Who wants to build a semi-scale all-wood micro hydro?
I've been away from the sport for a while, but I never lost my interest in the micros. Because of the way I house my boats when not in use, they don’t suffer much deterioration from long-term storage. I decided to get them up and running with modern radios and batteries recently, and I’ve been quite successful. I finished a couple of partially completed projects (the BBY Micro Hydro and the BBY Micro Scat Cat) and have a couple more “projects” that I may get to sometime in the future. :olleyes:
I, like most of you, have that constant desire to always be building SOMETHING, and I’ve been wondering what that next something might be. :confused2: Years ago, I built several of Garry Finlay's 1/16 scale designs. Many of his designs have been up-scaled to 1/13, 1/12, and even 1/10 scale. Garry's hulls always performed flawlessly. They were a hoot to drive, and they were FAST. I always liked his Atlas Van Lines hull; I thought it was the perfect mix of performance and elegance. I have his plans for the 1/16 scale Atlas in a *.pdf format and as an AutoCAD block drawing. I can't use the existing AutoCAD block for laser-cutting because of the way the block is comprised, but with a LOT of work, I could trace it at 1/20 scale with polylines and get it into a suitable format for laser cutting. This would make a 17.4" hull length. Alternatively, I could print his existing *.pdf plans at a reduced size to get an accurate 1/20 scale drawing for scratch-building.
So here's the thought that has been going through my mind: How many people would be interested in building a 1/20 scale boat from an all-wood kit? If there is sufficient interest, I would produce an AutoCAD drawing based on Garry's reduced plans and modified to the appropriate material sizes and drive geometry, then have a bunch of kits laser cut. Garry will get full credit for the design; I would just be shrinking it to 1/20 scale.
Yeah, you can get an Aquacraft GP-1 that closely resembles this hull for a hundred bucks (with a radio!!), but it’s just another mass-produced toy. How many people are willing to spend a bit more than that, plus the time and effort to build something that looks a thousand times better and meets SSSH rules (2S and under 18")? I’m guessing several will.
Santee Sport Scale Hydro rules have changed over the years. It used to be 2S (previously 6 NiMh), with a maximum hull length of 18”. It has to look like a hydroplane, so ‘riggers are out. Lastly, we spec’d out a certain really cheap motor. That motor is no longer available, although there are many on the market that are “close”, so we simply eliminated the motor requirement. Yeah, you can put a pricey, high-tech, high-power motor in there, but you’ll lose runtime, gain weight, and seriously over-power these little hulls. These aren’t SAW boats; they’re tight-circuit oval boats. Put too much power in there and you’ll spend a lot of time upside-down.
I think the best motors for our 2S setups with these little hulls are the 28mm outrunner helicopter motors in the 3000 to 4000 Kv range. We chose 2S to keep weight and costs down. Helicopter motors often have built-in fan-cooling, thereby eliminating the need for plumbing in an already tight hull, and the outrunners have the torque required to spin a relatively large (32mm max.) prop. Current draw for these little motors is low with our preferred 29mm props, so even a 30-amp controller without any additional cooling works just fine.
So who’s up for it?
Here are some links for parts that will work and will be the basis for my driveline revisions:
Collet Coupler:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/TFL-2-3mm-T...gAAOSw1DtXLaZF
Shaft:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/RC-375-350m...19.m1438.l2649
Strut:
http://offshoreelectrics.com/proddet...prod=ose-80046
Rudder:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aluminum-Ru...QAAOSwux5YPi74
Motor: It’s your choice here. See a few examples:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Green-14-8V...cAAOSw9eVXVpHH or https://www.ebay.com/itm/047-KV3600-...UAAOSwaNBUeV8I or https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tarot-450MX...sAAOSw7z1Z7waT
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control!
As I said in an earlier post, I've bought some wood to build a prototype hull and I'll post the build here on this thread. I've ordered some parts from Asia, so it will be a while before they all get here. I made a spreadsheet of the costs, and it looks like anyone here can have a boat on the water for about $250, excluding a receiver, a battery, and finishing materials. That would be with a conventional 0.098" flex cable drive and a plastic prop. I'm going to do a wire drive, but that will require a lathe and a 0.062 reamer to make a new nose piece for the strut. Some of the more clever here could get away with just a drill press to achieve the same result. The aforementioned $250 figure includes a motor, a coupler, a stuffing tube, an ESC, a strut, a rudder, a turn fin, a servo, all the wood, and the laser-cutting.
That's CHEAP for a quality scale hydroplane. How many here spend more than that on just an ESC for their 12S monsters??
Atlas Update (About Time...)
Well, I could not find info on Jeff Ross, but I did find Callie Graphics in New Mexico. See https://callie-graphics.com/ She has been more than accommodating over the holidays, is very responsive to emails, AND... She has the Blue Blaster graphic on file. Furthermore, her rates are about 1/3 of Mike McKnight's for her more complex graphics. I will have both sets of graphics on hand shortly and I will give a quick review on quality versus price.
I'm looking forward to the Atlas build. I think it will be beyond fun and truly rewarding.
As I raise my glass of champagne this New Year's Eve, I give a toast to Trent Hare. A true visionary and unsung hero. Thanks for guiding me to be able "Think Small". The big stuff is cool indeed; but it's pricey, it's fast, it's cookie-cutter, it's elitist, it's common. Yeah, it fits NAMBA, APBA, and all those other acronyms, but you don't have any more FUN than do I.
Let go of the shackles; build a micro and experience the freedom to explore your abilities to be creative. 1/20 scale at 35mph is essentially the same as 1/4 scale at 175mph.