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[Phantom_Maloo]

I'm going to coat the inside of the hull with Z-poxy finishing resin i've used this stuff before on model aircraft so i'm familiar with it. My local hobby store had some deluxe materials "eze cote" which seems to be the same thing but easier to apply but i think i'll stick with what i know and use the z-poxy. How much ballast weight do one of these models need? i'm going to stick with the 7.2V NiMh pack as i have plenty of these and relevant chargers. I was planning on attaching some of the foam packing blocks that come in the kit hard up against the bows as there is a nice little notch to wedge it in. 

[Phantom_Maloo]

Some more progress has been made one of the benefits of shift work is i get days off during the week when everyone including my wife is at work so i'm free to do what i want. I finally took the plunge and epoxied in the prop and engine mount i always get a little nervous with this stuff as you only get some many minutes of wiggle room. I test fitted everything until i was confident it could slide everything into place within the 5min window for the stuff i was using. I marked where i wanted to glue with a pencil and roughed up the brass prop tube with a file and sandpaper to give it a good key. First off i glued to top part (#10) on the outside of the hull in and allowed it to dry while i was waiting for that i marked and drilled and filed out the cooling holes in the mount then i attached the motor to the mount and installed to coupling and prop tube. I applied a small amount of epoxy to the area's needed and carefully slid the tube through the opening in the hull and pushed the mount up against the stringer in the hull that it glues too. I then realised that some of the glue had got onto the nut and thread at the prop end of the tube so i had to race up to the kitchen to get some metho to wipe it off. I held everything in place until the glue had gone off and then applied a liberal amount to the tube and where everything disappears into the hull to seal it. I went for the more is better approach here and as it will be under the waterline i wasn't to carefull about how much i heaped on. I've got some 6mm ply that i will use to make the gussets and top strip over the motor mount when i get my hands on a scroll saw

[Arrow5]

Start looking for a suitable strip of metal to fit on the bottom of the keel, screw and glue a brass or ally piece to strengthen the whole length and as a rubbing strip.   The bit that sticks out will get snapped off IMO.  Springers have such a strip that goes right out to the under the rudder.  Protects the rudder in shallow water and gives a pivot for the bottom of the rudder post.  Are you making a metal rudder ? 

[Phantom_Maloo]

No the kit has a ply one made up of 6 different sized pieces sandwiched around a brass rod then sanded to a "streamlined" profile it does not attach to the bottom piece. I'm planning on using some brass strip  or extra ply along the bottom part the provide some strength

[Arrow5]

Lots of ideas on rudder shape in the RCGroups Springer pages, flat plates, salmon-tailed, Gurney strips. Built-up streamlined from body-filler (auto)or Milliput (epoxy) on a brass flat plate. Wood might be a tad delicate     Picture shows a Gurney, flat plate strip on trailing edge of rudder.  Works OK but the so do all the others I`ve tried   Not an F1 boat after all  

[Phantom_Maloo]

  "Not an F1 boat" Funnily enough one of the main reasons why i'm building this one is to retrieve future faster boats when they go the wrong way up in the middle of the lake

[Arrow5]

Good choice, I`ve retrieved Jiant Jaberwock biplanes and Northstar deltas with mine. No F1 s   Watcha gonna call it, something  German maybe ?     "Rambo" seems about right

[Phantom_Maloo]

Lol  yeah not sure at this stage my missus thinks i should name it the "Jolly Jess" after our Labrador who's always in the garage supervising me when I'm working. But I'll make the final decision later on (Probably go with the wife's as shes the one i have to sneak the large boxes past to get to the garage). Still thinking about the final color scheme as well thinking red hull white superstructure and green decks.

