Steve... That will look very cool! Can't wait to see it!

Thanks Doug,

Here is a surplus LED I got for the ROV. It puts off a yellow light, but  I'll say that will just enhances the depth and the particulates in the water.

The stiff wire will let the ROV "hover". Now I need to recreate the ROV and disguise the wire as an umbilical.

Steve

I've done before, on a much larger scale- hide the second conductor as a very short piece of black copper that holds the light engine up from the base.

I love the idea of ROV, fantastic work Steve! One of the guys in our club did something similar with a recreation of the Titanic wreck.

Thanks guys.

My idea for the ROV is to use heat shrink on the single strand wires to the LED. The power wires will exit the heat shrink at a point where they can enter into the bow at a hole at the forward most part. I will insert some single strand wire into the rest of the heat shrink and let it then head up in the direction of the surface. The power wires, which are now inside the bow, will exit through the bottom of the hull, into the Styrofoam and attach to my circuit board and switch. The ROV will be so small and light that the single strand wires should be sufficient to hold it up. The umbilical will trail from the ROV, past the hole in the bow then up. The ROV will be surveying the bow deck, as shown in the video.

Here's the idea.

The heat shrink has the 2 power wires which lead from the LED to the hole in the heat shrink. The wires will go from the hole to the supply. The other part of the heat shrink has a 28 ga solid core wire for stiffness and will continue heading up to the surface. I realize the umbilical will be a little out of scale, but that can't be helped.

I made up the little ROV using some left over PE, looking at the actual ROV and some artistic licence. I will still need to do a little touch up painting.

That should do the trick I think.

I also applied some expanding foam to the sea floor with the Bow and stern in their places and wrapped in plastic wrap so I can remove them for painting.

What a great project. Thanks for sharing your thought processes and progress with us, Steve.

Truly impressive work, and a joy to watch.

SUV is looking very cool so far.

Yes the ROV is a nice touch and adds additional interest to an already outstanding project!

Thanks guys,

This project is really a kick. I had no idea it would be so fun and it really makes me stretch outside my bubble.

I think I'll take this to the IPMS contest here in Boise as well.

modelcrazy

I think I'll take this to the IPMS contest here in Boise as well.

You should do that!

modelcrazy

I covered the bow and stern with plastic wrap, sprayed expanding foam under them and allowed it to expand out to simulate the mud, which would have piled up at impact. I then covered the expanded foam with paper and acrylic gel. After this dries, I will paint the sea floor with brown and algae green, similar to the hull, except the rust of course. The ROV will be placed at the bow and surveying the anchor chain, as in the video

Steve

M.C.;

   I have run out of expletives , " Holy Horse Poop  "doesn't come close . " Wholly Dinosaur Poop !  "LOL.LOL. You are doing a super great and interesting job .This is truly a work of art !

Hey Greg !

   You know what ? If he does , He'll blow them away !   T.B.

tankerbuilder

Hey Greg !

   You know what ? If he does , He'll blow them away !   T.B.

Agreed, TB.

Thank you so much Greg and TB, the praise is much appreciated,

tankerbuilder

M.C.;

   I have run out of expletives , " Holy Horse Poop  "doesn't come close . " Wholly Dinosaur Poop !  "LOL.LOL. You are doing a super great and interesting job .This is truly a work of art !

Lol, I'm just going to say WOW, COOL!!! 

Steve... I am dying to see this one done!!! Excellent work so far, and very creative!

Thanks again guys,

I worked on the seafloor today. I sprayed Loctite spray adhesive, then sprinkled some dirt, which was pulverized into dust, onto it. I sprayed it again and repeated the process. Next, I'll add some debris from the spare parts box, run the wires for the ROV and install the bow and stern. I'll then sprinkle some silt onto the parts and add some seafife. I think I'll spray the whole thing with an acrylic gloss to simulate wetness, which should darken the silt.
I'm almost done.

Very Cool!  Question please... What was the expanding foam you used? Wasn't Great Stuff was it?

Rigidrider

What was the expanding foam you used? Wasn't Great Stuff was it?

It was "Touch N Foam Home Seal" minimally expanding. The cheapest off brand I could.

You made a wise decision - if inadvertently. Quite a few years ago I bought a can of Great Stuff to plug up several leaks in the house where the Orkin guy and I thought roaches might be getting in (around the sink  pipes in the kitchen and bathrooms, the washer line, the vent pipe in the roof, etc.). I started by  getting under the kitchen sink. The can of Great Stuff let out a huge gusher of...stuff, which immediately expanded to at least three times its original size. Then the valve stuck in the On position.

That...stuff isn't cheap, so I was put in the embarrassing position of running around the house with that gushing can in my hand, yelling at everybody to get out of my way, while I made my way to all three bathrooms and up the ladder to the attic. Needless to say, when I was done I threw the can away.

I hate Great Stuff.

Amazing model. It shows a rare combination of research, scale modeling, ingenuity, and artistry. I'm looking forward to the finished product. And I can't believe how FAST you've done it!

LOLOL...Sorry JTilley, but I can picture that happening! I've used it several times but you never know how much to start with, and the last time I used it, I replaced a walk in door to my garage, and used it to fill in around the door before putting the trim on. the next morning I came out and there were huge blobs of the stuff that had oozed out all around the door trim! LOLOL... had to scrape and retrim dry wall and sand before being able to paint. What a mess...

Doug

Thank you Mr Tilley,

I'm hopping  to have some completed pics soon. I have both sections installed, everything wired, and the silt spread. I am now working on attaching the sea life.

By the way. When I was a contractor, I was roughing in a soaker bathtub in a house. My partner had just sprayed a couple cans worth of the stuff under the tub for insulation purposes. So it starts it's expanding trick, and bulges out about a foot, which was typically fine as we would just cut away the excess the next day. Well I dropped my brand new 30' tape measure into the goop and watched it swallow it like the blob. I wasn't about to stick my hand t in there, so when we cut it away the next day, I retrieved my measure but couldn't get the stuff off it. I still have that tape measure, and it is still mostly covered with Great Stuff.

This is where I'm at so far. I need to attach some sea life to everything, and set the lighting mood in my "studio" (garage) to take final pictures, but here's a small taste. The ROV is lit, but you can't really see it with the ambient light. I wish I could make the ROV umbilical a little smaller. I'll hit it with a heat gun again to see what I can do.

Yo !

  Don't ruin all that beautiful work now . If it won't get smaller , Well , So What ? You are doing some kind of fantastic job . In my imagination I can just barely see the umbilical for the R.O.V. , so there ! !

I can't wait to see the whole thing.  This is such an interesting project, particularly adding the ROV!

Groot