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

[nichismo]

Okay, so I just got done installing the strut assembly! I put almost as far forward as it can go. Its kind of odd, the screws that were included with the strut have some strange sized allen key head.... I have both metric and standard allen key sets because I had come across a similar problem before in the past, in yet I couldnt find anything to fit snugly enough to simply tighten the bolt and nut together! So I ended up using some different bolts and nuts, they are M4 sized which I really like and use all the time in all sorts of things, but I noticed they are a teeny weeny tiny little bit smaller than the normal included screws.... I still need to sand down the inside of the strut in order for the 5/16 tubing to fit in snugly. I havnt found any adhesive sandpaper though, I might just superglue some to a drill bit if worse comes to worse. I have to go to work in a few hours, but im going to have a good amount of stuff curing while im away, then when I get home tonight I should be able to cut the hole for the 11/32 stuffing tube and have the cowling and cockpit epoxied together. Theres only 1 pinhole I noticed on the cowling, and the cockpit is good, so im just going to cut out the windshield and then it should be good for cleaning and sanding. Im just going to have the saltwater scoop cut out in the front and leave the normal cowling the way it is for now.

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[Speed810]

Looks like some nice work Nic.

I know my stuffing tube fit quite tight in the strut and I had taken some 400 wet/dry and very lightly sanded the tube. Then clean it very well with alcohol. The slightest amount of metal dust and it won't go in smoothly. It doesn't take much to get it to fit tight but smoothly.


Mike

[Agitator]

Its kind of odd, the screws that were included with the strut have some strange sized allen key head....



All they are is standard 3/32" allen heads, nothing odd or special about them.....

[nichismo]

I've only tried 1 of the bolts but I have 2 sets of both metric and standard sized Allen keys and I can't get a snug fitment. that's what I mean when I say special, I'm nit a TOTAL idiot, lol

Looks like some nice work Nic.

I know my stuffing tube fit quite tight in the strut and I had taken some 400 wet/dry and very lightly sanded the tube. Then clean it very well with alcohol. The slightest amount of metal dust and it won't go in smoothly. It doesn't take much to get it to fit tight but smoothly.


Mike

Thanks mike, I had to remove the rudder and strut and im going to re drill some of the holes. I needed to move the rudder to the right more, as it was far too close to the transom center and wouldn't have turned well, and blocked some of the area I need for my wing stabilizers I also need to move the strut towards the front more, as the drive dog wouldn't have been underneath the boat.

I'll post pics soon, I'm going to polish my hardware, fill the holes in the transom and drill new ones and remount everything.

I also purchased my THIRD motor mount earlier, this one finally will be perfect and be a snap to secure to the bottom, I'll cut a couple slots in the foam floor and epoxy it.

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[phil t]

The strut should be fine, dog don't have to be under the boat. eversee a real boat transom? the prop is out behind the hull.
Nice work so far.

[nichismo]

ok sweet, I ordered the "authentic scale" strut from Accu-tech because I liked how it resembled the real hydroplane struts and they also have this picture displayed on the information page of their website for the 1/8 scale hydro hardware:

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But i was confused because ive been told from some that the rules of 1/8 scale organizations require the drive dog to be underneath the boat... so I was going to maybe cut part of the strut off because I didnt want to redrill those holes

I guess I might have gotten 1 bad screw because I have an allen key that works fine for all the other screws, for some reason 1 of them is just a tad too small

[phil t]

yea you will hear a lot of misinformation. Try looking it up in scale rules first.

9. The propeller drive dog may extend one drive dog length beyond the transom.

[Agitator]

g. The drive dog must not extend beyond the transom unless the prototype boat did so. Not misinformation-just depends on who's rule book your are following.

[nichismo]

g. The drive dog must not extend beyond the transom unless the prototype boat did so. Not misinformation-just depends on who's rule book your are following.

Michael you have been beyond helpful, I really cant begin to thank you, your genuine concern for my project has been overwhelming and very encompassing. as per usual with the internet, there are always abundant misguided homers who want to either spew misinformation for petty amusement, or simply believe they truly know everything and feel better when they possess others with a similar philosophy to that of their own. I think thats what Phil is referring to to be careful of, but I build performance workstation and gaming computers and have spent far more than my fair share of time on the internet, I have a pretty good perspective at this point on what I judge to be decent resources and what aren't. That being said, I have never even remotely encountered any other hobby or interest that has been so welcoming and helpful and provided a solid foundation of good info, I appreciate that alot guys. Its too bad OSE doesn't have a reputation system like some other boards do, I always see posts that I would love to give the poster a positive rep point for.

