Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Pleasure boats, Sports, Race, Power and Leisure Boats: => Topic started by: steamboatbob on September 28, 2008, 05:04:11 am
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Hi guys,
This is my first build thread so please be gentle with me as i need a little constructive criticism.
Background
Hmmmm- ok i have built a 1400 long paddlesteamer "PS-PILAT" from plans
i am currently doing the "build the bismarck" that martin is also attempting
African Queen Alas i do not have any photos of her as she went out the door to a new member of my club.
Kyosho-Wave Master
Graupner Jet-Sprint
and have been a cabinet maker for around 10 years so working with wood is almost second nature to me now
this was my paddlesteamerits around 1450mm long almost 5feet in the old language
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/pilatalmostthere.jpg)
ok here goes
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Step 1
Lay out tools so they all look nice and pretty (LOL)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/1.jpg)
also decide before you start building this monster about a few things like How it is to be powered, battery, drive system, i will explain these at a latter date but for now
this one will be powered by a 6 turn Feigao Brusless Motor 5070 Kv
twin Lipo Batteries at 11.2 V
Xpower 100Amp ESC, computer programable
Fullers Fast Electrics Crumbgrabber Hydro Drive Hardware.
these items are all water cooled, except the batteries, so i also need to think about how i am to make this happen.
the other major thaught you should look at is the finiching process you will go for and how you are going to construct this beast as the instruction from billings is very vague to be honest so I have invested in a lot of planking clamps and Titebond3 PVA glue as this is water proof when dry (i use this product at work for wet areas and it holds extremly well in damp situations) and i have decided to go with the west system epoxy to finish off the veneering.
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Step 2
make a decent building slip as this boat definately needs one
here is mine
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/3.jpg)
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Glue on the main frames to your slip making sure that they are square and that they dry square as this will cause many problems later on if it is not done properly
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/4.jpg)
after this is done then the main support beams can be placed along the hull
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/6.jpg)
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i came across my first mistake at this point when i rechecked my hull for squareness and as it turned out my last frame was slightly twisted so out came the saw and a slight adjustment
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/5.jpg)
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next came along the fun bit
Sanding the hull frames ::) i have made this easier on myself by making a sanding pad from a length of wood 291mm*100mm this allows you to slip on a sanding belt from a belt sander and using to dowles on one side gives you a very flat surface to sand from but dont get carried away as you can sand too much away very quickly as shown below
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/10-1.jpg)
the yellow arrow was where i had sanded away too much as the front triangular piece needed to be tapered off, the green arrow shows where i will need to sand down to the frame
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Next bit
Planking
this is easy but if you have not done it before
1 - Get as many planking clamps as you think you will need i have around 30 as this suits me for most models that i have built
2 - Draw a center line down the full length of the hull this should have been done to the frames before removing them from the sprues but i got sidetracked
3 - test fit your first plank and check the frames to see that you have not sanded any hollows in the framesas it will show up later
4 - get all you clamps ready and glue ready to use
5 - put a small amount of glue on the frames and clamp down the planks not rushing but be mindfull of the glue setting
6 - wait for the glue to cure for this first on as all your planks will follow this line
7 - for the consecutive planks dry fit the plank first and remove any glue from the frames that has gone hard i use a small plane blade to do this
8 - Mark out the next plank and drill holes using a 1.2mm drill bit for the clamps to sit in
9 - put down a little glue on the frames and run a small bead along the first plank
10 - clamp the plank in place and also to help line up the planks perfectly put a spring clamp in between the frames to level out your planks as shown in picture 2
srry bout the image quality of this one
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/8.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/9.jpg)
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i have decided to add a little support on the side to help when i amplanking down there a scrap 5mm square length is placed over the thin ply already in place for the same reason
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/7.jpg)
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OK
after putting 3 planks either side of the centre line it is time to stop planking for now and start on the bottom of the boat as the base will need a coating of epoxy on both sides to stop it from bowing and looking ugly as a finished product and as the instructions from billings tells you to plank the entire top section before doing th bottom i decided on doing it my way as you cannot acces the bottom of the boat after planking the top section.
firstly carefully cut the hull away from the building slip taking care not to damage the frames
secondly give a good sanding to the bottom to get it flat
you need lots of clamps and always test fit the piece before putting it in place as many other builds on this forum have stated billings wood is not cut accurately but fortunately i have not come across any YET!!! O0
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/11.jpg)
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do not throw away the slip after you have cut it from the hull
after applying the bottom sheet i have moved to the inner sides of the sponsons as they need to be planked and strengthened as i am putting a turn fin in this area
the first planks are fairly easy just remember to soak the planks in water first as they need to be bent a little
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/12.jpg)
then after this has cured overnight get your slip that was cut away and glue them inbetween the frames to add a lot of support to this area as shown below these should slide in nicely
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/13.jpg)
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here are some of the main tools i have used for the build
my big sander, i use this quite a lot
a violin makers block plane,80mm long, speciality woodworking shops should carry these they are extremly good at taking off bulk amounts of wood very quickly and accurately but they must be kept sharp
and my chisel
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/14.jpg)
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ok all sanded and ready for the base of the sponsons to go on the inner walls have now been bulked up from 1mm thick to around 6 mm thick so this should take the load pressure placed on them from the turn fins.
after i put the sponson bottom on for a dry fit you can see below the difference in the cut sizes and what billings expect you to sand away >>:-(
i should have expected this after reading orbys build thread
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/16.jpg)
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now this was fixed by running a pencil line on the frames and shaving it back to that point as in the past when i have built billings boats this is generally the best way of doing things as they tend to oversize the miliply to allow for mistakes, so instead of adding a lot of material i will take off a small amount.
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i will be going on holiday for a week down to the winery regions of West Australia for nice good look and sample of their reds so feel free to comment on my build and ill get back to you guys in a weeks time
O0 ;D
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ok this is just a little off track but along the same lines
and i know many people will ask this question of themselves
this is only for electric setups as i have no idea about nitro and gas engines and as there are no local lakes around with the council approval to do so i have been stuck with electrics.
How do i choose my racing hardware ????
well to be blunt there is no answer
but the following steps will help you on the way
you need to ask yourself
1 What is my budget???
2 what performance am i looking for
3 What type of boat do you have
Motors
Brushed are the cheaper version for a boat like mine you could get away with a graupner speed 600 race BB motor
brushless the possibilities are endless but are a lot more expensive a setup to organise
cheaper brands would be FEIGAO which are a decent motor around $70 USD
the more reliable but a lot more expensive brands would be NEU $200-$300 USD
ESC
i must say if you can spend as much money on a decent esc as if you have the wrong setup your boat can turn into a big fireball very quickly
the are many brands around but lookaround on the internet and find one but if you are running brushless try and get an esc that is computer programable as they are easier to use
BATTERIES
Ni CD - good,cheap starting point but they develop a memory and you can find yourself buying new ones very freequently and are very heavy
NiMH - no memory (supposedly) little bit more expensive than NiCD but a good all rounder
LiPo - extremly light but Can be very Expensive and most clubs have rules about charging Lipo batteries as they can rarely explode while charging (i have seen this happen and it is not a good sight)
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=z3o_2mwRPdw (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=z3o_2mwRPdw)
watch the link to see what happens to a lipo if not charged properly
Hardware rudders and the rest of that junk
Depending on the type of boat you have wll depend on the type of hardware you can use
there are a few places around which will sell you a setup for a fast electric
http://www.drcwebservices.com/ffe/hardware.htm (http://www.drcwebservices.com/ffe/hardware.htm) this is a good place to start
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/ this is also a good shop wich sells everything you will need
if you guys need any more answers on this just post in here and i shall attemp to answer you
i will be posting my full hardware setup for my boat very shortly just as a reference
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ok this is what i have purchased and where from for my slo mo as the hardware you get is just not really that good
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/19.jpg)
1. ESC. Xpower 100Amp water cooled with computer programable interface (plugs into a usb port and use the downloaded software to configure it)
this was purcased from http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/
2. Motor is a Feagio L 5070 (KV basically that means 5070 rpm per volt) also purchased from offshore electrics
Motor is cooled by a standard watercooling jacket from same place
Motor Mount is fully tilt and hight adjustable also availablie from Offshore Electrics
3. Gold plated Banana plug terminals for the wiring 5Male 5Female
4. water cooling bulkhead inlet Stainless Steel
water cooling outlet Stainless Steel
(all of the above items can be found at offshore electrics0
5. rudder and flexshaft mount (called crumbgrabber package ) this pack i got from Fullers Fast Electrics this set has a water pickup in the rudder predrilled to get some cool action happening. http://www.drcwebservices.com/ffe/Default.htm and is the 1/8 version. this just requires a little stiffening on the rear of the boat and bolts straight on
Items Yet To Be Purchased
6. Batteries i am thinking lipos atm as this setup has a high power drain and most other types of cells will not cope with this amount of drain and around the 11.2 mark for voltage
7. Prop this is one area that i know diddly squat about so i might be calling on some knowledge when i get to this stage
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(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/18.jpg)
these two little uprights might prove to be a difficult fix i think i am going to just add a little material to the top like orby did but kep the same profile happening
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anyhow i started to put the outside botoms on the sponsons first as this seems to be the way to go so the front section can be sanded to fit
view of the top of the boat showing both sponsons on the inside hte right hand side has cured and hes been sanded flat
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/20.jpg)
this is the finished sponson cured and ready for resin
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/21.jpg)
this is the sponson on the right which needs the glue to cure and sanding back flush to make a nice join
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/22.jpg)
these sponsons need a very sharp corner on the inside of them so if you are doing this build please do not chamfer these corners as this will lead to bad cornering a sharp sponson is always better in the turns. but this can be helped by a turn fin which i will cover later in the build.
