Miss Geico 29 V3 winter build

Everytime I sell off one of my Proboat 29" V3 cats, I see how well my original Blackjack runs that REDLINE1 now owns, and fall into another one when a deal arises. This time, it was a bare Miss Geico hull that someone had started to grind out the stock mounting rails. They didn't get very far, but far enough that the job had to be finished and then rebuilt from scratch. It took the better part of an hour to carefully grind out all of the original composite mounting rail material and various battery tray tabs. I used a combination of dremel cutting wheels and sanding drums. To prep the interior of the hull for a carbon inlay, I sanded everything with 200 grit sandpaper and smoothed down as much of the factory drips and blobs as I could. Ended up with a nice blank fiberglass canvas.

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Then I started the inlay. I made templates for the sides, full bottom wrap, rear overhang, and front upper deck out of butcher paper. Transferred the patterns to 2x2 3K twill carbon cloth and outlined with scotch tape to keep the ends from fraying. First I put 2" carbon strips down the sides of the hull to reinforce the seams. Next I used one large piece to cover the tunnel, sponsons, up and around the sides, and just short of the hatch opening. Put in the small piece at the rear of the hull and then the front upper deck. I had been doing my inlays in the past using 3M adhesive spray to hold the cloth to the hull before it was wet down with resin. I didn't want to spray that inside in my tiny workshop, so I wet the fiberglass surface with resin using a foam brush first, folded the cloth up, and rolled out out into the hull. Pushed all of the corners and edges down with a roller, then brushed on another film of resin and rolled over it with a foam brush.

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Let it all cure overnight and was left with a much prettier, stronger blank canvas.

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Now I wanted to reinforce the sponson tips and deck bridge. I used three 20g pours of epoxy with chopped carbon fiber, one in each tip, and one across the deck. I put the hull in a water bath to control the heat and prevent distortion in the hull.

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Similar task at the rear of the hull. I drilled out the strut mount to use larger hardware, installed T nuts inside the hull, and then poured an epoxy and chopped carbon fiber mix over the T nuts to strengthen the rudder standoff area. I coat the threads of the bolts with a little bit of anti-seize to keep the epoxy from sticking to them so that they can be removed later if needed.

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Next up was a set of deck stringers made from carbon plate to stiffen up the front upper deck area. I make templates from cardboard first, which takes a bit of time to get into shape, especially with the shallow area under the deck of this hull. I then transfer the pattern to the carbon plates and cutout with a diamond coated dremel cutoff wheel. I made a similar set of stringers for my Genesis and they turned out awesome with one exception. I made them solid which gave me trouble when it came time to run cooling lines and power wiring. So, lesson learned, this time I used a hole saw to put holes in both stringers. Lots of access now. I tack them in place with CA, then mask and glue them in with dyed JB Weld. It was a lot of work to mask off the seams, but I'm a sucker for clean, straight lines if they can be seen. Once everything cures, all of the deflection in the top deck is gone. This particular deck wasn't as flimsy as some V3 hulls I've had in the past, but the point of this build was to build it once and never have to worry about it again. Still plenty of room to install flotation later on.

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The stuffing tube was already installed and I didn't want to bother with ripping it out and starting over on its position. In hindsight, I probably should have, as it would have allowed me to locate the larger motor further rearward making COG adjustments easier. as it sits now, I can still get everything in place for a 30% COG when running 3S lipos. I mocked up the mount location first, sanded the mounting surfaces, and cleaned with alcohol. I masked all of the joints and then tacked the mount in place with CA. I'm using dyed JB Weld on this build, so I mixed up a batch in a small cup, heated it with a hair dryer to make it easier to apply, and brushed it into place. I used the hair dryer again to help smooth out the surface of the JB Weld and release any air bubbles. After about 30min, I pull the tape up and hit it with the hair dryer one last time to smooth out any edges that were too tall/thick. Let it cure overnight before doing anything else so I don't knock anything out of alignment.

