Revell VllC U-boat RC conversion

[turbobearcat]

NIce Steve, can't wait to

NIce Steve, can't wait to see sme pictures, I've done some minor work to my Uboat, got rid of the troublesome 8.4V 900Mhr batteries (You would think the NMh would hold up better) 6-7 cell
and I swapped out for a 4 pack AA 2300 batteries Nhms, which I ran for nearly one hour before shutting it down for the night.
I think the 4.8V will work fine, I noticed no decrease in the engine rpms, I'm sure it's there but I won't know until I get back outside in the water to find out. And words of advice, just when you think you have this thing balanced..it's not

good luck

Mark

[turbobearcat]

Great stuff guys! Thanks for

Great stuff guys! Thanks for posting.

I tested mine late last night in the pool and after awhile she sank straight to the bottom. I didn't run the RC gear it was just a static test to see if she sits right in the water. She did for awhile and then down she went.

After I got her back up I found the WTC to be completely dry so she's a bit heavy is all. I cut and added some white foam and now she sits perfect. So tonight I'll test her running. I'm sure it will turn and the motors will run. I just hope she dives.

I ended up making my own props from brass and wheel collars. They came out pretty well.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Steve

"I ended up making my own props from brass and wheel collars. They came out pretty well."

I used the stock props with the model and got good speed, I used a threaded rod and slightly drilled the props out and them hand threated them with the shaft!.. I don't think they will come off.

Send pictures soon ok?

I have my WTC held down by Velcro from Radio Shack,they sell two different types cut into 4 pieces..I think..
but after last nights run I might be ready for one more run before it gets too cold to run outside unless the local YMCA will let me use their pool Speaking of snow and Cold..we are getting some snow tonight and I just got a call from Michigan.. 3 inches in the Portage/Kalamazoo area!



Mark

[turbobearcat]

Since I have some free

Since I have some free time on my hands tonight and Thursday..15 hour shift of do -nothing.. I'm now planning the next build of my Uboat with some minor changes but this time I'm going to leave the extra bulkhead in the front out or move it farther forward so I can pack a slightly longer WTC inside the hull. the first design I had to cutdown the lenght to fit the WTC in the hull without giving myself a hernia

this time by luck this one will be better and I'm building it as a VII-B U99 Otto would have been proud to see his Uboat once more.

Mark

[anonymous]

Mark,

I'll have to take some

Mark,

I'll have to take some close up pictures of the props Friday. All I did was get some thin brass strips. Made a template and marked the brass and then cut them out. Used a dremel to gind them smooth.

I took some wheel collars and marked them for prop placement and pitch that matched the scale props. With a dremel cut slots into the collars. Then I simply soldered the blades into place.

Did a full test in the pool tonight and everything went well. As it turns out my pool besides being dirty is too small.

Although the boat turns well the pool is just too narrow and I can barely get her around.

She wants to dive but again I run out of room by the time she's up to speed. At half throttle this boat is very fast. Too fast for scale. She will be happy in the lake and there's a large one near by to my flying filed I'll try her at next.

Shot some video but it's too dark. So after the turkey day I'll shoot some day light pics and video.

Here's some of it in the pool tonight. I'm happy she doesn't leak and everything operates smoothly. Also my home made brass scale props work great!

I'm only running and old 7 cell 350 mah pack so 2 minutes and it's over. So i'll have to switch to a larger capacity pack next or get stuck out on the lake.

I'll post more on Friday.

Steve

P.S. starting on the Kilo next this will make a good pool sub and I'm planning at this point to make it a static diver. Just need to fine the right sized pump and bladder.

The other is a kit I picked up that came with a WTC set up for free running. I may make it RC. Not sure yet as it's tight on space. Oh what fun.

[anonymous]

Here's one of the props

Here's one of the props Mark. Didn't think they'd work out so well so now I'll clean tham up and add the spinners.

Steve

[turbobearcat]

It looks good Steve, hey

It looks good Steve, hey I noticed you have the Trumpeter Wilhelm Bauar sub, formally the U2513 I believe.
that setup sucks, the batties are not water proof and the motor goes south very quickly. I had to regrease the motor and pull the battery pack out and use a used pill bottle with a 9V iside as a power supply man does that thing work now!
but now I have been playing with the idea of making it a small RC sub.. I converted mine from the WB to a true XXI but using Revell of Germany's older XXI Uboat..the decks are a PERFECT match..I'll send a picture sometime friday, working all day today 7am -10:30pm

Mark

[paul von braun]

Dear Steve,
could you post a

Dear Steve,
could you post a picture of the drainage/slots fore and aft by the props and below the fore dive planes, please. It would be of use to my 1/32 type VII project.


Many thanks in advance,



Paul Brown.

[anonymous]

Paul,

Here you go. I just

Paul,

Here you go. I just used a dremel and bored out most of the top side drains. On the bottom I bored a few fore and aft. Works well but you could bore them all out I would suppose.

Hope this helps and best of luck with your boat. Please post pictures of your progress.

Steve

[paul von braun]

Dear Steve,

thanks millions!!!!!! A picture

Dear Steve,

thanks millions!!!!!! A picture paints a thousand words as they say. My book on the type VII (anatomy of the ship) does mention those holes, but not in any detail.

So that begs the question of how do I put my pictures on the net, so you chaps can see what I'm up to?


Regards and many thanks,





Paul Brown.

[anonymous]

Paul,

With this site you need

Paul,

With this site you need to up load your pictures to a server. Then make a link to the server and post it here.

When your writing your reply you'll see the image tab. Click on that and you'll get a window with the http:// after which you place the link to your server.

If you don't have a server there easy to get. Or if all else fails you can send me the pictures and I'll put them on my server and post the link.

Steve

[turbobearcat]

So is this it, only

So is this it, only three people have tried this conversion of the VII? Certainly Big Dave has tried.. have you?

Anybody else built one?


Mark

[Guest]

I am new to RC

I am new to RC Subs, do you have a shopping list of items used for the conversion? Thanks for any help you can supply

Scott

[turbobearcat]

Scott

The first thing would be

Scott

The first thing would be clear plastic tubing about 2 'dia , some form of endcaps to seal it, I used a gear box for my first sub but will use direct drive twin engine setup next time.
Visit radio shack for your motors and .1uf capicitors and any wires you might needs(18-20 gauge) Styrofoam!!!!RTV and silicon grease
visit a hobby shop and buy some rods for the steearing and tubing you can cut for bushings. I took my sweet time building this Uboat
and your going to needs a good motor speed controller, a Mtronik Marine 15 is excellant to use!!!! a three channel or more radio is a must, you can build on a two channel which means you have stearing and forward/reverse spead and that's it.. a Dynamic diver you will have, my Uboat in it's present form is a Dynamic diver, I might try a small bladder and pump like U812 is using but for now I like it simple until I get use to building subs, I have years of surface ships behind me, I always wanted subs and now I have the means of building them.

Glad to share ideas as long as others do the same for me

Mark

[tmsmalley]

I am new to RC

I am new to RC Subs, do you have a shopping list of items used for the conversion?

Hi Scott -
If you have your heart set on converting the Revell Type VII to an RC sub, I suggest you might want to buy Dave Welch's "Experimenters' WTC kit for the type VII. He supplies the tubes, endcaps and a great photo CD that explains how he does the conversion. He utilizes the Dr. Art Broder RCABs bladder ballast tank system to great effect. Contact Dave for more info.

[turbobearcat]

And that would be the

And that would be the easy way of building a WTC!

Dave does great work.. but I like to know more about how he makes it fit in the hull?


Mark