Moebius Skipjack

[Bob Gato]

RB-I think that's way too big (for home use) and bulky for a sub model and IMO too expensive the ones I am talking about are under a buck (pardon the pun) and if you want the voltage readout-they're under $5

[Ken_NJ]

Seems replacing the older Futaba receiver with a newer Hitec receiver solved the problem. This is with the FPV BEC connected.

[trout]

Glad you got a solution.

[Bob Gato]

Ken, I know that you found your answer but this article was quite enlightening -worth a look https://lucienmiller.wordpress.com/2...20DC%20voltage.

[Ken_NJ]

Have some updates to post. Since I'm working on working deploy-able nav lights and other things in the sail I will need access for maintenance. So the sail parts will not be glued together. I made a cut in one half of the exhaust housing and glued it to the other half, filled in imperfections, added a block, and tapped it for a mounting bolt.



Tapping an exhaust housing mounting hole. Did a thru hole so I can get threads deep into the block.


The hole was then filled with baking soda and CA. Sanded smooth and again filled with Nitro-Stan to make sure there were no duvets.


A section of the ribs were remove for a path for air to exit.


And additional air exit hole was added before the hull joints (next to tapped hole) to allow trapped air to exit from the hull thru the exhaust housing then thru the sail. Note the tapped block for a hold down machine screw.


Finished joint.

[Ken_NJ]

For the pushrod to sail connection I made up my own quicklinks which have more magnetic pull than what I have on hand. Bought a crap load of different magnets from K&J Magnetics.

First I used kids play-doh to estimate the distance I had to work with between the SD and the hull interior.


I used Tom's idea on strengthening the connection at the sail except I used a section of brass tubing which was the right diameter of the quick-link. On their own the magnetic pull was not strong enough so I added the brass to help.


I made my own quicklink and added a guide block CA'd to the SD.


I used plastic model aircraft pushrod for the sail pushrod connection. The top of the hold down block you see here is removable should the pushrod need service. The magnet aligns perfectly with the magnet coming from the SD.


This is the sail connection end. The hold down block is removable for service.


The whole caboodle. The center hold down is glued and screwed in place. It is hooked so the pushrod can be snapped out if needed.


I've taken the upper hull off & on and tested the sail planes many times. The connections are solid and work flawlessly.

[Das Boot]

Any updates?

[Ken_NJ]

Sure. Torpedo door opening and closing finished. Using a waterproof servo. I won't be firing torpedoes, so I added some bright LED's that turn on when the doors open. A magnet under the one slider closes a reed switch causing the LED's to go on. Useful for night sails which will only happen at Groton or Subfest. Or help locating a 'stuck' boat underwater. You'll have to see this on my Instagram account. The inside nose of the model is being painted black to stop the bright light bleeding thru the plastic, already done.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ_hMHhiLPh/

The camcorder goes out of focus when there is no light.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ_i-CRg-mN/

Working on the port and starboard navigation lights. They will pop out and retract on either side of the sail.

[Ken_NJ]

I'm ready to do some painting.

I know what I want to do. Asking here for opinions anyway, you know the great advice you can get here. But I can do whatever I want. I painted some plastic with lighter gray primer (bottom of pic). All rattle can. Rattle can is simple for me. I'm not into specialty paints. I do have a new airbrush I'd like to get around to using. I read someplace horizontal surfaces could be black and other surfaces a charcoal gray. Is this true or not? Kind of like the idea. Rustoleum has a charcoal gray primer which I like. Does the combination of black, charcoal gray and Tamiya TS-33 red look decent? BTW the top portion of the red was sprayed over the darker charcoal gray which I will not be doing.

And... I want to do the scum warterline following what David does, and the mesh look over the sonar, and the streaking washed out look on the hull. I might get daring and try the oil can effect on the sail. Can always spray it plain if I f@@k it up. And get the SJ and Marlin ready for Groton. Of coarse I'll try on some test subject first, maybe some sheet poster board. Some of this fancy stuff I never have done before might have to wait until after Groton and Subfest.

Any helpful thoughts???

Submarine painting by Alan Taylor
https://www.theassociationofmodelsub...by-alan-taylor

David's submarine painting and weathering
http://www.wmunderway.mysite.com/cgi...1575685175/330

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

SubLant and SubPac had -- in my time -- their own submarine painting manuals that, over the decades, have changed to reflect low-visibility findings. It was my experience that boats with the two-tone above waterline scheme (the one you favor) were defined as the 'Pacific' scheme, and boats with an all black above waterline were in the 'Atlantic' scheme -- though I never read those terms in the manuals, it's just how we rag-hats differentiated the two painting schemes.

As a Torpedoman I was part of Deck-department on the boats I served on, and was in on the preservation and painting of whatever boat I was on -- the TRUTTA in the Atlantic (all black), and later the WEBSTER in the Pacific (two-tone).

Two-tone boats could be found servicing in the Atlantic and vice-versa. The SCORPION is an example: it was lost in the Atlantic and was painted in the two-tone scheme when it left its Tender for the trip back to Norfolk.

Yeah, you're rattle-can Krylon paints look good enough to represent the 'Pacific' scheme. That black-hole black will bleach out a bit as you get into the weathering stage, so That's OK. Never let a solid black like that stand as is -- tone it down with a mist of gray or streaking effects as I've illustrated here so many times.

Above waterline the only surfaces to get the gray are the upper rudder, sides of the sail, and the sides of the diesel exhaust line fairing. Everything else is 'black'.

David

[wlambing]

Ken,

Your charcoal gray primer will work well for an all black modern nuke. The Tamiya red is good for the undersides. The best rattle-can paints for us are gone now! Used to be a black and a red hot-rod primer made by Duplicolor. Rustoleum bought everybody out and has changed formulas and colors that don't quite match the 1:1 scale colors anymore. That's what killed off the Testor's Model Master line, too. *******s!!!!

Bill

[Das Boot]

I’m waiting to see how you weight and put floatation in this build. Mine is almost done sans the weights and such.

[Das Boot]

I see a charcoal gray auto primer at Walmart. Is that it?

[Ken_NJ]

I bought mine from Home Depot. These are the colors I'm using. There also was a dark gray at Home Depot which looked OK but I opted for charcoal gray.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Check for compatibility between the Tamiya and Krylon chemistries before you hit the model with these two type paints.

David