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Author Topic: Andy's 18.5cm tug build  (Read 8479 times)

Andy M

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Andy's 18.5cm tug build
« on: March 26, 2020, 02:58:10 pm »

Here is my latest project, as a change from my quadcopter (based) flying objects, or QFO's, I have decided to do some recycling and create a new model from a terrible rc car, it was controlled by moving the controller. Really hard to master, so I had transplanted its 100mah lipo into my silverlit z century 4ch helicopter with impressive results, better duration than the 130mah it came with, which had died after long service. The lighter battery also gave it better power to weight ratio than the original cell. Removing the cars battery left me with a dead car tho, but after posting my pics of tug from a tank, sold years ago, I have realised I miss my wee tug boat, so I am going to try making a tug from a terrible car. The pic shows the bits beside my 23cm cruiser, also powered by rc car gear. The reason I am choosing a tug is mainly weight, I will probably be using a bigger lipo than the cars original one, maybe even one of my recycled e cigarette batteries at about 330 mah, but only if I have space for it, I am going to make it pretty small. I have loads (and loads) of small offcuts of 1/32 balsa leftover from qfo projects, so this should give me a chance to use them up. The main things I have to come up with are a prop and shaft, and also a rudder, so I will hunt out parts to make a start on these. I hope to make the tug at about 6 inches long, or less if I can. (but longer if I have to)
 I still have some motor pods from cheap submarines bought from superdrug years ago, I may choose to power it with one of these, as this will eliminate water ingress through a propshaft, leaving only the rudder to worry about. They are quite draggy tho, but on a tug this shouldnt matter too much. I have used these with success on my 12 inch miami crash boat, a shell welder plastic kit tanker and also a kgv battleship plastic kit which is awaiting finishing. I have soldered a small battery socket onto the board to make sure it still works...... it does, so the project is a go. 😁
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warspite

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2020, 05:15:16 pm »

Ever thought of setting up the submarine pods as azimoth pods, rotate the pod to steer and do away with the rudder  :D
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Operational - 1/72 LCMIII, 1/180 Sovereign, HMS Victory to be sailed
Non Operational - 1/72 Corvette, 1/72 E-Boat, 1/72 vosper mtb
incomplete, tug, cardboard castle class convert

Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2020, 05:26:13 pm »

I found a powerpod, not the ones I was thinking about, turns out I had used them on the kgv battleship, not my nicest installation, but it does work, I tested it without finishing it, Surprised how much lead went in to get it to the waterline. Relatively anyway, its a narrow model. I could fit a few of my recycled bosch cells in it for a few days worth of sailing 😁
 The powerpod is a one off, from a tiny twin motored jetski I got on holiday, great little toy, until I dropped it about a foot up beside the bath, snapping  motor shaft off flush with the front of the motor, fun over. Now, after 10 years in a box, its going to be perfect. The board in my donor car had a speaker blasting out race car noises and reversing bleeper, wont be needing that! So thats been desoldered and stuck in a box. Lol. The steering will probably have to use much of what is there to function properly, but it hasnt much throw or strength. How much will a half inch square rudder take? I did think of turning the pod, but I honestly dont think the steering has the power to move and hold against the thrust of the pod. With a rudder, I think I should be ok, I can increase it in various ways once I get some testing and measuring done. I havent opened the steering unit up yet, I dont really want to disturb the wires, yes there are wires, where's me magnifying glass..... Solder them, eh, no, can hardly see them😁 so they will stay attached to the board, pretty sure the wires are plenty to reach most places on a 6 inch boat. Just need to be super careful handling them/it.
 I am looking forward to this project, I was thinking it will be mostly for the bath, due to the restrictions at the moment, but I noticed it is 2.4ghz so it may prove to have longer range than expected. I will test that later.
 I was going to call it the SIT
 Self Isolation Tug 😁😁😁 its also the position from which you operate it 😀
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2020, 05:31:03 pm »

My tug is going to have lights too. If only the sound chip wasnt a racing car noise......
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2020, 11:26:12 pm »

There we go, done, red base coat on, detailing soon............
 
