The Great $80 RC Submarine Challenge!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I haven't seen a lot of interest, though admittedly people might be madly working in the shadows. For the quality of the prize, I want to see at least 5 entries. If we can't get that, we'll have to postpone or cancel the contest.

Steve summed it up. Why invest time in something stupid looking?

[Subculture]

I've been working on mine (design pictured earlier). I'm not bothered about winning a prize, so if the competition gets canned then c'est la vie, the design will stand. Just need to finalise the layout of the tech rack and shaft seals.

I favour o-rings, which can be found pretty much everywhere and are cheap unlike shaft seals which tend to be a bit more difficult to find depending where you live on this spinning ball.

I have little enthusiasm for a ballast system for a sub $80 budget. I reasoned that to keep the price low requires dimensions to be kept small if printing at a bureau. I can fit one within the footprint, but as the boat utilises a dry hull design the tank has to be fairly large to get 10% displacement requested which will mean less space for batteries etc. This isn't a scale boat so I don't see much benefit.

Dynamic divers are just as much fun as static divers, especially when they're fast. I'd say if you don't like driving one then subs probably aren't for you.

[Fishb0y]

Steve summed it up. Why invest time in something stupid looking?

I've been hearing that from my lady for a while now...

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I've been hearing that from my lady for a while now...

So? She picked you out of a police line-up? How romantic!

[Marylandradiosailor]

Just my 2'c ... I think the contest went a little too low on the price for folks to divert time from other projects as they felt they wouldn't have a boat of real value when done, I think around $200-250 complete would be the best target. When i jumped into AMYA sailing a number of years ago you would go to the lake and the larger cool boats were selling for around $2-3K which was too much for a starter like myself to try it out but there was also a popular smaller boat kit that was full featured, just smaller and plastic and you could go competitive sailing for about $300 all in .... and it really drew a large number into the hobby.

[Subculture]

There are currently kits on the market that can be put in the water for around the $250 mark. Only a couple from Norbert Bruggen in Germany, but then there never was a great deal of choice at this price point. Where these current designs differ from cheaper kits from years ago is their design- decent shaft seals, proper cylindrical enclosures etc. so even though the kits are more budget oriented, they perform well.

There are also lots of good complete submarine designs (with dive modules) available online which can be printed. If you lack a 3D printer, there's the option of using a bureau which is becoming ever more cost competitive these days.

[Albacore 569]

There are currently kits on the market that can be put in the water for around the $250 mark. Only a couple from Norbert Bruggen in Germany, but then there never was a great deal of choice at this price point. Where these current designs differ from cheaper kits from years ago is their design- decent shaft seals, proper cylindrical enclosures etc. so even though the kits are more budget oriented, they perform well.

There are also lots of good complete submarine designs (with dive modules) available online which can be printed. If you lack a 3D printer, there's the option of using a bureau which is becoming ever more cost competitive these days.

True about 3 d printed designs but make sure the resin parts (bulkheads) are watertight. Resins still have a degree of porousness. I think this already been discussed elsewhere already here in this forum.

[Subculture]

The best approach for parts that need to be watertight is to use sintered nylon, either using SLS or MJF processes. Watertight and tough as arseholes.

[RCSubGuy]

Oh boy... you yahoos just brought out Mr. Grumpypants.

You cry babies are missing the point. Yes, we could do a $250 budget, but as Andy mentioned, full commercial kits (complete with appropriate profit margins) are and were available. You want me to hand you a participation prize for trying kinda sorta hard?

Remember, there is a substantial prize associated. You're talking like you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart. You don't like the odds that your skills are up to the task? Sit by the wayside and do the armchair expert thing. If you have the desire to win and the chops to compete, stop talking and get building.

Also recall (because of course you actually read the rules and aren't just bellyaching out of reflex), the budget isn't hard and fast. Do your best and the scoring will reflect how close you get to the budget.You're sure no one can do the $80 budget? Well put your money where your mouth is and build something. $150 as close as you can get? That's fine. You and everyone else over the $80 will be assessed and scored accordingly.

Tell you what... I'll throw my hat in the ring. If I document and build an $80 sub that does what it's supposed to and looks the part of a real submarine, all of you bellyachers owe me an on-the-knees, heartfelt, gushy, and over-the-top congratulatory public apology for your nonsense.

How's that for fair?