Revell 1:72 VIIC u-boat

Hi sorry for not putting up any updates time seems short at the moment as i have been sorting out my late mum and dads house and dealing with solicitors but by next monday my family home will be sold and i can try and get things back to normal any way back to subs

i have now fitted the graupner 2mm prop tubes a little fiddly but there in straight and true and for the eagle eyes yes i have left the outer part of the propshafts that come out of the hull to the back i just felt i would be ever lasting bending the 2mm shaft





so i am now working on fitting the WTC proply so i can join the propshafts to the stubshafts that fit into the WTC so hopfully i will have more to show soon
marius i have not forgot about the video just trying to sort it all out so you will be able to see the end result

all the best geof

salmon has a little prase on the bottom of his posts and it is
(If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.)

after the week iv,e had building subs i now know what he means
it all started very well fitting the WTC started by making a half circle out of brown perspex then heating it up and bending it to the outside diameter of the WTC then gluing it into the hull to support the WTC.
i then made out of grey plastic 2 squares with a slot cut out the same size as the half circle then resting the WTC into the cradle then gluing them on to the sides of the WTC this holds it so it cant spin round or slide back and forth works perfect.








so after this was sorted we started to fit the stub shafts throught the rear end caps after a few hours lining up the stub shaft universal joints with the prop shaft all was running very smooth happy days i thought little did i know





i wounder how many people forgot to leave enough space in side the tube for the motors.
you got it i could not fit the motors onto the end of the stub shafts.
the motors fould the sides of the WTC what now i thought i could rip it all out and start again.
or attempt to make my first 1.1 gear box and this i have nearly finished.






so this is were im at at the moment so tomorrow night i shall put it together and set it all up and hope my plan works.

you will be pleased to know this has not put me of in anyway tryed to win an old darnell u-boat on ebay that needed a lot of TLC and just missed it so im on the look out for another one or a darnell T or S class sub or ill be getting a deans marine HMS Resolution for the next project

take care geof

Very sorry about the troubles you have had. I can relate to your experience. I must congratulate you on your cradle it is simply brilliant. Great presentation and I am learning from this. Thank you.

thanks salmon
The idea of the cradle was the WTC will go back in the same place every time so the prop tubes and UJ always line up and run smooth with very little fiddling around.
All i have to do is secure the WTC down by rubber bands like richard told me or velcro strap
im hoping that the gear box runs ok after ive solderd up the wires
take care geof

hi
i have now got the gearbox all together now it all seems to turn over very smoothly still got to wire it up to the esc and run it up and see what happens



can anyone tell me what grease to use on rubber orings as i dont want to use the wrong grease and knowing my luck i will.
i am now trying to fit everything in this silly little tube ha ha its certainly keeping the brain going.

all the best geof

Geof,
If your o-rings are not silicon, then a silicon grease is o.k.(even a car parts store will have a distributor grease which is silicon), some submariners use petroleum jelly, or simply vegetable oil. If you use silicon grease on silicon o-rings, they will swell and get gummy ultimately deteriorate. My o-rings are Buna rubber o-rings and silicon oil and grease work great with it.
Do you know what your o-rings are made from?

Hi salmon
thanks for reply i dont know what they are made of all i know there black the orings in question are the small ones in post 2 that belong to the water tight push rods.
may be richard may know he tryed using them with little success as they were to tight so i made a little rig up and messed about and have got them working ok just had to cut the movement down on transmitter a little and open the plastic endcaps a little and a little grease should do the trick



hope you all are having a nice easter geof

Geof,
I am not an expert on this, so please have patience with me. There is not a way to tell just by looking at it.
Silicon o-rings usually are not black (usually). I usually see Buna-N (Nitrile) and Viton in black (I do not know if they come in another color, I can not say with certainty - maybe someone more experienced than me will jump in) and EPDM is also a black in color o-ring. So if you are a gambling man, you can use silicon grease it is O.K. for Buna-N and Viton type o-rings, but not EPDM. To be safe use vegetable oil. Petroleum Jelly is one I have never used, but have heard of others using it, again it will depend on the o-ring.If you can find out from the source you got the o-ring, what the material your o-ring is made from, that would give you the best answer.
Peace,
tom

I would agree with Tom.
If it is black, you will probably be OK with Silicone grease.

David

thanks David and Tom for the reply
i have found some silicone grease from a diy shop but i may email mmb models beforem i use it

thanks again geof

acrowot (Geof) wrote:t i may email mmb models beforem i use it

That's wisdom!

Wisdom ha ha
After 4 hours in the building room till 1.30 in the moring trying to figure out what to do with the push rods we had a change of plan and now I'm using rubber belows
The push rods worked but felt if the oring gave out it would of been a right fiddle to replace them plus the bellows have less friction on the servo.
Ill find the camera and post up some pictures
All the best geof

I like bellows!

(Did you see Richard's source of supply on eBay?)

David

PS Richard, just ordered my 6th Tamiya gearbox. (Secret application!) Just the job. Thanks

i have seen the ones richard got wish i had got those instead
i bought a set of 4 of ebay they looked good but 2 had holes in them not much good
im just trying to get a sub mini pitch controller of microgyros.
then i have all the bits i need i think.
im now just waiting for the postman to deliver my 2 2s 2200 lipos and two little brass props
all the best geof

just a little update about using genuine hitec 8 channel dual conversion receivers with a futaba transmitter and a posibble range problem from post 19

well put one of the recivers into a model boat and tryed it at bushy park near where i live over easter and i can saftly say there was no range problems at all sailed the boat all over the place
good buy at £5.99 happy days

take care geof

A very good buy, I would say.