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ok here is the work done so far today
1. here is one i prepared earlier i thaught about the front end and decided to score the ply and clamped into place overnight to bend it,firstly score a few lines in the direction of the bend then put a bit of boiling water in a tupperware tub (don't let the missus see you doing this ;D I got an absolute earfull ) leave in there for five minuts. clamp into place and hey presto one very curved bit of ply in the right shape. a word of warning though dont let the ply sit in the water too long as the glue will separate and you then have to find a bit of ply which can be troublesome.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/24.jpg)
2. i added a little support down the centre of the underside for a little added strength as i found out from hagars post about his slomo about a site with actual photos of the origional slomoshun which showed the front piece should be in two sections rather than the single rounded piece that billings supplied so i have cut the front bit in two and am using the extra support to make it straight.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/25.jpg)
3. oh boy what fun this is just a pic here of how i have glued on the front piece and also showing the ridge. I have left the front pieces oversized for now as when i come to start my epoxying the internals hopefully today it won't leak out of the gaps and these can be planed off or sanded later on.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/26.jpg)
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Hi Steamboat,
Looking good, but I have a few Q's.
Are you building from a kit, or from scratch. If the later, which scale are we in. In some of the pictures, it looks pretty big, in others not so big.
I'm doing one to, in 1/8 scale.
Its actually by first boat build, so still got lots to learn.
I like the way you did a few of the top planks, then cut it off the board to do the bottom. Wish I had thought of that. I have been wodering how I am going to "varnish" the inside...
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This one is the billings kit 1:12 scale
she works out at around 700 mm long without rudder and prop and 300 wide at the sponsons
most of the photos are taken very close up
and sadly to report my daughter just had fun with a whole buch of epoxy i had just mixed and i had to throw it out she mixed in her finger paints while my back was turned (two year olds are fun like that) :D
and suffice to say i did not have enough resin to complete the underside >>:-(
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hi guys,
Now with resins and getting that perfect glassy finish i shall let you guys in on an industry tool i use at work called a "CABINET SCRAPER". as i have seen other build threads and seen people using glass razors and other sharp and dangerous items.
A cabinet scraper, to put it bluntly is a small piece of high carbon steel around the same size as a credit card and ranging in thickness from .05 mm to 2.5mm along one edge of a cabinet scraper there is a burr so you cannot cut your fingers on them using this burr dragged over a veneer it will bring it up to a shine its almost like using a bit of 1500 grit paper but it leaves a flatter surface on solid timber it will actually put a shine on the wood without using resins or enamel paints.
you should be able to find one in a speciality woodworking hardware most model shops do not have a clue about these
the link below is a site which basically tells you about them
http://www.woodzone.com/articles/scrapers/index.htm
and another site which is very useful
http://woodgears.ca/scraper/index.html
all give good info in regards to scrapers and they perform better than a razor or glass
give me a pm if ya want more info or look around on the web as there are various shaped scrapers out there i use a curved one myself but its all up to you O0
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HI guys just reporting in that the first batch of resin has finally gone on and been sanded back. I will be placing a 2nd and third thicker layer on the inside of the boat before i continue any more real building but there were a few things to note during the sanding, at the second frame from the front a lot more resin is required at the join from the sponson bottoms to the front bottom panels as the ply is extremely thin and after sanding it back flat i almost can see daylight.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/28.jpg)
the other major part i modified was the bottom part of the 5th frame from the front was completely cut away as to allow the motor and mount enough room to be put into the hull very soon i will be installing the hardware to give myself an idea as to where everything will go. the install is not a final one except that i will be gluing th motor mount to the bottom and sorting out a good place to put the servo, esc, watercooling ducts outlets and inlets i will also need to make a stuffing tube for the flex cable but am a little unsure about it atm but i think a quick trip down to one of my mates will sort that out.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/27.jpg)
I am also starting to think that the plastic recesses for the motor cowling will not be going on as i need as much space as possible at the moment and the top of the motor is only 6mm from the bottom of the planking.
anhow till next time
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OK next stage
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/32.jpg)
this is after two coats of resin with at least two more to go so it will be sanding night tonight for me as you guys can see it is fairly bumpy until that smoothness has appeared.
but i have just test fitted the more important hardware for the moment as this will dictate the positioning of everything to make a good centre of gravity. The boat atm weighs in at .760 kg with all hardware onboard, so is a bit lightweight but there is a lot more to go in receiver, batteries
here are a few piccies of what they look like, the stuffing tube was a tester i made in aluminium. just use a propane torch and give a gentle curve but it gives me a good template for me to make one out of brass at a latter stage of the build.
if you have any queries Pm me or whack in a post and I'll answer as soon as i can
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/29.jpg)
the little stainless steel thingy sticking out to the left of the rudder is a water line bulkhead nozzle it will allow me to use the water pickup on the rudder, and not need a separate waterpickup that will put the boat offline in a straight run
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/30.jpg)
the little stainless steel thing on the right sponson is the water outlet I just thaught that this would be a good place to put it so i can have sight of the water comming out so during any water fun i can tell if my water cooling is working or not.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/31.jpg)
one real good hint here ( Make sure you take the ruddy teflon tubing out before you bend the tube :embarrassed: i forgot and kinda ruined one )
but i have enough leftover pieces to make a new one so no harm done just heat the pipe over a gentle curve like a big tin of coffee something that has a diameter of around 150mm and you should be right as rain but dont sit the pipe in the heat for a long time as the tube will distort and your flex shaft will become very tight and place a bigger amp load on your motor and esc.
i found that when i got the tubing from my local hobby shop they had a flex shaft in the same size as my stuffing tube so when i made the second one (the first was ruined by the melted teflon). I placed the flex cable inside the stuffing tube and then heated it up i found this to be an excellent way to make sure your stuffing tube does not crease or distort in shape.
Happy Building
STEAMBOATBOB
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the little stainless steel thing on the right sponson is the water outlet I just thaught that this would be a good place to put it so i can have sight of the water comming out so during any water fun i can tell if my water cooling is working or not.
You would be better off putting it on the left sponson as with a surface drive, right mounted rudder and turn fin the boat will run much better on a clockwise circuit. Thus the outlet on the left side will be easily visible every time the boat goes by.
