SeeHund Build

[mickm]

Hello all,
I am beginning a new build of the German, 2 man sub, SeeHund.
This will be a 3d printed hull. The files were purchased from Oti Garza and come at 1:17 scale. We upscaled them to 1:6 scale. This will make a "BIG" submarine.
I do not have a printer larger enough for these files at this large scale, so Steve Hodges was brought into the project to handle printing. He is printing everything in ABS plastic at 100 % infill.
I'll post pics as progress yields itself.

[sam reichart]

Hello all,
I am beginning a new build of the German, 2 man sub, SeeHund.
This will be a 3d printed hull. The files were purchased from Oti Garza and come at 1:17 scale. We upscaled them to 1:6 scale. This will make a "BIG" submarine.
I do not have a printer larger enough for these files at this large scale, so Steve Hodges was brought into the project to handle printing. He is printing everything in ABS plastic at 100 % infill.
I'll post pics as progress yields itself.

love that boat. I'll be watching that build progress!

[mickm]

Well, it has beea while but I am happy to report my Seehund print is completed! Steve Hodges did a fantastic job printing this boat. I can't thank him enough as I am all too aware of the wows encountered in a somewhat normal print. To print one at this scale would just magnify all those issues and restraints. To give you an idea of how much work and time was involved in printing, it took 18 spools of ABS filament and 1758 hours to print. That equates to 13 weeks and 5 days to complete!

First, let me say, "This is one "ENORMOUS" boat...lol"


Here is a pic of me and the boat all together minus the torpedo's. Who's bodies are made from 3" PVC pipe..... I am 6' tall so you get some idea of the girth of this baby! Oh, and dry it weights 28 lbs.

Bob Dimmick of OTW offers this boat in 1:9 scale. He spent a tremendous amount of time doing research for his kit so I thought it made sense to have him build me a WTC and 3 blade brass prop for my boat.
Unfortunately, Bob was involved in an accident this weekend and will need a hip replacement. So, while he is on the mend, I will use this time doing some senseless detail to the hull.


The files were built by Otto Gerza. His web site is www.RCsubs.cz
They were designed in 1:16 scale so Steve enlarged them to 1:6 scale.
A couple points of interest in respect to the file design. All pieces have allocation for bolting the entire boat together and places of alignment pins to hold pieces together while epoxy dries. This is a very nice feature. However, to save some weight, I will be cementing most of the boat together. I do plan to have 3 sections so transportation won't be a problem.
The fit and finish on this boat is awesome. This is mainly due to the excellent modeling. Tolerances are also very good.
Print serrations are very good due to the large scale.

One thing required but no in the files is a 2" clear acrylic observation bubbly. I am happy to report a short time researching the internet and one was found. It fit perfect!


This shows the aforementioned bubbly along with an interior hatch ring. I had to take a few liberties in the design of this as I have not been able to find any descent pics. If anyone has or know of any please speak up.
Also, I have a ample supply of 1:6 scale aluminum rivets left from my WWII RC Aircraft days. These appear to work well. So as there are not that many rivets found on this hull (unlike a Type VII)
I will be drilling and attaching each rivet by hand. Gluten for punishment I guess!!!


I get off on tangents alot these days. Maybe it just a part of getting old, who knows. Anyway, I decided to make the periscope shear from a telescoping tool magnet. You can see the clear bubble in position here also.


Here is a close-up of my rivet detail. I think the size look just right.....

That's it for now. Stay tuned......

[sam reichart]

fantastic start! just curious, as I have no real in depth knowledge of 3D printing...what does something as big as this Seehund cost to print?

[subicman]

Sam,

So without knowing what brand filmament, the size of the rolls, what machine and where Steve is operating, this is an rough estimate.

The average 1kg roll of abs is about 21.00 a roll. Every Machine uses a different amount of energy between 50 to 125 watts an hour, and energy costs per kWh is between 10 cents and 23 cents depending on state. Let's split the difference here. 85 watts/hr and 16 cent a kWh.

21 x 18 rolls = 378.00
1758 x 85 x .16/1000 = 23.91

Steve's pay? That's between him and Mick, but
I would probably charge 2/hr for printing and 30/hr for 3d design work. Guesstimate 10 hours design work.
1758 x 2 = 3516.00
10 x 30 = 300

Total = 4218.00 plus s&h

[sam reichart]

Sam,

So without knowing what brand filmament, the size of the rolls, what machine and where Steve is operating, this is an rough estimate.

The average 1kg roll of abs is about 21.00 a roll. Every Machine uses a different amount of energy between 50 to 125 watts an hour, and energy costs per kWh is between 10 cents and 23 cents depending on state. Let's split the difference here. 85 watts/hr and 16 cent a kWh.

21 x 18 rolls = 378.00
1758 x 85 x .16/1000 = 23.91
Steve's pay?

I would probably charge 2/hr for printing and 30/hr for 3d design work. Guesstimate 10 hours design work.
1758 x 2 = 3516.00
10 x 30 = 300

Total = 4218.00 plus s&h

so, if you had your own printer, this would have been about $400 in materials, then. thanks for the explanation!

[subicman]

Sam,

Yeah, about that cost is right.

No problem, having several printers myself, I know the rough cost of materials and how intensive the prep work/baby sitting typically has to be to get a good print.

if anything goes wrong and you don't catch it right away, you just chunked good material and depending on where it screwed up, possibly a lot of print time.

I much prefer my resin printers over my filament printer tho, they are less needy for oversight, and fairly faster, but they also have limitations and still need a little oversight.

Tim

[mickm]

Sam, I sent you a PM.

[mickm]

Tim, I cannot share the price here Steve charged me to do this.
But, I have both filament and resin printers, although too small for this boats footprint at 1:6 scale. I have personally experienced the baby sitting wows you mention
and as a retired 3d engineer understand your thoughts towards the additional 3d modeling time required.
I guess what I am trying to validate is your time/expense calculations. I think your bid is on point for a boat print of this size and caliber.
Thanks for chiming in.
Mick

[subicman]

Mick,

I understand totally, and I wouldn't expect you to share. I am an electrical engineer and electronics technician by trade, but have professional certs in 3d modeling (although mesh manipulation still kicks my butt). The estimate was based on my knowledge of the materials and my experience and what i would find as fair. There are the other material costs I didn't mention, like capton tape or the cleaning materials, I just wrapped that into the per hour print estimate.

I have a fdm printer that could possibly handle that, but the woes may just make it a non starter. Anyway around, your boat looks like it will be fun to finish out and will be impressive at the lake.

Tim

[mickm]

My friend Bob Dimmick of OTW is custom building me a WTC and one-off brass prop for this build. Unfortunately, Bob was involved in an accident that has set him back in getting this to me. No problem on my end, just hope he gets better. In the meantime, I have been coming up with some 3d printed collars that mounts tge front and back caps on the torpedos.
the white section is 3" X 24" PVC pipe. I hope eventually to have these being able to launch and be controlled by their own radio system. But time will tell.
in the meantime, heres a shot of them in position.
I am about to get back to designing the rear appendage positioning and control set-up.
Cheers
mick