Today's building

[JHapprich]

Boat looking great - and great! Thats some funny mast to the bow, whats its purpose?

Jörg

[Albacore 569]

Sail fin stalled aligned and bolted on. drilled holes precisely for sockets to four masts. Added internal framework which has 2 mat sockets already 3 d printed in. **** its hot. Work in the mornings till noon fans circulating. dragged myself back in late afternoon till dehydrated and retreated o air-conditioning, and lots of ice water. Making dramatic progress now

[Albacore 569]

AIP Bottom fairing now in faired blended. Secured with 4 flush bolts. Solid & easy to access. Next stop blocks for positioning the dive module fore & aft. Adding prop shaft sub-assembly & adjusting its length. Adding control linkages & moveable surfaces. Insert Bow plane waterproof servo. add mast sockets in sail, detail the navigation light on sail, Mount sail with bolts for under the top removable casing - the standard method. Looking at parts left in 'the model kit box'...lol...not many left - means it is time to paint finally! San Francisco subcommittee sub regatta September 28-29 approaching. On a deadline now!

Isn't she gorgeous? Off to Autobody supply shop now open after holiday for more primer.

[Albacore 569]

Adding the Nautilus Drydock 3d printed pvc flank arrays now. They are aligned with the bayonet mounted bow section. and the three parts or sections of the printed flank arrays are then carefully aligned, and tack glued with CA onto the PVC 5-inch pipe section. Since the pipe hull and the flank arrays are all made of the same or similar PVC they should have good expansion contraction rates in hot & cold hopefully.

Then holes drilled & counter sunk for the heads (2 holes per section and short 6-32 bolts inserted for assuring a strong mechanical as well as an epoxy bond. Bolts then made flush inside with nuts & ca glued to lock in. Then more bondo. . When dry I will sand and prime.

I really love the access I have into the free flooding hull with top and bottom and fore and aft views & access to the dive module. Hands can easily get inside to make connections. This afforded by the top & bottom removeable casings & Bob Martin's 3 d printed faired in hatches in bottom of the stern and bow sections. Well done Bob.

[RCSubGuy]

Looking great! Gorgeous build. I can't wait to see it in the water.

[Albacore 569]

Not been not posting much lately. Busy in shop. Here are updates. Done a lot of sanding fitting 3d printed parts, so all seems tighter. Coming along great. Will position Dive module in frame mounting rings sliding forward and back to the boats center of buoyancy longitudinally in the Swiss cheese free flooding PVC pipe this week. Its getting there a lot more quickly now!











Heck, I thought that was an irrigation pipe, starting to look like a - dare I say a submarine?










The bayonet rigs were very good, a little trial fitting naturally. insert and a 1/2-inch rotation locks bow into place. Bow section only needed for inserting and removing Dive module after tests and access I learned. so, the aft end with it huge access panels internally only needed for hook up of prop shaft and control linkages.

Epoxied the white bayonet ring several times in the bow. Failed epoxy. Removed cleaned up and re epoxied with a new batch successfully. Sometimes you get this even after following instructions it may still be a failed batch. New epoxy from store in that spot on model now performs super strong as expected.







Before Flank arrays added.

[Albacore 569]

I received noticfications for my latest post. The unfriendly programing deleted them before I realized how to see them. Sorry I missed who ever and whatever it was.

[Albacore 569]

Latet progress photos. Lining up the WTC to hull.

[Albacore 569]

Assembling the Dolphin 2 Battery for the free flood section on the keel midships. Tenergy brand 1.2 5 amph Nickel metal hydrides NIMH. Same battery arrangement built in Argonaute, but with the battery in a single stick 2 x 5. Studied Bob Martins You tube video and it h gave great guidance and instilled confidence. After watching several times, I tried to improve a little by using 1 inch diameter PVC pipe (use schedule 20. Schedule 20 i thin walled & a length (always have to be forced to buy too much) at hardware store is less than $5.00.

