Newbie no more - Building the Revell 1/72 Gato

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  • tsenecal
    Lieutenant
    • Dec 2009
    • 63

    #91
    in that last photo, i can't tell which seams are ones you made, and which are original.

    Comment

    • trout
      Admiral
      • Jul 2011
      • 3545

      #92
      8-)
      Thank you tsenecal! I found after a few lines it became easier to make the lines smaller and closer to the original.
      It was surprising how easy it was to create.
      Peace,
      Tom
      If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

      Comment

      • beeryboats
        Lieutenant Commander
        • Jun 2011
        • 124

        #93
        Tom, those seams look great. I'm always afraid to super detail a model that's going to get a lot of handling.
        Jay

        Comment

        • trout
          Admiral
          • Jul 2011
          • 3545

          #94
          Jay,
          I understand what you are saying. The Titanic had some great details to it. A lot of good it did. :-)
          I am trying to strike a balance within me, enough to make it different and cool to my eyes, but not so detailed that every time it is moved, submerged, bumped, parts fly/float off.
          If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

          Comment

          • beeryboats
            Lieutenant Commander
            • Jun 2011
            • 124

            #95
            I hear ya. David may think this is a cop out, but I believe the first time you try something new it is not going to turn out perfect. I just hope my sub works. I've researched, asked stupid questions, planned, pondered, asked more qestions, and tried to think ahead as far as I can. My fit and finish may suffer so that this build will work. I'm trying to keep it as light as possible on the upper decks, and I may not lay on the detail and paint that others may add. I've found after building and flying RC aircraft for years, you can't see the rivet heads at 30ft. And they will fly just as good without them.
            Jay

            Comment

            • He Who Shall Not Be Named
              Moderator
              • Aug 2008
              • 12253

              #96
              Just get it to primer gray and get it operational -- that's what I do with a new build. You can paint and weather it anytime. Kick it around first; get those invitable grounding scratches on the lower bow; put your fat fingers through the railing a few times; and don't forget to drop it off the cars back seat at least once.

              Get all those invitable 'life lessons' out of the way, and only then, break out the putty and filler, paint and weathering kit -- do the beauty work over the winter while you have time and nothing else to do.

              David
              Who is John Galt?

              Comment

              • beeryboats
                Lieutenant Commander
                • Jun 2011
                • 124

                #97
                Originally posted by Merriman
                Just get it to primer gray and get it operational -- that's what I do with a new build. You can paint and weather it anytime. Kick it around first; get those invitable grounding scratches on the lower bow; put your fat fingers through the railing a few times; and don't forget to drop it off the cars back seat at least once.

                Get all those invitable 'life lessons' out of the way, and only then, break out the putty and filler, paint and weathering kit -- do the beauty work over the winter while you have time and nothing else to do.

                David

                True words of wisdom. What's your take on cutting out most of the unseen part of the deck under the conning tower but leaving a strip for a magnet? I liked MIke's idea of holding the gun ahd tower on with a rare earth magnet.
                Jay

                Comment

                • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                  Moderator
                  • Aug 2008
                  • 12253

                  #98
                  You already cut enough dead-weight away ... don't get anal here! As is your boat should reach designed waterline in surfaced trim.

                  Mike's idea!? Hurumph! (yes, it's a good idea).

                  David,
                  Who is John Galt?

                  Comment

                  • trout
                    Admiral
                    • Jul 2011
                    • 3545

                    #99
                    Jay, I will be doing a primer and cutting out the area under the sail. The weight removed is probably offset by the weight added by the magnets, but the bigger benefit I see is allowing air to escape. I plan on hiding some holes in the conning tower to allow the air out.

                    I played with the sand n fill primer. WOW this stuff dries real fast. Once mixed it reminded me of the dope paints I used as a kid on some planes and gliders. I had to clear my air brush many times in the short amount of time because of clogging and spitting dried pieces. I will use a different set up to see if I can get a better flow. David, do you have to use a higher psi to get this to cover in a nice wet flow? or what suggestions can you offer?
                    Do I need to cover the whole ship in this primer or can I use a Krylon paint in a can to base coat the majority?

