Another look at a WWII Gato Class Submarine

[Anuci]

The following pics begin by showing how I decided to cut the hull to accommodate the designated sub-driver, simply another way to skin the cat so to speak. BTW, By clicking onto the chosen photo once again after produced will further enhance its effect. Best Regards, Al,

[Anuci]

I then scribed and cut out the plastic in the under portion of the hull for placement of flood/vent ports. A brass channel was secured to the keel using stainless screws for greater durability. Bondo filler was further used to contour the channel to the hull. The upper hull was then cut to accommodate the sub-driver/wtc leaving only the necessary cross sections as shown for support of the hull. The deck and tower was then assembled and placed onto the upper hull to determine proper fit and placement leaving a 3/16" gap between the deck and upper hull.

[deepseadiver]

HI there this is great another Gato build. I will be watching your build.:)

[Anuci]

Establishing & outlining the position of the stuffing tubes was next and then drilled out and installed to accommodate the respective prop shaft supports. This is critical to the allignment of the shaft within hull and shaft support itself. Next, installation of the rudder and stern plane assembly occurred although it is suggested that this assembly occur prior to securing the aft portion of the boat to the main hull.

[Anuci]

Priming and painting was pretty straight forward, although if I was to do it again I would have simply used the Krylon fusion paint as with that particular paint no priming is required. Oh well, then again, the primer seems to hide some of the imperfections

[Anuci]

Trimming out the boat was accomplished by attaching the foam sections to the exterior hull to determine the boats water line. Naturally fine tuning is necessary as is various additional venting of the boat where appropiate. I thought the crew figures added a certain touch to the model.

[Anuci]

Sea trials and tribulations go hand and hand with this fun hobby. Hope these photos will assist in some way with your own Gato Submarine build. Good luck and don't forget to post. Al Nuci

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Al,

Wonderful job.

Please, feel free to tell us what went wrong with the assembly and products you got from us -- only way I can make improvements is to get serious, factual critiques from the 'field'. You and Mr. Manning are the only guys who have shared completed photos of the r/c conversion I've seen so far.

Now, let me have right between the eyes ... what would you want changed or added to the SubDriver, the fittings kit, and the DVD to make these better products?

David,

[Anuci]

David, First things first, I want to take this time to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and all the best in the coming New Year. Thanks Dave, for your gracious comments of the build, but the real credit goes to you and your talents in making it happen, and in giving the beginner in this hobby an opportunity to actively participate. Now lets cut to the chase and permit me to say that overall there is really not much to improve on but moreover my personal choices and/or changes if you will that I would have preferred and would have like seen incorporated into the Gato conversion/subdriver kit. First, an additional equipment tray located and positioned in the forward portion and dry section of the subdriver,this along with two (2) pushrod seals in the top portion of the forward end cap to accommodate two (2) servos which in turn would drive the forward dive planes and a liniar driven dive plane retract system. I believe this would improve control & hopefully eliminate the need to use lengths of flex or other type rod to operate those systems, and may also free up some space in the aft dry section of the wtc and drive-train area. Second, the rudder control system in particular the rudder control turnbuckle used to turn the rudder direction has a tendency to loosen on its shaft. The soft consistency of the white metal used to support its set screw fastener will strip out when tighten down in attempts to acquire a snug fit as this seems to be necessary from time to time. I'm thinking a more direct connection to the rudder shaft would eliminate this as this area is subject to external pressure from water currents and the like and puts stress on the rudder turnbuckle as previously described, ultimately a loss of rudder contol may occur. Hopefully. I'm presenting a clear understanding to these conditions. Thanks for this opportunity. Best Regards, Al

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Al,

Agreed, the bell crank on the rudder pushrod is a bit 'slippery', but that is solved by putting a flat on the rudder operating shaft to catch the bell crank set-screw which will keep in secure from rotating around the operating shaft.

I've already got a new tool made for a re-worked forward bulkhead. This one will fit as many as three servos above the battery and is machined to accept a mini toggle switch (mission switch). So that improvement is underway.

I'm also working to better consolidate the devices in the after dry space, reducing its volume, which will permit a bit more ballast tank (I have not needed the added buoyancy as my boats have achieved designed waterline without any problem) and/or an increased forward dry space.

And thanks for the nice words -- they mean something coming form a guy who actually made all that stuff work.

I'm still trying to find a set of bevel gears that would improve the performance of the bow plane retract mechanism by translating linear motion from an up-front servo pushrod rather than the cumbersome torque tube running the length of the SD.

Good points all, Al ... have to be as these are problems I've already identified and will address at a later date. Just as soon as I get out from under this backlog of SD's and fittings kit Caswell has me working on.

Damn Caswell! ... I've never worked harder in my life!

David,

[Kazzer]

Al,

Damn Caswell! ... I've never worked harder in my life!

David,

Sniveling again I see! Get back to cave and stop yer whining!:)

[toppack]

Poor David, Just working his fingers into nubs, when the rest of us are 'Havin Fun' :D LOL :D

David, Maybe Mike will let you have a few hours off for Christmas, ya reckon. :)

[Kazzer]

Huh! No way! Don't feel sorry for him! He shouldn't have joined if he can't take a joke!

Crack that whip! Kick that butt!
:mad:

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

(welcome to my world)

David,

[deepseadiver]

oh gosh " were would we be with out David,:(