I’d love to… but I really have no idea how to do that. I can scroll the timeline back to the point where it’s a solid model, but that’s about where my knowledge stops. Can you show me the button-o-logy?
I decided I need to get some of the printing started. To me, that's the biggest risk remaining. Will >>I<< be able to get this thing printed, or will it just wind up like garbage. So today, I decided I would start with the superstructure. It is simple, already separated, and most importantly I need a "throw away draft" in order to figure out how the cannons are going to fit. I am now a member of Dallas Makers Space, took the training course, and am now certified to use their PolyPrinters. No idea what I've just gotten myself into, but it seems simple enough so far. I'll probably get over there tomorrow or Monday & try out my new tools!! Here are some shots of what I plan to print: Notice the cannon assembly is separate from the rest of the superstructure. I'm not going to even think about designing a rotating cannon for day 1. However, I won't know if it's even possible unless I have one in my hands. I'm guessing it'll be too small. We'll see.
Progress! The bow with its dive planes are ready for first print. Again, I'm sure I'll need to re-print it... but gotta start somewhere!!
I have a question for the community! I have multiple bodies in Fusion 360, and I'd like to export them as a STL file. How do I do that? What I right click on a single body, it lets me export. However, I want multiple bodies to export into one STL... how do I do that? The intent is that those bodies would be printed as one thing... Maybe that's the problem? For it to know how print correctly, it all needs to be one body?
If they're supposed to be a single object, use the Combine utility to turn them into a single body. If they're supposed to be separate objects, consider keeping them separate, and just position them correctly with the slicer software. Lastly, you can connect the objects together with a very small connecting piece (or several) so they can easily be cut apart.
My experience with subs is you do not need blast shields unless this is a surface sub with a pump, a hairline crack will sink you if you are submerged and a hit will definitely sink you. Also make sure you have a vent for all the pressure building up from the valves venting when shooting or blown hose inside your boat.
Superstructure draft is done! Now time to shell it out & start figuring out how to fit cannons in there!
Forgot that I was going to upload a photo. This is in the bow fore deck section of the Z-Boat, Capsule adapter towards the bow, regulator towards the stern. Small Radio box lives on top (it's an old school boat).
There’s a lot to think about here! Starting with the pump, did you use one? Am I right that for the pump to work, you need a way to let air in? Never considered the valves vent co2…. Which valves? MAV2?
A centrifugal pump on a model submarine is not a good idea - you'll get backflow and sink because of your pump outlet. And if you try to pump water overboard, you can potentially pull a vacuum on your hull, causing the flooding to get worse. Your most effective defense is to be submerged - only a couple inches down and you're effectively immune to cannonfire. As for gas venting inside the hull, it depends on the specifics of your setup. Fast Gun cannons fired by solenoid or MAV-2 will not have a problem unless your cannon is leaky. Big Gun cannons do vent gas, which can be a problem if you don't design for it. I would probably use something a bit more advanced than a MAV-3, so I can direct the exhaust overboard. Heck, if it's a negative-pressure cannon, the venting takes place at the start of the firing sequence, and you can direct the vented gas to clear water out of the cannon barrel.
With a sub your greatest advisory is not the people on the other team shooting at you but the WATER. Everything going through the hull to the outside has to be 100% waterproof and tested before installation. That is your guns (fill with water) the dive planes, rudder and control rods, the prop shafts, the power switch, the co2 safety switch and the biggest leaker of all the access hatch. On the attached pic's is what I have found works very well for a dynamic diving sub, a bottom access with a 1/8" Lexan hatch (this way you can see the grease) with 4/40 bolts about 1-3/4"OC and 1/8" rubber gasket. The dive plane, rudder linkages and power switch are on the outside running through greased stuffing tubes. The hatch cover is filled with buckshot and resin for ballast. The other thing for your sub, what is the power supply and where to locate it, the servos and receiver access for adjustments, you have to think all this out for ease of charging and ballasting the boat. I have redone the all the working components in this boat making it very clean on the inside using one 4.8v batt, and this boat up until the last event has over two hours in the water without a leak.
A lot of good stuff here. I already figured I would be making the hatch in the bottom. Today, I started laying it out. For accessing the servos, I‘ve been thinking they would not be available through the bottom. I was imagining the top deck would be removable, and screwed/siliconed in place. That way I could access for repair, just not pondside. I guess the risk there is if the planes get hit, I might be done for the day. I’ll think on it, maybe smaller access holes on the deck and a commercial rubber gasket?
It's been a few days since I updated. Most of that time has been spent finding fitting and buying the run hardware I'll need for the boat. So I guess that means I'm all in with this!! First thing's first, I'll start with the hull update. The bow section is ready for first draft print and as of an hour ago is in the machine printing, with GREY ABS and NOT orange!! I decided to go with a top deck at first. My plan is still to have a bottom hatch for battery/CO2; the top deck will be for bench install & will be semi-permanently mounted. I also added some holes so the mid-hull has somewhere to line up. Here are some photos of the model, live updates from the print will come soon!
SO the other thing I've been working on this week is picking hardware to fit in the ship. This has been a PITA, but I'm happy with my first attempt. EDIT: I noticed that Fusion 360 bumped the rear servos down a hair. Not sure why, but they do fit... First is pneumatics. I decided to start with a pair of Battlers Connection 50BB cannons, as discussed earlier. For the CO2 tank, I found an option which I'm really hopeful! I found an article about converting this little guy to 1/16" hose. I have one in hand, and it really does look plausible. Regulator: View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MFF2MF5/ref=crt_ewc_title_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A11QHKPQ6UGOMK The great thing about it is I can then use 25-gram tanks; which should easily get me the 100BBs and then some! The red cylinder shows the 25gram + the regulator. View: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MDR7NBQ?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_D1V1A0ZTFBNFS1A5XYWH Otherwise, I decided to go back to the trusty MAV-2 + servo combination. I read that .75kg is enough to trigger the valve. SO I picked up a tiny 1.6kg/cm servo to do the job. My plan is to print a harness for the pair mating them together.
