Starting 1/8 scale T5 build, need critique of my proposed setup [Archive]

nichismo

03-13-2015, 08:59 AM

Potential Hydroplane Setup for ⅛ scale, 8s to 10s. Need prop recommendations and any other tips and information would be greatly appreciated. :)

Hardware:
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ros-spdr-012 -
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ros-SPDS-011-250R

ESC:
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=hef-HB80200L

Motor:
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=leo-5698 (910kv)

Other Potential ESC choices:
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ker-seaking-130-hv-v3
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=etti-e064
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=etti-e065

I really only chose from what is available and in stock here at OSE, as I would like to purchase the motor and ESC in particular at the same time from one source, as I am hoping that I could have the soldering and watercooling setup for me so I can just "plug n play" when I receive them.

I am new to electrics and this is basically my first build. I dont really need alot of speed, I dont plan to race anytime soon, I basically would like to shoot for 45mph minimum, 50-55 being ideal. I just want it to be reliable and not too expensive at this point, as acquiring a good scale hull set me back much more than I woud have liked, but im pretty excited for it nonetheless. I have a scale T5 from Phil Thomas coming in the next couple weeks.

JMSCARD

03-13-2015, 03:27 PM

nichismo

03-13-2015, 04:59 PM

How big is this boat length and width wise? If you're looking for a budget setup, you can also look towards large outrunners.... heli types as they are high speed (rpm) motors and work well in 1/8 projects, obviously coming to mind is the 4035/800 scorpion or hyperion motors... they will def achieve what you're looking for and more speed wise, in fact on 8s you should be in the 50mph range.... and reliable as well with low amp draw.. heck you can use a HV80 turnigy esc and be good to go! you can youtube 4035/800 1/8 scale and see lots of hydros in the 1/8 size using this very setup... long known reliable, low cost, and sounds great ta boot!

Well ive already paid and ordered the hull, it should be here late next week hopefully. Its 44 inches long, im not so sure about the width however. At this point, the build is pretty much long past the overall "budget" stage, the main reason I use the term budget at this point is that ive already got the general consensus of typical hardware for this caliber boat, however this boat by no means is constructed with the intention to race competitively (at least not right away), so I figured with a slightly lower standard I could save a little money. I wasnt intending on getting this specific hull (although I been dreaming of it for some time), and on top of that I wasn't ever planning on buying this size of hull if I did indeed acquire one (Ive been wanting a 1/10). But I caved.... lol

So most people I have seen with 1/8 scale modern hydros are usually utilizing Neu motors 1512 and up, and 240a ESCs on 10s lipo, I really dont need that much speed, and I cant afford that anyway. The hull and scale aesthetics were more important than the speed, that being said I would still like to get to 50mph. The components I just listed, vs the setup I suggested in my OP is probably a 250$ difference or more.

Im mainly concerned with the prop and ESC. I have no idea where or what kind of prop to purchase, and I also am not very wise to speed controls. If I just want 8s and a Leopard 5692, is a Hv swordfish 200amp like the one in my OP sufficient? I might as well just buy a more expensive and powerful ESC anyways, so I dont need to do as much work to upgrade my motor down the line.

JimClark

03-13-2015, 05:08 PM

This link from RCU's site should be of help http://www.rcunlimiteds.com/#!fe/c1pdy
they for the past couple of years have run 1/18th scale electrics and this is their setup

Make-a-Wake

03-13-2015, 05:36 PM

I built a 50 incher several years ago and ran it on 9s2p with a Castle 2028, hit 60 mph.

The 5698 on 8s2p will power it fine and should get you around 50 if that is enough for you.

If you haven't already ordered the motor you may want to consider the 56110 for a few bucks more

nichismo

03-14-2015, 02:39 PM

I was actually considering the 5692 so that I could get a better quality ESC, ive been told by a few people that If possible to opt for an Etti or Seaking ESC rather than the swordfish ones.

I guess the prop I end up using will be a pretty influencing factor? I seriously dont know anything about props, should I buy a balancer and balance my own? so that I can perhaps fine tune my setups? or should I just buy a pre sharpened and balanced one from here on OSE?

JimClark

03-14-2015, 02:47 PM

Nicholas where do you plan on running your boat?

leonard feeback

03-14-2015, 02:52 PM

Nicholas, pay attention to Jim's post and go the RCU web site. They give you a very good starting point for what you need without wasting money in the wrong parts. Their site also has people you can probably get in contact that live close to you

Make-a-Wake

03-14-2015, 06:15 PM

I was actually considering the 5692 so that I could get a better quality ESC, ive been told by a few people that If possible to opt for an Etti or Seaking ESC rather than the swordfish ones.

There isn't a Seaking that will power that motor that I am aware of, the swordfish is a very good ESC, that's what I used in my Hydro, a 240 12s.

Ryan made this thread several years ago, I referred to it a lot when I was new to boats, very informative

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/speed-electric-109/9069147-new-fe-building-boat-whats-lipo-look-here-first.html

nichismo

03-15-2015, 05:58 AM

Nicholas where do you plan on running your boat?

Well I live in NE tacoma, which is basically Federal Way. Locally, ill probably be stopping by Steel lake and 5 mile lake which is just a very short drive from my home, but I plan to make the drive up to Renton and Seattle as much as possible, I just love Lake Washington and Coulon beach :) So many memories growing up when my dad moored his boat near Rainier beach. Every time we drove over to Coulon to get Ivars and Kidd Valley, I always loved looking at the Hawai Kai III and Miss Bardahl boats hanging inside. Then Id always hope to see some people potentially driving their boats inside the square pier.... Finally I can be in the other shoes!! Im extremely excited for Seafair this year too!

I look forward to meeting as many other hydro drivers as I can

Nicholas, pay attention to Jim's post and go the RCU web site. They give you a very good starting point for what you need without wasting money in the wrong parts. Their site also has people you can probably get in contact that live close to you

Will do, Jim seems extremely experienced and educated with hydroplanes, Ive spent alot of time checking out his photos and gallery on Smugmug, all beautiful Jim ;)

So perhaps Ill aim for a 240amp minimum for the ESC? Perhaps Ill spend a little more then so I have more headroom for upgrading the motor later.

I have no idea how to solder and do the wiring either.... So I really wanted to purchase everything from here on OSE so I can just basically strap everything in and get going!

Im going to actually change the hardware I had listed in the OP, and im going to opt for the 1/8 scale hydroplane hardware package from Accu-tech, minus the zenoah motor mount it comes with. I really like the scale strut they offer.

Im so excited to get this hull guys!! I really want to get my parts before the hull gets here so I can get to it. Im still trying to decide what paint and team Im going to choose. I was thinking the U-21 Miss Seattle/Beacon plumbing driven by Villwock. The yellow and red is pretty simple to replicate and wont require to many decals either. But im still tempted to just go for another Miss bud.... haha

leonard feeback

03-15-2015, 04:47 PM

The T-5 hull you have coming won't do the U-21 Beacon Plumbing without changing the deck over the sponsons.

JimClark

03-15-2015, 05:00 PM

Leonard it might work for one of the older Beacon Plumbing but not the current hull

nichismo

03-15-2015, 06:41 PM

ill probably just make a 2001 Miss Bud then.....

Do you guys know of anything articles that have a full walkthrough of a boat assembly? Like I am still unfamiliar wiith alot of the smaller processes and details, like drilling a hole for the stuffing tube and flex shaft (I have a thread bookmarked for this one however so im not too concerned with that), and cutting a slot out inside the boat, near the transom for the strut, and proper placement of components.

I noticed OSE has rail motor mounts for NEU 1521+ size and up motors that are basically for mounting on nitro engine rails, My hull will have I believe speedmaster .67 mounts built in. Heres a picture of Phils most recent T5:

129218

Id like to maybe use something like these but I cant find one for the 5692.

Also, which ESC would be a better choice in the long run?

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=hef-HBF1300L-lite - Swordfish Pro+ 300 amp Lite version
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=etti-e065 - Etti HV 220A Opto PRO II Navy Competition

Agitator

03-15-2015, 07:47 PM

If this is going to be Electric, I don't think you need nitro motor mounts.

nichismo

03-16-2015, 04:45 PM

If this is going to be Electric, I don't think you need nitro motor mounts.

of course not, I wasn't intending on only using nitro motor mounts. its more so that Phil has his T5 hulls usually equipped with speed master mounts for .67 glow engines, just like the picture I posted above. I just would like to possibly integrate those to mount my electric motor somehow if I could, just to perhaps keep the internals a little but cleaner.

Phil does known that I'm going to be building an FE however, so maybe he'll actually skip that part.

nichismo

03-16-2015, 11:21 PM

The miss beacon plumbing from this video isnt the practical same hull?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AArltTNRaA

nichismo

03-18-2015, 05:37 PM

just put the order in with Accu-tech for the 1/8 scale hydroplane hardware package, minus the Zenoah/nitro engine mount. I purchased the 1/4 bushing for the strut too. I was going to get the flex shaft from there as well, but it was cheaper here on OSE and they were out of stock with the stepped down ones.

So I ordered:
http://www.accu-techrchardware.com/SRASRC-100.html - Tapered single pickup short rudder assembly
http://www.accu-techrchardware.com/ASSA-100.html - "Authentic" scale 1/8 hydro strut assembly
http://www.accu-techrchardware.com/HTFARC-100.html - hydro turn fin assembly
http://www.accu-techrchardware.com/SB-100.html - 1/4" shaft bushing

next make an order here on OSE for the Leopard 5962, ETTI 220amp opto pro ESC, and the carbom fiber 56mm motor mount with the cover plate that can hold the ESC on top. once I have all those things installed and the boat painted then ill be pretty darn close to her maiden voyage!

I spoke with Phil the other day too, and he informed me that he was going to leave out the normal speedmaster engine mounts he normally has in the hull, so the engine well will be ready for any electric motor mount. As soon as the hull arrives, ill be sure to start taking plenty of pictures and upload them here.

Agitator

03-18-2015, 11:18 PM

The hull you are getting is not the same as the 2014 Beacon-it doesn't have the step between the deck and sponson-see photo. Of course, it's your boat, so you can do whatever you choose. Once you get the hull, then you will have to build a watertight compartment for all the electronics. On FE hydros, the 'normal' set-up is batteries as far forward as possible, motor and scu, receiver and steering servo. You will probably need a radio battery as well.

129326

nichismo

03-18-2015, 11:45 PM

aww thats a bummer, so then it would not be race legal? I really love the thought of just doing the miss bud, and it would also be an easy replication, but its just so common and unoriginal. What other boats does the T-5 make?

So do some people have areas cut out from inside the sponsons? or at least partially? where should I add floatation? have people ever made shelves of some sort inside the cowl? so maybe something perhaps could sit up there above other components and save space?

Agitator

03-19-2015, 12:22 AM

Ideally, you don't want any of the electronics where they will get wet. You also want the weight as low in the hull as possible, so no, nothing hanging in the cowl.. You can add flotation in the sponsons, using pool noodles or two part expanding foam. The hull you are getting will build any of these boats-this is RC Boat Companies list. You can get the graphics from http://www.thunderboatgraphics.com/ and the paint scheme plans from http://www.newtonmarine.com/index.php
I realize you said you don't want to race, but you are going to have ALOT of $$$$ tied up in electronics/batteries/motor, so you really need to think of all the electronics have to be in a water tight/waterproof section. Look at some of the other 1/8 scale builds here and you will get a good idea of how much protection we put in our electronics bay. Ask Phil how he would suggest building a box for a FE boat, he is a wealth of information

2000-04 U-1 Miss Budweiser (T-6)
2006-09 U-5 Formulaboats.com
1998-04 U-1 Miss Budweiser (T-5)
2006 U-7 Formulaboats.com II
2001-09 U-16 Ellstrom E-Lam Plus
2010-13 U-96 Spirit of Qatar
2007-13 U-6/U-1 OH Boy! Oberto
2002-10 U-3 Coopers Motorsports
2003-05 U-8 LLumar Window Films
2006 U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing
2007-08 U-37 Beacon Plumbing
2009 U-37 Bello's Pizza
2009 U-37 Glacier Energy Presents Miss DYC
2009 U-37 Hoss Mortgage Investors
2009 U-37 Renton Coil Springs
2010 U-37 Miss Peters & May
2011-13 U-11 Miss Peters & May
2010 U-21 Albert Lee
2011 U-21 Lakeridge Paving
2011 U-21 Tapout
2012-13 U-88 Degree Men
2013 U-5 Graham Trucking
2012 U-17 Red Dot

nichismo

03-19-2015, 01:29 AM

oh I do want to race, im just not in a hurry. I really would like to get a NEU 1527 and 10 or 12s Lipo but I simply cant spend that much money, im already being set back farther than id like. I didnt realise how expensive lipo batteries are, aside from the hull they are going to be practically the most expensive component of the boat, and thats only at 8s! Im still a tad overwhelmed by the amount of information out there, but im really just mainly concerned with the smaller in and outs of building a boat from scratch. Im worried about overlooking something minor that ends up having severe consequences, like perhaps not getting the dimensions right on holes or cuts in the hull for hardware, or picking the wrong prop and damaging my ESC, or not sealing the stuffing tube well enough and water getting into the hull after a run or two.... I dont know. Another hobby of mine is building performance computers, they always are overclocked and have full plumbing watercooling systems. Ive made several systems now, but when I made my first few custom rigs, there were numerous small mistakes I would make, or even just time wasted due to techniques and methods that I used due to my lack of experience. Now that I ended up biting the bullet and buying such a nice hull, I feel as though with this boat im trying to build the equivalent of my latest boutique computer build, and attempting to skip the whole learning process. I just have doubt about whether it can really be done..... I can learn and research with the internet and OSE has been awesome, but like I said, i feel a tad bit overwhelmed.

I had looked on Thunderboat graphics, but on their front page it says they arent taking any orders due to trying to catch up from back logs of orders last year. Do you know if they are taking orders again? I have talked with phil a decent amount, but I feel a tad bit awkward trying to pick his brain at times, last few texts I sent asking a few questions, he never responded. Jim clark has been an awesome help though, hes giving me the privilege of a visit and taking a look at my boat soon after I get the hull and hardware. Thankfully, im in a pretty good spot on earth for RC hydroplanes :)

Thanks for the list BTW! I had no idea I had this many to choose from! SWEET

I may go with the Formulaboats.com, this one has been a favorite of mine for a while

https://www.flickr.com/photos/92824000@N03/9124604096/in/set-72157634294141409

the neon green Peters and May has also been perhaps my favorite looking hydro but Im afraid a paintjob that flashy may just bee too costly or come out subpar.

this miss beacon plumbing looks just like that one, it must be the 2006 you listed:
129337

Agitator

03-19-2015, 09:23 AM

The Beacon photo I posted was taken in 2014-same paint scheme-completely different hull. No ThunderboatGraphics is not taking orders at this time, but will be back up fairly soon. Remember, that some of what we use comes from small 1 man operations, but they also have a real job too. Some items can take time to get, so patience is needed.

nichismo

03-23-2015, 08:44 AM

Well ive been employed with my familys small business franchise for almost 10 years and I also build and design custom performance computers that I sell afterwards, simply because I have a passion for that and I have to satisfy my desire to tune and build them, otherwise my own computer would always be in pieces. So im well aware of their scale of business operations and why they provide their services in the first place, I wasn't complaining or being impatient, I just felt that your suggestion implied that you weren't aware that they aren't taking orders at the moment, which is fine. They seem to be the best and I have no problem waiting. But thanks for the recommendation and list of boats!

Phil told me on Thursday that he had finished all the pieces and extras, and just had to finish the main hull body before it will be shipped out. The process should have been about 2-3 days and he said he would start on friday or Saturday, so hopefully it will ship out today! I also had him make a salt water scoop for me.

I think im going to change my motor and go with a Neu 1527 instead, a friendly member here has a very lightly used one that he can sell to me for a good price, I just need to get an ESC and my radio gear and such and then ill be almost ready to go. My hardware order from Accu-tech is set to arrive today, and then I just placed an order with Kintec racing over the weekend for a 1/4" flex shaft with a step down to 3/16" for the prop shaft.

Agitator

03-23-2015, 09:00 PM

Luck as a Constant

03-23-2015, 10:28 PM

BTW, No one can have too many "Bud" boats .

This!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

nichismo

03-24-2015, 09:42 PM

I think you will find a large portion of those of us that run 1/8 scales use a Neu 1527 1.5Y on 10s. Seems to be about the best 'bang for the buck'. I also have a couple that run Scorpion 4035/800 on 8 or 10s. I just ordered ML Boatworks 1/8 Winston Lobster boat (extreme frame) that will run Neu 1530 /1100. Totally aware TBG is not taking orders as I still have decals I've been waiting for from him. I might suggest you try one of Jeff Wohlt's 'Big Dog' couplers. http://rcraceboat.com/
BTW, No one can have too many "Bud" boats, I have the T-4 twin wing, the '72 round nose, and will start later this month on a new T-6 from Ml Boatworks. Once you start, there is no going back, so welcome to the dark side .

lol, you just made my decision! Miss bud it is :) and honestly, ive just sort of knew from the start I would go with it, I just already had an attachment due to seeing inflatable miss bud hydros all over the place during Seafair and around gas stations and such growing up as a little kid, its only natural that I would want one as an RC.

So I finally got some pictures for you guys too! Phil completed my hull today, along with the Saltwater scoop, and hes shipping it out tomorrow. 129918129919129920

Agitator

03-24-2015, 10:33 PM

nichismo

03-24-2015, 11:19 PM

Accu-tech make the best hardware I have seen, it's all I use anymore. Have fun polishing it all out. Be VERY careful with the strut as the 5/16 brass stuffing tube must be a very tight fit. You will find the hole in the strut too tight to install the tube, so you have to slowly and carefully open it up. I mount the strut in a bench vise, and use self adhesive 400 grit sand paper on a 1/4" dowel in a drill so you get the full length of the strut at the same time. Take your time and fit the brass tube often so you don't go too far. You did get the bronze bushing for the shaft didn't you? Going to be interesting to watch this build as I will be starting mine about the same time. Had to order the snorkel and tail feathers from RC Boat Company, already have the cowl and a fresh cut ML Boatworks Extreme frame kit. I already have my graphics though, bought them here on the forum. Take LOTS of pictures and ask questions. I have some good pictures of the T-6 with the saltwater intake I took in Tri Cities.
I can also help with some 'jewelry' for the back when you get to that point..

129923

Woah! that is badass.....

I was going to purchase the dummy turbine and stablizer kit from Rcboatcompany, but they are pretty expensive so well see. This is actually my first scratch build aside from helping a friend of mine with his VS1 and its my first FE build in general. Im a little worried but everyone here has been really helpful, and I live in a fantastic community for hydroplane building.

and yes, I did purchase the bushing as well. I would have bought the rest of the shaft assembly but they were out of stock on the stepdown shafts, so I purchased one along with the 5/16" brass stuffing tube from Kintec. Thanks so much for mentioning that, its literally exact tips like that that the whole reason I made the thread here in the first place.

What compounds should I get for polishing the hardware? Ive never polioshed metal before, but I polish plastics and acrylic all the time with my computers' plumbing systems.

Agitator

03-24-2015, 11:47 PM

The dummy turbine from RC Boat Company is NOT the correct pipe for the Bud. For the later boats that use the same hull as the T-6, they are correct, just depends on whether it is bell style, or straight pipe. For my T-4 I used actual 3" thin wall aluminum tubing, and a ton of polishing. For polishing all your hardware, and this is just how I do it, is to start with 320 wet/dry paper, wet with a little dish soap to start taking all the machine tooling mark out. When doing the skid fin, and rudder, you should do these on a flat, hard surface as you will be sharpening them as you clean them. Keep going using 320/400/600/1000 and then I use 'Blue Magic' metal polish cream for a final polish. When you have perfect resolution and it it looks like a mirror, you are done. Be careful, as the leading edge of the fin and the rudder 'should' be razor sharp. I'll put up some pics of these later. RC Boat Company now makes a turbine tube for the T-4 that I ordered, so I don't know yet how it will look when done for the T-6. Here are photos of the pipes. First is the RC Boat company bell tube on my 2010 U-96 Spirit of Qatar, next two are my T-4. The T-6 is the same, just not cut at such an extreme angle.

