I was at a local model aeroplane swap meet yesterday and was very surprised to find two U-boats lurking in the corner. 
They are both older models. Both are type IX's. One is 1/32 and the other is 1/48. I would think they are both built from scale shipyard hulls but can't be certain. The lay up seems rather thick compared to others I've seen. The seller says they where both built by his father who is now gone. He remembers them both working, but of course that was years ago. They are from the Vancouver B.C. area like our Flounder Bob so maybe he has seen these before?
Both are built the olde fashioned way, dry hull, with flat lexan lids and lots of nuts. I haven't looked over the big ones internals much yet but the smaller one has a very peculiar feature that I can't figure out. The ballast tank is divided into two halves that are nicely made of brass and fit along the sides of the hull inside the dry compartment leaving the centre wide open and this is presumably where the battery sits. There is a water pump that connects to just one of the tanks and a balance pipe connecting the two tanks together near the bottom. A vent line is connected to a tee and goes to each tank at its top and then through the lid and to a periscope. These means you need to surface to pump water out of course and you will get a spout of water from that scope when you fill the tank. What I don't understand is that the starboard side tank is considerably longer than the port side. Seems like it would list to starboard as the tanks filled. I don't see any reason for this, the port tank is not shortened to accommodate other equipment in the hull.
I don't have any experience with using two ballast tanks but from watching other people it seems like it's always troublesome. One tank always fills faster than the other and as the model tips toward the heavier tank it exasperates the problem. Any thoughts? Maybe in this case the model is heavy/stable enough and the tanks are close enough together it isn't a factor.
Jason
They are both older models. Both are type IX's. One is 1/32 and the other is 1/48. I would think they are both built from scale shipyard hulls but can't be certain. The lay up seems rather thick compared to others I've seen. The seller says they where both built by his father who is now gone. He remembers them both working, but of course that was years ago. They are from the Vancouver B.C. area like our Flounder Bob so maybe he has seen these before?
Both are built the olde fashioned way, dry hull, with flat lexan lids and lots of nuts. I haven't looked over the big ones internals much yet but the smaller one has a very peculiar feature that I can't figure out. The ballast tank is divided into two halves that are nicely made of brass and fit along the sides of the hull inside the dry compartment leaving the centre wide open and this is presumably where the battery sits. There is a water pump that connects to just one of the tanks and a balance pipe connecting the two tanks together near the bottom. A vent line is connected to a tee and goes to each tank at its top and then through the lid and to a periscope. These means you need to surface to pump water out of course and you will get a spout of water from that scope when you fill the tank. What I don't understand is that the starboard side tank is considerably longer than the port side. Seems like it would list to starboard as the tanks filled. I don't see any reason for this, the port tank is not shortened to accommodate other equipment in the hull.
I don't have any experience with using two ballast tanks but from watching other people it seems like it's always troublesome. One tank always fills faster than the other and as the model tips toward the heavier tank it exasperates the problem. Any thoughts? Maybe in this case the model is heavy/stable enough and the tanks are close enough together it isn't a factor.
Jason
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