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  • USS Skipjack

    I finally started work on my next model, this will be my second submarine. The first one was the USS Marlin. The SJ is a 42 inch LOA by 5.5 inch beam styrene kit by Moebius. This will be a full working model like the Marlin. The sub-driver was provided by David Merriman and most of the specialty electronics were purchased from Nautilus Drydocks. The sub-driver is also available from Nautilus Drydocks. The sub-driver is an internal acrylic tube which houses batteries in the forward section, ballast tank in the middle section and an electronics compartment in the aft section. I'll be adding a few 'working' items to the model, namely navigation lights, and in place of scale torpedoes, the torpedo doors will open and very bright LED's will give me a set of essentially headlights. If you want to see info about the Marlin, just mention something.

    https://www.rc-submarine.com/

    Upon opening the box I found one section to have a longitudinal warp. I'll show you in the next post how I eliminated the warp. I opened up flood holes on the 2 hull section bottoms in order let water enter the model, last three pictures.

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    Why this picture is so large on a computer screen I have no idea, ok on iPad. Uggg!
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    Last edited by Ken_NJ; 25 Apr 18,, 01:20.

  • #2
    To remove the warp. I clamped the hull section to the workbench like so. Occasionally I heated the hull with a heat gun and increased the pressure from the clamp. I did this over time and the warp is now gone.

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    • #3
      For the port and starboard lights I cut out the opening. I'll be using 1.8mm LED's with the proper resistor. The intention is that the lights will be retractable into the sail. I started on the light fixture in the second picture. Not easy working with tiny styrene parts.

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      • #4
        I'll be using the same 75Mhz 6 channel radio I'm using with the Marlin. I have a spare second receiver which will be used in the Skipjack. 75Mhz has no problem penetrating fresh water.

        Each channel will works as follows...
        Right stick fore and aft: forward dive planes up and down
        Right stick left and right: rudder
        Left stick fore and aft: forward and reverse throttle
        Left stick right: blow water from the ballast tank
        Left stick left: open vent to fill ballast tank
        5th channel: Open torpedo doors and turn on all lights
        6th channel: Fine tune adjustment on aft dive planes

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        • #5
          Here you can see the sub-drivers for the Marlin and Skipjack with the Marlin model in the background. The Marlin is 33 inches long. The smaller diameter sub-driver is for the Marlin. You can see it is packed with servos and electronics. Pushrods exit the aft end and attach to the rudder and dive planes with magnetic quick-links. These exit the aft bulkhead through seals. The center sections are the ballast tanks. When properly trimmed with lead and closed cell foam with the ballast tank full about 1 inch of the sail should be above water. Forward throttle with dive planes would make the model submerge. Stopping forward movement, the model should slowly surface with the sail slightly out of the water.

          In order to fully surface, the Marlin has to have the top of the sail out of water. There is a tube at the top which draws in air to a pump which forces the water out of the ballast tank.

          On the Skipjack, air within the sub-driver will be used to blow the ballast tank. Once surfaced, air is replenished within the sub-driver thru a valve.

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          Last edited by Ken_NJ; 25 Apr 18,, 17:52.

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