Aluminaut Research Submarine 1/96th Scale

[greenman407]

Now thats what I call dedication...................to the hobby that is.

[trout]

O.K., Broncos ended thier season, I can keep working on subs.
Another mistake was this front bridgework. It came out well, but it was a millimeter or two low. There is an indentation and I erroniously thought it was for the frame. Later I saw on the reference that was not the case. So later I removed it.


Some of the other details was the sonar on the upper part of the bow. As a bonus I made a set of cameras that are protected by the front cage. It was a moment were I could "Manfredize" this sub a little more. Cutting three very thin rings out of brass and a couple of lengths of styrene were the parts needed. Soldering was done with tweezers and a simple jig.

Look closely and you can see the cameras behind the bow cage.

Side note: I put railing cable on early in the build. Mistake. It has since been broken and sections removed. Do the rail cable last.
The bow shot below you can see the frame going to the dimple, it should go to the top of the deck.


Next area is the light bar. You get a cast light bar, but I thought I would do better and make my own WITH working lights.

Small improvements

Closer to the point of being ready to mold.

[alad61]

Brilliant stuff Tom. It looks hugely impressive for such a small kit.

[trout]

Thanks Alec!

[trout]

Getting close to being caught up.
Portal windows. Rick had said he would send, but did not. I was at a point that I needed to get them installed.
I made a mold of the portals using Sculpey clay. Baked them arranged the molds on a clay substrate. Poured rubber over the master. Then using clear resin, used the silicon mold to get my windows.

Cutting the windows out with a jewelers saw (small coping saw) and sanded to smooth out. The pieces were affixed with CA'd to the portal openings and ca leaked all over the surface. Not panicking or doing a Hulk smash on the sub....I took a break. Which turned out to be a good thing. Made a mini circular polisher for the windows. A drop of CA and put a piece of wet/dry sand paper on, trimmed the edges and we are off to smooth out the windows. Used a variety of grits, but ended at 1200 wet sanding the windows.


Turned out o.k. - especially since they looked like dog do-do before polishing.

I went ahead and did a water test since the windows were the tube. i dunked it with tissue paper stuffed in there to see what end water may or may not be coming from. There was a leak in the aft end. had been on the tube while I was working on the bow and it was significantly looser than the bow end. A gentleman informed me that the plastic tube can stretch. He leaves the ends off when not in use. That was a bummer I had a vision of setting this on display like the Aluminaut is on display in Virginia. Sitting on tracks and a cradle. The solution is simple add some teflon tape to add the little bit of extra dimeter to the channel causing the o-ring to be stretched a little larger. Then I thought....Why not make it more permanent and add a strip of styrene. In my stash of styrene I had .005 and .010, the end seemed really loose, so .010 should work great. Cut out a strip and began to install.

That went so well that when the two ends met, I put some Bondene on the joint and mushed them together. The joint is in the circle.

It was so clean, that you could hardly see were they met. Puffing my chest up a bit and feeling soo smart, I put the o-ring on for a test. Holy smokes Batman, it is WAAAY to tight....Don't panic went through my mind, just work quickly before the CA has set completely.

Quickly digging out my styrene strip, I was able to restore it to almost pre-not-so-smart-idea timeframe. Then applied a wrap of teflon tape (like I should have in the first place). Fit the 0-ring back on. Test fit. Snug, but it is on! Now the equipment tray is larger than the hull. It was measured and cut so the bow piece could fit.

I had to put everything together again and stared.

For the observant, you will notice no railing cable towards the aft end.

[crazygary]

Mornin', Trout!!

First off, sorry about the Broncos!! I was kind of hoping for them to emerge victorious, too!
However, my "Niners" are still in it! Fingers crossed for "just one more"!! Hah!!

Just want to thank you for such a comprehensive build thread, here! Unfortunate that it's
such a "brain cell tweaker", but you're doing a bang-up job on that sweet little sub! I'm
seriously considering such a build in the future! Besides, I think that too many fully functioning
brain cells is not such a "good" thing!!

