Royal Navy Submarine C1 (1906) 1/48th scale

[PICKETBOAT]

Glad your still watching Goodwood

The internals for the WTC are still in development and the restricted internal space is going to be a problem. I came across a plastic bottle which was just the right size for the ballast tank, the lid being drilled to accept the water input and outflow point. I hope to set the inside of this up like a model aircraft "clunk tank" with a weighted flexible pipe.
The acrylic tray inside the WTC will be cut away to take this bottle. There will be just enough room for wiring to run along the outside of the bottle without fouling the inside of the WTC. The white cap on the front end of the WTC is a screw off lid (also re cycled from a small bottle) which when removed will give access to the charging point for the batteries. There will also be a magnetic reed switch inside the WTC so that I can easily turn power on and off at pond side without having to break any seals or risk water inside any switches.
You can just see the two mini servos set into the aft end of the WTC one for rudder and one for aft diving planes. Two more have yet to be installed forward, to control the forward diving planes and the pump.

My only problem now is lack of space for the pump I have bought to work the diving system.

Any one know where I can get a very small 6V two way pump. It doesn't have to be a massively powerful one as the diving system is vented (no pressure).

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Here you can probably make out the assembled hull halves. I have not made a lot of progress with the external detail as I have been concentrating on the mechanics of the thing, and trying to shoe horn them into the WTC. Most sensible people would have drawn these components out to see how to arrange them most efficiently, but as the whole project was "make it up as you go along" I decided to just keep shuffling things around to see how they would fit into the restricted internal volume.

I started off with a single piece of acrylic approx 300mm by 65mm for the components tray and slowly cut it away to accommodate the internals. This turned it into a skeletal chassis. I started with cutting out the centre section to take ballast tank (plastic bottle). Brass strips each side support the latter and tie the two end sections of the acrylic tray together. I kept trying the tray inside the clear plastic WTC to check the fit. Two M3 bolts either end pull the end bungs into the tube tight, and slightly tension the components tray stopping it sagging in the middle.

The original pump was used in the end and is mounted on the inside of the forward end bung. The input/outlet pipe passes straight through the end bung and will connect to a small filter to stop dirt (and small invertebrates) being sucked into the ballast tank.

The lid and neck of a small plastic bottle were glued into the forward end of the WTC to allow access for charging batteries. The two battery packs (2 X 5 X AAA cells providing 6V) have been mounted on the components tray and secured with zip ties.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Time to install the prop shaft. I needed to keep the OD of the prop shaft casing small for two reasons.

1. A lack of space at the very aft end and a risk of it fouling the aft diving plane mechanism.

2. Fear of trapping air inside the stern tube casing and upsetting stability on this small model.

For this reason I made up my own prop shaft set using a stainless M4 shaft and thin walled aluminium tube. Clearance between the shaft and the inside of the tube was only 0.25mm, just enough to push fit in a fine nylon bearing at each end. Three cut outs were made with a rat tail file in the casing to allow free flooding (two on top and one underneath).

The motor coupling was a commercial "dogs bone" type from SHG. These have been around for years and are strong, silent , and cope with slight non-alignments easily This also has the advantage of coming apart easily when the WTC is lifted out. No tools required, just insert the little dogs bone when the thing goes back together.

A support was installed for the leading end of the prop shaft along with two "stops" to keep the WTC from sliding too and fro in the hull (red arrows).

The bow diving plane mechanism was finally installed being retained with M2 locking nuts and copper tube bearings. The piano wire activating rod can be seen running toward the WTC.

The aft mechanism is similar but curves under the prop shaft. This was a bit fiddly as there was hardly any space. The ends of this short mechanism will carry two small activating arms (one pointing up and one down) which connect to the two aft diving planes, just like the prototype vessel. As this is all seen on the model I wanted it to be functioning. The mechanism was installed by cutting out two slots from the hull which were glued back in place when the copper bearing tubes were installed.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Having installed the shafts and connecting mechanism for both bow and stern diving planes I was now able to start fitting some of the hull detail. The bow and stern resin castings were epoxied in place. Some filler was required to fair them both into the GRP hull, and I took the opportunity to also fill a few minor blemishes on the hull and along the joint between the two hull halves. OK, so it's not exactly Tamiya fit, but it's not bad.

