Friday, May 17, 2024

Bishop Hobbies

Scale Model Builder

Archive for the ‘Model Videos’ Category

Building the Revell/Germany Type VIIC as R/C

Posted by Paul On May - 18 - 2009

dsc01059

 

Building an R/C Submarine

-or-

How to Litter Your Local Lake Bottom

This article chronicles my almost two year sojourn in seeking to have my very own radio control submarine. This has been a great learning experience and also a trip into the land of insanity. But that’s what a hobby is all about right? In the spring of 2004 I got tired to the usual “building the plastic model thing” and was looking for a challenge. I found that challenge when looking over the SubCommittee website. Here the adage “be careful what you wish for” comes to mind. I speak of course tongue in cheek – actually a more experienced person would have avoided almost all of the pitfalls I encountered – ok – they would have avoided all of them. It was a wonderful learning experience for me – what else am I gona say.

My project started with the Revell/Germany 1/72 scale kit of the Type VIIC German U-Boat of World War II fame. It is a very nice kit and lends itself to radio control. I had looked at larger scale submarine kits – some get 6 feet long or more. The thought of lifting something like that out of a pool or lake made me remember my back surgery in 2001. A 33 inch 1/72 scale seemed more friendly – to my wallet and my back. If I would have waited I would have converted the Revell-Germany 1/72 Gato model as that’s I have always identified with growing up and watching stuff like Victory at Sea.

The key ingredients in a radio control submarine lie in the water tight compartment (WTC). I had come across Dave Welch’s website: https://www.frontiernet.net/~bwelch which seemed to fill the bill for me. He offers what he calls an “experimenter’s kit” to r/c this sub. Let me just say that nothing was more appropriately named (for me anyway) – experimenters kit indeed! This kit contains three lexan tubes with resin end caps and o-rings to seal the end caps. He also includes a CD full of pictures and a description of how to put things together plus a list of vendors for the different bits and pieces such as servos, batteries, electrical switches, pumps, etc. – all very well done and I can really recommend his system to those interested in r/c submarines. Dave is a wonderful guy and has very nicely answered my many e-mails and provided valuable advice.

The whole system works on what is called RCABS which means Recirculating Compressed Air Ballast System. Basically this means that the sub is able to conduct static (no forward motion) submergence and surfacing by the use of a blood pressure pump located inside the WTC. The pump forces air from inside the WTC into a blood pressure bladder located outside the WTC thus displacing the water inside the sub and providing enough buoyancy to bring it to the surface. For submerging – an electronic switch activates a valve which releases the air from the bladder back inside the WTC – this provides negative buoyancy and allows the sub to submerge – and it can go right to the bottom. Interior servos link to the stern dive planes, rudders, and bow dive planes. Ultra light electric motors through a gearing system run the two counter rotating brass props. Power is provided via two cell phone lithium-ion batteries sealed in a yellow balloon in the bow. This is a really well thought out system.

All of this is very well and good. In the real world of r/c submarines I discovered that it is not “if” you loose your sub on the bottom – but “when”. Fortunately for me that “when” hasn’t happened yet. These things dive (sink) really well and this particular model has to have everything working properly to STAY on the surface. I must say however – that the RCABS system has worked very well. The system does have a fail-safe feature – if the sub looses the signal from the transmitter it will automatically surface – now that’s cool.

Well none of this deterred me and (fool that I am) I plunged in.

I was able to build the WTC with all of its ingredients and wire all of it up. I only burned out the speed control twice, stripped the gears on two servos, and ruined one pump in the process. As I said this was a learning process and these are things that I would easily avoid now. It has been a real process of learn-as-you-go. Everywhere the WTC could leak – it did at one time or another. The design is very good – I just needed to learn – and I have. Once I got everything in the WTC to work properly I had to balance the sub in water. This balancing act must take into account not just the weight distribution of the sub – but also the center of buoyancy. I had to add quite a bit of foam to displace water in the bow and stern as well as weights in the keel.

Here is a diagram for the control setup on my Tracker III transmitter. You can get Tracker R/C equipment at Polk’s Hobbies

tracker-iii-sub-setup

After successful tryouts in the bath tub it was on to the neighbor’s pool for the real thing. He hasn’t had his pool cleaned for several months now (electrical problems) and the deep end has only about a 4 foot visibility before everything turns dark. I found I hadn’t sufficiently mastered the control of the transmitter – before I knew it the sub had slipped into the deep dark unknown of the deep end. Neither I nor my neighbor could see the darn thing. Just blackness. My neighbor postulated that the sub had got stuck in the gunk on the bottom “What gunk?” I asked. I hadn’t even thought of that. I gave the sub full reverse on the props and a command to surface and nothing happened. I wasn’t looking forward to jumping into water this cold – this was on the 8th of January of 2007 and I was just getting better after a cold. After about 3 minutes the sub finally popped to the surface – well I considered this first test a success and promptly pulled it out of the water. When I got home I discovered the WTC was half filled with water.

I have since made several successful runs in the pool – each one is better as I improve the trim and balance. I did loose one prop in the deep end and a replacement is on order. I gotta say this thing is really cool!!

