Japanese 1/16 scale A Class midget submarine build.

[Davidh]

Hello all

I have asked if HWSNBN could post photos of a fantastic build that he and Adam Carlson did several years ago.
David has graciously offered to post the pics taken during this build. I hope he suffers a case of pictoral diarrhoa with this one!

Go for it Dave!

David H

[Von Hilde]

Great, I have been pondering such a build. The H 19, a boat that I am quite familliar with and have had some sentimental attachment to her. The boat itself is a perfect r/c project for an EZ driver. Simple design, not many parts to fall off as far as detail goes. They wernt deep divers, and basiclly operated at periscope level. onlyone set of dive planes and the rudder, so 3 channels only, unless you want torpedos working. The complexity of the project is the countra props set up. Adams model you speek of has a transmission gearbox that simply blows me away with the enginearing and craftsmanship. I would like to build one like it. Maybe not with the machine tooling decore. That thing should be on display, and not hidden away in the bowls of a Ko Hyoteki in the pool. Im looking at brass gears and where to find them, now. Perhaps, Dave has an Idea of where to dig up the material, and drawings required. Gear ratios would be criticle. Dont want to go buy a box of assorted to dig around in. Im about done with pickin thru the plastic ones I have, and still have a pile I wont use. 1/16 is a good scale, around a 4 foot model. One would need a large pool to turn around. No problem here. Mine , however will have a most likley unusual scale, as the hull size will be dictated by the size of the Easton slow pitch aluminum bat's diameter at the fat end, if you get my drift. Should be able to accept a 2.5 inch driver or at least a 2" Those bats arnt cheap, but you can pick up a used one in the pawn shops or Ebay, or your son's closet. Looks like the girls bats are fatter and lighter which translates to thinner wall in the fat end and cheaper, as well as availibilty in the used market. Ive had my eye out for a nerff bat made from PVC, but havent seen any laying around the yard sales for a buck or two. Might be an option

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Will do, David. I'll work on a proper thread post throughout the day. Should have plenty of pictures and associated text ready for posting here tonight. Adam is an incredible talent and it was a pleasure working with him on this project.

M

Here's a tease:

[trout]

On that last photo, is Adam injecting A thinned down Nitrostan into the sail?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

On that last photo, is Adam injecting A thinned down Nitrostan into the sail?

Not into, Tom. Onto.

I taught Adam how to use fishing line, and air-dry and exothermic liquids/slurries to work as 'weld lines'. Examples of those techniaues below:

[Von Hilde]

Yeah Man, thats what I'm talkin about. Monofilloment weld seams. I find the monofiliment works well around the lateral seams but the longatudinals, you dont have to try keeping it tight and streight so much, if you use super slinkeyextra light e .10mm electric guitar strings. Tack one end and line it up ang glue away. Another trick is to glue the line and paint it, then pull the line off when its tackey. Let it dry and lightly sand, then recoat. Leaves a nice little visible scar. Did he build two different boats with similar hulls or is it the basic same hull with different towers ?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Yeah Man, thats what I'm talkin about. Monofilloment weld seams. I find the monofiliment works well around the lateral seams but the longatudinals, you dont have to try keeping it tight and streight so much, if you use super slinkeyextra light e .10mm electric guitar strings. Tack one end and line it up ang glue away. Another trick is to glue the line and paint it, then pull the line off when its tackey. Let it dry and lightly sand, then recoat. Leaves a nice little visible scar. Did he build two different boats with similar hulls or is it the basic same hull with different towers ?

The first shot was of Gene Berger's scratch-built 1/32 Type-A completed last year.

The one Adam and I worked on (Adam was apprenticing here for a few months, and this was his training mule) is 1/16 scale. We only got to the master stage -- no tooling has been completed. It's all still here, but its Adam's, and I won't touch it without his permission.

M

[MFR1964]

Put that boy against the wall and demand his permission or release mister Cat on him, it's a shame that such a model is gathering dust in the Cave, very interested in such a model, size is OK, type is OK, must have!!!!


Manfred.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Put that boy against the wall and demand his permission or release mister Cat on him, it's a shame that such a model is gathering dust in the Cave, very interested in such a model, size is OK, type is OK, must have!!!!


Manfred.

LOL. Tell you what, I'll contact Adam to get a release on that for commercial use. But ... first ... I have to get that ALBACORE kit on line. And none of this is going to happen till I get out from this back-log of production work.

M

[Von Hilde]

Manfred has the right idea, but I would dangle a carrot before I had to "tacticly persuede" the guy. How about wealth and fame and toss him some silver and an honorable mention in my book. If that dont work may be some strippers and booze. I like Genes version and scale and its the one with the cool gearbox. Scratch building is right up my alley, but Id rather 1/16th which puts the A type 78ft5in at around 4ft7in. The hulls of the two boats are close to the same but I want the H19 tower which was on early type A's that were at Pearl Harbor Gene's detail is quite impressive. Other than the backround in the picture the boat looks exactly like the New London display. Right down to the slack in the jumper wire. If the picture had been taken outside on a concrete slab with some dew on it.....Who has the drawings? That would be nice to hav a copy of.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Manfred has the right idea, but I would dangle a carrot before I had to "tacticly persuede" the guy. How about wealth and fame and toss him some silver and an honorable mention in my book. If that dont work may be some strippers and booze. I like Genes version and scale and its the one with the cool gearbox. Scratch building is right up my alley, but Id rather 1/16th which puts the A type 78ft5in at around 4ft7in. The hulls of the two boats are close to the same but I want the H19 tower which was on early type A's that were at Pearl Harbor Gene's detail is quite impressive. Other than the backround in the picture the boat looks exactly like the New London display. Right down to the slack in the jumper wire. If the picture had been taken outside on a concrete slab with some dew on it.....Who has the drawings? That would be nice to hav a copy of.

