Movie Research Vessel

[Massey]

I am watching the movie The Abyss, it came out in the early 90s. There are alot of really neat vessels in that movie and I was wondering if any are real. I know the drilling rig is not and the small submersables could be but what I am interested in is the tanker looking vessel they called the Bentric Explorer. This looked like 2 tankers welded together with a hole cut out of the middle for the submersables to be lowered through and to run the rig's ambilical as well. Does this type of vessel exist? and if so any ideas of where plans could be aquired?

Massey

[Ghost 2501]

massey, the explorer is in fact a full blown catamaran, there are probably such vessels in existance, though they are probably limited in numbers.

"little geek" and "big geek" are real units and were hired for the film. because of the simple design of the ship, it could be easily made, two hulls of either Syney Star or Graupner neptun design could be used with little modification

[Massey]

Well I found out that the Benthic Explorer was only a model in the movie, and not a real ship. I also tried to find any real catamarans of this type and had no luck there either. I would be a fun challenging build, I may add it to my list as my skills improve.

Massey

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I have lots of screen shots of the subersibles they used int the movie, but none of the Benthic' hereself... I wonder where my copy of the abyss went...?...

[Ghost 2501]

to the bottom of the deep blue sea?

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

to the bottom of the deep blue sea?

Well if it is anywhere near Deep Core perhaps Flatbed could hunt it up for me.
:p

[Ghost 2501]

Well if it is anywhere near Deep Core perhaps Flatbed could hunt it up for me.
:p

maybe even big geek or little geek :)

[wingnut163]

USS MASSY;
here is two shouch ships. they are no longer in service.
made to rescue subs, the well deck was used to lower the DSUV.
i have tryed to get the plans from the builder but they say they do not have them.
i was on the 22, but when i was the well dk was open, the picture showes it covered and the boome for lowering is now over the port side.
don't know when shewas converted.

[Massey]

Looks like the Navy just used 2 destroyer hulls to build those ships. That is an idea use 2 Bluedevil kits and scratch build a superstructure and well deck. Hmmm (can you hear the gears turning?).

Massey

[wingnut163]

all ready have the devil hulls and im working on the drawings. they used two DE hulls or so i'm told buy te crew, a very unfrendly bunch. had a lot of trouble underway. the hulls fought each other. there is a white reshurch vessal now out of hawia. its on this sight in one of the posts.

[green-boat]

Massey,

Quit giving me ideas, I have 2 Lindbergs in the shop collecting dust. That's all I need is more projects, but an interesting one at that.

[Massey]

:)

Massey

[empirebuilder]

That's a great movie!

Actually, if you check out the Collectors Edition, there is hours and hours of information on the submersables and the filming. The two submersibles were real, but were shot as models in some scenes, like going over the Navy submarine.

They actually build a full scale model of Deep Core also, and sank it in I believe an unfinished nuclear reactor vessel for filming.

The underwater breathing apparatus was real also, and used by the crew.

I would highly recommend picking up or renting the Collectors Edition, it has way too much cool stuff to list here. I had on my list the idea to build some models of the Abyss, I guess I will never run out of ideas to pursue :)

[Massey]

I love the movie too and I do own the collector's edition. I knew about the beathing suit I read about it in Popular Science (or one of those tech mags) back in the 90's. The movie gave me my first intrest in sub models back when it was a new movie but I didnt know about the radio not being able to transmit underwater very far. I made a drilling platform out of steel (just a box with a water tight seal at the top 4 legs and a tower made of welding rod). I used a CO2 cartrige and 4 heavy duty R/C balloons for emergency recovery if the rig took on water. A couple of fans for sreering and an electric fuel pump for a ballast pump. The air in the ballast tank went into another tank and stayed in the rig the ballast tank was about 1/2 the inside of the box and made the rig sink nicely. A second EFP pumped the water out of the tank and the stored air would reclaim its place in the ballast tank the rig would surface. I tested it in my hot tub and everything worked great, then to the dock at the beach (Puget Sound Salt water) this was about 10' max depth and all good there I could still control the station. (I used 2 radios for 4 channels I didnt have a 4 channel radio then). I dropped it off the floating swim dock that we used to have out in the bay a little ways which was at least 30 feet down ( I could not swim to the bottom in one breath) soon after the rig started down I noticed that I could not control it any more and after it landed the little red LED that was attached to the water detector turned on. I figured no biggy the second water detector would fire off the CO2 and it will rush up to the surface..... any time now...... it should pop here in a sec......

After about an hour of waiting and trying to swim for it I went home and got a fishing pole to try to snag it. By the time I got back the rig was gone and I never really found it. About a year later I found part of the mast and one leg washed up on the shore so I think that the balloons went off after I left and the thing just drifted away, hit the beach and got thrashed by the waves.

Ok sry about that, long story. I had fun building it and I proved to my Dad that it would work (I had a thing about proving my dad wrong when I was a kid and he thought what I was doing would not work). I lost 2 7.2V batts, 1 futaba reciever 1 airtronics reciever 4 servos, a CO2 valve, 2 electric fuel pumps and the 2 home made ballast and air tanks. not to mention a heavy steel box and a few pipes that made the insides of this thing up. I was pissed then but now I look back and remember the fun and lessons learned.

Massey

[keith S]

There was the ship that Howard Hughs commisioned that was built like a giant tanker with a wet well inside designed for lifting heavy objects ( Soviet Submarines) to the surface with no way for people to see what was going on. The real boat is now moared in LA if my memory seves me correct.

[ziobrop]

There was the ship that Howard Hughs commisioned that was built like a giant tanker with a wet well inside designed for lifting heavy objects ( Soviet Submarines) to the surface with no way for people to see what was going on. The real boat is now moared in LA if my memory seves me correct.


This was the Glomar Explorer. It was built to recover a sunken Soviet Submarine. The mecahanism failed, and half the sub was lost.

for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomar_Explorer

-Peter
www.ziobrowski.net/rnm/

[empirebuilder]

Wow, Massey, that's a pretty cool sounding ship, esp if you built it when you were a kid!

[Massey]

I was 18 when I built it and it was just a 12x12x4 inch box with 4 inch legs and a 6 inch tower. The props were computer fans that could barely move the thing but they would get it to land where i wanted it. It cost me around $80 to build not counting the stuff I had around the house like the radio gear. It was fun I wish I had some pics of it but I never took any digi cameras were not around then (back in 93). the next time I build a submersable it will be alot better designed,

Massey