Mean Machine Build - for Aussie racing [Archive]

Scott T

01-25-2009, 03:23 AM

In between refurbishing my OM26, buying a new house (and selling mine), I've been working on a Mean Machine. Our club is racing cats/tunnels for the first time this year, under the AMPBA rules, which allow 4S lipo up to 600g.

Credit goes to Jay Turner for giving me advice while I was deciding which hull to build, as well as a few set up tips. Thanks Jay!

So, first up is the hull. Aeromarine seem a bit random in their carbon placement in the MM hulls. Another one in our club has carbon that goes right up past the hatch opening - mine is well short as seen in the first pic.

So I added a small piece where I thought the motor might end up, and covered the entire tunnel in very lightweight glass to smooth things out. I did manage to get a small gap between my carbon and the installed carbon, but turn out this doesn't matter due to my final motor placement.

Scott T

01-25-2009, 04:27 AM

The hardware was installed next (Speedmaster). I offset the strut about 4mm to the right, as I do on all my hydros. The rudder was put on the right as per Jay's advice.

With the hardware on, I laid out all of the major components so I could get the CG right. The battery wires weren't long enough to put each 2S pack in a sponson, so they will sit on the tunnel floor, at the back of the boat. This meant the motor had to go a lot further forward than on most Mean Machine I have seen. So the motor has to sit almost flat to fit under the hatch. No problems, I don't mind running an s-bend shaft with flex drives.

Scott T

01-25-2009, 04:32 AM

With the internal layout sorted, it was time to install the motor mount. I mixed up some MAS epoxy, with some fine glass fibres added. I wanted to thicken the mix slightly, so I would get a nice fillet around the fibreglass motor mount rails.

I roughed up the surfaced, and epoxied the mount in. I used a square to line up the motor mount with the strut. A drill bit in the flex coupler provides a goopd guide.

The next day the mount was done, and the epoxy had a nice fillet as I wanted. Should be more than strong enough. With the mount rails going over the gap in the carbon mat, there should be no problems in that area.

Scott T

01-25-2009, 04:39 AM

The steering servo will go in the rear of the right sponson. Figuring out how to mount it was a pain - I like to be able to remove things easily in case they fail.

Mounting the servo upright just didn't work well with the steering rod location. So I mounted it on its side, similar to how Randy at BBY does his. Two big wooden blocks were epoxied into the hull, and the servo is bolted to a piece of aluminium angle. The angle is simply screwed to the wooden blocks from the top. I did open up the hatch opening a little to make access easier in this area.

The wooden blocks are shown in this pic, and the servo and bracket can be seen on the other side of the hull.

DISAR

01-25-2009, 10:59 AM

Nice job. Keep going! what is your setup and what speed are you looking for?

Scott T

01-25-2009, 04:53 PM

Thanks! I'm going to start with a Nemesis 8XL, Hacker 70 and 4S lipo. I have a Barra 125 being repaired, so that will go in when I get it back. Maybe a Neu 1515 sometime down the track, but I'm in no hurry for that.

Not sure what speeds I'll get, should easily be upper 40s.

Scott T

01-25-2009, 04:59 PM

A bit more progress from late yesterday.

Stuffing tube was bent to shape and put in - not a fun job! I had to join two pieces of tubing as the only piece I had was just too short. No time to get to the hobby shop before the house move! I cut the slot with a Dremel, in approx the right spot.

The two holes in the side are for the safety loop. They still need to be drilled out to take 5.5mm females plugs. A plywood backing plate has been added behind there, and the plugs will be epoxied in place. The water cooling outlet is just visible on the opposite side of the boat.

Scott T

01-25-2009, 05:06 PM

The stuffing tube was fitted and epoxied into place. Masking tape was used under the hull to give a flush finish with the epoxy. A piece of medium fibreglass mat reinforces the tube on the inside.

