Stingray sub

[Steve Brown 8Participant @stevebrown8]

R/c model

[Steve Brown 8Participant @stevebrown8]

Hi all,

Just signed up, hope someone can point me in the right direction. I'm looking to either adapt or build from scratch a replica surface r/c Stingray sub as from the Gerry Anderson series. I have looked all over the internet and found a few others that have done this, any help appreciated, and I look forward to being a member of this forum.

Steve

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Would it be possible to scale-up these plans.

**LINK**

[Steve Brown 8Participant @stevebrown8]

Hi Tony

Thanks for the link, I'll print the drawings out and have a detailed look.

Regards Steve

[Phil H1Participant @philh196021]

Steve,

Great idea for a model. You just need somebody else to build one of those torpedo firing fish things.

[Steve Brown 8Participant @stevebrown8]

Hi Phil, That's the plan after Stingray,I've seen one on another site and looked amazing 👍🏻

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Steve good luck with that. It is on my "to-do" list, but what an atrocious shape to replicate.

The ratemaster propulsion unit gets my vote for the tricky bit and hiding a propeller underneath the sub will just not do!

Ashley

[Steve Brown 8Participant @stevebrown8]

I know what you mean about the shape Ashley, and from what I've seen on other sites the ratemaster seems to be formed from moulds. Maybe I may be better off getting one of the bigger matchbox models off eBay and converting.

Steve

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Steve. The Matchbox model would, I feel, convert adequately into a surface runner. It is big enough to provide space for the gear (but would still be a bit fiddly) and filled with foam it would have the required buoyancy.

You could consider doing a vacform hull. In this instance, I would imagine three parts would do, making the "tool" from Styrofoam and having a very thin styrene outer shell. The foam would stay in place and you simply carve out the space you need to suit.

A bottom half, top half and cabin might do, and you may even go as far as having a ratemaster vacformed from clear styrene… It would not by crystal clear but that would be ok. Fins and so on could be added separately. Two baulks of foam could be secured together and the whole thing carved to shape, separated and you would have your moulds.

A non diving model does not need to follow the underwater profile as exactly as might be the case, and supposedly the Stingray was very fast above water, and this would demand a different underwater hull shape than exists. Similarly the ratemaster needs to be powerful…. A point to consider is that you need much less power to go fast underwater than you do above the water (to a point)… a "decks awash" Stingray could be made to go fairly nippily but keeping it submerged at speed with that shape would be a challenge.

You could consider simplifying the shape a bit. The various toys (Matchbox, for instance) are much more dumpy than the TV series one, which is quite thin.

I think the ratemaster unit has to look the part for a good Stingray: Could be made by turning a lump of Acrylic and polishing after. It has to rotate when the craft is in motion (and I have thought of that ). Realistically the unit has to be mostly submerged, tricky when the slim original has the unit on the centreline….a case there for dickering with the model to get the unit where it should be.

Does depend on why you want to build one I suppose….something "for the look" on the water could obviously be made much easier than a pukka scale model. See some of my boats for dickering with dimensions in order to achieve fuss-free radio control!

Ashley

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Steve,

Some years ago in the 1990s, a member of the Bury (North Manchester) club moulded a good sized Stingray model. He used to run it just under the surface for a good distance at what a submariner would call periscope depth and it looked absolutely stunning running underwater with lights on.

Ashley makes some very good points in his post. If you do build a Matchbox one, why not see it as 'quick on to the water' model, then research and build a 'proper' one.

Good luck with the project.

[Steve Brown 8Participant @stevebrown8]

Yes Tony, some good points from Ashley, I think as a test run firstly I'll adapt a matchbox model as a surface runner then look at forming one later. Will be a great project, thanks for your support guys.

[Author]

Posts