Nautilus Drydocks - Yesterday's work

[Monahan Steam Models]

Thanks for those tips BG. Wasn’t aware of the editing limit.

Hope all is well too!

Nick

[Bob Gato]

[QUOTE=Monahan Steam Models;n145625]Posted a comment last night but it’s locked up in spam jail waiting approval [/QUOTE

Hi Nick-just copy and paste it to a new post-If you can delete the old one-do it or just wait till its approved and then delete one of them .

Yea you only get two tries at editing-I just wait till the next day to do any further editing.-hope all is well- BG

[QuarterMaster]

Hey, you bum!

I use either a 1/16" o.d. length of brass tube or one of aluminum. I'll solder a short plug into the nozzle end of the brass, or glue in a short length of resin rod if the tube (stand-pipe is a more appropriate term in this application) is aluminum. In either case I first chamfer a divergent nozzle at the ass-end and follow that up with a small drill bit to bore out the throat of the nozzle. For a 1/72 sized weapon I'm happy with a .007" nozzle bore.

......

No, the gas sealing O-ring at the breech end is not enough to hold the weapon reliably in place. That's why the weapon makes use of a ball type 'stop-bolt' at the front end of the weapon to keep it securely in the launch till things cycle from battery to launch. I learned that lesson the hard way.



David

I like the Al tube/Resin plug aka "Standpipe". Seems easy enough for a hack like me to do and replicate reliably

Bummer on the o-ring...hoping for something simple. Nothing worth it ever is...sigh. Gonna make me work.

Digging the butane fill. But how come Fart-lighting springs to mind?

Nice toy's, you shoulda been a dentist.

Wouldn't let ya touch me though.

Ed

[Monahan Steam Models]

Posted a comment last night but it’s locked up in spam jail waiting approval

[Monahan Steam Models]

No, the gas sealing O-ring at the breech end is not enough to hold the weapon reliably in place. That's why the weapon makes use of a ball type 'stop-bolt' at the front end of the weapon to keep it securely in the launch till things cycle from battery to launch. I learned that lesson the hard way.

Ah Cr@* !!!

Still haven’t gotten around to testing the new gas weapons in the dual purpose 1/48 scale launcher I’ve been working on but I have made the parts for both the launcher and the weapons. Been trying to get some time this weekend to mess with it. Was hoping (wishing) the friction of the o-ring seal on the gas weapon’s stand pipe would be enough to keep it in place from battery until launch. I’m guessing you used a -003 o-ring as well? If so, do you recall what you designed the o-ring groove for? Was it a static or dynamic clearance?

I designed for a dynamic clearance considering the movement. This gives about a 10% compression seal of the o-ring around the stand pipe. While the static groove design would ideally give a 20% compression seal. Maybe split the difference to a 15% compression seal?

Okay now I need to know.... How bad was it? Spill the beans!! What happened.... who almost lost an eye? We won’t judge (well, too harshly)

Thinking out loud, wonder if the lower pressure butane would still make this an issue? I know from past years experience developing burners for boilers ambient temperature has a huge effect on butane gas pressure thus burner performance.

The cleverly added ball stop you designed into your launchers is a great safety feature regardless. The muzzle doors on the dual weapon capable launch system I’ve been working on would slow down and contain a unintentional launch in the tube but it won’t stop it from happening at all like your ball stop in its current design.

Nick

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Dave,

So the orifice for gas should be .007-.009"? Would appreciate the lowdown on manufacture of the exhaust tube. I see you're hand drilling? Solid brass stock, or fill a tube with something easier to bore through?
Looks like she's plugged with solder in the photo to achieve this. 1/16, 3/32 OD tube?

Also, will the friction of the O-ring over the exhaust tube hold her? Multiple 0-rings?

In experimenting between gas and electric, I'm back to gas, I definitaly think it's the more simple and reliable of the two. At least for me.

BTW, I always love seeing your "Manifold of DEATH".

Ed

Hey, you bum!

I use either a 1/16" o.d. length of brass tube or one of aluminum. I'll solder a short plug into the nozzle end of the brass, or glue in a short length of resin rod if the tube (stand-pipe is a more appropriate term in this application) is aluminum. In either case I first chamfer a divergent nozzle at the ass-end and follow that up with a small drill bit to bore out the throat of the nozzle. For a 1/72 sized weapon I'm happy with a .007" nozzle bore.



No, the gas sealing O-ring at the breech end is not enough to hold the weapon reliably in place. That's why the weapon makes use of a ball type 'stop-bolt' at the front end of the weapon to keep it securely in the launch till things cycle from battery to launch. I learned that lesson the hard way.



Yeah. That monstrosity was built shortly after I Converted and accepted Rube Goldberg as my personal Savior.

What the **** was I thinking???!!!!!......

David

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Any chance we can see some pictures of that New Valve?

