i want to scratch build a sub but am unsure what material to build the hull with, it will be a wet hull design and small on the order of 15cm long.
can i use wood? if so how do i seal it
is it worth building a vacum former?
is there something else i could use?


thanks

what kind of components for the WTC do u plan to use? 15cm is one small boat.

yeah i make everything bout as small as i can
the wtc will be made of a small plastic box silicon sealed
it will use six motors (i found some water resistant micro motors!, they are enclosed in a plastic housing and the output shaft has some sort of seal on it) i guess its not really a sub but more of an rov.

ive tested all my electronics and motors to 10 feet with no leakage, im all set there
its just the hull im having trouble with

noseclipse178,

That is one small sub, 15cm = 6 inches.
I've seen a home made sub made of PVC pipes. It works, but it does'nt look like any existing full scale sub.
Can you show us some pics of the planned proplusion system to power this unusually small sub?

GulfstreamI

well if it's an ROV i think it's possible. if you want to do a perfect scale LA class boat at 15cm in length...it's basically gonna be the size of a pen. but if it's an ROV, it could be as large as a 15cm x 15cm box, and fitting components inside could be done easily.

honestly, i wouldn't worry about the material. i'd just find some sort of shape or container to fit everything together. maybe you could do what gulfstream suggested and use a PVC pipe about 15cm x 7 cm. then get some end caps. make some skids for the bottom of the ROV so it could sit on the lake/pond/pool floor. then, somehow, place the 6 motors in nacelles on the outside of the PVC pipe in whatever configuration you wanted. by the way, i assume this will dive by the propellers' thrust? or will this have a ballast system?

i have six motors two of one size and then four smaller motors
the two larger motors will be used to control vertical movement and the other four for propulsion and maneuvering
the placement of each motor is still undecided and will probably be so until i come up with a design for a hull
ive always wanted the flying sub from "voyage to the bottom of the sea" im good with wood (scratch planes for years) i just dont know how to keep the water from destroying it
is doping enough, is there something else i can do to treat the wood?
thanks

doubt this will help much, but:

"Wood Models
Hand crafted or machined submarine models using Balsa, hardwood, and even exotic wood types such as select Mahogany or Maple hardwoods can be found from a few vendors. Working wooden pond submarine models are often not of simple construction, and it takes an experienced modeler to build a model which will perform well. People who have experience with model kit construction in larger scales will find these wood constructed submarine models rewarding, entertaining, and fun! If you are a beginner and you do like a wood sub the best, then decide for a complete kit, maybe even a ready built one.

Many modelers have successfully built wooden submarines. Wood structured hulls are usually built very strong and are well suited for diving in ponds and other bodies of water. The disadvantage is it's weight. The wood constructed hull has lots of buoyancy which has to be countered with ballast weight. Wood subs are also easily dented if not coated well. Wooden hull kits should be usually resin coated and finished with a gel-coat in the basic color of the boat for protection and sealing purposes.

Wood construction varies from pre-formed hulls to actual hull planking kits which is time-consuming to create, but the results are beautiful and realistic."

source: http://subconcepts.com/subguide.html

thanks
it would of helped bout three days ago when i found that site
im already drawing up plans

keep us informed as to its progress