GATO! (It has begun)

[matthewnimmo]

...With luck you'll have that SAS SD tomorrow or Wednesday.

M

The mail gods hate me:( i'm not lucky. Hopefully tomorrow or friday!:)

[matthewnimmo]

@David: I hate to bother you, but do you happen to have a tracking number? We've had a ton of snow around here, so i'm curious to see if it's buried in some town or something lol?

I'll be posting up some more pictures hopefully tonight! Nothing too exciting...just more body work and i have the flood holes drilled.

[matthewnimmo]

And now for some posted progress.

Got all the flood holes drilled out.


Then Sam Adams and I took a break after we filled down the holes after being drilled out (yes, i could have left them all circular; but that was bugging me some) Tried to get as close to the template as i could


Then i went back through and started applying more filler to some of the last areas. The biggest part was the keel, the other areas were the joining sections on the top part of the hull (not much to see on that but a thin blue line). But, below you'll see that i've started to grind/sand down my keel build up to something smooth and more level.


I hope to have the keel and new filler areas smoothed out and ready for some final sanding. Then i'll prep for some CA then more sanding with 400 grit. After that, i'll do some touch up work with the putty/lacquer mixture and primer it until it actually "looks good in grey" as David said earlier:)

"Scratches head" I might need to start on the conning tower before i think about primer now i think of it lol ... but i still might do the putty/lacquer to fill in the small gaps.

[matthewnimmo]

Captain's Log:

@David: The SAS SD finally arrived! But, i think I might know why it was delayed lol ... see below (you forgot a 7 in my address 2373 not 233).

All is well! Thank you so much David for your hard work converting this over to SAS for me. I sincerely appreciate it all of this!

So, I couldn't help myself and put the SAS WTC into place just to see how it looks! It seems more real having it just sit there....like i'm actually going to get this done:) Spent the rest of the night with more boring sanding/grinding on filler areas. I'm hoping this week i'll finish up with the putty/lacquer combo (which i didn't even touch this weekend like i hoped).


I'll have i'm sure a billion questions about how to fully hook this thing up (especially with the tower section and the snort ... that part wasn't covered in the DVD set).

[matthewnimmo]

Im about done with the mind numbing grinding and sanding. So, im curious about what i need to do to the upper hull and the conning tower in regards to the new sas wtc system. I see the components that makes up the snort and from various pictures on the subdriver store front that show the system setup for the gato, but i cannot see the details.

First, what all do i remove from the top of the hull?
second, what areas do i need to address on the top hull to fasten the snort and othercomponents
third, how do you guys handle securing and removing the tower? Magnets/screws?

lastly, is there anything else that i might need to know about sas installation with the gato?

thanks everyone!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Im about done with the mind numbing grinding and sanding. So, im curious about what i need to do to the upper hull and the conning tower in regards to the new sas wtc system. I see the components that makes up the snort and from various pictures on the subdriver store front that show the system setup for the gato, but i cannot see the details.

First, what all do i remove from the top of the hull?
second, what areas do i need to address on the top hull to fasten the snort and othercomponents
third, how do you guys handle securing and removing the tower? Magnets/screws?

lastly, is there anything else that i might need to know about sas installation with the gato?

thanks everyone!

Sorry about screwing up the address, Matt.

Though the type snorkel head-valve provided with your SAS type SD is a bit different than illustrated, the below picture shows you how to arrange it on the deck. Note the cut-out under the sail to give clearance to the snorkels float.

Yes, use magnets to secure the sail atop the deck.



Your SAS type SD arrived tested and ready to receive the devices. Just read the SAS down-load from our site, and read ...AND FOLLOW... the SAS operating instructions provided with the SD.

Got questions? Ask them here so everyone can drink from my massive fount of knowledge.

Go get 'em, Tiger!

M

[matthewnimmo]

Thanks David! Anyone, where are the best positions to put magnets to fasten on the sub? I have a few ideas but rather ask now before screwing it up. Also, what magnets you guys use and were to get them?

