Submarines

[Guest]

Ramesh

No - the Typhoon is not yet finished! It's been a steep learning curve and that's without your opening missile doors and camera etc. I must admit I also miss the old Marine RC forum too. Just following all the Typhoon building on there gave me great heart. I learned a lot from that! I've had various 'challenges' on the road to completing the model including getting the front retracts to operate properly and a continuing tendency for the periscope shafts to bend. The rear dive plane & rudder linkages still do not operate as smoothly as I would like but seem to be serviceable. The main problems are (touch wood) now solved but I am still worried that should a motor fail I haven't a clue how I'll be able to get it out now that everything else is in. I'm hoping to do a watertight test shortly although our usual upstairs test tank is too small! Fortunately a professional one at a local university has been offered when I've made a few final checks. I'll let you know the outcome in due course.

Andrew

[Guest]

Hi Andrew, is that your Typhoon? I haven't got paint on mine yet. I had problems with my front planes too. If I got one to work the other would jam. This is caused by measurement from the plan being ever so slightly off. I solved it by using different attachment points for the left and right planes (ditch the Engle tiller arms and get plastic ones with a few different holes) . This means that the planes don't work exactly in sync but hardly noticable. Are you using the rubber band/o-ring periscope? The main problem is the the rearmost non driven spindle. It is only supported by that brass bushing on the lid which is a long way off from the line of tension at the pulley attachement. This causes the rear spindle to bow towards the front spindle and jam in the brass bushing. To solve this build a support plate that joins the 2 spindles and keeps them a fixed distance apart, just below the pulley. I am posting some pics here http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=60 as I don't need to host my pictures. I'll get to the periscope system at some point!

[Guest]

Ramesh

Yes - that's my Typhoon sitting beside the Ohio and U-boat. The Trafalgar class is also mine. The pictures were taken at the Edinburgh Model Boat Club annual regatta in September. It was a great day but the level of the pond was so low we didn't dare to sail our subs. Looks like we had similar problems with the front planes - my initial problems were also caused by measurements being fractions out! They're working OK now - although not quite in sync - after much fiddling. Your comments re the rubber band/ O-ring drive for the periscopes are absolutely right. Again my measurements were a fraction out and I also found the drive band slipped which didn't help. I like your idea of a support plate and will probably do this. Better safe than sorry! I have also fitted flashing LEDs to the top of the rear fin and sail/conning tower. Really to try and prevent being hit by 'targets'. The LEDs are both separately powered by those flat batteries you get in computers etc and the batteries/on-off switches are wrapped in balloons. I must say your solution is a lot neater. Your pics are very helpful and it's good to see you are making progress again after your lay-off. Like you - and because the Typhoon is such a long build - I've found myself doing other things and this has only prolonged the day when this project sees the water.

Andrew

[Guest]

sheerline submarines

I have found lots of information on both engle submarines and the 2 that are produced by robbe. Unfortunatly there would be a lot of work involved to make their new sub static dive . Its known that the engle subs are possibly the best as far as quality and reliabilty is concerned, but before i go and buy one , does anyone have any comments on the sheerline submarines. I have serched the web for info and am drawing a blank. what dive system is used and what else besides batteries and r/c gear is needed to complete one,

Any feedback on this would be appreciated

[Guest]

Hi and welcome jagdpanther, i`m sure ajg will agree that teh sheerline models are an excellent alternative to an engels kit , and even have some advantages !

first of all the hulls split in half right along the water line, inside is teh WTC , which is split into three sections, fore section houses pump,receiver and switching for pump operation, also front dive planes depending on the model,mid section is the tank, and aft section houses motor/gearbox speed control and servos for rear planes.

sheerline models use a pump system of diving, a (car?) washer pump pumps water into the tank,wjich will dive the boat. to surface air pressure in the tank ( slightly compressed due to water displacement) is allowed to force the water back out of the tank and hence surface , simple !! but it does work, access can be made to all parts of the system i required.

another good point is that the hull on sheerline models is a wet type, this means that the whole hull (apart from the wtc) has water in and around it when running, teh benefit of this is overall a much lighter model,

Engels use dry hull configuration, which means the hull is ballasted down very finely, when the tank draws water in ( like a big syringe) the weight of teh water again dives the model, however because teh hull is essentially a big bubble of air sealed in it`s very bouyant, and to take it to the correct level for diving takes a lot of ballast,

typically the Engel patrick henry has a starting ballast of 19 Kg ( inc all gear) !! this is before adjustment weight is added for fine tuning, in comparison the sheerline ohio ( a much bigger boat) has a start ballast of 1kg then fine tuning afterwards ( overall weight i think is about 12 kg)

Engels kits do seem to manage to have more detail on the hulls than the sheerline, but this doesn`t mean the sheerlines are devoid of detail, far from it .

There is a relative high degree of prefab work done on the sheerline models, about a weeks work is req`d for sailing, rc gear required .........

2/3 servos depending if model has front dive planes or not

Esc

6v/12v SLA depending on model

fail safe unit

2 0r 3 servo extension leads

tx/rx

no other special eqipment is required .

if you do go for one, you certainly won`t be disappointed .

Adz..

[Guest]

Hi jagdpanther

As Adzam says, Sheerline make great models - and they're very reliable and robust in my experience. Maybe they're not as sophisticated as the Engel models but they work very well and they are tried and tested. They don't have a website but do have a catalogue available if you phone them. I have a Sheerline Trafalgar that I sail regularly (when there's enough water in the pond) and an almost completed Engel Typhoon. I am more than happy with both!

Andrew

[Guest]

I've had 2 Sheerline subs, the Ohio & now Trafalagar, my dad has an Akula & I'm fitting a Sheerline system into an OTW Type VII.

I also have a compressor fitted Darnell T class, & have also had a Piston Engel/Ron Perrot design, but for reliability & simplicity it has to be Sheerline.

Oh, & Chris (Mr sheerline) is a top bloke, & very helpful.

[Guest]

...I used to post a lot on the now defunct MarineRc forum. There were loads of pictures and valuable information on Engel subs which I was hoping to refer to but are now lost :bash: .

Hi, MarineRC is now up with all of the old forum contents. It is now at www.marinerc.net instead of .com.

Dean

[Guest]

Dean - great to see the site back.

Andrew