I discovered that one of the motor/ gearboxes I was going to use has a problem, it doesnt start turning without the assistance of a finger to get it going, not very good for a unit that is going to be under the deck.
I have started looking for an alternative but no luck so far.
Ah well, I did some more on the wheelhouse, reinforcing the 1/32 balsa angled side bits with a bit of match and 1/32 balsa capping. I had already added stiffener pieces to the wheelhouse roof in an attempt to lose a slight warp in the roof (or the wheelhouse?) which half worked, it still has a tendency to pop up a bit at one corner, once everything is painted and the windows are fitted, this should be a snug fit.... hopefully.
I have started fitting my lights, lots of woring to finish.
I think the cabin needs some portholes, some nice bought ones would be good, but budget limitations mean I will just have try and come up with some home made ones.
I found another dead servo that still had a working motor and gearbox, the only thing was that it had a filled in section on the final drive gear to prevent it turning right round and over rotating the potentiometer. I tried a scalpel to cut teeth into the blank section, not very good, terrible in fact, and the teeth would need to be very accurate so a different idea was tried with a servo gear that had teeth all round but a space for a different type of centre for the potentiometer (which was missing), I tried it and it engages with the teeth but the servo case wouldnt close, so I trimmed the half flat bit off the potentiometer shaft and tried again, it worked, the lid was on. A round output disc was trimmed to accept an old sewing machine bobbin, superglued on, this has ended up being very strong, more than I need for my crane.
There was a slight downside to using a gear from a different servo.... the winch drum has a good bit of float at the end, I will have to add some sort of support to the other end to keep it straight as it wants to sit at a jaunty angle. I might try a bush of some sort where the potentiometer shaft meets the output gear, but I have no idea if they are centred with each other, I may force it away from the gear that is driving it. I had to remove a small bushing from the servo case to get the new output gear in, so this is not helping either. A support at the other end of the winch drum might be best.
So.... I have my 2 winches, my rotation motor, a big gear and a plan! I have pretty much worked out roughly what is happening next, once I get some parts cut out and some bits fitted, I will get a better idea of the next stage. I am going to build the platforms that will rotate with the crane first and build the static part to take the bottom bearing once I know how deep the rotating bit goes.
Still lots to work out, I think the crane will definately need its own radio gear, I dont want any wires coming out that could get twisted round.
I was planning on using a futaba 40mhz set for the ship controls.
I might use my 2.4ghz flysky set for the crane, due to its relatively short receiver aerials. A 300mah 7.4v cell should be plenty for operation and will save space too.
I think having the crane as a self contained unit will be good, no wires to plug in/get twisted.
And most of all, a dedicated radio to prevent accidental operation while sailing, as I dont have any limit switches, things will keep pulling until something gives. I will need to be very careful operating it.
Being self contained means it could be used on another model. Or just by itself.
I have made progress on a few areas since I wrote this the other day, I made a lead counterweight for the crane, and set it in epoxy under the counterweight 'shelf' at the back. Very pleased with how it turned out. Also made a start on the static frame attached to the underside of hatch to hold the bottom bearing.