Moebius (Revell) Skipjack Build

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Any help on paint schemes? Otherwise it will be painted pretty and guaranteed to offend all. :-)

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Thank you David.

Collecting some research info for painting the Scamp (that is what this sub will be made up as). I see so many variables, I need your help. What were the paint schemes used on these subs or on the Scamp more specifically?
Darker sail, lighter hull - looks like.

looks black with escape buoy painted.

Gray hull, dark sail.

Mid hull black/red

Panama - all black above water including buoy

just a pretty shot - nothing new.

3 Color scheme - Sail lighter gray, exhaust fairing is medium and hull black.

Revell's recommendations


Can you shed light?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Good stuff, Tom. Shock-absorber. I like it.

M

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Work is still crazy, but a three day holiday allows for some sub work.
Primer and coat of paint is applied. There are some areas on the sail and planes that I got some orange peel. The entire finish on the sub will get a wet sanding at 600 grit and another coat of paint. The gloss finish will disappear after decals are placed on. Not sure if I will finish the paint coats or decals now or after sub-driver install and trimming.

The other dive planes came out O.K.

Not the best photo to show the cleared out channel under the sail's exhaust flaring, but I wanted to document it none the less.

Under the cap of the sail, I cut out that large flat area. Again trying to think of where air might get trapped (before it is sealed up and too late)

As a precaution, I added some support to the cross braces cut out

Keep plugging away. Working on an idea for the attack periscope that will buffer the wave action and minimize the bounce effect on the scope. The thinking is create a box that the foam float will rise and lower in, but seal the top and bottom. In the top and bottom place small holes (number unknown at this time) to restrict or slow down the amount of water or air coming in and out or being exchanged. This should average the high and low water movements into a slower motion like a shock absorber in a car. Does that make sense?

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Except for the attack periscope (missing), I think this is the way I will keep the top.

Again, it is just me... so this may not be necessary, but I cleaned up the underside of the top piece to facilitate air evacuation. The proof will be in the performance.

Along those lines, I will cut out the area marked off to prevent a shelf to trap air. If I do not cut out the whole thing, I will then leave some cross members for strength.

The attack periscope, I am going to put a float on it to raise it as I dive. My only dislike with that is the bobbing effect that happens with waves - i wonder if I could create a baffle system to reduce that bouncing behavior?

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Scrubbed down the rudder and dive planes in acetone. Afterwards scrubbed with soap and water.

The top of the sail needs modification. I did not want all the stuff sticking up, but what does it look like down? Looking at photos like this gave me some idea, but it looks like I can just wing it.

Cut off bits of the antennae and snorkel

With the antennae retracted, it looks like it would not be smooth. Looking at the FF/UHF Antenna you can see that I left the top of the antenna flush with the hole. Some of the bits I left slightly proud for effect only.

For venting air I cut a rectangle out of the front and two 1/8th inch hole mid and aft.

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Thanks David!
Use the force, I will.
So far it is getting on and hardening O.K. so that is a good thing.
Alec, good tip using tape. I will add that to the build. Thank you very much.
Peace,
tom

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I think I am mixing the Evercoat with too much hardener. My working time is short. What is the proper mix ratio? So it gets put on......

And sanded off. As it jells, I ran a razor creating a finer line for the separation. I think I read that I will need to coat the glaze with some CA to make it harder and prevent it from flaking off. Did I dream this?[/QUOTE]

No hard and fast rule, Tom. Too many variables: Need to make exact weight/volume measurements (hard to do); ambient temperature; desired working time; humidity; variable amounts of MEK in the cream-hardner, etc.

An aquired art here, pal.

M

[alad61]

Good stuff Tom. I use a different filler down under but to make the job somewhat easier where I can, I run masking tape either side of the seam or join for a couple of reasons. It lets me put the filler where it's needed most which makesit easier to sand back without having to worry about stuff smeared over everything. As for the ca, David suggested it to me when I did my akula and it's beyond a good idea.

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Work is getting very busy as we prepare for school to start, so I will try to get bit by bit done on the Skipjack and post if I can.
Using baking soda and CA filled the recessed screw heads and rough sanded to shape.

I think I am mixing the Evercoat with too much hardener. My working time is short. What is the proper mix ratio? So it gets put on......

And sanded off. As it jells, I ran a razor creating a finer line for the separation. I think I read that I will need to coat the glaze with some CA to make it harder and prevent it from flaking off. Did I dream this?

