Some of the restrictions have been lifted in our area, so we were allowed to travel up to 50k for picnics & outings while still maintaining social distancing protocols.
So it was off to our local pond to test out this boat.
The initial float test was perfectly on the waterline complete with a 6000mah 2s lipo in under the forward deck. A complete fluke.
But that was without the superstructure installed.
When the superstructure was added, the boat would not stay upright.
So Jesse, your fears were well founded.
So lead wheel weights were added along the keel inside the hull.
That solved the problem, although it was still a little rocky from side to side.
I added 3 1/2" lead sinkers on the keel in the middle of the boat.
The boot topping line is now just under the water, but she is much more stable.
I feel the 30mm 3 blade prop can be reduced to a 26mm prop as it only takes about 1/4 throttle to run her at full scale speed.
I had 4 sessions of between 1/2-3/4 hour each on one 2s pack, & it still had 64% left in it.
Of course, that was with general maneuvering, slow speed & medium speed running, docking etc, with a few high speed runs thrown in too.
Bear in mind that the calculations showed, it only needs 11watts of power to reach the dynamic scale speed of 18 knots that the original boat was capable of doing.
I might have missed it but what speed controller are you running I have just finished my hull, I need to wrap this one up so I can run it this year.
You didn't miss it mate. It seems I never mentioned it when I finally put it all together.
It was bought from Himodel many years ago. A dual motor output rock crawler ESC. It has amazingly smooth low speed control. As in, you can count the revs.
I don't know the brand or the amperage. And I can't find any on the web any more. Sorry. But any 20A ESC will be more than enough.
Here's a couple of pics if you or anyone else can recognise it. A good view of some of the lead ballast too.
Looks stunning out on the water. I had a thought.. what about a removable sailboat keel with weights? I suspect she leans outward on a turn? Nobody would know and I wouldn’t tell if you did this crazy idea.
As for esc, there is at least one dual motor, waterproof crawler option out there. Try hobbywing or turnigy. I just set my dad up with one And two 55t crawler motors, and he is super happy with it.
Thanks Jesse.
I managed to have another few runs with it yesterday, & the internal weights seem to work pretty well.
So, although I've seen it done, an external weighted keel won't be needed.
I also reduced the prop from the 30mm to a 26mm prop & that eliminated the torque roll at full speed.
Top speed at full throttle is now less, of course, but still slightly above what I would consider a scale 18 knots. The top speed of the original boat.
So it all balances out very nicely.
I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a fellow club mate to take a video of it. Next time for sure. But a club mate posted these photos on our clubs' facebook site though.
I found the ESC. AliExpress still sell them. But man, are they expensive now. Only cost 20 odd bucks a few years ago. I only used it because it was in the spares box.
It's actually rated to 75A.
I've started building a big cabin cruiser with twin 775 brushed motors in it, so I will use it in that & just get a cheap 20A ESC for this boat.
EDIT.
Went to a different club this morning & one of the guys was kind enough to take a video of her.
The noisy coupler sounds louder than it really is. I'll replace it with a quiet one though.
Thanks Jesse.
That type of video would be great. I will get some footage in rougher water one day.
We do have guys that run submarines in our club. But they are all big. The scale would look weird.
We'll see what we can do when things get back into full swing after more of the virus restrictions are lifted.
At the moment we are only allowed 10 people at a gathering here, but in a couple of weeks they are talking about changing it to 20 people. So a few more members should start turning up at the club.
I travelled down to our Logan City model boat club last weekend & one of the guys that posts photos on our facebook site each week caught this boat heeling over beautifully in a turn, in a bit of mild weather.
such a nice photo that I had to share it.
Beautiful model! Looks incredible sitting still and even better running!
I haven't spent enough time in the scale models portion of the forums, but
I should.
Seeing your models has inspired me to keep working on my PT boats. I got them running again in 2019 but still need to fix them up. They're both 30+ years old.
Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your incredible modeling skills with all of us!
Info and picturesabout our Invincible Razor build, Lindberg PT Boats; Racing Runabout; Pro Boat Stealthwake and more! Plusvideos of our boatsincluding upgrades, repairs, etc.
Thanks for the compliment mate.
But yes for sure finish refurbishing your PT boats.
Start a thread in this section so we can all enjoy your hard work.
I love watching people re-work old boats.
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