Oldie but Goodie, VS1 Build

[Chilli]

Well after converting what I thougth was a FE ready Woodstuff I discovered I'm pretty good at ripping apart brand new tunnel hulls. With the popularity of the Spec Tunnel class, I cant for the life of me fiugure out why no one has come up with a FE ready hull for racing. Anyhow I decided to get my son out of novice class for next year and build him a VS1 Tunnel. Even though it's not the newest tunnel out there, I understand it's relatively easy to set up and drive. And it can still win races. Whats not to like about that.

I studied every VS1 build I could find on OSE and RRR and this is what I came up with. I think it came out pretty good. I used 1/8 ply on the sides and ran it all the way back to the transom for extra strenght. I carved out the deck to get the battery down low and left a nice perch toward the transom whe the controller will sit. To even out the bottom of my battery box "where the original servo compartment was", I placed a layer of 1/16 inch balsa to fill the gap before laying some 1/16" ply across the bottom. I had to make the lid out of two pieces of 1/8" ply because I ran out of long pieces and didnt want drive 45 minutes to the LHS and spend $19 on another big piece of plywood. One last thing I did was to round the front tips of the sponsons with a belt sander. I think it looks much nicer than the square tips. HS645MG servo is on the way. I'll mount that next and order a OS lower.

Whats the best way to get the finish of the hull? Paint remover? Sand paper?

[HOTWATER]

Beautiful work bro!! I like the 1 tube deal for the motor/ ESC wires to go through...much better than having three chances for leaks!! Are you planning on painting it? What kind of finish is on there now?

[Chilli]

It's a clear coat finish Kent, not epoxy. When I pulled the original box out, I could peel large chunks of the clear coat off exposing bare wood. Thats not a good thing. I'll probably just paint the cowl. Maybe get a precut mask to make a cool design for John. I've been doing his RC cars.

To waterproof the wires as much as possible I put two layers of shrink tube. First layer gets a shot of silicone in the wire bundle before the tube gets heated up. This keeps water from entering between the three wires and also adds a little chafe protection from the brass tube. The the second layer fits over the brass tube and shrinks tight against the first layer of shring tube. Make sense??

[HOTWATER]

Yes sir!

[Rumdog]

Um, The Stiletto is FE ready, and FOR racing.

[HOTWATER]

You mean people are actually using the Stilletto for racing? ...J/K!! lol......

-Kent

[Chilli]

Yes, As a matter of fact I believe Diegoboy is setting up one for spec tunnel. He may whip our butts with it.

Ryan, The Stilleto is very capible, great for FE and I'm sure it wil win it's share of heats this year, but even Darin states it was designed for the RTR market. I was referring to FE tunnels that people can build without having to tear apart.

[HOTWATER]

LOL! You're probably right about Danny whippin' our butts Mike! It should be fun next season...

[Chilli]

Well the VS1 us just about done. I stipped off all that crappy clear coat and epoxy sealed the entire hull. OS lower and all the steering hardware are intalled. I just have to wait for Steven to get the UL1 power combo in stock and I can finish her up. Here are a few pics. The esc will be installed on the step at the back of the radio box.

[Diegoboy]

Danny sold his Stiletto. He's getting the ML Boatworks30 (or 29.5)

[Chilli]

Thats cool Danny. I think you'll be much happier with it in the long run. I see Jason got a VS1 also. Johns going to run this tunnel and I'll be running the Woodstuff 30.

[hazegry]

yup I got a VS1 mine is getting a leopard 2200kv motor same one that was in the mono. I have a ts2 tunnel for spec racing its one properchopper used to own. I think we are going to have fun I dont know if I will have them both running by this season but they will be going soon. I got 2 insanitys on the build table and a jae12 for fun.

[Doug Smock]

Danny sold his Stiletto. He's getting the ML Boatworks30 (or 29.5)

That boat ended up in my neck of the woods. I met Roy last weekend at the pond, nice guy!! We'll get that thing wet soon and see what she has to offer.
BTW You did a great job on the mods. The routing on the cables was top notch huh?

The boat looks great Mike!
Doug

[ron1950]

selling a stiletto is like the day u sell a real boat....a happy day....at least with the stiletto u dont regret it a week later lol

[Brushless55]