Engel Type IXD2 First commission build

[rwtdiver]

Pressure testing for leaks...




It's first run at the lake.

Another masterful build Steve!

This hobby seems to be such a wonderful fit for you! Everything you do is pushing perfection! Sorry if I am getting a little overboard with the compliments, but in my opinion when they are due they should be expressed! Excellent work Steve!

That boat will be a show stopper at SubFest for sure! And it sounds like you guys are in for a whole lot of fun, and for some great memorable times! Wish I could be there!!!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Beautiful, Steve! Well done, sir. And a wonderful looking venue to play in as well. See you in a few days, pal.

David

[SubDude]

Pressure testing for leaks...




It's first run at the lake.

[SubDude]

Thanks Rob. Weathering is done. A light coat of clear matte tamed the rust making it look better. Next up is pressure testing.

[rwtdiver]

This project is nearing completion. All of the electronics are functional with the radio and the middle deck is installed. I am weathering it now and then it is time for pressure testing and trimming. Overall it has taken me about 3 months to put it together and has been a huge opportunity to grow my knowledge and skills.

Steve,

That boat will be a real hit at the SubFest for sure! I really enjoy following all your builds Steve!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[SubDude]

This project is nearing completion. All of the electronics are functional with the radio and the middle deck is installed. I am weathering it now and then it is time for pressure testing and trimming. Overall it has taken me about 3 months to put it together and has been a huge opportunity to grow my knowledge and skills.

[SubDude]

The base painting is done and she looks really good so far. Not much left to do. I am planning to have it ready by SubFest. The next task will be to design and print a mount for the brushless motors.

[SubDude]

Painting underway...

[SubDude]

Nice progress and super clean work. Bravo!

Thank you kind sir.

I got the gaskets made for the middle deck hatches and the bolts to secure the upper deck to the lower deck are installed. The middle deck is still not secured yet but the seam between upper and lower decks is actually not bad. I also feathered in the styrene decking to the upper hull with some Evercoat Rage filler and added the final detail bits to the deck including an anchor light. Try as I might and even with good alignment I was just not happy with how the brushed motors secured and connected to the drive shafts. As a result, there was too much drag in the system to be reliable so after talking it over with David we decided to go with a set of the Engel 500kV brushless motors connected directly instead of the stock geared setup. This thing is very close to being ready for paint and it is looking really good.

[tifosi12]

Nice progress and super clean work. Bravo!

[SubDude]

The lower hull work is done. Did some fill work with Evercoat Rage filler and added some 3D printed vent grills. It is getting close to being ready for paint. I need to make some gaskets, secure the middle deck and work on laying out the electronics next.

[SubDude]

I got the rudders installed, stern planes, bow planes, drive shafts and support rods. I still need to add fillets and blend it all in. I also have the main center Plexiglass hatch made and working on the backing frames for the smaller hatch openings. It's progressing rapidly at this point. I used modeling clay to seal around the tubes to glue them in with Starbond black CA. Worked great!

[SubDude]

Much overdue update...I have been so busy working on this that I haven't posted any updates lately so lots to get caught up on. David has been busy making improvements to the resin printed parts he has been working on. The guns on the sail now articulate and I installed small CF rods in the bases to allow them to rotate as well. He also found some information on the winch housing for the rotary wing observation craft they carried.



I also added more detail to the sail.


The air vents are completely cut in the hull sub- deck as well as the starboard side scuppers and the sub-deck painted black where it would be visible through the deck grating.


I also recessed the hatches...


and added some deck detail around the big deck gun.


I then turned my attention to the stern torpedo detail which David designed and I printed. It is close enough. Engel didn't provide any of this detail in the hull.

Before...


After.


At this point I turned my attention to inside the hull and rigging up rudders, dive planes, drive shafts and the dry hull box.


Rudder guard...






There is still much to do. On the dry box I am adding additional access hatches fore and aft and will be going with a flat one piece gasket instead of the round gasket as designed. I will also be using 1/4" Plexiglass for the hatches and instead use the stock aluminum hatch to make backing frames to hold the M4 bolts in the smaller hatch areas. The plate on the drive shafts is an alignment guide that gets removed. The mechanicals go fast relatively speaking and so far everything seems to be lining up well. More to come.

[SubDude]

As I look over this model and learn more about these particular boats there are things that were done with the kit that deviate from the original vessels. One of them being the location of the anchor. It is right over the top of the guard in front of the starboard bow plane. The pocket in the hull where the anchor mounts was clearly not quite far enough forward.


This simply will not do.

I opened up a new location in the hull for the anchor pocket and then using some PE resin and glass matte I made a mold of the pocket.


Once the mold was popped loose I taped it in the new opening and used some filler behind it. An additional couple layers of glass matte over the filler gave it additional strength. I then filled the old pocket in and blended everything with an emery board. Now I can sleep tonight. Lol.

[tifosi12]

It is a Bancroft 1/72nd Fletcher class. I got it from Motion RC

Nice. I built the Lindberg Fletcher class kit for the Callaghan, the last destroyer downed by a Kamikaze and on which my father in law served (and survived).