The stern resin casting was fitted as part of the stern tube and shaft installation. Other hull detail was added from the extensive collection of resin cast fittings previously made up, including rope belaying points along the hull and assorted fittings on the bow which were associated with anchor cables. The conning tower casting (previously drilled hollow) was epoxied in place and held down with a brass wood screw from beneath. The conning tower was packed with expanded polystyrene before installation as I wanted it to be light and buoyant. The deck mounted compass was glued onto a short brass pin which located in a hole in the deck. This helped secure everything in place. Remember this is a working "underwater" model. I don't want bits dropping off! The resin fittings included assorted sections of exhaust pipe each with a joint flange. I started to install some of these too, making up small aluminium mounting brackets (red arrow). These were drilled right though and mounted on 0.8mm brass wire, so that the exhaust was mounted 2mm above the top of the hull.

The brass prop is a 30mm dia 4 blade prop. Details of the original vessel say it had a 3 blade prop, but the plans and photos show it to be 4 blade? One wonders if the makers experimented with both types to get the best performance. I know much experimentation took place with contemporary destroyer props.

[Goodwood]

Starting to finally come together, eh PIGBOAT?

Got any idea when she'll be up for sea trials?

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi Goodwood

Hi All

No idea yet when sea trials will be carried out. Quite a while off I think. One thing I'm learning is that submarine models may lack lots of external fittings and detail, but working sub models certainly involve a whole mass of internal issues and problems to overcome.

The C class sub has a few items of external detail that are small and need to be quite strong (eg the bridge, fins etc). Brass sheet would be ideal for these, so I hunted out some 22 SWG brass sheet and started carefully cutting these out. I also took the measurements of each completed item and drew them out. The plan being that an acid etch set would be good for future versions of this sub.

The bridge was the largest item, and this was carefully cut to shape and drilled. Old photos show these flat metal bridge surfaces were drilled at regular intervals (to allow water to run through) so a fine drill was chosen and the brass sheet was drilled in a criss-cross pattern. Holes were also drilled for stanchions, ventilators and ships wheel. The edge was reinforced with fine copper wire soldered around the underside of the edge.

Two small brass cable deflector fins were also cut out of brass and fitted to the hull just forward of the diving planes.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

The cast resin fittings for this model are now starting to be used to add the fine deck detail.
The remaining lengths of cast resin exhaust pipe were cut and joined (using short lengths of brass wire to reinforce the joints) and installed on the aft deck.
The engine breather pipes, which curve along the sides of the pressure hull, were treated the same way. These have a double curvature and "wriggle about" before joining the conning tower base, where they connect to two short stubs cast into the conning tower. The mounting brackets for these pipes were made with folded thin sheet aluminium, the same as the ones for the exhaust.
As the pipes were cast in short lengths it was possible to cut and join them to follow the correct curves and then glue them in place with their support brackets. Holes (of 0.5mm) were drilled in the hull to take brass pins which run right through the cast resin pipe and the aluminium brackets. This was a bit fiddly but not a major problem. This makes all this pipe work solid and less likely to get knocked off.

Interestingly looking at old pictures of these vessels, these pipes were actually made up of sections of bent steel pipe about 4 or 5 inches diameter with flanged bolted joints and must have been a real maintenance headache. Why they were on the outside of the pressure hull I have no idea.

The bridge was installed along with what I assume was a curved splash or spray deflector across the front of the conning tower. This has brass wire to represent the support brackets (arrowed in red). These, like many of the brass fittings, were soldered in place with soft solder. A stainless M2 threaded rod passes down through the conning tower and has a nut and washer on the top and inside the GRP hull. When tightened this ensures nothing will come loose or fall off.

The bow detail and diving planes were finished and the bow was primed. The holes were drilled in the hull to take the guard frames for the diving plane, which will be added soon. I have two contemporary pictures, supposedly of C1, which show her both with and without these guard frames. Another indication of the continued development and constant changes going on as the Royal navy experimented with these early sub.

[Goodwood]

Man, those early pigboats really were "barebones" projects! Excellent work, m8!

[PICKETBOAT]

Thanks Goodwood. You have now moved up the charts to being my number one fan! Possibly only fan?

Hi all.

The conning tower detailing continued but not without some problems. The ships wheel and steering mechanism was made up next. This comprised the cast resin wheel, two part stand (from the resin parts) and a length of 0.5mm brass wire. There was also a small support bracket on the plans which I made from brass and will also eventually be part of the brass PE set.

I used the same master for the cast resin wheel as that used on my previous picket boat model but without checking the diameter! It turned out too big with the tips of the spokes fouling the stanchion rails!

Contemporary photos show that some C boats were fitted with a simpler wheel without the tips/handles to the spokes, so I simply trimmed them off. I might re design the wheel slightly smaller and add it to the PE set, although I always think PE wheels at 1/48th scale lack thickness and look like they have been cut out of paper.