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now that i think i have done enough with the resining of the bottom and the placement of the hardware i am going back to the fun job of planking
WOOHOO
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/33.jpg)
as you can see in this picture i have started on the side this is so the top planking will go on flat after i have sanded back this plank to the frame level but when planking with pva glue, it takes it's time so i will show you guys in a few days what she looks like the planks that billings have supplied with the boat are not that good i have seen a lot better but i am going on with it in this way so i can show people that you can build this kit from billings with the parts that are supplied with a few minor changes as their instructions i believe are completely wrong and have been thaught up by someone that really wanted to go on holidays before they were printed. as you guys can see i have gone about this build in my own way as the billings kit way will make a great display model but be kinda useless in the water.
a person that purchased this kit needs to know a lot about modelling and billings rates it as a intermediate build which i do agree upon.
i now am thinking i should have forked out the extra dosh and gone for the AMATI kit ARNO FERRARI RACER but its a little late for that now
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/1604-new.jpg)
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The model makers Nightmare
: toddlers playing with daddy's toys >>:-(
I can only laugh at this in hindsight i thaught my two year old daughter was being a little quiet so i went to investigate and there she is playing with dads new slo-mo i found bits of planking all over the place and still am finding them but she managed to tear off the planking down one side of the rear of the hull (daddy is not impressed) but these things do happen but made me realise that i had not sanded the frames down the sides of the hull before gluing so back to square one again :-)
and when she looked at my and smiled and said "MY Boat Daddy" %) I realised that a lock needs to go onto my study door O0
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ok back into the serious side of things now
PLANKING
Groan
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/34.jpg)
this is the side that has been redone with the otherside still to be worked on working from the base of the boat i found it a lot easier as i did not have to follow a main curve and steaming or waterlogging the planks was not nessesary and ony one small filling wedge to placed on the rear to make it look good and keep the lines flowing nicely.
mind you as i am not using superglue this is taking its time i actually got to sit down all day and watch motorsport and only planked one side, but time will tell and i will be coating the inside of the sides with resin as well as i still can get at them but the outside will stay slear of the resin as i think the resin will soak all the way through the veneer and help bond it to the planks.
Has anyone had any good results by using contact glues with the veneers or would this be a waste of my time??? as i use it at work and have and endless supply on hand but i would like to hear from others and their point of view first
Cheers guys
Steamboatbob
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Looking good Steamboat.
Those little red things you hold your planks with, Where do you get those? Looks like a good thing to have in the toolbox!
Quite understand about the Arno too. Might just be my next kit, but got a couple of plans sitting here staring at me, so many choices so little time (read money!! %) )
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here is a link hagar to where you can get the clamps mate and they are a godsend to use, you just mark out where the plank is going on the hull and drill a 1.0-1.2mm hole and they screw in i cannot recomend them enough
http://www.plankonframe.com/page2.htm
you just have to be weary on a narrow frame or when you get close to an edge as it can split the frame quite easily
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Thanks for the link Bob, I might just get me some of those for the next project. Might be a bit easier than all those bl**y spring clamps.
Have you seen my little Debut?
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Ok Guys here is the latest photo
only had enough time to do a little planking atm so i am taking my time and trying to do this correct
but here is the updated photo
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/35.jpg)
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Ok next on the list
since i will not be able to get into the front of the boat after i have planked the top of it i decided that now is the time to shove some foam down there i just went down to the local rubber and foam suppliers and got them to cut me a block of scrap polystyrene at 67mm thickness (this is the distance between all of the frames). at a huge cost of $5 just for the cutting and as it was scrap there was no charge for the foam.
i thaught about getting a hotwire cutter to get a nice smooth surface and a neat job but lets face it i am a person that will not buy something unless i really need it {-) {-) {-) %% %% please note the huge amount of sarcasm, also the wifes bread cutting knife does a very good but very messy job.
the foam will pretty much hold itself into place so i do not need to glue it down except for one place in the right hand sponson i used a small bit of araldite (5 min epoxy) as this wont melt the foam if you guys attempt this please check these things as removing melted foam is a messy smelly job.
this was the finished product and now i can plank over it and not have to worry about that sinking feeling in the middle of the lake
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/36.jpg)
the other thing of note that has been done was getting resin on the inside of the sides of the boat. Very messy and very tight but it definately needs to be done to make the job a little more waterproof and a bit stronger
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OK while i was planking i had a thaught about the top of the boat when it gets planked the ply used on the sides of the sponsons is around 1 mm thick so i decided to reinforce this section so i don't get any mishaps when i am extending the planking down the sides, this will give me a larger surface area for the planks to glue down onto and a bit more strength just in case i hit a nice turning buoy i just used some scrap planks that were left over i am using epoxy to put these in and have keyed the surface with a bit of rough sandpaper i just want to bring this 1mm area up to around 4mm thick this will not change the weight of the unit too much so i am not worried and sooner or later i will have to work out my centre of gravity which unfortunately is not shown in the instructions but i will aim for around 1-2inches behind the rear of the sponsons.
i am just using spring clamps to hold the strips in place and will be putting them on 1 at a time to make things easier
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/37.jpg)
I am fairly happy with this build so far but Billings could have done a lot more to make things easier
examples
1. more accurate cutting as you can see with most builds from the billings kit. Lots of wood needs to be added or taken away to make the model be in the correct shape
2. this is supposed to be a scale model i honestly wish they went to the museum where it was housed or got a copy of the bluprints as it seems that they have guessed alot of the distances.
3. more helpful instructions would have been helpful as the directions they have given crap if you wish to put the boat into the water. like the way they want you to put the top on first the need to brace the building slip so the model does not bend, getting detailed written instructions to go hand in hand with the various pictoral instructions would be a massive help and solve most of their problems.
this is my whinge sofar but i have not started with the plastic gear as yet.
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Oh the joys of planking
i dont know if there is a more mundane task but i am getting there, it reminds me of my build the bismarck but that was double planking and oh so much fun ( I had to stop that build to do this one)
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OK guys here is a little update and lesson for the newer guys
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/41.jpg)
this image was taken a week ago but i am now into the process of shaping the planks so they fit a little better. I am still getting there though
Now the tools you need are few
1 cutting mat (unless you want to ruin the wife's dining table :})
2 SHARP Stanley knife
3 small modelers plane or violin plane
4 ruler
5 pencil
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/38.jpg)
now the process is quite simple
1 put the plank down on the model to test fit it and mark with your pencil where the planks start to overlap
2 if the plank completely overlaps the glued down plank then mark out where it finishes
3 using the ruler and pencil draw a straight line between the two marks on the plank
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/39.jpg)
4 use your Stanley knife to cut 3-4mm away from the pencil line pressing down lightly (REMEMBER if you press down hard on the first run with the Stanley knife it will follow the grain of the wood rather than the mark of the pencil.)
5 use your modelers plane to take off the final amount of wood down to the pencil line also if you take it off at a slight angle towards the frame it will be a tighter fit
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/40.jpg)
6 test fit the tapered piece again
7 glue it up
any dramas give me a pm or post a question here
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just to let you guys know i am still working on my boat but I'm getting a lot of overtime at work atm in the lead up to Christmas so i wont be able to post much as i have not done very much since my last post, but i have a photo here for you guys to show how little i have done
On Rh side I have planked over to the edge of the rear of the boat I now need to do the same to the other side
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/42.jpg)
Oh well have fun and i hope to post a little more in the next few weeks
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Hi guys
Finally i get some time to work on my boat
i really hate this time of year with a passion, but anyhow back to the build
i have completely covered the top on the Left hand side and have a little to do on the right and then its back to the resin pot
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/43.jpg)
as you can see the planks only needed a little trimming to get them to fit nicely with only two planks on either side needing major modification to get them to fit
anyhow back to the planking
until next time
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:-))
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Enjoying your build :-))
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well thanx guys
but as they say slow and steady wins the race
or builds a good boat lol
I really should one day get back into building my Bismarck from hatchette, but im letting the parts accumulate before i go further on that one. It was doing my head in at the time i got my slomo %%. what happened to yours martin???
more pics will come soon i got hollidays lined up over christmas
3 weeks of pure boat building bliss
well unless my micro magic racing yacht comes in :}
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Hi again guys
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/44.jpg)
here I thought a little explanation was needed for the less experienced builder.
