27.01.2015
Finally, I got a Shinkai 6500 submersible and of all the places, it was through ICW’s “In Good Hands” Member Stash Sale yesterday. Originally, it was the Bandai’s bigger 1/48 scale which I was after but they slipped through my hands many times when I was unemployed.
Then again, I am so happy that I have a Shinkai 6500 for the moment!
And so, here it is, the 1/72 scale submersible from Hasegawa. As I do not have the Bandai 1/48 version, it is not easy to compare the models. But then again, it would be like comparing oranges to grapefruits.
The only difference, apart from the obvious sizes, is that Bandai’s have a lighting system plus 5 figures and removable panels.
There is really not much runenrs for such a small model but then, if you take a closer look, you would be surprised at the details. Plus, if you gently glide your fingers across the hulls you can feel the fine rivets molded in there!
And here are the remaining runners. Do note that although there are some clear parts, its mainly for the small observation window (which you cannot peek inside) and the base.
As an added bonus, you are given a small A5 fact sheet card. Since I do not understand Japanese, it is no use for me.
Here is a closer look at one of the sprues. Yes, Hasegawa has come to a point even parts like these are no problem for them anymore.
Update: There are now a few versions of the kit where the updated submersible has twin propellers. If you want to have a spinning propeller, you would need to look for this part.
I am very tempted to kit-bash this into some sort of space tugboat or something. But after revisiting my original idea for a diorama, I do think that this 1/72 (and not the 1/48) is the perfect scale afterall…
I have started to go for another model, which I felt could make me feel accomplised to the loss of my Mojo (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.764838610258971.1073742131.374587389284097&type=3&__tn__=-UK*F.).
The more I looked and examined this Shinkai submersible, I was amazed at how it was using a few motors to get around. At this point, I have not researched more into the model but does the steering motor looked like torpedoes to you?
The main thruster motor is what I am concentrating on here. If I am not mistaken, it can swivel horizontally.
My plan to drill right through everything and drive the propeller from the geared motor will make it look inaccurate. But then, given at this scale, I cannot help it. Just imagine with me, the Shinkai 6500 cruising under the Sea, with its propeller slowing turning….
I am totally exhausted from a 13-hour today. And so, this is the only work that I got done, which is to use a drill bit to drill a pass-though hole from the rear and into the body.
Although the thruster fan assembly can swivel, this makes my drilling inaccurate but then again, its late in the night and I do not care about accuracy in this anymore. Plus, I really am not in the mood for doing the Eagle Transporter.
Although today is a Public Holiday, I am still literally working. Taking what’s left of my few minute’s break, I decided to first coat the inner parts of the Shinkai’s front with Krylon Fusion Black. This is to minimise light leaks.
Then, in less than 15 minutes later, I used a Krylon Metallics Silver in the hopes that the LED lighting in there would be somewhat amplified. Now, its on to locate a nice background picture of the Shinkai 6500’s interior wall…
There is nothing much to do in terms of painting the model. As its plastic is already white, just like the real thing, the best I am going to do is to spray a clear gloss over it.
But, before that, I decided to use the Tamiya Grey Panel Lines to subtly weather it a little bit.
With the middle torpedoes in place, suddenly the submersible feels very cramped. I had to shorten the plastic piping and also cut away more of the plastic so that they do not obstruct the moving parts. Now, all I have to do is to just align the motor up in a straight line, which, by design is actually the half-line between the two hulls.
But that is not the end of the story. See the small cylinder below the motor? That’s where I will be sticking the brass rod up with the power cables inside it…
Well, things did not go as planned as I was too busy at work. This was supposed to be done on a Saturday. Anyway, I am using JB Weld for this. What I did was to plug one end with wet tissue and then drip the JB Weld into it and as soon as it looked OK, I plugged in the end with more wet tissue. Then I left it overnight.
Good Morning!
Just taking a look at JB Weld and it does look solid. Anyway, time to go to work and I hope by this evening, it would be done!
I just hope there are no shorting in the wiring though….
The Shinkai needs to be lit and I am only going to use one LED to do it. This LED will have double function, which is to light up the interior and also, the source of Shinkai’s camera spotlights.
I will need two types of fibre-optics for the job. One is the bigger 1.0mm for the front hull and the other is the 0.75mm for one of the cameras. As there are only two strands of fibre-optics, I won’t be using the heat-shrink tubing. So, I drilled two holes (1.0mm & 0.75mm) for the fibre-optics and hope they will stay in there as I would be friction fit them.
Next, I drilled two small holes in the separating plastic piece where I would put the LED’s legs through. Then I would solder the longest lead (which is the positive) to the positive terminal of the motor. The I cut short the lead to the 51ohm resistor and soldered to the negative terminal of the motor. And after some measuring, I cut and tinned the remaining lead of the resistor and soldered it to the negative lead of the LED.
Note that I am using the 1/8watt version of the resistor which is much smaller than the usual 1/4watt resistor.
I made a mistake here. In my rush to get the Shinkai 6500 done as fast as possible, I forgot that the single LED idea cannot work. This is because the spotlight located at the front of the submersible. As the Firbre-optic cannot be bent much, I decided to drill a hole across and into the main body. Halfway through only did I realise this because I was drilling through into the holes where the horizontal thusters were!
So, I had to improvise and used a 3528 white SMD LED instead. I mushroom head the fibre-optic which I got from Raymond Loke of Infinite Creation Workshop, cut it short (around 3mm) and used white glue to make sure it does not fall out.
And so, this is how the wiring looked like now. And the Shinkai 6500 now uses two LEDs; a SMD 3528 and a 5mm.
Just for fun, here is how the light effect looked like. The top spotlight has very bad light blocking but I have to accept this as my mistake. As for the bottom spotlight, I cheated a bit with the 0.75mm fibre-optic which I drilled through and into the body. I will need to paint it silver to match the rest of the assembly later on.
You know, after playing with it for a few minutes, and despite the light leaks, the loud motor is starting to annoy me. Maybe I need to find a more quiet motor…
