Old member....new build....scale build...

[ScarabChris]

Now the USPS tracking says this.....

"The package is delayed and will not be delivered by the expected delivery date. An updated delivery date will be provided when available"

The package is delayed.....NO FREAKING S**T! LOL..

I have seen this massage before, this means they truly have no idea where it is. I can tell by the tracking details that it was routed completely wrong. I have ordered a bunch of times from OSE and I know this is not their fault. Like I said the last order got here in 48 hours from the time the order was placed. This one was placed last Saturday and I paid the extra for the "priority mail" which should have had it here by Wednesday.

I am fully expecting to never see this order. OSE will likely have to file a claim and resend the order. If it doesn't arrive Monday then I will have to place the order again and ask it be shipped UPS. Then OSE can refund the first order once the USPS pays them for the loss. Or if it arrives after the 2nd order I'll just send it back to them.

This really sucks.....I was intending to meet up with some buddies Sunday (tomorrow) and run this boat which is why I paid for the priority shipping so I could get it and have a few days to assemble everything. We are now over a week waiting on this. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

[Beaux]

I just went through the same thing, it's all the holiday mail.

[ScarabChris]

Holiday mail....naaaa....just the typical USPS way of doing things. In my business I ship packages nearly every day and I am very selective when I use the USPS. They are the cheapest no doubt......but you get what you pay for. I use UPS mostly, they are much more reliable but also more expensive. For every package that gets lost or delayed with UPS the USPS does it 10 times.

That said, the USPS is usually the better option for small inexpensive items. But I will never send a package valued more than $200 with the USPS, especially if time is an issue.

Anyway now the tracking says "expected delivery" for today.

[ScarabChris]

Finally! Big joke though..."Priority Mail 2-Day"

More like "You ain't crap and we don't care we will get it there sometime between 2 days and 8 days"

And Steven sure did his part....shipped on the 27th as promised.

Ok now let me get to work.....

[ScarabChris]

Welp......it's ready for a test run. Why is my chest pounding? LOL. Going to have a cold beer before I toss it in the canal.

[srislash]

Well....

[fweasel]

Well....

Right! How'd it go? I love how neat everything is laid out inside the hull.

[ScarabChris]

I gotta say....I was impressed. This thing runs sweet, couple of bugs to work out with regard to drive trim angle and steering. But even with the drive trim angle trying to shove the bow into the water the thing was hauling a$$. I think running the larger props than what the Graupner drives had really made the difference.

The props are 5517/3 (heavily worked) that I got from Chris (Dasbota) many years ago but never used. They work perfect on these AMPS outdrives.

I had to pull one drive apart, I could tell one of the gears was loose. I could spin the prop a 1/4 turn while holding the motor shaft still. This is what cut my testing short, I would do a couple passes and bring the boat in to check things and after the 3rd pass I found the loose gear so instead of taking a chance of it coming more loose and stripping it I brought it in and tore the drive apart. It's all back together now and just as I though the set screw on the top input shaft gear had backed out allowing the gear to rotate a little on the shaft.

Overall I love these drives, very smooth and quite, not a drop of water in the boat. The Graupner drives...the way the shaft and steering was the water would leak in like crazy. The hull was bone dry even after floating in the pool for 20 minutes AFTER the run.

The only thing I don't like about the outdrives, need a lot of space to turn. No sharp turns with these drives, my canal is only about 50' wide and its lined with boats on both sides so to turn around it's close. But it's to be expected with the power passing through a U-joint, and out in open water it won't be an issue.

I'll get some running video this weekend.

[Newboater]

On the turn around couldn't you use just a little reverse to give yourself some extra room if need. By the way beautiful looking set up. Would love to see a video

[ScarabChris]

On the turn around couldn't you use just a little reverse to give yourself some extra room if need. By the way beautiful looking set up. Would love to see a video

Yes of course and I had to do it a few times when I thought my loop was getting close to a docked boat. Just have to bring it to a stop, turn wheel in opposite direction and back up.

What would be really cool......and it probably exists.....is when turning to full lock the inside motor slows down giving the outside motor the ability to help the boat turn sharper. I do this every time I turn my real boat into the canal, it's a tight turn so I pull the inside engine to neutral and give the outside engine a little more throttle which helps whip the stern of the boat around the corner.

[fweasel]

What would be really cool......and it probably exists.....is when turning to full lock the inside motor slows down giving the outside motor the ability to help the boat turn sharper. I do this every time I turn my real boat into the canal, it's a tight turn so I pull the inside engine to neutral and give the outside engine a little more throttle which helps whip the stern of the boat around the corner.

Yes, very cool

[ScarabChris]

Working on the GoPro mount now. I want to get some up close video of the drives and exhaust (cooling water discharge) at high speed. I also have an extension so I can point it forward and see over the bow.

