VICTOR III - 1/96 - Scratchbuilt Continuation

[bwi]

I give up.......tried for 2 hours to post a text...typing and retyping it x times....it shows good in the preview but when published only the 4 first lines are shown and now inline pictures.

I think I found a workaround for now by pasting the text as pictures.

Could the powers that be please have a look into why I'm not able to make a decent post?

Here we go

[thor]

Absolutely beautiful! work, Bart!

[thor]

Bart,

When I viewed your post there were several photos attached. It looked great! Please try again?

[bwi]

Bart,

When I viewed your post there were several photos attached. It looked great! Please try again?

Still did not work, but for now I found a work around and edited the post. Its now how it should look only managed to do it by posting the text as pictures.
Can you shake the tree a little bit Thor to wake up the powers that be to have a look at the problem.

Thks & Grtz,
Bart

[sam reichart]

Fantastic looking model, Bart. Pretty cool alignment process too.

[bwi]

Absolutely beautiful! work, Bart!

Fantastic looking model, Bart. Pretty cool alignment process too.

Tank you appriciate it.

[bwi]

Made all the 4mm stainless steel (SS) tapered indexing pins and reinforced the hull with frames that also support the WTC. Very happy with the result—a tight fit between the upper and lower hull without any additional tweaking.









The different hull section seams were reinforced with fiberglass cloth and resin.





I used indexing pins for the stern appendages.







The stern has two oilite bushings, one inside and one outside, both with collars. The aft bushing fits into the provided recess.







WTC

For this sub, I decided to make a WTC myself. The ballast tank would be filled and emptied by a pump. After ordering a water pump, I discovered it was one-way and not reversible. I then opted to use two pumps and adjusted the design accordingly. The pumps would rest in cradles, with "sea" suction and overboard functions integrated into the intermediate cap, acting as the ballast tank bulkhead. Initially proud of the design, I soon realized the pumps were "open," allowing free water flow when not running, which was an embarrassing oversight.

I abandoned the two-pump idea and looked for a reversible gear pump. Previously, VDO brand windshield washer pumps, used in cars here, were gear pumps. Though gear pumps also backflow under pressure, I considered a loop above water surface level to mitigate this. However, finding a suitable mini gear pump was challenging, and VDO pumps were rare. Additionally, I wanted a brushless motor to drive the pump, so I decided to design one myself. Not sure how well it will work, but it was a fun challenge.

I'll use 4mm shafts, as I have a 3m stock and standard seals and bushings for them. For the seal between the cover and housing, I used an O-ring, which can fit in rectangular or non-circular grooves if the minimal bending radius is at least six times the O-ring's circumference. I calculated the required ID of the O-ring by converting the rectangle's circumference to a diameter. The inlet and outlet are part of the cover and will face the intermediate cap of the ballast tank, which I were redesigned several times.

First concept design of the WTC



Prototype of the pump saddle for the buy item pump.



The consept design of the gearpump





First working prototype of the pump



















The gearbox for the BL-motor







Grtz,
Bart

[Rick Teskey]

Wow cool build even the pump!