One Man Comic Submarine

[MFR1964]

This the second one i now know is excisting, the other one is much smaller and has central thrust
I want to keep it simple with central thrust, steering those powered pods make things complicated, which i want to avoid
For now glueing away, a few more days before i can start with the Spirou figure, and figure out how to make the bed which has to hold the figure, i think i will use magnets to keep the figure at it's place on the bed and a screw connection to keep the bed at his place.

Manfred.

[MFR1964]

Some interesting weeks, got me the right figure with bed, sprayed some paint and made a glass dome,



This will be the figure inside the submarine, had to cut it to size and used scratch parts from the spare draw




This is the bed on which the figure will lay down, glued down some magnets on both the bed and figure to keep it at his place, by using the screw i can secure the bed inside the submarine, it's made from styrodure, giving me some extra ability to float, carved it to size with sandpaper and the hacksaw.




The figure placed on the bed, secured by the magnets and hiding the screw which will hold the bed down







Making the glass dome was a different story, i used Vivak 1 mm plate, it took about 4 attempts to get me a good one, the vacuumtable i made before was too small for this dome, so by pressing the mold into the heated Vivak did the trick




A dryfitt with the figure inside and the glass dome cutted roughly in the needed shape, and yes slapped some paint on both the outside and the inside, got me some good dry days to make this happen,
For now i've ordered the batteries and started to make me a hinge for the dome.




The XXI from David has arrived, it has to wait, first finish the Spirou, giving me time to do some research on the XXI



Manfred.

[MFR1964]

It took some time, the techrack is ready, i'm nearly there, ran into some problems while testing her inside the tub.





Techrack is finished, it took some effort to get the batteries in, used some balance weights to get everything into balance.




Also placed magnets on the dome itself.



Once the dome was locked by magnets i could place the hinge, drilled a hole through the hull to get the rod in, once ready i plugged the hole.



The dome can be opened to get the figure out and do maintenance on the forward divingplanes.



Did some preparations by placing some flatlead prior to testing the boat in the bath.



The lead is hidden away by the bed, which is fastened by a single screw


The figure is kept on it's place by using a small magnet.



The dome is closed and held by the magnets on both sides

In this confuration i did some testing in the bath, it revealed that i had a damaged lipseal on the shaft, it also revealed that driving the boat forward resulted in going backwards.



The result was, using a smaller prop and cutting the tailpart to create a bigger opening to get the water out, had to make a new rudder since the output diameter is bigger.

Still on the list are, balancing the boat and to do a testdrive, this will be done next spring.

Manfred.

[Subculture]

Old school Marx motor in there (Monoperm Super?).

Always remember seeing them in model shops as a kid, with a price well beyond what I could afford.

[MFR1964]

It's a miliperm 12V also from marx, i could buy a batch of motors when a hobbyshop ended up.
And yes, they cost you a small fortune, but treaded well they last a life-time

Manfred.

[MFR1964]

Balanced the Spirou and tested the basic functions




She will be a dynamic runner, so she is balanced just skimming the surface of the water.


This amount of lead i have to place inside the model, when done she is ready for testtrails.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DH1nL77mY9M?si=6M_WwWCWynm9uKmd

A micro testrun inside the testpool, just testing speed and steering.


Manfred.

[MFR1964]

A busy week. made some alterations about the charching, ran into problems opening and closing the boat each time i want to charge her.


First made a connector to the orignal chargingpoint, added some small diameter tube on the other side.



Drilled two holes through the bulkhead and sealed them with 2K epoxyglue to get it watertight again.



Marked one of the tubes with red paint, so i know the plus 12 V side when i want to charge the boat.

https://youtu.be/sFJSfQddrvM?si=M39aHE_zUcIwWjRI

https://youtu.be/re7x-5oROLY?si=_y8aPP0rzhgJs8Uq

Some additional vid's, just to show how the boat is working, and about the technical inside.

For now she's ready for her maiden in Germany, hope to get some vid's from that adventure, if so, you guys will be informed.

Manfred.

[MFR1964]

Finally a update about the Spirou Submarine, ran her in the swimmingpool at Germany, this revealed there was not enough power to propel her with a decent speed through the water, so i ended up with building in a brushless motor.


Stripped down the internals, took the bushed motor out and cutted loose the cables.


Made a new layout for the batteries, there will be less, so i run her at 8,4 V.


Turned a new connector on the lathe for the shaft. took down the diameter of the propellor to 25 mm



The new goodies from Norbert Brugge, 2x brushless motors, 2x ECS for the motors, 3 mm shaft seals and 2x 40 Mhz syntetic receivers, they will be probably too big for inside a regular SD but can be used in future projects


Underside with the new configaration, less room needed for the brushless motor.


Topside with all cable routed out, also made a kind of cage around the brushless motor, done this to avoid touching the cables near the end.

For now she is trimmed slightly positive, and if the weather stays good tomorrow, i'll give her a spin in the local pond.


Manfred.

[MFR1964]

Ran her today in the pond, balance not good, have to change that to tailheavy, she is sucking up air, so less propulsion, shaft connection came loose after some time, going to secure it with CA and a securitywire.
Next Sunday a new attempt, extra lead will be placed at the back, shaft will be reconnected and secured.

Manfred.

[MFR1964]

https://youtu.be/4rm33AYVZeE?si=fXFM15LnfdoZ02iv

A short clip to show my airsucking problem.

Manfred

[Subculture]

Seal up the top vents. Temporary test- use a bit of gaffer tape or similar.

[MFR1964]

Just done that with some clear Vivak and hotglue, the scoop alone underneath should be enough, tomorrow film at eleven

[Subculture]

Any joy with the mods?

[MFR1964]

Nope, closing off the upper vent didn't work, ive modified the shaft and positon of the prop, hope to do some testing tomorrow on a event


Mandred.

[Subculture]

It was still pulling in air with the upper vents sealed off?