Wanna see more pictures? Go here.

Building the Trumpeter 1/16 T-34/85 Russian tank

Posted by Paul On May - 18 - 2009

dsc03186

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

I got this model as a birthday gift from my dear wife in 2007 – I know I’m a lucky guy – my wife encourages me in my hobby. She is the love of my life!!

This thing is huge and will take quite a while to finish. I have been compiling a lot of reference photos from sources on the web. I have added some wiring in the drivers area – the full interior will not be too visible – so I will try and open up as many of the hatches as I can. Here are two pics of the progress thus far (no weathering yet):

dsc02824

dsc02825

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-23-08

I have finished the engine and aft bulkheads and installed them. The transmission is almost finished. I have added some weathering to the interior as well as the engine and transmission. Weathering was done with paint and oil washes as well as the Tamiya weathering sets and chalk sticks that I shaved to produce powder. I will add some pics soon.

dsc02839

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-25-08

The transmission is finished and installed along with the brake drums and exhaust pipes. I had to modify the brake drums to get them to fit because I glued them together wrong – hazards of late night plastic assembly! All is well now though. I plan on modifying the back armor plate to show it open so the transmission and brake assembly can be seen. The Tamiya weathering sets are very cool and help a lot in adding that worn look. I painted the transmission case with Modelmasters aluminum enamel and then gave it a really thin wash with Tamiya flat white. That gave it a nice worn look. And – here are the pics – if you want bigger – just click:

dsc02838

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3-31-08

I finished detailing the top and the underside of the tank body. I filled in all of the sinkholes in the tank body as well as the turret. I added some support structure around the transmission and modified the back plate of the tank so it can be shown in the unbolted down position for transmission maintenance. This will allow the transmission and brake area to be visible. The drivers hatch has also been finished and detailed.

5-6-08

This model build has slowed down a lot this past month. My son graduated from college and he and his wife have moved in with us to look for jobs and while she goes to graduate school. – so that took a few weeks. I have since painted the tank hull and running gear Tamiya German Grey then a top coat of Model Master dark green – which is close to the Russian green. I have yet to finish the detail painting of the inside the the top part of the tank hull. I will post pics soon tho – there isn’t much new to see as the dark green is – well it’s dark.

5-8-08

OK – here a some pics, notice that the road wheels have been added. The back plate isn’t finished, I just stuck it on for the photo….

dsc02919

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5-15-08

Here are some pics from the 2008 SVSM Kickoff Classic at the Santa Clara Convention Center. It was on display as an unfinished model and wasn’t entered into the contest.

t34

t34-2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been working on the cannon barrel. It’s a two piece plastic part – could have used a turned aluminum barrel here . I found one online at JadarHobby Shop in Poland for $33.00 – a little too steep for me. So I will make do. After gluing the barrel together I stuck a brass tube in it with some blue tack stuff on the end to hold it. Then I chucked the other end in my trusty Craftsman cordless drill. Now I was able to sand the barrel smooth with the dill spinning it at a nice clip. After shooting it with a coat of primer I noticed some seam lines still visible. I applied some Tamiya primer paste to the areas and when that was dry sanded it down again. I repeated this process till I was satisfied with the results. Not aluminum but not expensive either.

dsc02924

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5-21-08

I have finished a lot in the turret. I filled the casting marks on the inside with Tamiya primer using a toothpick – that worked well. The interior was painted with Tamiya flat white and weathered using my 3 Tamiya weathering kits. Sounds like I’m an advertising agent for Tamiya – well I’m not. The ammo storage assembly went together well and looks nice in the lower turret half. I finished the canon assembly with Model Master dark green and sprayed it with Model Master semi gloss from a rattle can to simulate an oily finish. That was detailed with silver, gun metal and flat black (Tamiya again). When I get the upper and lower halves completely finished, detailed and weathered I’ll take some photographs and upload them. This model is turning out very nice so far. I also finished assembling the tracks which were literally a snap. This thing is really starting to look like a tank!

5-26-08

Here are some pictures I took today. First up is the interior details of the turret after a little weathering.

Here are some pictures of the tank with the turret assembled but not glued together.

And finally pictures of the underside of the turret looking inside.

5-30-08

I’ve started weathering the tracks. The paint application by airbrush was in the following order:

  1. Model Master Steel Non Buffing
  2. Sealer for Metalizer
  3. Tamiya Gun Metal X-10
  4. Random misting coat of Tamiya Flat Earth XF-52
  5. Random misting coat of Tamiya Red Brown XF-64
  6. Random misting coat of Tamiya Flat Black XF-1
  7. Random misting coat of Tamiya Orange X-6
  8. Random misting coat of Tamiya Flat White XF-2

I must say that I’m completely satisfied with the appearance yet. More to be done on the tracks – perhaps they will look better when I weather the road wheel areas and add some dust etc.

