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FreekS

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  1. FreekS
    While the hull needs another layer of epoxy, I took the boat on holiday and worked on the deck planking. The “kings plank”, deckhouse and well are hardwood, and then 4x4 mm white wood are used to plank the hull. I interspace the planks with 0,3mm black carton (hope it sands well later,….). It’s a lot of work and will need a lot of sanding and finishing later, but a fun job.
  2. FreekS
    After planking of the hull, the wooden keel has been shaped and glued to the hull. The first sanding, coating with epoxy resin, and using epoxy putty to smoothen the hull has been done. The whole was sanded with 100 grid sandpaper, before applying a second coat of epoxy resin and a 160g/m2 glass-fabricagerekening, followed by another epoxy layer. There are some air blisters under the glass layer, and there is some visible overlap in places. I think with more sanding and epoxy putty I should get that fixed. I’ve actually only made a hull this way once, and that was my submarine O-1. The cigar shape of that hull made the glass fabric stage easier to do.
  3. FreekS
    yes my testing also was in a shallow lake, and while submerged - a large “smoke-trail” was following the model as it scraped through the mud. Not good for the nerves! Here’s the boat in that same lake at dusk - good to see the effect of the LED strips I spent so much time waterproofing and building an arduino controller for! thanks for all the likes!
  4. FreekS
    Hi all, After completion of my submarine Auguste Piccard, I started on my long delayed Corsaro 2. I bought the kit about 12 years ago from a model shop that went out of business. Price on the box is 288 UKP, but I bought it in Holland for less. Looks complete but someone made some pencil scribbles in the manual before returning it. I intend to make it radio-controlled. Never built a sailboat before but I understand I will need to build light (I.e. take weight out of the hull where possible), likely need a deep add-on keel with lead bulb, enlarged rudder, and much more I don’t know about yet. Started sawing out the insides of most of the frames and the keel”plate”, before mounting the frames. One of the difficulties with this model is the curved deck needing to be glued to the frames right away. So access to the interior is very difficult. I cut out the deck under the deckhouse, and will make the deckhouse detachable. I did think of putting a first coat of varnish on the frames and keel before planking, and ensuring water coming into the hull can find its way to the lowest point. Then started planking the hull. The manual is short but highlights the important steps such as planing the frames and adjusting the width of the planks. also made sure I drilled out a cavity for the rudder-“axle”. The wooden keel and rudder seen here need work much later but I can mount a “sailing keel” on it later. Both are of course not attached yet. so after about a week the hull has a first planking. Instead of the second planking, I intend to sand - epoxy - putty - and cover the hull with glass-fabric and epoxy. That requires some time, stuff to be ordered, and anyway, the holiday is over. Later more. All suggestions of course welcome!
  5. FreekS
    Today the model made its first foreign visit, to the “verkehrshaus der Schweiz”, the transport Museum of Switserland in Luzern. There the museum allowed me to photograph the boat with its namesake and even sail and dive in their boat basin. Very nice - the boat is not yet fully finished, name and others decals I made are not mounted yet (I need to find a clear coat that does not yellow when over solvent based paint). More importantly, while the boat runs and turns very well on the surface, trimming underwater still needs some iterations of moving ballast. But today was a very nice day!
  6. FreekS
    thanks for the compliment! It’s an Engel pistontank - a 750ml piston driven by an electric motor. The piston draws water from outside, compressing the displaced air volume in the boat (which has to be airtight). Because of this overpressure in the boat one can rise by reversing the piston. Its often used in europe - though it’s the first time I use this - in my prior boat I used a two way peristaltic pump but that’s much slower and risks overfilling the tank if the sensor fails.https://engel-modellbau.eu/shop/en/Sub-Components/Piston-Tanks/
  7. FreekS
    Video of first test dive
  8. FreekS
    Again 6 months went by, this time with significant work done. The waterproof LEDs were mounted as floodlights over the hull portholes, with waterproof connections through the hull and controlled by an Arduino nano. the boat was ballasted with nearly 3 kg of lead - decided over the keel, and deep in the hull in-between the ribs. the hull was painted again and the sail mounted, complete with windows and decals. then the boat was launched in my test tank, needed about 600 grams of extra ballast, moving ballast around a bit, and resolving some leaks through the propshaft, bowden cables etc. The epoxied hull itself was water- and airtight. first test in the tank meant filling the 750 ml divetank - thus creating overpressure in the hull (and now the leaks seem resolved - for now). The boat went up and down perfectly level, so very happy withete first tests! Still a lot to be done, especially on the rudder/prop shroud which has too much play, but I’m getting there!
