3D printed 1/72nd scale Los Angeles class submarine

[RCjetdude]

Been working on this for about a week now. Decided to go ahead and make a thread for it. This is a 1/72 Los Angeles fast attack submarine printed with PLA+. The control surfaces are on the printer now and then the sail will complete the printing process. It is a bayonet locking system so the boat separates into three sections with just a slight twist. I will be painting it with high fill polyurethane primer inside and out to 1. Help seal the inside, 2. Provide an external surface finish that will make it impossible to tell it was 3D printed and 3. Lock it all together. The files were purchased from The Nautilus Drydocks originally as 1/96th scale but I enlarged the boat to make it 1/72. I am hoping to be able to use the same modular sub driver in my Redoutable to power this boat but we shall see. More to come.

[RRHandy]

Looking good Steve.

[T-CAT]

Looks awesome, Steve!

[RCjetdude]

Thanks guys. I find all this very satisfying.

[Prowler901]

As a former 688 class submariner, I'll be following along closely.

[RCjetdude]

It is a good looking boat.

[RCjetdude]

I taped off all the openings in each section and sloshed polyurethane primer inside. Fabricated and installed the stern plane yokes and pushrods and sanded it with 80 grit paper. It is now ready for Evercoat Rage filler and then a coat of PU primer. I test fit the sub driver from the Redoutable and will have to design and print some mounting/retaining rings which shouldn't be a big deal. There is a good possibility that I could have this one ready for next months Regatta in Cohutta, GA as well as the Ohio.

[RCjetdude]

Filling is done. She's ready for primer.

[Alpha]

RCjetdude Are you using Rage's 105, or 120, or higher?

[RCjetdude]

RCjetdude Are you using Rage's 105, or 120, or higher?

105

[RCjetdude]

First coat of Finish 1 FP410 Polyurethane high fill primer is on now.

[Elbee]

RCjetdude Now that's a great looking 'tuna'. Great work, Sir. Best, LB

[RCjetdude]

Getting ready to gut it.

[RCjetdude]

Second coat of primer is on. After some minimal sanding I will paint it. So far she has turned out great! Hard to believe it was 3D printed.

[Prowler901]

Really outstanding! It is hard to tell for sure. You've doing some amazing work on the filling and sanding.

[Alpha]

What's your weight?

I was thinking, since these are 3D printed, it would be easy to design the belly to be thicker/heavier with more infill or perhaps magnetic ballast rods. This would make trimming the boat easier to accomplish, by both giving the model a built in lower center of gravity to counteract the sail, and also by implementing a convenient way to magnetically adjust ballast inside the boat using a magnet held outside the boat. 'Just an idea.

Keep crushing it!

[RCjetdude]

What's your weight?

I was thinking, since these are 3D printed, it would be easy to design the belly to be thicker/heavier with more infill or perhaps magnetic ballast rods. This would make trimming the boat easier to accomplish, by both giving the model a built in lower center of gravity to counteract the sail, and also by implementing a convenient way to magnetically adjust ballast inside the boat using a magnet held outside the boat. 'Just an idea.

Keep crushing it!

It weighs around 2700g empty. I printed it at 100% infill. Subs have a tendency to torque in the water. The more power the more of a list. To counter that yes, you want the weight in the bottom and typically foam in the top to get the vertical center of buoyancy and center of mass as far apart as possible. Trimming a boat by adding weight to the bottom and foam to the top of the hull is very time consuming so any system incorporated into a design to help facilitate that process would be good in my book. Currently the 3D subs that are available and designed for RC are so new that features such as that just haven't yet found their way into the designs but as more of these come on-line that may all change.

[RCjetdude]

I see a grey sub and I want it painted black

[Prowler901]

Nice! What will you use for the anti-fouling paint?

[Elbee]

I see a grey sub and I want it painted black.

RCJD, 10/10 Cool Factor. Outstanding. Best, LB