To be honest im not that familiar with any specific organizations quite yet, other than Classic Thunder, and even that I am still very foreign too (they are 1/10 scale anyway). Ill probably end up waiting until I am actually intending to participate or at least register with a sanctioned event to make any modifications to the strut assembly. BTW Michael, did you recieve my last email?

I refilled the older 5 transom holes and drilled 4 new ones, I lined up the rudder blade with the right side tub wall. I have also started polishing the Rudder blade, ive worked through 320 and 400 grit, certainly removed the factory machine marks and then some. Sort of unsure of how long to sand for at this point, but ill work up to 1000 and then use the polish cream you recommended. Hope to get that razer sharp mirror finish! Ill post more pics later tonight

[phil t]

yea you will hear a lot of misinformation. Try looking it up in scale rules first.

9. The propeller drive dog may extend one drive dog length beyond the transom.

Nick runs Namba that is the Namba rule.
Impba is similar just dont call out drive dog position old boats under the hull modren ones can be behind hull

[nichismo]

Hey everyone, hope your all having a great weekend, the weather up here in Seattle is gorgeous!! too bad I have to go to work later today.... hah.

Anyway, I thought id post an update, as I feel like I am sort of overdue for one.

I filled in the holes in the transom from the previous position of the rudder, I just used some wood filler for most of the hole and then just filled over the top of them with west epoxy, so now they aren't even really noticeable. I also polished the rudder to the best of my ability, however I was missing 600 grit sandpaper, but it turned out pretty good, and I havnt even done much as far as the last stage of polishing goes, so im sure it wont take much to get it to a mirror finish :) I have a Virginia Craftsman turn fin mount coming in the mail, and im going to get started on polishing the turn fin so its ready to mount when the bracket gets here. I also bought a few thread taps for the aluminum inside the sponson.

I finally finished crafting a solid mounting solution, after buying my 3rd mount, this one being a 56/58mm mount by MGP and I purchased it from rocket city racing. Its made from black composite fiberglass I believe, its an interesting material.... I thought at first looking at the pictures that it would be carbon fiber, but its robust and certainly going to get the job done :) At first, I was frustrated upon recieving it, as I quickly realized when I tested the mount inside the hull tub, that the side supports of the mount are placed apart in such a fashion that they literally fall exactly on the slants in the floor for the belly pan. So for this, I decided to just cut a piece of 1/8" ply for a base to extend the width of the hull tub, with some 3/16" blocks to brace the mount into position. I then sanded the edges, cleaned it with a tack clotch, then put a coat of west systems epoxy over it. I then JB welded the mount into place, and then put another coat of west systems epoxy over the blocks and crevices where the corners of the mounts sit to really solidify everything.

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Also, I have had a small L shaped piece of aluminum that I was able to bolt onto the bracket to serve as an ESC plate, and it appears as though it may work. Im going to add some velcro/fasteners of some sort, in addition to the typical straps to make sure it doesnt move.

Lastly, I need to get to work on the cowling and cockpit. I want to fix the cockpit and cowling into one piece, but im not quite sure how I should go about this. I see alot of people cutting off some of the cowling, and removing both the front wall of the cowling just under the air scoop, and the back wall of the cockpit so that theres no barrier underneath, however the windshield and driver is a very important feature for me, I want it to look as real as possible, so I was a little concerned as to how that may effect the look of it in the end. I also was hoping someone could provide a little insight on reinforcing the inside of the cowling with wood and floatation, and adding some stiffness, as I am unsure of how much actual "fitting" of the cowling I should do. It seems as though it already fits the hull perfect, but im not sure if when adding the ply doublers, should this enable the cowling to have a base that just sits on top of each deck, or should the ply be up and inside the cowl so that the base would sit down flush on a lip of some sort. Hope thats not too incoherent... haha, but as you can see, im obviously a little lost.

My order of Klass Kote white epoxy primer, catalyst and reducer came on thursday. Im pretty excited to try this stuff, as it seems ill be able to save alot of trouble and work, as my complete lack of experience with painting and finishing/prep of this type worries me. Ill probably prepare the salt water scoop for primer soon, and that will be somewhat of a canvas for me to get my first practice with :)

once again, thanks for the help everyone, each day I get more and more excited for her maiden voyage. Cya later, have a fun and safe weekend!