While I had the epoxy mixed, I also coated the servo mounting blocks and safety loop backing plate. I also added a 1/16" ply support for the stuffing tube. It looks lightweight, but I've used similar in other boats and never had a problem.

Next will be the aerial installation. There's not much deck space to use, so I'll have to have a look at some other MM builds to see what people have done. Not much time today though, it'S Australia Day, so beers and BBQ's await! :bounce:

bonewar

01-25-2009, 06:25 PM

Nice job mate , (clean) That motor mount looks the goods, and the hull looks wide, plenty of room for those lipos . Keep up the good work. Ive been interested in these hulls for a while now. I will be watching your build with interest. Thanks for the pics Bonewar:rockon2:

tylerm

01-26-2009, 01:48 AM

So, first up is the hull. Aeromarine seem a bit random in their carbon placement

Aeromarine are a very random company, have found that out after seeing a few hulls and people i know purchasing them.

Good going on the build man, very good looking. Enjoy your Australia day as were enjoying Auckland annaversary day over here(although I still had to work:thumbsdown:)

Tyler.

DISAR

01-26-2009, 04:01 AM

For the aerial position I have mine in the back corner as shown in the foto. However I had a bad exeprience with this antenna eventhough it looks very nice but I was very close to damage my boat because of lost signal.
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=gnd-whip

My favourite is this one:
http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=dh-bruline110
or a normal piece of tube with the antenna cable in it like in cars.

JCAustralia

01-26-2009, 05:25 AM

Scott

Good job. :smile: Carbon fibre always look great :thumbup::thumbup:

Could you comment on the quality of the aeromarine hull?

Thinking of getting the challenger hull when the exchange rate improve....

Happy Australia day.

JC

Scott T

01-26-2009, 05:45 AM

For the aerial position I have mine in the back corner as shown in the foto.

Thanks, that's where I'm going to put it. Should work well. I'll just use a tube with the aerial up the middle.

JC, the gelcoat and glass is fine. Not up to H&M standards, but certainly good enough that you may not need paint. The join at the front of the sponsons was messy - lots of filler. But a mono should be better in that respect.

JCAustralia

01-26-2009, 06:15 AM

Thanks Scott

Been hearing similar feedback on Aeromarine products lately....

Keep your great build.

Cheers

JC

Eodman

01-26-2009, 10:32 AM

SLAUGHTER_AUS

01-26-2009, 05:51 PM

NICE SCOTTY, cant wait to see it run on the first race meet.

Scott T

01-26-2009, 09:57 PM

Hey Scott nice build ... question - did you consider mounting the batteries in the sponsons it might make a difference in race water not sure. With the weight further out you may be able to drive faster in corners again not sure but maybe Jay Turner can weight in on this!

My original plan was to mount them in the sponsons, but I couldn't make it work for me. I discussed the cell position with Jay a while ago, and he seemed to think this setup will be OK. The proof will be in the racing though!

Scott T

01-28-2009, 05:45 AM

OK, more progress. The aerial tube mount is simply a piece of aluminiun tubing glued through the hull. The aerial tube simply fits inside, and a piece of fuel tubing over the joint holds it all together.

I also installed some small brackets to keep the cooling tubes out of the way. They're model plane undercarriage holders, which have been epoxied into place. I also added the velcro for the cells, and mounted the servo.

Scott T

01-28-2009, 05:52 AM

The steering pushrod is a partially threaded rod with a clevis at one end. Great Planes or Dubro - can't remember! I use this method on all my boats, and the steering is always direct and virtually slop-free, even after years of racing. The seal hasn't been added at this stage, as I wanted to make sure the rod cleared the hole through the entire servo range.