129924129925129926

nichismo

03-25-2015, 12:23 AM

Damn, do you have any full pictures of your SOQ? Ive always like that hydro as well. But I had been thinking of crafting my own turbine, it just seemed like something that could easily be done for far less than the 100$ its gonna take for me to get the RCboatcompany one. I really like the stabilizer kit they offer though, so well see for that one. What are the exact differences between the T-4, 5. and 6 anyway? ive always been curious, you seem like quite the hydro expert! Those boats look amazing, especially that twin wing.

nichismo

03-25-2015, 12:11 PM

A couple more pictures Phil took :

129933129934129935

Speed810

03-26-2015, 05:35 PM

nichismo

03-29-2015, 05:45 AM

Hi Nick....
As you I'm new to the RC FE Boat scene....LOL But I have been learning a lot here on various forums as I build my Miss Elam.

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?50018-ML-Boatworks-1-8th-Scale-171-Extreme-Build-Miss-Elam

The boat is actually one of ML Boatworks Extreme 171 kits. Its actually been a dream to build. Its being powered by the NEU 1527 1.5Y on 10S, ETTI 220 Pro ESC.
As others have said it seems to be the race package that has been proven and makes the boat quite competitive. Most of my hardware was from Speedmasters except the turn fin that was crafted by Dick over at Virginia Craftsman. Canopy, Turbine tray, dummy turbine and wing strut assembly is all from Steve at RC Boat Co.

Even though I have been an RC aircraft builder and flier for ages...this is a whole new ball game for me, but the folks here on OSE have been great to learn from.
I also understand your concern of missing some detail that can cause a bigger problem down the line with the build or when operating the boat. Mine exactly!!
But I have found that asking a lot of questions and reading a lot of different forums (even other sites) will give you the answers your looking for.

BTW....I just ordered a set of graphics from Mike at Thunder Boat Graphics. He is great to work with, but he is very busy with the business. He does a lot of other graphic jobs other than RC Boats. It is looking like it will be 3 to 4 weeks for my graphics, but call him...you should be able to get your order in. I believe he just hasn't had the time to even update his web site yet....LOL He also races and builds, so he is also a wealth of information.

Good luck on your build....I'll be following. Feel free to ask anything....even though I am a newbie also, I might have the answer but I won't give ya made up one....LOL I'd just refer you over to one of the other veterans if I'm not sure.

Mike

Hey thanks! I have been following your thread for some time now, I actually spoke with Mike over at ML for a little while about potentially buying that same extreme framing kit, but Im not the greatest wood craftsman and have never built anything of that calibur, so I was hesistant to follow through with it. In the end, I ended up going with a fiberglass hull.

I heard that the Accu-tech 1/8 scale turn fin I bought doesn't actually work or mount with the T5 hull, so I need to purchase a difference bracket, I was going to go with the Virginia craftsman one.

But your hand makes me feel a whole lot better going forward, even if you are indeed rather new to this like I am, your several steps ahead of me with your build and Ill probably end up picking your brain quite a bit if you dont mind :) Ive already gone through your thread several times, haha.

I know I stated earlier that im going to go with the Miss bud, but again now im undecided. I need to find out to what extent I can actually have painted onto the hull, and what im willing to turn to vinyl and decals for the rest of the graphics. Theres a certain few boats that I really really like, however the complex paint schemes lead me to think I should go for something else. Also, this may sound petty, but I sort of want to avoid any teams that have already been done by Pro Boat. Lol, the custom aspect of this is important for me to convey.

nichismo

03-29-2015, 04:41 PM

So I actually ended up purchasing a Leopard 5698, along with a Swordfish hv240amp ESC. There was a really good deal in the swap shop for the combo, already wired with a water jacket, so I couldn't pass it up. Hopefully I dont have any problems with the controller, its refurbished. The motor is brand new however. Its already been shipped out and I should receive it tomorrow. I also finally got confirmation from Kintec that my package from them has shipped.

I also just placed an order here on OSE for some of the last remaining hardware ill need to stay active in the build, and ill make another order or two for the subsequent required hardware and radio gear as the build progresses. My budgets a little tight at this point so I dont want to purchase anything non-essential. But heres everything ive got and also ordered so far:

Hardware components:
The hull (will be here on Tuesday)
Accu-tech rudder assembly
Accu-tech scale strut assembly with bushing
Accu-tech turn fin assembly
1/4" flex shaft with 3/16 step down (just ordered from OSE)
Octura Large Drive Dog for 3/16" Prop Shafts (just ordered from OSE)
Octura Coupler Flex Hex 8mm to .250 (just ordered from OSE)
Teflon Liner for .187 flex cable (just ordered from OSE)
5/16" and 11/32" Brass stuffing tube (on its way from Kintec Racing)

Leopard 5698 with 5650 water jacket (on its way, should be here tomorrow/Monday)
Swordfish hv240amp ESC ( on its way with motor)
Aluminum 56mm angled motor mount (just ordered from OSE)

Agitator

03-29-2015, 06:43 PM

nichismo

03-30-2015, 01:28 AM

You really can't run teflon liner for a .187 cable when your using 1/4" cable :) I don't know of too many guys that run liner as we use 5/16" tubing greased well for 1/4" cable. You want to use 11/32" brass tubing glued in the hull and then 5/16 tube for the shaft. Remember that the 5/16 tubing runs from the back of the strut to within 1/4-3/8" of the coupler on the motor. What KV is that Leopard btw? You can use the accutech skid fin mount if the sponson transom is 90 degrees to the ride surface, if the transom is angled, then you will have to use a Virginia Craftsman mount. I do hope your motor mount supports both ends of the motor. This would be the mount I would suggest as it also provides a place for the speed control. You don't have much room once you get all the gear laid out.

130140130141130146

darn I knew I should have just gotten that mount, but I was being cheap and didnt want to spend that much. The motor mount doesn't have any extra support, but I could probably craft something myself if needed. I wasnt aware that teflon tubing isnt mandatory, I thought it was something thats always used! ill probably just buy that motor mount instead, that way when I get the ESC and motor in the mail, all Ill have to do is just drop the whole assembly in. The 5698 is the 835kv model, what Lipos should I buy?

But ya, I purchased the 11/32 brass tubing specifically for the exterior reinforcement, I had noticed the discussion in Speeds Elam thread and figured thats a good idea. Do you guys just use a dremel/rotary power tool for cutting the shaft and strut slits? This has been probably my biggest concern, id really just hate to mess up this hull ive invested so much in. Ive made mistakes in measuring or angles and alignment before with custom computer chassis and cases that really resulted in a ton of frustration and extra work, I really want to avoid that kind of thing with this.

nichismo

04-02-2015, 02:13 AM

Hey guys! my hull is here! here is some pictures....

130370130371130372130373130374

nichismo

04-02-2015, 02:14 AM

few more

130375130376130377130378

Now that majority of all components and hardware are here, I am going to start all the prep and modifications to the hull. This is where I basically need the most help obviously, so ill ask as many questions as I can and post as many pictures as I can. Hopefully, I can get some helpful info and tips from some local builders, im going to attempt to contact a few, and if they aren't too busy and dont mind me picking their brain, ill be up and running in no time :)

So I plan to go to the local hobby store or hardware shop and pick up some lite plywood or Balsa, and some styrofoam so I can add some flotation and doublers to the cowling, and I have also been thinking of using some small circle magnets to attach it. Then I want to craft a bulkheads at about 8-12 inches from the transom of the boat, and another running across the center of the cockpit. Then ill epoxy a wood square stick on each side of engine well to form a lip, and make a flat cover to seal off the compartment from the rest of the boat, and ill be able to start accomodations for the motor, stuffing tubes and shaft assembly. Does this all sound okay?

Is there any specific order in which I should go about each assembly? like should I mount the motor and such before cutting and mounting the stuffing tubes/flex shafts?

Im also pretty concerned about the rear wing setup. I really want to have the angle and attitude of it to be absolutely perfect, and im a little confused in reading the instructions Phil sent me on how to craft the tabs. I was thinking of just buying some of the carbon fiber tabs that Steve has at rcboatcompany, but they are pretty pricey and seem to be a better option before the actual hull is built lol.

phil t

04-02-2015, 11:37 AM

Nick you can use a drill to make slots but the dremal tools will cut a line. Be careful if using the dremel tool dont let the bit chatter or you will make a ragged hole.
The botttom of the wing verticals can be slotted with the drill or dremel just about 1/16 of glass to cut thru, use the drill to mill out the foam core for the tabs to fit into.
You can make the wing mount tabs with some 5 ply 1/8 plywood that is strong enough. The tabs fit thru the deck slots and sit on the bottom of the hull, they are at an angle. assemble the horizontal onto the verticals to check how they fit before glueing. Cut on the marked lines and epoxy the bottom and at the deck line.
Mount all the hardware first then worry about the motor position to get the balance close. You can position the batteries or add weight to the sponson tips in the flotation foam tubes if needed.
Mount the strut then the motor, cut the shaft slot and gule in the tube. Do it this way so you are aligning the shaft to the motor not the motor to the shaft, it will come out centered perfectly.

nichismo

04-02-2015, 01:00 PM

thanks Phil! I was actually going to text you today and give my thanks again for boat, it really is wonderful and im very excited to go to work on it.

So ill probably get the holes for the stuffing tube, rudder, and strut assembly cut today, and whatever else I have time for. For the stuffing tube slot, I was thinking of just using the 11/32" drill bit and drilling 2 holes and then just using either a dremel or razer saw to remove the material inbetween. I suppose ill have to take a conservative guess on the space inbetween and then adjust from there. I have almost all my hardware EXCEPT for the motor mount, should I wait to receive that before I cut the stuffing tube hole, so I can cut the appropriate size relative to the angle of the motor? or can I proceed with a general idea?

When drilling, do I need to clamp some sort of support underneath to keep the holes from burring? Also, im worried about keeping the hull stable when I go to work.

May I give you a call sometime this weekend?

phil t

04-02-2015, 03:43 PM

I would wait for the motor mount before figuring where the slot would be cut. work on the strut rudder mounting first. there alot of things to do waiting on the mount.

nichismo

04-02-2015, 05:40 PM

Okay, will do. I just ordered this mount here off OSE, and the rest of the supplies and tools that I may need until I begin with the radio equipment.

130408

im going to get started on the holes for the rudder and strut assembly. Ive loosely assembled them to give me a good idea of placement. Im going to cover the back transom and floor with some masking tape, and then use a pencil to make a mark through the mounting holes of the brackets.

phil t

04-02-2015, 06:29 PM

Looks like a good mount you can slot the floor and epoxy it into the foam core. I pretty sure the hull is marked for the centerline for the strut and the driveshaft.

Agitator

04-02-2015, 07:26 PM

thanks Phil! I was actually going to text you today and give my thanks again for boat, it really is wonderful and im very excited to go to work on it.

So ill probably get the holes for the stuffing tube, rudder, and strut assembly cut today, and whatever else I have time for. For the stuffing tube slot, I was thinking of just using the 11/32" drill bit and drilling 2 holes and then just using either a dremel or razer saw to remove the material inbetween. I suppose ill have to take a conservative guess on the space inbetween and then adjust from there. I have almost all my hardware EXCEPT for the motor mount, should I wait to receive that before I cut the stuffing tube hole, so I can cut the appropriate size relative to the angle of the motor? or can I proceed with a general idea?

When drilling, do I need to clamp some sort of support underneath to keep the holes from burring?

I always use a smaller drill size than the hole I need, and then sand or file it larger until the part fits. Using too big of a bit has a tendency to cause a much larger hole/slot than you need, then you have more to fill/repair. One key element to building 1/8 scales.............patience. Always measure 3-4 times before you cut, and plan ahead. I also use brad-point drill bits as they don't generally cause chips around the hole edge. And drill slow, not wide open.

nichismo

04-02-2015, 07:33 PM

gotcha, I recently used a step drill bit for the first time, as I needed to make 6 holes 22mm each in diameter, in 2mm thick aluminum. I thought it was going to much easier than I eventually realized, but the real problem was my own lack of patience, and also preparation. Even though I only needed 6 holes, I ended up drilling about 14 of them as practice before nailing the important ones on the actual piece. I was so suprised how much just spraying some extra lubricant, and going as slow and precise as possible went toward how far the drill could take me before stalling.

The holes for the rudder and strut brackets are rather small though, do you still file or sand those ones? or do you just start with a small center punch perhaps or indent, and then maybe drill 1 or 2 holes before the final size? Im assuming you guys all use loctite on all the bolts and such?

Looks like a good mount you can slot the floor and epoxy it into the foam core. I pretty sure the hull is marked for the centerline for the strut and the driveshaft.

oh, indeed it is marked! I didnt bother to flip the boat and look underneath :)

Im still going to wait until the motor mount gets here, but would this perhaps still be an accurate guideline even with an electric setup? Man im still suprised how big and heavy this motor is! Probably just because its my first FE build, but man I can definately see how these bad boys can muscle up some rooster tails.

Speed810

04-02-2015, 09:59 PM

Nic...

Use something sharp to mark the hole. I don't think a center punch will do it. You can even use he head of a 16D nail you might have sitting around. You'll be surprised that it will make a nice small start indent in the glass. Then drill that with say a 1/16 or 3/32 bit then drill it out to the size you need. If I'm between bits (say it was a metric bolt) I would rather drill to the small side and file the hole slightly until the bolt fits in smooth. I don't like there to be a lot of slop in the hole especially on a boat where your wanting everything sealed up. (Of course your going to use a marine sealant when permanently mounting the rudder and/or strut)

Mike

nichismo

04-03-2015, 03:56 PM

actually don't even own a center punch I usually just take one of the smaller drill bit and pound it 5 times or so with a hammer, but ive never worked with anything even remotely close to being as unorthodox as this. I need to find a way to secure it without damaging the hull, especially working on the transom.

I'm actually going to mount the motor and ESC assembly in virtually identical fashion to how you did yours, I really liked your approach as its both simple to craft and will be strong and easily positioned when securing. I'm just going to have to drill holes in the rails as it appears my mount doesn't have any.

I also forgot to ask earlier in how I can easily fashion the grease fitting/inlet. id rather purchase something like one of the brackets or oiler blocks here on OSE but they seem to be always sold out of the 5/16 sized ones. Id rather not solder a smaller piece of brass tubing straight onto the main tubing.

Speed810

04-03-2015, 06:54 PM

Hey Nic...

I'm going to go with Phil on the mounting of the motor. Actually you could go two ways that would be plenty strong. Looking at the tub area and as Phil had pointed out it appears the boat has a reinforced foam core where the motor mount is placed and where the stuffing tube will go down through the hull. As Phil suggested is to cut slots through the top glass coating into the foam core the length of the rails. I would drill a series of 3/16 holes in the rails so when you epoxy the rails into the slots you will have a stronger bond. You could also add some 3/16 or 1/4 sq birch stock on each side of the slots for more bonding area to the rails.

My particular installation was taking a piece of 1/8" ply cut to the width and length of the rails. I then cut small maple blocks and positioned/epoxied them at each hole/slot in the rail. There are 3 on each side. Now this is where you could decide to permanently mount the rails to the assembly with epoxy and glass cloth or if you want to be able to remove the mount down the line as I did...You can bolt the rails to the blocks. I opted to use brass inserts threaded for 6/32 cap screws. The blocks were center drilled first to 3/32 to center the holes and then drilled out to accept the inserts. The inserts were epoxied and twisted into each block. The blocks and ply platform were then covered in glass cloth and thinned epoxy. After the assembly had cured it was then centered on the boat centerline and epoxied in place.

The drive line stuffing tube was then installed. As others had suggested I used an 11/32 log tube which makes it easier to remove the 5/16 stuffing tube if it became damaged etc. I also used the OSE 11/32 shaft tube sealer/oiler. The 5/16 stuffing tube protrudes through the 11/32 about 1/4", but allows the sealer to seat right up against the 11/32 perfectly.

Hope this helps

Mike

nichismo

04-03-2015, 07:35 PM

Speed810

04-03-2015, 07:59 PM

Ok, I'm just a little worried about making a clean cut in the hull for the rails and not going too deep, my rotary tool is pretty cheap, I wish I had an actual dremel.

When you mention the wood stocks to add to the rails, do you mean they would sit down inside the slot ?

So you recommend against your method for my particular hull, is this because of the belly pan I have or the foam core inside? Or both

I'm thinking with a little work and patience's you could use a razor saw to cut through that top layer of glass. I don't think its probably that thick. I think it might be difficult to cut with any dremel just because of where you need to make the cuts. The birch sq. stock would be epoxied on the outside edge of each slot. So instead of gluing into say an 1/8" deep slot you add say 1/4" to that by using some 1/4" sq birch.

No...I'm not saying not to use my method...It is your choice and either will work...Just my method may be a little bit more work intensive. I just chose this method because I wanted to have the option to remove the whole mount in case I wanted to try a different motor....etc.

Hatch work Sketch:

nichismo

04-04-2015, 12:30 AM

Phil, when you mention in your instructions, "green" and "red" finishing pads, what are these? im confused as to whether these are sanding blocks or applicator /foam pads of some sort?

id like to start prep to the hull while im installing hardware and such so that its ready to paint as soon as I have all the components accommodated. I also need to do a little light sanding to the back transom, as I noticed when trying to test mount the rudder bracket that its not yet level enough.

Speed810

04-04-2015, 09:01 AM

I believe Phil is referring to scuffing finishing pads. 3M makes a lot of different abrasive pads for scuffing and buffing hard finishes....fiberglass, plastic, metals....I use them on my bowling balls to give them different finishes based on the lane conditions....LOL

If they are the same pads I'm thinking of they are like 6" X 6" colored pads about 3/16 to 1/4" thick...They almost look like a pot scouring pad. The different colors are designating different abrasive qualities. Lowes or Home Depot have them. Not sure about Walmart and places like that. These would work great on the fiberglass hull to prep it for prime and paint.

Luck as a Constant

04-04-2015, 09:12 AM

Yup.
3m red pads are for prepping for primer.
The gray pads are for paint prep.
The gold are for scuffing things like raw plastic. They are the least abrasive

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Speed810

04-04-2015, 07:47 PM

Nic,

Here is a close up of the motor mount plate I made for my HRC mount.

nichismo

04-04-2015, 10:58 PM

Thanks so much speed, that's extremely helpful. USPS tracking although very unreliable states that the amount will be here on Monday. Once it Does I'm Going To Take A Day Off From Work and go to town on this boat! I've decided I'm just going to model it after the 2000 miss bus as its intended. Going to call Mr McKnight at TBG and hopefully get an order in. I also spoke with Steve at RCBC about a stabilizer kit and canard brackets.

which epoxy do you guys recommend I purchase? Just JB weld? Should I get a quicker settling or focus on strength, or perhaps I'll just get a few. I need to make a trip to home Depot or hobby lobby and purchase all the supplies I need.

Also, Speed, when you said you got a better bend in your brass shaft tubing by hand, did you heat it up at all? Or just use pure force?

Agitator

04-04-2015, 11:15 PM

The only epoxy I use is West systems with 205 hardener. I get mine from Aircraft Spruce-best price and fast shipping. Order the pump set for it as well. What have you planned out for a water-tight box to seal up the batteries, motor, radio, etc?

phil t

04-05-2015, 12:19 AM

Screwing that motor mount to the wood blocks looks like the best way, you can take the whole mount out if needed to.
You can use some light grit sandpaper to prep the hull for primer, 120 be ok. You will hav to use some courser grit to finish some of the hull seams. Use some red filler that uses the hardner to fill any gaps you may find.

nichismo

04-05-2015, 01:16 AM

Me and speed have been discussing how I'll seal off the engine well, and Phil thoughtfully provided some helpful insight with the included instructions. I'm going to install a couple bulkheads in the tub, and then a lip along the top of the walls With some 3/16" square birch. I'll then run 1/16" ply on top of the birch with a little overhang, then attach more ply underneath so that I can make a flat cover sit flush on top of that to be easily taped up Before hittin the water.