All of these planks down the sides are trimmed to fit using my violin plane (the little black thing next to my vice drill. ;) ). and are placed on as usual using my planking clamps. now all of the planks i put a small chamfer on the bottom of the trimmed edge just to help out with the fitting of the planks and stop me mangling the planks already in place when i scrape the excess dry glue off.
at the front of the planks i have left them long so i can use a spring clamp to keep them held down on the lower edge, even though i have bulked up the edge the clamps have nowhere to bite into and i do not trust elastic bands on this type of edge and the glue I'm using Will not go off for 30 Min's so it does need to be secured down to get a nice edge on the finished product.
please pay a lot of attention to this edge as a lot of force will be put on here during trials and god help you if you hit a bouy as this is the area that will be destroyed first by those rogue buoys. O0
anyhow just going a little off topic here is a photo of my kyosho wave master ( i really want to get rid of this as has been no end of trouble ) 2 Min's in the water and then 15 onshore to get the setup right %) but it still runs well and I'm not anywhere near racing class with it and it is a lot of fun.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Boatfun.jpg)
I CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY BEAST IN THE WATER
at least the slomo will look better than the wave master also I'm thinking about getting a different motor as i think the 5070kv motor will kill it i might have to settle for a 3000 kv one instead
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WOOHOO I'VE FINISHED PLANKING
oh S*** i still got the mahogany to do
oh well
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/45.jpg)
anyhow next stage is now in progress
which will be sanding, sanding, and more sanding
You may see the line down the middle of the boat this is mostly for the veneer strips but also i will use this to centre my cutout.
using a rough grit around the 180 mark and a cork block i will sand down the planks to get rid of high marks and so i don't have to weigh the boat down with masses of ugly sanding filler
i am using my eye to find the major spots when i believe that it is flat i will use my trusty cabinet scraper to get that nice curve happening. When using a cabinet scraper you must always go with the grain as it can tear out chunks of wood if you are not careful !!! O0 trust me on this one.
after this has been done i will put a few light coats of resin on that is thinned down so that this section is nice and solid after that there is a hole to cut out of the top and sigh more planking to be done but i will be doing the second layer with contact glue as this will be easier and the contact glue will stick to the resin quite well and then a further couple of coats of resin and colour should do the trick.
happy boating
BOB
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hi guys
I have gone on a little detour on my previous plans and gone ahead with the planking down the sides so here it is
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/47.jpg)
in this pic you will see that i have marked down the whole side in graduations the approximate edge stripping
this was done using a cheap protractor i found in the newsagents marking out 30 degrees from the top corner and then drawing parallel lines down the whole side from there.
before i did this i sanded the absolute buggery out of the side and used my scraper to get it dead flat and then used a straight edge to check, it's kind of like building a house if the foundation is not level or has bumps and lumps then this will show through when the resin coat goes on. i then used a small amount of 2 part builders putty ( this sets hard as a rock and is not easily sanded but is very easy to use ). I put this down the side and made it with a small amount of hardener to get a long working time and then using the cabinet scraper i took off the excess. then its a short wait for drying %)
after drying a light sand with 180 grit paper and 240 paper to get a nice working surface, then its marking out each piece of veneer cutting to size i cut mine a little over size and then gluing down using a slow setting CA glue using the lines drawn previously as a guide. The rear section was a little problematic with the curved section i achieved this by putting the veneer down on the edge and scoring a straight line along the curve this cracks the fibres of the veneer allowing you to push it around tight corners if you guys want i will show you how when i do the next side so please tell me if you want a step by step guide on this. ok2
I am not worried about the score lines that i have put in the veneer as i can get a coloured sanding putty the same colour to fill in the holes and gaps :-)) and then resin over the top of them
and here is the finished product on the side i have done
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/46.jpg)
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This is coming along really nicely, Steamboat. :-))
It's interesting to see how a more experienced modeller has treated the Billings kit - fitting the bottom first, filling the front with polistyrene, strengthening the framework in the bow, etc. All these are things I could've done to my model had I the experience.
I'll be following your build with real interest, keep up the good work!
Orby.
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Thanks orby
i have to say though i cannot take all the credit though i have got alot of my info on from the many build threads out in the internet world i have subscriptions to around 7-8 different forums and each has at least one type of slo-mo weather it be a scratch built one which is the most common or the kit version but i must say doing the kit version is a lot more difficult if you try to do it in the way that billings tell you to do it there are some very good build threads on the rum runners forum and other things i have picked up like the hatch cover was an amalgamation of a few projects of mine that i have done in the past.
anyhow here is the update. veneer has been applied to both sides of the boat so i can give a little play to the hatch i decided that the hatch needed to have more access at the rear of the boat for access to servos and rudder bolts and such, as you can see i have cut the hatch to within 25 mm of the aft of the boat this was done using a very sharp Stanley knife and a metal rule doing lots of cuts very lightly and cutting through the frames with my dremel.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/49.jpg)
i then added supports to the underside of the planking so the hatch can rest on top of them i will figure a way of fastening them at a later date. now since i have made the hatch larger here are the main reasons why.
Reasons for larger hatch
1. ACCESS ACCESS ACCESS - i cannot believe that billings wants you to throw in a servo inside a boat with no hope of getting to it at a latter stage (especially one as important as the rudder servo ) >>:-(
2. i got big hands, like many of us and fiddling around with the guts of a boat is not fun :embarrassed:
3. increases the usable area for internals so ballasting the boat will be easier
Reasons for having smaller hatch
1. the designer wanted to go home early :}
also i am not going to create a hole for the driver to sit on rather i will cut the seat off at the required height and the driver so it has the illusion that he is there and it creates less weight for the boat and no bloody big hole for water to get in i will just paint this area where the hole is supposed to go black.
i am going to attach the big red fin at the back to the access hatch just fur the ease of it i think it would be a pain in the posterior any other way oh yeah the stuff on the fin was the newspaper that blew over onto the fin after i had just painted it >>:-(
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/48.jpg)
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I'm in the process of building the Billings Slo-mo-shun IV also. Here's some suggestions that you may find helpful: Be sure to coat the inside with "penetrating" epoxy, change the angle on the sponsons (even with your power setup it will not get up on a plane), use medium CA with kicker on the first planking making sure to apply CA to the side as well as the ribs, when you cover the boat with the mahogany planks use contact cement, use a plank vise to trim the planks to make the curve on the deck, cover the deck with one or two oz fiberglass cloth and make sure that the glue you have used is not water soluble.
If you choose to use contact cement, coat the deck and plank, let both set for 30 seconds then put in place. Make sure it is in the right place because you cannot move it. Remove all excess cement.
Here's a picture of my boat with it's first coat of polyurethane, the modification I made to the sponsons and my Doug Campbell classic shovel nose hydro that goes about 50 mph.
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thanks for the input i had wondered about the sponsons as they are very shallow and have big plans in the next few weeks to get some building done but as it is the crazy time of year i dont think i will get to building for a few weeks (well that and im putting together a racing micro magic together for myself for those windy days down at the lake) :}
Merry christmas all and see you in the new year
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just letting you guys know i haven't forgot about yas
just working my way slowly into the new year and i will start building again very shortly in the next week or so and more photos and updates will continue
srry bout the time taken
cheers guys
BOB
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Nice build. :-))
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just letting you guys know i haven't forgot about yas
just working my way slowly into the new year and i will start building again very shortly in the next week or so and more photos and updates will continue
srry bout the time taken
cheers guys
BOB
So its bleeping cold in your shed to then. (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it)!!!
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COLD HAHAHAHAHAHA
yesterday it was 38 degrees outside let alone in my shed
i should have some photos by the end of the week as i just started doing the mahogany stripsi had a few family probs over christmas (nothing serious) and i was working mainly on a new yacht
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/IMGP4243.jpg)
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well another day another blister
hi all i have started doing the mahogany strips along the top of the deck but alas i have not taken any photos at the moment. i am taking a little time with this as the photo's will explain,
what i have been up to is this
1. dry fit all hardware.
this was a little difficult as the interior is now getting a little cramped basically what i have done is bend the stuffing tube to the correct angle the holes drilled in the frames are ok but the last one was way off the mark being too low for my motor but that has now been remedied, cut the flex cable to the correct length marked out approx position of batteries i will be using 2, one on either side also makes it easier to balance up. i have cut all the cooling hose to size so it will be easier later on when i have resined the hull all i will have to do then is just put it on and tighten up with cable ties.
2. mark out and prepare servo mounting position
all i have done here was mark a position in the rear of the boat as to where i want the servo i will use a small hitec HS65 HB servo which should serve the purpose but this will be one of the last things that i will do as it will be easier at a latter stage.
3. prime and first coat the ABS Moulded engine cowling and exhaust tray and sort out hatch
I found some Fire engine Red spay cans down at the local hardware so i got started and the exhaust trays have been painted gloss black I am going to permanently fix the exhaust trays onto the hull the hatch i am not going to cut any funny shape out of it so the driver can sit in there instead i am going to cut the chair and driver down so it still looks as if they are still there and paint around them in black. i have decided that the hatch will be held down using rare earth magnets and as i am fixing the rear fin onto the hatch i will put a pin or dowel into the fin so the hatch locks down tight when the pin is placed into the rear of the boat.
