Trumpeter 1/144 Gato build

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Resign yourself to trimming this thing so that at rest in the water only the top quarter inch of sail sticks above the water. That little 180 motor does not have the ass (even with a higher pitch set of propellers) to push around a set of wheels with too much bite.

M

[crazygary]

Bigger motor???

Maybe like a 180, or bigger??

Lotsa Mabuchi d.c. hobby motors on Ebay!!

Machining the motor mount end of the S.D. is not a problem to fit
something with a few extra cojones!!!

Whatcha think, boss??

CG

[crazygary]

Just wondering, M!

With the 1 1/4" SD set up for 2-prop operation, what was it intended to power?

Would bigger diameter props be of any benefit to me? I can go as big as 3/4"!
That's pushing the clearance thing a little, but they'll swing without hitting anything!

Also, if I should happen to go the "re-motoring" route, what effect would that have
on my little Revell1/230 Skipjack?? Besides make her go like "stink"?

Maybe a combination of both prop and motor swap for the Gato?

This old and feeble inquiring mind gots ta know!!! Hah!!

Thanks for your help, mah brother!!

The Crazy One

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Stop over-thinking this! Build it stock. Find out what has to be changed and then ... AND ONLY THEN ... make the changes.

M

[crazygary]

Copy that, M!!

Got her carbon fiber pushrods made up earlier. Got a slight bend in them due to the fact
that they ride up a tad on the motor end of the SD, but don't anticipate any problems. I doubled-up
on the magnets operating off the top of the servo box for better hold!

Will post todays results a little later!

CG

[crazygary]

Carbon fiber pushrods are made up and installed:


I went with 1/16" diameter carbon fiber because it can handle a little bending
with no ill effects, as both of the rods hang over the motor end of the SD. The ends of
the rods are CA'd into 3/8" lengths of 3/32" o.d. brass tubing about 3/16" deep.
The magnet holders on top of the servo box, are 1/16" thick styrene with a piece of
1/32" diameter brass wire CA'd into the ends. They, in turn, have 1/16" o.d brass
tubing CA'd to them. The whole magnet assembly gets CA'd into the remaining 3/16" of the
tubing in which the rods were glued. Pretty strong, and hopefully will stay together
for a long time to come!!

This last shot is showing the inside of the hull, which also got assembled today. The hull halves were
"tacked" with thin CA, and after setting up, the inside seam of the hull was given a heavy coat of
epoxy.

That's the "on-off" switch end of the SD!(duh)

Will be fitting the deck to the hull tomorrow and rigging up some small "Gaussboys" magnets
to keep it in place!

All for now!!

crazygary, out!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Liking what I see so far, Gary. Work real hard to minimize friction drag between the propeller shafts and bearings. If you find that the motor you are currently using does not have the ass to move this thing well enough, let me know, I have some low winding motors of the same can size that will push that thing along -- already fitted to a motor-bulkhead, so a swap-out will entail only a bit of soldering at the motor terminals.

Like the linkages -- very inventive. I'll steal some of your work for myself at a later date.

Very good stuff, pal. Keep at it!

M

[crazygary]

Lotsa thanks for the motor offer, M!!
Much appreciated!

We shall see!

Steal away, Boss!! We're here for eachother!! Besides, I've learnt so much from
youse, that it ain't qualified as stealin'!

CG

[crazygary]

Eureka!!

I just had a thought!! ( Yep!! This actually does occur from time-to-time!! Hah!) Go figure!

Regarding the slight bend in the carbon fiber pushrods, I think I'm gonna cut a section out
of them, and replace them with pieces of 3/32" o.d. brass tubing bent to the required shape!!
A little CA, and, PRESTO!! Problem-o solved!!

Hah!! Who'da thunk!!?

CG

[crazygary]

I decided to leave the carbon fiber pushrods alone, as the "bend" is pretty slight with no
stress on them! So, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

Got the deck secured to the hull, thanks to those great little "butt kickin'" magnets from Gaussboys!!
A couple pix of the results:

A few bits of styrene and a little CA did her up nicely!
The 2 "straps" are backed up with .020" styrene for rigidity purposes as well as to keep the magnets
from ever dropping down into the bilge!!

The forward most part of the main deck was "awarded" a little 1/16" diameter brass pin to hold her in place:

The pin slips under the forward deck into the little cutout, highlighted in red.
Not enough room for a magnet up forward, so.....Git 'er done!!

Lastly, a few pix showing the fit of the deck with the magnets holding it in place:

Pretty o.k. for a little 1/144 scooter!!

Not sure what's next?? Ahhh!! Maybe deck stanchions (.015" brass wire) Yeah!! That'll work!!
crazygary, out!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

No!.... no stanchions! You are a glutton for punishment, Gary. Keep it simple! Love the magnet trick. And you did a fine job on those propeller-guards too.

Trumpeter spent so much time getting the details wrong -- it would have taken the same amount of time to get them right. Scale-wise, I have to put this little 1/144 kit in the 'toy' category.

M

[crazygary]

I had, actually, attached the stanchions from the kit, and, after breaking off a few of them,
I just went ahead and broke 'em ALL off!!

Turned out to not be a "bad" thing, because they had a bit of a flange where they attached to the deck,
now all that's left are the flanges!! Looks pretty cool!! Hah!! Went from a f#*k up, to a "plus"!!

I, also, got a nice etched brass detail set from WEM, but decided that although it'll look really sweet,
it's gonna be w-a-y to fragile for an r/c sub! Would really dress up a static model, tho'!! The mast setup
would look great!! But............. Looks like a future Ebay item!

So, I'm going to leave the top of the con with the shears around the masts, and blank in the holes on that
little deck, so I'm not tempted to put railing up there, too!! May not be like the 1:1, but it'll work for me!!

CG

[crazygary]

No significant progress made the past week, as I'm, literally, "knee deep" in "poop"!!
Well, humus, to be exact!! Hah!!

Been dealing with a 8 yd. pile of top soil and compost in prep for our forthcoming front
lawn! My little tractor's been gettin' a workout, and her farm tires are having their way
with me old bones!! She's a "beater"!!, but still fun!

I had to take my wife to the E.R. yesterday for a "diagnostic", as she wasn't firing
on all cylinders and needed to be assured that all is well!! As it turns out, she's fine
but still stressing a bit over the recent loss of her Mom!

Sunshine and clear skies today so, I'm hoping to get some "pre-assembly" painting
done! Warmed up a bit outside so the paint will be a lot happier!

Should have some update pix by the end of the day!!

Back a little later!

CG

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

You're doing it right; your priorities are in order: The female first; yard a distant second; and the model work last.

M

[crazygary]

Finally able to get back to her for the time being!! Many projects on my plate lately!!

Well, her hull is painted and I'm going with the MS32/9SS paint scheme! Pretty "interesting" masking work
for this one!! I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out!!

A bit of cleaning-up here and there, then off to the dive planes, the con, and her guns, followed by
a coat of matte clear to keep her looking "fresh"!!

All for now!

crazygary, out!