Revell 1/232 scale Skipjack

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Must have been spell check! My boy likes saying screeding. Yup, it just tried to change my text! Fix the dictionary! Haha
Thank you for supporting Sam. He really is enjoying the build and learning different techniques.

When we were kids, every boy was into assemblying plastic models kits. And our parents put men on the moon.

Today, the only kid on your block doing so is, Sam. And the parents of today can hardly figure out how to slide the Welfare Credit Card through the Walmart check-out machine.

As the only fire-starter and wheel-maker on the block, Sam will be able to name his price once the electricity fails and we all retreat back into the caves.

M

[Subculture]

[Von Hilde]

"Go over like a Fart in a space suit and screendoor on a submarine" were an analogy we used quite often in the late 50s early 60s. My two boys were introduced to craftiness and dexterity skills early. Arts and crafts, music, in the early years, discipline and responsibility from orginised, outside the home activities like, Scouts, little league, taikwando, band ect from about 10 till the teens. Had to loosten the reigns as far as individual interests, but basiclly gave the boys SEAR training, without the harasmental hazing. Fire, food, shelter, and water from the enviornment. In laymans terms, We went camping, fishing and diving, sailing power boating and kayaking. Where they learned everything from making fire to celestial navagation. Cooking skills were introduced as soon as they could look down t the stove. We had to get a small stove for my daughter because she wanted to start cooking around 6 yrs old. I had plenty of meals off the old EZ Bake. I had 3 times as much fun as they did, growing up, because there is 3 of them, 2 boys and a girl.

[HardRock]

You two old farts deserve a big slap on the back, (Von and Trout). I think that we should be running classes for parents - seriously. There's no way to calculate the benefit of the time that both of you have put into your kids except to say that they will OK when those around them are loosing their composure (and their ****)! From personal experience its time well spent - except for the time when your eldest son turns up in YOUR special forces unit. One of us had to leave! At least the younger one is off flying helicopters somewhere or other and is unlikely to repeat his brother's transgression.

[trout]

Had some visitors come in today.
Mark Jones aka "The Small Sub Guy"!
What a great visit with a very gifted and talented man.
Here is "The Small Sub Guy" with the small sub guy exchanging thoughts and tips on subs.

Thought Sam and I would get more done this weekend, but Sam got sick beginning of the weekend and I did not have the LEDs I needed. I found this place when I started building subs http://www.led-switch.com/1.6%20LED.htm, if you are not going to go with SMD LEDs, then this place has small LEDs. Sam did some sanding and removing some of the cleats and other unknown bumps on the hull.

[trout]

We had to move forward with the build even if it was just a little bit of work.
Using the plans included in the fittings kit, we figured out where the sail plane would be (a lot more forward than the model's location). Measured from the tip of the sail plane to the center of the hole in the plane and transferred that distance to the sail. Once everything was marked and checked, drilled with a .020" hole (it is a much smaller hole that the brass strip included in the fittings kit).

We double checked the placement and felt pretty good about it. Once it was agreed upon, we drilled the hole out again using the brass wire (that was included in the fittings kit) as a drill bit. It worked very well because there was enough of a rough edge (from being cut) that it drilled through nice and snug.

Doing the same thing to the sail planes, used the wire to make the holes fit the brass. Once pressed together the wire was too long. We measured the distance and clipped the extra wire off.

That leaves us to this point. Sam wanted to see what it looked like with the sail placed on the hull. Looks cool!

Sam noticed that the model's exhaust fairing is longer than the plan shows. We marked the fairing up just on the chance Sam (and I told him he would need to do it) wants to make it accurate.

[trout]

The LEDs arrived a couple of days ago.


This is the 1.6mm (warm white). There is a dome with a square base. I also got the 1.8mm, but it might be too big.
The plan is to drill out for the 1.6mm dome and then counter sink on the inside of the sail to expose as much of the navigation light as we can.


The batteries threw me for a loop. The CR2025 lithium battery is HUGE compared to the tiny sub.
I am thinking now of mounting the batteries as low as possible in the bow.


Using the alignment piece (for the screed that shaped the bow) as a visual guide of where the batteries plus frame would sit. I could see that it is below center line (yeah), but not by much.


It appears I can get it to fit in the bow forward of the Z cut. This will mean the lights will not be yanked apart when the hulls are separated.


There was something bothering me about the new bow on the little Skipjack, it seemed to be too pointy. This is especially apparent when it was compared to the 1/72 version of the same sub.


However, looking at the plans, it appears the bow is not round (I know, gasp). The top or bottom view of the Skipjack on the plans looks like the 1/232 Skipjack, but the side view looks more like the Moebius 1/72 Skipjack.


Sure enough it is not round. I placed the side view over the bottom view (pink) and you can clearly see that there is a narrower taper from the bottom view and a more blunt rounding from the side.


It looks like the plans show it with a slight taper on the sides. Look at sections 19, 20, and, 21. It becomes more apparent when compared to 1, 2, and, 3 on the aft end (which is round).


Actual photos leave me unsure.

