The lower rudder hub printed beautifully. The only thing that didn’t were most of the plugs that are created when you “drill” drainage holes in hollow objects. The plugs are tapered so they can be pressed in. With a little sanding, the holes disappear. All of them save one ended up stuck to the barrier film, and yes, I had to empty the vat and remove any stuck resin. I will fill the holes with Bondic. Takes a little longer, but with good results. The rudder shaft sildes perfectly through the hole I created.
By drawing the skin and printing with it, saves me a lot of painstaking work in applying a skin.
The upper large part of the hub just finished printing too. In this case ALL of the plugs printed, but a part of the welding flange that wasn’t attached to the part’s body, failed to print. This is a non-important detail which I, frankly, am not sure how to incorporate into the model.
If I’m keeping this detail, I will fabricate it. Not worth wasting the resin to reprint.
The next part that’s going on the printer is the leading edge part (fairwater) that goes on the that squared-off front wall. It will have an aircraft-style water-dynamic edge when finished.
Ryan sent me some more images of the hydraulics room, specifically the gauge panel. He also sent me the entire index of every blueprint the ship has. There are hundreds of them! I sorted out those that pertain to steering and then further chose those that would contain the information I’m seeking. On some I wasn’t sure if they would provide value, so Ryan’s going to review them for me to make that determination. He’s then going to photograph those that are pertinent so I can use them to finish up the project. It’s great to have a man on the inside.