I have found a magical product called Timber Mate this was referred to me by a friend who makes solid timber furniture basically it is a coloured putty that is rubbed into holes, cracks, splits and such in your veneers i found 8 different colours and the bloke that sold it too me said that many more are available to order i ended up getting the jarrah coloured one as it matches the mahogany veneer quite well. i will apply this to my veneer just before i do final sanding for the resin.
anyhow guys i will get photo's to ya as soon as i can get a new camera
Cheers
Steamboatbob
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Photos and progress as promised
1
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/50.jpg)
this shows the extra wood i am adding to get the ride hight proper this was done by gluing 4 strips of balsa using a resin glue together on each side i will shape this soon and show you guys the end result as i will resin the bottom again as soon as i have done the shaping as i don't want any nasty dents to be put in the balsa as it is a very soft wood (really funny thing is balsa is classed as a hardwood O0 %) !!!!!!!) many thanks to minnjoe for pointing that little fix out to me
I was going to use a more solid wood but i realised that in speed boats that weight is a major part of the whole so balsa wish a few penetrating coats of resin will do the trick and it has a few layers of 24 hr epoxy between the sandwiched blocks
easiest way to do this was to get 4 pieces of balsa 2 different sizes epoxy them together and clamp overnight, then cut to the sizes you want after epoxy has taken hold, glue the longer one down first and clamp, wait overnight, then epoxy the smaller one on top, then sand to shape, resulting in a very rigid but light section.
the other main reason for using this sandwich method rather than 1 big block was the fact that the place I am gluing onto was not flat and the sandwiched sections conform to the shape with minimal fuss. O0 :-))
2.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/51.jpg)
this is showing the veneering that i have done and yes i split a little bit which i will show you guys how to fix later on i wasn't watching when i was sanding and the sandpaper lifted the veneer and split it and as a very unfortunate accident i could not locate the piece that came off :((
thats it for the moment guys
see ya soon
any questions or comments please throw them on here and ill answer them as best i can
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Finally some more progress
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/52.jpg)
it is not much but it a few less headaches about this boat anyhow as you can see i have put the strips up to the front of the engine cowling at this point. i have installed a graupner 600bb sp motor inside as i will use this to test first and then go brushless as i would like to keep my spending down a little and i had the speed 600 in an old jet boat.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/53.jpg)
as you can see in this image the cover has warped a little but this will be rectified if i can find some decent hatch clips but in essence i hill glue and screw the tail fin onto the hatch and place a pin i the end of it so it is locked down from the rear and possibly use some rare earth magnets to lock in the front the engine cover is totally removable but i have decided that i will glue the exhaust bays (or Bloody white things :} ORBY) to the hull i have put the hadware on atm only for aesthetic reasons and also to find a balance point as the centre of gravity needs to be at least 2 inches behind the front sponsons and atm mine is very nose heavy.
more to come in a week or so O0 unless the boss has her way :embarrassed:
and if anyone knows where to get decent hatch clips from can you please post on here as i am pretty desperate in this area
i will show you guys soon how to make sure your veneer lines up when you have all these angles and get it nice
have a nice week
Steamboatbob
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WOOHOO I FINISHED THE MAHOGANY STRIPS
now a lot of prep work and sanding are looming ahead
I ran into a mate of mine who makes jewellery boxes for a living and does all his own strips and the rest of that and the best bit of advice he gave me for using cyano on veneer was to rub the veneer strips down with a little bit of 180 grit sand paper first on both sides to get rid of the fur that is evident on all veneer strips as this can lead to bubbles or uneven surfaces. also if you have a compressor for say an airbrush, blow out the veneer with air to get rid of the dust that gets everywhere and causes your veneer not to stick and also creates irregularities in the surface ( do not i repeat do not get a wet rag and wipe the hull down as moisture can ruin your surfaces and makes the veneer go hairy as the smaller particles in the timber swell with the moisture).
photos will be updated this week as it is too late to do it atm.
laters all
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ok here are the pics for you guys
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/57.jpg)
this one shows you how much difference a scraper can make to your veneer finish the right side has been done the left has just been lightly sanded
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/56.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/55.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/54.jpg)
on this photo it shows how they line up now i had to ad a 4mm sliver of veneer on the right side to line it up but it is almost unnoticeable after sanding and scraping a little more finishing the veneer then its off to get some resin coats
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OK time to have a good look at the veneer work before i go ahead and resin up the deck
i found some points on the veneer which had not stuck down and as they are in close proximity to good veneer that i don't want messed up i will show you guys how to fix this.
firstly you can go out and buy a needle ( i know that may be unsavory for a few of you guys but it is the best way ) i for one don't like to have needles in the house regardless of what they are for i have a 3yo daughter and i have enough trouble keeping her out of my study without the worry of this.
So the other way is to find a cheap bottle of precision cement (the ones with the metal applicator Revell have an excellent one) and get rid of all the glue i poured mine out in my backyard over an ants nest to kill the little suckers off.
Step 2
sharpen the metal end of the applicator with a bit of 180 grit and a block as it is imperative that it remains sharp this is so you can pierce the veneer if you need to to glue down a bubble.
step 3
check that it works by squeezing out the air and letting it suck up some water and then squeeze out the water and make sure it works
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/58.jpg)
here is mine sorry about the blurry photo but it's the best i can do with my camera
now set yourself up for a little bit coffee beer etc O0
and use the sharpened glue pot to suck up a little cyano and push it under the veneer this way you don't get cyano everywhere and get rid of the veneer blisters now if you have a blister in the middle of a veneer strip you can use the sharp end to puncture through the veneer leaving a small enough mark to fill with coloured putty and no-one but yourself will know the difference :} :}
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/59.jpg)
then its time for an ale :-))
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OK i spent all morning doing my preparation so i decided to go ahead and do the first coat of epoxy
I am using a particular brand called WEST SYSTEM it has a slow hardener which at 20 degrees sets in around 1 hour and has a 20 minute working time but also produces a brilliant finish. this system was produced for the wooden boat builders so it is perfect for model boats and has no odour like some epoxies so you won't pass out while doing it.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/61.jpg)
this is everything all set out ready to mix and make the syringes are to get the correct amount as it is a 5:1 mix ratio of resin to hardener. i also have a plastic ruler snapped in two so i can paint on the epoxy and remove the excess with this to get a nice flat coating. Loads of paper weighted down as i don't want to come out later and find the paper stuck to the boat. the ice cream bucket (well washed) :-) is for mixing the resin in I am using a pad applicator the bright yellow thingy. and paper towelling for any accidents that arise and wiping the rulers of excess resin when i scrape the hull.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/63.jpg)
sorry bout the images my wife was the photographer in these instances but anyhow after applicating, i used the rulers to scrape the excess resin off and i followed the grain direction and after each scrape i wiped the ruler edge with the paper towelling untill i get a slight covering. Enough so that no raised pockets of resin were visible. At this stage all you really need is to have a satin look to the epoxy and after subsequent coats the gloss will start to build up. I waited 5 mins after the application of the resin for it to soak into the timber and veneer before scraping.
you may get a little beading on sharp edges after scraping the epoxy off use the paper towelling to get rid of this make sure you get good quality paper towelling as the cheap stuff will embed itself into the veneer at this stage and is nasty to get rid of.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/64.jpg)
and here she is with the first coat done
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/65.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/66.jpg)
and many more coats to go
i am thinking about doing around 5-7 coats but as the manufacturer recomends to do the next coat between 8-24hrs after the first or 7 days i shall ponder this and do another coat tomorrow.
cheers guys
BOB :}
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G'day Bob,
Well you have come a lonmg way since I saw it about 2 weeks ok, starting to look the part now, pity
at the length of time between coats of epoxy (24 hrs or 7 days) still will have a great finish when it's done
Sunshine
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Second coat has been done :}
still now a long wait till next coat will go on or any work to be done as I sail next weekend and on top of that its easter as well but i shall endevour to get some more work done
it looks a little better after second coat but i will post photos of each coat on the one post to show ppl what it looks like
i had a little test hull which i just used a paint brush on and left it alone on one side and im glad that i did not go that way as the finish was too thick and looks very badbut it is only a future club boat for people to come and play with (motorised version of the scottish maid by artesania latina) that my 2 yo dropped on the floor and destroyed the rigging it's now being transformed into a little fishing boat :embarrassed:
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Found out one thing paper is an excellent former when using resin i used the fast setting hardener in this one dabbed a bit on the sides to make the paper stick, the paper can be sanded off later or painted over and then fill in the hollows while getting the sponsons to the correct height i used balsa which is very light but not very structurally sound until resin gets to it so while forming some chunks of the balsa came out requiring me to do this
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/67.jpg)
on the front piece you can see the height of the resin (the dark watermark above the pink line) the lighter watermark was from moving the paper around a little bit
i only used a piece of scrap printer paper
:-))
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Looking very nice Bob.