I fired off an e-mail to Adam. He's a good kid, I should hear back from him in a day or two.

Gene's model was built a long time ago, but he recently finished it -- he was waiting on me to get off my butt and complete the SD for him. Adam and I worked up the 1/16 masters in 2006.

And you're right on the Money, Dave -- Gene's model is based on the drawings he prepared after a trip to the NAUTILUS museum in Groton, right next to the sub-base main-gate.

Well over ten years ago he invited me to take a plane ride with him to the museum to document the Type-A war-prize on display there. here are some shots from that documentation effort:

[Von Hilde]

do you have the specs on the gear boxes and where to get the nice big fat brass gears. I woud guess some K&S tubing for the internal shafting and brass for the box itself, altho aluminim would do for the container. BTW Cool drawing;) Im going to have to snag it and bump it up to scale to hang in the porcelin conservitory for some serious early morning study time. The big problem is 1/16th is 4'7" compinsating for a boarder and frame....looks like one of them beauty mirrors she got hangin all around the head, has to go. I hate having to look at myself on the can anyway. 1/16 hull would be 4.5 inches, and the boat around 4'7" just a tad large. I think 1/24th would be a nicer scale and full scratch build stem to stern. I fooled around with the (Molested with the notes)) drawing and the 1/24th would have a 3.14 hull and a 2.5 driver is whats compatable with the drawing.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Guy to the left is my running-mate, Kevin Rimrodt. A very talented modeler, and a good friend.
That young man in the center is Adam Carlson.

Adam has come to many of your attention through his ground-breaking work with the design and manufacture of exceptionally small electronic speed controllers. But, I first became aware of this guy through letters and phone calls asking to under-study here to enhance his model building skills.
(I used to do a lot of one-on-one mentoring, but since hooking my wagon to the Caswell company a few years back I no longer have time for such things -- today I mentor exclusively through the Sub-driver Forum. Adam was the second to last student I've had over here. If I remember right he was here, apprenticing, during two ten-day stays).

The boy came here an Aeronautical Engineer, with a few years of full-scale aircraft restoration work under his belt. More important than those two attributes, he had the magic ingredients: Enthusiasm and good hands.

We hit it off from the start. He selected the training subject, masters for a 1/16 scale Japanese Type-A two-man midget submarine.

The objective was to teach Adam the basics of plan and photo interpretation; sub-assembly assignment; materials selection; methodology; lay-out; use of machine and hand-tools; use of fillers, adhesives, and putties for detailing; metal casting; and tool making.

I don't hand out complements unless warranted. So, let me say this about Adam: he came to the table with a great deal of practical and intuitive skills -- he was so much more than a lump of clay for me to beat into shape; this guy arrived already shop-wise, smart, and full of good, sound ideas. He's the best one I've trained yet, hands down!

I started him off laying up some Sugar-Pine blanks for turning. Two lengths were required as my lathe did not have the bed to get it all done in one piece. Here you see we've pre-stamped the tail and head-stock spindles into the faces of the two blanks.

Adam was already fluent in wood-lathe, so I just set him loose with the blanks and a full-scale drawings showing him the diameters at each station. He banged out both pieces in about three-hours.

I showed him how to preserve radial lines on a half-hull using a mold board, perpendicular fence and pen mounted onto a surface-gauge. Just one of the many lay-out tricks one needs in the inventory as you work to maintain datum lines, points, and planes as you cut away on the model/master.

We made use of Gene Berger's excellent Type-A plans for this project. Adam also brought along a book on the Type-A as well as an extensive folder of information on the subject. I was impressed. He came loaded for bear. He knew what he wanted to do. All he needed from me was the 'how too'.

I showed him how to make a rotating fixture that permitted the easy lofting of longitudinal and radial information from a set of orthographic drawings onto the model proper. This fixture also used to hold and rotate the work as operations were preformed -- such as this in-lay work of fishing line that represented longitudinal and radial weld lines.

A simple plastic sheet stabilizer alignment jig. One of the many tricks-of-the-trade. When I presented such stuff to Adam I could make out the twinkle in his eyes as the bulb over his head clicked on -- it brought back the memories of joy each time something 'clicked' for me as I started to embrace the Craft. Damn ... it feels good to see that in others!

So, so many drooling morons today ... so, so few Craftsmen!

As each sub-assembly neared completion I showed him how to use tape and filler to build up seam-lines, and paneling effects.

And the use of end-plates templates to ensure conformance with shape as dictated by the plan.

Use of the rotary-table and milling machine to achieve even spacing of the tail-cone attachment screw wells.

Adam picked up on propeller design, blade master shaping, use of the blade-hub assembly jig, and low-temperature metal casting.

Here you get an appreciation of how good a job Adam did detailing the tail cone. I can assure you, the rest of the Type-A master had this degree of finish and detail. This kid IS GOOD!

And this is the condition of the beast as it sits in one of my sheds today.

It served its function: Adam left me a much better model-builder than when he arrived. Mission accomplished!

M

[MFR1964]

Ok that was one roll of toiletpaper for the drooling, i guess i have to take a trip to the States and stalk you around, getting my ass into the cave and suck your brains.
It would be nice to get permission from Adam, if not, he is Catfood, i personally think there will be enough interest into such exotic subs, gathered a lot of info about this type during the years, would be nice to get my grubby hands at one.


Manfred.

[Von Hilde]

Is there any way to get one of Gene's full size drawings, like I see on the work bench under the model? It looks like its used as a drop cloth to protect the table. I'd even settel for the copy with all the glue, paint, notes and doodling. If Manfred ever comes over to this side of the pond, I want to be there to sweep the floors and take out the trash. You guys make the mess and swap lies, while I pick both your brains.