Moebius Skipjack

[richard]

Good day all,

I've got a Moebius Skipjack en route to me (Hurricane Sandy permitting), and I have question for anyone who has already built one...

Do I use the kit plastic prop or change it to a brass one? And what size is the prop, please? (that's two questions, I know... )


Thanks,


Richard

[Guest]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

The 5-blade prop on the Skipjack was 15 feet in diameter, which equates to 2.5" diameter in 1/72nd scale.

I thought that with a brass bush bonded in, the plastic prop would work, I've been advised that this wont work, but I'd still be inclined to at least give it a try. Clearly polystyrene plastic won't be as tough as nylon plastic often used for plastic props, but provided you don't deck it against concrete pond liners it should last a while. Worst case scenario- it goes home and you buy a metal prop.

If you want a metal version, you have three choices- make one, purchase the conversion kit that Dave supplies which includes the prop, or buy a scimitar prop, which I understand the Skipjacks used later on in their career. AFAIK, noone other than Dave produces a correct 5-bladed prop in metal.

[richard]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Plenty to think about there, Andy...I think that Deans Marine sell a near scale prop that may do the trick, I'll go take a look and see.

[bigdave]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

I am working on a Skipjack myself and will be using the kit prop.
It comes in two pieces and needs some modification to be a working prop but after I modified it I tested it in my prop Dyno.
I put a 5 Amp load on it with no problems.
As Andy said I would not knock it into something solid but that is true with any prop.
But as for water it has no problem.
I will draw something up showing what I did when I can. BD.

[richard]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Thanks BD, I'll look forward to that.

[redboat219]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Anybody else doing their own style of conversion on the MS?

[murraymcdonald]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Recieved mine on Thursday from Strike Force Hobbies. http://www.sub-driver.com/fittings-kits ... kit-1.html. Aslo got myself the stunning new Trumpeter 1/200 scale battleship KMS Bismarck kit at the same time.

Cheers!
Murray

[richard]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Anybody else doing their own style of conversion on the MS?

I am, mine will have a custom designed and built twin piston tank cylinder by Ron Perrott.

[Guest]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

I'm sure Ron won't mind this being posted, after all he has hosted it on a public site.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F6YUE7BmQAU

I don't know why, but it keeps reminding me of that scene in Blade Runner when Bryant is showing Deckard the replicants to be 'retired'.

Andy

[redboat219]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

I'm very much interested to see where the drive shaft and control linkages pass as there's a piston tank at both ends.

[richard]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Ah, that's the clever bit...the drive motor is in it's own mini cylinder right behind the end of the WTC.

[Guest]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

The linkages pass out over the top of the piston tank. You can see one linkage drawn in on the animation if you look carefully.

By having the tanks fully exposed at the ends like this, you don't get any air bubbles in the tank, so unlike Engel tanks which have to be cycled a few times to bleed the air out, these work perfect from the get go. Another feature of Ron's tanks is that the threaded spindle remains fixed, and the piston moves up and down on the rod. This gives more room inside as you don't need to worry about clerance for the threaded rod.

The piston has a gland on it to prevent water ingress.

[robert f.]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Revell has also just released (or is on the brink of releasing) a 1/72 Skipjack kit... kit number 05119

Does anyone know if this is a new tooling or the Moebius kit repackaged? Personally, I'm hoping the latter...

Robert

[robert f.]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

Additional: the Revell kit is scheduled for release in March, 2013.

Which reinforces my hunch that it is indeed the Moebius kit repackaged. After all, that time schedule gives Moebius the opportunity to sell the first "batch", including to those Europeans who can't wait to get their hands on it, and then for Revell to serve the mainstream European market.

I'm not complaining here; it gives the kit the wide attention it deserves and saves a lot of shipping costs for the European modeller. I can wait a few months; there's plenty on the workbench that needs to be done first.

Robert

[Guest]

Re: Moebius Skipjack

I find it hard to imagine Revell would have gone to all the trouble of producing an independently researched kit.