Calling all Russian submarine fans

[Neptune]

Escape pod or towed array pod?

[Vepr157]

Neptune,

I should have clarified, I meant the towed array pod. I have a diagram of the inside of a Sierra I pod, but I really need plans showing the configuration of the inner and outer hulls.

Jacob

[Neptune]

Used to have pics of an opened up one after a collision with a surface ship, don't really recall which Sierra with which surface ship. Threw them away cause there was no real use to keep them I guess, except for your request now of course. Anyway these pics are around, so you might have a look for them. I'll have a look at some sources if I can retrieve them too. I doubt you'll find anything accurate when it comes to plans though.

[Vepr157]

Neptune,

Are you referring to the photos of Kostroma after her collision with USS Baton Rouge?

http://i.imgur.com/wUxyPJW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/88myv4T.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WjafzcG.jpg

Yeah, the only plans I could find were in Norman Polmar and KJ Moore's Cold War Submarines, and they weren't very accurate. Norman said he'd ask KJ if he had any more accurate plans.

Jacob

[Neptune]

This is something I found.


For the actual pics I'm still looking. Would go faster if I had a decent connection...

[Vepr157]

Neptune,

Thanks for that diagram, but I already have it. What I really need are plans like these, but for the Project 945 boats:

http://i.imgur.com/OCkmUni.jpg

Jacob

[Neptune]

I doubt the Akula has concave internal bulkheads, that was a feature of the Alfa class and a make-shift solution at that. I doubt they did the same in Akula.
Anyway such plans are generally coming from the Taifun magazine, considering the amount of plans/articles they have published, I wouldn't be surprised if they had one on the Sierra class as well. You could try to track that issue down. Accuracy remains doubtful of course, certainly since they still have that class in service and are upgrading them right now.

Not sure if the pics of the torn pod were from the collision with Baton Rouge, could have been a different collision as well, they had lots of those, not always involving "foreign" subs.

[Vepr157]

Neptune,

The Akulas most definitely have spherical bulkheads. I've seen official Malakhit plans for the Akula in a special, internal-issue only book and they looked nearly identical to those plans I linked. Also, the plans for the Boreis clearly show spherical bulkheads in the bow (because Boreis are essentially Akula SSBN conversions). The photo in my last post is from a book I own called Submarines of the Soviet Fleet, 1945-1991 Volume III, by Yuri Apalkov. It's in Russian, but it has plans for every third and fourth generation Russian submarine except the Sierras. I believe the reason that seemingly no plans for the Sierras exist is because they were designed by a small design bureau that no longer makes submarines. Based on all the scouring I've done in the literature and on Russian forums, I am convinced that there are no Sierra plans outside of the shipyards and design bureaus in Russia.

Oh, and now I remember what photo you were describing. It's a Victor III (not Sierra) pod, with the front missing and a cable hanging out of it, right?

Jacob

[Neptune]

Kind of doubt it, I can't remember any wire hanging out and I thought it was the back part that was missing. I could however be mistaken, it's been a while since I've seen that picture. Perhaps it was a Victor after all. Apalkov often misses out on below waterline details, so has to be taken with a grain of salt, although I agree his books are nice. As mentioned before they are upgrading the Sierra's so I doubt they'll be very forgiving for anybody releasing details on that class for now.

[Vepr157]

Neptune,

I don't the fact that they're reactivating and modernizing the Sierras has anything to do with it. They're modernizing several Akulas and planning to upgrade the Oscar IIs to the Project 949AM standard and their plans are readily available. I think it has to do with the fact that the Sierras were designed by Lazurit, a much smaller design bureau than Rubin or Malakhit, and it stopped designing military submarines after the end of the Cold War. Combined with the fact that there were so few submarines built, there are likely few plans in circulation outside military archives. Lazurit doesn't even have a website, while Malakhit and Rubin have museums and publish books.

Jacob

[Tim Jacobs]

July 27, 2014. Channel "1 TV". Russia, Arkhangelsk region. Navy Day in Russia. SSBN Vladimir Monomakh.

At 0:46 there is a clear shot of the upper vertical stabilizer and rudder. As discussed some time ago, the stab is at least a meter shorter than that on the Nevskiy or Dolgorukiy and the rudder has a different shape along the bottom. (see post this thread pg 13 dtd 19 Jan 2013)

[_viper_]

Well, for those interested, HB 1/350 Typhoon is out in Japan and pics of the parts and instructions are available here:
http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10281513
It looks like they fixed the number of missiles and that there is some interesting detail right in that area (you have all 20 missile canisters and also the hatches carry some details).
The rest of the issues pointed out before are still there, but at least the most glaring error has been fixed.

All of this for the nice price of 60$

If bought in China I suspect it can be had for 40$...

[Neptune]

I guess counting isn't their strong side (or mine), but am I counting 8 blades on those PE props? I'm fairly sure it's 7 blades on the real one... But of course the cheap 60USD is for free, so sure it's worth the money

[_viper_]

Yep, my references also have seven blades per screw.
Thanks for pointing it out!

Even at 40$ it would still be on the expensive side for what you get.
Except maybe one can use it to detail the Alanger kit better

[Vepr157]

In regard to the Typhoon screws, TK-208 Dmitri Donskoi (and possibly others) had 5-bladed screws when she was launched.



But she and her sister ships had 7-bladed skewback screws in their final configuration. But no 8-bladed screws, of course.



Mikro-Mir is coming out with a Typhoon sometime this year, so I would buy that over the HB kit. Mikro-Mir kits are typically extremely accurate and really cheap, so their Typhoon might cost around $25.

[_viper_]

Wow Vepr!

That is terrific news about MikroMir...I will wait for their take then!
I have two of their Alfas (one built) and have to agree on their accuracy.
I just hope such a long hull won't give them issues (their molds look to be very home-made by the look and feel of the sprues) and so far they have always tackled "short" boats...

BTW, since you seem to be well connected, do you know if they plan a Sierra I and maybe a Sierra II anytime soon?

Thx!

[guilherme_ferreira]

I received some news from MikroMir a while ago. They say we should expect some delay on new releases. As we know, Ukraine is facing some difficult times.

[Vepr157]

Viper,

I'm not particularly well connected with Mikro-Mir, it's just that I have been obsessively searching "Mikromir [insert sub name]" for a few weeks. I built their Skipjack, Permit and Sturgeon and loved them, except for the fact that the hulls didn't fit together particularly well, so I hope they can produce a model as large a Typhoon without warping. I don't know what kits they're going to do next. And as guilherme_ferreira said, Ukraine is having issues at the moment (to say the least), so I wouldn't expect a ton from them until this whole crisis is over. What I really want is an accurate Akula. Once I get that I can die a happy man. I suppose I could shell out $70+ to get a Polar Bear kit, but I'd rather not if there was a plastic kit on the market.

[Peter O]

Speaking of Polar Bear, have you ever been able to contact them? I've been trying for about a month, but they're not answering. I'm interested in their Golf II kit.

[_viper_]

Thanks for the answers guys.

Indeed I had not realozed they are based in Ukraine...I agree with you both it could take a while before we see other kits...and I sure hope model kits can be a concern for them, means life is easy enough to allow for some ditractions.