1/72 Los Angeles Flight 3 in PLA and PVC

[Trim Tank Tinkerer]

Hey there, I am new to this hobby, but learning a lot from videos, reading and other mentors such as 'He Who Shall Not Be Named'. I ordered the 688 preprinted kit from the Nautilus Drydocks and assembled. I was rushed in the aesthetics due to desire to be utilized at a function and am currently in the process of figuring out what my next steps are to refinish the outside and get it working as an RC conversion. I did add some non-skid but again it was rushed, not fully to scale and has inconsistent texture. Also, being very junior I did not fully understand the concept of scribing when I tried to etch the SHT in, resulting in inconsistent sized tiling and not the cleanest job overall, another item to return to later.

Review of the kit overall: The kit provides a decent starting point if you don't have a printer of your own to buy the files and print your own kit. Major critiques: there are drain holes instead of ballast tank holes in the bottom, the designer attempted to print some of the scribing into the print, most of which was inaccurate and had to be filled, the plastic joints to the PVC also were poorly sized and had to be filled to make a smooth joining edge. Also the resolution of the print was overall lower, any curved edges in the print needed filling such as the dihedrals, the yokes provided don't work well for securing control surfaces and I am in the process of replacing them, and finally, the pieces are joined with 6 bolts, each of the holes holding the bolts are now cracking, and I am working on fiberglassing over to reinforce (I did not overtighten the bolts)

Here are some pictures from the early process, I was not as big into the whole chronicling thing originally so I did not take as many pictures, but hopefully there will be more to come. Additionally, Not shown, I fiberglassed the inside of the hull so I could move the drain holes to resemble actual ballast tanks without causing the PLA to splinter when I go to cut into it.

[Albacore 569]

Hey there, I am new to this hobby, but learning a lot from videos, reading and other mentors such as 'He Who Shall Not Be Named'. I ordered the 688 preprinted kit from the Nautilus Drydocks and assembled. I was rushed in the aesthetics due to desire to be utilized at a function and am currently in the process of figuring out what my next steps are to refinish the outside and get it working as an RC conversion. I did add some non-skid but again it was rushed, not fully to scale and has inconsistent texture. Also, being very junior I did not fully understand the concept of scribing when I tried to etch the SHT in, resulting in inconsistent sized tiling and not the cleanest job overall, another item to return to later.

Review of the kit overall: The kit provides a decent starting point if you don't have a printer of your own to buy the files and print your own kit. Major critiques: there are drain holes instead of ballast tank holes in the bottom, the designer attempted to print some of the scribing into the print, most of which was inaccurate and had to be filled, the plastic joints to the PVC also were poorly sized and had to be filled to make a smooth joining edge. Also the resolution of the print was overall lower, any curved edges in the print needed filling such as the dihedrals, the yokes provided don't work well for securing control surfaces and I am in the process of replacing them, and finally, the pieces are joined with 6 bolts, each of the holes holding the bolts are now cracking, and I am working on fiberglassing over to reinforce (I did not overtighten the bolts)

Here are some pictures from the early process, I was not as big into the whole chronicling thing originally so I did not take as many pictures, but hopefully there will be more to come. Additionally, Not shown, I fiberglassed the inside of the hull so I could move the drain holes to resemble actual ballast tanks without causing the PLA to splinter when I go to cut into it.

Welcome to the Hobby. Fascinating isn't it. You build a beautiful model then go out and deliberately sink it in water...lol.

Who's rushing you? (you mention it twice) Punch them in the face, check they are still breathing on the shop floor, drag their body away and TAKE YOR TIME.

The paint work is the icing fun part of making this cake. The pleasure here is building your 'boat' as well as running it. I have the opposite problem; I enjoy the building I don't want to get my subs feet wet! LOL.

Use common sense in your early test runs. a swimming pool large enough is best you can see it perform and its behavior when you make certain control inputs and most important you can retrieve it if something goes wrong and you didn't make adequate pre checks.

Make several decisions early in the process on painting. How weathered do you want your sub? Fresh from the builder's yard. or a little weathering, or a Russian filthy toilet. lol.

Many videos from Who it shall not be named' is an expert on weathering too. It's an art. I prefer a clean boat with a little weathering, understated.

Glad you're learning the art of model subs. Not many have the courage. Don't be like those rc car hobbyists that are not hobbyists but just future brake pad change mechanics (Brakes are important too mind you, don't be mistaken) that just assemble miniature car parts from stores masquerading as a hobby shop where everything has been done for you and there's no creativity or problem solving.