I'm going to buy some heavy fiberglass or cf cloth to reinforce the bulkheads and engine mount. Im still having a little bit of trouble deciding where I'll place the lipos. Also that reminds me, how do you guys suggest I mount my steering servo? Should I purchase a water proof one and mount it closer to the transom underneath the turbine tray? Or inside the engine well? Sideways or flat?

And thanks phil, I just picked up some wet dry sandpaper last night, I still need some more though. I couldn't get any of the high grit I needed for polishing my hardware.

Do you think I could just use some glazing putty? Like bondo?

Agitator

04-05-2015, 01:48 AM

Lipos should go as far forward as possible, mount the servo in the compartment, use one of the mounts carried by OSE, I mount mine upright.

130482

130483

nichismo

04-05-2015, 09:13 AM

okay. I was considering putting a lipo pack inside the actual hull through the tub wall holes, and theyd probably be parallel with the motor or just a tad farther up, but im just going to place them inside the engine well to be sure they will be in the safest, driest position. What is the perspective on mounting a servo straight up vs sideways? if any

Is it worth laying carbon fiber fabric or kevlar throughout the tub in a fiberglass hull like how the wooden builds are? or am I better off only adding what I need essentially and nothing else?

Speed810

04-05-2015, 10:00 AM

Morning Nic...

Looks like your on your way to making progress. I use 30min Z-Poxy on a lot of the mounting and gluing of the various components in the boat such as the motor mounting plate, servo ply plate, stuffing tube (with west system filler additive), battery trays...etc. I also use the West System epoxy with 205 hardener with a bit bigger jobs like coating the tub sections or coating other wood parts where I can use the full amount of epoxy that the West System pumps put out. The Pump systems for West System are great....they measure out the correct amount each time the pump is fully depressed. The bad thing is that if its a small job you will be wasting a lot of good epoxy. So you have to plan well in advance so to eliminate as much waste as possible. I have been using Z-Poxy for quite some time on aircraft also and it has worked very well. You can also thin it down if needed with some denatured alcohol for coating purposes. I only use 5min epoxy or JB Weld in areas that are not high stress areas but have good bonding qualities to other epoxied or fiberglass surfaces.

It appears that the bottom of the hull is pretty well reinforced with the foam core and all. On my wood build I used just some light glass cloth on the motor mounting plate and over the stuffing tube and the hull bottom is only 1/16". Its actually quite strong. Now I did add some carbon fiber in the rear section for the strut mount to help reinforce that whole area.

I had tried to bend the stuffing tube with a tubing bender and I did not like how it came out. It left small little ridges in the tubing and I figured that was just more surface friction on the shaft. So I cut another piece of 5/16 and bent it by hand. You will be surprised on how easy it will bend in your hand. Not much force needed at all. TAKE YOUR TIME!....LOL Insert the straight 5/16 into the 11/32 log tube within 1/4 inch of the motor shaft coupler and have your shaft strut inserted to the appropriate height. [Mine was at about 1 1/8" from the bottom of the boat to the bottom of the strut, but confer with Phil on this particular boat]
Then mark the stuffing tube exiting the log tube below the boat on where you want to start the approximate bend to make a gradual bend that will meet on a straight line to the strut. Bend a little....fit, Bend a little and trial fit until it fits perfectly for you. It was actually quite easy. No Heating is necessary.

Hope this helps..

Mike

phil t

04-05-2015, 12:38 PM

nichismo

04-05-2015, 04:30 PM

Happy Easter guys!

Speed, every message or post you have made has literally been helpful for me. The motor mount and some more cooling hardware should be here tomorrow according to USPS tracking, so Tuesday at the latest. Im so excited to finally get started, once I have all the holes and cuts made, and majority of components ready to mount, and all the woodwork and internal pieces made, ill be ready to start prep for the paint! Real stoked for that. I cant believe how much my perspective has changed since I first started looking at a UL-1 not that long back, haha. Since then, ive done plenty of research and learned alot, but even more is a better overall understanding of the fundamental big picture with rc boats and hydroplanes in specific. This forum and community really is great, members truly wish to help each other no matter what their background, and even when they perhaps disagree with the motifs behind the person their helping. I really appreciate just how many of you guys have been following through in this thread on how my project is going/will turn out :)

I was thinking of buying some of the radio gear today, im making another order here on OSE, perhaps one of the last one before I purchase batteries and other gear for the maiden voyage. Ive noticed the aluminum anodized servo mounts that are adjustable in width are pretty popular, but I was curious how the servo is secured? It seems like they just sit inside the mount... What kind of linkage hardware do I need to get for the rudder attachment? Here is a couple things I may order if you guys give me the green light... Im sensing I might need something a little more sophisticated maybe?

-2.4 Radio http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=dh-futk1300 (I sort of want to get a Futaba as ive heard that the antennas can be virtually nonexistent from view outside and still give great reception, I really dont like the look of antennas)
-Servo http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=dh-hs-646wp

Also, I have been thinking of buying a prop balancer, like the Grimracer one. I want to be able to experiment with as many props as I can, especially since I wont have exactly the best ESC around for some time. If I learn to sharpen props thoroughly, then obviously that will grant me the freedom wo purchase several props rather than finding someone to do it or paying a ton extra for pre sharpened and balanced props that end up not being optimal. Thoughts?

nichismo

04-05-2015, 06:48 PM

okay im a little confused here now after researching prep work on fiberglass in boats and doing a little sanding on the seams on my hull.

I have read Phils prep instructions several times and have a good idea of what to do now to prep the hull for primer, but I cant even remember exactly why I started reading any articles or discussions on the subject, but what exactly is the difference between the fiberglass hull I currently have, and common hulls that utilize a gelcoat? I was reading that its very important to thoroughly clean then hull of any potential waxes before sanding, which I didn't realize. Trying to get a straight clear answer on the difference has been very conflicting and difficult, and I see debates all over....

Certainly gelcoat isnt just for cosmetic purposes correct? When I was looking at hulls before I decided to go full blown scale, I was really considering the T5 and twin wing hydroplane hulls that Hydro&Marine in germany make. They look fantastic from a overall shape and aesthetic standpoint, and if they werent in Germany, I probably would have ordered one. But I couldnt stand the gelcoat! After seeing some peoples build threads for those hulls, their pictures looked far worse than the hulls posted on their website, and I couldn't stand the dull, tacky looking color of the gelcoats. and I know painting them would not be an easy task, as the gelcoat doesn't adhere very well obviously.

Anyway, once again im just being paranoid but I want to make sure I do everything right. But for prep, to sum it all up, I basically just need to fix any imperfections like the pinholes and "remove" the seams, then scuff the entire hull down to a dull finish so the primer can stick well. Anything im missing?

Luck as a Constant

04-05-2015, 06:57 PM

Gelcoat is the best primer.
Just sand it and paint. Having bare fiberglass is way more work.
I would have gotten one gel coated.

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nichismo

04-05-2015, 08:08 PM

Gelcoat is the best primer.
Just sand it and paint. Having bare fiberglass is way more work.
I would have gotten one gel coated.

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so much conflicting info.....but OSE is the best

im hearing a tad moreso that gelcoat is a PITA to paint.

If you have to sand it down, then it requires extensive cleaning from wax. What exactly is all this extra work? This hull looks absolutely amazing, and ive barely worked on it yet, but im not worried as much about making any minor mistakes because I know it will be easily fixable. Gelcoat seems to be difficult to repair too. I feel like real boats like Bayliners and maxums can have a white gelcoat and that be the perfect choice for its situation. But for my scale hydroplane it just doesnt seem right to recieve the hull with a color gelcoat, I feel like it deserves a paintjob thats similar in process to a custom automotive job. and I would assume that whomever sells the hull didnt gelcoat it that color as a primer. When I see the pros and cons of a GC finish, the reoccuring pro and purpose of it is to provide a specific finish and pigmenting being a feature to improve glossy appearence. Why do that if you intend to just use it as primer?

its really confusing! lol. regardless I had enough trouble as it is getting my hands on a race compliant modern hull as it was, and I dont remember seeing much, if any gelcoats

Luck as a Constant

04-05-2015, 08:17 PM

nichismo

04-05-2015, 08:40 PM

Because it eliminates the need for primer.
You're overthinking this and reading too much

Gel coat
1. Sand
2. Paint

Fiberglass
1. Clean
2. Sand
3. Prime
4. Sand
5. Paint.

Hope this clears it up
Here are some I painted that were gel coated

I sanded them with 800 then painted.

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You painted those yourself? thats awesome! all of them look stunning

I mean why is it the best primer? er, it eliminates the need for primer, but its not just exclusively for that right?

obviously its not important nor relevant right now, im just wondering moreso. I enjoy all sorts of applied sciences with almost anything, it satisfies my natural curiousity.

But I wouldn't have taken up this project if I was worried about the amount of work, clearly. Unless a colored gelcoat would have provided a superior scale resembling paintjob (which would mean it is both far less work and also provides a better finish which seems a tad bit absurd lol), I wouldn't have noticed anyways probably, as I won't be doing the painting and I havn't built enough scale hydroplanes or even rc boats in general to be able to compare.

I dont want to derail the thread but in clarifying what prep I should still do before taking it to the shop, it will probably make sense based off what youve told me. Your right though, im overthinking it, my apologies, I tend to do that alot with numerous things. I just want this to be perfect, it is my first build too >.<

Luck as a Constant

04-05-2015, 08:45 PM

Thanks.
Yes I painted myself. I paint cars for a living.
It's the best primer because you won't need to prime yourself.
Why bother priming when the gel coat can be sanded easily then painted over?
Gel coat isn't put on as s primer, and can be left alone and used as is.
But it can be painted easily.
Primer needs to be painted over where gel coat doesn't if you don't feel like it.

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nichismo

04-05-2015, 09:27 PM

ah gotcha, that makes perfect sense actually lol.

But ya, I really struggled to find any hull in general that was of compliance with the scale rules of most organizations. To be honest, I wanted a 1/10 scale but I didn't even sniff a chance to even get on a waiting list to have one custom made. Since its my first build too and 1/8 scale hydros have more a history and following at the moment, it made sense to just go with the 1/8. I had been hearing a ton of positive feedback for Phils hydros too, and he completed it for me extremely fast, and made a few custom features at my request that I really like :)

Among all the hulls I looked at, the closest thing to what I wanted that has a gelcoat was this T5 from hydro marine in Germany, and although its got decent looking dimensions and shape, its not race legal and at nearly 400$ for 1/10 scale thats probably going to take about 5 weeks to recieve, I ended up never looking at it again. They offer this blue, a yellow/orange color and white. This one in particular looks pretty bad in my opinion.

130506130507130508130509

Luck as a Constant

04-05-2015, 09:31 PM

yeah, i mean, if ya can't find one with gelcoat then you prime yourself. but if the option is there i always go for it.

nichismo

04-06-2015, 03:53 PM

My package from OSE with the new motor mount is waiting for me when I get home from work. Im going to work all evening until bed, I want to get as much done as possible, as I know whatever idea i have in how long I estimate each process will take, I have to be extremely patient and observant, so in the end its all probably going to be twice as long or more than what I anticipate.

I bought green, red, and yellow 3m sanding blocks yesterday, along with plenty of different grits of sandpapers, some JB Kwikweld, 3m bondo glazing spot putty and a putty knife, rubbing alcohol, and several small clamps. I already started very light sanding of some of the side seams on the boat, and marked all the pinholes that I could find so far. I also outlined all the marks Phil had made for cutting. I hope I can get the stuffing tube mounted and basically the whole flex shaft and strut assembly, and motor assembly mounted and curing overnight. I have the day off from work tomorrow so Ill be able to immediately pickup where I left off in the morning. Ill be sure to take plenty of pictures as well.

nichismo

04-08-2015, 02:43 PM

Hey guys, just making a minor update. Yesterday I went to hobby lobby and picked up a good amount of plywood and basswood sticks so I can start planning out the electronics box lip and cover, as well as some wedges and blocks for the motor and ESC mount.

it turns out that the motor mount I bought with the ESC mount on the top isn't really optimal for this hull. The engine well isnt very deep, even where the belly pan is and the rails that came with it dont really provide the largest spectrum of adjustment. The overall frame of the mount is too wide and is would force me to take on a far more complex electronics box with a flush cover that can be easily tape sealed. I really wanted to mimic the electronics boxes from Speeds and Dons elam builds, and I have to be able to run a flat lip alongside the walls of the engine well. Its very clear to me now why all the FE builds are with wood kits, and I can see why Don F was mentioning against a fiberglass nitro intended hull for an FE build.

so I am going to be using the first mount I purchased, its actually suprisingly secure and robust, but im still going to add some extra support to the opposite side of the motor. Im going to craft a slight wedge to slide under the mounts legs to create a better angle for the stuffing tube, and im going to have a thick stump inbetween the wedges, shaped and contoured so the motor can sit comfortably on top, ill probably epoxy some rubber or nylon or something on it too. This going to make the whole sealing process I just described tremendously easier. Ive also got an aluminum plate that is perfect for me to mount an ESC to, and im going to have it attached in each corner with aluminum threaded spacers, and then bolted and threaded into wood blocks placed on each side of the motor, so Ill be able to mount the ESC in the same fashion as the original mount would have intended. If I need to get to the motor, all ill have to do is just unscrew the bolts on top of the plate in each corner.

Im almost done sanding the hull, ive nearly smoothed out all the seams around the boat using the coarse 60 grit green pad. I just need to flatten out the back transom and scuff the rest of the surface of the hull. Then ill go around the boat with some filler for all the pinholes ive opened up, and then after I finish drilling all the holes for the hardware and stuffing tube, ill put the first coat of primer

I also found this thread on RC universe regarding a build by another fella from here in Washington, its provided a little bit of insight for my build. Hes using a T6 hull basically from steve at RCboatcompany. Although I would like for my finished interior to have a cleaner look overall, he sort of made me feel as if it doesn't have to really be very complex. He also mounted his lipos in the compartments where the fuel tanks would normally be, however he never really discussed how the electronics are sealed off.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/speed-electric-109/10363104-rcu-8th-scale-brushless-hydroplane-build.html

ive also looked at this thread, along with the gallery linked in the OP for some time now. Gosh that hull is absolutely beautiful! Whoever picked up that entire package for 750$ got quite a deal, I wish I could see how that project turned out!

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?36265-FOR-SALE-1-8-scale-buitl-special-for-FE

Speed810

04-11-2015, 10:33 AM

Nic....

Sounds like you have things on the move. Be great to see some pictures as you progress. Yes there are always a lot of options out there and you really have to finally make a decision on what will work out best for your application.

I agree with MTD.....Gelcoat is a great primer actually. Worked for US Yachts (Bayliner Marine out of Arlington, WA) for years. Nice thing with the gelcoat finishes is they seal the glass with superior strength and then of course can be sanded and buffed out to a real nice finish. But also they can be easily sanded and painted with various finishes. As said before with an unsealed fiberglass hull there is a little more work to be done, but I really don't consider it to be any more work than a wood hull. What has been maybe missed here in the explanation is that the epoxy / fiberglass resins that are used in building these hulls (Or a real fiberglass boat hull) give off a gas as it cures. As the gases are expelled it leaves behind a waxy type of film on the outside that needs to be cleaned [I usually use denatured alcohol although some folks use acetone] ..then I'll lightly sand the finish to get a good area for primer adhesion. I have done this even on my wood hull build where I need to epoxy something else into the boat that has already been epoxy coated. The whole exterior of the boat will be coated in epoxy then cleaned and lightly sanded before the primer coat goes on. No different than what you will be doing except that the hull has already been coated. Just clean it down, lightly sand, prime, very lightly sand, wipe it down very clean and paint.

Keep us up to date on how things are going.

Mike

nichismo

04-11-2015, 11:28 AM

I spoke with Phil regarding prep work and paint (albeit a bit prematurely), and he recommended a couple products that sounded like a good purchase, so I bought a couple things over the weekend. I went to a marine shop near my marina and picked up some 104 West systems epoxy resin and 205 hardener, and I ordered Klasskote primer, catalyst and reducer offline, so once I finish all the component mounting and accommodations, ill be pretty close to getting it painted. However, I think I may have made a little bit of a mess, I never even cleaned the hull at all prior to some of the sanding ive done, I think I may have sanded some dust into the hull.... but ive gone around and opened practically every pinhole I can find. After I finish installing all the components, im going to bondo some of the hull, sand, bondo a little more if needed, then primer with the klasskote (this stuff is pretty thick and works as a filler too, I will be brushing/rolling it on, and more pinholes may be revealed, in which ill simply just use my fingers to rub in a little more primer). I am also going to epoxy the cockpit and cowling together today.

I drilled holes and cut a slot for the rudder and strut assemblies. I was a little excited and perhaps mounted the rudder a little too close to the center of the transom.... but other than that it came out good. I havnt actually installed the strut assembly yet, as I am still filing the slot out to size, but im really happy with how the positioning of the holes turned out. I think I may need to cut the long screws that came with my rudder assembly, as they are long and slightly angled, so i cant currently screw on the nuts for the bottom two screws, as they hit the floor.

I am ordering a new canard as well as aluminum mounting brackets for them from Steve at Rcboatcompany. The canard that Phil gave me seems a tad bit thin to my eye, and the canard available from Steve will be a half inch thicker.

The wood joist I made was for the new motor mount, I just sort of winged it and got a little overzealous, but it can give you an idea of what im trying to do now. Im basically now just taking a 1/8" sheet base, with just two angled wedges to help the motor get to a better angle, or else the stuffing box tube is going to be too far towards the transom to work.

Im placing another order with OSE today, im going to order Hitec ultra torque waterproof servo and a servo stand, some carbon fiber in case it comes in handy, an oil fitting mount for the stuffing tube, and some minor hardware. Anyone have any other suggestions on thigns I may need to purchase?

Also, I have been considering purchasing a new ESC or perhaps just getting a NEU 1527. The motor I have is still brand new, and im very new to driving, so I figured a NEU may be too much power. I figured an ESC would benefit me in the long run and provide a better foundation for any future upgrades I may want. but then again, I could just stick with what I have for now if I shouldnt waste my money (leopard 835kv 5698, SwordFish 240amp HV, older refurbished model)

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nichismo

04-11-2015, 04:01 PM

Okay, so I just got done installing the strut assembly! I put almost as far forward as it can go. Its kind of odd, the screws that were included with the strut have some strange sized allen key head.... I have both metric and standard allen key sets because I had come across a similar problem before in the past, in yet I couldnt find anything to fit snugly enough to simply tighten the bolt and nut together! So I ended up using some different bolts and nuts, they are M4 sized which I really like and use all the time in all sorts of things, but I noticed they are a teeny weeny tiny little bit smaller than the normal included screws.... I still need to sand down the inside of the strut in order for the 5/16 tubing to fit in snugly. I havnt found any adhesive sandpaper though, I might just superglue some to a drill bit if worse comes to worse. I have to go to work in a few hours, but im going to have a good amount of stuff curing while im away, then when I get home tonight I should be able to cut the hole for the 11/32 stuffing tube and have the cowling and cockpit epoxied together. Theres only 1 pinhole I noticed on the cowling, and the cockpit is good, so im just going to cut out the windshield and then it should be good for cleaning and sanding. Im just going to have the saltwater scoop cut out in the front and leave the normal cowling the way it is for now.

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Speed810

04-12-2015, 05:13 PM

Looks like some nice work Nic.

I know my stuffing tube fit quite tight in the strut and I had taken some 400 wet/dry and very lightly sanded the tube. Then clean it very well with alcohol. The slightest amount of metal dust and it won't go in smoothly. It doesn't take much to get it to fit tight but smoothly.

