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[das boot]

Gentlemen...I've just ordered one of these monsters, now I'm looking for advice:

I'm thinking of 4 x 280 sized motors with two of the Action@Man's esc's giving independant motor control...
A six volt 4a/h gel cell battery to drive the motors...
Working interior/exterior lights...
Sound effects (aircraft taking off/landing)...
Possible raising/lowering aircraft lift(s)...

Am I trying to be too clever? Is that little lot going to be too much for the hull to take?

What do you think?

Rich

[amdaylight]

Rich,

First off, thank you for the Christmas wishes and may you and your family have a very Merry Christmas also. I built that kit along time ago and the one problem that I had was with the multiple sections that the hull and flight deck were in. The hull if I remember right has a bulkhead in the middle to help keep the hull from deforming. This may not be a problem though as it will keep flooding down to a minimum. I think that if I were to convert this kit to RC I would only use two slightly larger props and rudders rather that the four scale size props and rudders. Also I would build her with a couple of the elevators in the lowered position and the rest in the raised. The mechanism could get heavy and the lighter you keep the above the water line weight the better she will sail. Check out Gold Metal models, they have several brass etches for the Enterprise. ( http://www.goldmm.com/ ).


Good Luck

Andre 
over yonder in Portland Oregon

[Ghost in the shell]

forget the raise-lower of the lifts, they're 2"x1" and slide in a slot

go for 2x 2ah 6v batteries, one 4ah may but too much weight high up, even better, run a nicad pack

[herrmill]

Rich,

There was a build announced over at RCGroups & several posted photos of their earlier work here:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=936346

I think you'll find their info helpful.

Chuck

[das boot]

Thank you all, gentlemen...very good points. Nicads would be better I think...I didn't realise the aircraft lifts slid in like they do...another good point!

Andre...thank you kindly for the good wishes, I wish you the same to you and yours. Thanks for the link, those brass etches look good, well worth the investment.

And Chuck..thank you for your link info as well, very useful stuff there.

Rich

[andyn]

Here he goes again....  

For the platforms, a Falcon 1.6 gram servo or one of the Nuke servos with a big arm (extend with tube/ heatshrink and some plastic) pushing some closed loop cable cyano-ed to the bottom of the lift. Should work perfectly

[das boot]

Here he goes again....  

For the platforms, a Falcon 1.6 gram servo or one of the Nuke servos with a big arm (extend with tube/ heatshrink and some plastic) pushing some closed loop cable cyano-ed to the bottom of the lift. Should work perfectly

Now there's an idea...hmm...good man Andy. I like it...
Any ideas as to how I can get an aircraft moving on the flight deck....? I'm thinking of attaching a hook to the underside of a plane and having a small motor pulling it up the deck by a cable of some sort and then having it return by a length of elastic or similar. Food for thought....


Rich

[dougal99]

Any ideas as to how I can get an aircraft moving on the flight deck....?

Magnets - Just a thought (only just) 

Doug

[das boot]

Any ideas as to how I can get an aircraft moving on the flight deck....?

Magnets - Just a thought (only just) 

Doug

Magnets...yes, I like that one Doug. Should be easy to hook up and easy to get working....yep, like that one!

Rich

[amdaylight]

You could build the tracks for the magnets out of some Evergreen Plastic structural shapes, say a couple of "C" channels spaced about a half inch apart with a piece of plastic that slides in the groove of the "C" channel. Use a rare earth magnet on the plastic and a small piece of steel on the bottom of the air plane. The only problem with this concept is that eventually you will wear a path on the flight deck.   Now if you don't mind loosing a few airplanes now and then fix one of the catapults to launch an airplane.  Tamiya along with Trumpeter sells extra aircraft in that scale. ( http://www.trumpeter-china.com/war513/products/en_list.asp?classid=20&Nclassid=50&page=1 ) I think that the Trumpeters are a better looking product, heck they even make B-25's  . Here is a photos of the E2C-Hawkeye and a F-14 Tomcat kits from Trumpeter. Depending on the kit they usually have 4 to 6 aircraft in each box.

Good Luck with the Build.

Andre
over yonder in Portland Oregon   

[cos918]

hi Rich That link to the rc group forum . That is my friend Enterprise and I made it for him. She looks like a big boat but her displacement is very small. Look at her back there naff all below the water line same at the bow. She has a very very high center of gravity due to the wide flight deck and narrow hull. She need a keel no mater what or she will tip or be in danger of tipping. So when you have put in 4 motors 1 servo 1 fishing weight for removable keel and 1  6v battery pack she comes right down on to the water line. So all these ideas you have which sound interesting will add weigh which to the ship .They might make her to heavy. If you have any questions please ask and il try my best.


john

[das boot]

Hmm...ok, thanks for the help and the warning John, I'd hate to see all that money going down in a terminal dive. What about using an full length external keel, similar to that fitted on a yacht, only smaller?

