R/C Naval Combat

Hi David,

The latest batch of white gelcoat is causing problems too. I've had 2 failed gelcoat lay-ups out of 4 attempts to mold I-400s and the one that came out reasonably well required filling and sanding of several areas of gelcoat where it had separated from the mold surface by 1mm or less - just enough to be noticeable. Only the first I-400 turned out flawless using the last of my grey gelcoat.

I'm wasting time on failed hull production attempts and the I-400 project has used up all the spare time I've had for the R/C combat hobby since last year. I hope attempt number 5 works tonight but there's already a 1" square star-shaped defect in the gelcoat. If that enlarges it'll go in the garbage too.

I'm going to try making the next one without the problematic gelcoat though there's a risk of voids due to all the 90 degree angles and the complex small curves in the hangar mold. With vacation starting in a week it'll be mid-August before your two I-400s are made. I'm still trying to persuade Ralph Coles to make and sell the I-400s but he's non-committal so far.

Bob

Hi J,

Your I-400 is ready. If you want it before I return from vacation on August 2 call me to arrange a pick-up time before this Friday. Hope you can shoot some photos of the I-400 components to post here and on thread in the Warship Builds section.

I'm going to continue building I-400 parts as time permits until the weather gets too cold. That'll produce a small stock for more orders and a few extras to experiment with.

Bob

Hi J,

I was home all evening, other than walking the dogs for 15 min at 6 and 11PM. There were no phone messages and Kim was home while I was out with the dogs but didn't mention any calls - maybe she forgot.

If you can drop this evening before 1900h you can pick-up the I-400. I'm leaving at 1900h for a wargaming session and heading for NB tomorrow afternoon. I'm back on August 2 so that's the next possible date for pick-up.

Bob

No one expects an IRCWCC sub armed with a spurt gun to be combat effective but several people think it'll be fun to operate an I-400, get in a hit or two and try to avoid being sunk.

There are a few working I-400s built from the old Battlers Connection version. They're dynamic divers but I'm not sure if any are armed with BB cannons. There's a Big Gun I-400 with some form of point blank torpedo that can inflict significant damage. Jay and I will be working on both unarmed convoy and armed versions that will use ballast tanks and diving planes.

My old I-400 would have been stable if it had been possible to lay the battery sideways on the bottom of the hull. I screwed up by using amidship ballast tanks that required the battery to be installed vertically between them. Jay, being a  real submariner, is confident the new I-400 hull will be stable with the design mods: making the hull slightly deeper than the BC version with a wider than scale box keel that can be filled with lead ballast., and putting the ballast tanks at bow and stern which leaves space amidships to install the battery pack on the bottom of the hull.

One objective is to meet the 'Pittelli Challenge", made many years ago but never fulfilled to my knowledge. Frank Pittelli issued a challenge to the IRCWCC members to build a sub that could dive under a stationary combat ship model, resurface and hit it with a BB from 10' away.

The first I-400 I built used a BC hull, could do a static dive, resurface and shoot after a dive but was unstable when under way on the surface. It would be OK in completely calm water until a sharp turn was attempted or it crossed a wake, at which point it would heel over at 45 degrees and stay there. The Pittelli Challenge wasn't attempted with it because I was making gradual changes in ballasting to improve stability until it was sold.  That said, it was capable of doing a static dive on one side of a ship model, scooting along the bottom under it, then surfacing and shooting while remaining stationary. (Steve Crane shot a video of it doing a static dive and resurface, complete with Ooohs and Aaahs on the soundtrack.)

Bob

I finished another I-400 hull last night but it had some gelcoat defects due to trying to use up last year's gelcoat., which was a runny batch. Nothing major, just need to fill the surface defects.with more gelcoat and sand them smooth. This one's for Steve Hill as a trade for an HMS Dorsetshire Class heavy cruiser hull.

Ralph's picking up the hull molds tomorrow and will make the remaining 4 on backorder ASAP. After those are made I'll make a few extras for Jay and me to play around with. We'll probably try configurations for dynamic and static diving combat models and diving and surface running convoy models.

Bob