I then very carefully drilled down through the cast resin bases of the periscopes (fore and aft of the hatch and arrowed) using a 2.3mm drill on the drill stand. I drilled right through the conning tower and out through the GRP hull casing. The two 2mm brass periscope tubes will be inserted right the way through. The tallest (aft) will act as a breather pipe for venting the ballast tank. A simple snorkel.

The four supports for the bridge are were made of 1.6mm brass rod but brass tube of the same OD would have been easier to install as the tail end of the stanchions would have located into the top of each support and made assembly easy. The bracing wires were 0,2mm brass wire. These were pushed into the holes in the deck with the bridge supports holding them in place. Having pulled the wires tight they were soldered at the edge of the bridge.

The two holes in the bridge floor (blue arrows) will take the tall ventilators, which I am sure are where the engine breathers terminate.

[Goodwood]

Blimey PIGBOAT, I certainly hope I'm not your only fan!

The way I figure it, if I can't be a scratch modeler in the scale(s) I'd like, then I may as well cheer on those brave and skilled souls who are willing to tackle such interesting subjects.

[PICKETBOAT]

Thanks again for your moral encouragement Goodwood.

Remember you're never to old to have a go at scratch building. Where would Leonardo da Vinci have been if he had thought "O I can't be bothered building a model helicopter. I think I will wait until someone brings out a kit".

Only kidding. Just build what gives you the most pleasure.

Hi the rest of you modellers.

Photos of these C vessels show a series of �eye ring� bolts along the deck edge. These seem to be for securing mooring lines and other cables and ropes to avoid them breaking free and fouling the prop (a constant worry on these and any subs). These �eye rings� were made up from 0.5mm brass wire wrapped in the usual way around the shank of a 0.5mm drill bit. Side cutters remove the surplus wire. Soldering them closed is a good move particularly if they secure rigging or cables which are pulled taught.
The activating arms for the aft diving planes were made up from 0.4mm brass. These will eventually be brass PE components. They were then tinned and fitted onto the already installed shaft protruding from the aft of the hull. A large soldering iron was used to QUICKLY solder these in place. I did not want heat to travel into the hull and de solder any internal connections. The surplus brass rod was then carefully trimmed off and filed smooth. You will see that the two activating arms each point in different directions, up and down, just like the prototype. They will eventually have connecting rods joining them to the diving planes.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

The majority of the deck detail is on or around the bridge, so I was able to remove the top section of the hull and work on that separately. This was much easier to handle than the whole hull, and sits nice and stable on the bench.

I now started to install the deck edge stanchions. I used the brass split pin type (from James Lane Display Models). These are excellent and I have used them on nearly all my models. Brass PE stanchions of the same dimensions as these and will eventually be added to the PE fret for this sub.

The first task was to make a plastic card height measurement tool. This ensures all the stanchions are the same height. You can see that this gauge also has the height measurement for the slightly taller bridge stanchions. There is nothing worse than stanchions being �all up and down�.

The stanchion positions were marked along the deck edge, using dividers, which were then drilled with a 0.8mm drill. The stanchions were then glued in place. The stanchions were pushed down into place, checked for height then a small spot of CA glue was run down the lower part and allowed to capillary into the hole. A small wire eye bolt was also fitted on each side of the conning tower at the same height as the top of the stanchions.

Soft, annealed, tinned copper wire (0.3mm diameter) was used for the hand rails, which were wire on the original vessel. A length, slightly longer than was needed, was stretched with two pairs of pliers. Pulling hard one can feel the wire stretch slightly. This ensures it is straight and also work hardens the wire.

The wire was carefully threaded through all the stanchions, not forgetting the eye ring. Soft electrical solder was used to quickly solder the wire in place, but the eye ring was glued with CA. The ends of the wire were then turned down and pushed into two 0.8mm holes (arrowed) , bow and stern, where they were jammed in place with another eye ring, CA glue then sealed these in place.

When finished slight pressure on the wire between each stanchion created a gentle, gravity induced sag seen on original photos.

I have included photos of the model so far. These are taken against our lawn, I used my hand to give a sense of scale.

[Goodwood]

Excellent, excellent work there PIGBOAT, she's really looking good.

[Capit�o Norbert]

Nice sub wow

[PICKETBOAT]

Thanks Goodwood and Norbert.