Mike

Agitator

04-12-2015, 07:15 PM

Its kind of odd, the screws that were included with the strut have some strange sized allen key head....

All they are is standard 3/32" allen heads, nothing odd or special about them.....

nichismo

04-12-2015, 08:21 PM

I've only tried 1 of the bolts but I have 2 sets of both metric and standard sized Allen keys and I can't get a snug fitment. that's what I mean when I say special, I'm nit a TOTAL idiot, lol

Looks like some nice work Nic.

I know my stuffing tube fit quite tight in the strut and I had taken some 400 wet/dry and very lightly sanded the tube. Then clean it very well with alcohol. The slightest amount of metal dust and it won't go in smoothly. It doesn't take much to get it to fit tight but smoothly.

Mike

Thanks mike, I had to remove the rudder and strut and im going to re drill some of the holes. I needed to move the rudder to the right more, as it was far too close to the transom center and wouldn't have turned well, and blocked some of the area I need for my wing stabilizers I also need to move the strut towards the front more, as the drive dog wouldn't have been underneath the boat.

I'll post pics soon, I'm going to polish my hardware, fill the holes in the transom and drill new ones and remount everything.

I also purchased my THIRD motor mount earlier, this one finally will be perfect and be a snap to secure to the bottom, I'll cut a couple slots in the foam floor and epoxy it.

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phil t

04-12-2015, 10:27 PM

The strut should be fine, dog don't have to be under the boat. eversee a real boat transom? the prop is out behind the hull.
Nice work so far.

nichismo

04-12-2015, 10:53 PM

ok sweet, I ordered the "authentic scale" strut from Accu-tech because I liked how it resembled the real hydroplane struts and they also have this picture displayed on the information page of their website for the 1/8 scale hydro hardware:

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But i was confused because ive been told from some that the rules of 1/8 scale organizations require the drive dog to be underneath the boat... so I was going to maybe cut part of the strut off because I didnt want to redrill those holes

I guess I might have gotten 1 bad screw because I have an allen key that works fine for all the other screws, for some reason 1 of them is just a tad too small

phil t

04-13-2015, 04:21 PM

yea you will hear a lot of misinformation. Try looking it up in scale rules first.

9. The propeller drive dog may extend one drive dog length beyond the transom.

Agitator

04-13-2015, 07:51 PM

g. The drive dog must not extend beyond the transom unless the prototype boat did so. Not misinformation-just depends on who's rule book your are following.

nichismo

04-13-2015, 10:03 PM

g. The drive dog must not extend beyond the transom unless the prototype boat did so. Not misinformation-just depends on who's rule book your are following.

Michael you have been beyond helpful, I really cant begin to thank you, your genuine concern for my project has been overwhelming and very encompassing. as per usual with the internet, there are always abundant misguided homers who want to either spew misinformation for petty amusement, or simply believe they truly know everything and feel better when they possess others with a similar philosophy to that of their own. I think thats what Phil is referring to to be careful of, but I build performance workstation and gaming computers and have spent far more than my fair share of time on the internet, I have a pretty good perspective at this point on what I judge to be decent resources and what aren't. That being said, I have never even remotely encountered any other hobby or interest that has been so welcoming and helpful and provided a solid foundation of good info, I appreciate that alot guys. Its too bad OSE doesn't have a reputation system like some other boards do, I always see posts that I would love to give the poster a positive rep point for.

To be honest im not that familiar with any specific organizations quite yet, other than Classic Thunder, and even that I am still very foreign too (they are 1/10 scale anyway). Ill probably end up waiting until I am actually intending to participate or at least register with a sanctioned event to make any modifications to the strut assembly. BTW Michael, did you recieve my last email?

I refilled the older 5 transom holes and drilled 4 new ones, I lined up the rudder blade with the right side tub wall. I have also started polishing the Rudder blade, ive worked through 320 and 400 grit, certainly removed the factory machine marks and then some. Sort of unsure of how long to sand for at this point, but ill work up to 1000 and then use the polish cream you recommended. Hope to get that razer sharp mirror finish! Ill post more pics later tonight

phil t

04-14-2015, 01:34 PM

yea you will hear a lot of misinformation. Try looking it up in scale rules first.

9. The propeller drive dog may extend one drive dog length beyond the transom.
Nick runs Namba that is the Namba rule.
Impba is similar just dont call out drive dog position old boats under the hull modren ones can be behind hull

nichismo

04-18-2015, 01:36 PM

Hey everyone, hope your all having a great weekend, the weather up here in Seattle is gorgeous!! too bad I have to go to work later today.... hah.

Anyway, I thought id post an update, as I feel like I am sort of overdue for one.

I filled in the holes in the transom from the previous position of the rudder, I just used some wood filler for most of the hole and then just filled over the top of them with west epoxy, so now they aren't even really noticeable. I also polished the rudder to the best of my ability, however I was missing 600 grit sandpaper, but it turned out pretty good, and I havnt even done much as far as the last stage of polishing goes, so im sure it wont take much to get it to a mirror finish :) I have a Virginia Craftsman turn fin mount coming in the mail, and im going to get started on polishing the turn fin so its ready to mount when the bracket gets here. I also bought a few thread taps for the aluminum inside the sponson.

I finally finished crafting a solid mounting solution, after buying my 3rd mount, this one being a 56/58mm mount by MGP and I purchased it from rocket city racing. Its made from black composite fiberglass I believe, its an interesting material.... I thought at first looking at the pictures that it would be carbon fiber, but its robust and certainly going to get the job done :) At first, I was frustrated upon recieving it, as I quickly realized when I tested the mount inside the hull tub, that the side supports of the mount are placed apart in such a fashion that they literally fall exactly on the slants in the floor for the belly pan. So for this, I decided to just cut a piece of 1/8" ply for a base to extend the width of the hull tub, with some 3/16" blocks to brace the mount into position. I then sanded the edges, cleaned it with a tack clotch, then put a coat of west systems epoxy over it. I then JB welded the mount into place, and then put another coat of west systems epoxy over the blocks and crevices where the corners of the mounts sit to really solidify everything.

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Also, I have had a small L shaped piece of aluminum that I was able to bolt onto the bracket to serve as an ESC plate, and it appears as though it may work. Im going to add some velcro/fasteners of some sort, in addition to the typical straps to make sure it doesnt move.

Lastly, I need to get to work on the cowling and cockpit. I want to fix the cockpit and cowling into one piece, but im not quite sure how I should go about this. I see alot of people cutting off some of the cowling, and removing both the front wall of the cowling just under the air scoop, and the back wall of the cockpit so that theres no barrier underneath, however the windshield and driver is a very important feature for me, I want it to look as real as possible, so I was a little concerned as to how that may effect the look of it in the end. I also was hoping someone could provide a little insight on reinforcing the inside of the cowling with wood and floatation, and adding some stiffness, as I am unsure of how much actual "fitting" of the cowling I should do. It seems as though it already fits the hull perfect, but im not sure if when adding the ply doublers, should this enable the cowling to have a base that just sits on top of each deck, or should the ply be up and inside the cowl so that the base would sit down flush on a lip of some sort. Hope thats not too incoherent... haha, but as you can see, im obviously a little lost.

My order of Klass Kote white epoxy primer, catalyst and reducer came on thursday. Im pretty excited to try this stuff, as it seems ill be able to save alot of trouble and work, as my complete lack of experience with painting and finishing/prep of this type worries me. Ill probably prepare the salt water scoop for primer soon, and that will be somewhat of a canvas for me to get my first practice with :)

once again, thanks for the help everyone, each day I get more and more excited for her maiden voyage. Cya later, have a fun and safe weekend!

I just placed an order with OSE for a few more components, so some of the build progress will have to wait until I recieve them early next week.

nichismo

04-18-2015, 01:37 PM

rest of the pictures of the motor mount:

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To fix it into the boat, Im going to bolt it to the floor. Ill drill 4 screws through the corners, and counter sink them so they dont produce any drag.

Speed810

04-18-2015, 07:27 PM

Lookin Good Nic.....

That motor mount should work out pretty nice. Why exactly are you moving the rudder mount?
I also made the decision to go by the NAMBA rules where I can have one drive dog length past the transom. Figured I would be running the boat mostly in NAMBA events.

Keep the pictures coming...like seeing new ideas for various set ups.

Mike

nichismo

04-18-2015, 10:36 PM

forgot to add one last picture, I drilled the 4 holes and bolted the ply to the hull, made a small layered chip in one of the corners though. looks solid none the less.

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Speed, ive actually already moved it. if you look at the older pictures, the rudder was too close to the center of the transom, it would have impeded the wing stabilizer rods and maybe even performance.

Ive got some ideas for the next few assemblies, I'm going to be having some carbon fiber and cnc aluminum stuff fabricated. I'm running ideas as much as possible, like potentially just making a single piece lip and 2 bulkheads out of carbon fiber or aluminum and using that to seal the inside off instead, or a custom mount to hold the lipos up agains each other but on their thinnest sides facing the floor instead.

the build was really difficult to get off the ground at first, I really had trouble trying to under stand the fundamental dynamics of scale hydros and especially how electric in a nitro hull demands such a different landscape. but I'm finally getting into a groove and believe I can start using my own judgement confidently

nichismo

04-28-2015, 02:41 AM

Sup guys, just thought id post an update.

I made some progress on my build, I'm starting to gain some confidence with this whole process, I'm not so hesitant to make my own judgement calls now lol. After today, I feel as though I completed most of the stuff I was most concerned and oblivious to going into this project.

so again I decided to use a different mounting setup, But for the better. I ended up cutting two slots into the foam like Phil and Michael recommended, and then I glued two angled wedges into them, along with a base plate on top of those for the actual mount. after the epoxy dried I fiber glassed the mount to the base, and I also fiber glassed the bottom of the foam slots before putting the wedges inside. It was sort of a PITA to fiberglass the motor mount legs to the wooden base plate due to the narrow and thin shape of the cloth I was using, and as a result it doesn't look to great right now. Im going to sand and file most of the stuff on the top of the mount legs and just leave the rest the way it is. Mainly it was for peace of mind, It felt a little unsafe using such a big motor in a mount of such simple stature in this configuration.

So I got the 11/32 tube and stuffing box mounted, it's strong as hell! First i placed some 3/16 blocks around the slot in a U shape, and sealed them with west epoxy. then I used a 1/4" drill bit in the collett to line up, and then I used a little JB kwik to tack the tube into place, and after a few minutes and cleaning of the area and taping the bottom, i poured in a couple coats of west epoxy and silica. After they all dried a bit, i glued the top cover on the stuffing tube box. I was hoping to be able to use one of the oil mount fittings here on OSE, but I dont think I will have room for it now, so perhaps ill just solder a small piece of tubing on or get a Tbar with an oil fitting. Now that I finished that stuff, i Got Alot Of Cleaning and accommodations of the area to do for the last few components, like fairing and smoothing out the bottom exit of the tube, and theres extra epoxy dried up all over the tub floor plus the holes I had to fill in from the last mount setup I experimented with added to the mess...... but I'm pretty happy with how i did overall. :)

Additionally, the newer Swordfish 240hv ESC that I bought off the marketplace arrived today. Its much nicer and I feel much better with this one, but its far bigger than I was anticipating! And I dont have a top plate to mount the ESC with my motor anymore, so I am really wondering where I can place this without compromising performance or battery pack position.

Lastly, I used a rotary tool and started cutting out the windshield holes and air scoops. I want to add the ply doublers and begin paint prep on the cowling, but I know I need to finish other stuff first. Mainly, I need to devise and complete the lip and lid for sealing the engine tub with a sub hatch. At first I was thinking I would just do it exactly how all the common ML 1/8 scale hydro kits are, but then I was looking at the MLboatworks/PTI Tunnel FE kits and I really liked how those radio box lids are setup. So for now, I am going to slightly draw inspiration from those. Ill have more pictures up ASAP with that whole step, because Im sure I will having tons of questions and problems throughout.

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nichismo

04-28-2015, 02:46 AM

few more pics

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rearwheelin

04-29-2015, 08:16 PM

nichismo

04-29-2015, 08:56 PM

lol ya its sort of crappy how it ended up in a sense, I mean im happy that I finished it finally, but the fact that the mount I ended up with was the cheapest and first one I bought.... Just goes to show how oblivious and unprepared I was dimensionally.

I have actually removed the motor plate that the screws go to quite easily, I thought it would have been difficult because of some loc-tite I had poured into the mount threads hoping to strengthen them a little bit from vibration. Thankfully they came out easily without having to apply too much force, I was a little hesitant to do that as I had just set up the whole mount and epoxied everything, I wasn't sure if cure time had completely passed. I was able to drill a couple holes in the top and counter sink them so that the screws would sit flush and not interfere with the motor attachment. Im going to get some velcro and straps and mount the ESC just as I intended before. However, I am still a little bit concerned with the size of this, its coming awfully close to the adjoining wall of the cockpit and cowling, I was already planning on cutting alot of that out once I had the cockpit and cowl epoxied together, but it seems like that may not be enough. Not to mention having to fit the sub hatch cover inside too, while leaving enough surface on the outside rim of the cover for tape sealing.

Nothings ever simple with scale hydroplanes is it? heh

Well I finally recieved my 3 foot length piece of 5/16" brass tubing! now I finally complete the flex shaft assembly. I only have 2 pieces of this tubing so I need to measure like crazy and make sure I get it right quickly, I really dont want to have to order and wait on more of these.

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nichismo

04-29-2015, 10:32 PM

......aaaaand the 3' brass 5/16" tubing I bought is thicker than the typical K&S brass tubing were all familiar with!

LAME

phil t

04-29-2015, 11:24 PM

......aaaaand the 3' brass 5/16" tubing I bought is thicker than the typical K&S brass tubing were all familiar with!

LAME
You should use the thin wall tube the thick wall is not enough clearance for the cable to run in.

You need the .014 wall tube, it is a KS 1151 part# you have the .029 wall tube.

I found this web site for tube but it not clear what wall thickness I guess it all .014 unless it says thick wall
http://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?cat_s=RDA&mfg_s=k+s&p=2

nichismo

04-30-2015, 12:41 AM

lol yeah the strut bushing doesn't even fit.

Speaking of the strut, I actually really like the flat bottom extended Speedmaster strut. I been thinking of getting one here off OSE

nichismo

05-03-2015, 02:56 PM

sup guys

just wanted to give an update to what's been going on, starting to get pretty close to body and prep work for paint. I'd like to know if anyone here knows of a decent air gun and compressor, or a kit that won't break the bank and help me get started in painting, mainly for epoxy primers and paint. I thought at first I would just use a brush but now I'm thinking spray will be better. this is going to be my first time painting seriously so.

I got the back bulkhead installed, along with most of the main sub hatch lip. yesterday I was able to stop by my local marine hardware store and pick up some much needed supplies. I got the west systems pump tops which help immensely, some 406 and 407 fillers, gorilla glue (this stuff is awesome) and a few other minor items. now I'll be able to install any wood first and then coat after , and not have to worry about sagging or drips. I'm going to add a couple little platforms in each corner just in front of the bulkhead for the reciever and any other item. also, I've started cutting the back turbine tray , I'm going to dramatically change the majority of this piece to more appropriately accommodate whatever dummy turbine j end up using (i think im going to just going to buy a carbon fiber tube 1.5 - 2" diameter and wrap it in Chrome vinyl). also to give more freedom towards however I want to position and secure it.

I ran out of 1/16" plywood, so im not able to finish the rest of the subhatch cover until tomorrow, when I can stop by my local hobby lobby. In the meantime, I am going to mix some epoxy and add the 406 silica to thicken it up, and I am going to seal the bottom part of the tub lip, and the inside corners of the extension box, and the floor and corner areas of the bulkhead to make sure they are all sealed and structurally sound. Im going to also add a small little platform just in front of the bulkhead for the reciever to sit on.

Still not sure how I am going to configure the battery area and the hatch and cover for that area. I will be buying a couple of 5000mah hyperion 4S packs, they are approximately 160mm long, by 44mm wide and 39mm high. I plan on mounting them as far foward as possible obviously, and on their sides in parrallel with each other, in order to use as little width space as possible. I was going to just buy a couple of carbon fiber trays, but I realized that at 56mm wide each, this wouldn't benefit me really, so ill probably just fashion something simple from wood to just provide a platform to lift and run the straps through. The walls up in that area underneath where the cockpit and driver will be, are a little awkward in terms of building the enclosure. I figured that ill have two covers rather than just 1, the main cover with the extension box being a simple rectangle and and the battery one being very small and little curve as possible, probably only covering about half the length of the batteries. Ill leave enough room just behind the motor in order to slide the batteries in and under the cockpit area.

as always, would love to hear any feedback and really encourage any insight and/or constructive criticism.

thanks !!

First bulkhead sanded and shaped to fit the walls and floor flush as possible
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150501_080220-1.jpg
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150501_080252.jpg
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150501_074612-1.jpg

First supporting frame sticks tacked and placed in position
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150501_230331.jpg

nichismo

05-03-2015, 02:57 PM

left side tub lip tacked and in position
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_013621.jpg
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_013631.jpg

Both sides of tub lips placed and curing
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_022632.jpg
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_022649.jpg
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_143412-1-1.jpg

1/16" sheet wood sits nice and flush for tape seal!
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/20150502_023123.jpg

nichismo

05-03-2015, 03:02 PM

Subhatch cover extension box built

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/20150503_113535.jpg

Much needed supplies!

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/20150503_114009.jpg

I also found this video, it was uploaded in 2011 but according to the camera it was filmed in 2006. Its the same Phil Thomas T5, and it appears to be running superbly! Id be very happy if I can get mine to look and drive like that. Apparently its at about 55mph there, with a "plettenberg" motor (which im unfamiliar with, im curious as to how my 835kv Leopard 5698 compares to it) on 10s. I plan to run 8s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSP3x-SKfT0

nichismo

05-07-2015, 06:56 PM

Well that last extension box I just posted pictures of is garbage now, I dont know what I was thinking but I didnt even remotely get an idea of what size this thing should be, and after reinstalling the motor and ESC in position, I realize that I pretty much have to craft the extension box to take up as much space as the cowling will possibly allow. A 56mm motor with this ESC on top, along with the capacitator bank are behemoths.... Seeing that I will only be running 8s, I dont think Ill need the extras, and also the current connectors on the ESC are too large for whats on the motor, so it looks like I will have to rewire everything.

As for the rest of the interior, I think I am going to run a beam across the front of what I currently have constructed, so that this particular cover can be a nice and easy square, however Im not sure if this will be enough room.... and obviously I need to be able to fit the batteries in. Any ideas?

Also, I bought a servo from my local hobby shop. This one: http://www.fantasyworldhobbies.com/radios/servos/r-c-servos-by-hitec-hrc35685s-hs-5685mh-hv-high-torque-metal-gear-servo/

I wanted to get one of those billet servo mounts here on OSE that I seem to see so often, but I was going to mount it on the wall of the engine tub. so that the servo is right side up, but the holes in the side of the engine tub prevent me from doing this, and id rather not place the servo farther forward then the motor lol. So im probably just going to get one of the carbon fiber mounts and epoxy it into the hull.

Tonight, I should be able to finish the water cooling, simple as it is. Ive also got some great planes 5/32" landing gear. Im going to drill a couple holes in the bulkhead, and use the landing gear to bolt two 5/32" inch brass tubes to the wall and run them up to the motor and ESC and then place some water outlets on the side of the hull. When im ready and installing everything for good, ill connect the silicon tubing for the rest of the routing, and that will take care of the water cooling.

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nichismo

05-08-2015, 01:07 AM

Actually this extension box is too big. lol

going to remake again, this one will be PERFECT.

Speed810

05-08-2015, 07:40 AM

Morning Nic.... Looks like things are coming along pretty good. Have you done any weight and balancing on the boat yet with batteries and all hardware? Would be interested to see what your overall weight is going to be when its balanced out.

Keep up the great work....!!!