                    David, the grounding scratches you mention, in older builds and cabal reports you would put in a brass strip on the keel. Do you still do that? What is the best way to affix the strip to the hull? If you stopped putting it in may I ask why?
                    If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                    Comment

                    • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                      Moderator
                      • Aug 2008
                      • 12253

                      Cut the primer about 50/50 with lacquer thinner and set the gun for about 20PSI and blast away. If you're using an external mix, single-action type, use the #3 (big) tip and needle. Get up close and get the primer down wet.

                      I don't usually attached the brass strip to the keel of the GATO's I build. But, if you want armor plating, attached it with both 2-56 flate head screws and CA.

                      David
                      Who is John Galt?

                      Comment

                      • trout
                        Admiral
                        • Jul 2011
                        • 3545

                        Thank you on the paint tips. I will continue to play until I conquer it or asphyxiate myself!
                        Armor plate sounds good to me! but is there any other benefit other than warm fuzzies? Does having the brass weight that low on the ship help with stability or with the metacenter?
                        If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                        Comment

                        • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                          Moderator
                          • Aug 2008
                          • 12253

                          filler/putty/primer/paint/weathering are aquired arts when it comes to selection, area of use, and application. You'll get the hang of 'em. Just keep plugging away till you find the technique you're comfortable with.

                          And I should have mentioned the addeded benifit of placing the heavy brass rub-strip way down low -- indeed it does increase the metacentric height. Good catch.

                          David
                          Who is John Galt?

                          Comment

                          • trout
                            Admiral
                            • Jul 2011
                            • 3545