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2020, 11:27:42 pm »

Only kidding, this is a 3d printed one I did last year, 150 mm long (exactly! Lol) I actually forgot I had printed it and the tiny, tiny one. It is good to show me just how small 6 inch - ish is, considering I am having some hull thickness taken off the interior volume as well, I know I could hollow out the 3d printed one, but I want a wood build, use some of my scraps up. For those of you that are into printing, the 3d printed one prints out with no support, even the cabin roof underside turned out ok. And railings!  It even had aerials, one about 13 mm high! Well done my cheapo printer😁 the aerials got snapped off pretty quick. I did about 10 rolls of filaments worth of most varied stuff you could think of. From 2 ft space 1999 eagle, lancia stratos body for my mini race car,articulated snails with a door that opens on their clip on shells, m16 mag adaptor for my bb sniper rifle taking it to about 75 shots from 16, was a pig of a project, had to modify it a lot on cura then print two separate bits and superglue them together and bore them both at a 'just made it' angle then fit a 4mm section of e-cigarette stainless tubing with a card spacer into the 75 round magazine mouth. Works tho, 75 without loading is pretty good. Anyway, I headed off on a 3d printing train of thought there. Back to the tug, I am going to have to change the hull shape quite a bit from the 3d one, to get my stuff in. I will probably build the hull around the motor pod. I will probably go for something a bit like my tug from a tank, so I have a hatch extending back allowing me some access to rudder bits. These bits will probably be mostly covered by rear decking as I build it, just need to make sure the non gettable bits are ultra reliable. I was wondering about building the hull up in 1/32 balsa layers, as I have loads, in different shades of balsa, to give a nice planked effect when varnished? Or just glue 5 big scraps of 1/4 inch and start whittlin, lol. Pretty tempting for quickness, but I got some time, I hope, touch balsa. Will do a sketch soon. That will make my mind up.
 I am going to start another thread called
 How to disguise your toilet rolls as a radio controlled boat. Ha ha. 😁
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2020, 04:21:55 pm »

Initial plan sketch. 185 mm long.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2020, 05:55:44 pm »

Do I need a keel?, I would like a bit for the bottom end  of  my rudder shaft to sit in. Will it turn better with a keel?
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2020, 06:49:46 pm »

Bit done last night, some today, sanded roughly to shape with 4 inch belt sander. Shouldnt have worried about radio fitting in, lol. I dont think this is really a micro tug tho, standard gear fits in.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2020, 08:33:45 am »

Hull shaped inside, lot of space, lol, relatively. My car gear fits inside, with the car! Lol. Cant remember if I mentioned 2.4ghz and range over 20 feet. A big setup fitted in there, I couldnt find a micro servo. Lol. I wouldnt think it would need the watercooling tube, 😁 seriously, I am worried its not going to have enough power now, I didnt think 35 mm longer than 6 inch intended size would make it so big, if you know what I mean. I was amazed when I built the half size wasp, just how much smaller it looked, measured it, yip, just looked smaller than half. Rudder shaft/arm from umbrella spoke, rudder tube from old style plastic cotton bud. Small section of it in my keel bit.motor totally sealed in from inside anyway, still got to tidy round outside end. The green cells would be 5000 mah at 3.7 v, lol any estimates how long that will last. Anyway, I am using a single lesser capacity cell. Be plenty, I might see if my meter goes low enough to get a max current.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2020, 08:41:57 am »

I made 2 small sanders, shown with the large4 x 1 inch one, which wouldnt fit in to sand stubs of the 2 sticky up bits sealing the wires in. Worked nice. Also planked decks, dark coulered balsa turned out to be 0.25mm thicker than light stuff! Ah well, not much sanding to get them flush, the joy of small models. 😁
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #11 on: March 30, 2020, 12:33:35 am »

I have been checking the donor car's steering, 2mm each direction and weak 🙁 I know there is no way I can get a result from that.
So to save disappointment, I am going to fit 'proper' radio, I have a small brushed controller, 3g servo somewhere. I also have a voltage booster which will still give the motor 3.7v while boosting rx and servo to 4.8v, very handy device. My rx isnt that small,but should still fit in.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2020, 08:31:07 pm »

Regardless of radio, it needs a rudder and control arm, old style plastic tube cotton bud provides rudder tube, umbrella spoke provided shaft and conrol arm. Will bend it to shape once I decide how long I want it. The ball end bit will be cut off too. I usually use these as aileron torque rods. Bit disappointed the car gear isnt going to work, ah well.

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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2020, 07:55:00 pm »

Here is progress so far, had to dremel a bit out of the inside to clear the rudder linkage. Happy that it was going to work reliably, I glued the rear deck down, then as soon as I stuck it down, I realised the rudder isnt glued on, or painted. A small slot will allow the rudder shaft to lift out, the bit I have cut out will go back in once the rudder is finally fitted. I am probably going to make a plastic version of the rudder so it cant go soggy.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2020, 08:00:26 pm »

Forgot to mention the truck, it has the speed control I am going to use, it will fit nicely in the area left. I will leave it in there till needed. Rudder tube reinforced with balsa dust and superglue, also low wall in case tube lets in any water. I will be painting in here just in case.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2020, 01:30:32 pm »