My USS Permit (SSN-594) 1/96 static model. I still miss my Floquil paints.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Welcome aboard, Michael. Let the beatings begin!!!

[RCSubGuy]

Just a note... that product isn't advertised as anything it is not. For people wanting a museum quality kit, look elsewhere. For those looking for a good quality starting point, this is the ticket. Some of the complaints are not from the files themselves, but the printing process, which lets it down.

Set expectations first. Ask questions first. Research first.

[Trim Tank Tinkerer]

I understood that this kit was just a launching point, I was commenting on some of the features that I am changing as I do the build.

And for an update, I haven't posted in a while.
Here are some of the latest things I have been working on with the boat:
Made a rudder movement arm with He Who Shall Not Be Named
Since then also been working on adding bullet connectors and wiring up various aspects of the electrical distribution in the boat.
Next Steps: Scree the tailcone to match the propeller
-finish wiring
-make up servo connections
-Program Receiver

[Trim Tank Tinkerer]

Got the wiring in and all components work! Nice to know I still know how electrons work, even if it ain't pretty.

The one thing I had particular annoyance with was the fact that the ground on the mission switch wasn't labeled so I 50/50 90ed it. Thank goodness I have fuses in the circuit. The wiring to the mission switch was neater before I realized that, now I need to make a cradle for the battery and get the servo arms hooked up and the receiver connected.

[Trim Tank Tinkerer]

Met up with He Who Shall Not Be Named again who helped me scree my tail cone to match the prop that I got from prop shop UK and enlarge the access to my tailcone which will be much appreciated. I also swapped out the momentary switch for an actual on/off switch. Not the most elegant but quite robust and I don't anticipate having any problems with it.

[Marylandradiosailor]

TTT, could you perhaps give the part number for the prop shown in the above photos? I kinda like the looks of it!

[Trim Tank Tinkerer]

Hey, I got it from Prop shop UK. Here's the link and the description that you can match in the propeller section. They have a lot of variation of standard skewback propeller designs.

https://www.prop-shop.co.uk

MS/28/7/RH/BR

[Marylandradiosailor]

Hey, I got it from Prop shop UK. Here's the link and the description that you can match in the propeller section. They have a lot of variation of standard skewback propeller designs.

https://www.prop-shop.co.uk

MS/28/7/RH/BR

TTT thanks for the pn

[Trim Tank Tinkerer]

Hey all, It has been a minute since I've posted a progress update on the boat.
First of course, is pictures from my last collaboration/mentoring session with He Who Shall Not Be Named. He helped me glass the tail cone onto the boat as well as showed me how he makes propellers from scratch! Below are the associated pictures. For the propeller, he showed my how to prepare the mold with talcom powder and microwaving the mold to minimize the chances of steam explosions from the hot solder. We used leadless solder melted in a solder pot and poured into the mold. We decided on the new propeller since the other one was threaded and for a metric shaft size. I ordered the propeller before I was enlightened on the superiority of Standard. I will likely still use the brass propeller at some point, but not when I have He Who Shall Not Be Named telling/helping me make a propeller from scratch. This was likely the last mentoring session in person, as I moved the following month. Looks like I'm into full problem solving now using the breadth of knowledge I have gleaned from He Who Shall Not Be Named.

And for part 2: It took some time, but I finally got the boat unboxed in the new shop, significant improvement over working out of the spare bedroom of my old apartment. First task I set about was mounting the stern bearings (an aft journal bearing and a reversing thrust bearing) and ribs for mounting the cylinder out of high density polyurethane foam from Freeman manufacturing, I used T-5060. Nothing glued yet but lots of lessons learned. To figure out the slope of the mount, I made some discs that fit where I wanted them in the stern cone and used the shaft to figure out the z-direction spacing. Using the spacing and the discs I used my new toy (taig mini lathe) to turn out the part. My original plan was to friction fit the bearings with an interference fit....this was not the move. The foam compressed non-uniformly and led to the shaft not fitting initially and when I managed to get it in the bearings, it was highly bound. I attempted to increase the movement by heating the bearings to realign them, and twisting the shaft, some improvement but not enough. I ended up remaking the part this time with a non-interference fit with much better results. For anyone that is curious the oilite bearings I used were as follows: Journal Bearing (0.1885"-0.3145"-7/16), Reverse Thrust Bearing (0.1895"-0.3140"-0.2500"-7/16-1/16). I initially attempted to use a 7/16 bit for the hole, which ran into the problem. For the non interference fit I used an 'O' sized bit (0.3160"). Anyone have any advice whether to glue the bearings or let them ride loose? There application, would keep them in place axially, not sure if there is benefit to them being loose or not.