Revell 1/72 Skipjack class USS Shark SSN591

[HvyCGN9]

Looks really good! It is fun to see your sub next to the ship. It seems getting these subs to work is like taking three steps forward and one step back sometimes. You have a great looking sub.

Thanks mate,

I am going to make up a temporary rudder till my replacement one gets here (Thx DM!!!) and do some more ballasting on the weekend. I was feeling very frustrated earlier in the week but have calmed down now!! I want to get it running reliably then I will add the decals and some weathering. I have knocked up a sort of F shaped floating wharf for Shark to tie up at out of some timber (with some neoprene foam strips to prevent damage) just need to paint it and add some white foam for bouyancy. Also working on a transport/storage box so the Shark doesn't get damaged on trips (or in storage).


the long wharves are about 1m(ish) long and should be wide enough for two Nuke subs to tie up between em' and with space on the outer sides for either two more subs or corvette sized ships. This pic was before all the bollards went on...

Cheers Bruce

[trout]

Looks really good! It is fun to see your sub next to the ship. It seems getting these subs to work is like taking three steps forward and one step back sometimes. You have a great looking sub.

[HvyCGN9]

Bruce, Sub looks absolutely great in the surface shots, shame about the rudder. I had the propulsor fall off the Trafalgar once, still to this day I am amazed that I managed to recover it, very,very strong loctite holding it on now !

Peter

Thx Peter,
the matt black auto paint came up really well (its the type used for GT stripes)

unfortunately the pond we run at has a large duck population and consquently 2" layer of muck on the bottom, after the council does their once a year clean out it is clean for a short time before returning to its regular condition....

Cheers Bruce

[Peter W]

Bruce, Sub looks absolutely great in the surface shots, shame about the rudder. I had the propulsor fall off the Trafalgar once, still to this day I am amazed that I managed to recover it, very,very strong loctite holding it on now !

Peter

[HvyCGN9]

email sent Dave!

looking back at the first run overall I was very happy with the Shark's performance, no water in SD, turning circle was ok until the rudder magnet disconnected (turns out the pushrod was rubbing on a bit of the ballast foam), the ADF2 was misbehaving a bit seems to be only adjusting for bow down situations no movement of aft planes if bow pitches up now! yet it was working perfectly in both directions on Thursday....and had not been fiddled with in between! (picture monkey scratching head...)

Bruce

[HvyCGN9]

E-mail me the parts you need along with your mailing address.

dmeriman@aol.com

M

Thanks Dave, standby for incoming SOS (Save our sub....) just heading out to shed to assess whats gone wrong........

Cheers Bruce

PS Vampire has been dried out and all electrics back working....

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

E-mail me the parts you need along with your mailing address.

dmeriman@aol.com

M

[HvyCGN9]

Shark had first proper pond test today it was a mixed bag....on one hand no water in SD and ran well on surface, on the other hand couldn't achieve PD (pond must be denser water than the bath and I forgot to bring spare ballast!) was bow up when tank fully blown, but the worst thing was when I got home and was cleaning boat noticed bottom rudder is GONE!! must of detached during second run just before I packed up (grub screw was as tight as possible without stripping too.....grrrrr) going back to pond later (hopefully wind will shift around so the layer of scum obscuring surface will move to other side of pond!!

But I didn't have the worst day at the Pond !! Clubmate Jim's Daring class HMAS Vampire and Brenton's River class HMAS Parramatta had an "Incident" resulting in Vampire being rolled over on her side and Vince wading out for recovery!! SEE PIX!!


Shark alongside Long Beach

Shark on surface test run...


HMAS Vampire having some "difficulties"......

[HvyCGN9]

Got the valve issue sorted out today! And got the submerged trimming done,But there was a fair bit of water in the drive end of the SD, checking it for leaks shortly...

[HvyCGN9]

Thx mate.

I just got in from work, so I shall do some more testing shortly. Indeed the screw does appear a smidge to one side when looking from above, my solution has been to CA a small rectangle of thin styrene to the back of the rubber valve so the screw is pushing on the styrene not the rubber....we shall see if it works (the valve still opens I checked...)

If all else fails I shall SUBcontract sorting her out to Chris "OZTRUCK" Mckay up north....(400km round trip but good to catch up with him! and drop off a present!!)

Bruce

[greenman407]

Also, those little blue servos for the ballast, sometimes wont take you to the same place everytime. Perhaps its not sealing consistently every time because the servo has a bad spot right at that point. Try changing it out with an upgrade. Just a few thoughts from a guy thats experienced the same things.

[greenman407]

Bruce, is the screw that acts on the vent valve in the exact center of the valve or is it off to the side? If its off it wont provide consistent closure. When adjusting that screw, you dont need to worry about siliconing around it till its all dialed in. Even if it leaks around the outside of the perimeter of the valve block, your only interested in the valve itself leaking at this point. You can take it off and make your adjustments and put it on and stick it in the water for a test. You only care about the bubbles coming from the valve center, and you should be able to see that with your eye with the Subdriver in the bathtub, by itself. If its not right take it off and try again, till you get it right. Try drilling it out to the next size bigger, then try it again. Also the male part of the rubber valve must hit exactly in the center of the female part to seal well and continuously. If its not in the center, take it off, reglue it so that its straight and leave some droop in it so that it will naturally open.

[HvyCGN9]

Hello Bruce,

I've always mounted my ADF's (4 of them) horizontal on the side of the equiptment trays with the wires heading either backward or forward. I've had some problems with the servo on the stearn plans throught the ADF not getting full movement. I found that the slightest movement of the ADF on the equiptment tray was causing the problem. I had attached the ADF with velcro which could move around a bit so before each sailing I would reajust the ADF on the velcro to give zero bubble!!

Just checking to make sure you trimmed submerged first, than with the tank blown for waterline trim?

regards,

Myron

yep dbleside taped to tray, haven't had a chance to get submerge trim correct yet (it occurs to me that the leak should'nt prevent me from setting up submerged trim.... just can't get it to stay surfaced!)

Cheers Bruce

[vital.spark]

Hello Bruce,

I've always mounted my ADF's (4 of them) horizontal on the side of the equiptment trays with the wires heading either backward or forward. I've had some problems with the servo on the stearn plans throught the ADF not getting full movement. I found that the slightest movement of the ADF on the equiptment tray was causing the problem. I had attached the ADF with velcro which could move around a bit so before each sailing I would reajust the ADF on the velcro to give zero bubble!!

Just checking to make sure you trimmed submerged first, than with the tank blown for waterline trim?

regards,

Myron

[HvyCGN9]

Would a new vent valve assembly help?

Re-read the ADF set-up instructions. I bet you're pointing the SD the wrong way during the 'orientation' step.

M

Thanks Dave,

I will give this vent valve one last fiddle and see how we go. Will do some work on it after dinner and adjust the screw on the arm and check the vent valve casing to see if there is any muck or irregularities causing the leak. Then reattach it and give it 24hours for the silicon to seal.

On the ADF2 issue I have it positioned same spot as everybody else (I think) with red side with writing upwards and followed the instructions....

Bruce