Starship Rigger

**sailr** · 08-02-2010, 08:42 AM

On the starship I cut very thin slivers of the foam and put them into the sponsons. There is a lot of room on the right rear side of the hull for a sizeable chunk there. I also slice a fairly thin piece and glue up under the hatch. More room there than you think....behind where the battery goes.

**sailr** · 08-02-2010, 08:45 AM

That rigger is made by Tenshock. We are the dealer for it here in the U.S. There are dealers in Germany and apparently also in the UK. The Tenshock motors are some of the best in the world, winning a lot of naviga races. They are not popular in the USA because they are rather expensive and unknown here. The esc's are also made by Tenshock. The servo is a well known brand, GWS.

Originally Posted by hide

Anyone using one of these? Someone linked me to one, not too keen about what electronics it comes with but 50+mph with a no brand ESC and motor is impressive for something so small.

I don't really know what is good and what isn't in the boat world when it comes to hulls so would like some advice here...

http://www.heathsrcmodels.co.uk/starship.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZJjA...layer_embedded

If I was to buy one what would be a good replacement for the motor and ESC, what kind of prop am I looking at?

If its not too great, are there any other small riggers out there which are good for a beginner?

Jacob

**CaptPJB** · 08-02-2010, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by sailr

On the starship I cut very thin slivers of the foam and put them into the sponsons. There is a lot of room on the right rear side of the hull for a sizeable chunk there. I also slice a fairly thin piece and glue up under the hatch. More room there than you think....behind where the battery goes.

I am assuming that if one does all this it will float flooded? I had not thought about slivers of foam in the sponsons. Instead of a Starship was thinking of a mini eco, cheaper, looks to be fast and it stays afloat even if it flips, self righting too.

Sailr would you care to comment on the pros and cons of both designs and potential speed. I would hate to loose another boat due to lack of flotation and poor hatch sealing.

Must say I did like my Starship though, very fast and stable.

PM me if you would rather discuss offline

Peter

**sailr** · 08-02-2010, 10:09 AM

It doesn't take much foam to float the Starship. The boat is very lightweight.

The Mini-ECO is a totally different experience. It runs flat and makes 90 degree turns. It's a blast. It is not as fast as the Starship obviously because it is not a rigger. It is a subsurface drive also. The Mini-ECO is in the 35-40mph range.

For speed, the Starship, for manueverability, etc, the Mini-ECO. Personally, a pond full of Mini-ECO's would be an incredible blast!

You do have to 'tweek' the ECO to get it to self-right. It's all about enough weight on the left side. In the instructions we show you how others have opened up the deck and put some lead weights in there. If you run a bit heavier battery, like a 3000mah, that's probably enough weight on its own. The ECO has the flood chamber. When they are manufactured, they have the minimum amount of venting, allowing the user to customize the self-righting feature.

It's really your preference.

**drwayne** · 08-02-2010, 07:58 PM

I placed a fine layer of cf covering over the boom arm entry holes from within the hull... now have two water tight air chambers for flotation.

**BakedMopar** · 08-02-2010, 08:08 PM

The rigger that my buddy bought from the swap shop here had the sponsons blocked off with glass. I has saved it a few times when the hatch becomes undone. It also helps to lightly sand the taped areas with 2000 grit just to knock the shine off. The tape stick much better.

**SweetAccord** · 01-24-2011, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by BakedMopar

The rigger that my buddy bought from the swap shop here had the sponsons blocked off with glass. I has saved it a few times when the hatch becomes undone. It also helps to lightly sand the taped areas with 2000 grit just to knock the shine off. The tape stick much better.

Correct, if you close off the small area in the sponsoon with silicone or such you trap air in there that is just enough to float this little rigger. On another note, the Starship is a wonderful rigger. I love mine and can't say enough about it. It runs flat and fast and didn't take much effor or knowledge to get it up and running. I'm spending more time trying to needle balance the small prop than anything else on these small boats.

**ray schrauwen** · 01-24-2011, 05:31 PM

One of these days I'll snag a Carbon Starship, they look so nice.

How much is a Carbon Starship without power system, just ARTR, with servo & hardware installed? I have tons of motors & esc's in this range.

**SweetAccord** · 01-24-2011, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by ray schrauwen

One of these days I'll snag a Carbon Starship, they look so nice.

How much is a Carbon Starship without power system, just ARTR, with servo & hardware installed? I have tons of motors & esc's in this range.

Currently here are the prices: http://www.minicatracingusa.com/srigger.html

Carbon Fiber for $419.00

I have the non carbon one as love it to death. I have quite a few 2040- motors and so far love the way it runs with a 3800kv and 34mm 32D prop. with 1800 battery.

**questtek** · 01-24-2011, 06:20 PM

Love those CF starships. I added a turn fin to mine and it greatly improved handling. Pics show how it was done. Also have flotation in front and sponsons. When putting a bigger, heaver motor, like the one shown, I added some ride pads formed from balsa and sealed/painted white. Does two things, gives a bit of needed flotation for the heaver motor and permits a nicer air flow under the hull at speeds. Mark Grimm recommended this trick to me and it has worked out well.