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In my last Miss Geico, I installed a through hull pickup in the rear of one sponson. I used a rectangular, premade pick-up that I bought from OSE. This time I wanted to try my hand at making my own pick-ups from K&S brass tube. I drilled a small hole on an angle where I wanted the water pickup located, then slowly worked it larger with a file as needed. I annealed a few inches of brass tub and cut a piece off. I bent it by hand and filed a flat profile into the end to minimize the sanding necessary after installing it in the hull. Because I wanted my battery trays to run as far rearward in the sponsons as possible, I had to put a pretty good radius in the tube to keep them out of the way. This made them more difficult to make than they could have been. Got the first one installed and took measurements for the second. I screwed that up and ended up with a larger hole than necessary for the second pickup. Easily filled in with epoxy, but not as neat as the first. I filed them a little to create even tear drop contours. My flaring tool for brake lines didn't have attachments for tube this small, so I soldered on a small piece of brass one size larger to create a barb at the hose end, giving me a little more security. They turned out alright for my first attempt. I know I can do better on the next ones if I have more room to work the bend and a little more room between the hull and battery trays.


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Time for the battery trays. I used a longer set of carbon trays from OSE and cut them to the length I needed. One side fit perfectly with just a few tabs needed on the bottom side of the rear corners. I attached those with CA. The other side was giving me fits because the contour of the ride pad steps was a little taller on that side. I sanded down some high spots with the dremel and also contoured the bottom of the tray in a few spots to get a tighter fit. Tacked them into place with CA, then masked the edges down both sides. I glued them in with black aquarium silicone which is by far my favorite adhesive. I wish I could use it for everything. It's easy to lay down, smooth out, cleanup and once cured, holds the trays down really well. Love the way it looks when done.

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Servo mount was positioned so I could use a straight push rod for the rudder. I don't like to use bent push rods if I don't have to. This position also leaves plenty of room to attach the receiver and GPS on the remaining side of the tunnel. Once I had the location figured out, I sanded the carbon, cleaned with alcohol, and glued in place with dyed JB Weld. I prefer not to see a rubber push rod bellow on the outside of the hull so I drilled a 1/4" hole and glued in a 1" piece of 1/4" brass tube. I positioned it flush with the outside of the hull and left the rest stick into the hull. I installed the rubber bellow over the brass tube on the inside and secured with with a zip tie. For the steering push rod, I used 3mm stainless rod and Du-bro heim joints. Once I figured out the right length, I cut threads onto freshly cut end with an M3x0.5 thread dye. By far, the most aggravating part of this build so far. I had to back the dye off a half turn for every 1/4 to 1/3 turn I made cutting new threads. Finally got it threaded as far as I needed and the end result is a linkage with zero slop between the rudder and servo.

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I mocked up the motor and MBP collet so I could finalize the angle of the front motor mount. I used a 3/16" drill bit in place of a flex cable, installed it in the stuffing tube then slid it into the collet, and tightened it down. That locked the motor in place while I tightened down the motor mount adjusting screws. Set the position on the rear mount afterwards and pulled the drill bit. I have a larger water jacket to install instead of the TP jacket. I don't like the TP jackets because they don't have much internal volume and are on the short side. The new jacket will be black and wrapped in a thin carbon veneer over the center section.

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Next project is an ESC mount, then I need to reinforce the hatch. I decided I'll use fiberglass on the hatch so I don't have to worry about placement with the GPS antenna inside the hull. Wetting out fiberglass is such a messy process, I've been dragging my feet for weeks to actually get that one checked off the list. I should be in the shop right now doing that instead of typing up this post :laugh:

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Originally Posted by fweasel

Similar task at the rear of the hull. I drilled out the strut mount to use larger hardware, installed T nuts inside the hull, and then poured an epoxy and chopped carbon fiber mix over the T nuts to strengthen the rudder standoff area. I coat the threads of the bolts with a little bit of anti-seize to keep the epoxy from sticking to them so that they can be removed later if needed.

