Blog

Stern Module assembly

This weekend I decided to do more work on the Gato Submarine. Now I am starting to realise how big this job to build the model is, let alone the WTC which I am thinking about and starting to plan in tandem. I have been working on the stern module today trying to get the rudder and aft planes in a working state. I have followed the video made by a kind soul on the internet which I am finding very helpful. To make them fit properly has resulted in a lot of filing and reshaping particularly on the rudder. All of the edges were interfering all over. After a considerable amount of adjusting, they now fit and work perfectly. A hole was carefully drilled right through the height of the rudder to allow for a shaft to be inserted for operation. Small holes were also drilled through some waste material to produce two running bearings for the rudder shaft. There has had to be a considerable amount of material removal inside the stern module halves to allow for the planes and rudder to work. This was done using a burr in the Dremel and files. Great care was taken not to remove too much and go right through the part. I am having a little problem with warpage of one of the stern halves. You can see the gap between the parts in one of the photographs. It might be that they will glue together without incident if I fix them well with bands during curing. Does anybody have a cunning plan to straighten this part before gluing? I have purchased the and tubes so further work on this module will continue when they arrive, probably towards the end of July. I have now purchased my chosen motors. They are MFA 360. I have also ordered the raw materials to make the motor mount and servo trays. I wonder if I have to put the usual three suppressors on the motors if running a 40Mhz transmitter. Next time I am going to work on the bow planes. I will have them working and retracting. I bought the gears for the retracting mechanism today but have found them to be too big on diameter to fit two side by side in the bow module. The gears are perfect in every other way so I think I will reduce them to quadrants which should fit nicely. More cad design work for me I think.

5 years ago by MouldBuilder