72 scale Lindberg IJN I53 with Kaiten Torpedoes

[Subculture]

The 35 degree limit is similar to aeroplanes. Beyond that angle of attack, the control surfaces begin to stall, and can be less, rather than more effective.

Boats with poor control surface area will require high angles of attack, boats with more generous areas may work well with considerably less. For instance I had a conflab with Dave about the Skipjack controls. I knew there was no way I would get 30-35 degree throw on either the rudder or dive planes without them clashing. Dave told me +/-10 degrees was enough for the rear planes.

[modelnut]

Thanks!

I will play around and see how much room there is to work with. The forward planes have to deal with the curve of the hull getting in the way. The aft planes and rudder might conflict if given too much freedom. I will find out today.

- Leelan

[modelnut]

OK. Didn't mess with rudder or planes. I worked graveyard the night before and I was a little out of it for the rest of the day. I opted to work on the conning tower instead. I chose to copy Chris's build and cut out the floor with my Dremel. I replaced the kit floor with a metal grill. Looks good. But not so different from Oztruck's work. No real point in posting pictures yet.

I have a site where I can get brass propellers: http://www.shipsnthings.com/indexNS.htm The brass 3-blade D-type looks the closest to the kit parts.

Code

D (mm)

D (inch)

R/L

Shaft (mm)

P (mm)

Max RPM

156-03 35 1.40 R M4 35.9 10000 156-04 35 1.40 L M4 35.9 10000 156-05 40 1.60 R M4 41.0 8800 156-06 40 1.60 L M4 41.0 8800

Or can anyone here suggest something better?

- Leelan

[modelnut]

Thought about what I had read about the SNORT system and I think there is a detail of this model that plays into it --- the snorkel.



There is a lot of detail in the kit that doesn't work (duh.) But the basic shape and height of the snorkel is not too far off. I need to close that gap in the aft section just as Chris did. Then I plan to build that platform forward of the tower where there seems to be a big honkin' pair of binoculars.

I think my skills will be equal to fixing a metal mesh inside the twin heads of the snorkel. Surely one of them would be the place to fix the business end of the SNORT.

- Leelan

[modelnut]

Found an image of an IJN sub that more closely resembles Lindberg's tower configuration.



Wrong Kaitens on the deck though.

- Leelan

[modelnut]

Ground out the limber holes instead of just drilling.



Only one "oops!" out of 272 holes. Beat the law of averages I'm sure.



Just beginning to fix the conning tower using yellow FOR SALE signs from Walmart and some scrap plastic card. Still a long way to go.

- Leelan

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Found an image of an IJN sub that more closely resembles Lindberg's tower configuration.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12777[/ATTACH]

Wrong Kaitens on the deck though.

- Leelan

'Close' being a relative term.

David

[modelnut]

Yeah, "close" is relative. I have to decide how close I want to take this kit to the real I-53. As close as I can get without being too anal I guess.

I've replaced the kit propeller shafts with 1/8 inch K&S brass rods and tubes as Oztruck did.


I've left extra inside for the day I may take this kit RC. It isn't in the budget right now.


Got disgusted with how inaccurate the kits details are especially concerning the weld lines and drain holes. So I backed each hole with plastic card from Walmart FOR SALE signs.


Filled the other side with spot putty. And I'm starting to consider the keel. What the kit calls a keel isn't even close to the plans. So you can see a sketch here of the aft section.


Here is the forward. I don't know how far I will take this. One step at a time. I will keep you posted.


I have the "front porch" almost finished.


Here is a better look.


Like I said, I have to make up my mind how close is close enough. But whatever I end up with will be better than what Lindberg had in the box.

- Leelan

[trout]

This is going to be a fun build!
I like what you have done so far! Keep it up!
Peace,
Tom

[Kazzer]

A tip on glueing.



I'm not sure what this is you've use to fill these holes, but it looks like an epoxy putty. I reckon you have a lot of work to do sanding these dollops down flush.

I would have welded the styrene sheets to the inside with Solvent Weld, as this would be a much better bond, then filled the shallow hole with a polyester filler like Evercoat Easy Sand.
Another trick - Use a thin sheet of styrene as a scraper and fill the hole proud with Easy Sand then scrape over the hole flush to the hull, to remove excess material before it sets, thne let it set. It's better to fill and scrape twice than spend much time beating on great dollops of resin, and Easy Sand sets in a few minutes, so its actually quicker to fill and scrape several times.

[Subculture]

Looks more like single part red spot putty to me- very easy to sand.

[Kazzer]

Looks more like single part red spot putty to me- very easy to sand.

Are you suggesting he glued those styrene parts in with a single pack material? That's worse than using dog poo to putty in your windows. And anyway, why leave it all gooped up like that, when a simple scrape would remove most of it and it would dry ten times quicker. Anything that dries (solvent evaporation) is going to shrink.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I too was thinking that a self-curing two-part putty would have been a better filler here.

David

[Subculture]

When blanking off holes, slots etc in injection plastic kits, I use bits of plasticard or sprue, and solvent weld them in, and leave them slightly proud of the surface. Once dry, I sand that back to the correct contour, and there you have a repair that's as strong as the rest of hull.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

When blanking off holes, slots etc in injection plastic kits, I use bits of plasticard or sprue, and solvent weld them in, and leave them slightly proud of the surface. Once dry, I sand that back to the correct contour, and there you have a repair that's as strong as the rest of hull.

.... and doing it Andy's way --filing holes with like material, a material with much with the same physical properties as the surrounding substrate -- insures a seamless union between filled holes and hull, even after the finished models is exposed to extremes of temperature and UV. Most important of those properties is that the filled areas will have a coefficient of expansion very close to that of the surrounding polystyrene.

John Slater can tell you all about what happens when a model part composing many different substrates are subjected to the, Real World!

David