Trumpeter 1/144 Gato build

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

That didn't take you too long to figure out. What you have is very clean and simple. I would like to follow your method of moving the dive planes, but instead of the 1/32 rod, I will solder a piece of brass sheet stock as a control horn. I really don't have the plastic to hog out on that Revell Type XXI model. I'm still stuck on what to do with the rudder, but you guys are very inspirational, so I will think of something.

rack-and-pinion.

M

[crazygary]

Hiya, Sublime!!

All of the posts on this thread are in dealing with converting a specific model.
That being the Trumpeter 1/144 scale Gato.
So, everything I post is strictly for that particular sub!!
Alot of my posts probably won't be of any help to you, especially if your sub is bigger than 1/144!!

Best of luck with your build!! Post some photos when you can!!

[crazygary]

Thank you kind Sir!!

O.K., crawl, walk......am I almost runnin' yet??? Hah!!

Grasshopper very much appreciates hearing such words from "The Man"!!

Getting ready to drill out those "really small" fairleads!! Holy poop on a stick!! Pray fer me!!

Adios brain cells, but.....it's a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward
to her maiden voyage!

Whassup with this font?? I didn't intentionally change it?????? KGB???
Oops! Sorry! There is no KGB!! LOL

[Sublime]

That didn't take you too long to figure out. What you have is very clean and simple. I would like to follow your method of moving the dive planes, but instead of the 1/32 rod, I will solder a piece of brass sheet stock as a control horn. I really don't have the plastic to hog out on that Revell Type XXI model. I'm still stuck on what to do with the rudder, but you guys are very inspirational, so I will think of something.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Well done, sir! Perfect. Very good pictorial presentation of the work. Very, very instructive. Way to go!

M

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Well done, sir! Perfect. Very good pictorial presentation of the work. Very, very instructive. Way to go!

M

[crazygary]

O.K., Subnuts!! The "rook" is back with yet another undertaking!
Not quite sure if I'm ready to " boldly go where no crazy person has gone before", but I'm ready to
give it my best shot!!

Todays exciting episode, at the "inspirational motivation" of The Master, Grasshopper has managed to arrange for my little Gatos'
aft control surfaces to be operated from within the hull!!

First thing to be done was to recess (aka-"hog out") some of the internal surfaces of the keel skeg, as well as the area just aft
of the rearmost hollow part of the hull.

The "red" areas were recessed about .020" or so, on either hull half, so as to allow a 1/32" diameter pin to swivel within, thereby
letting the aft dive planes do their job! The "black" areas were recessed to allow for attachment of the rudder pushrod to the shaft and it's subsequent ability to
move the rudder from side to side!!


I drilled a 1/32" hole through the center of the dive plane shaft and inserted a length of 1/32" diameter brass wire. This will serve as the
operating fulcrum for the dive planes. Modification to the end, and pushrod attachment to follow later on.

I also put a u-bend in the rudder shaft for the purpose of pushrod attachment. More to follow regarding that later on, also!



Should work pretty well!


Off the modify the kits' struts and fairleads to accept 1/16" diameter prop shafts!

crazygary, out!

[crazygary]

You pretty much hit upon the methods I was looking to go with!!

Dive plane shaft is already 1/16", for rigidity within the thin skeg, but was
gonna drill a 1/32" hole through it, at mid point, and anchor some 1/32" brass wire to it!

Will carefully "hog out" material so that things will have "room to breathe"!!

As for the rudder, I was, indeed, going to use your Skippy methods!! Hard to
improve upon in tight areas!! Good one, M!!

Was looking to use magnets to secure pushrod ends together! (Huh?)

Being as the servo room will be relatively far from what needs to be controlled, I thought
it would be a good idea to make them 2-piece pushrods. Since the SD has to be "finish assembled"
once inside the hull, better to be able to get the pushrods out of the way to avoid damage!!

If I don't do that, sure as h*ll I'll frig something up and have to remake it!!

CG

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

This is a frig'n small model submarine. Think small, ******!

Construct the rudder and stern plane operating shafts, bell cranks, and pushrods from .030" brass wire, and it will all fit. Grind away internal plastic to make swing-room for the rudder bell-crank.

Study the pushrods, operating shafts and yokes on that little SKIPJACK of yours and you'll see how to do it. Note how I melt the end of a .030" brass wire into a globe, then hammer it to a flat, and punch a .032" hole to pass the pushrod Z-bend. No need for magnets back there, pal. Once you're done work-harden the end of the brass so it won't bend on you.

Do not make the bow planes operational. Do not link the bow planes to the stern planes. This ain't the frig'n SEAVIEW!

