Brushless conversion of a Musculus toy boat

[seehuusen]

Hey guys,

Back in 2013 I converted one of the Baleanoptera Musuculus boats to a brushless setup.
This was my setup.
MOTOR:
XK3665-B-2500KV Brushless Inrunner
Shaft Adapter - 5mm motor shaft to 4mm Flexi Shaft
36 Size Adjustable Motor Mount with Water Cooling
Water Cooling Jacket for 36mm Brushless Motor

ESC:
Turnigy Aquastar 180A Watercooled ESC
Water Outlet Barb

Servo:
Metal Gear Digital Servo
Flex-Rod Boots
Servo Con-Rod for Boat Rudder

Running gear:
4mm drive dog
4mm outer tube
4mm threaded prop nut
4mm flex cable with end
4mm teflon liner
130mm Rudder dual pickup version
Stinger 70mm long 4mm adjustable
4mm teflon thrust washer
37 x 1.4 x 4mm prop

Here are a few build pictures :)

1.jpg2.jpg4.jpg8.jpg16.jpg

I ran it for a fair while, before I managed to drown it on a trip to North Queensland... After that, I greased it up, and it got stowed away in the cupboard. Then I had a kid and as any parent know, time flies when you've got a kid...
So the other day I managed to dig the boat out, and I decided, NOW is the time to get this thing back in the water.

[seehuusen]

18.jpg19.jpg21.jpg

I didn't realize the 5 image limit per post... This is the previous, V1 setup if you like :)

[seehuusen]

A week or so back, I took the whole thing apart

musculus01.JPG

Then I mocked up how I wanted the new layout. I recall having a fair bit of the front part of the hull riding in the water, not so much on 4S... But the weight needed to come back in my oppinion

musculus02.jpg

Another thing I wanted, was more space for foam, which I'll put in the front.
I also wanted somewhere dry to put my ESC and Receiver. I purchased a little tupperware container, which was large enough to hold my gear.

musculus03.jpgmusculus04.jpgmusculus05.jpg

[seehuusen]

I then started to mock up some sort of mount to hold the ESC.
I did this using cardboard from a carton of beer :D I liked it so much, that I decided to see if I could just wrap it in fibreglass and to be honest, it looks to have worked out nicely!

musculus06.jpgmusculus07.jpgmusculus08.jpgmusculus09.jpg

I then decided that I should make a battery box as well, and applied the same method :)

musculus10.jpg

The servo assembly will be screwed in place, so that I can pull that out if I need to. The battery box will be velcroed onto the servo assembly.

[seehuusen]

Other things I've done to the boat in this V2 setup, is to lay an extra layer of glass on the transom. Although I never had any issues with strength, I never really trusted it to be completely leak proof (suspect it took water in from there)...
I've mounted the running gear now, and next up will be to mount the remaining bits in the hull.

I'm going to make a new hatch design for this boat, I suspect it wasn't the most waterproof hatch in the first place. Once that is done, I'll put the two hull parts together permanently.
I'll be using a different paint this time, as the silver paint looked authentic to the real model, but actually was extremely difficult to follow when on the lake.

Here it is in its old form, running on 3S

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Xbekbq-7w

I'll add more as I progress with the V2 setup :)

Cheers,
Martin

[seehuusen]

I had to run some new waterlines because I moved the servo into the middle. After a bit of fiddling around I found the best way to route them and drilled some new holes on the right hand side.
The old holes in the middle will get blocked out.
I also finished the servo mount, and made a wooden block that I glued to the hull. This I could then screw the servo mount onto, which gives me the possibility to remove it, should I need to.
I managed to fill the servo up with marine grease as well as gasket goop the 3 servo pieces together (as in the servo case).

This is what it looks like right now
musculus11.jpg

I'll fit the servo horn and hook up the rudder today. If I get time this morning, I'll block the holes with fibreglass and bog it this afternoon.
Then I need to figure out how to modify the hatch system, as it doesn't seal properly.

Cheers,
Martin

[Make-a-Wake]

Hi, I love souping up cheapo boats, I did an NQD/Syma several years back, Still have it and its a blast, runs on 4s with a 3665.

I for one can appreciate the fun of building these................and the challenge of turning a 15mph hull into a 35 mph solid running boat.

Be sure to post some vid when you are done!!

[seehuusen]

thanks, I'll post something up for sure, got a gopro these days too, so it should be a bit better than the last one with a mobile strapped to the Tx

It's definitely the fun in taking a cheap as chips hull and turning it into something that is extremely fun that got me hooked on this. I've often thought about buying a better hull, but really just want to go down the scratch built road I think.

I have to admit, I've been eyeing off your avatar on every post you've made, what is it? does it have a build thread? I really like the look of that boat

[seehuusen]

I've blanked out the two old water cooling holes, though I still need to apply bog to blend them with the hull/deck.
At the same time, I sorted out the hatch. I've been pondering on this since I started out, as the boat had a tendency to take in water from the back/not be properly sealed.
This is what I came up with

Original hatch
musculus12.jpg

New secondary hatch
musculus13.jpg

The lip I made with fibreglass to hold the secondary hatch.
musculus14.jpg

I've not really come up with the exact way to hold it all down yet... Ideas greatly appreciated :)

I also installed the rudder and ran the servo actuator... Aaaaand, that reminded me of something I'd been annoyed with in the original version, the rudder is on an angle like so \ (not quite that much, but you get the point)...
That meant when turning one way, it was very forgiving, but turn left, and the rear would try to lift while the front would try to dig in... So I'm now going to pull it off, block out the old holes, then re-drill with zero angle on the rudder...
Sooo close, yet so far away :p

Also, as I'm in Oz, any of you good fellas have a picture of how you made your safety loop? I think I might head down to Brisbane for a run every now and then, and I believe they require you to have one.
I'm not paying 30 bux for one from the RC Boat shop...

Cheers
Martin

[Make-a-Wake]

I have to admit, I've been eyeing off your avatar on every post you've made, what is it? does it have a build thread? I really like the look of that boat

Its a 45" 1984 Dumas Scarab fiberglass offshore boat. I turned it into a 22 foot ski-boat scalewise with the interior and 12" Barbie and Ken riding in it.

[seehuusen]

that's sick! I like it very much :)

Edit: I managed to find it on YouTube, very nice in deed!!

[iop65]

you could save weight when changing that esc with something smaller , but are that xt 60 connectors?
prop should be bigger for that size boat + motor

tried a 40 mm yet?

[Make-a-Wake]

prop should be bigger for that size boat + motor, tried a 40 mm yet?

Its only 22" long

[Make-a-Wake]

Seehuusen, looks like the cog can go back a bit from the vid in the "old form", also could use trim tabs

[seehuusen]

I was thinking of adding trim tabs... is there a good way to make your own? For $12 I can get some, so it's not the money aspect of it...
What sort of size should I go for with my size boat?

Would turn fins be something that I should use for added stability? They just assist in the turns, right?

EDIT: Added size question re: Trim Tabs