Reverse engineering a Trumpter Seawolf  
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Reverse engineering a Trumpter Seawolf - 10/23/2007 2:41:54 AM   
Nuke Mechanic


 

Posts: 93
Joined: 7/13/2006
From: portsmouth, VA, USA
Status: offline 		Well first I Ripped my completed Seawolf off the wall. I then razor sawed it in half and snapped off all the apendages. Then I started test fitting a 3" lexan tube I had lying around to make my WTC.


A fleet of Seawolfs



Original Sub




Now



A quick shot of the mock up im doing for inside the WTC. Not sure if i want to build a seperate WTC for just the motor to save room in the main comp, considering my parts arent all super miro.



----------------------------------------------------------

All Stop...

I contacted David Meriman III instead. I now have enroute one Meriman Trumpter seawolf resin cast upgrade kit and WTC to match it. I will be removing all the controll surfaces and yoke arms i have previously constructed and will be replacing them with the new one. This new "SUb Driver" Kit is going to be awsome. All of it can be ordered through www.caswellplating.com

Ripped out all of the work I have done with this model today. I also drilled out all of the MBT vents in the upper hull and began filing out the vents on the bottom. What a living hell. I forgot how crappy it was to do this stuff. It was alot easier with my 1/96 scale boat casue they were so much bigger but, this little thing is gonna make me shoot someone. Look how far i got in 40min. I also plan on drilling out the diesel generator exhaust vents to allow air to escape the sail whil diving. Im told i dont have the patients for this stuff. Lucky for me i like to prove people wrong.


My old set up. It worked but, not that great


Drill first


file later (this is 40 min of work)


The hole i cut in the hull to help air escape in the sail. You can also see wires for the running lights

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Todays Update

Well today i tried to file out the holes for the Diesel exhaust. What an abysmal failure that was. I ended up refilling the holes.
Also today I removed the bump on the sail that doesnt belong and i cut out the bridge and look out to allow water to escape the sail.
I also finished all those silly little vent voles on the bottom and ripped off the substandard cleats in preparation for the new proper scale ones.


All done filing those silly things



a view of how i vented out the bridge. Originally i had it filled in fith squadron putty to make it look shut up. Removing that was a pain in the butt. After it was all cleared out though I drilled out the fwd and aft walls with a 1/16" bit and then filled it clean . I also drilled and filed out the look out's hole just aft of the bridge.

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Mail Call!

A package from D&E Good arrived today with a bunch of toys.
This is beyond any quality that I could produce at this time (you just wait david).
This kit comes with a tested ballast system and all the seals you would need. It even has a seal for a rod to actuate the on/off. Not to mention it has a really nice single servo actuating vent and gas system. More to come when I clean it all up.

Packaging was top notch and filled with enough styrofoam popcorn to choke a horse.


A shot of the aft end of the Sub Driver. It has 4 pushrod seals. 3 for the controll surfaces and one for ECS on and of switch operation. The red wire is for the RX. You attatch the existing Rx wire to this one through a screw connection on the inside. The two screw connections on the back are for an extrernal battery connection or you could even use them for an external charging connection. The shrader valve is to equalize pressure after installing the end cap.


A shot of the ballast tank for this model. It looks small but it doea have a little extra bouyancy in it. The whole system is operated off a single servo arm w/ an included servo. This is awsome because there is no need to buy an extra pump for rcabs or a switch for solenoid operated systems. Its just a cost effective balllast system period.


A shot of the service tray. You may notice that you cant see the servos or motor. That is because they are all (some how) stuffed inside the aft end cap. Thats right 3 servos and a motot in about a 2.5in long space. You can also see some of the parts for the upgrade in the back ground.

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Got back to work on the SEAWOLF today and made good progress.
Today I sanded, cleaned and attatched the towed array pods and part of the propulsor. The side arrays were sanded and smothed. I also cut the hull for the bow planes and installed them.


To smooth out the side arrays I used some amery cloth and went at it by hand. Once again some that are more skilled then me use a dremel to do this but im not that carefull. It was an easy enough task to do with sand paper just timely. As for the the aft array deployment pods. I washed and sanded them down to get rid of the film thats on them from casting. I then sanded the bottom of them to ensure a clean flush fit against the hull. Next i marked a line on the hull to line them up at a proper angle using the hole that the kit proded for the original one. Last was a simple task of super gluing them on.


First I used a machinest scale and drew a line .5" from the midline using the hole provided by the kit as a guide. Then I spot super glued the bow plane on so that i could trace the shape to allow me to cut the hole.


After tracing around the the plan with a permanent marker I simply snapped the plane back off. Its important to use as little glue as required to hold it on. Other wise you just screwed yourself!


Next I drilled a hole and filled out the rest as best i could. These planes are designed to be installed into the hull for a proper angle and strength. The planes also need to be cut in half on the provided line to allow for a moveable section. Once this is cut you simply test fit the smaller piece in the holes you just cut. Position them about halfway through the hull and use a 1/16" rod to help center the two and ensure that your at a 90 degree angle. I used one of my NiCu rods and lined everything up. Next I super glued both sides in from the inside and let them dry. Next I removed the rod Tada!!


The final product with a rod cut to length and planes install. Very Nice!

Next will be the aft control surfaces!!