Finally have top sheets going down on my build today...then prep and paint.....:)

Mike

nichismo

05-09-2015, 02:55 AM

thanks, I noticed you are getting pretty darn close to painting! thaya awesome, what primer and paints are you using? also, I was curious what you used for your wing tabs, and what kind of filler you used on your cowling ? I saw the red so I figured it was a bondo glazing putty

I actually really need to do that, it's funny you mention cause I was thinking of this exactly earlier today. I'm going to pause any work toward the actual hull completion until I have the rest of the necessary components. I need to order the batteries and a servo mount, and whatever other minor hardware I need so I can test fit everything, then accordingly craft the rest of the electronics box and such.

in the meantime, I'm going to bond the cowling and cockpit together, as the wall where they meet needs to be removed. I'll add the wood reinforcement after thar and magnets and flotation, however Im not sure if I should do the electronics box first. well see.

Speed810

05-09-2015, 07:12 AM

Morning Nic....

Yep....weight and balance is important. Make sure all your batteries, servo, wing assembly and hardware are mounted and then check your CG. It appears that the general point of balance with most of these 1/8 scale is between 1" and 1 1/2" behind the sponson heel. I have found that figure puts you right around the center point of the turn fin. Mine took about 13 oz in each sponson tip. Seemed like a lot, but most folks here and the guys at the club said that is not uncommon. Overall weight is right around 19 1/2 pounds. After finish and paint I'm suspecting it will be a 20 pound model. Again seems like that's awful heavy, but folks have seen them as high as 23 pounds and the boat is still a mover....so I've been advised not to worry about the weight. That's why I am really interested to see where yours comes in at.

I am using House of Color (HOK) products to complete the boat, including the clear coat. The wing tabs were made from aluminum approx. 1/16". Used all nylon machine screws to assemble. Your right the majority of the cowl was filled with bondo putty glaze, but there were larger areas that I used west system with the filler added to get a thick paste.

Just finished my top sheeting last night. Have some finishing fill to complete then on to the final epoxy coats. Finish sanding and paint starts.....:)

Mike

nichismo

05-09-2015, 09:32 AM

Darn, I feel a little uneasy reading "I am really interested to see where yours comes in at." lol

I can only imagine its going to be extremely heavy, the overall material construction I figure adds up to be alot more than the laser cut wooden kits. Im going to have to do alot of bodywork too, theres quite a few pinholes to fill and ill be doing a good amount of fairing, seeing how most of my hull modifications and hardware installs were far from ideal, lol.

Also with this 56mm, near 2.5lb behemoth motor, its certainly going to be hindered in the speed department. I ordered the last 1.5y NEU 1527 last week, and I was appauled by the size and weight difference, even moreso considering the fact that the NEU would not only push the boat faster, but probably draw less power as well. Unfortunately that motor wont be for this specific hull.

My wing tabs are also going to be 1/16" aluminum, an awesome member here on OSE was amazingly kind enough to craft me a couple pieces that ill be using, and also is providing me with the angled Virginia craftsman skid fin bracket. Couldnt be more luckier to have his help, hopefully I havnt annoyed him too much yet with my constant picking and nagging lol.

Im really excited to see your finished boat, I have been considering going with the similar paint scheme for this boat too. I have referred to your thread several times and its been very helpful to say the least, really helped me get visualization on how to run layout of everything.

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JimClark

05-09-2015, 10:24 PM

Nicholas I have a large aluminum servo mount I can not use give me your address and I can send it to you. Maybe you can use it. I have no idea as to what size you will need for a 1/8th scale

nichismo

05-11-2015, 02:54 PM

Thanks Jim

nichismo

05-17-2015, 11:16 PM

getting closer and closer to paint prep! this is so exciting guys! I can't wait to get her out on the water.

I'm nearly finished with the sub hatch cover and lip assembly and I also bonded the cockpit and cowling together and did a little bit of edging for precise fitment, as it changed slightly after curing. afterwards I removed most of the adjoining wall surface

I will post a more thorough update later tonight or tomorrow

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132151&d=1431918608
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132150&d=1431918544
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132149&d=1431918507

nichismo

05-20-2015, 04:46 PM

hey guys, thought id catch up one the build progress

I got the 5/16" tube mounted and cut. its nice and flush with the back end of the strut. I did a pretty good job I think of sanding down the inside, it took a bit of effort to get it all the way through so its pretty nice and snug. I still sort of feel like I want to use some heatshrink around the entry point of the strut though, thoughts? Also, I finished the tub enclosure, I havn't gotten the batteries yet but I did go to my local hobby shop with my boat and test fit several batteries that were near identical in dimensions to the batteries I want to order. It just sort of sucks because I really want to buy 2 pairs of batteries but they are so pricey and I still dont even necessarily know whats solid and what isn't, I know I should start with 8s but I have this temptation obviously to get 10s just because its not going to cost much more. Especially for this boat, I feel like its going to be darn heavy and im worried about potential lackluster performance. I made some small additions to the motor mount too, I reinforced it with a little wood, and I added a plastic clamp to support the back end of the motor. Another thing I got done was joining the cockpit and cowling together. Overall, it came out pretty good, I did have to do a bit of minor trimming and probably a tad bit more, but overall the alignment of it is close to perfect. However ive had to fiddle alot with the cutout of the windshield, as the respective outline I drew for it is slightly misaligned now and is sort of misguiding me.

I bought a soldering iron yesterday too, I watched plenty of videos of how to solder ESCs and motors, deans and bullet connectors, etc. and I realize now how easy and simple it is. Im going to remove the extra capacitors on the ESC, and then im going to also cut the wires on the other side that plug into the motor, cut them very short so that maybe a 1/4" inch of cable is left and then ill put the corresponding bullet connectors on so the motor can easily plug into the ESC while its above it with minimal protrusion. The ESC wires though are all red, how do I know which ones go to which? or is it okay to plug in different combinations to find out?

Im starting to feel pretty happy about the progress so far, hope I did things good!

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nichismo

05-20-2015, 04:47 PM

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nichismo

05-20-2015, 04:48 PM

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nichismo

05-24-2015, 04:44 AM

Finally got the sub hatch cover trimmed and in place, the fitment could have been a little better but im going to leave it as is. With the battery accomodations almost finished as well, pretty safe to say the hull has been officially converted to electric :)

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leonard feeback

06-03-2015, 06:27 PM

Hi Nic, in your post you asked about how to know about the three red wires on your esc. Usually one of the outside wires is the positive and the other outside wire is the negative wire. Should be marked on the esc also.

Speed810

06-03-2015, 11:17 PM

Hey Nic....looks like your coming along really well! The boat looks awsome!!!
As for the ESC and motor wiring, mine are the same...all black on the motor and all blue in the ESC....LOL. General rule of thumb is that the two outside wires on both are the positive and negative. It really doesn't matter which one is hooked up to which side on the motor. The motor doesn't care which one is + or -. Other than it may run backwards...make sure and check that. I think I read where you shortened up your leads as I did. Well the motor was running backwards.....:(. So all you do is switch the two outside wires to have it run the other direction. Or if your as lucky as I was....I found when programming the ESC that I could change the direction when programming the ESC.....:)

Keep us updated on how things are going!!

I'm waiting for replacement vertical fin graphics. Mike is going to see if he can get the color match a bit closer to the Orange on the boat.

Talk to Ya later

Mike

nichismo

06-04-2015, 04:33 AM

hey thanks for the info, I just got a solder from Max amps and was going to install some new 6 mm bullet connectors for my Swordfish .

thread could actually use an update, I think as a matter of fact, your post is the first by anyone other than myself in almost a month.

I'm on my phone so I can't quite post the preferred pictures to illustrate the extent of my progress but ill be sure to upload them ASAP.

I recently ordered 4800mah lipos from revolectrix,*!**and I was able to score a Hyperion life battery from a local hobby store.*!** However I still need to order a charger and I could really use some insight on what to purchase, as I need a quality charger but I'm getting more and more limited on my funds as the build draws closer to completion. Also, I started crafting a battery tray from carbon fiber , I cut 2 slots on each side and epoxied some straps underneath it to run through the slots and around the batteries to secure them. I'm doing my best to mimic the ML boatworks hull lauouts as much as possible.

I also got majority of the flex shaft assembly done, most recently installed a shaft oiler boot from here off OSE, and I test fit the shaft with the drive dog, Octura x452 and bullet nut, along with the strut bushing so I could make an accurate cut. I'm going to solder the flex shaft next.

the sub hatch cover and tub lip were unsatisfactory to me, I had noticed a sagging portion of the lip on the left side that was really bugging me, so I just decided to redo the entire setup, and im much much happier now. I've got a little more surface to run tape on top now, it's more level and the shape of the hatch cover is far better. I was able to save some weight with the new one I made, and with better quality ply it's stronger too. I just need to cut out the inside opening so I can glue in the extension box.

Most of the running hardware is ready for the water,*!** as I recently recieved my Dick Tyndall turn fin bracket in the mail. it was a little difficult to position it due to the angle of the sponson transom, but I'm happy with the result. now I just need to polish and sharpen my turn fin.

going to upload much needed pictures ASAP,

thanks guys!!

leonard feeback

06-04-2015, 01:30 PM

Hi Nic, 4800mah may be a little short on power, these big boats use a lot of mah's. I run 6000mah with a c rating 65-130. Just a little fun with this next statement. That 1/10th scale may be starting look pretty good. The build is looking good. You really jumped into electric scale with both feet, I wouldn't have taken on that big a project. Good job.
Leonard

nichismo

06-05-2015, 12:06 AM

Oh man Leonard, I cant even begin to tell you how many times Ive said "I got in over my head with this" and even more times I reiterated the sentiment in my head. It was a little discouraging at first and from others I noticed in archived threads and the likes, I could tell many people before me in similar situations would give up or end up not trying. That, or they would have an old proboat hull that they assume they could convert to electric for really cheap, which is a completely different ballgame, or even LEAGUE rather than this. Just trying to convert a nitro hull to electric has been so very difficult (assuming it will perform correctly, otherwise we could all just go about our layouts without a care in the world)

ah well I was considering the 5500mah batteries, but I was already hesistant to purchase a 10s setup isntead of an 8s as I originally planned, I sort of wish I had the 910kv Leopard motor rather than the 835kv, but perhaps it wouldnt have made that big of a difference. But Im really maxing out what little space I have left for the battery area, because this setup is going to be a very tight squeeze according to my dimensions, but will fit nonetheless, however the next battery up wouldn't have been able to fit, the entire shape of the battery is changed pretty much.

I started making a battery tray out of carbon fiber, but after playing around with it inside the tub, I just decided I am going to make a couple grooves in the floor to the best of my ability and just epoxy the straps to the floor, along with some velcro or something similar, they wont go anywhere at that point.

I actually have alot more pictures to take and also ones that I would like to share, but Im sort of limited on time the past few weeks as I have family visting from out of town at the moment, so Ill let you guys know whats going on whenever I get the chance. But for these pictures, I actually took them earlier this week, ive already changed a good amount since then.

so heres the photos of the new sub hatch and lip, im much happier with this, as it obviously is much better. I already have the extension box made, I just need to cut out the inside of the hatch cover and glue it together. Also, I mounted the Virginia Craftsman T5 turn fin bracket, however I am using an Accu-tech fin so I still need to drill a few holes in order to be able to use them together. I also still need to sharpen it.

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nichismo

06-05-2015, 12:14 AM

heres most of the flex shaft cable assembly, along with the OSE shaft oiler I just installed. I still need to sharpen and balance my prop, get a different nut as I dont like a bullet nut on a hydroplane, and solder the flex shaft, otherwise, its almost ready to go :)

Another thing im going to be doing soon is creating a dowel and magnet system of some sort to secure the cowl/cockpit to the hull. I ordered some 11lb neod magnets off RCR, the kind that have a countersunk hole in the middle so they can be bolted easily, 6 of them I think. Ill have two for the back and 2 for the front, 2 more for whereever I end up wanting them. Its going to be pretty simple overall, im just going to have a small piece of carbon fiber rod on the middle of the back bulkhead, and the flat part of the nose cockpit, Phil epoxied a couple pieces of thick plywood there, a square piece for both horizontal and vertical applications. Ill probably use two magnets up there and try to get them into the wood as flush as possible, flanking each side of the carbon dowel.

Ive got alot of hardware now just waiting to be installed, I dont need to buy anything more other than a lipo charger and my transmitter and reciever, which I have already picked out and put on layaway at my LHS. My servo is going to be mounted with a billet mount that are very common here on OSE, however upon attempting to test placement, i realized that I am having trouble placing the servo in a manner that would give me a straight rod to the rudder, which I would mainly prefer. My fav OSE member (you know who you are) was kind enough to send me the proper 4-40 rods, along with necessary bolts and screws, and a very nice and rigid carbon fiber tube to glue over the rudder linkage.

This awesome friend of mine also was kind enough to craft me aluminum tabs for my wings, I just cut out slots in the hull for them earlier today, and ill finish filing them open to fit the tabs when I get home from work. Im extremely excited to mount the wings, something I have been very eager for since the very beginning of this build :) On top of that, he sent me an abundance of pink foam for floatation and extra strength, this stuff is great! it feels very dense and robust for most foam ive seen, and it doesnt burn or fail under epoxy. Its little stuff such as this that have really helped me progress and understand how this whole part of the hobby works. I feel confident that despite having a somewhat unorthodox setup, the boat will run pretty good from the get-go ;-) Thanks again! You know who you are! and ill email you ASAP haha

Well, that most of what I can think of right now, however I do have an overwhelming amount of components and hardware, some still in their boxes/wraps that I need to use before I near primer and bodywork. But ill be back very soon im sure once I remember, or make more progress.

thanks everyone!

nichismo

06-05-2015, 01:17 AM

man I wish I had been a little bit more educated when I first started buying some of the components. At this point, I dont really want to make any major hardware changes, but I have been researching other potential power options. I really wish I would have known more about outrunners at the time, and although the Scorpion/Hyperion 4035 motors with the 800kv spec are discontinued, I see them fairly often and they are usually 100$ or less.... Not to mention they sound awesome and are WAY smaller than my behemoth Leopard Im using now.....

But I have already gone through way too much trouble implementing this fairly permanent 56mm motor mount and did a small amount of mods to secure the motor even more, the amount of work it would take to remove it all and start fresh would be ridiculous. So I suppose if I really wanted to "upgrade," I would just have to choose from other 56mm motors. However, RCboatbitz, has this mount on their website:

http://shop.rcboatbitz.com.au/images/56-58mm%20motor%20mount%20suits%2030%20and%2035mm%20b olt%20spacings%20Silver.jpg

This is the exact same mount that I am using now, however the bolt pattern is different. With this version, I could not only go from 2 screws to secure the motor to all 4, but I could also mount 58mm motors as well. I may purchase one of these, all I have to do is just swap the mounting plate, the legs are the exact same and mine are fiberglassed and reinforced into the hull floor. I suppose this would enable me to use a Castle 2028 motor? I was also thinking perhaps, a Leopard 56110 at 950kv on 8s?

Thoughts?

leonard feeback

06-05-2015, 02:48 PM

Hi Nic, I did the same thing when I started getting/putting everything together for my 80 Pak. I bought a motor off ose that had the kv rating that would work. Then came the problem you had, TO BIG! Watching the rcu group's rules I went with the Chinese motor. 850kv 40mm diam. A little over $100.00. Sure it's not a neu motor but allowed me to build the 1/8th scale and save some money. My motor is in the hull below the deck line and is covered with lexan. Will try to get a pic and send it to you private e-mail. I found out when I tried to save a few buck's on lower kv batteries, in the long run I had wasted the money because these big boats need the mah's. Don't want to write a book here, just hope little comments will help in the right direction. At least I feel these will help in the right direction.

nichismo

06-06-2015, 01:23 AM

well, I just purchased an outrunner, the gentleman had this in his possession for the past few weeks and I flaked on buying it from him repeatedly. Thankfully he was very patient and hadn't sold the motor to anyone else in the meantime. Its a Hyperion 4035, 800kv just like I mentioned earlier. at only 85$, it was about half the price of a new Leopard 5698.

I think I may sell the Leopard 5698 I have, either that or use it for another project, I may keep it until I actually work out a solid mounting solution for the outrunner just in case any issues arise. I have already devised how I am going to fabricate one, it should be fairly easy to attach a plate to the legs fiberglassed to the floor for the 56mm mount, and I am going to watercool it as well. Its pretty simple in RC boating, but I have built several custom liquid cooling systems for high performance computers and have a good understanding of thermodynamics in this area, so im a little intrigued on how to get a little extra cooling with an outrunner.

As this is my first boat, I havn't even had any experience driving, and that concerns me a bit. I really believe I need a little bit of practice, and ive been led to believe that I cant run at half throttle constantly as it will impede the cooling ability towards the ESC and motor. I think the 4800 batteries should be sufficient for now. The sub hatch and lip assembly were one of my biggest concerns going into this build, and I knew from the get-go that I wouldn't be using a flat lid. Although it turned out pretty good and im happy with it, I still don't want to test it anytime soon, the thought of potentially flipping the boat or damaging this hull that cost me a fortune for my income along with time and effort to prepare terrifies me.

I will have more pictures for upload in the next few hours hopefully, I really want to get the wing tabs epoxied into place. while its drying, im going to sand the bottom of the wings so that they match the contour of the hull decks. The cowl reinforcement and flotation, along with the mounting system and turbine tray should get finished tonight as well hopefully.

Agitator

06-06-2015, 02:05 AM

You need to contour the vertical wing to the area they mount, not after you glue the tabs in. That is the part of the boat you are contouring to. Can't do that with the brackets in the way.................

nichismo

06-06-2015, 02:39 AM

good point. thanks Michael.

Im sending you an email here in a few minutes, i had a rough draft saved (I had alot of questions lol), but I lost it and had to restart.

ive cut and filed one tab so far, it looks and fits great :) You really did an amazing job with these, I would have thought you own the same hull if I didnt know better.

nichismo

06-09-2015, 12:02 AM

hey guys , got another minor update and pictures I wanted to share.

I glued two lipo straps to a small sheet of 1/32" thick plywood, and glued that into the battery area so I can more thoroughly secure the lipos to the floor. I'm going to maybe glue a thin strip of rubber to the end of the ply just in front of the motor mount to prevent any potential sliding as well, but I'll wait until the batteries are here for that. I was wondering, I heard NAMBA has a limit of 10000mah per lipos setups, does that mean 2p can only 5000 each, or do they not add together?

I also finished cutting and filing both wing tabs, and I scuffed and scratched the bottom surfaces to create a good bond with the floor. After I cut the slots in the deck, I took a vacuum and turned the hull upside down to get as much dust as possible cleaned up. The slots ended up being a tad bit too wide, so I used a pretty thick mixture if epoxy with colloidal silica, and there's a decent amount of sanding I'll have to do to clean up the area before I slide the wings on.

I started cutting into the sub hatch cover to add the extension box. when I made this cover, I wanted to make it very precise, so I used a sheet of 1/32" thick ply so I could easily cut it with an x-acto knife and a ruler, then after it was cut out, I traced around it onto another sheet of 1/32" ply, cut out that piece and then glued them together. finally I sanded the edges so they blended together, and so now the cover is technically a 6 layered piece of 1/16" thick ply lol. it's very strong compared to, say, 1/16" basswood. cutting into it now with an x-acto has been alot tougher. but ill be finished soon.

I'll be mounting the turn fin and finishing up the rudder work, just need to mount the servo and connect the linkage. I'm going to buy the Futaba 3PL soon as the rest of the boat permits. I believe I just need that along with its reciever, a prop balancer, a lipo charger and perhaps some other minor hardware before the boat can technically be ready for her test run, aside from the obvious body/paintwork.

