Trumpeter 1/144 Gato build

[crazygary]

And yes, Brother David!!
I am, indeed, woikin' on me little Gato!!

Control surface linkages today!! Quite a long ways from the linear servos in the servo box,
to the rudder and rear planes. Like about 12" or so!! Mama MIA!!!!

A real P.I.T.A., but coming along!!

Maybe some pix tomorrow!!

crazygary, out!

[Sublime]

Managed to come up with, what I hope is a viable solution to the prop shaft
mismatch "problem" I mentioned in my last post.

The 1 1/4" SD has a drive on the centerline, as well as an extra drive capability
for a 2-prop setup. The mismatch looks to be more than a piece of vinyl tubing
will be happy with, without putting way too much side pressure between the prop shaft
and the inside of the hull.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26273[/ATTACH]

I made up a couple of supports, with "bearing" surfaces which should eliminate the problem.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26272[/ATTACH]

They're short lengths of 1/4" diameter styrene with an 1/8" core. These are about 7/16" long.
I inserted 3/8" long pieces of 1/8" o.d. brass tubing flush with one end, then inserted 3/32" tubing,
of the same length, into the 3/32" diameter i.d. of the first piece of tubing! Why 2 pieces??
Because that's what I had on hand, and, I don't think you can find 1/8" tubing with a 1/16" bore!?
As my propshafts will be made from 1/16" o.d. brass tubing, this was a "no-brainer"!

I then beveled the ends of the styrene supports to "match" the angle between the prop shafts and insides of the hull,
and secured them to the hull with thick bodied CA. This was accomplished with the prop shafts fully inserted from the external
struts through the hull, and then through the supports.

Most commercially available u-joints and/or dogbone couplings were too big for my needs, so,
into my model railroading "junk box" I went, and found some of these, which will work like a champ:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26276[/ATTACH]
Of course, the ones that I have are too big, so these are on order!

They will allow coupling between 1/16" diameter shafts of any length. They're made from acetyl (delrin, if you will)
and have very little weight to them, but plenty of strength.

The "cups" are about 7/32" diameter and have a 1/16" bore. It's been my experience with these that the bores
will provide a bit of a "press" fit with the shaft, so no need to glue them.

The "wingnut shaped" parts are the other component of the drives. You pick the length
of shaft you need, glue the little "wingnut" shaped pieces to the ends, and there ye be!! Instant couplings!!

These are available through North West Short Line, and come in many different size configurations!
Absolutely no affiliation, other than being a long-time satisfied customer!

That is all....
You will now be returned to your regularly scheduled programming!! Hah!!

crazygary, out!

Great fix. I'm lucky with my 1/144 scale Type XXI. Both shafts come in at an angle, so they should meet at the center line on my subdriver. I understand the order and wait crap. I'm waiting for a foot switch for my Dremel tool. I miss the days of running down to the brick and mortar Hobby Shop. Our last Hobby Shop closed up in Charlottesville about 4 months ago. Now I'm an ebay and internet Hobby shopper.

[crazygary]

Managed to come up with, what I hope is a viable solution to the prop shaft
mismatch "problem" I mentioned in my last post.

The 1 1/4" SD has a drive on the centerline, as well as an extra drive capability
for a 2-prop setup. The mismatch looks to be more than a piece of vinyl tubing
will be happy with, without putting way too much side pressure between the prop shaft
and the inside of the hull.


I made up a couple of supports, with "bearing" surfaces which should eliminate the problem.


They're short lengths of 1/4" diameter styrene with an 1/8" core. These are about 7/16" long.
I inserted 3/8" long pieces of 1/8" o.d. brass tubing flush with one end, then inserted 3/32" tubing,
of the same length, into the 3/32" diameter i.d. of the first piece of tubing! Why 2 pieces??
Because that's what I had on hand, and, I don't think you can find 1/8" tubing with a 1/16" bore!?
As my propshafts will be made from 1/16" o.d. brass tubing, this was a "no-brainer"!