Great idea with the Revell applicator.
I used to gently pry up wood that had not stuck properly and not always with the desired result. Hopefully, using this way will help.
Ron.
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Hi guys
well after a little diligence and hard work I'm almost done with epoxy the top and sides are finished at least with one more coat to go on the bottom i ended up doing 6 coats on the veneer and have done 4 coats on the bottom and here she is after the final coat that was put down today
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/68.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/69.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/70.jpg)
there are only 2 imperfections in the veneer that have shown up and there is nothing i can do about it now but overall i am very happy :D
i have found a little spray can clear to do the final coat to protect from UV light as the epoxy will not stop the timber from changing colour and that can be annoying after all the trials i have done i would still recommend a small hobby roller to apply the epoxy and then scrape off excess with a plastic ruler or old credit card gets the best finish. I tried a few different things but went for this on my final coat. I still need to add the colour but overall i am quite overjoyed if ya need a pointer sing out and i will see what i can do but i thoroughly will stand behind the west system brand for marine epoxies :-)) in RC boat building
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OK next section is easier, I just need to buy a few cans of spray paint. Basically Red and silver
I found a half used can of clear spray enamel in the shed and have given the boat a few light licks of clear to get a nice glass finish for the epoxy and much to my surprise it turned out to give the veneer a slight pearlescent effect which looks absolutely brilliant so i might have to hunt down some more. and when the colours have been purchased i will have a look at doing the pretty stuff now that the hard slog is over
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/71.jpg)
and yes i did build the chair in the background for a bit of fun O0
but anyhow on with the news
this week i have just received the last of my main hardware except the transmitter/receiver The props now i wont go into a big thing here about props as i honestly don't know that much i ended up finding a program called FECALC.exe but i cannot remember where i got it from basically you tell it the values ie motor type, ESC, voltage, boat type and it tells you what props are a good one to get
so the hardware going into my beastie is
- Fullers Fast electric hydro package ( rudder, flex shaft, etc)
- 600BB Motor (to be possibly upgraded at a later date to a brushless system)
- Proboat 60 AMP ESC
- octura 1732 prop
- old micro server found in the shed :embarrassed:
- Etti Large ESC cooling plate
- the motor mount i purchased from offshore electrics at a total cost of $17.00 USD
and the approximate layout will be as shown here
the COG (centre of gravity is around 70mm from the back of the sponsons which is about right) all i need to do now is to get some paint and get cracking
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/72.jpg)
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where did you find the plans for this model, something i would love to build and looks really good
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Hi andy
Not plans mate it is a kit from Billings boats and should be available through most hobby shops, be warned though the instructions are not very good but there are enough builds on the forum to put you in the right direction :-))
cheers
Steamboatbob
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Hi Guys
well things were going absolutely fantastic i got the masking tape out i purchased some red and silver paint at the local hardware shop got home masked the boat up cut out the templates i had for the red on the hull (i did sand it down beforehand with a little 240 grit). sprayed the white undercoat i had on waited a day for it to dry, then sprayed the red and waited another day then sprayed some clear over the top.
and here she is
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/73.jpg)
then just as i was taking the photo DISASTERI realised i had put my finger on the red and had somehow moved the paint causing it to slide so somewhere in my prepwork i had not done something right as the clear over the mahogany doesn't slide and the red slides like buggery.
So the fix to this is scrape the paint off and start again i could use turps but that will be messy and as the resin has cured now it will be non reactive to most chemicals so anyhow i will scrape and sand and scrape and sand and scrape and sand
OH WELL We have to realise at some point that not all things in a build goes to plan.
Till next time
Steamboatbob
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Well after scraping all the red paint off i have decided to give another coat of resin as the top looks pretty shite at the moment then i will go 1 clear then colour and hopefully i can leave little finger marks off them.
but the other clever idea i had during the past few days was to get rid of the hatch i had cut out of the top section and replace it with one made from ABS which i will show you guys later on how to do
bye for now
Steamboatbob
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What a bitch but we're nearly all done that trick! >:-o
What you reckon, the paint and resin incomparable?
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Thats such a shame but i bet its the enamel,try and stay away from enamel if you can ,Far better go with car paints from your local car outlet.Acrylic paint is good too and will go over epoxy no problem.
Mart
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I think it was more of a case of me being an over eager modler and trying to get things done too soon :embarrassed: I really should have given the coats at least one day each to dry before applying the colour, i found that it was the adhesion between the undercoat and the colour that was the problem so i will change this before the next attempt.
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OK guys i thought it was time for a status update
atm i have just finished re-epoxying the deck to get a nice smooth finish just going to give a nice spray job of clear this weekend to get to where i was before the red went on.
but i had one major change to the hull after a few ponderings and a bit of free styrene came my way. i have replaced the hatch with styrene which is a lot easier to work with and it also gave me an excuse to get rid of the exhaust cowlings which were giving me the SH*TS (srry bout the language martin).and it also allows me to just use hatch tape to keep the hatch watertight during runs still can veneer the styrene to give it that original look it just means you have to sand the styrene and key it a little so the glue sticks. so all in all i am looking at sea trials within one month and i will try to get a video if sunshine can come down and help %).
the other bit of news i have is that i got my parcels in the mail a 110A ESC from ebay i just hope it works well and i got the radio gear as well so i have all the items now I'm just waiting for paint to dry :}
Cheers
Steamboatbob
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woohoo she is looking good tonight
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/74.jpg)
i ended up getting the red done during the week and she now looks a treat. i gave it three days to cure before i sanded down the ridges from masking up and I ended up sanding the whole boat to get rid of a few minor imperfections. oh yeah i used 800 grit wet dry paper to get rid of the lines and bring up the surface all nice and smooth. I then got bored and decided to put the stickers on the hull as they will only get 1 or 2 coats of clear over the top of them. now a few little pointers on sanding, i used the following types of paper on this job and when
-80 grit - this stuff is for the hard yards ripping back bulk material very quickly like getting the frames nice and angled for the planks to go on
-180 grit - general all purpose to make things look nice and neat and good when planking
- 240 grit- fine stuff used with a block on the veneer to make flat also useful for stripping back red paint :embarrassed:
- 800 wet dry - really fine stuff for getting rid of masking lines and a very handy prep before clear coats only use by hand this does not need an orbital sander
- 1600 wet dry - i will use this to give it an all over buff after the final coat has gone on as it will get rid of some blemishes.
the other bit of good news i had today was the fact that a new motor came my way a super stock RZ by Tamiya the basics of it is that all the brushes are replaceable and operates best on 7.2V with a no load RPM of 27500rpm O0 so ill be having some fun with that one i think
Have fun guys
Steamboatbob
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Hi Guys
just a little notice as to what has been done over the weekend on the boat
the bottom of the boat was sanded flat undercoated sanded flat with an orbital sander. after this i resprayed with the undercoat and left it to dry for a few hours, after this was done i have sprayed the bottom silver (2 coats) and left it to cure for the week
here is what she looked like a few hours ago
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/76.jpg)
now to the fun part of the weekend as i previously said i have got a new motor a superstock rz motor by tamiya so i decided to run it in now this is an easy process and i will go through what i did
this is what i used to do it
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/75.jpg)
now all i did was put some very light nonconducting oil in the jar, i used INOX as it is a very light and electrically inert stuff, you can use distilled water but do not grab water straight out of the tap i made up the 3V sub c cell pack from an old one lying around, the principal is not to use a high voltage and no load whatsoever on the motor.
then drop the motor into the oil making sure the brushes are well covered and run the motor on 3 V till the batteries die this should be enough to bed in the brushes nicely and stop all that nasty arcing, you might have to change the water(or oil) once or twice during this process as you will see how black the water really gets and quickly.
