SSN21 - 1/72 Seawolf

[Slats]

The chap that tows his pod uses a thick lump of something or other. I think he does that to avoid it getting caught around the prop, but you don't really need to worry about that with a boat like the seawolf with a shrouded prop. He uses a Flycamone2, which isn't waterproof, so he made a little cylinder for it with fins on the back to give the pod some directional stability.

I would personally have a go with some fishing line. Non-elastic, and fine so it should be near invisible underwater, and resilient, and I expect you have some already, or know someone that can give you a few feet to muck about with. You may need to add a bit of lead underneath the camera to get it to balance well, and you may also need to add some fins at the back to give it some directional stability, experimentation will yield the clues.

Great insight Andy. Many thanks J.

[Slats]

Does the anti-weapon group also forbid humans holding cameras in and underwater?

No they're not that bad.

J

[ADDINGTON]

Thanks for the entertaining elaboration, a relief to know the USA hasn't cornered the market on self- important idiots,but I was specifically curious as to whether you guys had the option of just taking camera in hand,wade in and get the shots you want.
-Kerry

[oztruck]

Can I ask, how did you remove the "Date and time stamp" on your videos?

Cheers Chris

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I'm with Chris! How do you get that annoying stamp off the 808 camera?!

[Subculture]

I'm with Chris! How do you get that annoying stamp off the 808 camera?!

I don't know how you get rid of the time and date on the camera Mike sells. In the case of Johns video, if he's used that camera, I pretty sure I know what he's done, he's cropped the video from 4:3 aspect to 16:9 aspect. That chops off the area of the picture with the time stamp on it, but you do lose horizontal resolution by doing that.

In the case of 808 keyfob cams, some versions can have the timestamp removed- version 3,11 and 16, with the latter being the easiest to remove. The other two have to have new firmware installed to switch the timestamp off. Two minute job, but if you foul it up you can knacker your camera, so it needs care.

If you get a 808 Keyfob cam, get a version 16, the picture quality is a big improvment on earlier versions, it's true 16:9 aspect, so integrates well with modern HD camera footage, and it's a cinch to configure.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Good to know stuff, Andy. As usual, you're there with the staight poop. I'll be on the lookout for the #16 camera.

David

[Subculture]

Far too much information on the #16 808 cam here-

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1556994

Buy from here-

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-DVR-808-Car-Key-Chain-Micro-Camera-16-Real-HD-720P-H-264-Pocket-Camcorder/180776698380?ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1&category=48634&cmd=ViewItem

Beware of other vendors selling 808 cams, some of them are fake. This one is genuine.

You can also get a 1080P camera, but these are a bit bigger, and they won't fit in the little teardrop casings I made. 720P gives really great images anyway, and really the lenses on these little cameras are now bottlenecking the image quality.

The company that produces the RD camera Mike sells is now also producing watertight HD versions, both 720P and 1080P. The image quality looks fantastic, so that's an option for those who like a turnkey solution.

[Slats]

Don't know really what I did. I uploaded to video in to my Mac, and a program call iMovie pretty much did or guided me through.
The 16:9 thing seems familiar.

J

[Subculture]

Depends on the project settings in imovie. Pretty much all video shot these days is likely to be in 16:9 format if the camera has been built within the last couple of years, the old 4:3 ratio is going the way of the dodo, fast.

I would think imovie is set to default to 16:9, but you should be able to change it to 4:3 if you want to. Can't say specifics, as I run a PC on Ubuntu 64 Linux distro.

[alad61]

You can still use the 16x9 format, it just depends on the movie program you run. Most these days have feature like zoom & crop in them. That's how i was able to get Sandy's blurry pink finger out a a few scenes and still keep the aspect ratio. I am curious about towing the camera and behind on a cable/s but what if you need to reverse your boat? I see fowled prop, rudder or planes... Though it could make some fun footage.

[Subculture]

Well the trick is to think ahead, and look where you're going, submarines don't work at all well in reverse anyway.

It's a bit like tug towing- you need to keep the lines nice and taught, so that means keeping the seed constant, and slowing down gradually.

[HvyCGN9]

G'day John,

The Seawolf looks awesome mate! Just had a quicky look at the pics and video great stuff!!! Do you still have the Seawolf?? I seem to recall you had a few hulls up for sale awhile back...

Cheers Bruce

[Slats]

Thanks Bruce
Wolf runs very well. She's currently with a local collector.
I have pruned back the warship and surface fleet quite a lot.

Cheers

John