Any help on this would be great. Not for Sam's sake because he is thrilled with the way it looks.
It is more for my sanity and do I correct it?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

The plans were rendered by Canada's top r/c sub guy, Greg Sharpe. He is responsible for some of the most accurate model-building plans out there today. I'm the guy who supplied him with source material on the SKIPJACK, from which he developed his drawings.

The bow, to the best of my knowledge, is circular in section throughout. I believe that the documents I supplied him, having been the end of a very long line of copies, were distorted. Enough to give Greg the impression that there was an oval section to the bow where there is not. I believe it is round and Greg suffered from a bad case of 'copy disinformation'. Hence, the oval sections near the bow.

Obviously the Master Maker who did the 1/72 SKIPJACK kit for Scale Shipyard used Greg's drawings, as that kit has the oval bow. And I had to fight with the Chinese as I corrected their 3D printed 'proof' model which also featured the oval bow. In fact I had to rebuild the bow of that item and send it back to them to make sure that the tooling was cut correctly for the Moebius 1/72 SKIPJACK kit.



As to the extreme taper for the Revell kit bow: In order for me to get the hull length proportinate to its diameter (correct beam/length ratio) I had to extend it. I did this with the new parts at the stern and at the recoutouring of the bow. It had to be long at the bow, so I streached it out and got the sharper than scale taper at the bow.

So, there!

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

M

[trout]

Thank you David! Understood. Especially when I can see that the length needed adjustment and you did a great job of providing a way to get closer accurate proportions than the stubbier kit. No condemnation from me. It is good to hear the background of some of these sub upgrades and understand the challenges you needed to do to get it done. What matters is what Sam thinks and he really likes the speed conveyed with the way the bow is now.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thank you David! Understood. Especially when I can see that the length needed adjustment and you did a great job of providing a way to get closer accurate proportions than the stubbier kit. No condemnation from me. It is good to hear the background of some of these sub upgrades and understand the challenges you needed to do to get it done. What matters is what Sam thinks and he really likes the speed conveyed with the way the bow is now.

Yeah. Most people are content to simply eat what Mike and I lay out before them -- few want to peek in the Kitchen.

Fewer still want to tell me how to cook.

M

[trout]

It is still me doing stuff for the lights.
I had cut disks out of old computer cases. The plastic is a nice thickness. I drew a circle around the battery, then cut out the circle. I made a 4mm border around the circle and a straight cut to allow the insertion of the batteries. In effect the two pieces look like a horseshoe or "U". The thickness of the plastic was slightly thicker than the battery.


Once the batteries seemed to fit and could slide in and out easily, they were glued together with a end piece.


When the one side dried it was cut out and now placed on the other side of the disk to complete the sides of the holder.


It too was cut out. The unit was sanded and edges rounded for fit in the bow.


Edges are rounded on one side and eventually both sides would be rounded or beveled.


The batteries fit very well. I should be able to put a slight channel in for the contacts with the batteries.


Then I created a tripod type of a holder in the bow. It prevents the batteries from shifting while traveling about.

I need to make a cover and indexing keys to keep the polarity correct.

[KevinMc]

Great work Tom!

One thing you'll probably want to consider (if you've not already done so) is what to do if you don't want to run the lights... Small as those batteries are their presence (or absence) will have a significant effect on fore/aft trim and total buoyancy. Maybe plan to keep an expired pair in your kit to swap out when you want to run dark?

On the up-side, if indexing proves to be a significant challenge I expect that you'll not do any damage to the LEDs with the batts in backwards. Some current will trickle though the circuit but I don't think you're running enough voltage to do anything permanent. (Given the quantity of LEDs you've got perhaps an experiment with young TroutFry to prove I'm not full of crap is in order!)

[trout]

Kevin,
I will have a dummy plug that will cap off the battery. What if i do reverse the plug?, the LEDs will not run and current theoretically would not run correct (LEDs are diodes)? So maybe I do not need a plug/cap? Thanks Kevin did not think of that!

[trout]

If someone is following this build, putting lights in is NOT necessary. I am adding these in for Sam and showing what I did.
I made some copies of the the plans included in the fittings kit to cut up.


Using the template, I drilled a hole where the navigation light would go. I started with a very small drill, then used a closer sized drill bit to the LED. There will be four LEDs used. Red/green is hopefully obvious (left or port is red, right or starboard is green), white will be the aft end of the sail, and orange will be placed on the sail top. Now I know some of this is inaccurate (like the way the orange light is going in), but the more lights the cooler it is in most children's eyes.


The side lights were made larger bit by bit using a small round or rat tail file. There surrounding the hole was made thinner using a bur and manually turning it to remove plastic.


The aft white light was the toughest to grind out there is little room in there and it will need to be set back to fit. So a plastic lens will need to get placed in there to transmit the light.


Here is what the light will look like installed. The light swings out on the 1 to 1 model, so I will put a small door on the lights representing the plate that blocks the light from going aft.


Sam began removing plastic from the bottom of the sail. The roughness will be removed with a small drum sander and possibly files.


