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

[nichismo]

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]

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

And what boat from RC boat company?

[nichismo]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!!

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