Crazy Ivan’s RC Gato Conversion

[mit]

Excellent work George.

I am starting

Excellent work George.

I am starting mine now, and I love the way you approached many issues.

Rick - lighten up man. This is not the static column. Its the RC Column

Just build it and sink it !

[ricknelson]

Well, in that case I

Well, in that case I guess just a piece of 2 1/2" PVC w/end caps will do then.

[shoaling hal]

Tell em, Rick !!!

Hal

Tell em, Rick !!!

Hal

[ricknelson]

BTW MIT, this is "The

BTW MIT, this is "The Fleetboat Dock" discussion group. You must be a little lost. My understanding is that this discussion group does NOT differentiate regarding implementation. Also, it just so happens that my post was an attempt to assist an RCer with a problem. It's not just for esthetics or accuracy that the access arches should be opened up on Revell's Gato. They are suppose to be open to assist the water flood/drain problem inherent in Gatos.

". . . Sink it" is not that easy with a model or a real one. In using Revell's 1/72 Gato a RCer will have to be careful about venting issues. The teak deck alone is not 27% open like a full size Gato. Even with all the limber holes open (of which there are not many) air is trapped under the superstructure unless one makes modifications. As is said, "The devil is in the details". Things are the way they are on the real ones for a reason. Maintaining authenticity in a RC model may help.

Go over to the RC Modeler discussion group and complain there, if you must.

[JWLaRue]

....as far as I'm concerned,

....as far as I'm concerned, this forum is for discussion of any and all aspects of fleetboats. R/C-specific discussions may be better held on the R/C forum, but we're not going to be real sticklers over that.

The idea is to enjoy!

-Jeff

[crazy ivan]

Since I started this thread

Since I started this thread as the R/C conversion of a static fleetboat kit, to paraphrase Ned Land, "I guess that makes it a little bit of both." So I welcome any and all comments. Just wish I knew about those doors a little sooner! I don't seem to have too much of a problem with trapped air with my current venting scheme though. What I do see, as someone noted in another thread, is that a lot of surface tension likes to take hold of all that flat deck when static diving. With a little forward way on, that problem seems to go away.

[mit]

BTW MIT, this is "The

[quote]BTW MIT, this is "The Fleetboat Dock" discussion group. You must be a little lost. My understanding is that this discussion group does NOT differentiate regarding implementation. Also, it just so happens that my post was an attempt to assist an RCer with a problem. It's not just for esthetics or accuracy that the access arches should be opened up on Revell's Gato. They are suppose to be open to assist the water flood/drain problem inherent in Gatos.
quote]

Lighten up noobie. (Joined 2006 and being a smart a$$ !)

Don't make me get Dave Merriman on you !!
He has a thing for you scale freaks !


All in jest Rick, so smile and dont get so stiff in the future. This is all in good jest !


George,

I have a question for you. Do you have better details of your preassure chamber ? I have not started my kit but its ready to go, and I would like to duplicate your work.

Did you make any drawings of it ?

Thanks

Nick

[ricknelson]

Just a point of clarification

Just a point of clarification MIT. The "Join Date" is when someone registers on the forum, not when they joined the SubCommittee. I've been a member of the SubCommittee since 2003, about the same time you joined. I love your threats. When I was on the boats guys like you and Dave wouldn't last a week. We had a good 70 days to play with the likes of you. Who died and left you moderator. Talk about being uptight, you think just because you RC a miniature you rule. This is suppose to be a free and open discussion group, why don't you honor that. Look in the mirror and you'll see the smart a$$

Now remember before you reply, "This is all in good jest" HA! HA!

[mit]

Thank you for those interetsting

Thank you for those interetsting points Mr. Nelson.

Back to topic if we could please since this is George's thread.

====================

George

Question still stands redading the preasure vessele.

Any dimensions would be appreciated.

I was thinking of maybe using something else than cooper, but then the question of the weight contribution of cooper came to mind.

Any thoughts on that ?

[crazy ivan]

MIT,

The size and shape

MIT,

The size and shape of the pressure tank was dictated by the space that was available forward of the WTC, and that was driven by my stubborn insistance of utilizing an existing WTC that I share with my other boats. I must caution that you may not want to duplicate my efforts to date too closely, as this continues to be a work in progress. Having played with the trim all winter at the Y pool, there are some changes coming. The tank is one of them.

With that caveat, I'll be happy to give you the particulars. I only made a rough sketch to work from, but it starts out as a 3 in. OD cylinder for 1.875 in. It then tapers down to 2 in. OD over a length of 5 in. Tacked on to that is a cylinder of 1.75 in. OD by 1.25 in. long. That takes it right up to the bowplanes pivot shaft. This was all to maximize the volume, and it comes to just over 40 cu.in.

Not wanting to fall behind the two Dave's in getting the boat operational, I used what material I could get my hands on at the time, and that was 1/16 wall copper pipe. It proved quite difficult to braze with my small portable torch. It is quite heavy and, like you, I thought that would be a plus to offset the buoyancy. The problem is that the center of gravity is too high, and this contributes to a lot of instability when surfaced. Better to use a light material and put some lead down in the keel area.

Another problem is the 3 inch diameter, which is also the size of my existing WTC. This puts a good half inch of both of them above the surfaced waterline. That amounts to well over 10 cu.in. that has to be added to the bladder size. There just isn't enough space between the WTC and the hull to accomodate it.

So I will rework my WTC whenever I can get the time to get back on the project. I will reduce it to 2.5 inches for most of its length. The tank size as well. This will keep it all below the waterline and reduce the amount the amount of variable ballast required, while at the same time allowing more room for the bladder and maybe some static trim foam as required for stability.

Also, the smaller WTC can be located more forward, and I am considering putting the tank aft of it this time. It would then be a simple cylinder, maybe of aluminum, or at least a very light gauge metal. I hope to get the variable ballast down to under 30 cu.in. I'll probably be chopping away some more of the hull underneath the deck as others have done too.

[crazy ivan]

Just to tie things together,

Just to tie things together, a bit of my treatment to improve bow plane performance can be found in this thread:

http://s181686668.onlinehome.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php5?p=36907&highlight=#36907

[reckless]

heh.. on the scale likeness

heh.. on the scale likeness side.. the 1/144 trump gato doesn't have the doors... I looked around throught he trees and instructions when I put my Con Tower together thinking I was missing parts and then it clued in


for the function side.. I love reading the build threads .. it may not be the current process I am going through .. but it's definately great to see all the different little things people do to make things work..

thanks guys! hopefully I'll have my 'lil brother' gato in the water in a month or so!

[tmsmalley]

Dang it. I know there

Dang it. I know there was a schematic diagram of the RCABS-R system somewhere, but I can't find the darned thing. Can anyone point me towards it?

I am going to try a 4" custom version of it for that 1/48 Gato hull that has been languishing in my garage for too many years.

Tim

[crazy ivan]

This one, Tim?

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/Crazylvan/Fig2ReverseRCABS.jpg

Its from my

This one, Tim?



Its from my article in SCR Issue 69.

[tmsmalley]

Perfect! Thanks Geo.
T

Perfect! Thanks Geo.
T