Hello all,
Have just joined the site and been asked to post what I am up to in the model boat world. Well here goes-
When I decided to get back into model boats, I wanted a RTR model that would get me up and running quickly rather than spend a lot of initial time kit bashing. So after a lot of searching I opted for the 1/36 Southampton as it looked interesting and was a tug. First impressions out of he box was quite surprising as the detail on it was actually rather good and it didn't look too plasticy like some do. After initial sea trials I was reasonably happy but there were a few shortcomings, so the decision was made to put her into model drydock and resolve these issues. Here are the pros and cons that influenced my decision:
Pros-
not a bad looking model for a rtr and some very good detail on it
lent itself well to an upgrade and remodel
lots of extra operational bits
quite sturdy in general and well put together
cons-
remote tx dreadful - sticks tended to jam in 100 percent positions
astern performance non existent, wandered round in circles
centre of gravity way off as it had permanent list to port due to battery position
bit difficult to see at a distance as only about 24ins long
led lighting a bit weak.
Standard battery only 800 mah, upgrade to 2000 mah. Only got 20 mins run time on standard battery
So into drydock it went and here is he joblist-
improve handling
improve led lighting - better searchlight on wheelhouse top and brighter working deck floods.
correct CG issue
repaint job - bright orange hull to aid visibility and a few other custom paint mods
fit working winch.
remove smoke unit. this works ok indoors but is useless in open air, probably produces the same smoke as a mouse on an e cig!
remove and grease shafts with ptfe grease
Possibly fit sound unit ??
fit fenders to bow and stern
Reason for the working winch is that I am building a dumb towed barge so wanted to be able to reel in / pay out remotely the towing hawser to allow a shortened tow for close manouvering.
First job a complete stripdown, remove stock esc, radio gear and modify battery tray to correct battery position causing the port list. Battery now sits on the centreline of the keel. Smoke unit removed, unfortunately not enough room to put a new smoke unit in its place, which is a shame as I would have like to have done so. Stock speaker for horn left in place for now in case a sound unit is fitted in the future.
The standard installation has twin geared 360 motors driving 2 shafts via 1 esc, so very little motor control. Esc removed, motor wiring altered to allow independant control. This entailed snipping and trimming various connections as the motors were wired in parallel and linked via capacitors.
The stock RX circuit board was housed below the wheelhouse structure and this was also removed. Trouble with a rtr boat is that everything is controlled from one pcb, so will have to install new switching gear to remotely operate lights etc. and fit new esc to operate winch.
Installed 8 channel r/c gear, the rx now situated in the battery tray, this keeps it higher in the hull and away from any water ingress from the bilges.
Left stock motors in as these seemed adequate but fitted a twin esc system and a mixer, this now gives far better control of motors and allows the model to be steered via the motors as the mixer is plugged into the rudder channel. Did all this and in the bath it seemed to work really well, just needs proper seatrials to test properly. The mixer allows proportional input on he rudder controls and slows down the relevant shaft accordingly thus steering the boat. If the throttle is left at idle and the rudder put hard over, one shaft goes ahead, the other astern and swings her round like she had a bow thruster. All so far so good, however this has thrown up a new dilemma - do I use the rudders as well, do I take them out of the rx circuit and leave them as skegs set to midships or even remove them altogether - decisions decisions, I am tempted to leave them as fixed skegs so if anyone has any experience here, all input and suggestions gladly accepted. This set up is all a bit heath robinson at the moment with jumper leads and crocodile clips so next job is to solder it all in permanently.
Then the job after that is to fit a 7 way remotely operated switching unit for the lighting, upgrade the leds, fashion new wheelhouse top searchlight and fit resistors in to prevent burn out, whilst experimenting with a small 7.2v NiCad pack to see what wires fed what lights from the pcb, I managed to burn out and pop 2 leds, so have to figure that one out re. resistor values etc.
Towing winch, I thought I had a flash of inspiration and was going to experiment with a rc off road car winch that mounts on he front bumper for dragging them out of sticky situations but reading through threads last night, I found that this has already been thought of - there goes my patent........
. However I am going to persevere with his idea and will let you know how I get on, so watch this space, as although the idea has been thought of before, no-one seems to have gone into any detail on how it can be done, if they have, I stand corrected and apologise in advance.
Just for info, here is a link to the suppliers website showing the stock model and TX.
http://www.cmldistribution.co.uk/product/HE0701/hobby-engine-premium-label-2-4g-southampton-tug-boatWill keep this updated as time permits should you wish me to do so.
cheers
Trev.