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Next up was a set of deck stringers made from carbon plate to stiffen up the front upper deck area. I make templates from cardboard first, which takes a bit of time to get into shape, especially with the shallow area under the deck of this hull. I then transfer the pattern to the carbon plates and cutout with a diamond coated dremel cutoff wheel. I made a similar set of stringers for my Genesis and they turned out awesome with one exception. I made them solid which gave me trouble when it came time to run cooling lines and power wiring. So, lesson learned, this time I used a hole saw to put holes in both stringers. Lots of access now. I tack them in place with CA, then mask and glue them in with dyed JB Weld. It was a lot of work to mask off the seams, but I'm a sucker for clean, straight lines if they can be seen. Once everything cures, all of the deflection in the top deck is gone. This particular deck wasn't as flimsy as some V3 hulls I've had in the past, but the point of this build was to build it once and never have to worry about it again. Still plenty of room to install flotation later on.

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Also doesn’t hurt to lighten up the CF a tad with the holes. Real nice work here Ryan

Well done and so much info shared. Not only is it useful to others, it's enjoyable to read and follow a build...

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Thanks guys. Building boats during the winter fits into my schedule much easier than running them in the summer. Hard to run boats at 10:30 at night 😂

I really like your idea of the water pick ups you made....gonna try this on my winter build..! Not sure why I never thought of it.....???? Thanks for all the info..!!

Real nice work Ryan! Can’t wait to see it run

Took a few weeks off and finally knocked out the hatch reinforcement. Very solid now, and still GPS friendly. Learned some important lessons with fiberglass VS laying carbon. First, 3/4oz fiberglass fabric is too thin, and much to fine a weave to wet out. I put 5 layers of that down first and it was a nightmare to get the air out and not snag it with the brush. Once that dried, I was able to sand out some of the fabric folds and cleanup some other imperfections. For the final layer I used 6oz fabric from Autozone, much more like the 3K 2x2 carbon cloth I'm used to. It had a coarser weave, laid down better, and did not trap air as easily.

Second lesson, 4 drops of dye is not enough. The resin looked very black in the cup when mixed in, but once wet out over the cloth it was a watery charcoal color at best. I did not dye the final layer of 6oz cloth and was hoping it would mask the mistake, nope 🤣. I'll shoot it with satin black spray paint to match the carbon in the hull. The rest is getting covered in flotation foam anyways.
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Another trick I learned from kfxguy was to use small pieces of brass tube as cable and hose guides up under the lip up the hull to keep everything neat and clean. I cut six pieces then crimped them in the vice into a tear drop shape. It helped them fit the contour of the hull and also created a separate channel for the wires and water lines. I marked the hull in three spots on each side with target locations. It was a challenge to epoxy these things in upside down and backwards without gluing my fingers in as well.

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Trials and tribulations of trying new things. Sometimes ‘HEY RIGHT ON!!’ and sometimes not so much. Hey the tube thing is good, I might use that. I bought a collection of snap style clamps with double sticky tape but they always seem too bulky to use.
Excellent work Ryan

What is the jb weld you use? whats the cure time? type of dye you use?

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Originally Posted by Mbires12

What is the jb weld you use? whats the cure time? type of dye you use?

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I use the regular two part JB Weld product. Cure time is overnight-ish. The dye I use is from Composite Envisions.

Knocked out the ESC wiring... mostly. I made a serial battery harness, tied in an Etti cap bank, and soldered on Castle 6.5mm connectors. I forgot to coat the bottom of the cap bank, so the shrink wrap has to come off that. I also discovered the motor I had installed has a bent output shaft, so I skipped cutting the motor wires and soldering on bullets on the ESC until the new motor arrives. I don't like the yellow motor wires so I'm going to hunt down some black woven wire loom to cover those up. The fit behind the motor, and under the deck is so tight, there's no real room for a proper ESC mount. I'm going to use 1" velcro on the tunnel and attach it that way. The cap bank will probably live in a hole I'll carve out of the forward flotation between the deck stringers.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by fweasel

I use the regular two part JB Weld product. Cure time is overnight-ish. The dye I use is from Composite Envisions.

