Author Topic: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'  (Read 6485 times)

Offline robunos

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Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« on: October 06, 2021, 04:43:01 AM »

Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'


Okay, like a lot of my Builds, this one's been planned for quite a while, and waiting for an opportunity to build it, so here we are . . .


The major problem the Soviets found with their aerosani was that they could only be used when the lakes and rivers were frozen, and snow was present on the ground. Although the Soviets also had aeroglisseri, aero engine powered speedboats for use when the rivers and lakes were ice-free, they couldn't be used in winter, or on land. Further neither type could be used during the rasputitsa, or spring thaw, when the water was liquid, but not ice free, and the snow had thawed, and the ground was just mud. What was needed was a single type of craft that could operate in all these conditions.
The answer, when it came, was simplicity itself. Starting with a damaged NKL-16 transport aerosan, it's skis were removed and replaced with a pair of floats from a scrapped Junkers airliner, dating from the time of pre-war Russo-German pact. The ski equipped aerosan steered by pivoting it's skis, which was impossible with the floats attached, so the linkages were re-arranged to operate a rudder mounted in the propeller's slipstream. As the floats were all metal, no reinforcement was needed to allow them to run over snow and ice.
The modified NKL-16M proved highly effective, and orders were issued to convert all aerosani to this new configuration, which the Soviets called a Hydrosan. In addition, all further aerosani were to be built as Hydrosani. Fortunately, the drawing for the Junkers type floats still existed, enabling them to be put back into production, and for the lighter aerosan types, smaller existing wooden floats could be used, suitably reinforced with metal keel plates for running over ice.
The NKL-16M is probably most famous for it's use during the siege of Leningrad, when it was used as a high-speed* courier, on Lake Ladoga, both during the winter on the ice road 'Road of Life', and in the summer when the lake had thawed.


*relatively speaking; the NKL-16M was capable of 40 mph on open water and smooth snow and ice, less on mud and ice containing water.


Cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2021, 10:28:07 PM »

Okay . . .
Made a start on this one.
First up, the parts for the floats. Depending on the boxing, the 1/72 Revell Junkers F-13 contains the parts to build a floatplane version,





and the floats complete. I've also filled the existing mounting holes, these will not be needed.





The vehicle proper will be based on the 1/72 ACE NKL-16/41 aerosan kit. The box,





and the parts for the body/hull/fuselage . . .





and assembled. The fits aren't perfect, so there's some filling to be done, and some detail parts to attach to complete this part . . .





That' All For Now, Stay Tuned . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Online LemonJello

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2021, 11:21:33 PM »
I'm liking where this is going. 

Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2021, 12:55:45 AM »
Nifty concept, and it is always nice to see braille scale armor getting some attention. ;) The only suggestion I would offer would be to make the sled a twin engine. The extra weight of the floats might not seem like much, but I suspect it would have been underpowered with the single radial.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2021, 01:31:47 AM »
The Soviet aerosans were interesting concepts; I didn't know there were 1/72 scale kits; I have the Trumpeter 1/35 kits.

I agree with Craig - Twin engines would look good!

Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2021, 05:06:26 AM »
Thanks for the suggestion, but unfortunately I don't have a suitable pair of matching engines, or propellers. I would also need to design and make a complete new engine mount. In addition, side by side engines would mean that the float track would need to be widened, and tandem engines would be . . . a mess.
As for an in-universe reason, the idea is that the Hydrosan is a minimum-change variant of the aerosan . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2021, 07:17:58 AM »
Very interesting concept

Offline jcf

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2021, 08:03:24 AM »
The fully amphibious Arctic Airboat Pro 560 pontoon hydrosan/aerosan only has one
engine. The weight of the floats wouldn't really be much of an issue for the engine
while on the water as you're floating on it and there's less drag than pushing across
snow or ice on skis.

“Conspiracy theory’s got to be simple.
Sense doesn’t come into it. People are
more scared of how complicated shit
actually is than they ever are about
whatever’s supposed to be behind the
conspiracy.”
-The Peripheral, William Gibson 2014

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2021, 02:35:44 AM »
For some reason the idea of one of these done as a school bus just popped into my head…
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2021, 04:25:10 AM »
Okay . . .
A little progress today. Got the bad joints filled and smoothed, attached the front fuel tank, which really changes the appearance of the vehicle; looks like a hippo to me, and added the 'suspension'. Next up, the engine and it's mounting . . .





That's All For Now, Stay Tuned . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2021, 04:28:13 AM »
The fully amphibious Arctic Airboat Pro 560 pontoon hydrosan/aerosan only has one
engine. The weight of the floats wouldn't really be much of an issue for the engine
while on the water as you're floating on it and there's less drag than pushing across
snow or ice on skis.


When I first came up with the idea for this build, I didn't know that these things existed, so my Whif was going to operate on water only. It was only when i decided to start the Build that I found out about them, and added the over ice capability . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2021, 06:49:10 AM »
At least you are doing something. Proceeding nicely

Offline finsrin

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2021, 10:20:29 AM »
Real could have been.  Ideal for shallow water ops.  :smiley:

Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2021, 06:02:21 AM »

Okay . . .
Hippo's got her hooves on !   ;D





I've added the brackets that normally attach the skis, on this model they'll attach to the floats. I've also assembled and fitted the engine mount, there are no less than NINE parts in that little thing, and struts ! . . . I hate 'em . . .   :icon_twisted:


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #14 on: October 09, 2021, 06:07:16 AM »
Real could have been.  Ideal for shallow water ops.  :smiley:


Exactly ! Able to use the shallows and marshy areas, where the full-draught enemy patrol boats can't follow . . . basically an airboat before airboats were invented.