I must pass an honorable mention to my father in law "sunshine" who has helped me a lot in the electrical department of this build :-))
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Hi guys just a quick update
just sanded the whole boat down with a little 1200 wet dry and am going to spray on the last final coat as soon as it warms up a little more and as i have a long weekend, the hardware should be getting installed by monday, and with a little luck a video might be posted. :-))
the only things left to do
-install hardware
-start the hatch cowling ( yeah i did leave it a little long)
-go down the lake and have a blast :D
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Looking forward to the video after all this time, it has been an interesting build. Well done Bob.
Ron.
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well alls well that ends well
if it ends :embarrassed:
went down this arvo to give it a test drive so before i went i put the Slomo into the bath and did all the necessary water checks and the rest of that guff. went down the lake and it was gorgeous to look at no wind and a nice calm lake, springer on hand for any drastic problems. first run i realised the centre of gravity was way too far back so in she came made a few little adjustments, back out into the water still the same problem so in she came again and i moved the battery forward as far as possible at this stage i noticed a little bit of heat comming from the esc, but motor and battery are still cool, so i thought no i will wait a few minutes till it cools down . So 5 mins later and there is no heat at all i taped her up and gave the throttle a test and it was dead :o I tried all manner of things to get it going but to no avail and then i decided to pack it in and come home,
I was smelling a burning smell in the car on the way back so i opened the esc up when i got home and it was totally fried so unfortunately guys there is no video atm but i do have a burnt out esc if there are any takers supposedly rated at 100Amps but anyhow back to the drawing board and a new esc
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/77.jpg)
Cheers guys
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Your voltage regulator appears to have released its smoke... O0
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not much done since last week im sorry to say i was a little peeved at the esc letting go but these things do happen now im wondering if lipos are the way to go or get a new esc as they are around the same price
as i need a lipo pack that can handle a 90 amp current draw or an esc that wont die
ill be back to building as soon as the boss releases some funding O0
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Went down to the lake today with the camera and an esc that actually works
here is the video, there will be more to come as I have now put a different motor in the boat with hopefully more output.
thie footage was taken down at my local lake in Perth.
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/th_200906131444341.jpg) (http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/?action=view¤t=200906131444341.flv)
Cheers Guys
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The Brushless motor is now in and running
Ill get a video out as soon as i can :}
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:-))
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I must admit that the quality of that video is pretty crap and im trying to find another hosting site for HD Vids
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Here is the link to a better quality video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrvnXHFLbCY
please post comments as to get more speed
cheers guys
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Ok guys here is a vid of my slomo running a Feiago 5070 KV motor at 25% capacity (the esc has a programing function that lets me select 25,50,75 or 100% of the power output)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNQ7iMo7eYw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNQ7iMo7eYw)
also a bit more work on the hatch has been done
:-))
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Oh yeah i forgot to say it's running on 7.2 volt nimh here will be put up to either 11 or 14v lipo but i havent decided yet
fully water cooled will post photos soon on interrior and setup soon
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I have finally started on a little more of the aesthetics on the boat namely the hatch cover and have finally decided that i will just use hatch tape and not worry with the hatch locks as that will make the boat a little bit of a mess.
I used a thin sheet of styrene cut to fit the hatch and dug out the rear fin from my (Here's one i produced earlier bin) attached it with some very small pan head screws and a bit of araldite. i have sanded down the whole length of styrene sheet first with 180 grit to rough it up a little as there will be a lot more work to go on here.
Next I got some of the good old mahogany strips and glued them onto the styrene i used UHU strong and safe to do this bit as there is no instant bond (you have around 30 secs to play with and it is also a gel form so it is a lot easier to clean up and your fingers don't bond straight away. it also slightly melts the styrene so be careful when you do use it.
now in the photo below you will see that from the front of the fin and mahogany will be painted matt black as soon as i can get some better weather as my shed is to cold to spray atm and the wife get's a little shirty when i use paint inside >>:-(
and the second photo shows where the engine cowling will sit and the driver as well
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/78.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/79.jpg)
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And here is the current arrangement of the internal hardware
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/80.jpg)
As you can see I have put the 5070KV motor in as well as a maxpower 100Amp esc which unfortunately does not have a BEC so batteries are in order for the receiver.
I took my beastie out to the lake today for a quick trial and WoW she goes really quick but due to the 7.2 nicads the thrill did not last very long and i am still working out a few bugs in the system for programming the esc like cutoffs but i have now placed an order in for some 14.4 V lipo's and cant wait for them to turn up :-))
only bad thing to report from today was the veneer tearing from the new hatch but that will be sorted after a coat of epoxy and clear topcoat so no real probs.
Anyhow guys have fun and i shall see ya soon hopefully with a new vid for you all
Steamboatbob
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no real news at the moment just getting ready to put the slomo up on to the finished shelf and start working back on the bismarck (you remember that one dont you martin :D )i was just using my slomo to get more parts in till i could have a full time building spree with my big german battleship and with only 35 issues to go i dont think i will have any probs.
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Coincidence.
When I finished my Slo-mo-shun I started on a Bismarck, the difference is that mine is on a Fleetscale hull, just about finished that,
and I am now about half way through a HDML.
Already thinking of where to go next.
Colin
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Hi guys srry for the long wait between drinks but some good and bad news is here
Bad news first
the veneer on my hatch is peeling off the plastic and i have tried various forms of CA glue but to no avail I even keyed it quite heavily first and epoxied after to get that nice finish I really need some help in this department as the veneer peels off after a few hits with water. {:-{
Good news
Joy of joys !!!!! I went down to my local hobby shop and there in a little box was my beloved 14.4 V Lipo Pack 5000mah and rated at 25C constant drain and 30C burst So basically a battery that can handle 125Amp constant current draw and 150 Amp Burst Current Draw :D :D :D
Oh I cant wait to get to the water and scare the ducks
and the local hobby shop owner has advised that I can borrow his speed radar gun he uses to test his cars :D :D :D
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Bob,if your motor is a genuine 5074 KV one,using a 4S ,14.8V lipo.The esc and motor are gunna burn real quick,its just too many vollts for the motor.
that motor is a 2S max.
rpm's are going to be roughly 70000! yikes..more than twice the norm..
With a 4S lipo you want a motor with a KV of about 2000-2500.There would be much more torque.
Brod..
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I have to say i really dont agree with you there brodjack having already tested with a 7.2 at 100% and I am not chasing torque just flat out revs and the esc has a failsafe in the programming and both motor and esc are watercooled i dont think i will have a problem.
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Thats ok,the only way is to try it,keep us informed..
Brod..
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well alls well that ends well
if it ends :embarrassed:
went down this arvo to give it a test drive so before i went i put the Slomo into the bath and did all the necessary water checks and the rest of that guff. went down the lake and it was gorgeous to look at no wind and a nice calm lake, springer on hand for any drastic problems. first run i realised the centre of gravity was way too far back so in she came made a few little adjustments, back out into the water still the same problem so in she came again and i moved the battery forward as far as possible at this stage i noticed a little bit of heat comming from the esc, but motor and battery are still cool, so i thought no i will wait a few minutes till it cools down . So 5 mins later and there is no heat at all i taped her up and gave the throttle a test and it was dead :o I tried all manner of things to get it going but to no avail and then i decided to pack it in and come home,
Just picked up on your thread & guess what - SNAP!, same ESC, same result, burnt out on a 540 motor running 12v in a sub!
I was smelling a burning smell in the car on the way back so i opened the esc up when i got home and it was totally fried so unfortunately guys there is no video atm but i do have a burnt out esc if there are any takers supposedly rated at 100Amps but anyhow back to the drawing board and a new esc
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/77.jpg)
Cheers guys
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Well now here is the test you all wanted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhGLL3QASLY
but not all ended well only one minor hiccup a bit of water leasked from the cooling plate and fried my esc but it was a bit of fun anyways
Have fun Guys
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hello steamboatbob
i also have build a slo mo shun but ive got a few questions
how dit you made your hatch waterproof so that no water can come in to the boat .
how heavy is your slo mo
and do you have a speed indication with your brushless set up ...
gr michael
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I Use hatch tape (or ice hockey tape, it's the same stuff but cheaper ) to keep the hatch watertight i haven't had one mm of water in the hull through it
I have no real brushless setup as i am still trying things out
Hope i helped
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ohw okay i will gonna try it with the tape .
ive installed a Carson 12 t dragster brushless set (906007)
and im quit curious for the speed.. il wil take a few 7.2 volt 6 cell and a few 7 cell batteries with me for the first testrun and gonna look what is gonna happen .