One question...what size propshafts and tubes did you use? That's going to be the first area to modify I guess...


Rich

[cos918]

hi rich

Keel
.I went for a removable item so when she is out of th water on her display stand she still looks good. A fixed keel like on a yacht will detract from her looks. The keel fitted to her is more than enough. she has been hit slab sided by the wind she rolled and one of her props was out of the water that was it. that was on a very windy day when the big boys would not go out. I going to take a lot to role her.

Prop shaft
I went to my local model shop (howes) and brought some aluminum tube and some brass tube and some brass strip from the k and s metal center note all metal is imperial as k ans s is an American company..  the all tube has and OD of about 2.3mm i brought 4 lengths and 4 length of brass rod the next size down Ie brass rod  OD the same as the ally ID. I slid the brass rod down the ally tube to give strength. Next I used the the brass tube who's ID was the same as the ally OD . to this i cut 4 length and put this in   to the hull. Next i took that brass sheet and bent to form a V . at the bottom of this V i soldered some brass tube, these were then fitted in to the hull. When ever thing was lined up i glued it all in place.
Because here hull is not very wide the motors are staggered resulting in diffrent shaft length . I could not get 4 motors across side by side and line up with the shafts so hence the staggering.

props  I cleaned up the Tamiya props and they are fine but fragile. If i was doing it again i would get some some prop shop props.

Rudders.
I made all 4 work and she will turn in one and a half of her own length. Note 2 of the rudders are angled  but turn on a vertical axis. This helps keep her level in a turn.

Hope this help if you need any photos or have any questions please ask only happy to help.

john

[das boot]

That's great John, many thanks for that...very good of you.

I did mean a removable keel, so it could be fitted when sailing and then removed for display, etc....I do like your idea of the fishing weight though. I bet that angle of lean was terrifying to see!!!

I didn't realise you used the kit props, they look really good, and would save a few bob too. The props I bought for the Mighty Mo were hellishly expensive, they cost nearly as much as the kit did!

Rich

[cos918]

hi rich I know what you mean on the cost of those little props. QE2 will run on her plastic props for now and see how she runs. If its no good il get some brass ones after the bank manger has his say so.
Her angle was interesting to say if you look at the photos that plane on the lower elevator was in the drink. Note varnish all planes so you don't lose the transfer. I got some US navy high vis transfers from white ensign models . There about 10 transfers per plane X about 40 planes it a nightmare. Oh the all so do 1:350 people there on her well worth doing . Very easy to paint as the colour of the mans top denotes his job.

john

[das boot]

1/350th scale people? No way John, I'd never see the little perishers! 

The whole thing sounds like...."fun"? Mine should be here early next week, so I'm stocking up on the headache tablets....

Rich

[cos918]

here they are

john

[das boot]

Good grief...those are wee fellas! I wonder if I could get one or two of them to move about on the deck....perhaps not. 

What are those motors you used in your boat John? Don't recognise them at all.

Rich

[cos918]

hi there i got them at a boat show from model motor direct . Not sure on make as no markings they were just cheep 6V motors.

john

[das boot]

Can't say as I've seen those before John. I have 2 x Mabuchi 280's for mine, I've decided to use just two motors running a pair of shafts each, that will still give me independant control and also cut down the weight. Each motor will run two shafts by a pulley and a band...I hope.

Rich

[cos918]

wont pulleys and bands be fidley . It just as easy to put in 4 small motors as 2. Weight wise there not much in it . She can take a bit of weight .

jphn

[Shipmate60]

I have used these motors on several plastic kits, they are fine, but you might have to reduce the voltage using 4 in her.

Bob

[das boot]

I'll only be using a four cell battery pack, with Dave@Actionman's P68 Pico 1A esc's, they are designed for a four cell pack.
I think I'll stop having silly ideas about getting things whirring and running along the decks, and get it built and running first, then add any extra bits once she's operational.
Roll on next week when the Enterprise lands here...I'm clearing a large space on the slipway ready.

Rich

[Edward Pinniger]

I never realised the Enterprise had so little draught below the waterline! The real one must have a lot of weight (reactor + turbines?) low down to counter the weight of the flight deck + hangars.

[das boot]

I have the idea Edward, that mine will riding low in the water...maybe I'll raise the waterline a touch.

Rich