Today's work on the little Revell SKIPJACK fittings kit

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Once I had built up the edges between the two hull halves, to narrow the gap, a chore done with CA and baking powder, I cut out a bunch of narrow strips of .020" polystyrene sheet and glued them, stagger fashion, within the hull halves, inboard. These served as indexing tabs to pull the two hull haves into alignment when assembled.

To get the two hulls even on the outside I initially used Evercoat two-part filler. The final spot filling of scratch-marks and remaining dings was done with air-dry Nitro-Stan putty which was wet-sanded smooth. The a heavy application of primer finished the days work.

David,

[junglelord]

You are the one who can do it, if any one can, you can.
I am glad to see the amazing advances in electronics open up new worlds, both with park flyers and subs.

Thanks Mr Merriman. I appreciate all your hard work and kindness.
Cheers
Dean

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Would the 1.25 Sub Driver work in a Seaview?
The 13 inch ones? Thanks.

PS I can see having to deviate due to it being a pumpjet, and going with some more basic prop set up, but any ideas for that?>

I'm looking into it.

David,

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

How do you plan to counter the "Snap-Roll" inherent with the SJ during high speed turns?

Just like we do on the real things: First, determine the specifics of the operational envelope. Second, steer within the operational envelope.

David,

[redboat219]

How do you plan to counter the "Snap-Roll" inherent with the SJ during high speed turns?

[redboat219]

Cheap Rhinoplasty

five layers of filler and I had a new nose on the submarine, changing the entire character of the display!

David,

Paging Dr. Merriman. You're wanted in O.R. No. 6. lol!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Some more shots of todays work. Note that this second production tool not only produces the screeding blade and screed blade centering disk, but also a replacement set of sail planes.

Sharpening the leading edge of the kit provided sail and re-contouring of the bow makes this model almost a dead ringer for the prototype SKIPJACK submarines. Revell was close; those little refinements I've come up with get it almost perfect.

David,

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Three specific chores are addressed here: removal of the bow piece from the lower hull and bonding it to the upper hull half; filling up the gap between the two hull halves when joined; and re-contouring the bow employing the screeding technique.

First, I identified the gape between upper and lower hull by loosely holding them together, I then placed masking tape on both halve so that the edge of each (one on the upper half, and the other on the lower half of the hull) would meet. The hull halves were taken apart and thick formula CA applied to the area inboard (sticky side) of the tape and atop the hull flange/edge. I then sprinkled on baking soda to build up and harden the fill. This repeated till top and bottom hull halve had their edges built up, eliminating the gap when the hull halves are assembled together.

Once the longitudinal hull gap was tightened, I chopped off the forward bow from the lower hull and bonded that piece to the upper hull. The forward edge of the internal foreword SubDriver back-stop formed the radial flange that captures the upper hull, holding it down on the lower hull when the two halves are assembled.

I then employed the fittings kit provided screeding tool to re-contoured the bow of the model to more closely match that of the prototype -- the kits bow being much too blunt. Evercoats Metal Glaze filler was the build-up material of choice here. About five layers of filler and I had a new nose on the submarine, changing the entire character of the display!

David,

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Can you tell us something about the electronics you're using on this pocket rocket?

All stock stuff: the little WFly receiver, Kevin McLeod's excellent ADF for angle-keeping chores, and his little Lithium-polymer battery protection circuit, a little 240 can motor, a 'special' MTronics ESC we had made to fit the small cylinder, two mini-servos, and a little helicopter Lithium-polymer 7.4-volt battery.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I for one would like to see either an RCed Revell U-99, Trumpeter Gato or Romeo class.

They're all in the pipeline. As soon as I get the little SKIPJACK and its SubDriver into production mode I have to work on the big 1/72 Type-7 fittings kit, after that, it's whatever Mr. Caswell assigns me.

