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[Neil]

I wish brushless had been around when I had built mine.......it used to run like a day boat on the Norfolk broads with what I had in mine, lol 

[red181]

Hi Bob,

yes spot on, that is what will happen. I have done it before, I find the building/tinkering testing the fun part!

Its here

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,39278.0.html

[CyberBOB]

Thank you Red, very comprehensive build thread.  Boat looks awesome!


The build cleared up my questions re: outrunners mounted right on the shaft as well.  Will be following this build thread for sure!

[red181]

It was a real risk Bob, not seen that done before, so I used cheap motors on the Fireboat, in case it failed, and made the mounts in a way we could go back to traditional method, or like my other boat which has a geared belt drive. Both boats are pulling too many revs for those cheap plastic uj's.

Unfortunately my mentor, who did most of the machining, died last year, so I am on my own with this build!

Paul

[CyberBOB]

I'm sorry to hear about your mentor.


If the mounts in the previous photo are your work, they look great.

[red181]

Finally made something, two water pickups, and the plates to secure the shafts are now in situ, this could be a long haul!

[red181]

bit more done, needs a good clean up, with excess epoxy etc, but shafts are now in, used gallons of epoxy so these are not coming out ever!. Blocks in situ for the rudder posts and water pickups, and block ready for shaft supports.

[red181]

Right, lets get on with this now!

I made the mistake of having two projects on the go, the other has been shelved due to continuing failures,  so its back to this model

A hold up was caused by the shaft supports, this was supposed to be an easy part of the job, but no matter what metal I used, it was too brittle and kept snapping when being bent. Luckily a friend, an engineer, got some metal and bent it for me, so tonight I made them up, bent to correct angle, ready for fitting. The idea is, the brass sleeve is the mount, soft soldered onto the outer shaft, then the ally support which is mounted onto the ply base, which is epoxied into the hull. The brass sleeve will have a bearing in it, then the cooling block, then the motor with shaft removed. That's the theory anyway      

[red181]

some more progress, this took a while. The ply mounts are now epoxied in the hull, and the shafts are removed from the motors. I have had a trial fit with the supports, the cooling blocks, and the motors. One shaft is very nice, the other has a slight tight spot, I suspect one of the shafts is slightly bent, as these are the original ones. Not a problem really, just something else that needs buying!

 

[red181]

Not looking forward to the next job as I cant work out how to do them. The skegs are quite unusual on the real boat, I need something to support the shafts under the hull.

Ideas welcome!

[red181]

well it took a while, and its a bit of a gamble, but the prop protectors (for use in shallow water) and the skegs are done. The shafts are rock solid, so these are for some extra protection but more for cosmetic reasons to replicate the real boat.

I really wanted brass, silver soldered together, but after a few attempts at silver soldering, I gave up. Tried soft soldering, but it was too weak. I have a  sleeve over the shaft, and the two parts attached to that. I have ended up making them out of plastic sheet, and a plastic tube. They are cynoed together, then with plastic weld, how strong will they be? Well lets see how long they last!

The rudders are in situ, and the water pickups. I now have to configure the rudder linkages, and then, if water tight (I have my doubts with the use of the original rudder components) we are not too far off starting up the motors. I have a tight spot on one of the shafts, not much, but its there, I suspect a very slightly bent shaft. The only problem with this type of drive train is it has to be lined up very accurately with very little tolerance for misalignment

[red181]

some more progress, rudders and linkages are done, just need to mount the servo, but, I have made a really stupid mistake, the rudder posts are straight up, the hull has a slight v shape, so the rudder blades are not straight down they are at an angle and look stupid! Not sure how to fix this.

Motors, mounts etc now all installed, still think I have a very slightly bent shaft, but difficult to tell now the shafts are shorter cut to correct length. Ill see what happens when the motors get run up. Just go to decide where the batteries and esc's are going to sit in the hull.

[red181]

I finally got some enthusiasm to do some work on this boat. Today wasn't the best day to water test, way too windy, but it finally got wet, very briefly though. After a few seconds it developed a fault I could not fix at lakeside. One of the motor outer cans was slipping on the shaft, the retaining grub screw felt real tight, but on inspection, the thread did not actually go all the way down through the can, so whilst I thought it was tight on the shaft, it was bottoming on the lack of thread, this is an expensive Overlander motor  (compared to the cheap online Chinese motors). The motor is intended for a rc plane, now that would have ended in disaster if in the air.

Another problem when bench testing, the pair of 50amp reversing speed controllers, brand new and unused, although bought over a year ago, wired them up, and one smoked immediately (yes it was wired correctly!), flipping chinese online stuff,  so no return, no warranty, and now I don't have  a matched pair, guess what, they don't make this sort anymore, so I need another pair .