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As promissed I installed the aft controll surfaces and yokes. I hate installing yokes in small places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



This is a shot of everything installed on the boat. It was a big non event really. First i used a machinest scale and drew lines for the rudders to ensure that i got the hole drilled center line. Next I drilled a hole on both sides of the boat for the dive plane controll rods. I measured 1 & 8/10ths of an inch from the back of the boat and drilled my holes using a 5/64" bit. I used a larger bit because I didnt want the 1/16" rod im using to stick from fiction. Next I wrapped the dive planes in a couple layers of tape to ensure they would have the right amount of seperation from the front of the plane when mounting.

(photo courtesy D&E)
After that I glued the forward part of the rudder on using CA and I ensured they were straight using the seam from the boat and a rod placed through the planed and control rod holes.
Next I simply lined up the rudders with the ends of the dive planes and marked this point with a line. Then i measured the distance of the hole ont the rudder from the edge of the rudder. I then measured that same distance from the line i had made and marked it. That is where i drilled the hole on both sides.
After all that I CA the planes to their rods and assemled the whole nightmare, yokes and all.




       Post #: 1

RE: Reverse engineering a Trumpter Seawolf - 10/30/2007 11:39:57 PM   
Nuke Mechanic


 

Posts: 93
Joined: 7/13/2006
From: portsmouth, VA, USA
Status: offline 		For my next order of buisness I installed the FWD shaft bearing and bearing mount. Now when you originally get this model it has a bulkhead in the back (this is clearly visible in Wayne's pictures). I removed mine completely and I think that it was a mistake. If you were to leave the aft bulkhead in and only cut out the top half circle it will leave you with a perfectly centered wall in which to mount your bearing. All you will need to do is make a small half circle cut in the middle and epoxy your bearing in. It also helps to have the shaft going through the fwd and aft bearings while epoxying in the FWD bearing to make sure its center. Also, give the shaft a few turns to ensure its not binding and it is aligned for low resistance. Lower resistance = longer run times. Well, since I didnt have this back wall, I had to make a suppurt out of 1/4" styrene. Then I used epoxy to hold it in place. Dont forget to turn the shaft to make sure it is aligned properly!



My next order of buisness was the stern planes. I wanted to make it so everything could be pulled apart again for maint. in the future so I borrowed another trick from the D&E bag. I put the planes into my drill vice and made a 1/16" hole on the two inside halves. Then I CA'd a 1/16" rod in one side so that when the two halves were slid together they would lock together and move as one. A neat trick indeed.





Next I made made control rods for the aft surfaces and left them longer then needed. I also inserted the Sub Driver with the dogbone installed to ensure I got the proper spacing. I then held the a set of magnetic couplers up to two opposing control rods and marked where I needed to cut with a permanant marker. After that I trimmed them and installed the magnetic couplers. I did this for both sides. A word of advice... ensure that your servos and controll surfaces are centered! Another good thing to due is to create a guide for the aft connecters. This will ensure that if during operation you bump something and the magnets are dissconnected, you would only need to rotate the servo and the magnets would automaticlly reconnect. Another cool thing about the magnetic couplers... they can save your servos.



Next order of buisness is securing the the Sub Driver snugly into the hull. The thing to keep in mind is that the D&E Sub Driver comes with an indexing hole in the ballast tank. This is so that you can drill a 1/16" hole into the forward Sub Driver support bracet and insert a 1/16" rod to prevent axial movement of the Sub Driver. Good Stuff. This basiclly determines where the first support goes. As for the aft one I placed it just forward of the orings on the aft seal. Afer getting them both where I needed them I epoxied them in place. Next i driled holes on the tops of both of the supports to accept my hooks for securing the Sub Driver and then I screwed them into place with a little CA. A couple of rubber bands and were in buisness.



For my next trick I connected the bow planes to its aft control rod. I started off by taking a 1/16" Collet and drilling a 1/16" hole in the side at a 90 degree angle from the retaining screw. I drilled the hole there so that when i was done I will stil be able to access the retaining screw. I then soldered in a 1/16" brass rod and bent it into a 90 degree turn. I then attatched one of the magnetic couplers to this and attatched it so that is sits right inside the towed array housing when the top is installed.



Fianlly I connected the bow planes to my magnetic coupler. I first put the top half over the bottom and made a mark where the magnetic coupler was on the upper hull. This way i would know how long to make the upper control rod. Next I got an 18" long piece of NiCu rod made a Z bend and inserted it into the control yoke for the bow planes and aligned it to the towed array housing. I also put a slight Z bend in the rod so that it would fit more flush along the array housing. I then cut the wire to length an installed the magnatic coupler. Now this would all work like it is if you could get the two magnets to meet by chance. But why leave it to chance. So I found a spare piece of brass tube laying around that was slightly larger than the diameter of the magnetic coupler. I then slid the tube down a couple inches past the coupler and epoxied it in place. This guide rod will now make it easy to establish a connection between the two magnets. Infact, after placing the top on with the planes in full dive, all that is needed is to swing the planes back and you can hear the two magnets click together! Works like awsome. Infact its now my favorite way to do bow planes.



That it for now I'm sick of writing. Next time I'll post mating the two halves and securing them and painting the model. ill also go over why I'm stupid for not doing a Z cut on my hull!

(in reply to Nuke Mechanic)
       Post #: 2

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