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline jcf

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2021, 07:17:34 AM »
Real could have been.  Ideal for shallow water ops.  :smiley:


Exactly ! Able to use the shallows and marshy areas, where the full-draught enemy patrol boats can't follow . . . basically an airboat before airboats were invented.


cheers,
Robin.

“Airboats” have been around since the early 20th century, the familiar American swampboat type dating to the early 1930s.

French de Lambert boats used in Mesopotamia by the British Army during WWI.
“Conspiracy theory’s got to be simple.
Sense doesn’t come into it. People are
more scared of how complicated shit
actually is than they ever are about
whatever’s supposed to be behind the
conspiracy.”
-The Peripheral, William Gibson 2014

Offline jcf

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2021, 05:17:29 PM »
Gallery of Ka-30 aerosan photos, it could be mounted on floats:
http://army.lv/ru/Fotografii/Grazhdanskaya-tehnika/Raznoe/Aerosani/Ka-30/2401

“Conspiracy theory’s got to be simple.
Sense doesn’t come into it. People are
more scared of how complicated shit
actually is than they ever are about
whatever’s supposed to be behind the
conspiracy.”
-The Peripheral, William Gibson 2014

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #17 on: October 10, 2021, 01:34:57 AM »
That looks like a VW bus on floats...

Robin - the NKL-26 Aerosan had a version with wheels, so adding floats seems reasonable.

Offline finsrin

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #18 on: October 10, 2021, 02:26:55 AM »
That looks like a VW bus on floats...

Sure does !

Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #19 on: October 10, 2021, 03:37:47 AM »
Real could have been.  Ideal for shallow water ops.  :smiley:


Exactly ! Able to use the shallows and marshy areas, where the full-draught enemy patrol boats can't follow . . . basically an airboat before airboats were invented.


cheers,
Robin.

“Airboats” have been around since the early 20th century, the familiar American swampboat type dating to the early 1930s.



Well, you learn something new every day !   :D
Thanks for the feedback, Gents, here's today's progress.

I decided on a single rear mounted 'airboat' type rudder, that way I could use the extra part that comes with the Junkers F-13 . . .





and after removing the fin and cutting the rudder to size.





Lastly, I added a pivot from some runner.





I also added the mounting brackets to the floats. If you look carefully, you can see where I've moved them once . . .   :o





Finally, a dry fit to see where we are . . .







That's All For Now, Stay Tuned . . .


cheers,
Robin.

By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline Frank3k

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #20 on: October 10, 2021, 09:57:08 AM »
Aren't the pointy bits supposed to go forwards?

Offline jcf

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #21 on: October 10, 2021, 01:38:06 PM »
Aren't the pointy bits supposed to go forwards?

Only if you don't want to move forward, put the pointy bit forward and the step becomes
a dam.
 ;D

Junkers earlier floats were very similar to the Hansa-Brandenburg metal float, a blunt nose,
a single step quite far aft and a tapered rear body. The shape would actually be not half bad
for transitioning from water to ice to snow and back.
“Conspiracy theory’s got to be simple.
Sense doesn’t come into it. People are
more scared of how complicated shit
actually is than they ever are about
whatever’s supposed to be behind the
conspiracy.”
-The Peripheral, William Gibson 2014

Offline robunos

  • Can't afford the top wing of his biplanes...
Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #22 on: October 10, 2021, 05:08:12 PM »
Thanks, jcf . . .   :smiley:
You can see the step here :-





cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline robunos

  • Can't afford the top wing of his biplanes...
Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #23 on: October 10, 2021, 11:51:30 PM »

Okay . . .
So, having made a rudder, I was having problems with figuring out how to mount it, without having lots of fiddly work and more struts . . .  After some thought, and also remembering what was in the Spares Box, I decided to redesign things with twin fins and rudders, mounted on a frame attached to the rear of the vehicle's body.
Into the 'Box of Spare Wings'TM for a suitable part . . .





cut into two and trimmed to shape.





From the spares box a suitable frame, an old piece of truck chassis . . .





A dry fit showed that attaching the fins direct to the frame left them too low, so i added some struts (yes, I know . . .   :-[  ) to raise them up somewhat.





and finally, attached to the frame.





That's All For Now, Stay tuned . . .


cheers,
Robin.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2021, 11:53:15 PM by robunos »
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline robunos

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Re: Soviet NKL-16M 'Hydrosan'
« Reply #24 on: October 21, 2021, 02:09:30 AM »

Okay . . .
Got a bit behind with documenting this Build, but here's where we are so far.
The body/hull/fuselage of the Hydrosan is now complete, apart from the detail parts. I've added a piece of plastic card to the tail frame, this represents a piece of thin metal sheet, or 'shpon' plywood, and is there to protect the propeller from spray.





The floats have also been completed.





I've had to mount the fins a little farther aft, to provide clearance for the engine and propeller, so the floats will also have to be moved aft a bit as well. Since I'm not sure exactly how much, I replaced the four separate brackets with two long, continuous ones . . .
Now, it's off to the paint shop . . .


That's All For Now, Stay tuned . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .