Surface Tension hindering surfacing and diving

[daveee]

Hi
I am finding that my Gato 1/72nd sub surfaces and dives quite well except at the point where the flat deck meets the surface of the water. The deck traps a little air going down that can be washed away with forward movement, and when surfacing it takes a significant amount of lift to break the suction created by the deck. Once broken, it jumps up more than an inch.
I have drilled 1/8" holes along the sides to let air in / out but they are too small to be really effective.
I can see that a round submarine woulden't have this problem.
Do any of you experienced submariners have a solution to this problem?

Thanks, Dave.

[raalst]

if it is indeed only

if it is indeed only the surface tension (this should
not cause the boat to jump an inch...) then you
might try using a bit of soap. thsi breaks the
surface tension.

I have a small sub (converted kilo 1/144), which
tend to jhang on to the surface with it's flat tower
top. I applied a bit of soap to this top, making
going down and up a bit smoother.

the soap does not appear to harm my humbrol paint
coating

but I suspect you also have some air trapped
somewhere.

[crazy ivan]

Dave,

Did you counter-sink the

Dave,

Did you counter-sink the holes from behind, or leave them at 1/8 all the way through? I enlarged those deck-edge holes from the rear, leaving only a very thin little bit at the original size. It made a big difference. The air just can't squeeze through a small hole in material as thick as that. I used a pin vise to hold my drill bit and did it by hand. A power tool would have made the larger bit grab the plastic and blast all the way through.



I also have some 1/2 inch holes under the conning tower.

[mike dory]

Daveee - Find some hatchs

Daveee - Find some hatchs (like the stern torpedoe loading hatch) that you can leave open slightly to allow the air to escape. Make sure you have an opening in the top of conning tower. The ideal area to locate this opening is at the highest point on your deck, just before it meets the hull casing in the stern of the boat. The real boats had much the same problem look at the photo's, There are a great number of holes just above the rudder to let the trapped air out. Best Wishes on your project
Mike Dory

[daveee]

Thanks Everyone.
When I get these

Thanks Everyone.
When I get these mods done I will post the results.

I got frustrated with the WTC layout and am re-doing it again! This time I am intigrating the servos into the nose cap assembly to make it easier to re and re.

I'm never happy.
Dave