Revell 1/232 scale Skipjack

[trout]

It is a very busy time for Sam (and all of us). All the Christmas dinners and plays plus horse stuff (rodeo is winding down, western pleasure is starting up). So I have continued some small stuff and some unnecessary details to keep this moving forward and not stagnant.
The hull got a good sanding and filling with Nitro-Stan. After wet sanding at 400 grit, the hull was painted.


Pleased with the hull I moved to the sail. Using a copy of the plans included with the fittings kit, I cut out the top of the sail. Then cut out an opening I wanted to duplicate on the sail. This is to let air out. Since this boat a true dynamic diving sub, it will set low in the water and there needs to be a path for air to escape.

I also domed the top of the sail and put a sharper contour on the leading edge of the sail (some of the stuff not necessary to do to get this sub going). This meant I needed to paint the sail again. So to prevent painting the LEDs, I punched out some dots to cover them (you can see the dot size in the photo above - a little past the tip of the x-acto blade).

Waldron Model Products was a company I really liked. Looking for a link, I discovered they are no longer around. I love their punch and die sets. Here is what I used to make some small dots.


Using 3M blue masking tape, I tore a small strip off the roll. Then placed this on parchment paper. The tape does not stick great to the paper which is exactly what you want. After punching several dots out, I used the tip of a x-acto blade to slide the parchment paper off the small dot and put one tape disk over each LED.

After spraying, the dots peeled off the LED using the tip of the blade to gently lift the tape off.

Tested the lights again and they work.

[trout]

I have red/orange (or paprika to be specific) hands. I held the sub while Sam spray painted with a rattle can. He missed a couple of times. I will post photos later, not of my hands, but his work to date.

David shared some photos that he did in scribing his little Skipjack.


This would be fun to do for Sam. I shared that with David and he said he would loan me the templates. How cool is that?

[trout]

I have not used these micro small linear servos before, so this was new to us.
Look closely at this servo, there is some circuitry paths going around the holes used for mounting the servo down.

Two servos side by side are a little to wide for the servo tray. But I learned that trimming these servos will allow it to fit.
I took a single edge razor blade (any sharp edge would work) and scraped the varnish coating off the circuitry I needed to solder.

Did that to both sides.

I soldered a small wire across the hole to each bare spot I created to jumper across. Then I took up drinking. What a pain.
Tested the servos and to my surprise they still worked. Then I got brave and cut the outer portion of the loop and tested the servos. Still worked.

I laid out the servos and cut out a hole to allow the components on the underside of the servos to fit through.

I affixed the servos using RTV rubber and held them down until it all dried. Tested the servos again. They worked.

A little filing and the shelf fit in snugly over the receiver.

Now it was time to teach Sam some basic soldering. This was a huge fear factor for him. The combination of heat and molten metal seemed to bother him, but once he learned to strip a wire, tin it, and solder the two together. He quickly forgot about his apprehensions.

Very nice solder work Sam!

[MFR1964]

That smile on Sam his face is worth a fortune, you taught him well Tom.

Manfred.

[trout]

Thank you Manfred, yes, he was pretty energized to do more soldering, so today he practiced more soldering. While he did that I worked on getting the receiver to fit inside and the servo shelf put in.
The end of the RX was outlined on the bulkhead. Also marked where the corners of the RX meet on the other end.

After cutting out the profile, some filing was needed to smooth out edges and refine the fit. There will need to be another hole to pass wires from the battery to the other end, but we can work on that later.

On the other end, a flat file was used to put some notches in for the receiver. The inside of the tube portion has the sides tapered for the batter to fit better. You can also see the tabs (just scrap styrene cut into little squares) installed to hold the shelf. A dab of RTV on each tab will hold the shelf in.

At some point the arms on the servos will need to be trimmed back.

[trout]

More soldering for Sam!

We wired up the ESC to test it out. It was an experiment to begin with, but the power it draws from goes through the receiver. That is not enough to run the motor. The max revolution was 60 rpm or less (not going anywhere with that). That kind of killed our build for today (plus we needed to order some connectors).
I need to ask Adam if I can run the power directly from the LiPo battery and leave the signal to the RX. That might work if it can handle the voltage.

[trout]

Sam got back on the saddle. We have been talking about the sub for a while, but I did not want to force him. He mentioned he wanted to build one of the Type VIIs I have and the condition is the Skipjack first. So, last night he wanted to continue on the sub. More soldering.
This time we moved to this ESC http://www.sub-driver.com/electronic...ontroller.html



Although I wanted the micro ESC to work, I really do not want to hold Sam back any longer. I will use these micro ESCs in the Aluminaut.

[Trout Fry]

Hello Sub Driver, I am very sorry for my absence on this blog. I walked away awhile back because I got sidetracked and lost my focus on subs. I am returning back with dedication to finish.

sincerely,
Trout Fry (Sam Chalfant)

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Hello Sub Driver, I am very sorry for my absence on this blog. I walked away awhile back because I got sidetracked and lost my focus on subs. I am returning back with dedication to finish.

sincerely,
Trout Fry (Sam Chalfant)

Sam,

Sorry don't cut it!

Don't make me come over there! Sit down, grab the tools, and get to work, kid!

Mr. Merriman