After having poor results the first time in the hot tub I had some doubts the Nautilus could be neutral bouncy trimmed. The hulls for this model were really meant for a static display model. They are heavy 1630 resin hulls.
I was able to get a nice trim and get it back to the surface but if I ever lost power with this ballast system I wouldn’t be able to return to the surface. This could cause the loss of the sub if not visible in murky waters. To avoid this possible outcome we trim the boats neutral so that just a tiny bit of the tower (or wheel house in this case) will stick up out of the water when the sub is brought to rest. It will always float slowly back to the surface and the slightest amount of forward motion allows the operator to dive and level under water.
Once on the surface you pump air into the ballast tank and the sub rises to its natural water line height.
I took it back to the studio yesterday and slowly but surely found every nook and cranny I could to place more ballast foam. When I got it home I placed it back in the hot tub and viola! With the tank full she sits high out of the water like the boat in the movie. Fill the tank and she sits with the wheelhouse frog eyes just showing.
Can’t wait to at long last run this boat at Yorba State Park lake in September.
The Art of Steve Neill 