I also glued the turret halves together and used Tamiya putty over the seam area and Tamiya liquid surface primer on the seams by the gun mantle.

dsc02935

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5-31-08

I painted the tank the proper color of Russian green using Model Master enamel. I made the same mistake I’ve made in the past. I started painting with the assumption that the paint was acrylic. It doesn’t work too well to thin oil base paint with water! When I thinned with paint thinner the results were much better. I finished painting and detailing the drivers hatch and the interior of the tank. I’m now ready to glue the tank body together. I’ve also finished gluing the final bits to the tank so I can give it a final spray with Russian green. I still need to add some extra bits such as the spare tracks, large saw and the tow cables. The spare tracks still need to be painted allso. This model is going to look really impressive when it’s finished. There is still a whole lot ‘o weathering that needs to be done however.

6-3-08

A final coat of Russian green was applied to finish off the just attached bits. For some reason this paint smells oily for about 2 days – I guess that’s oil based paint for ya. When that was dry I shot the whole tank with Tamiya clear flat – now that gave it a nicer more realistic look. The rubber road wheel covers lost their shine. I then shot the exhaust area and road wheel area as well as the tracks with Tamiya smoke. I also painted the tow cables with Tamiya gun metal and glued the tackle ends on. I still haven’t glued the hull together. Maybe I can keep it separate so that the interior can be viewed on occasion. More to come so stay tuned.

6-4-08

Ok – so here are a few pics…

6-11-08

I have now finished and added the spare tracks on the right side and the saw on the left side – then I gave the whole model a coat of Tamiya clear flat from their rattle can. I used the Tamiya weathering set to give the raised portion of the tracks a steel appearance like they had been scarped clean on street surfaces – I followed this with a coat of Tamiya clear flat to protect the effect. Then came an oil pin wash (actually a dot wash in this scale) of white, black, dark brown and dark green. After waiting two days for this to dry I gave it another thin coat of clear flat to seal this then a soft spray of Tamiya desert yellow on the lower surfaces. The turret was then masked off and the white stripe was painted on. I made a mistake here and forgot to leave a gap on the side of the turret for the tank number – so I had this section of a white stripe that I needed to remove. I masked off the rest of the stripe (the good part) and using q-tips and Windex I carefully swabbed the offending area. That got most of it. I then used Tamiya paint thinner to get the rest. The weathered paint in this area looked different than the rest of the turret – so I repeated the oil pin wash there and it was all good. In the process I had knocked off several turret parts which I now replaced – all except for one large stowage bracket on the side of the turret. It was nowhere to be found – where do these pieces go anyway? I replaced this with a piece of bent brass wire. These weathering effects really make the tank look realistic! As soon as I get the decals on I’ll post pictures.

6-12-08

Ok – I’ve put on the decals. There weren’t many and all on the Turret. I first applied a coat of Future then put the decals in really warm water. After I got the decals positioned like I wanted them I used Microscale Set and Sol the get the to snuggle down. After they were dry I found I had some silvering problems in some areas. Repeated applications of Micro-sol didn’t help. The decals were snuggled down nicely – and there was still that persistent silvering in some areas. Ok – out came the Tamiya liquid thin cement. I dabbed it carefully on the offending areas and walla – no silvering. Of course the decals were really dissolved too – but not distorted. When they were dry I shot the turret with a coat of Master Modeler clear flat. I’ll try and get some pics up soon.

6-14-08

Ok – here are some pics – I still have to do some weathering on it but this is pretty close…..

6-17-08

Since this model is for the most part finished – I’m transferring it to the Review section. I still have yet to add some mud in the form of Squadron Green Putty and to depict diesel spills with Future. When I get those done I’ll add some more pictures here.

3-6-09

I’ve added a few pics to show the tarps I added to the back of the tank along with some misc. tools and bolts made up from scrap.  Ok – this pic I haven't found yet.

dsc_1167

dsc_1170

 

 

 

 

 

 

3/26/2013 I've added 20 more pictures of the finished tank. In looking over this article I realized that I hadn't taken too many when it was done – time to rectify that!

Here are some pics I found on the internet – sorry that I can't list the reference…

t34modengine-003

t34modengine-005

t34modengine-007

t34modengine-010

t34modengine-013

t34modengine-015

t34modengine-021

t34modengine-018

t34modengine-022

t34modengine-025

t34modengine-026

t34modengine-028

t34modengine-029

t34modengine-030

t34modenginepaint-007

t34modenginepaint-010

t34modtransmission-001

t34modtransmission-003

t34modlowerhull-001

t34modlowerhull-002

t34modlowerhull-003

t34modlowerhull-004

t34modlowerhull-008

t34modlowerhull-011

t34modenginehull-015

t34modlowerhull-012

t34modlowerhull2-005

t34modlowerhull2-006

t34modlowerhull2-007

t34modlowerhull3-008

 t34modlowerhull3-012

t34modlowerhull3-016

t34modlowerhull3-019

t34modlowerhull3-022

t34modlowerhull3-028

t34modlowerhull3-043

t34modlowerhull3-052

t34modlowerhull3-057

t34modfronthatch-002

t34modfronthatch-003

t34modfronthatch-004

t34modfronthatch-008

t34modfronthatch-010

t34modfirstpaint-001

t34modfirstpaint-005

t34modfirstpaint-007

t34modfirstpaint-011

t34modfirstpaint-017

t34modturret2-017

t34modturret2-018