1/15 Schnellboot S62 RC (1942)

[Lord_Waffles]

Hi there everyone!
I am new to this forum however I have been building Shipmodels on and off for a good portion of my life. My father is the main model maker for The Vancouver Maritime Museum, and so I have had models in my life ever since I was a small child, and have been lucky enough to have my dads wealth of knowledge to draw upon. Last summer my father and I were spending some quality time up the coast of British Columbia on his boat, when we came up with the idea of making a large scale RC model that we could take with us on our annual boating trips. So after a bit of thought I took it upon myself to build this model in the free time I would have over the next year. The ship I decided on is a World War 2 German S38 type Schnellboot- the S62, built plank on frame in 1/15 scale as she looked in 1942. The original S62 was 34.94 meters long making my model a little bit shy of 8 feet in length. She also had three 2000hp Mercedes Benz MB 501 engines that propelled her at 40 knots, making my scale speed somewhere around 8 knots. For power I have not yet decided what I will be putting inside her, but I have made room for at least six 12v 7.2 aH batteries. If anyone has any ideas on some good remote systems out there I would be most grateful as I am having trouble finding what I need (separate throttle control on all three motors individually, plus the usual stuff).
As of right now I have been working on the model since September ( mostly on weekends and when I had free time ) and I am hoping to finish her sometime in the summer. I will continue to update you guys with this build, and am very interested in any feedback/suggestions you may have!
Happy modeling!

Theo P.

[Timmy C]

Looks great and welcome aboard! I ran into Lucian a few times at the museum, though I doubt he'd remember me, hah!

[Folgore]

Wow. This is impressive!

Besides, I'm looking forward to watching
a little animated GIF soon

Regards

Chrischan

[Goodwood]

You gonna make some little AAA battery-powered torpedoes and a launching mechanism? Might be feasible in that scale, you never know...

[ozpirate]

Beautiful work mate. Look forward to your next update.

[Lord_Waffles]

Thanks for all the kind words guys!

You gonna make some little AAA battery-powered torpedoes and a launching mechanism? Might be feasible in that scale, you never know...

Actually I was thinking of doing exactly that! Probably either a spring loaded, or compressed air launch system. But seeing as I left room in the tubes for this to be done I will probably be focusing on getting the hull itself on the water before I fiddle with the running torpedoes.

Looks great and welcome aboard! I ran into Lucian a few times at the museum, though I doubt he'd remember me, hah!

Thanks Timmy! I spoke with my dad not too long ago about joining this forum and posting. Some of his recent work. He is just finishing a restoration of a 14 foot original builders model of the Empress of France right now. The model was built in 1913 and is impressively massive and detailed. Here's a link to a video of the model if your interested: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qhTu5Pq2w6g


Here is some more historical info on the S62 for anyone interested:

"The S62 at the beginning of 1942 was fighting on the western front as part of the 2nd S-Boote flotilla and was commanded by Oberleutnant Zurich See Hermann Opdenhoff. She was a slightly modified S38, entering service in the S-Bootwaffe in September 1941. With a 115 ton displacement for a length of 34.94 meters, she was equipped with three two thousand hp Mercedes Benz MB 501 Diesel engines and could reach a top speed of 40 knots for a radius of 700 miles. The armament included, along with two 533 mm torpedo tubes, two 20 mm pieces located fore and aft. In later production series the defensive weaponry was improved: the rear cannon was replaced by a 37 mm Flak L38 piece. This model was also equipped with a Metox Fumb passive radar. The crew was made up of 29 men. The S62 surrendered to the Royal Navy in 1945 and sold in 1948."
-S-Boote, German E-boats in action 1939-1945. By Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette. Pg 105

[KevinYoung]

Incredible work by you and your dad.

[Goodwood]

That's so awesome you're going to have a torpedo-launching boat, man! Hopefully you eventually put up a video of it in action!

I really like that restoration your father did.