I cut out the bearing or mounting for the original location of the plane. You do not need to, I suppose, but I did anyways. This hole will be filled with baking soda and CA or with the Evergreen Metal Glaze.


Now comes the LED demonstration to Sam. The battery holder has a groove cut on each side. In those grooves are a length of brass rod/wire. Using a right sized resistor, Sam and I played with the LEDs.


I explained in simple terms about voltage and two ways to run LEDs, serial or parallel.


After explaining, Sam said "let me repeat what I heard to make sure I understand" (and proceeded to draw as he explained what he correctly understood). Looking back, I should have taught him the correct symbols for resistors, LEDs, and power sources. Well, it worked as it is so next time we will be a little more accurate (maybe throw in some Ohm's law too!).


A little more is done.
The next step is to paint the interior of the sail to block light from glowing through and making the sail look like a reject from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and fill the side holes from the original kit. We will need to solder up all the connections, open the hull top for running wires, epoxy, insulate, and seal the wires to prevent corrosion.

As an encouragement to those first timers building, or those that have gone stagnant, or those that want to build (which I highly recommend - especially if you buy a pre-made wtc like this Sub-Driver), do at least a small amount of work on your sub every week if you can. Before you know it, you will have a completed sub. I am trying to share this with Sam. If he gets into the habit of doing even a small amount of work done, he will eventually finish his sub. If he does not, it then becomes easier and easier to leave it on a shelf or in the garage to be forgotten or uncompleted.

[Von Hilde]

If someone is following this build, putting lights in is NOT necessary. I am adding these in for Sam and showing what I did.
I made some copies of the the plans included in the fittings kit to cut up.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28952[/ATTACH]

Using the template, I drilled a hole where the navigation light would go. I started with a very small drill, then used a closer sized drill bit to the LED. There will be four LEDs used. Red/green is hopefully obvious (left or port is red, right or starboard is green), white will be the aft end of the sail, and orange will be placed on the sail top. Now I know some of this is inaccurate (like the way the orange light is going in), but the more lights the cooler it is in most children's eyes.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28953[/ATTACH]

The side lights were made larger bit by bit using a small round or rat tail file. There surrounding the hole was made thinner using a bur and manually turning it to remove plastic.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28954[/ATTACH]

The aft white light was the toughest to grind out there is little room in there and it will need to be set back to fit. So a plastic lens will need to get placed in there to transmit the light.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28955[/ATTACH]

Here is what the light will look like installed. The light swings out on the 1 to 1 model, so I will put a small door on the lights representing the plate that blocks the light from going aft.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28956[/ATTACH]

Sam began removing plastic from the bottom of the sail. The roughness will be removed with a small drum sander and possibly files.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28957[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]28958[/ATTACH]

I cut out the bearing or mounting for the original location of the plane. You do not need to, I suppose, but I did anyways. This hole will be filled with baking soda and CA or with the Evergreen Metal Glaze.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28959[/ATTACH]

Now comes the LED demonstration to Sam. The battery holder has a groove cut on each side. In those grooves are a length of brass rod/wire. Using a right sized resistor, Sam and I played with the LEDs.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28960[/ATTACH]

I explained in simple terms about voltage and two ways to run LEDs, serial or parallel.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28961[/ATTACH]

After explaining, Sam said "let me repeat what I heard to make sure I understand" (and proceeded to draw as he explained what he correctly understood). Looking back, I should have taught him the correct symbols for resistors, LEDs, and power sources. Well, it worked as it is so next time we will be a little more accurate (maybe throw in some Ohm's law too!).
[ATTACH=CONFIG]28962[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]28963[/ATTACH]

A little more is done.
The next step is to paint the interior of the sail to block light from glowing through and making the sail look like a reject from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and fill the side holes from the original kit. We will need to solder up all the connections, open the hull top for running wires, epoxy, insulate, and seal the wires to prevent corrosion.

As an encouragement to those first timers building, or those that have gone stagnant, or those that want to build (which I highly recommend - especially if you buy a pre-made wtc like this Sub-Driver), do at least a small amount of work on your sub every week if you can. Before you know it, you will have a completed sub. I am trying to share this with Sam. If he gets into the habit of doing even a small amount of work done, he will eventually finish his sub. If he does not, it then becomes easier and easier to leave it on a shelf or in the garage to be forgotten or uncompleted.

Ive been following this build closley and learn something usefull every day. Lights are cool. I'm with Sam on that "The more the merrier" The micro LEDs are something I havent played with before. I have been using the Christmas tree type on the big scale models and dioramas. Those little buggers are the way to go all around. I was looking at fiber optics, contimplating aplications in small models, but havent tried anything yet. Is there any reason you segregate the power source with the batterys? I would think one central battery pac and a waterproof magnetic switch so you dont have to crack the hull to turn the lights off and on. Good advice on doing a little something on the project when you can on a long or tedious endevor. The final results are much more rewarding. The way I look at it, "Its not about the Destination, Its the Ride." And that goes for just about anything, from climbing mount Everast to a Chevy Chace "Family Vacation" movie