Reviewing Small Worlds Model HMS Trenchant

 

Dave Manley of Small World Models has recently released a 1/96 scale size model of HMS Trenchant (S91), the HMS Trenchant is the 5th boat of the Trafalgar class submarine serving in the Royal Navy.

 

 

What make the Trenchant somewhat unique in the Trafalgar class is that in 1999 it was sporting an experimental disruptive camouflage schema.  This paint job was intended to break up the visual signature of the hull on the surface and shallow littoral waters.  Ironically this paint job should allow RC submarine operators to better see their models while operating them in submerged operations compared to other black toned nuclear submarines.

 

 

This is Dave’s 4th submarine model in production, he also offers the following models all in 1/96 scale:

  • USS Blueback
  • Japanese Oyashio Class
  • Russian Kilo 877

 

A Sierra class submarine is to be the next project Small World Models tackles.

 

The SWM Trenchant at 1/96 scale measures in at a length of 35 inches, a width of 4 inches, and is 6 and 3/4 inches high from the keel to the top of the sail.  I find this a comfortable size for two reasons first it is small enough to easily transport, and second it is large enough to work on from a linkage standpoint.

 

When you order the complete package from Small World Models you will get the following:

  • Fiberglass Hull and Sail
  • 3 and 1/2 inch WTC with Propel Ballast System
  • Motor, speed control with BEC and universal joint
  • Appendages and fittings

 

What you can expect when this kit arrives.

A quick shot of the hull right out of the box.

The hull with the supplied WTC.

 

The hull with the supplied fittings.

 

Other items that you will need to supply when building this model included the following:

 

  • a four channel radio transmitter and receiver
  • three standard size servo’s
  • Automatic Pitch Controller (APC)
  • Sub Safe lost signal detector
  • 7.2 V battery pack
  • a stand

 

 

 

I had received my model before Dave had yet completed writing the instructions for this kit, however based on the completeness of this kit and my previous submarine modeling experience, I found it quite intuitive to what the natural build up would be.  From a work to do standpoint to get the boat put together there are five major components. They work element are as follows:

 

  • open up the required limber holes
  • install the supplied fittings
  • install the electronics
  • painting the boat
  • install the WTC and ballast the boat

 

Dave did send me a copy of the instructions after the fact, I found them good, but would also recommend picking up a copy of Dave Merriman’s Skipjack building guide if happen to be a first time builder, as it fills in a lot of blanks that Dave Manley left out.

 

The following documentation is not intended to be the a to z of building up an R/C boat, but I wanted to convey the amount of work required to get the Trenchant running and highlight some of the simplicities incorporated into the Small World Models design.

 

 

Opening the Limber Holes

 

Dave has already done the work in opening the holes on the top of the submarine hull for you, this leaves the owner responsible for opening up those on the bottom.  The following two photos depict which holes to open up.

 

 

This work can be accomplished in a couple of hours with a dremel tool and small file.

Installing the Supplied Fittings

 

The must install appendages that are supplied with the kit include the sail, the rudders, the sonar dome, and some vent covers.  An assortment of antenna’s and periscopes are also supplied with this kit as well as front dive planes.  Typically I do not install periscopes on my working models, but here is a picture of what is available based on Dave’s build up of his model.

The sail and rudders simply attach via an allen key screw, and the only three parts that I had to CA into place where the sonar dome and the two vent covers.

 

Vent Cover

 

Sonar Dome

 

This is officially the least amount of glue I have used on any of my models.

 

Installing the Electronics

 

Bottom line, no soldering iron is required.  The hardest part of installing the electronics and getting the linkages working is installing the servos and programming the speed control.  The problem is, it isn’t that hard to do. 

 

To program the speed control which is supplied with the kit make sure the transmitter is turned on and the throttle is in the neutral position, and the speed control plugged into the desired channel on the receiver.  Within the first two seconds of powering up the receiver hit the set button on the speed control,  move the throttle to full forward, back to neutral, then to full reverse, and finally back to neutral. Presto you’re done.

 

Installing the three standard sized servo’s isn’t much harder either, and what is unique about the Small World model design is that you don’t have to worry about linkage push roads binding as they egress through the WTC.  One quick tip here is to plug the servos into your receiver and insure they are in the neutral position before installing the servo horns that mate to the external linkage.

 

Supplied Servo Horns Installed.

 

Once the servos are ready to be installed they either just slide into place or bolt it on to the pre-defined position.

 

Ballast Tank Servo

Rudder and Stern Plane Servos

The rest of the electronics install is typical with any other submarine. The APC goes serially in line between the receiver and the dive plane servo, and the Sub Safe goes serially in line between the ballast tank servo and the receiver.  The 7.2V battery supply will connect directly to the pre-wired speed control supplied with the kit.

 

Here is the WTC with everything installed.