[PICKETBOAT]

Lord_Waffles

This is a brilliant project. The idea of building the model in a HUGE scale is inspired and should make it a very realistic model to sail.

You are doing a fine job of the hull planking. Don't forget the GRP resin and tissue inside and out. I would hate the finished model to "spring a plank" after all your hard work.

Have you considered brushless motors?

Keep the post coming.

[sandy]

Tremendous. Great project...

[Neptune]

Great project. Very daring to build something that big.

Picketboat, as far as I see in the comment on one of the last pictures, he mentions it's already epoxied and fibreglassed. It's hard to see, but that's normal with the transparency of the fibreglass. I do agree that's something more or less obligatory for a ship this size, although before, when fibreglassing wasn't that common, planked hulls were used without it and I haven't heard that many stories of springing planks. Only one case when a guy wanted to break ice with a regular built plank-on-frame tug (not the best of ideas )

[PICKETBOAT]

Neptune

You are probably correct. I did not look close enough at the pictures.

I have had several older working models in for restoration and the plank seams had opened. They tend to behave like full size vessels if you don't put them on the water for a while, and sticking them on a sunny window ledge makes the problem worse. Glass fibre tissue on the inside and outside (while the model is in build) is pretty much essential if you want a hull to last the rigours of getting wet then drying out. Just skimming the outside with filler and paint is really only good enough for static builds.

Can't wait to see some more pictures of this model.

[DrPR]

Many years ago I built two plank on frame models, and after not too long the planks started "adjusting" to dry conditions, cracks opened between the planks, and my nice smooth hull finishes were ruined.

In the next model I applied clear epoxy paint to the inside of the hull planking. This was just very thin and runny epoxy glue that soaked into the basswood planks. Now, 20+ years later, the hull has no cracks and is like new.

Applying fiberglass certainly won't hurt anything, but the key to a stable crack-free planked hull is to get the resin to soak into the wood and glue the planks together.

Phil

[Lord_Waffles]

Hello everybody.

I am currently in the last few weeks of term for school and am extremely tight on time, however as soon as I am done, towards the end of April, I will be working on the Schnellboot in earnest.
Thank you for all the interest and kind words.

To answer some of your questions:

Lord_Waffles

This is a brilliant project. The idea of building the model in a HUGE scale is inspired and should make it a very realistic model to sail.

You are doing a fine job of the hull planking. Don't forget the GRP resin and tissue inside and out. I would hate the finished model to "spring a plank" after all your hard work.

Have you considered brushless motors?

Keep the post coming.

I am definitely taking no chances with anything and am going overboard with the epoxy. 3 layers of epoxy sealer were put on the bare hull both inside and outside, and after the fiberglass was applied 3 layers of epoxy resin were applied. She is very very strong now. And I have not yet decided on what engines I will be installing in her. Thanks for the comments on scale I am very excited for her to be on the water at this big scale!

Many years ago I built two plank on frame models, and after not too long the planks started "adjusting" to dry conditions, cracks opened between the planks, and my nice smooth hull finishes were ruined.

In the next model I applied clear epoxy paint to the inside of the hull planking. This was just very thin and runny epoxy glue that soaked into the basswood planks. Now, 20+ years later, the hull has no cracks and is like new.

Applying fiberglass certainly won't hurt anything, but the key to a stable crack-free planked hull is to get the resin to soak into the wood and glue the planks together.

Phil

I completely agree with you on the soaking of the planks with epoxy. I added three layers of epoxy sealer both inside and outside before applying the fiberglass along with another 3 layers of resin on top of that. She needs to be very strong as she will be quite heavy yet still will reach a scale speed of 8 knots thus the stresses on the hull will be bigger then on smaller scaled models.
Thanks for the feedback!

[tegunn]

This is actually a S-30 class S-Boot..
link added:
http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/km ... frames.htm

[PeteB]

Hi Guys note the last post was a couple of Years ago - Anyone know if it every got built? be interesting to see how it turned out and performed on the water- cheers