  9. FreekS
    I've made quite a bit of progress since September - thanks to lockdown but unthanks to recent cold in the basement! The "Techrack" is fully built - with batteries, Engel "Kolbentank", Arduino controller for the tank built by a friend, brushless motor and controller, magnetic on/off switch, Corona (!) 40 MHz 8-channel receiver and three news servos. I'll do a video of it somewhat later the picture shows the incividual components. The propeller and shroud, diveplanes fore and aft and the tank all work well off my Futuba Mx-16 transmitter. Now working on the waterproof LED strip that will provide lights over the passenger windows. I've given up making drawings, it quicker to do the work twice! The shape is mainly there - though there is still an extensive keel section to be built. Windows in the 3D printed "sail" will also be a challenge! Just to prove the techrack is actually inside a short video. The joy one can have in simple things..... IMG_2130_HEVC.MOV
  10. FreekS
    That’s a great idea, everything is still loose and I’ll think how I can do that. I’m waiting for the prop shaft to arrive ..... Thanks!
  11. FreekS
    Started now on the more technical parts - from the stern forward. I decided to print the shroud/rudder combination, and it will be quite a challenge to mount and ensure the propellor aligns perfectly with it. I am waiting for parts of the drivetrain, so focused on making the supports for the shroud, and the stern dive planes which will be controlled via a Bowden cable visible. The second Bowden controlling the rudder will run through the lower wooden support part. Above the model a couple of fotos of the original at launch in early 1960s and and pre restoration around 2010.....
  12. FreekS
    Hi all, first layer of epoxy-putty is on, and I’ve laid out the equipment I’m going to have to install, and roughly where in the boat it will come. note the picture is a bit „wavy“ due to panorama mode....! from left to right battery pack placeholder, LED Controller for the strip of LEDs that will come above the windows, Engel Ballast Tank (basically large electric syringe to take water in and pump it out) 40 MHz receiver and electronic leveler three servos for rudder and front and rear diveplanes Ballast tank controller motor speed controller and magnetic on/off switch brushless motor with coupler to shaft Messing cast prop.
  13. FreekS
    Woodwork on the hull nearly finished - next is impregnating with thin epoxy resin, then applying thick epoxy and sanding. Oh well, only in year 5 or so. Freek
  14. FreekS
    Finally starting to look recognizable. The woodwork is slow, mainly because the drawings I constructed from photos are not always accurate. But I’m not unhappy with the rough shape. It will be tricky to align the front and rear sides, which are separated by a bayonet. But at least I’m in my basement while it’s 32C outside!
  15. FreekS
    Well, I’m building again! My other projects are finished and as there is little model ship sailing going on I don’t need much time for repairs! Been working on the deck section of the Mesocaph, which will fit on top of the cylindrical pressure hull.