Thanks

Sure. It's called a 'Butane lighter fuel filling valve'... or some such Euro-babble term. Anyway, the dam thing has a ****ing metric thread -- I'm awaiting an ordered tap to match this thread so I can make a proper torpedo charging fitting. It will be an equivalent to the standard tire-valve I've been using since day-one, you see two of them in background.

We'll see if the lower energy Butane will slow the weapons down over what I'm getting now with the Methane-Butane 'propellant'.

Manfred and Ron Perrott put me onto the Butane idea. I blame them!



David

[Monahan Steam Models]

If it is the valves I’m thinking of, they are Ronson butane fill valves. The model live steam locomotives and steam boats guys use them for refillable butane/propane tanks for firing the boilers. I also used these in house for the refillable fuel tanks we manufactured for the steam plant systems we made.

Google or search EBay for “Ronson butane Fill valve”


Nick

[george]

Any chance we can see some pictures of that New Valve?

Thanks

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I've only recently come to realize -- thanks to Manfred's good works altering my launcher mechanism -- That the too high velocity at launch is owing to the tube not being vented enough to dump the high-pressure bubble of gas liberated once the weapons nozzle clears the breech block O-ring. Turn the tube into Swiss cheese and the weapon will hit the water at a more reasonable velocity.

David,

You've been sneaking inside the 212, that boat has the modified launchers, i've made multiple large slits into the launchtubes to get rid of the gas as soon as possible.
Altered the loadingnipples to accept butane lightergas, butane has less energy as the Paasch gas you guys use, if i remind well i've got me a range of 15 feet.

Bob,

Can't wait to see how your launchers will work out, me like mechanical stuff.

Manfred.

With the simple modification to the tube (opening it up to burp out the gas over-pressure at launch) you solved my last big problem with the system, too high a discharge speed imparted to the weapon, leading to instability. You, as always, lead the way my friend.

I've just received the Butane lighter valves from a UK supplier along with a tap to thread a charging valve to accept them -- I'm going to try the 'European way' of charging these weapons. See: Your comment about the higher pressure we in the States use was not wasted on me, pal.

David

[MFR1964]

I've only recently come to realize -- thanks to Manfred's good works altering my launcher mechanism -- That the too high velocity at launch is owing to the tube not being vented enough to dump the high-pressure bubble of gas liberated once the weapons nozzle clears the breech block O-ring. Turn the tube into Swiss cheese and the weapon will hit the water at a more reasonable velocity.

David,

You've been sneaking inside the 212, that boat has the modified launchers, i've made multiple large slits into the launchtubes to get rid of the gas as soon as possible.
Altered the loadingnipples to accept butane lightergas, butane has less energy as the Paasch gas you guys use, if i remind well i've got me a range of 15 feet.

Bob,

Can't wait to see how your launchers will work out, me like mechanical stuff.

Manfred.

[QuarterMaster]

I recommend you add weight to the ass end of the weapon to keep the fins out of the air (the 'paddelwheel' effect is causing that skew to the right). And reduce the nozzle bore to .007-.009" to slow the thing down. Almost there!

David

Dave,

So the orifice for gas should be .007-.009"? Would appreciate the lowdown on manufacture of the exhaust tube. I see you're hand drilling? Solid brass stock, or fill a tube with something easier to bore through?
Looks like she's plugged with solder in the photo to achieve this. 1/16, 3/32 OD tube?

Also, will the friction of the O-ring over the exhaust tube hold her? Multiple 0-rings?

In experimenting between gas and electric, I'm back to gas, I definitaly think it's the more simple and reliable of the two. At least for me.

BTW, I always love seeing your "Manifold of DEATH".

Ed

[scubaed1911]

Great Bob! Thank you for this effort!!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I recommend you add weight to the ass end of the weapon to keep the fins out of the air (the 'paddelwheel' effect is causing that skew to the right). And reduce the nozzle bore to .007-.009" to slow the thing down. Almost there!

I've only recently come to realize -- thanks to Manfred's good works altering my launcher mechanism -- That the too high velocity at launch is owing to the tube not being vented enough to dump the high-pressure bubble of gas liberated once the weapons nozzle clears the breech block O-ring. Turn the tube into Swiss cheese and the weapon will hit the water at a more reasonable velocity.



David

[RCSubGuy]

Okay... finally some more updates.

We're at the point where we can begin to offer our 48th scale XXI kits. They feature hand-laid epoxy GRP hulls and our own reinforced lip enhancement for rigidity and strength. Cast resin appendages. Brass props, stainless drive shafts, and Oto's amazing brass photoetched detail parts and blueprints. I'll have the product up this weekend on the site.



Excellent progress on our new 1/48 scale torpedo system. The prototype was tested in my pool a couple of days ago with great results. We'll be adding a bit of weight to get the buoyancy close to neutral when fully loaded, but for the most part, they're working really well. Torpedo launcher is designed and prototype is nearly ready as well. The first recipient will be Ed's Type VII, pictured here. A short video showing the testing results: https://youtu.be/UzXw4_hhrR4



T-Class submarine has had a quick paint job, some additional features and a full trim. Now ready for maiden voyage!