Skipjack 1/72

[greenman407]

You are total rev-head Mark (NB: Rev-head. Australian term of endearment used to describe one whose head is full of high speed stuff).

Well thanks Dude. Coming from you, thats a real compliment.

[greenman407]

I'm just getting started with the Skipjack in 1/72 scale. I've never made an rc sub though I did sail on a real boomer. I'm only going to use the basic operational kit, no ballast tanks or torpedoes, should I paint the model before or after completion, and are the holes in the bow still needed?

Bubblehead. Welcome aboard. I would suggest that you wait on the paint until your all done building and fine tuning everything. That way you dont mess up the paint with all the handling and other activitys. As far as the holes in the bow are concerned....thats up to you. If you are not going to install a torpedo system, then I see no reason to cut the holes........unless you just want them there. On a real sub , the doors would be closed all the time anyway, unless you were just about to fire a torpedo, and then only the doors to the tubes that you were going to fire would be open. In other words you would probably never see a time when ALL the doors would be open. Thats just my take on it.

[greenman407]

Tonight I weighed this boat and it tops out at 10 pounds dry. Thats more than expected, although I have been quite generous on the lead weight in the keel.

[Bubblehead]

Thanks greenman, your comments were very helpful, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I build the boat. I wear dolphins so I'm pretty much aware of how a real sub operates, the model is a whole different story.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thanks greenman, your comments were very helpful, I'm sure I'll have more questions as I build the boat. I wear dolphins so I'm pretty much aware of how a real sub operates, the model is a whole different story.

I found being 'qualified in submarines' of little use in this game. But, it does put you steps ahead in the 'get-it-done-no-matter-what' department.

David

[Peter W]

Love the paint job Mark ! I assume that it is a Pacific boat based on the colour of the sail ??? No wonder those things are fast that prop is all business !

Peter

[greenman407]

If youll recall, I almost lost it last time out. Now with this paint job, itll be even harder to see. Thats where I am hopeing that the LEDs will shine thru the inky black water and betray its position. That way Ill feel more in touch with it and let it move out without undue concern.

[greenman407]

This afternoon I got her into the kiddie pool. It was not without incident. For some reason, the rear planes servo lost its centering capability, so I cut it out and replaced it with a similar sized Hitec metal gear servo, HS-82MG. Ive had very good service from these little guys over the years. Just install and forget about it. I think that this servo works in reverse to the servos I was using, I had to re-calibrate the ADF2. Then the hose blew off of the gas ballast back-up. So much for a quick easy trim job.
Because I added quite a bit of weight to her keel, it was soon apparent that I needed more foam. So tonight I added foam in various places. Tomorrow morning we will pick up where I left off from there. I am pleased with the brightness of the four LEDs. I am sure that it will help me to keep up with it in Duck lake.

[SSN SonarTech]

Looks great

[greenman407]

The default setting for the ADF2 is maximum sensitivity. None of my subs have ever needed max sensitivity to operate even at high speeds. Also this high of a sensitivity setting causes an extreme amount of flutter in the dive planes. So I always back it off to mid range setting.
And on that subject, I always save the instruction manual that I get with these products. I date the top of it with the name of the vender from where it came. That way, If there is an issue, I dont need to guess. Also, there is no way I would be able to remember all this stuff. When an adjustment needs to be made, I just pull out the manual and there it is at your grubby lil fingertips.

[greenman407]

I have outfitted this boat with a lot of foam. More of necessity than by design. I am still fine tuning, I wont put it away until I am happy with the set-up. We cant have it torque rolling.

[greenman407]

Dave, Due to my being a Blithering idiot, I cut away all the pins that align the top and bottom hulls. Can you send me some of those hull indexers , like comes in the type 23 fittings kit? You know, those little tabs That are green with a slight curve in them. Im probably calling them the wrong thing. Much Obliged Senor Merriman. I sent this request by Email but maybe it ended up in the Spam file.

[greenman407]

Also The Onboard gas copper reservoirs that you were making for your Sub-drivers. When I took one of them apart, I noticed at least on that particular one, the small output line was pushed all the way up inside against the roof. Is this to keep only gas, not liquid from coming out?

[greenman407]

Here is a picture of my home made shade-tree gas back up copper reservoir. Its only 1/2" pipe, to keep from taking too much volume away from my ballast tank. Remember this is an SAS system, Well my gas backup system did work but, as I discovered , it had a few flaws. One was that the outlet line was just that.....an outlet. According to Dave, it has to serve as a stand pipe as well. So it should go up inside all the way to the top, to keep, as much as possible, only the gas that boils off the liquid propel from going out into the ballast tank. He explained that if liquid goes out it can explosively damage bulkheads, not to mention , waste gas and give you far fewer blows. Well I didnt have any problems with damage but I did have only a few blows out of it.......which did cause me to almost lose the boat. Well also, Ive had problems with the hose from blowing off of the tube......repeatedly, so here I am to address those issues. Ive extended the tube all the way up inside as far as it will go and Im going to rough up the smooth surface of the tube to grip the hose more securely.
Also, I did not have a atomizer in the line. This helps slow down the gas entering the ballast tank. Im going to make one and install it.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Nice soldering job! What did you use ... hot coals? Yikes!

M