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yesterday we've dit the first testrun ... it was bad . the speed was'nt what we've expected it was sloooooowwwww and the reason we found after opening the hatch the motor was very hot >>:-( and the running time was not more than 2 minutes with 7.2 4800 mah.
so today i contacted plettenberg for a new brushless motor esc and lipo ( we have a own model shop so the costs will be low :P )
only have to wait for availability
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well long time no see
I have made a few changes to the Slo-mo-shun
-it now runs a 2887 KV motor from Feiago 540L type 55 AMP current draw and more tourque.
-I have purchased an Etti esc 150 opto 6-30V capacity and 150 constant current draw, 300 burst
-also i have redone the cooling tubing with a bigger bore silicone tube and changed all electrical connectors to 5mm gold plated banana plugs
bar that nothing else has been done im just waiting on a nice day down the lake to run her
the battery is still the same 14.8 V 5000mah Lipo i have had it out on one run and sofar sogood i was only getting the setup right for the esc so i didn't get a fast run in and then the wind came down and blew away my chances of getting a solid run out of her
But within the next 2-3 weeks i shall have a good video up and running for you guys to look at %)
here is a photo of the new motor and esc you can get them from various sellers but i got mine through here
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=etti-esc-race-150-opto (http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=etti-esc-race-150-opto)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/81.jpg)
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Looking good, what C rating is your Li-Po? The higher you can possibly get the better.
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The Lipo is a 30 C 14.8 V 5000mah 4s 2p battery by flightmax
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Sounds good :-))
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well as promised another video
i got a 13 second run at low speed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz83OzsHFik
as you will see in the video I turn and come back for my second pass trying to miss a few ducks put the power on and she leaps out of the water and then the engine revs extremely high.
hat i found out when the boat was finally pushed in was that the propshaft had come out of my coupler now i was absolutely sure i had tightened up all of the 4 grub screws to hold it in place so in my extremely grumpy mood i went and looked for the shaft where it came out near the sure (I am soo glad it is summer over here and the water was very pleasantly warm).
Too get my hackles up i found out someone had placed a marron trap in the water tied to a rope about 10 mm thick fairly thick and only just submerged in the water i had a look at the rope and found a section where it had been very recently sliced open almost all the way through and in the end after 30 Min's searching, no shaft and prop to be found <*<.
I have placed a call to the relevant fishing authority today and they reported a big thank you as fishing for marron out of season incurs a $1000.00 fine and another $500.00 if they don't have the relevant fishing license (shove that up ya clacker you dumbass git) {-)
but in the end i guess i had a good run with good speed for all of 14 seconds I am really starting to wonder when i will get a decent run in ???
anyhow cheers guys
hope ya like the vid
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Looks like its going to be a fast little thunderboat you got there,maybe try some blue loctite on the grub screws or ive had good results using nail varnish...... on grub screws that is lol %).
Mart
ps whats a marron lol,sounds like a moron set the trap lol
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have a look at this link it will show ya what a marron is basically a freshwater crayfish
http://www.albanymarronfarm.com.au/pages/marron.html
extremely nice to eat but there is only a 6 week fishing period in the whole year around January so i felt really good today when i rang the fisheries department and dobbed on the "xxxxx" they told me if they catch them its a $500 on the spot fine plus up to $5000 in the courts for your first offence.
God i hope they get caught {-)
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We have similar ones here our native ones are very small and endangered because someone released the american signal crayfish into our waters here.The signals were brought over to breed for the table and some obviously got out and theyre widespread now,as they are classed as a neusance anyone can catch them year round i think although you need a licence to use traps.If im wrong im sure someone will correct me lol.Never tried one but theyre suposed to be tasty.
Mart
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well I think the time has come to sell the beast from the below (the slomo) I have had a lot of fun with it but as usual i am getting bored with her and every time i take her out for my own fun as there are no racing clubs close enough to me i get a little sadder.
but i am first and foremost a builder and it pleased me to no end in finishing her off there is only one more thing to do and that is the engine cowling and driver I still am unsure as to if i shall go ahead with this but I will sell the whole kit and caboodle when she goes minus the radio gear
so a listing is this so far as to what I have spent on my beastie
Prices are in AUD
Kit $250
Drive Hardware $150
Motors $140
ESC $180
4S Lipo + Balancer $ 290
Props $50
Extras Resin Cooling etc $100
Total $1160.00
So i would probobly sell for around $800 plus postage. but as this is hypothetical atm, I am not sure, I just know i need a new project :)
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oh well i have given up on selling it and started again on a refurb of the hatch
i used 1.5mm thick black styrene which was gloss then sanded it down with 180 grit paper and then again with 800 and again with 1200 to get a nice satin look as the piece i had was fairly scratched (I went round to a plastics manufacturer and asked if i could look through their offcuts total cost nothing)
the engine cowling had a piece of balsa shaped and moulded to fit underneath and glued into the engine cowling with a fair amount of araldite so i had a flat base and it gives me a greater surface area to glue down to the hatchi just need to get my driver painted and the steering wheel and instruments glued into place and all is good.
i have solved my problems with my motor shafts popping out with a drill chuck type motor coupler which really clamps down onto the shaft i will be greatly surprised if it comes loose now it seems that the previous couplers grub screws were defective and just did not work properly but with new props and shafts at my door it is time to go for another try. %)
NEW COUPLING
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/83.jpg)
NEW LOOK
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/82.jpg)
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A New reinvigoration came to me today
I went out expecting the worst with my slomo and WoW nothing went wrong the only thing that did go wrong was the fact that i forgot to charge my video camera properly and well :embarrassed: :embarrassed: no video to prove i went fast but a video will be done very shortly on a few quick runs
Happy holidays
BOB
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now that i think i have done enough with the resining of the bottom and the placement of the hardware i am going back to the fun job of planking
WOOHOO
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/33.jpg)
as you can see in this picture i have started on the side this is so the top planking will go on flat after i have sanded back this plank to the frame level but when planking with pva glue, it takes it's time so i will show you guys in a few days what she looks like the planks that billings have supplied with the boat are not that good i have seen a lot better but i am going on with it in this way so i can show people that you can build this kit from billings with the parts that are supplied with a few minor changes as their instructions i believe are completely wrong and have been thaught up by someone that really wanted to go on holidays before they were printed. as you guys can see i have gone about this build in my own way as the billings kit way will make a great display model but be kinda useless in the water.
a person that purchased this kit needs to know a lot about modelling and billings rates it as a intermediate build which i do agree upon.
i now am thinking i should have forked out the extra dosh and gone for the AMATI kit ARNO FERRARI RACER but its a little late for that now
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee84/steamboatbob/Slo-Mo-Shun/1604-new.jpg)
only just read through your thread as you mentioned it on your reply in my build thread
Great minds think alinke on the Amati Arno... Its awaiting delivery as the model shop we bought it from is still awaiting stocks
You said that there were stories that Billing Boats cutting is not up to par. From my experience (somewhat limited I might add) is that the newer laser cut kits are nuch much better than the old ones
I bought a Mayflower off of Ebay that a chap had owned for many years and never started. On opening the packaging the wood was poorly cut and the ink printing was way off of the cut lines (up to 5mm in places)
But my phantom is laser cut and seems to be much better.
The slo mo looks good and was gonna be my fiirst boat kit, but I decided on the Phantom instead... I think I made the right choice as it has been good fun to build and not too difficult.
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Well another time has come to get rid of this boat
ad will be placed in the for sale section and yes everything except the tx rx gear will be sold
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Youtube video of my Slo-mo (Not build by me):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrFfktnOqJ0
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i stiill have this hull
and will try soon to get it going again but im not going to put major hours into it as when i look around my study/workshop i have the following models in various stages of completion
Slomoshun - just needs drive hardware - Would be willing to sell
little dictator - awaiting new motor / esc combo
graupner jet boat - motor esc radio gear - Would be willing to sell
Build the Bismarck - got all the bits but just need the patience to build it and the props and speed controls
Big dictator - under construction
Micro Magic - working but needs a new paint job
Ripmax sea rider - needs hardware removed and put into bin (had major accident damaging the hull and the motor was put into my mini dictator)