Japanese Sen Toku I-401 Submarine Build

[Sam Victory]

I have very detailed information on the I-400 class submarines, many detailed aspects of their construction. It was very difficult to completely figure out the structure of this submarine (at least in appearance), and the US navy destroyed all information on the I-400 class submarines to the point that later information was based on the recollections of veterans who served on Japanese I-400 submarines after the war. So any drawings of the I-400 submarine now are not original sources, but only the memories of veterans.

V

[redboat219]

Rob, can you post a close up photo of the plane and hanger bay?

[rwtdiver]

I have started off with a slight darker grey primer on the i-401.



I will use this color to build off the rustic look that I am looking for!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[rwtdiver]

That's great Steve! It's really nice to see you and your son working together in this hobby. Cherish that special time with him Steve!!

The i-401 that I found on Thingiverse was about 6' long at 100% build size! My Dremel of course could not handle that size and that is why I sized mine down! You might check out the files for the i-401 on Thingiverse, you might be able to use their files!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[SubDude]

Thank you, Sam for the new photos! They just re-a-sure me that a more rustic look will be the final finish!

Hi Steve, and thank you for your compliment! The crane reference, it was used to retrieve the aircraft after their mission! After locating the i-401 on Thingiverse, and doing some CAD work to re-size and re-a-just some of the pieces, a long with scratch building other structures, it has been a real learning process! The most I got out of this project was not only the building, but reading the history on the i-400 class boats!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

My 16 year old son is enamoured with the I-400. He wants one bad in 1/48th scale.

[rwtdiver]

Thank you, Sam for the new photos! They just re-a-sure me that a more rustic look will be the final finish!

Hi Steve, and thank you for your compliment! The crane reference, it was used to retrieve the aircraft after their mission! After locating the i-401 on Thingiverse, and doing some CAD work to re-size and re-a-just some of the pieces, a long with scratch building other structures, it has been a real learning process! The most I got out of this project was not only the building, but reading the history on the i-400 class boats!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[SubDude]

Very nice work Rob. That has been quite a project for sure.

[Sinksalot]

The i-401 Sen-Toku construction is complete!





All I have left to do is some final sanding and cleanup work, and then the final finish work itself!
After going over all the original photos of the full-scale boat (thanks to those for posting a lot of the photos) I am going to do the final finish in more of a rustic look!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

This is looking good, keep up the good work.

[KumaDog]

How about for retrieving the aircraft after their mission?

[Sam Victory]

I've always been troubled by one question: what exactly is the crane structure on the I-400 submarine? I have thought of various structures to realize the crane retraction, rotation and hook retraction. But given the paucity of information on the I-400 submarine, I still don't know the real structure of the crane. The real structure may be very simple, but unfortunately, the reference pictures are either too vague or simply too few.




I-14：

I-400：




V

[rwtdiver]

The i-401 Sen-Toku construction is complete!





All I have left to do is some final sanding and cleanup work, and then the final finish work itself!
After going over all the original photos of the full-scale boat (thanks to those for posting a lot of the photos) I am going to do the final finish in more of a rustic look!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[rwtdiver]

I am working on the stern dive plane guards tonight.



I am having to fabricate these from some square plastic stock that I have. There are a lot of items on this build that are being scratch built because the 3D printer just could not make them correctly! No Problem!! I am enjoying the building process on this boat!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[rwtdiver]

I have the railings manufactured and installed on the superstructure/sail!



I still have a considerable amount of fine tuning on the superstructure, but it is about ready for the priming stages. I will be moving next to the hull upper deck railings next!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[rwtdiver]

I have been working on the superstructure/sail. I have started on fabricating the antenna and the other array of equipment.



I will be adding the adding the rails to the sail as well as the main deck. I will be using TinkerCad to design the railing and they will be 3D printed!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"

[rwtdiver]

Do you have a resin printer for the guns?

No, I do not have a resin printer. I was able to locate some parts and pieces on Thingiverse and print them, and then with some cutting, sanding, and a little TinkerCad I was able to replicate the 25mm deck guys pretty darn close. Close enough for government work!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat"