AQUASUB

HI all Captains ,I have pulled the triger and ordered a Engel Gato ,a 7 foot mother of a sub ,hansome and very detailed with German quality,she will have the Aquacasing and watercooled dual drive motors that will run in the wet ,I have made an interesting combination of 2 items to make the special drives .I will not be useing the casing supplied with the kit .I ordered the hull only so that I can install my own grown system and save bukkoo bucks.She will also have hydraulick masts and rotating radar dish,the diveplains I desided to go with Engels nice setup but without the controller ,I can make that as well.A simple pump ballast system will also be installed and I may also have operational torpedoes.

She will be a challange to build as she is very detailed and I do have the smaller vertion to copy all of the fun stuff.
I will post as it comes along .

Dave

AQUASUB

Some great pictures of the family mascot when I opened up the meticulusely packed box that just gept on uzeing bags of parts 7 catalogs and manuals wow what a job just to pack this monster! It did arrive perfectly well but what a heavy box at 38 lbs!

The interesting thingis that most of the wieght of this sub kit is in the top plate ,top metal hatch and bottom parts that make up the inner casing.It is shipped without the lead wieghts of some 20 lbs ,all together makes for one very heavy sub especialy since the large inner casing has to be counter ballasted with all the lead and 2 piston pumps ,the reason for the very large inner casing.
So from the start I have desighned the Aquacasing that will take the place of the stock unit,its smaller in volume yet will hold more electronics and 2 Lithium batteries like in my Type XXI that has been a total succses.

Also in this disigne the entire casing comes out of the hull so that every component has easy acsses and testing is a snap without the hull .

I will not be needing the the main motors and gear drives that came with the model so i will sell those along with other not needed parts I will post them later.

So far I have partialy assembled the sail and have added in weld lines on all of the serfaces and was that a job still in progress but what a difference it maid to a very stark hull,the upper hull is very nicly detailed but lacked the weldlines that raely brings out the character of the sub but one has have the patience for and I am in no hurry to launch this beuty and she will be detailed alot more than the kit.
Ill be posting more pics soon
Well enjoy the pics and Bubba.

Bob Platz

Aquasub...I thought I was the only guy that buit the Gato. I built mine back in the 1970s, when sub mariners were looked at as a little ???
 It was a great model with a lot of work and fun building. I used the thread operating ballast tanks with the intention of a CO2 system in the future.
        But I got an idea to build a larger sub ,so I sold the Gato. I next finish a 90" L.A. nuke,sold that (the lake was filled in by condos) and now stick to surface models.
       There was a article in an old SSM describing a CO2 system. I saved it and can forward it to you if your interested..

                                                 Good luck with your Gato!   Bob Platz

AQUASUB

Great history on your Gato and Nukes but I use my own  pump ballast systems and casings as seen in the Cats Meow thread Type XXI ,thanks anyway !

AQUASUB

I am back with some new pics on the Gato build .One of the hardest parts of the build was the weld lines about 15 coats of primer and hole lot of sanding on each to get the dessired effect and wow it realy worked out nice!

This sub will be made differently than normal it will also waighe much much less and will performe much longer and better.For one thing the motors will be in the wet ,with ballbearing sealed 3.5 to one gearboxes,attached to the outside of the caseing.
A geared waterpump will be used for the non presurized ballast sytem that I developed and am useing on my Robbe Type XXI and has proven to be very sucsessfull.Also the batteries are Lipos 5700s X 2 giving her plenty of range without being heavy..
One of the funnest times was making the limberholes ,took me under 2 days to finish done with a dremel tooll and files.The railings also where a pain but fun!
AAlso I used the 2 brass shaft couplers supplied in the kit and made 2 slits in one at 12 oclock the other at 3 oclock dine witha dremel wheel then made a jig and saudered up the prop supprts so that it looks much more to scale since the original has the twin supports and this was in my opinion better and eiaser to make than the kits method.Very smoth once lapped them out and the 4 set screw holes are not seen only from beneath and add to the lubricating the bushings,the thrust will be in the gearboxes thrust ball bearing.
When I am finished there will be lots of spare parts I will not be needing and will sell them, let me know if your interested ,right now i have the stock twin motors and geare box unit avaiilable and pressure box parts.
Its been a great long summer and with a family and 2 jobs its been hard to get energy to build ,even on the week ends the weather so nice well I go out on my mini yaght and play alot .Florida just is so much fun!
Enjoy the pics Dave

AQUASUB

I also added brass bushings and stronger clevis joints to the rudder and elevators.
More pics coming on the internals the neat stuff!

roedj

Dave,

Were you able to purchase the Gato without any Engel dive system or is that some of the extra parts you're going to sell?

Dan

AQUASUB

HI these parts are the ones that come with the kit ,I perchased the kit only because I knew I can make the rest far cheaper and lighter with parts readily available.
The huge top fiberglass bulkhead and cover with all its hardweare ,twin drive motors  ,2 stufing boxes and some minor stuff  can be sold now,just let me know.