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Author Topic: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...  (Read 94956 times)

Stuw

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #450 on: January 08, 2022, 05:13:54 pm »

Looks fantastic and the figures add a lot to the look too.
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ChrisF

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #451 on: January 08, 2022, 09:52:52 pm »

Hi Chris


Thanks.  And no, the windscreen, frame and trim are all parts of the Amati kit.  I think the screen is just clear 1mm (ish) acetate. The frame, its been chromed, its quite stiff but can be bent and holds its shape, could be thin brass, not sure. The upper trim looks custom made, its moulded rubber of some sort, 'L' section with cut outs where required for some tabs on the frame that hold the screen. Lower trim is plastic, 'L' section shaped again, not really ideal material as it doesn't allow flush fitting due to all the curves of the screen in one axis and the deck in another...  But it looks OK when complete so I'm happy with it.


Best regards
David.


Thanks David, I was hoping that you'd made it! I'd like to make those for my Faireys out of brass, we shall see.


Chris
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DJW

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #452 on: January 09, 2022, 05:56:43 pm »

Thanks for the encouraging comments both.  Re the windscreen, yes I think that's how I'll tackle a self build version, template to get the deck curve, then brass sheet, and chrome it.


Had the Aquarama out on the water today for another run, sun was out and the hull really lights up..!  Bushy Park this time.





It was a bit cold, so no video this time as I was on my own, just a couple of phone pics.





Generally pleased with the outing, was playing for about 40m before the 3,000 mAh batteries had enough. ESC temp didn't exceed 40 degrees, so very pleased with new cooling measures.  Current didn't exceed 8 Amps per motor, so I could up the prop pitch again, or shift to a higher gearing, its 3:2 down at the moment, might try it at 1:1, motors are rated at 30A... Gearbox was mainly intended to get a low shaft angle. Think I'll wait to see if adding the skier loads the motors any more before doing anything.  Still a bit unhappy with the whine of the motors.  I think its me opting for the solid mounted gearbox with ball races...  So my own fault.  It's not excessive, just irritates me. I'm thinking to get the boat finished in all respects for the summer, then think about motor mount alternatives next winter... Maybe.


Max speed on this outing was 24km/h, looked fine on the water but below what it should be doing.  Weight is about 4.3kg, and until she's planing the bow does look heavy...  Anyone building this kit for RC use really needs to build her light.  Andy (Taranis) went further than I did with weight saving, wish I'd shaved off more during the hull building stage.


But very pleased overall, and great to get her on the water where she belongs.


Best regards to all.
David. 

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #453 on: January 11, 2022, 05:42:01 pm »

Afternoon All


Magnets are now installed in the crew, so they can go for a ride next outing...  And have started on the Musetto, it's in 3mm brass plate as I just prefer working with that over copper, if it ends up usable it'll be chromed along with the other bits of brass on the build.


The kit item is supplied in three pieces, two for the upper (deck) section and one lower that wraps around the bow.  I've used two plates, one upper and one lower contoured to the bow.  I aim to make it look like one piece if I can. I filed a rounded groove in the back of the lower plate to bend it in the right place, and more easily.  Bit of heat too.  This is the result:





And then some tweaking of the musetto and brass rubbing strips to get a fit:





Add some silver solder and some filing to get the basic shape:





And an overview:





It needs more shaping so that it appears to roll over the bow, more 3 dimensional, and I need to add some brass fillets in the sides to hide the hole seen in second to last pic.  Then mark out and cut the front louvres, and add the rope guide on the top deck plate.  The 3mm plate allows plenty of material to be filed away to create a more flowing shape. But at least its a start...


Best regards to all.
David.

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #454 on: January 13, 2022, 06:03:48 pm »

Put the Louvres in today with a 3mm mill.











And some more rough shaping.








I'm a bit concerned about the adding brass side fillets with silver solder, and possibly melting the main joint...  So may just have to hide that gap in another way. I'm trying to avoid soft solder as I don't think it will chrome properly, if anyone knows otherwise I'd love to hear.  Same issue with the rope guide that needs to sit on top, I'm starting to fabricate it from brass tube, then plan to create a round channel on the centreline of the top plate for it to sit in, and ideally silver solder and blend in... But I'm worried that the heat needed will again damage the main joint.  So I might have to make the rope guide a separate part and attach it with pins or similar...


Silver solder will be best approach to both issues, maybe I will try a large heat sink clamp, and use a lot of heat, fast. 


Best regards
David.