[trout]

I have no idea. Mine was not with the SAS, but I am VERY tempted to retrofit mine. I think it is up to you to blaze the path for all to follow.
I used a cylinder magnet that went on my periscope brass tube. Another was mounted underneath the deck and has held up pretty good. I got my magnets at http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I like these:

http://www.gaussboys.com/store/index.php/magnet-shapes/discs/d0502.html

Good people. Great service. Very reasonable prices. Quick delivery.

M

[matthewnimmo]

I ordered about 50 of the little magnets from gaussboys (so cheap figured i'd get a bunch for possible other things). I've got about all areas smooth and even ( i think) barring one. I know David is going to slay me for still working on this part, but i think i'm going to take another stab at my main cutline. When the two halves are put together they are pretty close; but have some gaps ... bu the halves are someone jagged (due to two main reasons. The first being how i cut the hull to begin with and the second being my noobness with using fillers). So, my plan of attack will be the following.

1) going to sand down all jagged ledges of the cutline (this will produce larger gaps when the model is together).
2) Then i'll use my lowtack tape on the upper and lower halves. The tape edges should meet nice and even when the halves are together and because i'm using two pieces of tape i don't have to worry about cutting a line. I will then remove the two halves revealing the proper amount of filler needed to raise up the cutline to an even edge. From there, i'll enclose the back side of each edge with more tape so that I make a nice channel. within that channel I will fill with baking soda and CA. Then i'll fill down the tops until they are even with the tape's edge. Hopefully, when I remove the tape i'll have even edges that will meet up nicely.

Thoughts? Crazy plan?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Yes, you should be moving on to more productive tasks. But, since you won't listen to Teacher ...

... yeah, that methodology sounds good. And I would like to see how it pans out. You lead, I'll follow.

M

[matthewnimmo]

Been out of town on business past week. I'll have more progress to post tomorrow hopefully! I got my magnets in.

[matthewnimmo]

Whelp, i've got some updates finally. I didn't go through and do the tape/CA trick around the entire sub; just to some spotted areas on the sub with the main cuttline. That seemed to make a huge difference (was easier than that stubborn filler at times). As you might notice i also tried using some filler putty along the line as well, small improvements; but overall i think i have it fairly close so i'm moving on.



I've added the two pieces to the bottom of the hull, i forget the name of them; but i'm assuming they are to keep the real sub from rotating too much in the water?


I've began priming the model, but when i started i realized that my stupid master airbrush is partically siezed up .... so thats kind of why the prime job is spotty. I had to manually control the paint amount instead of the double action control that i've been use to. I'm going to try to free up the brush some more tonight to see if it will work better; but i might be having to get a new brush (the stupid thing was only used once and when i was done with it...i had ran lacquer through it thinking that cleaned it out...apparently not). As you all can see, the primer has really shown how much of a ****ty job i did sanding down my fillers :( So i'll be sanding more for sure!



I still need to cut out the snorkel section of the top of the hull; but one thing i noticed was that the opening that which i would be cutting is in the way of one of the WTC cradles ... so i'm assuming that i just cut a chunk out of the cradle to make room for the float?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Bilge keels, ******! Bilge keels.

.... you people!

Double-action air-brushes are for poodle walkers (hi, Mike!), people of non-traditional sexual preference, and make-up Artists.

And you aint' no make-up artist.

Get a manly man's air-brush, like the venerable Paasche H-Model, single action Master-Blaster. Love the thing -- don't even clean it! Only reason you ever have to replace one of those bullet-proof things is if you drop it from a great height.

F the cradle ... full speed ahead!

M

[Albion]

Talking of which, not the poodle walkers, but the bilge keels. Are they going to make any difference on a model. My M1 has some but i havent fitted them. A) looks like a PITA to make and fit B) They will get broken off easily

Any thoughts