[Phantom_Maloo]

Managed get some stuff done before i started night shifts. First of i glued a piece of square hardwood butting up along the back of the motor mount I then cut out the gussets and cap strip from an off cut of 6mm ply i found. These pieces were glued to the motor mount using epoxy. The next step is to install the servo mount and rudder tube. When i was test fitting the servo mount i discovered that the hole in the hull didn't line up with the hole in servo mount  . when inserting the brass tube into the hull it came out at almost a 45 degree angle towards the prop. I had to use a round file to widen the hole in the hull to enable the brass tube to hang correctly i installed the rudder temporarily into the brass tube to make sure i had the correct angle and tacked the outer brass tube in with CA. Once this had gone off i carefully removed the rudder by bending the rubbing strip out of the way and pulling it out i then plugged up the gap with two part epoxy. The next step is installing the top stringers and sealing the inner hull with z-poxy finishing resin. I'll also cut out and install some foam into the bow area while i have access. Hopefully by then my ESC will have arrived and i can discover the joys of wiring and soldering.

[Phantom_Maloo]

More progress made today. The interior has been given a coat of z-poxy finishing resin. While that was drying I made the hatch coamings and covers. The rear hatch coaming needed a lot of filing and sanding to allow the hatch to sit over it properly. Finally I glued the rubbing strips to the edge of the deck. This is acheived by placing tape on the top side edges then flipping it over and on flat surface weighted down to ensure the deck stays flat the strips are glued to the  edges. I pinned the edges in to ensure a nice join. There is a slight raise from the deck and strips that will provide a nice glue seal area.

The rudder was also glued together using two part epoxy then sanded to shape using a dremel tool. My mtronik ESC arrived today as well so I'll have to make a start on the wiring now as I want to get all of it installed and tested before I glue the deck down.

[Arrow5]

Interesting wooden rudder, I wonder about longevity.  Maybe put a thin flat cap top and bottom to help stop delamination of the ply.  Loads of gloss paint !!!  Put a coat of matt mid grey paint on the inside of the hull , it will show any ingress of water instantly.  Looking good, got a name yet ?

[Phantom_Maloo]

Rudder will be coated in z-poxy then a couple of coats of enamel paint and a few coats of varnish when it comes to that stage so hopefully shouldn't be a problem only time will tell. No name as yet.

[Arrow5]

A tip from the USA is to add a "salmon tail" or a "Gurney strip" on the trailing edge of the rudder.  Makes for sharper turns they say.  End-plates top and bottom seem to be the fashion too.  PS I know the washer is in the wrong place on the propshaft

[Phantom_Maloo]

Managed to complete some small jobs over the last few days unfortunatly i'm back on dayshifts    so i don't get a lot of free time to get into the garage. I got my old man to solder the motor wires on for me as he's alot better then i am with the iron. The main and rear deck hatches have been assembled, filled, sanded, Sanding sealered 2x coats, sanded, then a coat of primer sprayed. I've also assembled the dolphin posts filled and sanded then filled and sanded until i gave up and went and had a beer instead i'll come back to them later. The underside of the deck has 3 coats of sanding sealer applied and i've put the three top stringers into the hull and sealed them. Once i bench test the motor, esc and Rx I'll be ready to attach the deck to the hull.

[Phantom_Maloo]

Haven't had much time to do anything work and my new Pro boat Blackjack 29 are getting in the way of progress. I've put all the electrics together for a bench test, everything goes together Ok but i just want to confirm one thing. On the back of the motor one terminal has a red mark next to it I'm assuming that this is the positive (+) terminal?? plugging in the wires either way seems to get the motor to turn so I'm assuming this just reverses the direction of the motor? 

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Yes, the red terminal is positive. You might find this way around is also the fastest and most efficient speed.

Ken

[Phantom_Maloo]

G'day all,
Just a quick note to let you know I'm still alive. Been copping a flogging at work for the last few weeks and every spare moment i have seems to be taken up with other things plus every time there has been warm weather I'm down at the lake with my blackjack 29  I love this boat so much fun out of the box. I've posted a link below of a youtube video i made by attaching my go-pro to the hatch. I've got some leave over the silly season so hopefully I'll have a chance to get back in the shed and do some work on the tug. I'm trying to convince Santa's local rep that i need another boat kit for Xmas but she sez i have to complete the tug before I'm allowed to get another

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjXn0RqNktE