**CaptPJB** · 01-24-2011, 06:26 PM

Cool way of adding the turn fin did you fabricate the holding bracket or purchased it as a set with the fin?

**questtek** · 01-24-2011, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by CaptPJB

Cool way of adding the turn fin did you fabricate the holding bracket or purchased it as a set with the fin?

Built it all myself. Fin is cut from alum and shaped. Rest of hardware I just had laying around. No holes to drill, just bolt it on the support shaft. Could not be easier. Cost, about 25 cents.............

**Rumdog** · 01-24-2011, 07:25 PM

Thats the first time I've seen a turn fin on the transom of a rigger.

**questtek** · 01-24-2011, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by Rumdog

Thats the first time I've seen a turn fin on the transom of a rigger.

Agreed!.. BUT, the CG of the CF starship is 5 to 6 inches behind the back of the front sponson. Most Hydros have the fin here but it may be too far in front of the CG. A trick I learned from Mark F is to put the turn fin at or behind the CG. This is why when you look at his Insane Hydro the turn fin is actually way behind the sponson on a long, heavy duty extension bar.

Anyway, seems to work for me............I will get Tony to take a video of it running the next time he comes down.

**ray schrauwen** · 01-24-2011, 08:00 PM

Great stuff! Thanks for the replies & PM's !!!

**sailr** · 01-25-2011, 09:17 AM

Interesting upgrades and information regarding the turn fin placement!

**SweetAccord** · 02-18-2015, 05:02 PM

I know this is an old thread, but for people that still may read it, if you have a Starship, you can make the front sponsons act like floatation devices by sealing up the small seam from the inside of the boat with epoxy or other to save weight and give you space inside the already small hull.

Here's mine: https://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...chmentid=86544

Hope that helps.

**Insaniac** · 02-21-2015, 02:14 AM

Originally Posted by SweetAccord

I know this is an old thread, but for people that still may read it, if you have a Starship, you can make the front sponsons act like floatation devices by sealing up the small seam from the inside of the boat with epoxy or other to save weight and give you space inside the already small hull.

Here's mine: https://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...chmentid=86544

Hope that helps.

Did that with my first one (sold it) and now my second one a week ago...works great...nice clean solution that leaves extra room.

**SweetAccord** · 02-23-2015, 01:28 PM

**NativePaul** · 02-24-2015, 01:42 AM

I dislike using trapped air for flotation, because if you crash hard and the hull is compromised you loose all your floatation just when you need it, and if your hull is not compromised you don't need the flotation.

Have any of you added carbon booms to your Tenshock riggers, I saw a number of both the Mini and the Hydro1 version at the last worlds and the majority of them had at least one secondary boom added to control the sponson's angle of attack better.

**SweetAccord** · 02-24-2015, 06:49 PM

You have a point about floatation, but for me the lake I run at has nothing to crash into and I've been running there for years. The water is calm and I've yet been able to flip it, but my case may not be fitting for others so floatation is a must if you have obstacles in the lake you can hit.

As for the carbon booms, I don't see the need to add anything to the stock design as I don't race professionally and stock it's great. They must run at very high speeds to need to mod it to that point! But that's neat though. :) I wish someone would make these hulls dirt cheap less electronics for 100.00 like 3D printing or something out of wood or plastic, the design is so awesome for such a small boat, I love it.

Thank you for sharing, I alway like to see what others are doing. What kind of KV and props are they running do you know? Any videos of their runs?

**SweetAccord** · 02-24-2015, 07:42 PM

**ray schrauwen** · 02-24-2015, 08:36 PM

I like the extra booms on your yellow starship Paul. I have a cheap HK copy that has some flex to it and you just helped me solve how to decrease it. Thanks for the pics!
I have a 28mm Heli-max 2580kv 6 pole motor for it I got new for $10 on fleabay. Another project not started yet.
Looks like my hull could use ride pads with sharp trailing edges for the sponsons.

I'd prefer a cf one but, this is a low budget build.

**SweetAccord** · 02-24-2015, 09:38 PM

I don't think the yellow Tenshock is his.

**NativePaul** · 02-24-2015, 10:13 PM

It is for efficiency more than speed, I suspect we are running no faster than many sport boaters, and certainly slower than American racers, but when you are trying to go fast on limited power the last thing you want is for the sponsons angle of attack to be changing as when it lowers it will have more wetted area and not only slow you down but you will consume more power accelerating back up to speed.

They are not mine, the examples in the photos belonged to the Bulgarian team.

The Minis are typically powered by Tenshock 1025/17 or Ts Viper 1515/16 for 3s and Tenschock 1025/13 for 2s, the Hydro1 Ts Viper 1530/8 or Leopard 2860/3400 for 3s or TS Viper 1530/5 or Leopard 2860 5050kv on 2s.

The one in the second video in SweetAccord's second post is the Hydro1 version not the Mini Hydro.

**SweetAccord** · 02-25-2015, 12:56 PM

I think I've seen someone do 4s on a Tenshock, crazy.

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