Bronco Type XXIII by Ken

[biggsgolf]

Looking good Ken, I love my Type XXIII!

[redboat219]

Another valid way Romel.

I've used the square tubing this way before and it works great for me, so I went with it.

Any problems with the tubes seizing due to corrosion?

[Ken_NJ]

On my Marlin I have telescoping brass tubes for the periscope and snorkel. The snorkel is also used to turn on lights. No corrosion. But the inner brass tube accumulates black tarnish on it which is removed periodically by a slight sanding and cleaning. All part of maintenance. I'm sure the outer tube has tarnish on the inner side which I do not clean, not easy to get to, but once the inner tube is clean it works fine. Had that boat in use since 2011ish and it spent 7-8 months lost underwater. Never had to replace any of the brass.

[redboat219]

On my Marlin I have telescoping brass tubes for the periscope and snorkel. The snorkel is also used to turn on lights. No corrosion. But the inner brass tube accumulates black tarnish on it which is removed periodically by a slight sanding and cleaning. All part of maintenance. I'm sure the outer tube has tarnish on the inner side which I do not clean, not easy to get to, but once the inner tube is clean it works fine. Had that boat in use since 2011ish and it spent 7-8 months lost underwater. Never had to replace any of the brass.

That's good to know. Thank you.

[Ken_NJ]

Aft Dive Planes

I started by rounding out the opening to fit a 3/32 brass rod. The little support just inside the opening was also filed down.



I shaped and added another support which will go at the opposite side of the opening.



That support needed clearance for both halves. It also had to keep the shaft parallel to the front of the dive plane and also had to center the shaft between the two halves. I'm a bit out of picture order here.



Trail fit of a sample shaft in place. Note the two small sections of brass tube. They will be CA'd into the openings in the hull. The larger center brass tube will be mentioned later.



Here I am positioning the smaller two tubes prior to CAing them in place.



For the shafts, I'm using 3/32 brass rod. Here I am filing down the rod to half the diameter, that would be 3/64. I used a caliper to measure it to the exact dimension. Since I do not have a milling machine, this is the next easiest way to do it. I made two shafts filed down to half the rod diameter.



The filed down brass rod will fit together like this. Here the rod is cut to length and test fitted.



I did this on the radar for my two party boats. It works well. With the two shafts filed down to half the diameter, when they are inserted into the brass tube, the two halves join each other so that the two dive planes are aligned together and they will move together as they should.

To install the rods in the dive planes, the first one was placed in position and eyeballed so that the half part of the rod was perpendicular to the dive plane. Tacked CA in place. The tail end of both dive planes were held against the workbench and both rods were inserted into a section of tube. This locked the second one in the proper position, then it was CA'd in place. Having them basically with the joined surface in this position, the set screw will hold them together.

Before the rods were CA'd in place, I used the Dremel abrasive wheel to notch the rods so epoxy will lock them in place.



For the push rod connection. The center brass tube previously mentioned is opened up to accept the set screw.



These are the arms I will be using for the dive planes. I pushed the insert out of the nylon arm to solder it to the brass tube.



The insert was soldered to the center brass tube, then pressed back into the nylon arm.



Testing the assembly. The arm with insert with the brass tube will hold the two half brass rods together. Pressure from the set screw will keep them tight together and in alignment.



Again out of order. Holes were drilled on one side, one a fill hole the other an air escape hole.



This picture does not have to be here.



The dive planes have that light, hollow cheap feeling to them, Epoxy was dripped into one of the holes while air escaped from the second hole. Eventually the body filled with the epoxy.



How I dripped the epoxy in.



Once the epoxy set, there was some settling. The holes were topped off with additional epoxy, or I filled it with baking soda and CA. The epoxy created a bubble which was sanded down. The CA was sanded down then Nitra-San was used to finish off the hole.

Now the dive planes have that solid feeling to them, just like the ones that would have come with the fittings kit.

Next up the forward dive planes.

[Ken_NJ]

Additional pictures showing the half rod in each of the dive planes. And how they appear in the half hull.

[redboat219]

Finally found out what you did with the dive plane shaft is called, a half lap splice.

[Ken_NJ]

OK, we have a technical name for it. A term from wood working, I should know that term.

[Ken_NJ]

Forward Dive Planes

These are made up the same as the aft dive planes. Although the inner side did not conform to the hull curvature so I added some styrene and shaped it.

I wanted to beef up where the shaft came through so I cut a styrene disk, then drilled a center hole. Sandpaper was held in place on the hull then the disk was moved on the sandpaper to have it conform to the hull shape.



Solvent was used to adhere the disks to the hull, then a file was used to enlarge the hole for the shaft.



The 1/2 length 1/8 diameter brass tube was CA tacked in place on the outside with the hull sections together and a long 3/32 rod through them to be sure they are in alignment. Then the hull sections were separated then another CA tack was applied on the inside. Epoxy was mixed and thickened with microballons, then a fillet was added around the tube.

Could not do this on the aft dive planes as there was not enough room to do this.



Same as the aft dive planes.



Added styrene and shaped it.



Here is the brass rod lap joint.



Tack glueing the rods in place with CA.



Filling the dive planes with epoxy. Since I had epoxy mixed, at the same time I topped off the aft dive planes since some of the epoxy settled.

After the epoxy cured, I used baking soda and CA to top off the hole after the epoxy settled.



Both dive planes. Any gaps or other area that required touch up was filled with Nitro-Stan gray glazing putty.



Dive planes with the adjusted profile.





The torpedo doors are next.

[redboat219]

What's the thickness of the styrene sheet you added to the inboard end of the bow plane?

[Ken_NJ]

That was 0.1". I used the same sheet for the round disk. Both are 0.1"

And I used this solvent...
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1X62BU6KUH6J4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.t75 GXGl1YEqL7A3HHgsVWrE9lYUV7TkwUN_IO83h4KXjZyUHS60Ys 79LBuvRujP1vZSRFReRiOnw1Qmlk3Z2EK2kcGh0MrzESLpdmP1 fueXmE9dHx5sYIU4iU_IyN0vB.8QtcemPxYuTukswInkNtOb4G vk-ZAKilLF7UurXwYPM&dib_tag=se&keywords=styrene+solve nt&qid=1748007507&sprefix=styrene+solvent%2Caps%2 C 111&sr=8-4

[redboat219]

Thank you.

[redboat219]

The torpedo doors are next.

Will you be doing some shooting?

[Ken_NJ]

No plans on working torpedoes. Not sure what I will be doing, just want to have the doors working. I like making some things operational, working on torpedoes is a project, I have other projects I want to get done.

[Ken_NJ]

Need hull joining recommendations

I'm thinking ahead and asking this now. Not ready to do this just yet as I have other things that need to be done before I glue the hull sections together.

I originally thought to join the port sections together, the starboard sections together, then glue the halves together, using and alignment jig of sorts. Doing it this way I think I might run into alignment problems with the two halves if the port and starboard sides are not perfect. It might be better to join the forward sections first, then aft sections, then glue those two together. I know Manfred kept the hull split on the radial sections. I have not found much detail mention anywhere how people exactly did this. So what are you thoughts on this???

Also, the contact between the sections is quite large. My thought is to join the sections dry and wick the solvent into the joints on the outside while they are held together. Once the solvent sets, then try to wick solvent in the inside. And perhaps I can use clamping power of some sort to assist. And once the deck cut is done, add more solvent, and apply fiberglass cloth and epoxy to the joints.





I have this solvent in quantity. Think I used it before on styrene. Is this ok to wick into the joints? Think I used the gel version on the Skipjack but that tube is shot.