I just placed an order with OSE for a few more components, so some of the build progress will have to wait until I recieve them early next week.

[nichismo]

rest of the pictures of the motor mount:

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To fix it into the boat, Im going to bolt it to the floor. Ill drill 4 screws through the corners, and counter sink them so they dont produce any drag.

[Speed810]

Lookin Good Nic.....

That motor mount should work out pretty nice. Why exactly are you moving the rudder mount?
I also made the decision to go by the NAMBA rules where I can have one drive dog length past the transom. Figured I would be running the boat mostly in NAMBA events.

Keep the pictures coming...like seeing new ideas for various set ups.

Mike

[nichismo]

forgot to add one last picture, I drilled the 4 holes and bolted the ply to the hull, made a small layered chip in one of the corners though. looks solid none the less.

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Speed, ive actually already moved it. if you look at the older pictures, the rudder was too close to the center of the transom, it would have impeded the wing stabilizer rods and maybe even performance.

Ive got some ideas for the next few assemblies, I'm going to be having some carbon fiber and cnc aluminum stuff fabricated. I'm running ideas as much as possible, like potentially just making a single piece lip and 2 bulkheads out of carbon fiber or aluminum and using that to seal the inside off instead, or a custom mount to hold the lipos up agains each other but on their thinnest sides facing the floor instead.

the build was really difficult to get off the ground at first, I really had trouble trying to under stand the fundamental dynamics of scale hydros and especially how electric in a nitro hull demands such a different landscape. but I'm finally getting into a groove and believe I can start using my own judgement confidently

[nichismo]

Sup guys, just thought id post an update.

I made some progress on my build, I'm starting to gain some confidence with this whole process, I'm not so hesitant to make my own judgement calls now lol. After today, I feel as though I completed most of the stuff I was most concerned and oblivious to going into this project.

so again I decided to use a different mounting setup, But for the better. I ended up cutting two slots into the foam like Phil and Michael recommended, and then I glued two angled wedges into them, along with a base plate on top of those for the actual mount. after the epoxy dried I fiber glassed the mount to the base, and I also fiber glassed the bottom of the foam slots before putting the wedges inside. It was sort of a PITA to fiberglass the motor mount legs to the wooden base plate due to the narrow and thin shape of the cloth I was using, and as a result it doesn't look to great right now. Im going to sand and file most of the stuff on the top of the mount legs and just leave the rest the way it is. Mainly it was for peace of mind, It felt a little unsafe using such a big motor in a mount of such simple stature in this configuration.

So I got the 11/32 tube and stuffing box mounted, it's strong as hell! First i placed some 3/16 blocks around the slot in a U shape, and sealed them with west epoxy. then I used a 1/4" drill bit in the collett to line up, and then I used a little JB kwik to tack the tube into place, and after a few minutes and cleaning of the area and taping the bottom, i poured in a couple coats of west epoxy and silica. After they all dried a bit, i glued the top cover on the stuffing tube box. I was hoping to be able to use one of the oil mount fittings here on OSE, but I dont think I will have room for it now, so perhaps ill just solder a small piece of tubing on or get a Tbar with an oil fitting. Now that I finished that stuff, i Got Alot Of Cleaning and accommodations of the area to do for the last few components, like fairing and smoothing out the bottom exit of the tube, and theres extra epoxy dried up all over the tub floor plus the holes I had to fill in from the last mount setup I experimented with added to the mess...... but I'm pretty happy with how i did overall. :)

Additionally, the newer Swordfish 240hv ESC that I bought off the marketplace arrived today. Its much nicer and I feel much better with this one, but its far bigger than I was anticipating! And I dont have a top plate to mount the ESC with my motor anymore, so I am really wondering where I can place this without compromising performance or battery pack position.

Lastly, I used a rotary tool and started cutting out the windshield holes and air scoops. I want to add the ply doublers and begin paint prep on the cowling, but I know I need to finish other stuff first. Mainly, I need to devise and complete the lip and lid for sealing the engine tub with a sub hatch. At first I was thinking I would just do it exactly how all the common ML 1/8 scale hydro kits are, but then I was looking at the MLboatworks/PTI Tunnel FE kits and I really liked how those radio box lids are setup. So for now, I am going to slightly draw inspiration from those. Ill have more pictures up ASAP with that whole step, because Im sure I will having tons of questions and problems throughout.

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