JellyBean Mk4...

Having been caught red handed by my doc with my X craft in hands (my carer let him in the door just as I was preparing to drill and file another flood slot...he was not best pleased with me, to say the least) I'm now relegated back to small plastic boats (for the time being, anyway...)

I've restarted the build of JellyBean Mk4, this time with Lipo batteries and all the modern technology I can muster. The radio box is well under construction, so whilst I'm waiting for a couple of parts to arrive to complete it, I've screwed the hull and deck sections together, made a start on cutting out the access hatch, and drilled out the flood holes.

As a change from drilling holes, I've made a start on the deck. It's now cut out, flood holes drilled, and I'm playing about with a bit of detailing. How about the crew access hatch...bit on the posh side really, but two of them for less than £6 has to be a bargain in my book.

Good old Cornwall Model Boats...thanks to Malcolm for finding these for me.






I'm thinking of maybe hiding the deck securing screw under the hatch?

And a little more done (whilst trying to avoid an annoyed carer with a painful toe...)

Hatch access opened up, periscope fitted (Do deep sea research subs have periscopes, I wonder? Mine has anyway...) and a 10mm HiViz UltraBrite red flashing beacon. Just a dry run, I'll refit everything properly when the boat has been painted.

Hi Richard

This model takes me back a long way
A friend of mine bought one at Sandown model show years ago.
he painted it bright orange so he could see it the only problem was I was the last person to see it as I was snorkelling in the gravel pit with it it shot past like bat out of hell and was never seen again the good old servo and micro switch and no fail safe ha ha
Mind you it was powered by a 13 turn racing buggy motor and a 7.2 volt pack.
So after the loss of his second submarine he has called it a day mind you we did not know what we were doing and the internet was not about so all lessons were learnt from marine modelling
Keep up the good work look forward to hearing how see comes along

All the best geof

Oh, that brings back memories, Geoff...my first JellyBean was lost with all hands in a local river, never did find it despite hiring the local sub aqua club.

The second one developed a leak, and no matter what I did, I could not cure it, so eventually I scrapped it.

Number three was sold half way through building it when I became ill, that was a silly move really, but at the time it seemed a good idea.

Now onto number four....this one is coming along nicely so far, so fingers crossed it continues that way. I like these little things, and with my present problems, they are ideal for me to move about.

Onwards and upwards...!

Today's job was to tackle the steering nozzle...

This is what's shown on the plan:



I sort of followed the drawing, but I made mine adjustable for depth via the two collars on the shaft, side to side movement, and for tightness on the nozzle. And I'm pleased to say, it all works as I wanted it to...I have a good 45 degrees of movement on the nozzle each side, which should be more than enough to turn the boat in practically it's own length.







Tomorrow I'll make up the prop shaft and make a start on building the dive planes.

Quite a productive day today, hands and fingers working well so far...

Got the dive planes made up ready to install and also I've also trimmed and filed the edges of the hull to shape, and sanded them smooth. The prop shaft just needs cutting to size once the radio box is installed, a job for tomorrow.

The dive planes are from the Skipjack kit...because David M sent me the resin ones in the fittings kit, I didn't use the kit ones, they've proved ideal for the JellyBean, saved me a lot of work having to make the things.

(Quite a productive day) i wish i could build at your speed short of time these days ha ha

looking good were did you get your WTC box from its just the right size

hope those fingers and hands can keep on going

all the best geof

The radio box came from Dave Marles at Prestwich Models, it's one of a range he does for race boats. I did buy the new version to start with, but it was too big, so I ended up with this one, the original versíon. The third one comes in kit form, and is made up from pre cut pieces of ply. Mine is fibreglass, the new version is made of a plastic material.

acrowot (Geof) wrote:(Quite a productive day) i wish i could build at your speed short of time these days ha ha

Don't forget I'm retired now, Geoff...I've got all the time in the world to build subs!


Richard

Steering nozzle and dive plane linkages made and hooked up...bit tight under the deck, but it all works perfectly.

I don't want to talk about it...

Richard(Admin) wrote:I don't want to talk about it...

I've finished sulking, given the problem an awful lot of thought, and I think I may have averted the crisis. The next couple of hours are going to be critical...as they say in all the best places "watch this space".

come on rich we're all watching mate

Well, I cured one problem, and went straight into another! I couldn't get a straight run on the servo linkages, so I managed to cure that by rerouting the rods...sorted, or so I thought. Then I found that the clear access lid fouled the servo rods, so
I removed some of the material on the lip...sorted, or so I thought. Now the bolts are so close to the lip, I can see that they will soon just pull right through...so, I have to make a whole new lip, refit the bolts, and I've still to sort the servo rods out.

I'm taking up knitting...

Richard(Admin) wrote:Well, I cured one problem, and went straight into another! I couldn't get a straight run on the servo linkages, so I managed to cure that by rerouting the rods...sorted, or so I thought. Then I found that the clear access lid fouled the servo rods, so
I removed some of the material on the lip...sorted, or so I thought. Now the bolts are so close to the lip, I can see that they will soon just pull right through...so, I have to make a whole new lip, refit the bolts, and I've still to sort the servo rods out.

I'm taking up knitting...

I do not believe this...after all the recent problems and my attempts at rectifying them, I've just discovered the problem. I'd lined the radio box floor with a sheet of styrene to give me a nice smooth surface to attach the radio gear on to, but I hadn't glued it down yet. I've just been looking at what to do next to sort these problems out, and I needed my small jeweller's screwdriver...could I find it? Could I hell as like. Having turned the bench upside down looking for it, I moved the radio box...and it rattled. (you know what's coming, don't you?....) I lifted the styrene floor, and underneath was my screwdriver...that had raised the floor by enough to cause all the problems. A lot of swearing, two cigarettes and a coffee later, I'm now in the process of making a new lid for the box (after ruining the old one trying to fix a problem that didn't exist) and that should put me back on track.

And the moral of the story? Make sure you put your tools on the bench, and not leave them where they can cause problems!

(Andy...you have my permission to laugh!)

And the problem solved...new top and new clear lid made up for the radio box, just need to decide whether to use O ring cord or rubber sheet for the watertight seal, then I can cut the bolts down to size.

Very sharp looking! That wtc is coming along nicely Richard.

Well, thank you kindly Tom...much appreciated. It's getting there now, next up is to secure the box into the hull and get the prop shaft cut down and installed. That's tomorrow's agenda...

An interesting exercise in bending brass wire...drove me mad!







But it fits...I'm happy.

Deck detailing finished...the hatch does open and covers the securing mount. The LED is a red flashing 10mm HiViz, UltraBrite and runs in conjunction with two White flood LED's at the lower bows of the boat, they are the next to be fitted...all three run off a separate 4.8v rx battery pack.

Just a quick pic of the flashing beacon in operation.

very good rich and i must say the pink glow just adds to it

Pink, my ass!

Richard(Admin) wrote:Pink, my ass!

That is a bit cheeky.