Trumpeter 1/144 Gato build

[crazygary]

Little busy, today!!

The "frittered up" fairlead issue is somewhat resolved, for now! More on that later!!

Today the "old fart" here embarked upon HWSNBNs' challenge with regard to making
the forward dive planes retractable!! Oh what fun!! Hah!!

As the dive planes are "less-than-large", to say the least, the amounts of room in which
to drill, bush, pin and install retract linkage is, how you say, "minimal"!!??

But, "Grampa" here managed to come up with something that looks like it'll work.
After removing the factory "hinge pins", and cleaning out the center part of the planes where the control
linkage attaches, I did a little drilling. 1/32" diameter drill to allow 2 pins to be inserted which will
provide the hinge for "deployed-retracted" capability, as well as a place to attach operating links.


I attempted to bend some 1/32" wire to fabricate the operator links, but was unable to make the ends
small enough to fit into the opening. So, I "coined" the end of some 1/16" dimeter brass tubing, trimmed the ends, and drilled them out
for the 1/32" pins which will allow them to pivot mid-plane.

The hull end was drilled out to accept another 1/32" pin. It, in turn, will hold that little piece of 1/16" brass tubing upon which the planes will hinge
vertically!!

Here's the starboard plane assembled:


Both planes assembled:


I ordered some 3/32" O.D. tubing which will be cut to fit over the 1/16" hinge tube. It will be a "slip" fit, and will
also be cross-drilled, half way through, and a very short piece of 1/32" wire will be soldered to it for attachment
to the hull.

Internal operating "stuff" has yet to be thought out!! Why??? Cuz my brain hurts!! (lol) More to follow!
But for now, it's,
crazygary, out!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

You do not disappoint!

M

[crazygary]

Trying not to, M!

That little bit of "engineering-on-the-fly" was fun!

Nothing like stimulating the old "gray matter" from time to time!! Good to see that
the experiences gained from my machining years are still viable!! Hah!

I'm thinkin' that the internal part should be pretty "no-brainer"!
A pivot point, fulcrum, float and some sort of "stop" to limit the amount
of travel on the dive planes. Need some pretty good floatation so that the
planes won't flap around when she's underwater!! Might make depth control a
little problematic!!

For a float, it's either going to be a small, blow-molded pipette, or the much
overlooked piece of wine bottle cork!! An actual case of "whatever-floats-your-boat"!!
Pretty punny, no??? And when the cork becomes too waterlogged to be efficient, a good
excuse to pop open another bottle of the grape!! Win-Win!!!!

Off to the "bat cave" as soon as the first load of caffeine kicks in! Back with some
results a little later!

BTW, M! How much dihedral is enough?? A couple of degrees? More? None needed?

[crazygary]

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, no matter how "far fetched" you may think them, your input
will certainly be most welcomed as this is a learning experience and the worst that could come of it is
that we can all benefit from the outcome!

Sharing ideas is one of the most attractive side benefits of belonging to this small community of modeling
fanatics!! I, for one, am a better modeler for having been a part of it!

Thanks to all!

crazygary, out!

[trout]

Do not use a cork.......If it does get waterlogged, it will change the trim of your boat. Possibly changing a positive buoyant boat to a negative buoyant boat that visits Davy Jones locker. Use a closed cell foam or a sealed container.

[crazygary]

Thanks, Tom!!

Was kind of thinking that cork may not be the best way to go!!

I considered sealing the cork first, but not sure if that would effect it's buoyancy?

The pipette was gonna be my first choice, as it's plastic and hollow!! But, should be able to
scrounge up a chunk of closed cell foam around the house somewhere!!

Have a good one, Buddy!!

[crazygary]

Not a lot accomplished this morning on the forward dive plane retract setup.
I can't continue until the 3/32" diameter brass tubing gets to me.

However, I did manage to do a pretty decent repair of the starboard side fairlead that
the "darn kid" fracked up!!

Before and after photos! See if you can guess which is which!! Hah!!

A few attempts to repair it with spot/glazing putty failed miserably!! So. I cut a small
piece of .010" thick styrene, and made a patch! Turned out pretty well!! Gotta tell "the kid"
to pay a little closer attention to what the heck he's doing!!

Fairleads and struts playing nicely together....


I think I'll devote the rest of the day to assembling the conning tower!
I won't interject any boring commentary as to "how ah dun it", 'cuz it's a no-brainer!!
Just gotta do what the purty pitchers say to do!! (Dee-dee-dee!) Photo later!!

crazygary, out!