I've gone around and tried to locate as many pinholes as possible, soon ill post pictures of the work that needs to be done before I can primer. it's going to be a pretty lengthy and strenuous process so i can use all the help I can get, especially from anyone who has had alot of experience with epoxy fiberglass parts. I've filled some bigger pinholes with a little bit of thickened epoxy, I'll go around the hull with a small bit of glazing putty, and then the last bit will be filled with my mixture of Klass Kote and talcum powder, as I'm going to brush/roll on the first coat.

you guys are welcome to email me at nicholasleeking@outlook.com for any personal insight, I really appreciate any help on this stuff, it's all new to me :-)

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-06-08201556.jpg
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nichismo

06-09-2015, 12:10 AM

http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-06-08201728.jpg
http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-06-08201640.jpg http://i499.photobucket.com/albums/rr356/nickhnsn/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-06-08201715.jpg
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nichismo

07-02-2015, 08:09 AM

hey guys, just realized its been a while since I last did an update. I have been really tense about finishing this up, the amount of trial and error along with my indecisiveness have reached all time highs so far..... lol.

But im really getting close to finalizing my setup and im going to be setting up my makeshift paint booth for my first coat of primer soon. I recently undertook a fairly lengthy modification to my hull, I basically made myself a new belly pan so I could have more floor depth and thus more headroom. As a result, both 10s and obviously 8s setups are right at home up in front near the cockpit. This mod also gave me a fresh floor to work with on mounting the 4035 outrunner.

ive nearly finished the sub hatch cover and remaining woodwork, I just want to chop the top on the hatch as the extension is too tall. Once I finish my cowling reinforcements and setup the magnets, and the rear cover/tray setup, ill be sealing all the wood with some west epoxy, a brush, and a heatgun. floatation needs to be installed in the hull and cowl as well. Ive also made a halfway decent dummy turbine from PVC, craft foam and 1/64" ply, ill post pics of that soon.

The servo and rudder linkage is about to be setup. Im happy with how its turned out, I was able to securely mount the holder to some ply with T nuts behind it thats epoxied up against the outside of the engine tub wall. I just need to measure and cut the carbon tube and steel rod, glue them together, drill respective holes and then setup pushrod seals.

ive bought both an 8s and 10s sets of lipos from Revolectrix so I can get more acquainted with their power and overall driving. Im just waiting on my radio gear(went with Futaba 3PL) and the charger and ill finally have everything to finish for the maiden voyage :) Still weeks away but I plan to run after primer is done.

dont have that much pictures yet, but I will load more soon:

nichismo

07-02-2015, 08:37 AM

few more pictures.

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nichismo

07-13-2015, 08:20 PM

Just a minor update with pictures guys. I redid my sub hatch for the last time, and now with the deeper belly pan mod and a higher lip for the sub hatch, there is room for pretty much any 10s setup.

Ive started filling pinholes and repairing any imperfections or flat spots. Also, I modified the sponsons by rounding the tips into a more curved shape to be more true to scale. Next i plan to shorten the picklefork depth a few inches as its a far too deep to resemble a modern day T5, and the sides flanking the cockpit need to be offset as well. Once i finish these ill begin priming.

nichismo

07-13-2015, 09:07 PM

Some more pics. I also got my floatation installed and most of the magnets and dowels installed, i just need to cut a few of them .

nichismo

07-21-2015, 11:36 AM

hm, it appears that everyone but myself has lost interest in the status of this boats construction, but nonetheless I will continue to update progress, and in all honesty I'm very happy with where it's at now. perhaps if it was a wood constructed hull im sure that wouldnt be the case...

I mentioned in the last post that I did a little modifying of the sponson tips to make them more true to scale of modern unlimiteds, and since then I've gone ahead and done some more thorough modifications to the hull for the same reason. I'm extremely happy that I took the time to do this, I was very suprised at how easily I missed certain features of the hull that are no where near accurate of the full size boats today. in particular, I shortened the pickle fork depth and offset each side that's flanking the cockpit, and im stunned at how much better the boat looks now as a result. I also cut off part of the ram wing to thin it and I'll be doing a few minor changes to the transom area to finish it off.

I have very few things left to complete until my maiden run, but a few them I absolutely need some guidance on as being this my first build of any kind RC ever. Mainly, programming my ESC and motor settings, lubrication for the flex shaft, proper Temps, and just general precautions I should be aware of.

as of now I need to finish the cowling reinforcement and mounts, clear coat seal all the wood, finish sanding and scuffing the hull in preparation for paint, and check the COG and weight again to perhaps add some weight to the sponsons.

here's some pictures

nichismo

07-21-2015, 11:39 AM

nichismo

07-21-2015, 11:47 AM

sponsons look much much better, with the longer picklefork before and pointy sponson tips, hull didn't look much at all like a modern day T6 like it should

Speed810

07-21-2015, 03:29 PM

Hey Nick....

Boat is looking great....be interesting to see what the modifications will do for performance. What scale boat were you going to paint it in? colors..etc?
Like what you did with securing the wing feathers and the hatch work is looking really nice. It seems endless at times...when we keep changing things to get a better fit or a better look....LOL

Hey don't worry about folks not getting onto the thread....Mine is the same way for the most part...Just have to remember its summer and most folks are either out vacationing or running their boats during this time of the year...LOL I've been watching it through out your progress and your look-in good man...

I see your running into the same thing I did with all the pin holes and defects in the fiberglass. Amazing how they just pop out when your trying to sand everything down smooth....LOL I finally went to my West System Epoxy with micro filler that I thinned down slightly and wiped a thin coating over every fiberglass part I had. Then sanded and filled over with the glazing putty if needed. Even after all that I still missed a few here and there.....LOL

As far as your ESC programming there should be information that came with it regarding the programming. If its anything like my ETTI ESC, its just a bunch of beeps and tones to indicate where you are in the programming sequence. Kind of a pain in the butt. Now if your lucky maybe you have one that you can buy a programmer for....Now that is the way to go...makes things very easy.

I'm still using my old Grimm Racer drive-line grease for lubricating the drive shaft. Don't think you can go wrong with that. I know there is a nice fitting up on the shaft tube, but I have stuck with the regular way of greasing the drive line for now until I learn more about what the guys are using through the grease fitting. I'll be going out to the pond this Sunday for a day of racing (including my new 1/8 scale)....so I'll be talking to the guys on a lot of different things from drive-line lube to set ups and props.

As far as temps go, most of the reading I have done indicates that it should not go above 170 to 190 degrees. Now after I was finally able to get my hatch off (which took about 2 min.) the ESC was just warm...maybe 100 degrees. The motor was registering about 130 degrees......So I figured with the amount of time that passed the ESC may have gotten up to about 130 to 140 and the motor may have been around the 160 to 170 mark...maybe slightly higher.
Have to see what the guys at the club think....I'll relay that to ya next week.

What kind of paints are you going to spray?

Keep up the good work!!!

Mike

nichismo

07-21-2015, 06:01 PM

thanks! well I've had in mind that if I indeed get the boat painted, I'm going to go with the U-22 Websters Racing , the red blur and white,*!** they have donned a Matrix systems sponsor ship recently that is probably most recognized.*!**

I've still got a good amount of very tiny pinholes and imperfections, but I'm done with that for now, I just need to scuff for the primer,*!** which I'll be doing very soon. just need to finish smoothing out the ram wing area and then seal all the wood.

for my paint plan, ive actually got a somewhat unorthodox approach planned but I'm confident it will turn out nice:

I've bought some white epoxy primer, catalyst and reducer from Klass Kote, ive heard nothing but positive stuff for this, I've heard it's almost bulletproof, flows and fills amazingly and wet sands great too, exactly like k@b super poxy and hobby poxy. For my 1st coat, I'm going to mix just the epoxy and catalyst (no reducer) with some microballoons to make a heavy cream type liquid, and then Ill brush/roll it on.*!** After about an hour or two,*!** the leftover primer will have thickened and I'll go around the hull looking for any imperfections,*!** and I'll just gob on the remaining primer. After it cures for a day at least, I'll take it outside by the garden hose and wet sand it until I get the finish I want.*!** Finally, I'll go and mix some reducer in a new batch of primer and do a couple real light airbrushed coats before painting.

I'm honestly not sure if I'll actually get this boat painted, because i might sell it here on OSE, and if i do, i want to leave the choice of paint up to the buyer.

this may sound crazy, but ive got another 2 hulls coming that I'm more keen on investing in. the first is coming from Steve at RCBOATCOMPANY and should be here next week, I've waited about 14 weeks for it. and yesterday , I just spoke with Mike L and ordered a scale laser cut kit, my first :) I'm going to wait until it gets here and a thread is made before I share what that one is :) but the other boat is very nice, all carbon fiber with the drop sponsons so I can do the white and blue beacon plumbing. the Hyperion 4035 is going in this T5, but I have a NEU 1527 1.5y with a custom mount from Peter zilcha that ill be using in that hull, 10s too :)

Speed810

07-21-2015, 06:52 PM

Nick....

Sounds good..!!
So what is finally going to end up in this boat for power? Batteries...etc? Do you have any idea what the finished weight is with batteries, motor, ESC and all hardware? I'm interested to see what it comes out at.

What scale kit did you get from Mike at ML Boatworks?

Dang....your going to have projects all over the place.....LOL

Mike

nichismo

07-21-2015, 09:19 PM

LOL I know right? I totally was in over my head and the learning curve was so steep for a while, I mean, I've never even driven a real RC boat (I had a Traxxas blast that I drove twice many many years ago), in yet I decide to jump into the hobby with a 1/8 scale brushless hydroplane haha. but I got the kinks out I think and im really enjoying the whole building process, I love the creativity in potential projects. Now I'm really starting to feel good about this 0roject, whereas for a while it started feeling like a practice build that was going up for sale rather quickly, but now I'm not so sure! however if I sell it, I can really put full effort and better understanding into the next builds for mucg better boat and more suited for actual racing.

I'm really excited for the maiden voyage though. honestly I have no idea what it may weigh RTR, but I'm sure it's going to be heavy, wouldn't suprised me if it's 20+lbs if yours is 19. I used alot of epoxy and fillers all over.... thankfully it shouldn't be TOO bad considering the amount of times I tore things apart to re do them LOL. I still need to check the COG with everything in place and I havnt entirely finalized where the ESC will go, as Ill probably need to add weight to the sponsons? I'm really happy though that I decided to do the belly pan mod, the extra depth combined with my new hatch setup has given me ALOT more room for lipo setups, and they are down lower in addition to much farther foward then I've seen on any fiberglass hull so far. hopefully it'll promote a good true ride.

the final test setup will be :

Hyperion 4035 outrunner 800kv
Swordfish 240hv ESC (I have a MGM 25063 in the mail)
Revolectrix pair of 4s 5500mah 8s 2p lipos
Octura x450 2 blade ( also have a x452 and a x450 3 blade to try after )

also, I have a futaba 3PL and the same hitec servo as you, but I think I'm going return it because I want a stick radio. I'll probably get the Futaba 4grs instead

Speed810

07-21-2015, 09:24 PM

So What scale kit did you get from Mike at ML Boatworks?

And what boat from RC boat company?

nichismo

07-21-2015, 11:20 PM

the hull from Steve is his T6 kit but it's been modified to resemble the boats that had the drop sponsons and extended transom, like the 88 degree men that Scott liddycoat drove or the beacon plumbings that J Michael Kelly and Dave Villwock drove. Its also entirely layed up in carbon fiber. he said it will ship out Friday, very excited :)

nichismo

07-21-2015, 11:25 PM

and we'll if you MUST KNOW (lol) the ML kit is the T4. Probably the worst kit a first timer with barely any experience in woodwork overall could choose, but I just couldn't justify any other kit considering what I've already built/will be building. I've wanted a T4 since the beginning but their just isn't any scale hulls out there

nichismo

07-30-2015, 02:37 PM

Hey guys, got my first and most important layer of white klass kote primer on last night! It went really well i think, the stuff flowed really well and was very easy to brush, even with all the talcum powder i added. The surface is pretty rough and there's a few less than satisfactory spots, but im overall really happy considering ive got practically zero experience painting.

Later tonight, ill take it outside near my garden hose and wet sand it with 220 grit paper. Then ill do either 1 or 2 very light sprayed coats to finish. I left the inside wood along with the cowling and wing/canard pieces to be sprayed only.

nichismo

07-30-2015, 04:18 PM

Really happy with how the modifications turned out. The belly pan looks great in my opinion and is very strong inside and out. Also i feel the additional offset picklefork and rounding off the sponson tips made a dramatic difference in the hull appear as a more scale accurate modern T6. The surfaces blend together nicely and i doubt anyone would recognize it as a phil thomas T5.

Only thing i feel could have been better was the ram wings, in narrowing them, i opened up the seam from behind so I filled it with spackle and foam with a little finishing resin on top.

I may have added more weight than ideal as the primer was pretty thick, but i only ordered a half pint of each parts and mixed half of the two cans to make 8oz. There was still primer leftover so i guess probably 5-6oz added to the hull.

Speed810

07-30-2015, 06:29 PM

Lookin Great Nick!!!

That Klass Kote primer sands down really easy from my experience. I always use a firm sponge with the 150 or 220 wrapped around it. Keeps it conforming to the hull angles. Just using your hand can leave low spots...etc. I actually went out and bought those 3M sanding pads. You can get them in anything form 150 to 800. They form nicely to the hull.

Keep up the great work man.

Mike

nichismo

07-30-2015, 07:42 PM

ya, i could never get a piece of ply perfectly square ended when sanding, even on with the sandpaper on my bare garage floor. I have some of those pads, the green is 60 grit and the red is 80, and then I have a yellow 180. But i feel like they are much softer and less aggressive than paper of the same grit and specifications. I have another sponge thats 180 grit that I got from Auto Zone that seems more like a real sponge that has had 2 rectangle pieces of 180 grit paper glued to it. Ill probably use that mostly.

its been about 17 hours since I finished painting the hull, it should be okay to start sanding it by now right? its been really hot here lately too, got up to 91 today. Im starting to make my little booth up, but I wont go as far as I originally planned as im going to do less coats than I originally planned, as this went really well. I just need to finish adding a few more pieces of reinforcement and flotation to my cowling and then ill be able to paint the rest of the pieces. After this all dries, its maiden voyage time!!

Agitator

07-30-2015, 08:04 PM

I might suggest you remove the shaft tube and strut before you get any further along painting..Will make it a bit easier. And a question, what is sticking out of the skid fin holes? If they are the fin bolts, make sure you put a dab of grease on them so you don't lock them down with paint.

Speed810

07-30-2015, 10:18 PM

Nick....the pads you have should work out fine. The ones I'm talking about are about 1" thick and are about a 2 X 3" rectangular pad. The grit is made right into the pad. They don't fill up either and when they do you can shake it out really easy. Walmart and your local hardware should have them.

You should be fine to start sanding though. I noticed what Agitator was talking about. If those are the turn fin bolt heads I would remove them otherwise it will be difficult to get them out and possibly crack the finish around them when removing. On all of my bolt holes, water cooling holes etc...I just wound up some masking tape and secured it tightly inside the holes. Worked out just fine.

Keep us up to date on how things are going.

Going to be running the Miss Elam again this weekend for more tests. Ran it last Sunday at our club races. The pond is just a tad small for 1/8 scales, but we got some good runs in. First run we determined that I must have hit something under the water....coming out of turn 2 I lost steering and she ran right up on shore. Luckily that side is all grown up with tall grass so it was a soft landing....LOL The brass rudder shear pin was sheared right off. Made some additional adjustments to he strut and put an X452 prop on. Definitely made a difference....it shot out of the hole and the top end was much faster. Now I have to look at doing some work on getting to turn better. Going to try some turn fin adjustments and maybe upgrade to a better servo.

Later buddy

Mike

nichismo

07-30-2015, 11:37 PM

Dammit how did i miss such an easily considerable precaution.... Im not at home and i wasnt able to start sanding yet, hopefully ill be able to get them out without issue. I do have some airbrush cleaner that could maybe help.

Do any of you guys have pictures of the inside of your cowlings? I need to finish mine and i need a little insight, i need to make sure i install the aligning tubes correctly and the flotation too

nichismo

08-05-2015, 12:57 AM

just a few pictures I wanted to share.... I finished wet sanding the hull, and there was still some very minor pinholes I found along the seam areas, and the surfaces underneath the boat by the cockpit, basically where my added offset spars are still had an uneven spot when you ran your hand over it. So ive fixed them with a little glazing putty and some spackling.

Im finally going to begin paintspraying for my first time, hopefully everything goes well. I have my respirator and i made a very makeshift paint area in my garage. Im probably going to use a pretty high ratio of reducer to primer and probably do 2-3 light coats.

If you look closely on some of these pictures you can see brush marks.

Speed810

08-06-2015, 07:42 PM

Evening Nick....

I can see some of the brush marks you were talking about. They should sand out pretty easy. Want to make sure they are smooth before spraying. The spray coats will not fill those in. I had the same problem with some of the fiber glass parts with the small pin holes etc. Just kept filling and sanding....:)
I still had 2 or 3 I missed.....didn't see them until the darn clear coat went on.

Be great to see it when you start shooting the color.

Mike

nichismo

08-06-2015, 10:37 PM

im actually thinking about doing another brushed coat, as after sanding down to where im at now, ive used a decent amount of glazing putty and although it looks pretty good in the pictures, theres a fair amount of bumped surfaces and brush marks. I added alot of talcum powder the first time around to get it thick and fill in the pinholes and it still flowed well, I figure if I just mix without any reducer or a tad bit, it should produce a pretty good coat without any brush marks. If I end up with some still, then Ill be more comfortable sanding more thoroughly and then adding some sprayed coats.

also, I dont think ill be shooting any color, I still feel like I may sell it and if so then it will stay primered. If I do paint it, id like to just paint it white so I can do the U-96 that just ran at Seafair. Mike at Thunderboatgraphics can get me the decal set.

nichismo

08-24-2015, 06:27 AM

hey guys, just though id provide an update, albiet a rather dull and short one. We can disregard the last post I made, as I have been itching to give spraying a try and have had plenty of practice and feel confident now going into this. I really made a rather big mistake with the first coat, as the brushing itself wasn't an issue, but rather the fact that I simply just kept brushing on the thick primer mix I made until it was all gone, in an effort to try and fill all the pinholes or imperfections. What I should have done, was cover the hull entirely with the bare minimum, and then add a little more microballoons to the leftover primer, and then allow it to sit for an hour or so. If I would have done this, I would have been able to see any of the remaining imperfections, and then the leftover primer would have thickened considerably. This would have allowed me to just gob on that thickened mixture over any areas needed (as I originally intended) and then being that KK is very easy to sand, it would have been a piece of cake to get it ready to go for the airspraying.

Unfortunately, I learned a lesson the hard way. Not only did I sand a ton and despite certain areas nearly being sanded away entirely down to the bare fiberglass, I still had brush marks everywhere! and I wasted most of my primer in the process..... haha. Oh well. It took alot of filling and sanding repeatedly and constantly observing the hull as close as possible, but its now ready for the next coat and the surface is perfect.

You may notice my "paint booth" looks terrible there.... it didnt get much better as I finished it haha. But its getting the job done. Along with the subpar booth is the subpar equipment I have... my little badger airbrush and can of compressed air, and some cheap denatured alchohol for cleaning, a few tack cloths too. I did manage to get a moisture trap for the airbrush setup installed so thats good lol. Hopefully I cleaned the garage thoroughly enough too. Will post pictures after its finished!!

135962135963135964135965135966

nichismo

08-29-2015, 06:08 AM

Well I had never sprayed before and basically as a result I under anticipated the amount of primer that would be needed in finishing the job. I had about 5.5 ounces of mixed Klass Kote primer left (not accounting for the reducer being added) to finish the hull, and then spray the first coat onto the cowling and wing pieces. I added a good amount of reducer, id say by the time I was done it was at probably a 1:1:0.75 ratio of primer/catalyst/reducer and it seemed to be flowing well. Unfortunately, the paint setup I was using didnt really allow me to spray the last little bit of primer that was sitting at the bottom of the jar, so I set that aside for about a couple hours after adding some microballoons to it. It thickened up to a putty that I used to fill in any imperfections I saw, which you might see in these pictures because I havnt sanded them away yet.