Water cooling lines were run next. A short piece of aluminium tubing was glued into the back of the boat and the line run from there. This is where those little brackets get used. Eventually this boat will have a Barra 125 installed, so the orange colour tubing will disappear, and only the motor will have cooling. The Barra won't need it with this setup. The water line with run through the 3rd small bracket up the front, and into the motor jacket.

andym

01-28-2009, 05:53 AM

Scott i am waiting to see how this runs. Have been thinking of a cat for somr time, when the sport 40 is out of the way a cat is coming! Please excuse the speling as Pady has got me pissded

Scott T

01-28-2009, 06:00 AM

Time for a systems check! RX, RX pack and lipos were added so I could check the steering and driveline. A bit messy in there, but everything ran as it should. It will be a little tidier once everything is installed properly. I probably won't use an RX pack once the Barra goes in, but the Hacker 70 needs one.

The safety loop plugs were epoxied into the side of the boat. The ESC plug is two female 5.5mm plugs soldered back to back, with some 10GA wire in them. The cells plug is a male and female plug, with a short wire between them to give some flexibility when plugging in the cells.

Not much left before testing! Need an aerial tube, a balloon for the RX and some pool noodles for flotation. I'll do some shopping tomorrow night, and have it ready for the water by Saturday :bounce: The first race meeting is in less than 2 weeks, and I have to move house before then, so the paint and decals will have to wait for a gap in the race schedule.

Scott T

01-28-2009, 06:03 AM

Scott i am waiting to see how this runs. Have been thinking of a cat for somr time, when the sport 40 is out of the way a cat is coming! Please excuse the speling as Pady has got me pissded

I'm keen to see it run too! Our club has a few Agitator knock-offs, a BJ26 (with an 8XL) and a Skunkworks cat. The Skunkworks has similar dimensions to this one, and turns better than most, so I am looking forward to firing her up!

I hope PAddy is giving you the good stuff!!

andym

01-28-2009, 06:10 AM

Scott I am a bit confused about your safgety plugs, I use 6mm female in the hull and 6mm male both ends of the loop. Is this the same as you? Still pisssded sorry bout he tiping

Scott T

01-28-2009, 06:21 AM

Andy, those bits of the safety loop are the parts that are permanently in the boat. The ESC plugs into one, and the cells into the other. The actual loop is a short wire with a male 5.5mm plug on each end.

I've attached a pic of my DF33 to show you how it looks when installed. Except the cat loop comes out the side, so things are 90 degrees different. Not enough deck room on the cat to put the loop in my preferred spot.

SLAUGHTER_AUS

01-28-2009, 07:07 AM

Scotty, i got me one of these today so now i realy am hanging out to see how yours goes...
nice build

Heath M

01-28-2009, 02:35 PM

looking good Scott, this is almost a boat building record for you lol
yoiu going to boondal Saturday to test it? i might come and spy lol

Heath

SLAUGHTER_AUS

01-28-2009, 05:05 PM

looking good Scott, this is almost a boat building record for you lol
yoiu going to boondal Saturday to test it? i might come and spy lol

Heath

LOL, i think there might be a few spy's there on saturday heath.. me included

Heath M

01-29-2009, 02:59 AM

I just wanna see if i need to do some extra work to my cat before the first race lol

Scott T

01-29-2009, 05:08 AM

Unfortunately, I won't get it on the water Saturday. So the first test will be in our first cat race of the year....could be interesting!

Eyekandyboats

01-29-2009, 07:51 AM

Scott.
USE A RX PACK.
trust me the RX pack is the way to go regardless if you esc has a BEC or not.

Jimmy Sterling

01-29-2009, 04:02 PM

Looks great Scott, the Open cat/Tunnel class should be some great racing.

USE A RX PACK.
trust me the RX pack is the way to go regardless if you esc has a BEC or not.

Why is that Eyecandy ?

Scott T

03-15-2009, 11:35 PM

Well, I finally got the MM wet! tested it on Saturday and had a few teething problems, but no big dramas. Raced on Sunday, and came 2nd for the day - not too bad.

Hopefully John got a few pics of it.

Speed and handling are pretty good, but not up to Heath's Skunkworks cat yet. Need to make some minor strut adjustments and blueprint the bottom. My old Hacker 70 isn't really up the job either, so a Barra 125 is going in for the next round. Can't wait!