 

Painting

 

The Trenchant has two available colour schemes to model after, the first being all black, and the second and more exciting in my opinion, is the disruptive camouflage pattern.

 

 

I elected to go with the disruptive camouflage pattern and used the following paints.

 

Krylon – flat black spray can

Testors – Model Masters FS Bright Blue

Testors – Model Masters Navy Gloss Gray

Testors - Model Masters Light Ghost Grey

 

I then handed the hull and paints off to the painting department (my wife) and she produce the following results.

 

 

 

Konnie is a mother, full time emergency room nurse, and top notch submarine painter.  She has my vote for mother of the year.

 

Installing the WTC and Ballasting the Boat

 

What is somewhat unique about this kit is that the hull has a molded fitted slot for the WTC with tie down Velcro already installed.  There is no way the WTC will shift while in operation to miss-align the control linkages, and you know the WTC is level with respect to the model. 

 

The WTC can then be connected to the dive plane and rudders, and the drive shaft can be connected to the motor via a universal joint. 

WTC Linkage Set Up

 

The one and only snag that I hit with this kit was with the connection of the drive shaft.  Once installation was complete I found that some of the blades of the propulsor (a really fancy propeller) would bind with the shroud.  This is not really surprising based on the really tight tolerances required to make a propulsor. The angle of differential introduced by the drive shaft, universal joint, and electric motor was ever so slight but some fine tuning was required.  Careful examination of the problem revealed that I need to ever so lovingly file three of the blades to correct the issue.  I took off no more then 1/16 of an inch on each of the three blades to have it turn free.      

 

From a ballasting standpoint the target values are placing 10 cubic inches of foam in the nose, and adding weight until the entire models weight (including battery) is somewhere around 6 pounds 6 ounces, which amounts to about 14 ounces of lead to be added.

 

Styrofoam placed in the bow.

Lead placed in the longitude center of the hull

 

Surface Trim

Submerged Trim

 

In Water Performance

 

One word, OUTSTANDING!  This boat is very responsive and maneuverable when submerged, as with most submarines it does not perform as well on the surface.    With the Trenchant you can expect about a 5 to 7 foot turning diameter while submerged, and about 10 to 12 feet on the surface depending on the speed of the model.

 

This is one of the RC toys that I have where I will hand the controls over to a stranger based on how responsive it is.  For the U/W video and photo’s my wife Konnie was driving with only 5 minutes at the helm of any RC vehicle.  You can see how she did at

http://www.bcliffe.com/subs/video/Trench.mpg

 

 

 

 

Some General Comments and First Impression of the Kit

 

There are a lot of things this kit does well which include, good fiberglass work, excellent scribing and relief work as well as the best indexing lip I have every seen. 

 

The hull halves are cut with a Z cut, and the excellent indexing lip only requires a single allen screw beneath the hull to hold the two halves together. 

 

The high degree of quality of the kit means that no sanding or filler is required in order to fill in gaps in the hull halves, or re-shape the hull in any way.

 

Something I think this kit will be setting a bench mark for in other kits is the amount of scribed detail and relief work that is embedded into the hull.  There is just an astounding amount of detail captured.

 

At first I was a little disappointed in the fact that an allen key is required to remove the linkages and drive shaft from the rear section of the WTC.  I think this is most likely because I was used to the D&E Miniatures WTC with the quick connect ball and socket method.  I had debated switching the Small World Model WTC to work with the same principle, but have since concluded that my initial disappointment was small minded and petty on my part. I now find the allen key setup is just as quick and easy to connect/disconnect the WTC from the hull and now have no plans on making any changes.

 

 

 

 

Summary

 

This is in fact my first dealing with Small World Models, and I have never personally seen any of Dave models with my own eyes until the Trenchant arrived.  I honestly bought this model on faith. I have always been a fan of the Trafalgar class submarines and was looking to expand my 1/96 scale fleet.  In 1/96 scale I own a Scale Shipyards  Alpha, a D&E Minatures Skipjack, and Thor Design Seawolf.  My shelves had an empty spot on it begging to be filled, so when the Trenchant came on the market I jumped at the chance, hoping that it would be in-line with what I knew the other Small World Models products were like.   

 

 

 

I have to say this model has exceeded all of my expectations.  If you knew any of my work colleges, they would tell you that it is next to impossible to shockingly impress me based on quality of work and ingenuity.  This kit did it on both fronts.  Not only does this kit have a very high degree of scribed detail, and first rate fiberglass work, it is a comprehensive all in one design. With good building instructions this should almost make this kit a no-brainer for first time submarines builders.  For those that are not first time builders the accuracy and the intricate details contained in this kit will make up for the fact that it is an extremely easy build.   

 

More pictures and video of this model in operation can be found on my website at http://www.bcliffe.com/subs/Submarines.html

 

I would encourage everyone to closely examine this model should the chance present itself. This is one you really need to see to appreciate.