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[unbuiltnautilus]

I have been restoring a submarine for a customer, its name escapes me but they were all the rage in the early eighties, before the Deep Dive 6 came along. It belonged to a member of Portsmouth and District Model Power Boat Club back when model boat mags were all black and white. a nicely built bit of kit, it still needed the kort nozzle re-attaching, with solder and without melting the hull ,
new RC equipment fitted, away from any water ingress ,
new soft seal, less than 3/8" thick! ,
ballasting, painting and shoving in the bath for waterproofing tests ,
leaks fixing ,
new antenna fitted, for salt water operation  ,
wing nuts all lined up

[unbuiltnautilus]

And here it is inside my latest project, just for scale you know...more of this later...

[unbuiltnautilus]

So, to the lake...Canoe Lake in Southsea, home of much weed, litter and giant plastic swans, not all at the same time. Its early for weed!
The lake has been crystal clear for the best part of eighteen months, while I have not had a sub, right up to Saturday evening. Sunday evening, back to soup!
Still, one pump of air from a bicycle pump for good measure, in the water, push her under and make sure she comes back up..all is well and off we go.

[unbuiltnautilus]

Its a dynamic diver, with a geared Graupner 400 motor, turning a 35mm 2 blade prop. Running 7.2v via an Mtronics speed control. As launched, LH stick up down is hydroplane, RH stick up down throttle, and RH stick left right for rudder. This proved a pain to run, so it has been converted to a more traditional LH Throttle, with everything else on the RH stick. Should be a bit easier to operate.

[unbuiltnautilus]

Its been a while since I had a sub on open water (1990 Deep dive 6, 1988 Shark..), and I was just a bit out of practice. Cavitating the prop as the model dived, loosing power and popping back to the surface.
I soon got the model to behave by reducing throttle once the model starts to dive, levelling off the planes to take her down at an angle, then bringing the model back to a level 'bubble', at a reduced throttle. Great fun, silly grin, need more subs!
Interesting ickle wake behind the periscope, with the subs bigger wake behind the model..ducks not impressed.
Interesting project, must get on with my subs, for me

[unbuiltnautilus]

Didn't leak either

[Rottweiler]

Ah but will it fire torpedoes Alan? Lol
Mick F

[U-33]

History lesson:


Originally designed by ex AMS member Bob Read of Farnham, way back...it featured in the old RCM&E magazine. The article was entitled Dive Dive Dive!


Moulded by Sarik Vacform in Bristol and marketed as a plan/hull set by MyHobbyStore as 'Submersible Hull HULBM1426', now sadly no longer available. Nicknamed by ex AMS Chairman Nigel Edmonds as the ''Jelly Bean''...


I have one in my cupboard which I'll finish one of these days.

[U-33]

Oh, and nice work Alan...lovely little boats. Remember mine at Plumpton.....chasing your Orca about?   

[Jack D]

It looks really good for a nice, simple sub. If it wasn't for a customer I'd almost suggest making a launch tractor to push it from the landing craft!

I take it the bike pump is to make positive pressure in the hull to check for leaks via bubbles?

[Subculture]

Good stuff.

Small boats are more fun to sail than the big stuff. You could try an ounce or two more lead to trim it down a bit. That will get the prop lower in the water and reduce the risk of prop ventilation when the boat rotates to dive.
 

[U-33]

Water level should be JUST  below the conning tower/sail/lump...call it what you will.

[TheLongBuild]

Looks very similar to this one.
 
 

[U-33]

They all look basically similar...Colin Gross's Deep Quest was totally scratch built purely for a show at Berrylands, way way back. Bob Read's was a vac formed mould from a plug built by Bob, whereas Colin's was a fibreglass job, and far more technical in it's layout.


Slough Models also made a few fibreglass ones similar to Colin's, there are one or two of those still about...Andy (Subculture) has one.


I have the copies of the build articles and the plans to Bob's boat, and also the build article for Colin's.

[unbuiltnautilus]

I think Jelly Bean is a far better name than Submersible Hull blah blah!
No torpedoes, funnily enough, considering my penchant for blowing stuff up, I have never considered torpedoes..not on a sub anyway. Probably due to the size of our local lake and the issues with recovering spent rounds.
All I remember of Plumpton is a big shiny silver jet about 6' long flying straight through a tree and out the other side..and a certain S Class Sub and its badge encrusted operator of course!
I think the extra ballast is a good idea, however I chickened out for the first run. I may leave further ballasting to the end user, as it is all part and parcel of submarines, so I shall pass on the suggestions about water lines, extra ballast etc, to him.