But be assured, I've got just about every plastic model kit of a submarine that is currently available commercially -- and each and every one that will accommodate a 1.25 SD has been targeted for the fittings kit-SubDriver treatment. So, that should make you Happy. Only problem is, there is one of me and a seemingly endless list of things to do here.

A long-winded answers, but there you have it.

David,

[redboat219]

Can you tell us something about the electronics you're using on this pocket rocket?

[redboat219]

A lot of model submariners over here are interested in weeny boats lately, as exhibitions are increasingly supplying very small pools for display (if you're lucky), which confine larger models to drydock.

I for one would like to see either an RCed Revell U-99, Trumpeter Gato or Romeo class.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I think these are really going to sell like hot cakes if you can get the price right on this, Dave.

A lot of model submariners over here are interested in weeny boats lately, as exhibitions are increasingly supplying very small pools for display (if you're lucky), which confine larger models to dry dock.

The Skipjack won't look out of place with just the tower out of the water- they must have one of the lowest freeboards of any sub short of a Holland class.

Andy, I find what you guys think is the 'right price' is just enough for me to go slowly out of business. My work is priced to keep me interested and employed.

I don't build for the 'everyman', I build for the serious r/c submariner. You want cheap, try Wal-Mart. You want good, try me.

Am I touchy on this particular topic (pricing of my goods and services)?...

... Yup, I am. Amateurs suggesting to a professional what to do. Often appreciated. Sometimes grating.

I listen to those in the game, my peers who do this professionally. I'm inclined to dismiss suggestions of pricing from those who are not.

I would not dare to tell you how to market your vast electronics skills to prospective employers, Andy, I'm simply not qualified to do so. So I don't

I agree, this thing will operate in very small bodies of water -- we'll see how many are willing to pay the price to play in small bodies of water. Stay tuned, sports fans.

David,

[Subculture]

I think these are really going to sell like hot cakes if you can get the price right on this, Dave.

A lot of model submariners over here are interested in weeny boats lately, as exhibitions are increasingly supplying very small pools for display (if you're lucky), which confine larger models to drydock.

The Skipjack won't look out of place with just the tower out of the water- they must have one of the lowest freeboards of any sub short of a Holland class.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

David,

I'm eager to see how this little baby of yours perform. I have been looking over those wonderful photos and several questions popped into mind.

Being a dynamic diver don't you need to make the stern planes a bit larger than normal to be effective in getting her to dive?

Will she incorporate a pitch controller?
If not, how do you think she'll behave?

Have you conducted the vacuum testing of the subdriver already?

Me too. Should be an underwater rocket!

There's a false assumption that's been in the r/c submarine community for decades, that the control surfaces have to be over-size in order to get the model to respond to control surface deflections in a timely manner. False.

Over-sized control surfaces are no substitute for a properly trimmed boat -- a boat that has the c.g. and c.b. correctly positioned. And too often I see a dynamic diver trimmed still way too buoyant.

A dynamic diver, to operate at all well underwater, its deck has to be below or even with the waterline when at dead-stop, only the sail above water. Over-sized control surfaces are used to force an overly buoyant model beneath the waves.

Now, with a dynamic diver you have to contend with the need to keep the hull at a negative pitch angle to the water flow -- the hull producing the downward force needed to counter the buoyant force. That situation induces unique forces that have to be countered with a specific trim and control surface deflection. Typically a boat trimmed to run well submerged in near neutral buoyancy is not properly trimmed to operate dynamically (the boat still in a buoyant condition). Two different animals.

The scale sized stern planes, rudder, and sail planes on the little SKIPJACK model will be more than adequate to operate the model underwater in the dynamic diving mode.

Yes, at the speeds I'll operate this thing, an angle-keeper is a vital piece of gear. Typically, dynamic diving submarines tend to be a bit more manageable without artificial stabilization about the pitch axis, but the quicker you go, more rapid the depth excursions, so at some point (relating to underwater speed), you need the angle keeper to prevent porpoising.

Nope, no differential pressure test on the 1.25" SubDriver's yet. I'll let you know how that goes.

David,