The battery test fit in tube worked but was a bit snug and didn't want to force the solder connected connections to be compromised possibly. So I went down t the local auto supply store and for $15.0 bought a simple hydraulic brake cylinder grinding tool &reamed out a millimeter or 2 on the inside and then the battery necklace slides in freely. The tube acts as a splint to protect the battery and the connections. The splint is to be a framework for the battery only not to waterproof. But it could be made waterproof if large diameter heat shrink tubing int available using end caps from plumbing supply made waterproof with rubber sealant too using wires at one end and rubber baffles for the leads.

CA glued the pvc pipes together into a brick & added rubber baffles to the leads thoroughly tested with a Voltmeter (batteries lost a little charge weak out of the shipping box but recharges to 12.5 volts charged. Used rubber silicone sealant on the ends and slide the assembled battery into heat shrink tubing (3-inch diameter from Mcmaster Carr). The silicone sealant dries overnight & ready to trial fit now inside the Dolphin hull. Not pretty but it works, and it will be tucked away in the keel out of sight but easily assessable if needed to inspections. I didn't weigh yet but guess it's about a a pound (16 ounces). 0.45 kilograms.

[Albacore 569]

Got over my Cold and rested. Parts ordered all collected and ready. Cleared cleaned my shop to get everything in order for final completion of Dolphin 2 class boat INS Tanin. Clean area now to assemble battery. Underwater connectors. Ready to use with existing 3.5 WTC used also on Argonaute.

Wall shows New French Submarine Argonaute and Brooklyn tug. Amazing both are 1/32 scale! It illustrates perhaps how small these subs really were.

Top shelf shows the future HMS Meteorite (ex U-1407) in 1/30 scale).

Time to make up and proceed to completion! Super clean area now to start assembling battery for Dolphin now.

[Albacore 569]

Steven,

Here is the location of the 3S battery on my 212 A



My 212 is very similar in size to your Dolphin.

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat."

Thank you, Rob. Our boats each have similar arrangements. But our scale sizes are different though. I am building 1/48, and yours i 1/72.
(56 inches long and 31 inches long).

I will start assembling the battery tomorrow, the last part a waterproof connector which will connect from battery to the WTC has to match
expected to arrive tomorrow. I'll add the sail fairwater lights and add the hand railing which is on the Starboard side only today.

Also adding Navigation lights powered by a simple 2 - 1.5 AA batteries for a new Tugboat as well today. I will wire the Dolphin 2 fairwater lights
too but leave unpowered for now. Best to accomplish that now than retrofit later.

Building a sub from semi scratch (The hull parts and several masts 3 D custom printed by Bob Martin of Nautilus Drydocks) there are a lot
of mission critical little details, the batteries, waterproof cabling connector, soldering, making the other masts, propellor shaft, prop, paint.
sanding, more sanding. Adhesives. This is the world of RC model submarine construction.

It is so reassuring having great help and support here. Thankful to be alive, and active and skill be creative and build 'submarine boats'.



Sub assembly's almost ready to add to the hull.

[rwtdiver]

Steven,

Here is the location of the 3S battery on my 212 A



My 212 is very similar in size to your Dolphin.

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat."

[Albacore 569]

The best idea is to keep the packs as close to the center of the keel and center of the boat as possible. I'd go 5x2 if you can get heat shrink that will accommodate that size. Just like ballast, it's best to keep things as tight and as close to the middle of the boat as you can, which will make trimming much easier for you.

Thank you, Bob. I will go with the 5 x 2 arrangement then. Looking now for the heat shrink size now. Steve

Grangers has some heat shrink appropriate size for $ 21.05. I'll go downtown and pick it up and save $10.00 shipping on Tuesday when its ready.

[RCSubGuy]

The best idea is to keep the packs as close to the center of the keel and center of the boat as possible. I'd go 5x2 if you can get heat shrink that will accommodate that size. Just like ballast, it's best to keep things as tight and as close to the middle of the boat as you can, which will make trimming much easier for you.

[Das Boot]

That is some nice scribing in blending in.