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Author Topic: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed  (Read 24495 times)

g4yvm

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Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« on: August 27, 2013, 11:35:48 pm »

Well I received my DF65 today and I have just finished it. I thought I'd make a few comments on this little delight.


Firstly, Im pretty new to model yachts but I have vast experience with aeroplanes and other models.  Someone somewhere made the comment that, if you rushed it, you'd get this boat on the water in half an hour.  Well, there's no way I could!


I DID make the following mods to mine: epoxy the deck eyes, cut one of the eyes into a hook, epoxy the aft deck main sheet pulley.  I also took out the radio tray and varnished it.  Please note all newbies than when you epoxy the eyes in THE STATIC ELECTRICITY OF THE DECK WILL ATTRACT THE THING STRANDS OF EPOXY LIKE BEES TO HONEY!  The best thing to wipe epoxy off (anything) is meths.  Im glad I knew this.  I wish I'd know the static thing.


The instructions are good and augmented by importers notes.


The fitted radio is not great and certainly not water proof but I am using it.


The PVC decking (sticky back plastic) covers the sail winch drum and Ive seen at least one mod which suggests covering the winch drum with the backing sheet to avoid sticking.  This is un-necessary because (a) the drum is recessed into a drum shroud and (b) the stick plastic covering isnt sticky in that area anyway!




I don't know why I cut deck eye 4 into a hook!  It isnt used with the provided sails and rig.




Questions:


Why is deck eye 4 a hook?


The instructions say to remove the pvc decking after each outing in order to dry the innards.  I appreciate the whys and wherefores, but will this not trash the PVC decking in short order?


The set up as sold give sheet out as "throttle off" , i.e. stick back and sheeting in as "full throttle". i.e. stick forward.  My other yacht I set up opposite...is there a standard?






In conclusion this is a lovely little kit and builds into a very nice boat.  I bought it to learn how to rig boats and get a benchmark for building my own scratch built yacht.  It's done this admirably.




I look forward to getting my boat wet tomorrow.


David
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mrpenguin

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2013, 11:53:35 pm »

@g4yvm:
The Dragon Force 65 is getting good reports all over the place. I have not seen one, but I understand they need a fair bit of water as they are pretty deep - this is where the good performance comes from. I believe there is a shorter keel available if needed.
 
I cannot answer the question re deck eye 4.
Re the sticky hatch cover - I have a number of model sailboats;  I consider it essential to leave the boat opened up while it is stored between sailings to ensure that the internals are completely dry. Even with a boat that is totally dry inside during/after sailing, temperature changes (such as the difference between a warm car and the launch into cold water) can cause moisture to form in the boat leading to rust and corrosion of wiring / electronics. I would suggest you consider the sticky patch to be disposable and replace it every few sailings, if not every time. There are plenty of products around that will seal it nicely. An alternative may be a solid hatch of some type (maybe a piece of black plastic or similar) sealed around the edge with electrical tape or conversion of the hatch to a screw lid.
 
Re the sticky cover sticking to the winch drum - I have seen one suggestion to mount the winch servo below the servo boar instead of above it - this gains a few millimetres of clearance between the drum and cover.
There is an extended discussion on the DF65 (the earlier version) including the mention of a number of modifications/improvements at http://www.shipshaperc.com/index.php/forum/dragon-force/284-slow-dragon-force-rg65
I should also mention that some of those modifications may mean the boat no longer conforms to the proposed class rules for the DF65 recently published at http://dragonforce65.com/one-class-rules/
 
Hope this helps...
 
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2013, 11:54:33 pm »

Actually of course, it's not a kit. Not a proper  %)kit anyway. But it's still a nice boat.

D
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2013, 11:57:56 pm »

Thanks. I did see the thread re lowering the winch but this would require dismantling the drum unit which I didn't want to do. As I said I'm new to boats and I figured the bits on my bench were puzzle enough without adding a dismantled servo to it. !!  I also wanted it done to sail tomorrow. In fact lowering the winch really isn't necessary.

D
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triumphjon

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2013, 09:58:03 am »

its advisable to remove the radio tray and move the winch servo to being mounted below the bottom tray , this will prevent the drum getting snagged on the hatch cover . ive already done mine , hoping to sail this evening , jon
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kinmel

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2013, 04:18:50 pm »

I too bought a Dragon Force 65 yesterday, but will not be starting it until this evening.

Lots of information available from  http://www.abersochboatyardservices.co.uk/Dragon%20Force.php  and they sell the full range of spares too.
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2013, 06:06:05 pm »

Maiden voyage in about an hour  :-))

David
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2013, 10:40:17 pm »

Well 'excellent' is all I can say.  :}

I had about an hours sailing tonight, me and my sons, and in quite gentle airs the dragon gave a very good account of itself. Speedy when asked, turns on a sixpence and even heaves-to nicely.
All in all a very controllable boat. 