                            Mike, I am keeping the pictures small so page loading times are quick (if you see any you want larger - go ahead)
                            To recap, the drive shafts were to parallel coming in and because of this the normal spot recommended for the propeller shaft bearing to be mounted would have meant the groove to allow clearance would have been through the hull. (note to anyone reading this building a Gato - put the collar, washers, bearing, and Dumas coupler on when aligning the propeller shaft and propellor shaft strut). What should have been done is a slightly increase of angle inward. Maybe my crayon drawing will make more sense.
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                            I was going to make a new set of shafts and David saw my dilemma and offered to make the longer shafts for me. Thank you very much! You can see in the photo the bearing assembly and how much it needed to move forward.
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                            With that in place, I used some sprue and heated it gently over a flame. Softening a longer length of the sprue to wrap around the bearing. It may take several times to heat and wrap before you get it where you want it. Did this need to be done this way? NO. I was already using the sprue for the pin to hold the WTC and thought why not. Have fun. You could have just as easily used CA and baking powder only.
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                            I used a cheap and not the most accurate way to measure how much to trim off the sprue wrap. Using a toothpick, I clipped off the point and placed this next to the bearing. Marked the height from the inside of the hull to the top of the bearing with a pen.
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                            Then using my highly accurate (inaccurate) measurement, I trimmed the plastic sprue. I did not need to be super accurate. In reality, I only expected one leg to attach to the hull. This would leave enough play so that I am not pulling the bearing away from the hull or pushing it into the hull and causing a binding. If I did get both to touch the hull and not cause a binding then that is a bonus. There was no intention of spending hours on this.
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                            Plastic cohesive was used to bind one leg to the hull (keeping shaft in for alignment). Then using CA and baking powder began filling around the bearing.
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                            Checked shaft rotation and move on.
                            Next I needed to install the WTC. Earlier in an post I shared the problem of the front of the WTC being pushed up above the waterline and trapping air. The suggestion was to cut it shorter by David and remove the alignment peg for the hull in the front by Jay. Removing the peg, I believe, did help. If nothing else the WTC slides smoother going forward. David’s suggestion to shorten the WTC helped the most. I left 4” in the battery compartment to hold the LiPo packs I have.
                            To begin cutting, I wrapped blue painters tape at the location I marked. Measured again to make sure and began cutting. I took very small cuts, turned the WTC and took a small cut. I did this over and over again scoring the tube a little deeper with each rotation. I took my time! Did not want to crack, break, or melt the tube (especially since I do not know the properties of the Lexan tube).
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                            I did not keep track of the time, but finally my jeweler's saw broke through. Once that happened the rest of the sawing went quickly.
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                            Next step was to put a chamfered edge using my x-acto knife. It was surprising how easily it was to cut. After I trimmed what I thought was enough, I used a half-round file to even out and smooth over my knife trimming.
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                            The final test is will the end cap fit? And it did.
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                            On my WTC there was a hole already drilled into it to accept the pin that is to be attached to the hull. It is off center and that poses some issues with how easy it would lift out. Too long of a pin and there would not be enough diagonal travel room to slide off the pin. Too short and it will never engage the hole.
                            I needed to find out how much room was there between the hull and the WTC. Grabbing a scra* piece of 1/8” brass (I was practicing putting on threads) checked to see fit. I needed to grind down the threads, but for testing it was fine.
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                            Put a piece of Play-Doh (Thank you Sam) on the end of the pin and gently pressed it against the WTC.
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                            I aligned the WTC into the hull making sure that the vent was centered and at the apex of the WTC. Pressed it down and allowed the Play-Doh to squish out. Realizing that it would take a full day for the Play-Doh to dry out, I had to come up with something quicker. Super Sculpey to the rescue. This stuff is a clay type consistency that will harden when put in the oven at 275 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes. So I took the WTC out. Carefully removed the Play-Doh and put a ball of super sculpey on. Squished it down and removed the WTC one more time. As it happened to be, my wife was just done using the oven and it was already pre-heated. I was a little vague about why I needed the oven and slid my mold on a piece of aluminum foil into the oven. She caught me and when I explained what I was doing she did not mind. I love my wife! I compared the sculpey (which is now hard as a rock) with the Play-Doh and came up with how big the gap is.
                            Now I used a piece of sprue to make a base for the pin. Heating up the plastic on the gas stove (I was empowered since Tina did not mind the sculpey in the oven - what’s a little plastic over the stove?) I got it nice and soft. Then quickly pressed it against a safe hard surface. In my case it was a small block of steel.
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                            This created a blob at the bottom. Oh, if you try to rush it or get the plastic too close to the flame, it ignites and turns your plastic into a blackened blob, I did this for demonstration purposes only (it still worked).
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                            I sanded the bottom of the blob to rough it up for cohesion. And fortunately the red sculpey left a little stain on the hull so I knew where to sand to rough up the area.
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                            I carefully drilled a 1/8” hole into the top of the sprue and inserted the brass pin. Cut the pin short since the plastic blob would be close to the WTC. Rounded the pin end so as not to scratch my precious. And placed a small thread of sculpey around the pin. Pressed the pin and blob to the WTC and placed it in the hull. Again being careful to align the WTC. From underneath I was able to add the cohesive through one of the flood holes. Let it dry. Removed the WTC and did the CA and baking powder filler.
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                            And here is the final look.
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                            I should have drilled my own hole for a pin directly underneath. Then placed a block at the end of the WTC and when it is dropped straight down, the pin will automagically go in. As it is now, it is a little tough finding the hole. Can you see it?
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                            Niether can I.
                            Last edited by trout; 12-03-2011, 07:39 AM.
                            If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                            Comment

                            • He Who Shall Not Be Named
                              Moderator
                              • Aug 2008
                              • 12253

                              Good stuff! Love the semi-circular bearing foundations!

                              You did get the new shafts, right?

                              David
                              Who is John Galt?

                              Comment

                              • trout
                                Admiral
                                • Jul 2011
                                • 3545

                                David, I see I did not make it clear in my posting, I am sorry about that. YES they did come in and I was able to mount the bearings. Thank you! David I can not thank you enough for the help you have provided.
                                If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.

                                Comment

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