I then beveled the ends of the styrene supports to "match" the angle between the prop shafts and insides of the hull,
and secured them to the hull with thick bodied CA. This was accomplished with the prop shafts fully inserted from the external
struts through the hull, and then through the supports.

Most commercially available u-joints and/or dogbone couplings were too big for my needs, so,
into my model railroading "junk box" I went, and found some of these, which will work like a champ:

Of course, the ones that I have are too big, so these are on order!

They will allow coupling between 1/16" diameter shafts of any length. They're made from acetyl (delrin, if you will)
and have very little weight to them, but plenty of strength.

The "cups" are about 7/32" diameter and have a 1/16" bore. It's been my experience with these that the bores
will provide a bit of a "press" fit with the shaft, so no need to glue them.

The "wingnut shaped" parts are the other component of the drives. You pick the length
of shaft you need, glue the little "wingnut" shaped pieces to the ends, and there ye be!! Instant couplings!!

These are available through North West Short Line, and come in many different size configurations!
Absolutely no affiliation, other than being a long-time satisfied customer!

That is all....
You will now be returned to your regularly scheduled programming!! Hah!!

crazygary, out!

[crazygary]

O.K.!!

Back to the "drawing board"!! The SD "saddles" will have to be dropped so that the SD sits on the bottom of the hull as the Gatos'
prop shafts are somewhat lower than the centerline of the SD. Also, the centers of the 2-prop setup on the 1 1/4" SD
are roughly 5/16", or so, and the prop shaft centerlines are a tad over 13/16". "Houston...we have a problem"!

Will have to wait and see if aquarium tubing "drive shafts" will handle the mismatch. If not, I'll have to look into doing something
creative with gears. I'll also want to epoxy in some homemade stuffing tubes to aid in keeping the shafts from stressing out,
as I may be doing!!?? (LOL) And to that I say: One tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor!!! Gotta love that cactus juice!!

crazygary, down but certainly not out!! (Yet!!)
" Film at eleven!"

[crazygary]

M-

Stumbled upon this photo of a Gato model that can be built as a "waterline" model.


In looking at this, I'm pretty confident that I can make my float function as it should, but wanted to ask you!
What do you think the chances are that I'll be able to properly weight her to this waterline, and still maintain
her axially?? Keel weighting will be a key factor in keeping her from rolling.

The 1 1/4" SD will be about 1/4" off the bottom of the hull interior, if I go with the molded in saddles.
It will be mounted in the "exact" center of her length, which is about 26 1/2".

A little foam, a few lead weights...? Might could work!

[crazygary]

A few more constraints I'm dealing with!

The distance from the centerline of the planes to the centerline of the cutout in the deck below the con is 6.50".
The deck cutout measures 1.187" x .562".


From where I would guess her surfaced waterline should be, which is right where the deck rolls over
on to the hull (?), where the blue tape disappears, up to the bottom of the con "platform", once installed, is .875".


Another limiting factor is that in order for the float arm to raise enough to push down on the linkages to deploy the planes,
the float rod length becomes an issue. The shorter I make it, the more rise it will need in order to deploy the planes.
Too short and they won't deploy all the way, too long and it's less retract!

I'll tinker with her and do what I have room for, and just live with the outcome!
Again, a bigger sub would have been easier to deal with, but I digress!! Hah!!

I'd rather be dealing with these kinds of "issues" than have to make "Y" turns in the pool
to get her back to me!!

crazygary, out!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Not ALL of the foam has to go in the sail, Gary. Just enough to keep the planes up tight against wave-action.

M

[crazygary]

Amen to that!!!

[Sublime]

O.K., guys! Here's the "stark reality check"!
"Kinda" tight quarters in this little guy!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26212[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26213[/ATTACH]
Here's the "con"! Looks fairly good sized, no??

Here's the con with a nickel, and a dime for size comparisons...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26214[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]26215[/ATTACH] Say, what????