Dual conversion - probably costing £50 or so when new.

Worth "filling your boots" with 40 Mhz gear at the moment. (It is not going to last for ever.)

I hear from Paul B that he has successfully modified 35Mhz gear to 40. (I look forward to catching up with him at Norwich.)

David

i have finaly finished (I HOPE) the WTC got everything in that silly small tube all nice and tidy
the only thing ive got to do is re route the arial theres to much interference so ive got to get the arial out into the open.
plus see how to set up the sub auto leveller





The other little problem ive had to solve was switching the sub on and of then i thought ha ha ill use a mmb water tight push rod thats sitting on the bench then thought how do i disconnect it when i remove the front bulkhead
i had been messing around with a magnetic couplings for the push rods but this i could not make good enough so put it to one side.
this was perfect for what i needed for the switch the magnets are strong enough to move the switch back and forth but you can pull it apart no problem and when the WTC is together just push the coupling together.
the coupling was easy to make get 2 magnets find a brass tube and a solid brass rod that fits inside cut down the solid brass rod then drill a hole in end to fit the thin push rod in cut the brass tube so the magnet and the cut down brass rod will fit in solder it all together then glue the magnet in.
word of warning do not solder it all together with the magnet in there as the heat will demagnetize the magnet. the other little thing i did was glue the servo to the front bulkhead this makes it easy when removing the bulkhead just undo the extencion lead.



in this picture you can see the magnetic coupling just above the reciever.

[b]

now i have got to link the WTC to the rudder and hydro planes then finish the body work

all the best geof

acrowot (Geof) wrote:i have finaly finished (I HOPE) the WTC got everything in that silly small tube all nice and tidy
the only thing ive got to do is re route the arial theres to much interference so ive got to get the arial out into the open.
plus see how to set up the sub auto leveller





The other little problem ive had to solve was switching the sub on and of then i thought ha ha ill use a mmb water tight push rod thats sitting on the bench then thought how do i disconnect it when i remove the front bulkhead
i had been messing around with a magnetic couplings for the push rods but this i could not make good enough so put it to one side.

this was perfect for what i needed for the switch the magnets are strong enough to move the switch back and forth but you can pull it apart no problem and when the WTC is together just push the coupling together.
the coupling was easy to make get 2 magnets find a brass tube and a solid brass rod that fits inside cut down the solid brass rod then drill a hole in end to fit the thin push rod in cut the brass tube so the magnet and the cut down brass rod will fit in solder it all together then glue the magnet in.
word of warning do not solder it all together with the magnet in there as the heat will demagnetize the magnet. the other little thing i did was glue the servo to the front bulkhead this makes it easy when removing the bulkhead just undo the extencion lead.











in this picture you can see the magnetic coupling just above the reciever.

[b]

now i have got to link the WTC to the rudder and hydro planes then finish the body work

all the best geof

hi Geoff
I have been following your build,as I want to convert mine.
Have you finished the build or is there more to come
sloop

Hi Sloop
i have not finished it yet keep running out of time i do model aircraft as well so juggle between thr 2 just sorting out a model plane for a new starter
plus my 9 year old son has decided to break his arm last week this is the 2nd summer holiday now in a row broke both arms last year so dad is on call all the time bless him

any way back to it the sub is coming along slowly now painted and started weathering it
i have got some modes to do like moving the arial as its got interfence and have to replace a rubber bellow

when i get a second i will take some pictures and upload them

many thanks geof

Hi to everyone hope you’re all keeping well

sorry for such a long gap between posts things seem to overtake like my 9 year old son breaking his arm clean in half and now has metal plates and screws fitted 1 month before a family holiday to Florida and now loving rc cars after a model show we went to.
I have now figured out a way of fitting the removable deck I have made it in 3 parts the front part is stuck to the hull with the middle part with a tongue that’s glued to the middle deck that slips under the front.


(here is the front mounting block for main deck)



(one of the mounting blocks to hold the middle part of the deck)

I have also made the rear deck removable as well so I can get to the linkages to the rudder and hydroplanes this can be left in place when moving the WTC this is all held with 5 small screws which holds the removable side in as well.


(you can see at the stern the mounting block and on the right side of picture two screw holes this is were the middle and rear deck meet)

Also I have made a strengthening piece under the main part of the deck from a piece of Perspex’s to stop the deck bending and all in all it fits very well.


(strengthening piece under the main part of the deck)


(all fitted together)

That’s all for now I have now got to find the camera as the sub has its base colours now painted
Take care geof

Welcome back, Geoff,

Sorry to hear of your son's troubles, I bet that hurt for a while.

Nice to see you cracking on with the U boat, she's coming along nicely now, looking forward to seeing pictures of the paint job!

Rich

Thanks Richard glad to see you building again

you could say it hurt him poor lad the silly thing is he broke both arms at the same time last summer holiday falling of a climbing frame on the isle of wight quit interesting seeing him running about with 2 plaster casts on.

i will take some pictures over the weekend

take care geof

Hi to you all
As promised here are some pictures of the base coat that I air brushed during the summer (only the second time using an air brush) and this is now up to date
and now hoping to try some weathering over the next week or so then get 2 bellows fit props re route the aerial then ballast it and see what happens ha ha




as you can see the join on the side of the ballast tank that can be removed is quit tidy pleased with it







take care geof

Now that really looks good, Geoff...my congratulations on a super build. Have a word with David Merriman about weathering, the guy is an absolute master of it.


Richard