I ordered some more white primer from Klass Kote, it will probably be here early next week, hopefully monday. Id say the hull is about 90% covered, and the uprights and canard are maybe 75% covered.

However I came across a problem. The reducer in the paint for some reason considerably weakened the epoxy around the aluminum wing tabs in the back of the boat! By the time the paint was dry, I noticed that the tabs had somehow "risen" much higher above the deck then their previous position. At first, I was thinking that I had used way too much bondo and other stuff around that area on the deck and the deck had lowered a bunch from the same effect... It wasnt until I actually pulled the hull down from the ceiling and had it level that I looked into the drain holes in the transom that I saw the bottom of the wing tabs suspended in air now rather than resting on the floor of the hull! And now they are stiff again (not as stiff as previously however) and the primer in that area is slightly chipped, specifically on the right side tab. What should I do??

leonard feeback

08-29-2015, 12:56 PM

Hi Nic, sounds like you may not have got a good mix on the epoxy you used to hold the wing tabs. In the pics I see you hung the boat from the tabs, the weight of the boat and maybe the heat caused them to move. Never heard of reducer causing a problem like that if epoxy dried properly. Boat looking really good. Lots of work on big hulls. Is that 1/10th looking good yet? Just had to ask. If you should do a paint job with a white bottom I have found that you can just spray a clear coat over the white primer and save a little weight being added to the hull. Being a new boater you are a lot further than I thought you would get, job well done.

nichismo

08-29-2015, 01:39 PM

I hung the boat by the hole in the transom where the linkage to the rudder would pass through

Thanks alot for the kind words, it really means alot, I cant believe how much time has passed since I recieved the hull. Honestly though, ive felt like this last bit of work has been the most difficult by far, probably because its not necessarily RC related and it can depend on preference and such, I never foresaw myself doing any modifications to the body either, and I ended up doing a ton, but im really happy I did them.

heres a picture of the inside, I might re-rig some of the components just for the heck of it and take some more pics.

EDIT: Also, which 1/10 are you referring to? lol, I know I tapped at the idea beforehand but since then ive been overwhelmed with ideas and builds I want to do, oh if I was rich with more and more free time xD. Mainly because classic thunder here in Seattle is a 1/10 scale organization and that size seems to be growing in popularity with the FE community, I was considering building one. But ive changed my mind, im pretty much only interested in 1/8 scale or larger.

EDIT FOR A 2ND TIME: I think I understand what you mean when you ask if a 1/10 scale boat is starting to sound appealing... haha. god yes..... oh lord yes, in every aspect. haha

nichismo

09-03-2015, 02:03 PM

Hey guys, just a few more pics I wanted to share despite not really making too much progress... as im still waiting for my klass kote to arrive. However ive taken some steps to make sure the rest of the primer I lay down is done so in a much better fashion than previously. I still need to do some sanding before I proceed with that.

I did finish my sub hatch cover finally, its now perfect for this build after many many tries lol. Im still unsure if I want to paint it to blend in with the rest of the boat, or just keep it clear coated, as I could save a little weight with that too. For now though, ill definately leave clearcoated only, at least through some driving sessions :)

I took some pictures with the wing on for the heck of it, despite them looking pretty horrid at the moment, and the tabs being partially ruined for the moment, I thought it looked nice nonetheless.

cybercrxt

09-14-2015, 11:03 AM

Looking great Nick! Mike

nichismo

09-21-2015, 11:43 PM

Wow, coming from you Mike, that means alot, thanks :biggrin:

Well, I couldnt be happier now at this point with how the last bits of the build are turning out. After far more sanding, filling, cleaning, checking, and repeating that process constantly over the past few weeks and creating more powder and dust in my garage than I ever concieved, I finally got around to spraying the subsequent KK epoxy primer ive been talking so much about. Man this stuff is amazing, I cant believe how easy it is to apply using even a Preval (or I should say several) disposable sprayers. The stuff just flows out on its own to perfect surface coverage at least as far as im concerned, as I lacked any real technique other than doing my best not to create any runs. It blew me away how good of coverage and finish I was able to get given the circumstances. And it is curing far quicker and is tack free in about 30 minutes, ready for another coat. I actually got a little overconfident at one point and got a little too aggressive, so I ended up with a slight run in a couple spots around the cockpit area, but I was amazed at how well it fixed itself after waiting an hour to re-coat it as opposed to the 20-30min I had previously done. Then on the next coat, I couldnt believe how just 1 more layer of primer hid what I thought was a big gob run just a few moments before! This stuff is just great, two thumbs up to Phil for recommending it to me :)

Ill probably do a little wet sanding with 600 grit perhaps in a couple days, and it shouldnt be too much more work after that to hit the water. I still need to get to finish shooting the wings and cowling, and im waiting on a turn fin to come in the mail this week before Ill be able to re-rig everything. Hopefully she doesnt end up being too heavy when its all said and done, as it did indeed take a good amount of primer and filler to get the surface to an acceptable point.

I was hoping to be able to take better pictures than these soon, a couple of these are actually about halfway through the recent effort, and the rest are from just a few moments ago after the last coat was applied. I was just anxious to get some taken and share my progress to you guys! So glad I wont need to be touching any more spackling, glazing putty, epoxy or other fillers for a while..... phew!!

More to come soon!

nichismo

09-21-2015, 11:45 PM

Gosh the pictures turning out rotated is getting a bit annoying lol

nichismo

09-21-2015, 11:46 PM

last few

Speed810

09-22-2015, 11:29 AM

Nick....Its looking GREAT man!! Got to love it when everything finally comes together...
So you going to test it just in the primer stage?

Still doing some fine tuning with my 1/8 scale Elam. Been hard finding some good days for running with work and all sorts of other things going on lately.

Can't wait to see how it balances and runs!!! Take some video man....LOL

Again Great Job!!

Mike

OZbryan

09-30-2015, 05:06 PM

Can i ask why is the esc mounted on top of the motor?
What is the advantage of this?

nichismo

09-30-2015, 06:18 PM

im actually not mounting the ESC on the motor anymore unfortunately, but i would if i had the option.

there is a few advantages in doing such. It saves precious space, as with these boats, as with the lipos being there, and the fact that they almost always have an enclosed engine well too, so there is hardly any room to begin with. Also it helps with weight distribution as you want everything to be as far forward as possible, and rather than placing 1 in front and the other farther behind, they can both in the same spot. It also means less cable length too. Remember lipos always should be as far foward as possible, farther up front than anything else.

an update coming later tonight!!

nichismo

10-07-2015, 07:32 PM

hey guys, I dont have any new pictures at the moment but ill get some up here soon.

I mainly wanted to post an update as I needed some insight, as Ill be taking her out for the maiden this week, I finally got my VC turn fins in the mail, along with my Icharger setup from ProgressiveRC (awesome!). I even ordered a large case from PRC to hold all my charging needs, and its got some cool built in features too so that I can have as little down time at the lake as possible :)

So I plan to do the first run without the rear wing installed and the front canard set to neutral angle (horizontal. Also, the turn fin is setup at a 90 degree angle to the floor, the bracket is parallel with the bottom of the boat. Im not sure how I should setup the strut to begin with though, as in depth mainly. Ill be bringing some adhesive lead weights that I can just temporarily stick onto the top deck of the sponson up front to experiment with the balance while shes running. Also, I was going to start out with the 2 blade x450, but after talking to a couple people im wondering if this is a large enough prop. that and the 3 blade version are the only props I have ready to run, so if thats the case Ill need to order more ASAP.

im bringing a blow up raft and a friend of mine to video everything, were going to check a couple different lakes in the morning to try and get a mirror surface, hopefully the weather permits and everything goes smooth overall. Im pretty nervous, as I dont have any experience driving whatsoever!! (stupid to not at this point....)

would really appreciate any insight, precautions, or anything else that anybody feels is necessary to mention, please if you have even the SLIGHTEST remote obligation to comment or ask something, please do so!

thanks!

JimClark

10-07-2015, 08:26 PM

Where you going to run and what day and time?

nichismo

10-08-2015, 04:31 AM

Honestly I hadnt set anything for sure yet, I was probably going to go to 5 mile lake not too far of a drive from my house, but I am honestly open to going almost anywhere

leonard feeback

10-08-2015, 02:44 PM

Nic, blow up raft NOT the best idea. Wear a life vest also. Sharp turn fins make holes in rubber boats, be careful. In the future you may want to make up a retrieve ball setup. Hope all goes well. By the way your knees will really shake with that first run, and your hands also. You may also have a BIG grin on your face.

Speed810

10-08-2015, 07:07 PM

Nick....Good Luck with your maiden run! I'm sure it will go well.
One thing that I may suggest is to balance the boat on the bench first. It will at least get you close and tell you if you have a major weight/balance problem before you pack things up to go to the lake. Just use a dowel at about the 1 1/4" mark behind the back of the sponson.....should get ya close.

Also I'll have to agree with Leonard....Be careful in the raft and wear a life jacket. These boats are heavy and difficult enough to pick up out of the water from a regular 14' row boat let alone a wobbly rubber raft.....LOL

Hope everything is a success......Post some video when you get a chance..

Mike

nichismo

10-08-2015, 07:20 PM

Thanks so much for the advice guys, really appreciate it.

Indeed I was concerned about the effectiveness of a cheap raft, I figured any of the running hardware could easily puncture it, especially being as cumbersome as these boats are to handle. I really wanted to just have it and the life vest as a last resort, I wanted to be extremely conservative with each run with battery life, but my lack of experience obviously gives me no idea of what my run times will be like.

I went pretty far with my charging setup though, and I ordered a pretty neat inverter for my car off Amazon, so I can go back to my car and plug the setup into my cigarette lighter, and be able to charge both packs from completely drained to a full charge in less than 10 minutes.

Im starting out with the 4035 on 8s, im just hoping with this initial setup I can get past the 50mph mark. Once I gain some confidence, ill swap in the 1527 and a 10s setup and see where that gets me :)

Ill be sure to post my final weight RTR and as much video coverage as possible ! thanks !

nichismo

10-19-2015, 04:38 AM

well, unfortunately I havn't taken the T5 out for her maiden voyage yet, and im actually a tad bit further from that then I anticipated. Honestly I have everything to re-rig the hull and get it near RTR, but im just nervous and feel a tad bit overwhelmed with this mental checklist (so to speak) in my head of what needs to be completed in order for me to make that trip to the lake.

Obviously this being my first boat as mentioned a zillion times already, im still at a lost as to what exactly this "checklist" should consist of. I dont have enough connectors to do all the necessary soldering, as well as a few other minor supplies I need to order, so the testing will have to wait at least another few days minimum. Ill also most likely order 1 more prop, as I feel the 2 im starting with perhaps aren't very versatile.

On the positive side, I was able to get some more Klass kote on the rest of the remaining parts, so for now, the entire boat is just about 1 solid color and perhaps 85% ready for paint. Also, I came across a few pictures of the Miss Budweiser from 1996 in Detroit and Seattle, and was delighted to learn that the hull running in that period had close to all the modern features and aesthetics that todays crop of hydros do, MINUS the swim step! Choosing a livery had been something that I ignored for a while now and lost interest overall in, mainly due to the transom of my particular hull. Even with the extensive cosmetic mods I spent so much time doing and as happy with them as I am, I still was dissatisfied at how relatively improper my transom apparently was. Nearly all the boats seen today have a swim step and just overall unsymmetrical characteristics which are easily seen from the back of the boats, and even the ones that dont fit this bill, still had the afts of their rear shoes far different from mine. But when I came across these pictures, I couldnt believe it! and here I was wondering what Phil was doing with this part of the hull! now its pretty obvious.... haha

as always, really appreciate any help and insight anyone might have. The cowling and rear horizontal actually still have a fair amount of tiny pinholes and bad spots, as this was their first taste of primer, but they are coming along and will be near the finish of the rest of the hull in a day or two.

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leonard feeback

10-20-2015, 12:42 PM

Hi Nic, when you go out to test for that first time connectors will be the least of your thoughts. All batteries should be ready to go, as in charged. Start with a small prop, your first day is to get the boat to run. Speed is not the goal, going forward and getting to take the boat home without motor,battery, and esc failure. That will make the day almost perfect. Try and find someone with 1/8th experience to go with you. Also you may need a pillow to put between your knees to keep them from knocking together. Had to put that in.

nichismo

10-20-2015, 01:43 PM

lol so between x450, go for the 2 blade first rather than the 3? I was planning to run without the rear wings and canard at neutral, and have the strut just about level with the sponson pads.

Im confused as what I need to do with my LifePo reciever battery? how does this connect to the reciever? Also, should I run in parallel or series the first time around?

also, does the servo need programming of some sort or is that just done with the transmitter?

im also worried about scuffing the hull when i tighten all the running hardware down.... lol

could you maybe give me like a small checklist of supplies ill probably need? like I have this stuff so far:

-charging setup
-grease/oil for shaft
-temperature gun
-hatch seal tape
-rescue method and life vest

leonard feeback

10-21-2015, 06:04 PM

Be sure to seal where the strut comes thru the bottom. Paper towels will be needed. Run batteries in series, plus to minus, plus to minus, end result will be 28 to 30 volts. The last connection on the battery is done after the radio and receiver are turned on, if not done this way your motor could start up and the prop can ruin a fun day at the lake. Plug servo into receiver slot and adjust for left and right throw for desired amount. You can plug your rec battery into bat slot on rec, or use an on/off switch between bat and rec. Receiver and radio should be on before batteries for motor are plugged in, batteries for motor should also be unplugged before rec/radio are turned off. SAFTY!!

nichismo

10-21-2015, 11:01 PM

thanks for all the info Leonard, extremely helpful

unfortunately however, I have bad news. My girlfriend and I got into a spat and when I wasn't home, she foolishly decided to throw my cowling against the garage door, breaking the cockpit entirely and cracking the backside of the air scoop. The actual air scoop portion of the cowl, and basically everything behind the cockpit will be fine, but the cockpit is toast and I need a one. The real crappy thing about it, is that ive been trying to get into contact with Phil for months now, ive called him multiple times, sent emails, sent messages on facebook and intlwaters, commented on photos and statuses hes uploaded, and I have yet to hear anything from him whatsoever, aside from 1 unrelated comment he made on one of my photos.

i suppose I still could drive the boat but I really dont want to in that form, just seems a bit silly.

so I guess until I figure this out, im sort of stuck. I guess ill take whats left of the cockpit and use it as a reference to making a new one. I was thinking I could take some high density foam that a generous member here on OSE gave me, and form a shape as close as possible to the original cockpit. Then coat it in epoxy and sand again, maybe spray some release film of some sort of wrap it in wax paper, and then just start fiberglassing over it until its sufficiently thick... thoughts?

bozo586

10-21-2015, 11:51 PM

fix the boat and get rid of the girl---she's going to be trouble!:bash:

nichismo

10-22-2015, 06:21 AM

Thankfully I spoke to Phil on facebook finally, and a new cockpit and windshield are in the makes.

Im going to be sure to do a much better job with this one as well, as the last one had been pretty "makeshift" to say the least haha.

I really like what Don Ferrette did here with his Smokin Joes build. He took a piece of cardboard, wrapped tightly with wax paper, and then started laying down fiberglass and epoxy around the edges, and then after it had cured mostly, he used a dremel to trim the inside edges, and then removed the cardboard to reveal a nice sturdy support liner for the driver setup. Real nifty!

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nichismo

10-28-2015, 12:40 AM

According to USPS tracking, my new cockpit will be here tomorrow, and im going to get crackin on it ASAP once im off work that evening. Ive already removed the cockpit from the current cowling and filled most of the imperfections and such with some glazing putty. Going to be a little bit of a bummer to have to remake the dowel and magnet piece for the nose of the cockpit, but it will be more robust and precise than the one I had before. Im aiming to finally get the maiden voyage underway hopefully on Saturday, even though its supposed to rain....

I took a few pictures of a mock up of all the components mostly installed. Im going to craft a support for the rear end of the NEU 1527 motor, and it will also serve as a wall of protecting the cables and such from the spinning outrunner. I still need to solder new connectors onto everything, ive just been having a little trouble deciding which ones exactly I should use, or if I can just use the same type of connectors for everything. I also thought id snap a couple pictures of the turn fin almost setup.

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JMSCARD

10-28-2015, 02:29 AM

Use ose 5.5's on the batts and 8mm on your motor and stick with that for all your boats present and future... If you get into stupid high amp draw saw type setups you would want 8mm on batts but for anything short of that 5.5's will be perfect and everyone uses them and it will make your life easier.... 8mm plugs grab tightly and can be a pain on things you disconnect often like batts sometimes whereas as 5.5's are easy to work with.. On motor side you won't be removing those often at all obviously so use the 8mm...

Nick please do yourself a major favor and make certain you get those batt wires and balance plugs far from that out runner and either zip tie them away from the motor or devise a way so there is no possible way for them to touch that spinning out runner... You have no idea how quick that spinning motor will eat through your silicone wire wrapping and it will be a very bad maiden trust me on this... Been there done that... And mine I thought were well away from motor... But when the boats on the water those wires may shift... So do something to devise a way so there is no possible way for anything to touch the spinning can of that motor, the pics showing your wires by that motor scare me just looking at them!! (outrunners run hotter by nature and can take it, but the hot spinning motor could cost you lots of $ of they touch those wires and burn your boat down)....

Anyway all else looks great, have fun and be safe... Take your time... Don't bring your girlfriend with you so she's spatting in your ear hooking up the batts... Like someone else said speed will come with tuning the boat... First thing is making sure she's running fine at lower speeds and is within the limits of all components... 

What ESC are you using will it fit on top of batts? Then you could flip the packs so the batt wires come out of the front right and close to plug in on ESC... the motor plugs can go direct from motor to ESC that sits on top of beside packs and use a servo extension to extend your ESC signal wire back to your receiver if your ESC signal wire is to short to reach... Tape or zip tie your signal wire up along the Inside of hull back to the receiver... Just my first thought looking at your pics don't know if your cowl will clear your ESC sitting atop your packs...

nichismo

10-28-2015, 04:32 AM

oh ya I probably should have been clearer in my last post, when I was talking about making an extra support for the NEU motor, I also was going to build a couple extra walls on each side, basically extend the existing motor mount supports to run all the way to where the carbon floor ends, and have it span as high as possible to give sufficient protection from the motor. Main reason i hadn't done so yet was just because I hadn't test fit the NEU yet because I was concerned before that it would maybe be too long and the batteries would have been in the way, but thankfully it fits (barely lol).

I already have some 6mm OSE connectors, and ill be ordering the 5.5 and 8mm sized ones before I start soldering anything then, I would have thought just the opposite of what you told me! thanks for the information, very helpful :) Back when I first started this thread in March, I noticed that you were the first person to reply, and I didn't fully comprehend what you had told me at the time... I really wished I would have listened more carefully! I ended up buying that behemoth Leopard motor and 3 different mounts for it before scrapping all that and buying the 4035 you suggested.... D'oh!! its nice to know someone here has experience with this exact motor in hydros, have you ran a 10s setup with it? Im also a little concerned about how to properly program my ESC.

Speaking of which, in the pictures the ESC (wasn't sure if its noticeable, its sort of hidden) is mounted on the right side in the hole of the tub wall. Its a Castle Hydra Ice HV200, with the added cap bank. For most of the build, I had planned to somehow mount it on top of the motor like most guys have, but once I went with the 4035 and couldn't really locate a suitable mount to do so, I just decided to do it this way. As you can see in the picture, I wanted to make the sub hatch as simple as possible as im not very experienced with wood lol, so theres only added headroom for the motor area. I suppose I could build another hatch cover but it would be very close on whether it would have enough headroom as the lowest part of the cowling would be right above that area.

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Speed810

10-29-2015, 11:07 AM

Morning Nic.....