Here's the con on her side with a dime...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]26216[/ATTACH]

Therein lies the "problem"! No "sail"!!!

Overall length of the con, from the rounded forward end to the pointed aft end is 3.75". (3 3/4")

Inside width, side-to-side, is .531"! (17/32")

Available height from the bottom of the con to the bottom of the "platform" is .375"! (3/8")

Welcome to my "little" world!! (LOL)

But, please do keep the suggestions coming! One of them is bound to be of help to me!!

crazygary, out!

1/144 is tiny. I deal with it by thinking of the Olympic Size swimming pool I don't need to buy! LOL

[crazygary]

O.K., guys! Here's the "stark reality check"!
"Kinda" tight quarters in this little guy!

Here's the "con"! Looks fairly good sized, no??

Here's the con with a nickel, and a dime for size comparisons...
Say, what????

Here's the con on her side with a dime...


Therein lies the "problem"! No "sail"!!!

Overall length of the con, from the rounded forward end to the pointed aft end is 3.75". (3 3/4")

Inside width, side-to-side, is .531"! (17/32")

Available height from the bottom of the con to the bottom of the "platform" is .375"! (3/8")

Welcome to my "little" world!! (LOL)

But, please do keep the suggestions coming! One of them is bound to be of help to me!!

crazygary, out!

[trout]

I might have been better off
with a bigger scale, but am trying to pick-and-choose my subs according to the size of our pool! Hence 1/144!! Don't know
what her turning radius will be, but I'm hoping for a "180" in about 12 feet! The other end is about 15' across, but gotta be able
to swing her about on both ends!!!

Thanks for so much valuable inspiration!! I'll be following your builds for a long time to come!!

Get the 1/72 Skipjack. That sub turns very tight. We have rain coming in, but if I can, I will take the sub out and see what radius it turns in. I will do the same for the Type XXIII. My Gato (which I need to get out again) might not make it unless I modified the rudders and extended them. I do not care that it does not turn on a dime, I just love the way it looks. You and I will be thrilled seeing your 1/144 scale running!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Put a 'kink' into the float arm and house the float in the sail. In surface trim the float is well above wave action. No flapping.

M

[crazygary]

G'Day, redboat219!

When surfaced, they may well want to flap around like a crazed albatross, but won't really
know until she's in the water!

I'm guessing that the float, itself, will be the determining factor there! A heavier float might
help fight the flapping, but buoyancy may be a problem. Also, I don't want to add too much
unnecessary extra weight to the bow!!

Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I was thinking about using the bulb end of
a pipette as a float. Pretty lightweight, but would certainly create enough buoyancy to
keep the planes fairly rigid when underwater. The downside is that, on the surface, things
could get a little "out-of-control"!! That would be where the "Rube Goldberg" scenario may
come into play!

[crazygary]

G'Mornin', M!!

Thank you, sir! I'll take that as a compliment!!? Although Mr. Goldberg was "simplistically genius",
I try to avoid the "mickey mouse" scenario as much as is humanly possible!! Hah!!

However, I am open to "creative eye-talian engineering"!! (LOL)

The 'OLD crazy gary" confidence is now back with a vengeance, thanks to everyone on this forum!!
Inspiration abounding at every turn! Thanks a bunch, guys!!! Hope you haven't created a Frankenstein!!

[crazygary]

Thanks, Tom!!

Starting off from "square 1", I can appreciate all of the "trials and tribulations" that you have gone through
with some of your builds!

Can't be really sure of what you're going to get in to, until ya get there! Then the "fun" begins! I might have been better off
with a bigger scale, but am trying to pick-and-choose my subs according to the size of our pool! Hence 1/144!! Don't know
what her turning radius will be, but I'm hoping for a "180" in about 12 feet! The other end is about 15' across, but gotta be able
to swing her about on both ends!!!

Thanks for so much valuable inspiration!! I'll be following your builds for a long time to come!!