[Sublime]

Not a lot accomplished this morning on the forward dive plane retract setup.
I can't continue until the 3/32" diameter brass tubing gets to me.

However, I did manage to do a pretty decent repair of the starboard side fairlead that
the "darn kid" fracked up!!

Before and after photos! See if you can guess which is which!! Hah!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26091[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26092[/ATTACH]
A few attempts to repair it with spot/glazing putty failed miserably!! So. I cut a small
piece of .010" thick styrene, and made a patch! Turned out pretty well!! Gotta tell "the kid"
to pay a little closer attention to what the heck he's doing!!

Fairleads and struts playing nicely together....
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26093[/ATTACH]

I think I'll devote the rest of the day to assembling the conning tower!
I won't interject any boring commentary as to "how ah dun it", 'cuz it's a no-brainer!!
Just gotta do what the purty pitchers say to do!! (Dee-dee-dee!) Photo later!!

crazygary, out!

I would'a never guessed you were a machinist! Maybe a little Swiss watchmaker and an expert body man. Those pictures of the dive planes really seem greatly enlarged, I know how small that stuff is at 1/144. Your retract mechanism won't do me any good since mine just flip forward and back into the hull. The pipette as a float is a great idea, I just stole about 6 pipettes outta my wife's biology lab. Since I want to put a static driver in my 1/144, I'm looking at using a small hydraulic syringe to drive my dive planes at least out.

[crazygary]

Yep!! Been making chips for about 43 1/2 years! Been pretty good to me, and Lord knows I "learnt" a bunch!!
Hope your build goes well for ya! Post photos as you can!! We can all learn a lot from eachother!!

Got my little Gatos' con finished! Nothing earth shaking! Just standard, run-of-the-mill assembly stuff!

No 3/32" brass tubing in the mail today, so tomorrow I'll be back on my little Revell 1:230
Skipjack! YAY!!! Got my SombraLabs RX a couple of days ago from Caswells, and will get her sub-driver
crammed full of goodies then set her in the water and git 'er trimmed!!

May even see a maiden voyage tomorrow! Hopefully not to the bottom of the pool!! Hah!

I'll post photos and results on Davids' Cabal entitled "Todays work on the little Revell Skipjack fittings kit",
or something of that nature!! LOL

Ennyhoo, y'all have a good evenin'!!

crazygary, out!

[crazygary]

Back on the radar screen. Had to leave "Sub Base Skoozi" for a few days due to the passing of a family member.
My Mother-In-Law passed away last Thursday. She would have turned 88 in September.

Back, now, to the "grind"!!

This mornings adventure found me with 3/32" diameter brass tubing "in-the-house", so I fabbed up
the forward dive plane hinge pieces which will secure the dive planes to the hull of my little Gato.
Here they be......

Very short lengths of 3/32" diameter tubing with 1/32" diameter pins soldered to them which will pass through
holes in the sides of the hull and secure the dive planes.

Here is the "before" and "after" of the assembly, prior to inserting into the hull... The 1/16" tubes will fit into the 3/32" tubes, then the little pin secures everything to the recess in the dive plane.


And, of course, this is how they will fit the hull... Still some plastic removal on the horizon so that the operating arms aren't skewed! But for now....


Still a ways to go to figure out how I will fab linkage to make the planes operate.

They will, eventually, move into dive position via some sort of internal float with enough buoyancy
to keep them from "flapping", once she's underwater. These are strictly "for show"!

If I can manage the float and linkage properly, once she returns to the surface, the planes should retract back into the hull "cavities"!!
At least, that's the plan!! (Film at eleven??)

"I'll be Bach!!!"

crazygary, out!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

This is SO slick!!!! Can't wait to see what you do next, Gary.

M

[redboat219]

Something with a seesaw mechanism. One end connected to the bow plane linkages and a float on the other end.

[crazygary]

Pretty fun, too, M!!

Question... Is there any advantage to a little dihedral on the planes? Or, maybe just perpendicular to the sides of the hull in that immediate area??
I'm not looking to run her at "warp" speed, so I'm guessing dihedral won't be a problem?

Thanks, Redboat!!

Your suggestion is pretty much the way I was going to go! K.I.S.S. all the way!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Straight out is the goal; the two planes sharing the same horizontal plane. Duh! However, a bit of dihedral won't ruin my day.

Think: vertically oriented rack engaging small gear ganged to one of the two gears that mesh together to deploy/retract the struts. A float atop the rack, a weight at the bottom of the rack.

Me much smart!

M

[redboat219]

A vertical rack and pinion may have not enough travel in such a small space.