Sorry to hear about the S.O. taking out your cockpit. Been there!! Now there is a lock on the shop door....LOL

Looks like you have been getting lots of great information from everyone and its all spot on. I have been using the OSE 8mm plugs on everything when it comes to the larger scale motors for 1/8 scale and my Q-sport boat. batteries included. Just seems to run a lot cooler with the larger plugs. Made up some charging pigtail connectors so I can swap out other connectors easily for charging other batteries with 5.5mm or 6mm plugs.

This is basically my checklist before heading to the water if it helps at all.
Chargers
Extra parts...drive lines, props, prop nuts, bolts/nuts and screws, grease/oil, zip ties, spare electrical plugs, wire, soldering iron
Paper Towels
Sealant
Sealing Tape
Tools....Allen Sets, screw drivers, small wrenchs, needle nose, Dia cutters, calipers or an accurate measuring device for re-setting the strut....etc
Transmitter
Boots or Waders

Good Luck....Hope to see some video soon!....:)

Mike

PS: Just started my Q-sport boat (ML Boatworks GSX380) Thread just started.....

nichismo

11-01-2015, 12:43 PM

Im just about to finish up the cowling config hopefully today, ill take some pictures before and after i spray the last bit of primer. Phil was awesome with the lay up and used a generous amount of carbon fiber, so its very stiff and durable this time.

Im also starting to wonder if i should just put a light basecoat of white paint over the primer, as i just feel like the boat is a little exposed in its current state.... But maybe im just being paranoid, as i do actually get nervous just lifting the darn thing!

That reminds me as well, when it comes to the livery, if i indeed want to go with, say, the 1996 Miss Bud, can i just use Klass Kote´s red? Or do i need to get an exact certain paint ordered or even specially mixed for me? Im feeling like it would probably be best to just take it to an auto body shop or something

nichismo

12-31-2015, 06:31 PM

Gosh I cant believe its been 2 months since I last posted in this thread!! and to think how long its been overall since I first created it back in March, unfortunately im not necessarily providing the ideal update that would be more indicative of the amount of progression (or in this case, potential and now lack thereof....) I could have made all things considered. That being said however.....

I am still real excited, ive got some pics I wanted to share before I FINALLY take her out for the maiden voyage.... as in I am literally walking out the door after I finish this post!! I was really wracking my brain for weeks on end now trying to get this underway, but my overall entire life that has never experienced any sort of RC boat driving had my confidence in the gutter and my anxiety through the roof! Despite not having a physical, tangible checklist of what I needed to get done/acquire, I felt like it was a constant mentality of trying to make sure I have crossed all my T's and dotted all my I's. lol...... Not to mention a rescue method was extremely difficult for me to finally conjure, on top of the weather being fickle as ever.

I should also mention this is actually my third attempt/trip to the lake, as the previous two were to put it simply, "growing pangs" and thus subsequently prevented my actual first successful session. But thats obviously part of the learning, and without going too much into detail, I actually had quite a bit fun despite the overall inconvenience... Perhaps ill elaborate on that later ;) Best of all, those two failures actually completely removed all doubt and anxiety I had before, and everything after was as crystal clear as day as to what I needed to do to have a successful trip hereafter. I know that the third time will be the charm ;)

Sadly I couldnt get anyone to accompany me to the lake this time so I dont think ill be able to get a video, but ill do my best with my phone to try and setup an "autonomous" method of recording haha. If I dont get the chance, im sure that when I do eventually get the video, it will probably be a couple, as im sure ill be eager to give the 10s setup a go :)

Cosmetically ive ran into some major issues and thus shes very far from actual completion and any races. I could seriously use some hands on, physical aid in this department, as I have no idea what im doing and theres just too much freakin information on this subject out there!

Oh and one last thing I wanted to mention, I was VERY pleasantly suprised to learn that the boat weighed in at just a smidgen under 15lbs as of right now before hitting the water. Since I wont be running the rear wing set on this first trip, that weight doesnt include those pieces obviously. But I was going to be VERY happy if the boat came in anywhere under 20lbs when its all said and done, looks like ill easily clear that and then some! I only needed to add 8oz of lead to the tips of the sponsons, 4 in each. Tearing out the floor was by far the best choice I made for this project in my opinion, the belly pan turned out far better than i anticipated just upon seeing it after primer, and this was 3x more validated to me when I went to balance the boat in light of adding weight.

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1. I ran out of silicone tubing so I had to use brass for that last run from the ESC to the motor mount, lol. I didnt do a very good job with the interior aesthetics so to speak, but I made sure to try and keep resistance to a minimum and keep the cables out of harms way.
2. Just got the canard set to neutral for now.
3. Lucky enough to have the ideal setup in this department.... Mr. Tyndall rules!
4. Very rigid carbon fiber pushrod setup courtesy of the OSE member most responsible for helping me get this project on its feet (hope you are having a good holiday season)
5. It seems cramped, but oddly the ESC is right at home here, and the cap bank is neatly tucked to the left side of the motor mount. I certainly would have preferred an ESC plate on top of the motor like ive seen alot, but next time :)

JimClark

12-31-2015, 06:50 PM

you could go to coulon park tomorrow at noon and run with Classic Thunder

nichismo

12-31-2015, 07:04 PM

1. I set the strut to a slight negative angle, about even with the sponson bottoms.
2. Sealed the top and bottom area all around the strut with silicone.
3. I made sure to use a good amount of small zip ties around the areas where cables would be close to the can of the motor
4. sub hatch sits nice and flush and is almost ready for tape (still have 1 more connection to make before hitting the water obv)
5. And just a shot of how she looks now, in my friends pigsty of a garage xD

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ugh, 4 out of the 5 pics are upside down, good lord thats getting annoying!!

nichismo

12-31-2015, 08:37 PM

ok im not necessarily going to say the third time wasnt the charm, because I decided against putting the boat in the water at the literal last moment, however i suffered some more growing pangs......

Okay, I could REALLY use some insight now.... The issue that sabotaged my first two attempts was the flex shaft collet. I was a little confused as to how I am supposed to use soldering to enable the Octura coupler I got here off OSE to somehow get enough bite on the flex shaft to not suddenly lose grip upon going full throttle....You can say I solved the issue, as in I can run the boat now without having to worry about that, however it is clearly far from ideal. I plan to buy a "big dog coupler" from Jeff Wohlt and I figured I might as well get another flex shaft too, so I figured what the heck with using some loctite and a tad bit of CA to ensure it doesnt come loose this time.

But then that obviously leads me to my next issue, which is lubrication. I have the fitting there in the pictures, and I have a product I got here off OSE for lubing flex shafts, that comes in a small syring bottle. Its not very thick stuff, and by squeezing the very small tip into the fitting clamping the stuffing tube down is not very efficent to say the least.... I have been just dripping lube into there for a while now and waiting for it to eventually overflow but it just seems like im almost making no progress, however I dont see any leaks at all anywhere else along the stuffing tube, strut or prop shaft. I assume the flex shaft should be practically submerged in oil inside the stuffing tube, correct? I really didnt feel comfortable walking to the lake as I would pulse the throttle and id feel a ton of vibration and metal rubbing, so clearly I didnt have enough lube. So say the flex shaft should indeed be submerged in oil, how exactlly does this oil somehow disappear and need to be refilled? (prob a stupid question lol)

gosh piano wire and teflon sound real nice right now..... *sigh*

I guess its probably all for the better though, because im going to go to Coulon tomorrow!

nichismo

01-09-2016, 10:17 PM

hey guys, I have finally taken the boat out for some driving! Actually, in all honestly the title isnt entirely accurate, as this was my third overall trip to my local lake. However I only drove the first time for a minute before bringing her in to check temperatures, and then I ended up calling it a day. The 2nd trip to the lake, I accidentally forgot to tape over the drainage holes in the back of the hull and thus it sort of hampered its performance as you could imagine..... boneheaded mistake.

Today I finally was able to have a more relatively successful run. The boat still needs some fine tuning and obvious cosmetic work, but its been about 10 months since I started this build and I am very happy to culminate in what happened today :)
I think I ran the batteries too low, as the boat seem to really slow down alot. That, and I am getting far too much water in the back section of the boat, I need to make a more proper hatch for that section that can be sealed off or something of the likes. Also, I think this propeller is far too small, ill probably go with an x455 or x457, try out both 2 and a 3 blade.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mtrZN_osEs&feature=youtu.be

leonard feeback

01-13-2016, 03:24 PM

Hi Nic, still sounds like water coming in around the strut. Put water back in the area of the strut and see if water drips off the bottom of the strut. IMO having negative angle in the strut is wrong. I never built a scale hydro with negative angle, you want to lift the transom. If you haven't got the boat running good yet, I wouldn't go crazy with props. 452 or 455.
Did you go out on new years day and talk with the CT guys? It's nice to hear you finally got the boat in the water.

Speed810

01-13-2016, 07:56 PM

Evening Nic....Good video on your run with the new boat. Looks like you could have almost used running lights on it...LOL
I'm with Leonard's take on things....Do some testing first to see if you can locate where the water maybe coming in at. I was getting a small amount in the rear compartment also. Turned out to be a bad seal around the rear hatch. As I had indicated on my tests the boat was very difficult to get out of the water and running very wet. I lowered the strut to 1" 1/16 (started at 1") and tweaked about 1 to 2 degrees of positive angle. (Same Prop) WOW....what a difference. Popped the nose up out of the water and in turn lifted the rear to get it riding on the prop.
Some of the best advice though was when I finally got it over to the club pond and had help from other 1/8 scale guys. We tweaked the depth a little more to about 1" 1/8 same angle. Then we started testing some other props. Make sure to always be making small adjustments.....believe me it only takes a little to make a big difference.

I know there is a lot more to do. Just not sure its fast enough for completion yet. But we'll get it there. But I highly recommend getting with some of those fellas that have the experience. They can sure eliminate a lot of headaches and show you a lot of different tricks. One was because the boat is slowing down a lot into the turns we will be taking about 3/4" off the bottom of the rudder to shorten it up. Thinking its just to much drag and thus not only slowing the boat down but also slowing the turn rate when it slows down like that. The boat definitely turns better when at a higher speed. This was noted by one of the guys as it would go into the turn very well, but thru the center and out of the turn it would slow and not keep the same turn rate or float out in turn 2 and turn 4.

On the oiler....I have the STS systems on mine and it works out great. I saw one of your pictures and the fitting was just the metal barbed fitting. Make sure you have a small say 1/2" piece of tubing secured to the fitting. I plug my refill bottle right to it and apply pressure to force the oil into the stuffing tube. Doesn't take much and definitely doesn't take long to refill.

Hope this helps a bit....Hope to see more video's soon and with more light....lol

PS. Finally got back to work on my GSX380 and parts are starting to flow in...lol Also started a P-Sport boat that is in the middle of framing...should have a thread up soon if you would like to follow..

Later man....:)

nichismo

01-14-2016, 08:05 AM

Ya, I forgot to mention a few critical things.... I indeed sealed the strut pretty darn good with silicone all around the top and bottom of the slot for it, as I did adjust it to be about neutral with the rear shoes before the video, and I re-siliconed it afterwards. However, I had lost my small roll of hatch tape that I got here on OSE, and I was using bland office tape as a replacement!! I used this for the back drainage holes, for the sub hatch seal, and to tape the rear tray cover down in place too.... So im sure this contributed to the excess water. I even got a little bit inside the hull with the electronics! Im hoping this is indeed from the tape and not a potential leak somewhere.....But I did go onto Allrc1.com and ordered some 3M clear waterproof tape, according to Bill, its some of the best stuff and most of the racers around here use it. Ill be waiting to get that before I hit the water again! I think when I got home and hooked the batteries up to my icharger, I think I had only used about 65% if I remember correctly. The extra weight from all the water buildup, along with the negative angle of the strut is probably what caused me to slow down so much toward the end??

I never made it up to Renton on New years day so I have yet to garner any veteran perspective from anyone seeing the boat in person.... But ive spoken to a few guys on facebook, one of whom in particular works not too far from me so I should be seeing him this week, looking foward to that ;) Still feel like more electric-oriented racers in 1/8 scale are a little harder to come by. But overall im looking foward to the whole tuning process and getting my kinks out, however im still pleased overall with where the boat is at :)

Speaking of the oiler and flex shaft, do you guys use a specific oil/grease combination, or just typical stuff usually used in automotive applications? The stuff I bought initially was for RC applications and was really expensive.... dont want to go that route again. Why is it that nobody in this section of boats uses teflon liner? seems to work well with guys overseas in their large hydros and alot of SAW guys that ive seen too.... just curious.

Im glad I mentioned the potential prop change and got your guys advice on that, as I wasn't very keen on buying another propeller at the moment, least of which a pre-balanced and sharpened one (I saw an Octura x455/3 runs about 70$!). Certainly something I need to learn to do myself.... and I already have an x452/2 to start with. So will a 3 blade reduce top speed a little in exchange for acceleration? It seems like I dont see too many people using 2 blade props on hydros, but maybe thats just me....

Ill definately get another video uploaded ASAP, hopefully the weather permits and once it does, ill be sure to get out there much earlier while the sun is still shining :) Ive actually been considering purchasing a GoPro, which would mean I could setup some better videos without necessarily requiring somebody to come with me to do the recording. Ill probably take her to the water for a few more sessions and then ill remove all the gear from the boat and get back to work on the primer/paintjob. I may have to order a new set of wings as I havn't been very satisfied with my current setup, and ever since the debacle where I had to rip out the old brackets from the hull and re-epoxy them in, its just gotten alot worse....

Thanks again for everyones help, couldn't have done it without you. OSE RULES!!!

nichismo

01-30-2016, 05:27 PM

Just wanted to post a small update....

Ive made some changes to the interior of the hull, and some of the components setup. It turns out that the real reason why the boat was slowing down so much just halfway through the run in the video, was because the entire motor mount assembly had broken loose! The square carbon floor that the motor mount was epoxied to, actually in its entirety had a pretty subpar bond to the floor to say the least. So I tore it all out and made myself a far stronger and also more efficient mounting configuration.

Also, I have a video of what I consider to be my first REAL successful session:

https://youtu.be/ZfvvggSNmf8

Its nice, I didnt even have any water flowing through the motor mount and the motor still came back nice and cool, I feel comfortable moving up to a slightly bigger prop, just need to choose what one to get..... Im going to perhaps tune just a little bit more and do a few more runs before I remove all the components again and get back to finishing her up cosmetically so I can wrap this project up once and for all! I actually found some guys at a local auto body shop that are itching to paint one of these, so im excited for that!

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Speed810

02-01-2016, 12:37 PM

Looks a lot better Nic....Like the new video.
Also looks like a nice upgrade to the motor mount.

Keep us updated on how the finishing goes.

Mike

flraptor07

02-03-2016, 04:30 PM

Looks like it's running real nice, was that WFO or just running it easy? I gotta get my 1/8 out and run it soon, you might have motivated me. lol Here's the last time I ran it, it split the hull at the seam. I fixed it a while back but haven't run it since. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQVFAPL1MFs

nichismo

02-03-2016, 05:43 PM

Weird, could have swore I replied earlier but apparently I never hit the button.

Thanks for the reply, your appreciation means alot. Im pretty fond of your ML 40" hydro, I even bookmarked the thread you made after you had it finished because I loved the pictures so much. Used it as motivation toward my own build, so I guess I can be ecstatic if I was able to return the favor!

It was close to WOT virtually, however its really starting to bug me how much power I am losing for some reason only about a minute and a half or so into the runs, each time now. Im sure its probably something simple that Im overlooking or unaware of as a new boater, but then again I havnt gotten any insight shed yet. Also another big issue, is a small bit of water entering near the front of the tub near the batteries, as the bottom of the batteries keep having small droplets of water underneath them after removal. Would this water potentially cool down the batteries a little bit and effect performance? Im going to go to town now epoxying that whole area in every seam and nook and cranny where water could even enter the slightest bit, and im also going to go around and do this for the inside and outside of the sub hatch lip before something really bad happens.

After flipping the boat upside down today as well I was able to get an actually good look at where I have had the strut set, and I think I need to set it a little bit deeper for a little bit more lift. Especially considering that I dont even have the back tray and wings on yet. Also, I havnt installed a rubber seal where the rudder pushrod enters through the transom, so thats letting alot of water in all the time.

CottageBoater was kind enough to sell me his HET Typhoon 1170kv motor with the HRC water jacket for a hell of a deal, so im excited to give that a try. That will enable me to hold off on getting a bigger prop and using 10s, I can just stick with what im already using. However as far as the 4035 goes, im certain I would want to spin at least a 455.

Ive also decided what boat ill be painting as and found a local body shop owner who is going to be painting for me. Extremely excited :)

Doby

02-03-2016, 06:38 PM

Keep the prop shaft/strut level and raise it, that will loosen up the boat.

What angle is your turn fin.

flraptor07

02-03-2016, 07:32 PM

That all sounds great, I think your speed problem is that you just need to put a little bigger set up in it. The set up you have now is pretty mild, great for getting it dialed in but it could use more. The 1/8 I have, has a Leopard 5698 1100kv on 10s 2p with a SF 250 pro plus ESC and a V955 3 blade prop but the boat is pretty heavy too @19.8lbs. RTR. It's good for about 70mph. Have you weighed yours yet? I can't wait to see yours all painted and on the water. I bet it's gonna look killer!

nichismo

02-03-2016, 08:43 PM

Its not so much an actual speed itself that has me concerned, as obvious tuning can always improve performance, its moreso the odd decrease in top speed just a minute or so into the run. I havnt even ran the batteries well under 50% yet! At first I was thinking that I am simply driving too long even despite the really short runs, but thats clearly not the case when I get home and check them. I mean, you guys can see it to right? the first two laps, and especially the very first, seem much faster than the rest.

The boat was just under 15lbs in the video RTR, so thats with alot of bodywork left to do and without the rear tray and wings. I imagine these Hyperion motors are probably not quite the same level of quality or performance compared to the actual Scorpion counterpart. It sure seems like im the only one using this motor, as everyone else still have their scorpions. If I had the chance, id go back and do a few installations different so that I could have a little more versatility with the components I can use. But oh well :) Im sure this Typhoon motor will be more than satisfactory! And thanks for the compliments Raptor, when I first bought the hull I knew such a tiny fraction about hydros overall that I didnt necessarily realize what I was getting. I dont have any regrets and ive even contemplated buying another T5 from Phil in the near future. However in the beginning and even until now, the aesthetic quality and scale appearence have been really important to me, most specifically convection and current design implementations. For example, I love Phils design of the entire underside of the hull, very similar to the full size boats, but the rest of the hull is no where near the scale accuracy quality in regards to updates with current boats that it can technically run as. Then again, ive got a hull from Steve at RCBC, and the scale detail is fantastic top to bottom, he really nailed it all over..... but the entire underside is extremely bizarre and totally against my philosophy of how it should be designed.... In the end I did alot of bodywork and mods to make this hull appear much more acceptable to my standards, and now with the full size boat im going with, its going to be fantastic! ive gotten alot of questions too as to what hull this is and where I got it. I hope that none of them go to Phil to purchase his T5 thinking its going to be just like mine! A few people thought it was a wood hull because they recognized Phils cowling and cockpit but then seeing the hull being so different assumed it was scratch built .

ill be sure to keep this updated! Thanks so much for your interest and information Raptor!

Keep the prop shaft/strut level and raise it, that will loosen up the boat.

What angle is your turn fin.

Nah, I ABSOLUTELY NEED to lower it, as the boat is just a total juggernaut uncontrollable beast and needs to be tamed.....

haha just kidding. I totally thought it was the other way around, ill certainly raise the strut then. I actually need to go and cut off some of the back end of the strut as well so that the drive dog is just about even with the transom, as its sticking back too much at the moment.

The turn fin is a VC curved fin from Dick Tyndall, pretty much a near mandatory choice for this hull as the only bracket you can use (unless you can manage making your own, i imagine very difficult) is from him. Not sure if you know, but his fin is just mounted perpendicular to the floor.

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