Moebius (Revell) Skipjack Build

[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

[trout]

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

[trout]

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.

[trout]

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?

[trout]

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?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

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

M

[trout]

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?

[trout]

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

[greenman407]

I found these the otherday on one of these threads but I dont remember right off which one it was.

[greenman407]

This picture definitely shows a color difference between the sail side and the manifold cover or whateveryawancalit?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

The two bottom shots are mine. One shows pre-commissioning (red from waterline down), the other is patrol ready (red from centerline down). One for Mike, the other for me.

Don't get anal on us now, Tom. Slap paint on that sucker and be done with it!

M

[trout]

LOL Thanks guys for the help. Mark, I think I am leaning to that three shade paint job. The one with the E over the number. I found out the E stood for excellence, a rating given for performance or inspection, I think. Maybe someone can expand on that.

David, your advice is duly noted. This all brings back memories of the Gato and your advice there was 1. this is not rocket science 2. get her done then go back and add the details - usually followed with a kick in the pants. So before that happens let us move on......

More on the periscope. Made a rectangle tube from styrene, 18mm x 20mm x 87mm. Taking the foam that the propellor came on, cut a block out and shaved to fit.

The periscope I mounted on a brass tube to strengthen the end so it could be mounted in the foam block. I am skipping some steps, like how do I know where it goes on the block, but will cover that in a little bit.
The periscope is adhered to the block of foam with RTV silicon.

I added the brass plate (Yeah RTV silicon) after playing with different configurations.

The foam and periscope was a little too light without the brass plate and would not retract or it would get stuck from the slightest friction. Adding the small amount of weight helped. It might need a little more.

The rectangle tub was capped off. Placing the styrene unit in the sail and using a mechanical pencil (with the lead extended a lot), marked where the scope should be. Drilled out the hole to allow the scope to rise. The other squares are holes sealed off after experimenting (larger, smaller than no hole) and found that they were not necessary. The hole the periscope rises in was filed to allow smooth motion doing so made it slightly oval.

Testing to make sure the foam slid easily. At this point testing was done with the bottom open. My son assisted in creating waves to see the bobbing factor. The scope showed a lot in the first 1/3 of it rising, bobbing mid way, but as the scope became fully extended it reduced. So some reduction did occur just as it was.

To help reduce it further, I made a baffle for the bottom. The thinking is slowing down the water coming in will reduce the wave action. Sam created more waves. The baffle worked. The bobbing was minimal and the sail rose just smoothly. Upon rising, the sail would not always respond by going down. My guess is the small holes are the cause of that (failure rate about 25% of the time). I might seal the 4 holes and use just one larger hole.

The as I look at it, I can imagine debris and moisture getting trapped in here. So I will need to make the bottom open up. Off to the hobby store for some styrene to build a hinge.


Slapping on paint as I type.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

The 'E' is for Efficiency, Tom. Can be red, white, or green. Outstanding performance in the areas of Engineering, Operations, or Aviation. Spooky boats get lots of white E's.

Take care, you have some reserve volume in the ballast tank, but not much -- you add too much stuff atop the waterline (your foam gizmo for example) and you wont have enough ballast tank volume to counter all that displaced water your scope floats and box will add to the boat. I think you're good, but don't cram in any more goodies for now. Get it wet and see if you can achieve the designed waterline in surface trim.

M

[trout]

Thanks for keeping me straight on the E. My memory seems to keep getting worse. No more contraptions, I promise. I wanted to do something new, not just out of the box build. I held off lighting it with opening running lights in the sail and playing with torpedoes. Worse case scenario, I will remove the box and foam gizmo.

[trout]

Made a hinge and snap latch. Painted the top most surface black. The entire contraption is 7.5 grams which if I did my math to about .46 cubic inch of ballast. Please correct me if I got this wrong. Trying to understand the technical aspect better.

Put down the darker grey.

Using the advice of Alec, put tape on either side before laying down a coat of glaze.

Yup I made a mess.

Peeled the tape off before it completely solidified. Made it so much easier for sanding.

Quickly put some paint on it. will finish painting after it is trimmed out. Now it is time to go to the sub-driver.
As a side note, looking at the photos of the other subs done by David and others, I hope I can do a decent job on my sub.