Newbie no more - Building the Revell 1/72 Gato

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

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

[beeryboats]

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

[trout]

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.

[beeryboats]

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

[trout]

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

[tsenecal]

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

[trout]

Seams
Decided to tackle creating some seams/weld lines. I have destroyed many as I joined the bow, aft, and installed the prop supports and I needed to see if I could recreate them or decide to remove all of them.
I had seen a build were tape was used and CA applied then baking powder was drizzled in. So that was one way. Then I thought why not put the baking powder in first then add CA. I saw David do that to build fillets. Another option is I could mix glaze and use that to create seams. Then I saw a build somewhere that the individual used thread drenched in CA. I decided to go with fill with baking powder then add CA.
To begin, I lined up a couple of pieces of painters blue tape. Rub the edges down with your fingernail and around cross seams that intersect the line you are building.

Sprinkled baking powder on and pushed it into the gap between the tape. I even left a little extra on top of the seam.

Applied thin CA and applied a drop. Then I used a piece of metal (actually a pocket clip from a pen) to move the CA up and down the seam. Then applied another sprinkling of baking powder to set any wet CA.

Using 120 grit wet/dry sandpaper, began sanding the along the newly created seam. The goal is to knock down any high areas and use the tape as a depth guide.

Removed the tape and I am left with a wonderful seam. A little bigger than I wanted, but a seam/weld anyways.

The net one I put the tape pieces closer. I thought it might be too close, but as it turned out it was not. So the gap needed to be smaller than you would think.

Then I went ahead and put some primer on to see how it looked. I like it.

[trout]

Jay,
Thank you. I shaped the forward portion as much as I could without cutting into the tube. Looking at the alignment pins is a good idea too! I will verify that the pins are not adding in the uplift of the wtc.
Peace,
tom

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Using the recommended big 11.1-volt battery you won't have any material to cut away from the forward end of the cylinder. That leaves the after dry space. First, dry-fit all your gadgets back there to identify how much cylinder back there you have to whack off (so to speak).

However, there is something fundamentally wrong here. I note that you already have a GATO SD of the 'new' configuration, which is a few inches shorter than the 'old' configuration. Find out what it is in the bottom of the hull that is preventing you from shoving the SD, as is, far enough forward to permit it to sit level and accept standard dog-bones between SD and running gear couplers.

But, if you do wind up cutting the cylinder, a band saw or hacksaw will get the job done with little effort.

David

[trout]

CUT THE TUBE???? AAAGHHHHH - Man, you are stretching me in all sorts of ways. BUT that is a great idea, I did not even consider that! O.K. any tips you would like to offer? Best practices? Thank you for your suggestions.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Very nice idea.....Hmmm. Jay, go for it! I like it and maybe do something like that on another build.
Right now, I need to resolve this WTC placement. I could take the road of fixing it properly and cut out the propellor shaft, realign it with the correct angle going in, redo the propellor shaft struts. Unless a better solution comes up, I will have to do that. David, if you do not think the angle will be a problem, please speak up.

An up-angle on the SD -- yes, a problem. As you observed, you won't get all the air out of the ballast tank if you do that.

Try this: chop off what you can off the forward and after ends of the cylinder. The shorter cylinder will then fit without necessitating the up-angle at the front of it.

Don't mess with the running gear.

David,

[beeryboats]

My secret source of info told me the S/D is about 10-1/2" aft the bow. That's what I'm aiming for. I ended up cutting out one of the alignment pins on the bottom of the hull and it went down nice and level. I did bevel the forward cap on the driver as well. I'll go find the camera and post on my build forum.
Jay

[trout]

Very nice idea.....Hmmm. Jay, go for it! I like it and maybe do something like that on another build.
Right now, I need to resolve this WTC placement. I could take the road of fixing it properly and cut out the propellor shaft, realign it with the correct angle going in, redo the propellor shaft struts. Unless a better solution comes up, I will have to do that. David, if you do not think the angle will be a problem, please speak up.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

David,
Is the spring used to absorb vibration? Maintain pressure to prevent the ends from popping out? Please help the less informed!

The idea is to facilitate installation of the SD within the hull without messing with alignment of standard dog-bones at the same time. I can slip the running gear into place after the SD is installed and strapped down.

The inner square-section brass tube slides within the outer square-section brass tube (square so they are not free to rotate but are free to slide linearly). The compression spring pushes the inner tube, which is attached to the dog-bone, into the SD's motor shaft coupler.

David

[trout]

Did a little finishing work on the hull. Maybe paint tomorrow and see how it looks.

WTC Issue
David, I know you advised about 3” of space from the end of the WTC Dumas connectors and the propellor shaft Dumas connectors. That would mean moving my WTC forward. O.K. I shaped the end and got plenty of forward movement. Maybe I am over thinking this, but the whole WTC not only can go forward, but it shifts the longitudinal plane with an upward angle.



This angle does cause a couple of issues that I can see. The forward most end of the WTC will break above the waterline. In the flood chamber, the vent is at the lower point in the cylinder, trapping a large bubble. The only way to vent out the bubble is have a nose down attitude. If I had a vent on this higher portion, I would not be so concerned.

Your thoughts or solutions?