by Charles Daigneault
1/6 Beebe Barton Bathysphere of 1934 (Scratchbuilt)
I have always been drawn to odd subjects in modeling, after reading the book "half a mile down" by William Beebe I was inspired to model the bathysphere as it looked painted blue during it's 1934 national geographic sponsored pioneering deep dives down to 3,028 feet. the model's sphere is made form a large styrene fisherman's line float, the portholes glass is 1/4 thick plexiglass, the rough exterior texture is acomplished using wall patch compound and a sponge, the hatch and portholes are pvc pipe all others components are fabricated from styrene stock and pvc plumbing turned on a lathe. modeling even a simple spherical subject such as this one is a challenge because it is very difficult to center details and achieve symetry, a lot of careful positionning is needed, once a hole is drilled, there is no going back so everything must be perfectly positionned before comitting to cca or epoxy glue. the hatch is removable and there is some detailing inside, but because the interior is painted black as on the original, they are very difficult to see.