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #455 on: January 13, 2022, 07:48:11 pm »

Would it be possible to use a high temperature soft solder containing a percentage of silver. This might chrome better than a lead based one and it's melting point is much less than proper silver solder.
Jim
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DJW

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #456 on: January 14, 2022, 10:22:04 am »

Morning Jim, thanks for that, sounds like a good plan, but I'd rather use hard solders throughout.  I've used 'Silver Flo 55' so far, just checked the melting range and its quoted as 630-660 degrees, unfortunately I seem to remember choosing it as a quite low temp hard solder in the first place.  I've found 'Easy Flo' which is still a hard solder, but has a lower melting range of 620-630 degrees. But that a bit close to make much difference...


I'm coming around to the idea that I need to use a heatsink and be careful where the heat is applied, and just get on with it.  If it all falls apart I need to use a higher temp silver solder for the main joint, then a lower temp for the secondary parts. Basically do it properly as I should have done in the first place.  We shall see.

DJW

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #457 on: January 15, 2022, 04:46:45 pm »

OK, progress.  I've been careful where the heat went, used quite a lot of heat for a short time and used a large heat sink.  And now have the side fillets in place.








And a bit of filing and cleaning up.





Stepped to get a good fit with the bow.





A bit of shaping coming up, and then add the rope guide.


A good weekend to all.
David.

CarlC

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #458 on: January 15, 2022, 06:41:13 pm »

Superb
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Thor

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #459 on: January 16, 2022, 02:47:35 pm »

Praise to you David, for you dedication to detail in your build!  :-)
I'm building the same model as you with just the same ideas regarding trying to replicate as much as possible as the original Riva.
I have two questions:
From where do you get the small 1 mm stainless screws?
You say that you're going to chrome the brass parts, how/ where do you do that?
Best regards,Thor

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Best regards,
Thor

DJW

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #460 on: January 16, 2022, 04:50:42 pm »

Hi Carl and Thor


Thanks for your kind comments. It's become a labour of love...


@Thor. Great to hear that you have another Aquarama in build. What stage are you at..?  Regarding chroming. There are several companies here that offer a service to 'hobbyists'  it's a fee of around 100 gbp minimum, so I'm waiting until I have all parts ready before sending off. This is a good link and who I'll be using.


http://www.ashfordchroming.com/


And the small stainless screws. I was pointed in the right direction by UKMike who's also built the Aquarama, there's a supplier on ebay.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M1-2-x-5mm-Stainless-Steel-Sinking-Head-Phillips-Small-Screws-Unlimited-Uses-UK-/224046200948?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0


Hope that helps. Anything else I can help with just let me know. Will you be documenting your build on the forum?


Best regards
David.

Mark T

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #461 on: January 16, 2022, 05:58:50 pm »

Metalwork at its best - fantastic job David I've never seen better!

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #462 on: January 16, 2022, 06:52:27 pm »

Thanks for the info regarding screws and chroming!  :-)

I've currently built up the basic frame of the hull and getting all the internals i.e. motors etc in place.
I'm planning to do a build thread of my Riva, just need to get in to the picture upload thing first.
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Best regards,
Thor

DJW

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #463 on: January 21, 2022, 03:40:52 pm »

Afternoon All
@MarkT, plenty of time to screw it up yet...   O0

@Thor, the image handling system is a bit laborious, but once you get used to it, it's OK. Look forward to seeing another Riva build..! What motors are you using..?
 
So, the musetto also has a rope guide, I'm attempting to fabricate it from a length of brass bar with an off centre guide hole, soldered to a small plate.  That plate will then be machined to fit the lower part of the musetto, then a load of shaping to try to tease a pleasing shape out of it all, and lose a load of weight...

Here's work in progress:





And when silver soldered:



Then another bit of machining to get them to fit together, and it helps then stay in the right place when being soldered:






The rope guide is back in the mill right now for a bit of preliminary shaping, then its down to filing.

Best regards to all.
David.

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #464 on: January 21, 2022, 07:12:24 pm »

I'm going to use Crysler 350 small block original motors....  {-) actually it's Hobbyking Turnigy 3660-1700kv with water cooling jacket, with a dummy 1:10 scale crawler V8 on top.

