Kilo Prototyping

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  • Rogue Sub
    Junior Member
    • Jul 2006
    • 1724

    #1

    Kilo Prototyping

    Of all the boats I have had the boat I miss the most is my Dumas Akula.

    Why that boat?

    Simple..dependability up until the point of hull degradation. Mine ran for a little over 4 year before I could no longer modify it and the glues holding it together no longer held. It is always nice to have one boat you can call upon for service that will never fail. So why was that boat so successful in my opinion.

    Simplicity pure simplicity.

    No ballast tank linkage to tinker with and adjust. No leaky vent valves. No depleting gas weight to compensate for. No bags to fiddle with.

    2 servos, motor, esc, and receiver..thats it! Not to mention she could turn in a small pool with no problems.

    Now that the Akula has been retired there has been an empty spot in my heart every time I go to our local meets at our friends pool. Solution! Make a dead simple kilo cylinder to get me back in the water. Lucky me I have a kilo hull sitting in the dust waiting for the last 2-3 yrs.. Almost like the real ones!

    As you may have guessed this wtc is a very simple one. Only a basic dynamic diving sub. Something that could get anyone in the water at a super cheap price. If others are interested I may make this limited production. if not..I still got my new toy!

    Here is what the prototype looks like. I have already found a few areas for improvement, but there is surprisingly lots of room in this boat with no ballast system to mess with.

    So far I have set is at 2ft for over an hour with no leaks as well which is good considering the seals had to be made by hand



  • Rogue Sub
    Junior Member
    • Jul 2006
    • 1724

    #2
    Re: Kilo Prototyping

    I did some more work on the WTC and started a second prototype using a different servo configuration. On the second one I am going to use a fwd servo and aft servo only with no control of the stern planes. I found when driving my dumas boat that it was actually easier to drive with the bow planes only and I never had to touch the stern planes.

    Anyway I got the control rods all made up and a simple shaft support made and strapped the wtc in the boat. I was surprised to find how much weight I needed to add over my previous kilo build. I do not believe I will need to add any foam to this model which is just great. Honestly that is the way it should be for a dynamic boat anyway. Just another reason why these are so much simpler and easier to run.






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    • Rogue Sub
      Junior Member
      • Jul 2006
      • 1724

      #3
      Re: Kilo Prototyping

      Here are a few shots of what I have going for the top attachment. The back is held in place by a 1/16' rod glued in place. The front is held in place by a large square magnet i got out of a greeting card. There will be a small metal plate on the bottom hull for that to snap to. The sail had been attached permanently using plasti weld. The nose cut was very easy using a razor saw and following one of the hull lines already on the sub. The top was attached using plasti weld as well.

      The weight has all been added as well. Seems all that is left is to throw it in the water.






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      • Rogue Sub
        Junior Member
        • Jul 2006
        • 1724

        #4
        Re: Kilo Prototyping

        Did some testing today in the pool. Need to work on some rf interference I am getting and it should be good to go. I am also going to add the bow planes with a slight down angle on them to assist in diving. I also replaced the rubber bands with a velcro strap which is much easier to use then hooks.


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