Question for owners of R/C NAUTILOI

[Guest]

A friend of mine built

A friend of mine built a 4 foot working replica of the Disney Nautilus over 25 years ago.

Back then, he didn't have any access to blueprints, he built the model from photographic stills, which he shot himself from the movie!

Considereing the source, he got extremely close to Harpers concept.

He discovered exactly the problem that Bob is describing. Experiments were largely unsuccesful (however I don't think he ever tried a shroud). In the end, a set of hydrovanes were installed very far aft- actually on the rudder itself.

These provide very effective angle keeping, and enable him to bring the nose out of the water for 'collision speed'- effectively he planes the Nautilus!!

This was the only way he could achieve a decent rate of knots from his Nautilus, without it ducking beneath the waves.

I'd be interested to hear about the results of other folks solutions.

Maybe a custom mounted front 'spoiler' or hydrovane would help keep the nose slightly high?

Andy

[Guest]

A friend of mine built

A friend of mine built a 4 foot working replica of the Disney Nautilus over 25 years ago.

Back then, he didn't have any access to blueprints, he built the model from photographic stills, which he shot himself from the movie!

Considereing the source, he got extremely close to Harpers concept.

He discovered exactly the problem that Bob is describing. Experiments were largely unsuccesful (however I don't think he ever tried a shroud). In the end, a set of hydrovanes were installed very far aft- actually on the rudder itself.

These provide very effective angle keeping, and enable him to bring the nose out of the water for 'collision speed'- effectively he planes the Nautilus!!

This was the only way he could achieve a decent rate of knots from his Nautilus, without it ducking beneath the waves.

I'd be interested to hear about the results of other folks solutions.

Maybe a custom mounted front 'spoiler' or hydrovane would help keep the nose slightly high?

Andy

[bob the builder]

I'm planning on angling my

I'm planning on angling my prop shroud so that full throttle sucks the rear downwards, exaclty as Andy put it. My big problem is that I've got a hugely powerful motor driving the model, but anything over 1/3 throttle sucks air from the surface. With the shroud acting like a big aft dive plane, I should be able to pull the aft down under power.

Better yet, I may link the shroud to my dive plane linkages to act as a Koort nozzle. I'll look into that more tonight. That would act like a huge dive plane, and if I make it from clear acrylic, you should hardly notice it underwater.

[bob the builder]

Okay... here's what I ended

Okay... here's what I ended up doing (for those who care)]http://www.rc-sub.com/images/modelpics/planes1.jpg[/img]

Note the linkage disappearing into the hull (I still need to paint it and touch up the hull).


The planes still need to be weathered to match the model, but you get the idea.


I tested the model at Thetis lake last Saturday, and the new planes make a world of difference. Control is fast and precise. The model tends to porpoise slightly at higher speeds, but maintains depth well, with a slight tendency to rise over the course of her run. I may play with running the four stock planes to my depth controller and the aft trim planes to my trim controller, but for now she runs exceptionally well.

[novagator]

Okay... here's what I ended

Okay... here's what I ended up doing (for those who care)]http://www.rc-sub.com/images/modelpics/planes1.jpg[/img]

Note the linkage disappearing into the hull (I still need to paint it and touch up the hull).


The planes still need to be weathered to match the model, but you get the idea.


I tested the model at Thetis lake last Saturday, and the new planes make a world of difference. Control is fast and precise. The model tends to porpoise slightly at higher speeds, but maintains depth well, with a slight tendency to rise over the course of her run. I may play with running the four stock planes to my depth controller and the aft trim planes to my trim controller, but for now she runs exceptionally well.

Beautiful model Bob, too bad you ruined it with the cheater planes. Just kidding, they blend in nicely.

[captain nemo12]

How did you add the

How did you add the rivets Bob? If you soldered them on bit by bit, must have took you VERY long..........

[bob the builder]

Solder wouldn't work too well

Solder wouldn't work too well considering it's a fibreglass hull.

I used 2hr epoxy thickened to a toothpastelike consistency with microballoons. I added them to the model with a pencil-like tool... one at a time.





I hate rivets now. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. Seems everytime I touch my model I need to fix more of them up.

I lost count sometime after 20,000, and that was before I joined the two halves and needed to retouch all of the side raker rivets.

Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em!

[captain nemo12]

I understand, they follow you

I understand, they follow you everywhere! Wonder if the guys who made the movie had a confusing time too..... rivet after rivet after rivet after rivet....... :O

[bob the builder]

If I'm not mistaken (and

If I'm not mistaken (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), the origianl 11' filming miniature was sheeted in actual brass, the rivets for which were hammered from the back of the plates before they were applied to the model.

Guy Takaguchi used a similar method on his beautiful brass R/C Nautilus. Pat Regan has pics of this model on his website.

A lot faster and not as messy as glue, but you have to work inside-out.