1/35 scale type 23

[greenman407]

My servo installation. Odd arrangement but it serves well and lines up nice. The servos are either all the way to one side or in the middle so that a good amount of space for wires to pass by on the one side. Unfortunately one of these servos turned out to be bad right out of the package. Caswell offered to replace it at no charge. As far as the servo pushrods are concerned Ive always had difficulty trying to get them just the right length without having to try again and again. What I have done is to make them up in two pieces. At both ends put them where they are supposed to be, all lined up with the radio on, trims in nuetral, control surfaces where they are supposed to be. I join the two pieces together with a 1/16" I.D. piece of brass tube with a slot cut in both ends and the 1/16" brass rods roughed up with a dremel cutoff wheel to give them good texture. When all is good, hit them with the real thin CA and watch it soak up inside the tube.

[greenman407]

Got my BECs and put one in. Im still waiting on the replacement servo. Maybe tomorrow. Then we can bathtub test the Subdriver and do our trimming. Then its off to the Clearwater sub pond for SEA TRIALS! Watch out fish.

[greenman407]

OK now, I got in the crystal for the Lepton receiver. Thats really weird. You would think that the pins for the crystal would sink all the way down into the circuit board ,just like every other one Ive ever dealt with. But NO! It goes in maybe a 1/16" and stops. I kept pushing and bent the pins of the crystal, but it works. Ive got two of the receivers and two of the crystals, and its the same for both. WEIRD

[greenman407]

Everything is coming together real good. Im using 1 ounce fishing weights to get some weight into her to start with. Ill use the flat ones that I always use in 1/4 ounce increments for trimming. All the double magnets in place. Here we can see the placement front to rear of the ballast tank. The vent valve is pretty close to the center of the sail. The center of the ballast tank is about 3/4" behind the present balance point of the sub. We will have to see how this works out. Now that I got my supply of Clippard hose in Ive finished the ballast tank. READY FOR TESTING.

[greenman407]

Somebodys nice model.

[crazygary]

She's "bad -To-The-bone", greenmen407!!

Funny you should mention the crystal pin "thing"!! I had the exact same problem!
I ran, very carefully, a very small diameter drill bit into the sockets which helped a little,
but didn't want to get too carried away for fear of screwin' up the Lepton!! Very strange
design glitch, there!!

Really like the keel weights!! Great call!! Gotta file that one away for future reference!!

CG

[greenman407]

Thanks Gary, I was just fishing for anyone out there who also had a Lepton. Im thinking I will probably need more weight, but Ive got so much floatation in there already, I am hoping that I wont have to put any foam in it. We will see what the bathtub will tell us. Yes............the bathtub.......a very hush hush piece of state of the art diagnostic equipment.....dont ya know.

[crazygary]

A pretty "clandestine" operation there, eh??

The "Stealth-Aqueous-Submersion-Chamber"!! (AKA: Hotel California)
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!!
Impressive!! (LOL)

CG

[greenman407]

Rainy today, so it was kinda low key around here. Started fooling around with this thing and the servos would just sit there and jitter. I dont like that. Only one of them was doing it the other day and I replaced that one. Since then all was good until today. So I tried a different BEC. Still the same. So I tried a different crystal which meant changing the frequency. LOW AND BEHOLD!!!...............that was it. Channel 87 was very noisy today....apparently, so channel 89 I guess will be it.
I had to resort to grinding down the crystal pins with a Dremel wheel, to taper them, so that they go in well. I then put some good vinyl electrical tape over it so that it cant come out. The silicone holding the receiver in place is drying. Tomorrow Ill get the APC into place and then all thats left is trimming in the bathtub.

[crazygary]

Maybe those crystals should have been UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM-1??

Hey, Lepton folks!! Pleeze fix dis here!!!!

CG

[greenman407]

A few more mods to keep bubbles from building up in the conning tower. I didnt want to take out too much material and weaken the upper portion of the hull. Afterall, its got a lot of tabs on it to help hold and pull everything together, donchano. I also drilled a bunch more holes in the lower platform of the Conning tower too. Also , the Garage Sale/3"/2&1/2"/mark 1/heavy mod/ Subdriver is all together and ready for the bathtub. The gas system has been tested today and all is well with it. Tomorrow I should have the whole sub in the tub for some trim work.

[greenman407]

Went to trim it today and found that I needed to increase the weight in the bottom of the hull. I had three ounces in it and needed to go to at least 7 ounces. As I was working on this I realized that water was getting into my heavy mod Subdriver from parts unknown. Probably the prop shaft seal, but to save me some work figuring it out, I installed a equalization valve in the bulkhead, like there was supposed to be in the first place. Tomorrow Ill put a hose on it and remove the valve core and blow in it to see where my water leak is coming from.

[greenman407]

Nope, not the shaft seal. It was from a hole I cut in the bulkhead to bring a power cord in. I sealed around it with silicone seal, but it leaked anyway. However, water got in and ruined one of those little blue servos. since I already had one of them fail for reasons unknown I decided to buy a real good one. That ballast servo is all important. If it fails ............Im stuck. The new micro servo is on the way. In the meentime, today I put the second coat of the electroplating job on the prop. After the bronze plating turns a little darker in a couple of days Ill paint over it for protection using Minwax clear gloss. That should be about right.

[greenman407]

I took the liberty to install an extra drive shaft seal on the outside. Two has to be better than one, even though the first one was not leaking. I left a little room between the brass dogbone coupler and the seal so that I could get a little oil in thar. Heres the new ballast tank servo in place. Should have it at the pond on Monday for testing.

[greenman407]

OK , so after I got the prop electroplated for the second time, I was waiting for the deposited bronze to darken. At this point it was still fresh and a light tan in color. I dont know how long it was going to take but it all became a moot point. I accidentally dropped the prop without realizing it. I then stepped on it, bending one blade real good. After the initialOHHHHHHHHHHH,
NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!.......OOHHHH CRUUUMMMMSSS!!! I picked up a pair of needle nose pliers and restored the shape, cant tell that it ever happened.......................except............. ...........the plating was gone at the point of the bend. What should I do? Wait for another bottle of the bronze. Oh Nopey No. I went down to the local Wallymart and bought a can of Rustoleum "French Roast" in a spray can. A new color for them I believe. I pickled the prop in boiling Vinegar and then cleaned it in "Lacquer Thinner" The paint color looks like chocholate. Tomorrow Ill hit it with Matte clear and it will be perfect. Pictures tomorrow.