H & M Intruder S

[Heath M]

This is my finished Hydro & Marine Intruder S, built for racing in our 4s open Cat class. I did a carbon cloth inlay myself which is not the best finish at a close look but it serves it's purpose lol*!** I installed carbon motor mount, esc mount, servo and receiver mounts as well. It has an offset rudder and strut system with .187 flex shaft and Turnigy 15kg servo. Motor will be a TP custom wound 4060 4.5D2300KV and esc is a Tsunami 180 from H & M.*!** Safety loop installed by gluing water tube inlets into the hull then gluing female bullets into them. On the left of the rudder is a magnetic receiver switch, which screws on so no chance of it getting knocked and switched off mid race. I've added stainless wire spring to the water hose for anti kink and a bit of bling :)

[Heath M]

More pictures

[tlandauer]

Heath,
I saw these pictures but didn't have time to post back.
What a superb job. Just beautiful!
Can we trade?
man, I am seriously jealous....
At the risk of showing my ignorance, is it painted or a combination of paint and sticker ? It reminds me of the H&M scheme a bit. The red ribbon and the checker pattern really look sharp, not to mention the font of the letters.
Wow!

[Heath M]

Wow thanks for such kind words Tim, i was going to do a build thread but by the time i thought about it the boat was finished lol.
I'm yet to run it, still waiting on the motor to turn up. Next club race for this class is next Sunday so that will be its maiden voyage as well i may just take you up on your trade offer lol
To answer your question, it's vinyl decal set from H + M which is why you recognize it.

[tlandauer]

I like how you "opened" up the over hang of the lid, I assume this enabled you to put CF inlay further up under the deck, is there any other forms of reinforcement? i.e., two part expanding foam?
I am waiting for warmer weather to pour some of that stuff since my deck is very flexible and the tips of the sponsons as well, some kind of reinforcement is badly needed in my boat.
The anti-kink wire is a great idea. I know in Australia you need the safety loop. Nice receiver switch as well.
Good luck with you maiden and race.
I like the vinyl decal!

I am really liking the hull, actually thinking of the bigger brother and it will be easier to do a "proper" twin.

[Heath M]

I had to to fit the battery and speedy in. For flotation i used pool noodle which i cut in half and shaped to fit up inside the sponsons. I thought about expandy foam but didn't want to risk distorting the hull. The deck on mine is quite stiff so no need to reinforce it, the fibreglass seems to by quite thick.

[srislash]

It looks real good Heath. It has a good layout. Good luck at raceday/maiden. I'm liking this hull and have never had an H&M. Mmm,,,,

[Heath M]

Thanks shawn, race day shoud be interesting lol most of the other cats are cheeters which area few inches bigger than this boat.
H +M make a bigger version of the Intruder S , from memory it is 37" long, would make a great twin or 6s set up. Hmmm mabe Santa will surprise me with one this year

[tlandauer]

I had to to fit the battery and speedy in. For flotation i used pool noodle which i cut in half and shaped to fit up inside the sponsons. I thought about expandy foam but didn't want to risk distorting the hull. The deck on mine is quite stiff so no need to reinforce it, the fibreglass seems to by quite thick.

That is great news! Mine is paper thin, doesn't take much to press it down, but good quality fiber glass nonetheless....

[Heath M]

Had the first runs with the boat on the weekend, round 2 of 4s open Cat. No time to test and tune prior, it was just tape up, plug in and drop in the water ( Carefully lol)
Race one.. Boat flipped on mill lap, I gunned it up the back straight and it caught the boat in fronts wake and over it went
Race two.. I decided to stay clear of the other boats because of previous race, bout boat stopped dead again on the back straight in mill lap. I thought the worse of my new German Tsunami ESC but was all good when I got it back to shore and checked. No obvious reason why it stopped , so took the time to go through the setting again and reprogram it.
Race three.. decided to cruise around the mill lap and made the start no problems made it around the first turn without any carnage ( a miracle in itself if you'd seen other races lol) gunned it up the back straight, boat had awesome speed and sat well at full throttle. Got halfway around the second turn in front and boat decided to hook 360 deg, did his twice before I got control and hammered down the front straight towards the first corner. Again boat hooked 360 deg narrowly missing destruction from the boats behind it. It did this again when I got to the second turn which I then decided to bring it in early, not wanting to risk damaging mine or other boats.
So diagnoses of the problem, we determined that the servo had play in it when held at full lock. I had a ball and spring type connection fitted to the servo which I have since swapped out. Also the steering rate may be to high although it was only set at 80% but will drop it down to 70%.
Next outing is Easter Saturday practice day, so will get plenty of time to out the wrinkles

[tlandauer]

Thanks for the update, always good to know how a new build is being put thru its paces.
Good to know that you are getting your money's worth, mine is sitting on the dinning table. I have no time until last part of APRIL. I need to check my steering rate as well.
Looking forward to hearing/seeing your next outing!

[Heath M]

Not sure about monies worth yet lol i have a lake not far from me but not game to run the boats asi have no way of retrieval, need to build a rescue boat :).
Hopefully next outing I'll get some video, race days are quite hectic, we ran 33 heats per round yesterday.

[Heath M]

Got to run the boat again today for our clubs open practice. Slowly working out the kinks. Have to play around with the steering as it turns nicely around buoys 1- 5 but doesn't want to turn at the other end of the course buoys 6-10,strange as the curves are the same turning right. Straight line speed is great, GPS'd it at 90.8km which I happy with for racing.

[tlandauer]

Good speed for racing! Video?
Hope you sort out the steering . I have my share also but had no time to fine tune yet...... Been staring at the boat for three months, lol.......

[Heath M]

no video sadly I played around with the steering when I got home,so hopefully I have it sorted, It may also be a receiver issue, so will try a different one next time out.
Going to try a different prop too, had a M445 today next will be a CNC 45/3 if i get one in time.