Building the french suffren sna

[Albacore 569]

all the same weights shown above now in their final new forms

Lead ingots smelted and cast, glad that's over. scary stuff lead. heat gloves rubber gloves Face masks outside away from house. 2 casts - they weigh 2,4 and 3.2 lbs.

The Silicone mold was tough. The second cast I just melted the small ingots with torch in the mold itself.

That over, time to put the ballast aside till later and begin assembling the sections and putty sand now. Yay!

The two ridges inside on either side of the weights are structural and have holes through their sections the length of the boat for 3/16 Carbon composite 4-foot-long rods.

[Albacore 569]

Sizing up lead for keel ballast, lead given to me 20 years ago by a sub model buddy, finally will put to good use. Each photo shows 3 lbs. lead.

2 mm sheets and other photo small 1/4 once lozenge size weights. Will smelt later when closer to boat trim time for flexibility arranging.

[Albacore 569]

Making the Silicone Mold for the lead keel ingots. Making 2 -3 and will see when its trimming time. The wood pattern in a glued mold casting block. Friend Merriman recommended BB TC-5050 and as he demonstrates in his building threads looks like an excellent material. There is even a distributor for the BB's materials in the next town over saving shipping costs. Bob Martin suggested ust about any silicone mld making material would be sufficient. The smallest amount of BJB's TC 5050 is $90.00 a pint. Amazon has a Mold Max 60 for same amount of material for $34.00. I decided on the trying the Mold Max 60. I do not expect t be doing more than one smelting job. Amazon delivered overnight.

I used the whole container. I checked by pouring water into the mold to get a sense of the volumes needed as this was a one-shot execution. Ratio is 100 A & 3 B by weight. Will see!





Pardon the mess..lol

[Albacore 569]

Good size! No, go ahead, that weight as low as possible. That battery tray can slide fwd and back to determine the proper trim?

Yes. to a limited degree. The OTW Dive Module will be aft of this tray and will take a lot of volume, (buoyancy).

Using an analog - a friend's OTW Astute (in 1/72 scale) is being used comparing my Suffern building here. Model sizes same as mine in 1/64. He reports his Astute weighs 23.3 lbs. There will be foam added too, but maybe not as much as you might think. I guesstimate at this early stage aiming for the ballpark

I was looking at water densities, volumes all that etc. online, it's a useful guide and good for general knowledge (Archimedes principles on Buoyancy) BUT all that math can from reading other posts here just creates another rabbit hole wasting time.

Fortunately, comparisons with other models are a good gage to. The OTW Dive module he uses in his Astute is the same as mine. It is 3.5 inches diameter (88.9 mm) & 28.5 inches (723.9 mm) long.

[JHapprich]

Good size! No, go ahead, that weight as low as possible. That battery tray can slide fwd and back to determine the proper trim?

[Albacore 569]

Re-designed Battery tray. Gel cell will lay on its broad side now poles up pointing aft. Not a lipo but should be good. 3.1 libs vs a 15-ounce lipo. No fire hazards ever. Keeping it simple. I need ballast anyways.

Gel cell can be oriented any way that is best. Battery already waterproof as long as I insulate the positive pole with aquarium sealant.

Keeping battery as low to keel as possible. I could also fit battery upright in hull too, but the top of battery would be above boats surface trim inside so keeping all of battery surfce area underwater whether surfaced or submerged if it makes trimming later simpler.

Am I over thinking this?

[Albacore 569]

Printed battery tray for a WKDC12-5F Duracell Ultra 12V 5AH battery forward.

Fashioning a wooden mockup pattern for RTV silicon mold for making three lead keel ingot castings. 9 x 1.5 x 0.6 inches = 8.1 cubic inches x lead density 0.41 = 3.321 pounds each.

David! Can you tell me or recommend the proper heat-resistant silicon mold making material for casting lead parts please? Important . Thank you in advance.



Wood pattern here below





3d Printed Battery Tray.

Battery to be used - WKDC12-5F Duracell Ultra 12V 5AH

After hours looking at Lithium nickel metal hydrides etc....Opting for keeping power source simple. The battery is heavy and need the ballast weight anyways. The OTW 3.5 is very buoyant. This battery is used by many sub drivers in our local group, so ease of logistics and if technical issues ever happen, all are familiar with this battery, just use aquarium sealant to insulate the positive pole. Keeping battery system simple

[Albacore 569]

Shaft braces being trial fitted Fit good.


Rubber grommets added. A little sound isolation? Hell why not. The dive module will be on rubber mounts too. If I am going to, now is a good time to add such and they are in the shop spare parts box, so why not. Do Koi Fish do Crazy Ivans? LOL. The aluminum tube in bottom photo is not the actual drive shaft, it's just a alignment reference guide.

[Albacore 569]

Next morning, 14.5 hours later Volia!

These frames will be placed aft interlocking the existing hull wall shapes aft of the OTW dive module. The hole for shaft is 11.5 mm, a 1/2 mm added for ease of fit sliding brass tubing of the Raboesch drive shafts sections with bearings.

It's amazing to think up a custom part, design it in the morning, slice it using Lychee slicer program, printing that day and overnight, and hold those parts in your hand in the following morning. No striations lines discernable visually compared to non -resin printers.

I hope my modeling will include the best of the old combined with the best of the new. The Any Cubic 3m Max has been working excellent now after a long early frustrating beginning learning about the world of 3d printing.

[Albacore 569]

Designing and slicing a new added part. A Drive shaft frame brace for Suffren for printing.




LycheeSlicer

[Albacore 569]

Time to unclutter the bench top getting out of hand..lol. I did some careful machining and drilled 3 mm holes for locking pins through the 5 mm steel drive shafts. Coupled up the flexible drive shaft to facilitate the swivel pump jet.
The shafts are over long deliberately. They will be cut down to length when the dive module is all positioned in the hull. the drive shaft just aft f the dive module will have brace supports t the hull too. n or two frames.

[Albacore 569]

Agree, Thank you. I originally planned with carbon rods, but before purchasing them had second thoughts if I was over thinking. I'll use Carbon fiber rods or epoxy rods,

[Akula54]

If I have to use rods for the hull, I agree with Manfred about using carbon rods.

[MFR1964]

Everything which is metal can give problems with receiving signal, in your chase i would go with Carbon rods, strenghtwise they are good enough.

Manfred.

[Albacore 569]

I have an electronic question please from anyone here that knows a lot more than I do i'm sure.

Designed in my printed Suffern hull sections 6.35 mm diameter tunnels or tubes in my hull sections for inserting 5 mm rods for longitudinal strength.

I hope to use four 5 mm epoxy rods or stainless-steel rods for this.

If I use steel will these interfere with radio reception to and from receiver and transmitter? Steel maybe be cheaper, but will it be a hindrance t radio reception? What about Epoxy rods?