Got a bit more done, took a fair bit of material out from in front of the prop, maybe get some reversing capability now. Glued up my plastic rudder blank and painted the hull below waterline with yellow base coat. Why yellow? Cos I still have a wee drop of that left after jetranger, wasp, rorqual, 23cm cruiser and a quadcopter bodyshell. Brightens up my shed tho, will use it up soon. Lol
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2020, 04:51:47 pm »

I wonder if Martin could change my title to '18.5 cm tug build' as it has nothing to do with the car anymore.
 I sat the tug hull on top of my wee lean to woodshed, to dry the paint so I could get another coat on it today. Wind blew it onto the ground, luckily the paint was totally dry, some dust and grit. No other damage, that is until I was clearing up after sawing up some pallets, there on the ground, my steering servo, with a thin layer of balsa and superglue where it had wrenched free, need to test it before I glue it back in. Got another coat on it, looking pretty good, I could have just painted round the prop but takes 5 mins for whole thing.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2020, 04:56:05 pm »

A couple of times, the thought has occurred to me that it looks kind of 'noah's ark-ish' at the bow. Lol.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #18 on: April 02, 2020, 02:25:12 pm »

A light sand then another coat of yellow, making sure the rudder tubes get properly sealed. The superstructure will get more done soon, I want to fit my rudder and then glue my mid section of deck in and get the edges sanded. Still loads to do  for a small model, I have decided on 1/72 scale, making it around 45 feet. U boat crew member has signed up for duty.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #19 on: April 05, 2020, 12:17:52 am »

The tug is tough, it has had two major crashes now, one from 5 feet up, scale height of 360 feet. Lol. The latest one was only from a foot or so.
 I painted the hull black last night, but its still tacky, so I sat it close to the stove thinking it just needed warmed up. Was getting a box of self tappers out and dislodged a jar of soldering flux, hit close to the tug then bounced over and knocked the tug down into the ashy pan under the stove. Nooooooo. Only 2 areas of dust which I wiped off the worst of, as the paint only picked up the really fine bits. If the paint isnt totally dry by tonight, I am going to see if I can remove it with white spirit. If it stays on, thats ok, it should remove the tackyness. I have humbrol black gloss I was going to keep for the last coat. I am pretty sure the black gloss I used was the 'brought back from a gel' paint that I used on the wasp. Its proper gone now. It may dry yet, its baking near the stove, stove enamelled hull?  I have made a couple of mistakes so far, but its getting there slowly. I am still a bit dubious about the motor being powerful enough, it going to be a heavy wee boat. I am also a bit worried my speed control wont work on 3.7v, I dont want to cook the motor with 7.4. I have a booster that goes in between the esc and rx, boosting the rx feed to 4.8v. I need to dismantle the truck to get my speed control and see if it has a minimum voltage marked on it. Or find its instruction sheet. Probably quicker dismantling the truck. 😁 I could just make the motor on off from servo operated switch, thats going to take up space I never accounted for. Hmmm. Glad I didnt make it 150mm now, Good bit more space at this size.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #20 on: April 05, 2020, 12:28:17 am »

I ended up going over it with white spirit, its now just slightly tacky and still baking slowly. Will get a quick coat of humbrol on it before bed... Maybe.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #21 on: April 06, 2020, 04:49:38 pm »

Decided to cut down the length and height of the rear deck area, leaving the funnel end at its original height. Photos explain it better. The mid deck assembly has been altered to suit. I think it looks a lot better. Also made a start on the hull sides above the deck, I forget what they are called. Ice cream tub material. All bits cut oversize just now. I have to add some holes too. Need to do some terminology research. Lol. And search up some hole arrangements pics. Seen a few yellow tugs.... and I still have loads of yellow left, and it would be more visible for river use should it get taken downstream a bit. Will see as it progresses.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #22 on: April 06, 2020, 04:51:26 pm »

Photo shows its transport tub. 5 mm spare in width, exact length.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #23 on: April 07, 2020, 07:50:03 pm »

Here is the tug beside my other 1/72 vessel. Coincidentally the waterlines had ended up the same height on their respective stands. The other photo shows my quadcopter marine drive conversion test rig. I tried it on 3.7v first, pretty good, probably enough for my sub chaser, then I tried it on the 7.4v quad battery, 850mah. Definately better than I had hoped. I am going to try powering my vic smeed rorqual with this setup. Its onto a cheap prop/ shaft set that I have on a few of my boats. 4 motors on the quadcopter give about 8 minutes at over half throttle mostly. I would imagine at least 20 mins on one motor.
Anyway, the tug paint is fully dry now so I can start working on the bulwarks.
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Andy M

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Re: Tiny tug from a car.... My new project
« Reply #24 on: April 07, 2020, 07:54:32 pm »

Forgot these
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