DISAR

03-16-2009, 07:54 AM

2nd is very good.

Looking into Heath's setup (580 6L, hydra240,440/3, polyquest 6000mah) I would say that:

1) The feigao 580 is more powerful than the nemesis 8XL
2) Hydra 240 is better

The hacker 70 was working in the limits. A 125Amp Esc or better is minimum. What propeller did you use? Try a bigger one.

Scott T

03-16-2009, 10:44 PM

Heath's cat is definitely packing more power than mine - but we both got beaten by a big Maritimo running an Sv27 set-up! I thermalled the Hacker 70 in the 2nd heat while leading, so that DNF blew my day. Consistency wins!

I'll be back with the Barra 125, some tweaks and maybe a different prop. Might even slip the 1515/1Y in there if I get really keen :w00t:

Heath M

03-17-2009, 02:10 AM

Scott,
Yours looked and handled great, Mine might be faster but it's not going to do me any good if i keep running into those damn turn bouys lol.
Steve"s cat had what i believe was a 1521 on a gear box..

Heath

Mel279

03-17-2009, 02:26 AM

Hey guys

Got any videos, share with us...I also have a MM, just bought from Richard and waiting for it to arrive.

Scott T

03-18-2009, 08:27 PM

Sorry Mel, no videos. But here are a couple of pics from the weekend.

Scott T

03-18-2009, 08:30 PM

Recipe for beating Heath's Skunkworks cat:

Step 1 - wait for Heath to hit bouy and roll over in mill.
Step 2 - drive on past to victory!

Sorry Heath, but until I get some more speed, it's the only way to beat you right now!! :rockon2:

Heath M

03-19-2009, 02:30 AM

And a fair call to Scott, i deserved a :bash:ing after that incident :doh: lol

Heath

Sword

03-24-2009, 07:46 AM

Jimmy Sterling

03-29-2009, 04:28 AM

R U guys still fighting it out and the race has already finished 2 mins ago? :confused1:

:confused2: May I ask nicely what your on about ???

Scott T

05-17-2010, 06:43 AM

I'm dredging up an old thread here, but I've finally finished painting my MM. It's been a long road, between making the prototype FFRB hatch and racing this boat, I haven't had much time to finish her.

She now has a production FFRB hatch, and exhausts made from various diamater brass and aluminium tubing. The windscreen and blue sides are metallic "Contact", stuff used to cover schoolbooks. I made the decals using Avery clear labels and a laser printer (graphic files kindly supplied by the Maritimo team). Whole thing is covered in 2-pack clear. Still have to put the hardware back on.

Anyway, this is how I always imagined she'd look. Much prettier than a standard Mean Machine IMO :smile:

DISAR

05-17-2010, 07:05 AM

For sure this is one of the most beautiful MMs!

Totally different look and Just perfect-Well done!

Heath M

05-17-2010, 02:53 PM

Dude that looks absorootly awesome, job well done.
You racing Sunday?

crabstick

05-17-2010, 04:27 PM

Great looking MM!

Brushless55

05-17-2010, 08:13 PM

Wow, your MM looks sweet! :rockon2:

bonewar

05-18-2010, 02:12 AM

That looks sick Scott.

Nice job dude.

I new those mean machines could look good with the right paint job
and the right hatch. :banana:

Bonewar :rockon2:

Scott T

05-18-2010, 06:14 AM

Thanks guys, can't wait to see her back on the water.

Team FFRB

05-19-2010, 02:02 AM

Thanks guys, can't wait to see her back on the water.

Scott,

Very nice mate:thumbup1:

Steven V. should use your pic for his web site for selling those new MM hatches.

andym

05-19-2010, 02:29 AM

Super impressed Scott, it looks that good you can bet London to a brick Heath will be aiming to knock the shine of her. BE CAREFUL get in front and do not let him scratch her.