I imagine one could trim and trim and trim this boat until it was perfect but as a thug sailor I'm happy that its out- of-the-box performance is delightful


Recommended !

D
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triumphjon

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #8 on: August 29, 2013, 08:21:57 am »

mine also had its maiden last night , very enjoyable sail , it was even out sailing a 36 " fairwind

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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #9 on: August 29, 2013, 08:41:04 am »

Triumphjohn
Glad it went well.  Did yours let any water in?  I had a few drops in the bilges. I think ingress through the PVC hatch cover which had lifted a little. Deformation of the cover might be a better reason for lowering that winch servo; I must think about that

D
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triumphjon

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2013, 02:17:20 pm »

hi wayne , no thankfully mine was dry inside . i moved the sail servo from the outset , but having changed my hull colour from the stock black to my own tri colour design i opted to make a new hatch cover in 1mm clear plasticard which i hold in place with hatch sealing tape . we have at least three in our club now .
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slug

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2013, 07:40:14 pm »

glad you are all happy with the df65,they do sail well.very pleased with mine.one on f/bay cheap slug
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Saylee

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #12 on: October 16, 2013, 07:52:20 pm »

David,



Would love to see a few shots of your boat, especially with the mods you mentioned. I too am a newcomer to R/C sailboats with 40+ years experience in RC helis, planes, cars, and would love to see what others in similar situations do in their newfound hobby.

Cheers!
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Tug-Kenny RIP

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #13 on: October 16, 2013, 09:00:21 pm »


That's very clever.  Most impressed.

ken


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Saylee

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #14 on: October 17, 2013, 01:51:49 am »

That's very clever.  Most impressed.

ken

Hope that wasn't said tongue in cheek. Sorry if it was.  :-X
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mrpenguin

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #15 on: October 17, 2013, 02:57:16 am »

No pics? Well this is not g4yvm's DF but here is the sort of close racing fun you can have if you get two together...
And to see little boats in big water and more wind, have a look at this video - two of us did "show and tell" at the A Class racing last weekend...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NS0IXMBzxLs
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Saylee

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #16 on: October 17, 2013, 06:00:31 am »

Good looking boats, Mr P.

Thanks for the video link! They seem to do quite well in heavier airs. You seem to have quite the diverse collection by the way.  :-))
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Tug-Kenny RIP

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #17 on: October 17, 2013, 11:05:54 am »


I was impressed with your animations Saylee.  Where did you get them ?

Cheers

Ken

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Saylee

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #18 on: October 17, 2013, 05:23:34 pm »

Ken,

Can't claim credit for those. They've been around for some time, so I just did a google search with that sentiment and clicked on images. There are a few other clever gems like this one, but I have yet to find them all on one site.
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2013, 04:40:36 pm »

I was intrigued by the thread "heavy weather sailboat" so I thought I'd take my DF65 out today - pics and vids to follow I hope, if I can upload them - and see how it faired.


Well, I only have the standard kit sails (new ones on order as a result!) so I had a few knock-downs and there's a heck of a lot of blastd weed still drifting around but all in all, apart from shipping a bit of water, she did okay.  A few gusts got the decks awash but there was no damage and a lot of fun!


Oh, and during the clean up I lost my bung!


I really like my DF65.  Its a good little boat...but my next one will be bigger.  I\d fancy a hull about twice the length of the Dragon next I think.




David
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2013, 05:33:07 pm »




Well this is a shot of my boat.  Because I have recently switched from an Iphone to the piece of garbage knows as Samsung I cant upload video via my Mac.  Ill keep trying but Samsung is so bad I doubt I'll manage it.  Pity.


David
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #21 on: October 27, 2013, 10:13:26 pm »

Got my videos finally sorted.


Here's one of them, the others are there too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfG1-pJM-qw&feature=c4-overview&list=UUe-cFRy8UMOZ-40zEaEn9IgDavid
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Netleyned

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #22 on: October 29, 2013, 06:24:15 pm »


Hi David
I like the vids
When you get the new sails can you register
the boat to get a sail no.?
Been looking at Cat sails and a couple of others
and would like the new sails numbered by the
supplier.

Ned
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g4yvm

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #23 on: October 29, 2013, 06:39:16 pm »

Ned
Glad you like!
Re sail numbers etc I don't know and won't try.  I'm not into competition at all.  I just enjoy pottering!
D
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Netleyned

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Re: Dragon Force 65 newbuild completed
« Reply #24 on: October 29, 2013, 06:45:02 pm »

No worries David.
Just plain sails look, well, plain !

I just made some up for my Vic
Do the same for the Dragon

Ned

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