IMG_6443w.jpg" border="0

Really nice job on the musetto! I might "steal" your solution of making it!  ;)
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Best regards,
Thor

PRG

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #465 on: January 22, 2022, 04:34:25 pm »

Hi David,
Have been following your progress for some time.  I started building my Riva in June and have found your build information very helpful, with some great advice.  I launched just before Christmas and must say this is a great boat on the water.  I will post some photos later. Paul.
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Stuw

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #466 on: January 23, 2022, 12:09:23 pm »

Love following this thread and now Thor has added a dummy set of engines into the mix!


PRG s Riva looks great.


Fabulous work guys....
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DJW

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #467 on: January 23, 2022, 01:19:02 pm »

@Thor... loving the V8 covers..!  And just looked up those Turnigy inrunners, they're almost as powerful as the V8s..!  What batteries are you thinking..?  And the musetto, I still have work to do. Hope it works out, we'll know soon.

@Paul, pleased you've found the thread useful, and great to see your Aquarama build, it's looking great out on the water..!  What motors do you have in there..? Fast build too in just 6 months. I'm from Lincoln, where are you using your boat..? I used to run multi boats on the brayford, in fact back in the day I was one of those who dug out and built the launch area for LMBC from sleepers on the brayford.


@Stuw...  You need an Aquarama in your life....   :-))

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #468 on: January 23, 2022, 04:47:11 pm »




Hi David, I am sailing at Tattershall Lakes, asked permission off the campsite manager, but also Mablethorpe, & Skegness. The motors are MFA 540 running on 5000 nicad.  This give a reasonable run time of about an hour with an acceptable bow wave and speed enough to enjoy without being a rocket.  I am thinking of doubling up the batteries which might make the bow lift more as the engines are really only running at half speed. I think as you have previously said, the hull shape needs your modifications and lightening!  Well this is the first boat I have built in 50 years, so quite happy to enjoy the make.
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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #469 on: January 28, 2022, 08:14:21 pm »

@Paul, I know of, but have never been to Tattershall lakes.  And only visits to Mablethorpe and Cleethorpes were when I was a lot younger on family holidays 50 years ago, but I do remember the boating lakes..!  I need to get back up to Lincoln in next few months, maybe I need to bring the Riva too.


Limited time to make progress this week, but quite significant in that the Musetto is now fully silver soldered and still in one piece.  I gave it 50/50 of surviving or falling apart with the repeated heating.


Anyway, this is current state, looks pretty nasty.  Now some shaping to be done and see if what emerges will have been worth the time taken..!





Great to hear that there's a MBM Wicksteed event in May. Not been before but I'll be going to this one (now I have a boat..), any other Aquarama owners planning to be there..?


Best regards to all.
David.

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #470 on: January 28, 2022, 10:44:24 pm »

David, that looks a nice piece of work, I used to teach Design Technoloy so appreciate the skill going into your metalwork. Well done.
Paul
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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #471 on: January 30, 2022, 05:27:03 pm »

Hi All


@Paul, thanks and appreciated, hope you like the results...


Had some time this weekend to make progress with the Musetto...


So, a bit of rough cleaning up:





And after some filing, grinding and various grades of wet/dry...





And various grades of polishing compound...








As a comparison, this is the Amati kit version:




This is the Riva version:




And mine.





A bit more polishing of the detail required, but I think the smoother curves will look great when chromed.


Best regards to all.
David.


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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #472 on: February 01, 2022, 05:56:18 pm »

Evening All


Decided to try a replacement steering wheel in brass, then I can send off what I have to get chroming done in a batch.


The supplied wheel is OK, but I can't get a decent chrome finish on the plastic, I've tried various paints and latest attempt was silver gilding, but its not right.  And the real Riva wheel is a thing of beauty, I think.


So here are some of the parts in brass, the hub turned in the lathe from 10mm bar and then slotted to take the cross bars:





Then the other parts in pretty raw form:





And the current state, I'm waiting for some 1.5mm brass rod to make the lower semicircular horn piece:





Then some more silver solder and shaping, and polishing...


I have to add, part of the reason for doing this to the 1/10th build is so I can figure out how to make the fittings for the 1/5th version...


Best regards to all.
David.

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #473 on: February 03, 2022, 05:44:30 pm »

Bit more progress.  The horn is now ready to add, and the parts dry fitted:





And started to silver solder:





And I've started to clean up the hub and spokes/arms before adding the horn and rim as they'll be difficult to access once put together.





Hoping to get it finished over the weekend, and hope these updates are of interest.


Best regards to all.
David.

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Re: David's Amati Riva Aquarama Build - With some mods...
« Reply #474 on: February 03, 2022, 05:46:18 pm »

Nice to see the wheel developing. :-))
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