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Awesome! Ill have to try that tape technique instead of the o ring method next time looks super clean, build looks good buddy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fweasel

Took a few weeks off and finally knocked out the hatch reinforcement. Very solid now, and still GPS friendly. Learned some important lessons with fiberglass VS laying carbon. First, 3/4oz fiberglass fabric is too thin, and much to fine a weave to wet out. I put 5 layers of that down first and it was a nightmare to get the air out and not snag it with the brush. Once that dried, I was able to sand out some of the fabric folds and cleanup some other imperfections. For the final layer I used 6oz fabric from Autozone, much more like the 3K 2x2 carbon cloth I'm used to. It had a coarser weave, laid down better, and did not trap air as easily.
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I'm surprised you had that much trouble with the 3/4oz glass. I'm new to boating but not RC, I've been flying and scratch building going on 30 yrs and I use 3/4oz over foam quite a bit. What type of resin were you using on this build? Which by the way is awesome - I may be new to boats but good craftsmanship transcends what rc vehicle you're building - it's universal!

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Originally Posted by joe_crash

I'm surprised you had that much trouble with the 3/4oz glass. I'm new to boating but not RC, I've been flying and scratch building going on 30 yrs and I use 3/4oz over foam quite a bit. What type of resin were you using on this build? Which by the way is awesome - I may be new to boats but good craftsmanship transcends what rc vehicle you're building - it's universal!

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I'm definitely no expert when it comes to lamination work, but the 3/4oz fabric was like trying to work with silk. The epoxy resin I was using could have been thinner, but I was trying to use up the last of what I had left before tapping into a new can of West System resin and hardener. I did pre-warm the reson it to make it less viscous and had my eye on the timer to get everything wet out before it got too tacky. Regardless, it was not the material for me and after working with the 6oz, I won't have to worry about those problems again.

I need to get back on this project. Haven't had the motivation or desire to get much done recently. All I've managed to complete recently are some wiring extensions and cooling lines. The new motor arrived after I discovered there was a bent shaft on the used one I bought from the classifieds here :doh: Waiting for a newly machined custom water jacket to arrive so I can wrap that in carbon, then get everything into the motor mount. I'm also toying with the idea of drilling out the hatch pin holes in the forward deck and inserting small diameter brass tube sleeves for added strength and to potentially eliminate the chipping that is common on these hulls in that area.

The viscosity of the resin does make a big difference in how glass wets out. Since I was using the 3/4oz glass to make the foam more "ding" proof, and not really as a structural component I was able to thin it more than I would have if I was making something like a mold, and in your case, going straight to 2oz glass would probably be the better move. I wasn't trying to fault your work, you obviously know what you're doing and it shows! I was very impressed with your work. I have yet to build a boat, but after seeing some of the ones in the gallery I think I'm going to give it a shot.

The new motor is mounted and aligned. The water jacket was machined down and wrapped with carbon. I soldered on bullet connectors to the ESC motor wires and then installed the ESC under the deck. The water lines are run through the brass eyelets up under the deck along with the wiring extension to extend the throttle wire to the receiver. I cut and shaped pool noodles and slid them under the front deck and into the sponsons. I still need to drill and install the water outlets on side of the hull, mount the receiver under the rear deck, and install a fresh set of decals. Getting close...

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Beautiful work Ryan! I love the attention to detail.

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Originally Posted by H&YRACING

Beautiful work Ryan! I love the attention to detail.

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Thanks, hope it runs well too. If not, it will be next years pool boat :laugh:

Everything officially mounted inside electronics wise and all cooling lines are run. Rudder and strut are mounted again and steering has been trimmed. Installed the decals, which turned out great on one side, terrible on the other. I was mocking up the decal location and it touched the hull. Normally no big deal, but then the entire boat slipped in my lap and the decal folded over on itself. I got it apart and flat again, but it stretched out in a few spots and wouldn't lay flat. Oh well, I'll buy a new sheet and have nearly a full set of spares. :laugh:

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Love it Ryan!
How much to do my V1? Kinda kidding...
I’m assuming you blue printed the sponsons, but didn’t document.
How it run? 6s? Eek. You have learned too much from Travis!