Hi all

The fins, rudder and aft diving planes were a little complicated to work out, but not beyond me. I had to cut out the fins from 0.4mm sheet brass using a jewellery saw, carefully referring to the plans and photographs available. I already had the rudder and diving planes as cast resin fittings. These brass fins were then measured and drawn out to be eventually part of the proposed brass PE set.

The fins were strengthened, at the point where they meet the hull, with brass strips. These strips were placed on a piece of hardwood and gently punched on the reverse side to create the rivets seen on the real vessel. These matched up with the line of rivets and mounting strip cast into the resin tail piece. These reinforcing strips were then soft soldered in place. The completed fin was then glued in place with its locating pins inserted into the holes previously drilled in the resin tail piece.

A note here on soldering.

I cleaned each component with emery cloth. Flux was painted just where it was needed using a small paintbrush. Soft, fine, wire, electricians solder was used throughout. A large soldering iron is essential, the idea is to heat only a small area of the brass component (enough to get the solder to run) but not let the heat travel, so you have to have the components clamped in place, and you have to be quick. Small metal crocodile clips are very good for holding small components in place while soldering. Try and tin at least one of the surfaces before dry assembly. If you are working next to previously soldered joints or resin components you have to work very quickly before the heat de-solders the other joints or damages the resin fitting.

[PICKETBOAT]

Hi all

Just aft of the prop is a vertical post joining the top and bottom fin and carrying the centre of the hinged diving planes. This was also made of 0.4mm brass. The ends were bent to have a slight kink so that it would align with the fins. A centre support was then soldered in place to carry the diving planes. The hole was intentionally drilled slightly too large to make the later installation of the diving planes easier. The pictures show this vertical post and its final installation. The picture also shows the strengthening struts which tie the fins together. There are four of these and two smaller ones beneath each of the horizontal fins.

Small bore copper tube has been soldered to the end of the two horizontal fins. This will be the end bearings for the aft diving planes.

The brass prop in the picture was the right shape but slightly too large at 35mm diameter. A 30mm one is on order to replace it. Pictures and plans confirm the vessel used a four blade prop.

[merriman]

Excellent craftsmanship on display here. Cabinet Maker ... Indeed!

David

[PICKETBOAT]

David

Many thanks.

Yes cabinet maker, (amongst other things).

I would have loved to have been an engineer, but my school said I was rubbish at maths, so that was the end of that.

Anyway back to the sub.

The cast resin rudder was now "offered up" to the stern fins and associated frame. The resin rudder had to be "fettled" slightly to get it to fit. The cut out to allow it to clear the diving planes had to be filed out and slightly enlarged.

The rudder was then drilled carefully out top and bottom to accept two brass pins, each had a large flat filed onto it. These flats will be soldered to the tip of the fins and the pins will act as the hinges, the rudder swivelling on them. The control horn on the port side of the rudder was cut from brass sheet and drilled to take the 0.5mm piano wire control rod. A thin cut was made in the rudder casting and the brass control horn was glued into the slot. A small slice of plastic tube (from inside a biro!) was pushed over the lower pin to act as a thrust bearing.

[Neptune]

They definitely aren't your only readers. I've been following along and it's turning out to become a brilliant build. Love the ancient look of them.

[PICKETBOAT]

Thanks Neptune. I�m glad you are finding the build of interest. I know that submarines are a specialised field with only �minority interest�, but I figure there is always something to learn from other modellers techniques. I have picked up loads of tips from this forum, which have either made my (model building) life easier, or improved the quality of the finished product.

Anyway Hi all

The rather complicated stern fin section of the sub is coming together. The aft diving planes are next. These are also resin cast fittings. A certain amount of re carving was required particularly around where they come close to the rudder. The resin is easy to carve with a craft knife and file. I had to ensure they didn�t foul the rudder and visa versa. At least they were slightly too large rather than the other way around!

Like the rudder the planes were carefully drilled (on their outer edges) to tale 0.5mm brass pins to act as hinged. On their inner edge, the single brass pin travels through the hole in the stern frame pillar.

Slots were also cut in both planes to take small brass control horns. These were again made from 0.4mm brass and were pushed into the slot, where they were glued in place. A small piece of 0.25mm styrene card was pushed into the slot behind each one, indicated with a blue arrow. Remember the control horns have to point up on the starboard and down on the port side to match the control arms . This styrene was trimmed and filed smooth when the glue had set.

After dry assembly and checking that it all worked, the two planes were glued onto the centre brass pin after threading it through the stern frame pillar. The two remaining brass pins were inserted through the small copper tubes and carefully glued in place to complete the hinge mechanism.

So far so good. Everything moves freely.