  16. FreekS
    Hi Mark, here’s the latest generation of the torpedo - in “my neighbors” pond This second video is from 2015 and shows the boat firing torpedos. Note, these were not electric - but rubber-motor powered. freek
  17. FreekS
    Here my “Dutch” shipyard. piccard is in the far corner, toros and avenger on the workbench
  18. FreekS
    Hi Piet, sorry my project is going so slowly and I missed your post! I’ve got two parallel projects happening, one was to build 1:50 electric torpedos (weight 7 gram) for my K-XVIII. I succeeded thanks to the trend to “supercap”, using a 1F (correct, not picoFarad) capacitor gives me 10 seconds and 5 meter range. The toros work, now I need to update the firing mechanism of the two deck tubes on K-XVIII. The other project is to take a 1:48 plastic modelkit of an ASW Grumman Avenger, and make it into a working sub - flying loopings and barrel rolls under water. That one is still in the “tough” phase. Yes the move to Holland happened in July - I “retired” (the word still sounds weird) and moved back to my house in Baarn, between Hilversum and Amersfoort, that we left 10 years ago. Needed a serious update of insulation and solar panels but it’s all done now. My new workshop is also an improvement! Thanks Freek
  19. FreekS
    Hi all, Progress continues very slowly, and with a major interruption, as my wife Kien and I are moving back from Germany to Netherlands early next week. That means EVERYTHING must be packed up, including my shipyard! So here it is, I waited until 5 days before the movers came, but I’ve not seen this room this tidy in years! The last work was on an inside frame for the sail of the boat. Underwater the sail will have quite some water resistance so Picard built the sail around a metal frame (see pic in post #20). I decided to make it out of 2.5x2.5 mm messing, soldered together. I’m very mediocre at soldering, and initially all went well, then as new joints came too close to already finished soldered joints I switched to epoxy glue - enabling me to use the plastic sail as a mold. Still the soldered joints are weak and one broke already on packing (75W electric Weller, S65 solderfluid - it’s probably skill related, not materials!). Anyhow, once moved I’ll fix that. The frame will be glued inside the sail, the frame and 3D printed sail will sandwich the clear windows. LOOOTTTTTS more to do.
  20. FreekS
    Hi Piet! Mostly I use two-component epoxy (the slow curing variant as its waterproof). In this case there will also be a metal (messing) frame on the inside of the sail (it’s partly visible one one of the photos of the sub in Luzern) and I can hopefully sandwich the “glass” at least partly between the sail and this frame. That may reduce visibility of the glued areas. I might also paint those white on the inside. Not planned in detail yet...! Thanks for the likes and thoughts! Freek
  21. FreekS
    Hi all, today I tried to make one of the most curved windows of the subs sail. I used some transparent plastic (unknown origin) from a carton display box, a heat gun and a sanded 3D blank. Result of this test were encouraging, there is some yellowing of the plastic and the blank was not entirely the right shape, but it looks like a possible way of doing it!
  22. FreekS
    Amazingly, the printer finished the 16 hour printjob without a hiccup! I had spent maybe 3 afternoons behind my CAD program to design the shape of the sail, and expected to have to print it several times (I still may have to!). So after removing the support material I stiffened the sail with some foam to enable easier handling and sanding. Started with wet sanding with 60 and 120 waterproof sandpaper, and now may need to use some filler before continuing. I’m actually thrilled at the look of the sail! But it’s pretty fragile with couple of pieces having been broken and glued already. It’s slow going - sanding PLA is not so easy for me, but it’s going! Freek
  23. FreekS
    Now working on the sail (it’s upside down!). If the 3D print comes out - it was a steep learning curve in auto sketch fusion 360 - then the problem is reduced to making the heavily curved transparent windows.
  24. FreekS
    Hi all, I’ve been doing a bit more work on the Auguste Piccard as ....well....it still sounds weird but I retired! I did finish the 3D plotted portholes/windowsills. Have not cast the windows themselves yet. Then built the deck wil over a thousand holes in it, and now started on the “sail”. Here I can use some advice, it’s a thin metal sail with big windows and doors. Obviously it floods when the boat goes under. The shape is pretty complex (for an amateur like me) so I started building a wooden “blank” which I hope to use to shape 0.3mm messing around. Made a model out of paper (and a drawing on millimeter paper - do they still make that?!). But clearly the messing will warp in places and I don’t see how I can get that to work. Here are some photos - hope ya’ll have some pointers for me!
  25. FreekS
    Hi all! Another year gone by with very little building! I did manage to sail my two submarines a number of times this year, and with the repairs that inevitably come with that - and life in general in the way - Auguste Picard has taken a backburner. Yet i did do some work - the windowsills are printed, sanded and painted, the Hull is half painted, and the first work on the deck section has started. I do think I will have more time in 2019! Wishing you all a happy new year!

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