Keep up the great work, and thanks again for sharing your "miscues" as well as your victories!
Much appreciated!!

Crazygary

[trout]

Crazygary,
You are welcome. I do not know if I can express it in a way that will make sense, but this "hobby" is more of a passion. I love subs, but another benefit is the way my mind gets challenged. Even in the midst of frustration, I come back to the bench because of the ways I get stretched. One of my goals is to try many different wtc types, large and small subs, and share what I learn. Look forward to your build and what challenges and solutions you come up with.

[trout]

The guts of the sub is relatively simple. One ESC for every motor, receiver, and a ballast tank (not necessary really). The ESC (electronic speed controller) are from here http://www.bidproduct.com/more/cartview.php?id=6743

The beginning of the ballast system and the receiver.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

How you've adapted that retract servo is very, very good stuff, Tom. Well done. I'm learning new stuff here.

[Slats]

Just discovered this thread. The size of that thing, or in this case lack thereof is giving me a headache.
Well done. A fantastic feat in miniaturisation.

J

[trout]

I am not sure this ballast system will work. So, we shall see.

On with Plan A for a syringe ballast system.
The beginning is this: http://www.bidproduct.com/more/cartview.php?id=5372

The first move was to tear it apart to see how it works. Some gears to turn the screw, a metal rectangle with threading in the middle of it, and a circuit board with limiting switches. For the ballast tank, I used a syringe used to flush or irrigate an IV line (there is some benefit to going to urgent care). It was the largest syringe I got and a reasonable size to fit in the hull of the Aluminaut. In the book Submarine Technology, Norbert Bruggen mentions about keeping the cylinder large and piston travel small (my interpretation). Using this concept and the fact I needed to keep this piston compact because of the hull and using Rick's design he used in his Aluminaut, I began to cut up the syringe and the retract. Got rid of the parts that were not necessary. The parts not needed from the syringe was everything just pass the plunger portion. So it was trimmed back and 1/16th inch holes drilled in to run some brass wire through. The brass was to secure the rectangle that travels up and down the thread. A hole is drilled straight through the center (yeah lathe) and a small puncture was made in the tip of the plunger.
The thinking is the rubber will seal around the thread as it travels.

The case that holds the gears and the motor is too wide for what I need and I have to have a way to secure the cylinder of the syringe to the motor casing. Taking all the parts out I turned the case in the lathe. It worked out better than I thought because the screw hole that holds the two halves of the motor casing together will be covered by the cylinder. I can use that to secure the cylinder to the casing.

Used the syringe plastic to hold the metal rectangle and wire.

The range of travel was measured and cut the cylinder as needed. Inside edge of the syringe cylinder was beveled. A hole was drilled to match the case screw hole. And assembled.

The circuit board was covered with liquid electricians tape because it will rest against the motor.

[Scott T]

Looking real good Trout. I wonder if the increased air pressure will try
to squeeze air back down the threads. If it does leak maybe you could make
a cover glued to the plunger that can slide into the tubing.:pop

[trout]

Scott,
As always great thinking. We will see. There is a part of me that thinks it will act like the seals on the pushrods even with the threads. We will see. A thought I had was to fill the space between the rubber of the plunger and the plastic piece with grease.
Peace,
Tom

[crazygary]

Hi, Trout!!

Looking good there, buddy!

But, just wondering about your Sombra Labs rx! Noticing that it's 72 MHZ!
I'm assuming you'll be utilizing a 72MHZ radio, as well?? Seems like a dumb question, but
don't know if a rx can be refitted for 75MHZ?

Also, what are you planning to use as far as a battery is concerned?? I'm asking because the
1" wtc I'm planning on will have , basically, the same constraints with respect to "roominess",
or rather a lack thereof, as your aluminaut!!

Crazygary
Following your build enthusiastically!!

[trout]

Great questions and good eye. http://forum.sub-driver.com/showthre...ra-SL-6-Lepton This link will explain all.
The battery is a small 1s LiPo like this one http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...mpatible_.html