Revell Gato 1/72 - Newbie no more Part duex

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Good. Both my 1/72 SKIPJACK and 1/72 GATO were glitching after a few minutes of operation (using only the ESC BEC power). But, on both boats, once I installed the big, dedicated BEC, I operate the boats for up to an hour without incident (then the battery is shot and I have to come in for a fresh pack).

David

[trout]

I will be installing the BEC today, but in the meantime I have been playing with different things. I know I would break the periscope tops off - as much as I have broken and fixed other do-dads, I knew the scope tops would be begging for me to brush against it. Why put them on? It looks cool, that is the best answer I can give. So, I thought I better make a mold of them. When I built my sub driver (WTC), I made my own brackets for the SNORT system. When I made the mold for that I added the two periscopes. Last night I broke out the pressure pot.

A bit of flash, but that did not bother me because the scopes were fine.
Here is the scope mounted on a brass tube. The plastic scopes and the subsequent molds were slightly larger at the base. A little filing and sanding was needed.

I need to break out the math, since I use one of my scopes for the SNORT intake, I will need to figure the amount of open space (volume) at the top of the tube and make some openings on the side to compensate. Near the top of the scopes it was painted black on the original subs and I think that is where I will put the holes on my Gato. Then again I could add a tube in the scope (or drill it out) and a slot on the back side for intake.....hmmmmm got to think about that.

[MFR1964]

Smart thinking Tom, three things in one cast, is it possible to cast the scopes again with the needed tube allready inserted, that would releave you of drilling holes and mess up your nicely scopes.


Manfred.

[trout]

I was thinking along those lines. I could drill out and and make openings. Then vacuum the rubber to get a very clean mold or I could cast with tube, then open the intake. For that matter I could add a wire to the top to strengthen and allow me to straighten if knocked. Many thoughts. Thank you Manfred!

[trout]

Can anyone tell me about periscopes. Did the Gato usually use both scopes? I see some model boats have one scope higher than another, but would the sub actually do that?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

The small head 'attack' scope was used during daylight close-in for the final target range and bearing inputs to the torpedo fire control computer (analog machine, typically the MK 101). Same was done at night with the big head 'night scope' at night, or for long range, initial target info.

[trout]

Thank you. If I am understanding correctly, both scopes would not be up. I could leave my aft scope (attack) off and that would be acceptable.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

If I'm not mistaken, the scope heads still extended up above the top of the shears a bit when retracted, Tom.

David

[trout]

Changing of the BEC.
I cut the ties off and unraveled the tangle of wires packed in the engine room. What a mess!
I put in a bullet connector to tap into the main battery power earlier during the build just for this kind of thing.

Added the BEC to the bullet connector tap.

Then I needed to disconnect the red cable from the ESC. #3 is the connector from the mtroniks speed controller. I will apologize in advance for the cheesy contrast. It was to eliminate the clutter to make my point clearer (I hope).

To remove the red cable, use a sharp point to lift the tab that is behind the brass tip and pull out the red cable.

Here is a closer look with the tab pointed out.

It will slide out and be able to re-insert if later you want to use the ESC in a different model.


I folded the red cable back and used electricians tape to hold it down and protect it from touching anything. Bound up all the loose cables and stuffed it into the WTC. Tested it on the bench and all worked well. Next it will be pool time again.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Excellent presentation, Tom!


And I love the contrast trick -- how did you do that? It sure would help me make my picture presentations a lot more rational.

And I can almost guarantee that you won't see the glitching now; the higher capacity BEC will vastly improve the performance of the SD system.


And a big thank-you to Andy Lawrence who, for years, kept beating us up for not providing the high current BEC's in our larger models. OK, it's official: ANDY, YOU WERE RIGHT! (as usual).

David

[trout]

Thank you David!

I m using Photoshop, so here is 30,000 foot instructions and if you want detailed, I can send them separately to you.
1. when you have the graphic open do your adjustments first.
2. Make a new layer that is a copy of your graphic.
3. On the copy layer, go to hue/saturation and adjust it to the lightness you want.
4. use the eraser on the copied layer to delete the portions you want to stand out. The original layer will pop out from below.

Peace,
Tom

[trout]

I do not know if it was a premonition or I just know my boat, but the periscope got knocked off. This time it was not me, Tina did it. She felt bad and I tried to reassure I can cast another one. The peg that goes into the brass tube was stuck in there. The blockage initially gave me concern because if I was pond side, my sailing would be done. To clear the blockage, I was able to ram it out with a rod coming from underneath.
This actually turned out to be a good thing. I was able to drill out the base of the scope.

So what I learned is the peg portion is a liability. My current plan is glue the scope to the top without a peg. if it breaks off, the air intake for the SNORT will not be blocked. Once I cast this, I will carve out a slice on the backside of the scope to allow air in.

[Peter W]

Tom, that is a good looking boat you have there. I know how you feel when things like that happen in my 1st house we didn't have a lot of room for subs so my 54" Trafalgar was a squeeze in the spare room where my then 2 year old son went to town on the finished paint job with an HB pencil, gutted but couldn't blame a 2 year old, tried but couldn't. All subs now safely in my workshop.

All the best,

Peter.

[trout]

Peter, Thank you very much for those kind words! We just had this discussion again because Tina dropped a book and smashed into the deck gun, breaking a few parts and dislodging the barrel lock. So I will be carving a wall in the garage for models (for some reason she does not want it over the mantle or pot shelves in the living room). I wonder if she is trying to tell me something? LOL

[Peter W]

Tom, you need air cover. Revell do some pretty good P-51 kits not sure how they would stand up to a spouse though.Peter.