Put on and sand off. Wax on, wax off.... oh wait that was a flash back. I will be filling and smoothing this sub every night for awhile. After which I will wet sand to remove the deeper scratches and prepare for a coat of paint.

Then I will move to the sub-driver and trimming. After that works, then I will come back to paint and weather the sub.

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The prop is carefully packed.

Between the blades are some seams and rougher casting surfaces. Normal casting surface. There was no flash or major bubbles. Some minor pits, not a big deal.

Began by filing between the blades using small files (round and flat mostly).

Used sandpaper up to 600 grit to clean up the surfaces. Finishing with a little rouge polishing compound.

Scrubbed the propellor with soap and water. Just to be sure, I brought out a ultrasonic tank to make sure it was clean and grease free. To prepare the prop for paint it needs to be etched. Etching puts tiny pits into the metal giving the paint a surface to hold onto. Ferric chloride is what I used. It is not difficult to do, but ferric chloride is caustic acid, dangerous and you can get some serious burns from it. Use proper safety measures. Another alternative and safer is using vinegar, I have not used it yet, but others have successfully.
I had two jars, one to hold the acid and another to hold a neutralizing solution (baking soda and water).
Using a piece of sprue, melted and shaped to hold the prop, dipped the prop in the acid for about a minute. It will darken like the second picture.

Here is the prop placed in the neutralizing solution. A lot of reaction going on. When the bubbling stops, I rinse it in soap and water.

After acid wash, this is what I ended up with.

Coat of primer and time to let the paint dry.

[alad61]

Hi Alec,

Yes we sanded both surfaces prior to gluing. We are using the Zap CA (thin).

The indexing pin will be removedonce I am happy with the operation of the fins.

Ok :biggrin:

[Capt_Christo]

Hi Alec,

Yes we sanded both surfaces prior to gluing. We are using the Zap CA (thin).

The indexing pin will be removedonce I am happy with the operation of the fins.

[alad61]

The instructions for installing this portion are very short, so I was not sure what needed to be sealed. When in doubt......
I placed a ring of RTV silicon where the mast of the SAS valve would go through.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22074[/ATTACH]
Installed the SAS induction tube foundation.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22075[/ATTACH]
Set up the rest of the system.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22076[/ATTACH]
Making sure that just enough of the induction tube sticking through the hull for the 90 degree elbow to fully engage, yet remain in contact with the hull. I will seal around the elbow also with RTV.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22077[/ATTACH]


On the top how did you guys open it up to let the air out? I do not plan to have the whole array up.

Still looking good Tom. You mate are a force to be reckoned with, methodical and informative and clever to boot :biggrin:

Something I found during all the initial bench and tub tests was that silicon was not quite enough so I dusted in some baking soda along the join between the elbow block and foundation mount and then added some thin ca. Don't forget to add a section of styrene tubing behind the elbow block to take any strain on the induction line leading to the manifold block on the sub driver refer to the 25th post by David http://forum.sub-driver.com/showthre...nd-of-OZ/page3

What I did for letting out the air was a combined effort. Firstly I didn't add the window at the top of the sail and also channeled out the placement rib on the top sail piece to allow air out the open squares. Then I also drilled a hole in the top of the snorkle head and glued in a piece of styrene tube and shaped it to the right conture.

No Matter how many time we tried, the bushed supplied would not stick to the inside of the sail, so we made new ones out of styrene.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22072[/ATTACH]

Capt Christo I hope you are planning to remove the indexing pin in the sail assembly? If not you are going to have a devil of a time installing the SAS float valve part of the system. I am also looking at the concave curve in the sail sides where the pin is... That alone is going to cause issues in fitting the sail firmly to the hull. By the way I like the styrene fix. Can I ask what CA you were using, I have found that the Zap brand is excellent for gluing resin to resin, resi to styrene and resin to brass. Also it seems to handle the water too. I assume you sanded the area where the bushes had to go to help with the ca adhesion. The mob in china that Moebius uses produces some of the best styrene I have come across but it can be left with an almost glazed finish from their molding process which can hinder getting ca to stick a bit.

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No Matter how many time we tried, the bushed supplied would not stick to the inside of the sail, so we made new ones out of styrene.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22072[/ATTACH]

Thanks Capt. Christo! I will watch mine to see what happens, so far, no issue with it coming loose.