimposed in each axis.

While 1/72 scale is ideal for showing off tiny details, (and RC conversion) 1/144 scale is better suited for shelf-mounted displays at home. I'll include the Parche's second revision in a future build once the 637-class re-design is complete.

I was onboard, (as the Bangor Ship's Superintendent) when this pic was taken as she arrived in Nov '94 after changing homeports from MINSY to Bangor.

I was an STS/SS as well; left the Navy and worked in the TRF Sonar Shop, (mostly Q-6 and visiting SSNs) for ten years, before switching positions, then moving to the private sector.

 

[John McQuaid]

Mine is very rough given the tools and space available at the time, I went though an over haul in portsmouth naval and made quite a few connections with the Sonar shop, I thought about moving there when I left the service but got pulled toward home instead. Thanks for your efforts on the parche it's been a very pleasant revisit.

 

[X Bubble Head]

The pleasure is all mine!

The ten years I spent in 67G @ TRF Bangor were some of the best of my career. I went to every Navy submarine sonar school that I would have had to re-enlist to attend and became proficient since that was my sole job in life. Being a journeyman Electronic Integrated Systems Mechanic, there were multiple workmanship standards we were required to learn and recertify bi-annually, and these skills came in handy later on in my career.

While there, I volunteered for and went to 2M Repair (Micro-miniature) school when our resident civilian tech transferred. That was the most challenging "hands-on" training I ever complete, but it taught me how to use specialized tools under a microscope which benefits my model assembly. TRF gave you as much training as you could ask for, and was a great place to work. I see on FB they hold near-monthly Hiring Events. When I worked there, it could take years to get in the door.

 

[Roger Pellett]

Very nice work!
I was an NR Engineer; 1/1/1966-12/31/1969 and worked on S5W reactor plant piping systems and shielding. Even though the reactor plant had been used in many operating submarines there wants always plenty to do. For example USS Guitarro at Mare Island.

Roger

 

[Phoscar]

Une petite histoire.

En 1977, j'étais à bord du porte-hélicoptères Jeanne d'Arc.
Au cours de cette mission, notre navire a fait escale à Pearl Harbor (du 18 au 23 mars).
Lors de cette visite, j'ai rencontré un membre d'équipage du sous-marin USS Poggy (SSN 647). J'ai eu le grand privilège d'être autorisé à monter à bord et à visiter les zones autorisées.
Le lendemain, j'ai fait visiter mon navire à ce marin.
Je lui ai alors offert quelques souvenirs de mon navire et, en retour, j'ai reçu une boucle de ceinture ornée de l'insigne des sous-marins de la Marine et du nom du navire.

Je porte fièrement cette boucle depuis maintenant 49 ans.

Notre navire a également participé aux célébrations du bicentenaire des États-Unis d'Amérique en 1976 (notre déploiement a duré du 2 novembre 1976 au 9 mai 1977).

C'est tout, rien de particulièrement important, sauf pour moi.

 

[X Bubble Head]

Une petite histoire.

En 1977, j'étais à bord du porte-hélicoptères Jeanne d'Arc.
Au cours de cette mission, notre navire a fait escale à Pearl Harbor (du 18 au 23 mars).
Lors de cette visite, j'ai rencontré un membre d'équipage du sous-marin USS Poggy (SSN 647). J'ai eu le grand privilège d'être autorisé à monter à bord et à visiter les zones autorisées.
Le lendemain, j'ai fait visiter mon navire à ce marin.
Je lui ai alors offert quelques souvenirs de mon navire et, en retour, j'ai reçu une boucle de ceinture ornée de l'insigne des sous-marins de la Marine et du nom du navire.

Je porte fièrement cette boucle depuis maintenant 49 ans.

Notre navire a également participé aux célébrations du bicentenaire des États-Unis d'Amérique en 1976 (notre déploiement a duré du 2 novembre 1976 au 9 mai 1977).

C'est tout, rien de particulièrement important, sauf pour moi.

J'étais présent à Pearl Harbor lorsque votre navire a visité et j'avais un bon ami à bord du Pogy que j'ai rencontré à l'école de sonar. Je suis sûr que la différence de taille entre les deux navires était appréciable ! J'ai donné de nombreuses visites de sous-marins à Pearl Harbor et les expressions sur les visages des gens étaient inestimables. Voici une photo du Pogy à cette époque.

 

[Phoscar]

Merci beaucoup pour cette photographie qui, une fois imprimée, sera ajoutée à mon album.

Veuillez accepter mes excuses pour l'orthographe erronée du nom du navire : USS POGY.

Passez une bonne fin de journée et prenez soin de vous.
Marc.

 

[Roger Pellett]

Pogy was another problem submarine. She was the last vessel being built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey and the US Government was bearing the entire cost of operating the yard. Once she was launched she was towed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard and New York ship went out of business.

She was eventually finished by Ingalls and they began to find lots of poor workmanship by New York Ship. All of this had to be reviewed, but this was just Govt. procedure because the answer was always “Fix it!”

Roger

 

[X Bubble Head]

Ingalls was famous for their high-quality work. On a famous training tape of a submarine collision, the sonar Chief can be heard to say, "They sure build 'em good at Ingalls!"

-And as you mentioned, Guitarro had a storied past, but she went on to become a good boat.