M

[crazygary]

O.K.!!

Belay the "todays adventure" from my last post!

I'm way too intrigued by the prospect of internal operators for my dive planes and rudder!!
This will be todays challenge!! (******!! I had to become a machinist!!)

Film and commentary when I emerge from the "dungeon"!! Hah!!


"Full speed ahead, and damn the torpedos"!! Arrgh!!

crazygary, out!

[crazygary]

Alec-
Being pretty new to model subs, and the lack of experience required, I'm afraid I can't, personally, answer your question.
That would be better left to Mr. Merriman! Sorry!

M-
I may well be able to cut a cavity into the rudder skeg to operate the dive planes. I'll certainly take that into
consideration! Would make her a little "cleaner" looking. To do something similar for the rudder is another story!
The skeg has no "hollow" whatsoever, and is a little less than 1/8" thick!

I was considering a "bellcrank" within the internal area where the rudder shaft goes through the hull, but the amount
of room between the shaft and inner wall is only about 3/16". Extremely tight quarters way back there! Might be doable,
but may also limit the amount of swing I can get with the rudder. May look into the possibility after researching the
"space vs. mechanical" requirements!

Since I'm waiting for magnets to be used with the linkages, I'll focus on the struts and fairleads drilling, etc., today!
Back later with my results!

crazygary, out!

[alad61]

I don't know much about this kit, but could the front planes be rigged to the rear plane via a push rod or rods under the SD to a crank on a shaft connecting the forward planes? Similar to the Moebius Seaview. It would mean they are always down at dive position though. The two retract arms would need to be fixed permenantly to the sub walls and shaped to a wedge where they sit in the planes so the planes can still move around the axis...

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I don't see any reason why you can't carve out a slot within the rudder skeg halves to accommodate a bell-crank! You CAN operate both the rudder and the stern planes from internal pushrods that need not venture outside the confines of the stern.

Also, when you operate this model, you want the bow planes rigged out -- their planing action works to grab the water as the stern planes change the boats angle of attack about the pitch axis. See, Type-17.

M

[crazygary]

Hi, Sublime!

I don't know that mounting a linear servo sideways is going to get you anywhere near where you want to be.
It would probably require a whole lot more room than physically available.

I'm planning to anchor some sort of horn on the side of my rudder on which the pushrod can have the ability
to swivel on that end. The other end will go directly to the servo. Magnets are a really sensible choice for connecting points here!

I've got some on order from Gaussboys and will make good use of them for control surface operation. I'm also
planning to use some of them to attach my Gatos' deck to the hull. Will have to fab up some mounting hardware,
but should be pretty straight forward. I'll post what I did when I get to that point in this build.

I'm sure David will chime in with better information than I gave you! If anyone can get you on the right road, it's "The Man"!

[Sublime]

Got the rudder set up! Carefully measured, marked and drilled through the top of hull and down through the
lower rudder pivot point. Used a 1/32" diameter drill bit as I'll be using a 1/32" pin to pivot the rudder on!
(Kinda makes some sense, no!!?)

Drill that hole first, then the rudder can be put into place so you can drill through that,too! (Big fun! NOT!)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26041[/ATTACH]
However, due to the extremely small amount of room inside the hull way back there, the rudder linkage
will also be a "through-the-hull" arrangement! More info to follow when I git 'er done!!


Quite a bit of sanding and fitting of the rudder is needed in order for it to "play nicely" with the other parts of the puzzle!
It's a P.I.A. to make happen, but works well! Got about 45 degrees of swing from side to side!! Wow!! Talk about "evasiveness"!! YEEEhah!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26042[/ATTACH]

Here's a photo of the "whole enchilada", as far as controls go!!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26043[/ATTACH]

This one shows that the "port plane is now the starboard plane"!! (Ya had ta be there!!)
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26044[/ATTACH]

That is all! Tune in tomorrow as the "crazy one" here attempts to fab up linkage so we can make turns, and go up-and-down!!

crazygary, out!

OK, I have an idea that needs to be run by you'all. You want to put external controls on those rear surfaces with through the hull control rods. I'm running into the same issue with the rudder on my Type XXI. I was told to do the same thing (not to Rube Goldberg some sort of internal control). Yes, I hate to admit I knew who he was talking about. But! That word always gets me in trouble. What about soldering a tiller (rudder stock if you are from across the pond) to the rudder post. Can one of those linear servos be placed perpendicular to the direction of submarine travel to move the tiller left and right? I guess I'm asking if those linear servos that come with the SD fit in sideways?