Charlie's Fleet boat build

[oldmscle]

OK, so when you getting

OK, so when you getting that thing in the water? (Kevin's not here so I picked up his mantle)

I know what you mean about the electronics...I'd much rather be working on the "modeling" part myself.

Looking good Charlie...can't wait to see it run.

[anonymous]

I have yet to see

I have yet to see your fine build in the water yet! Lets see it lad.

BTW I'm building one Wayne Frey sent me. Almost done.

Steve

P.S. BTW nice job Charley.

[oldmscle]

Ouch Steve, guess the truth

Ouch Steve, guess the truth hurts!

I'm just trying to put the spurs to my buddy Charlie.

[Rogue Sub]

Damn he got you there.

Damn he got you there. Actually your al dink. Get in the water NUBs!

Steve how many boats did wayne send you!

[anonymous]

Just one Gato.

Steve

Just one Gato.

Steve

[g2tiger]

OK,

I'm working on it! The

OK,

I'm working on it! The model is a lot of work and I'm not talking about building the gato kit. Right now I am working on getting a 6 function/channel radio. I was a FM at tower for about a buck thirty. The ballast weights are on order with Caswell and I screwed around with the ballast system last night. I will need a battery or two and then I should be able to slap it all together and watch it sink. Then it's paint and some help with the decals for the sail.

I also need to watch the final video to see how to trim out the boat.

Charlie

[wilsonsubs]

semi related

Hobby lobby was running a 30% off on all models in their store.
The gato boat was one of them. It's marked at 99 bucks normally so yo would take 30% off that. I'm not building this stuff but you guys might wanna have a spare kit for bashing or even spare parts.

Just an FYI.
thanks

[greenman407]

Ive noticed also that on

Ive noticed also that on Ebay you can find them around 65 dollars as well

[g2tiger]

Regression

Well,

Guess what? Mike and I were working on our models in the little shop of horrors and I decided that I was not satisfied with the prop shaft alignment. To me and to Mike the props were just too hard to turn. So after a few milliseconds of thought I broke out the pliers and torn the shaft bearings, tubes and aft supports out of the hull.

Not very nice but very to the point. My dissatisfaction with the alignment was now complete. For some time the way the video suggested building the shaft components has bugged me. So no I can go the way I want to go. I will assemble the prop shafts with the forward dog bone connector, the mid-shaft exit tube and the aft strut support on the shaft. I will place the components into the hull and I will make it line up nice and straight.

My work so far has yielded good results. I think the shafts will spin much freer than they had previously. The trick my be to only apply a little glue each day and let it harden and check the alignment. Previously I had tacked the components in place and once the glue was dry I filled in the gaps all at once.

Now, I think this way of waiting until the full hull in assembled to work on the shafts is much better than as the video shows because you can compensate for the forward support bearing with a bit more ease. I also think that with all of the components in place it will make aligning the aft most support easier.

Why is there not a bearing set up for this model? is the model too small? Mike got some bearings and race assemblies fro Tower but they were much too big for this model. Any thoughts you guys?

I'll get some pictures tomorrow.

[g2tiger]

Here are the shots of

Here are the shots of the prop shafts out of the hull. IN the video it is shown that the shafts are built up with the stern cone off and then after the stern is glued on and the upper hull cut off you install the forward bearings.

I think that you could wait until after you have attached the stern cone and the upper hull has been cut to install all of the prop shafts as one unit. Perhaps the pictures will help explain why this way may work better. You can see that there is a better chance of aligning the entire assembly this way. In my following the video I cut it real close as far as installing the shaft tubes (the ones in the middle) and had to really work the grinder to get the front bearings to fit. Also I did not have any room for the second collar to be installed behind the front bearing because of lack of clearance.

[greenman407]

I think that you have

I think that you have to break a few eggs to make a submarine. Im glad to see that you are not afraid of doing that.

[Rogue Sub]

Oh charlie is afraid.... The

Oh charlie is afraid.... The difference is that he has Mike back to give him confidence!!!!
This boat has been fighting you the whole way huh charlie.
Do you plan on getting the I boat from lindberg as well?

[g2tiger]

K,

What boat from Lindberg? is

K,

What boat from Lindberg? is that the Jap sub I heard about? I have been contemplating on the Thunder Tiger Neptune SB1 that Dave S. has wrote about. I sure could use one that actually works, HAHA!

I'm close to getting them working but I want it to be right and the props were not right.

BTW, I don't need Mike to help me break things, I can do that my self. But he is handy to have around to hold the parts while I glue them.

Charlie

[Rogue Sub]

C,
Yup its the new jap

C,
Yup its the new jap boat you heard about alright. Should be here in a couple more months.
Wanting to go RTR huh. Well that is not the only option out there if that is the case. THat guy in china makes a pretty nice 1/144 Akula rtr aswell

[carcharadon]

Charlie, I'm the last one

Charlie, I'm the last one to talk about props and shafts, since I use neither. I know about the universal joints from my RC car days.


Don't know if this has been done or not. I guess most of your speedometers these days get their information from a computer whether digital or analog. Back in the old days there was a flexible shaft from the transmission to the speedometer. The ends of the shaft were squared to fit into either the transmission or the speedometer. But it was pretty easy to fabricate a square section, just solder and square it out with a hammer. These same shafts are also used in adjustable car seats. They are fairly durable. Don't know if anyone has applied a flexible shaft to a prop but I would think it could solve any alignment problems. Even if used as only a connector. The speedometer cable sheath which surrounds the actual flexible shaft is filled with grease and might even effect a seal.




As I said I have no idea if its even worth a try, but I’m always looking for cheap and un conventional.