So it ran briefly, but slowly, with a 3 cell lipo for each motor. Pleasingly the rudder posts did not appear to leak now they have been reset so they are straight, and I had the throttle going the wrong way, so I can a progress on, after I have bought another pair of speed controllers!   

[cuppa]

Glad to see you have resumed this build. It is very interesting and informative.

[derekwarner]

Hey red.....that is a very interesting servo mounting......

Have not seen them before...where do the come from?... Derek

[red181]

got a couple off ebay ages ago, this is pretty much the same, but quite expensive!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-R-c-Boat-Ship-Metal-Alloy-Aluminum-CNC-303-Standard-Servo-Mount-/171323338244?pt=UK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item27e3aaae04

[red181]

now made the inside pretty.

I'm struggling getting two brushless reversing esc's that are high enough amps, and good enough. I have one left over from another project, but cant find a matching one , its a turnigy 60amp marine. I like these, Hobbyking are out of stock, so I might have to be patient, I suppose I could always start the superstructure!

A flash of inspiration made me shine a bright torch inside the hull, with the lights off, to see if there where any potential leaks, ans there was a gaping hole at the bow, so stood it on its nose and poured some resin in, seems ok now

[red181]

ok, finished now! all done!

(ha ha, I wish, but isn't this a beauty! )

I would be delighted if mine turns out like this, got to be one of the best I have seen

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

A flash of inspiration made me shine a bright torch inside the hull, with the lights off, to see if there where any potential leaks

What a brilliant tip.   

This could be our  "tip of the year"

Cheers,


Ken

[red181]

ok, after much pondering, I have decided that the superstructure is rubbish, and needs building from scratch. It will take too much work and prep for paint to get it looking nice, so I have decided to make from 2mm plasticard, as this is real easy to work with, and more importantly will be a doddle to paint compared to wood, and it wont rot! also light.

I am using the old stuff as templates, and will do similar for the deck, any imperfections will be hidden by the window frames

[red181]

I had a pm which basically said get on with it, so back to the garage, move all the rc plane projects, and dig the PCF out! I have had a real setback with hobbyking esc's. I was waiting months for the turnigy marine 60a esc's to come back into stock, only to be told before Xmas they are discontinued, and the replacement is also out of stock. I think when I have the esc's and its running properly it will push me on to get going.

Today off work, too windy to fly planes, so did more on the cabin. Luckily (saving time) the original roof is sound, so the new sides are on. The joints are quite weak due to all the peculiar angles, particularly at the front, so when the cyno is dry, I intend to glass fibre the inside to make things strong

[red181]

roof and turret are on, and to make it all very strong, I have used resin and glass cloth on all inside joints, not pretty, but its on the inside!

The new deck is cut out ready to glue over the old deck, I hate this part of a build, looking for anything to do other than this

[red181]

I'm interested again! finally ordered the speed controllers, they are on the way, this means the boat will run properly, (hopefully) as it will have matched esc's for the first time, and I can start thinking about the correct props, batteries etc.

I started sorting out where the comings are going, decided I don't need that huge gaping hole in the deck under then superstructure, its just a big hole that will let in water, so I'm bracing it, and will cover with ply, then fit the deck over this. Cabins are almost complete.

Don't be shy, pipe in with any comments, observations, suggestions, all welcome!

[red181]

Don't be shy, pipe in with any comments, observations, suggestions, all welcome!

Lonely place here! anybody out there?

Finally speed controllers are here, all set up and its bench run. One motor is a bit rumbly compared to the other, lets hope it holds together! I have disconnected both esc becs and will run a separate receiver power supply. Next day off work, and its getting wet, then  I will probably get going on this good and proper, it would be nice to be completed early summer late spring. The milling machine is also fixed now, so I can get on with making fittings etc, at last.

Pity missus has decided its time to decorate my sons bedroom, 

[red181]

It got wet, but wasn't great. It was too cold, and very windy, within minutes my fingers were dropping off, and the water was too choppy. Esc's worked, but in less than 5 mins it was evident that whilst the brass props looked pretty, they where useless. A dilemma now really, I have loads of spare props, but nearly all are m5, this boat is m4, so my choices for testing are limited. I am going to try a pair of "x" 35mm. (red ones in pic) I have a feeling "x" 45mm will hit the spot though. I noticed that the boat was ploughing a bit, something I experienced whilst building my Fireboat, so I think both props going same direction will sort this, rather than counter rotating. The boat also took in water, disappointingly. Maybe I had not sealed things very well, and there is a small crack that leaks at the rear of the hull, this is why I wanted it running well prior to all the nice work with paint and fittings etc, at this stage it does not matter if it gets knocked about. At least its going the right way and progressing forward