[srislash]

Yes of course and I had to do it a few times when I thought my loop was getting close to a docked boat. Just have to bring it to a stop, turn wheel in opposite direction and back up.

What would be really cool......and it probably exists.....is when turning to full lock the inside motor slows down giving the outside motor the ability to help the boat turn sharper. I do this every time I turn my real boat into the canal, it's a tight turn so I pull the inside engine to neutral and give the outside engine a little more throttle which helps whip the stern of the boat around the corner.

Just need a channel mixer, ask Craig where he got his. I had one made for me but it was like $50

[ScarabChris]

Got an onboard video of the drives. I took a forward video also but it didn't record for some reason. I may have not held the record button down long enough when I got it going. I'll get another couple videos this weekend. I'll get the wife to record it and I'll get a forward facing onboard video.

I need to move the trim tabs up a little, they are "scooping" water and throwing it all over the place.

Look at the amount of cooling water coming out of those faux exhaust pipes....dayum! LOL.

This boat is FAST! I adjusted the drive trim but now they are a little high, this thing gets squirrely at 3/4 throttle. When at full throttle it's riding on the 2-3 inches of the keel. I'll put my GPS in the next run to get an accurate speed but I would guess an easy 30 MPH. This video does not show full throttle. I did the full throttle runs on the forward facing onboard video that didn't record.

Drive height on the transom is good though as you can see the cav plates fully out of the water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjjU...ature=youtu.be

[fweasel]

That's one of the coolest RC boat videos I've ever seen!

[ScarabChris]

That's one of the coolest RC boat videos I've ever seen!

Did you notice my s**t eating grin when I shut the camera off? LOL. That face shows how I felt about the run. Wait until I get the splashing from the trim tabs eliminated, you will be able to see the mechanics much better.

Did you see my on board videos from many years ago on the RC Scarab? I'm repowering this one too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iVAx02PH1c&t=53s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-A_3Bo-PLs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCilsao6d8k&t=168s

[srislash]

Very nice vid, love the action viewpoint. I should try that on my drives to see how they act. I notice those tend to move up and down a bit. Is that th3 built in kick up Chris? Mine just have a bit of slop in them, lol.
Now I have to watch your others

[ScarabChris]

Very nice vid, love the action viewpoint. I should try that on my drives to see how they act. I notice those tend to move up and down a bit. Is that th3 built in kick up Chris? Mine just have a bit of slop in them, lol.
Now I have to watch your others

The drives move up and down because I have a machine screw just stuck in hole that the trim goes in to hold the drives at the angle I want. I have a couple O-rings on the screws to space them so the movement is the thrust of the props compressing the O-rings. I'll get that sorted out too.

They will kick up if I hit something. Also giving the motors to much reverse will cause the props to suck the drives up.

[Kmot]

For some reason I stopped getting notifications of posts to this thread, from many weeks ago. So I dropped in to check and wow, your boat is completely changed now from the Graupner's! Your method of installation really looks cool. My pond has been unusable for months and have not even run mine a second time yet...

[ScarabChris]

More videos. Moving the trim tabs up made a world of difference. Now I need to angle them down slightly to stop the porpoising. In the last run the port motor threw the U-joint which you can hear. The flung U-Joint also took out the water cooling hose for that motor which is why you see water in the hull. The GPS clocked 32 MPH max speed and I did not even give it full throttle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDcd...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD-B...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As_V...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDbQ...ature=youtu.be

[ScarabChris]

For some reason I stopped getting notifications of posts to this thread, from many weeks ago. So I dropped in to check and wow, your boat is completely changed now from the Graupner's! Your method of installation really looks cool. My pond has been unusable for months and have not even run mine a second time yet...

Yeah man I tried real hard to keep the Graupner drives but they just aren't made to handle the power of the motors I'm using. The moment I got the gears meshed just right it ran sweet but not for long. All those Graupner drives need is hardened steel gears and they will be able to take the power. I am going to keep them and store them in hopes one day I come across some really good gears for them and then I will use them on a future build.

The AMPS drives are built to take the power of a big nitro or 30cc gasoline engine so they can take the power of these brushless motors. That doesn't mean they are without flaws. The shaft seals aren't the best so water gets into the gear oil after each run. I really wish they had true seals on the upper input and prop shaft.

[Kmot]

I hope my old school brushed motors don't ruin the gears in the Graupner's. I believe they were made for those motors so hopefully mine will be okay. Your boat is looking awesome!

[CraigP]

Brushed motors develop torque slower, which should be much easier on the gearing in the drive. I think that’s a good choice! You can also reduce the rapid rise in torque on a brushless (or any motor) by slowing down the speed of the throttle channel, a feature many xmitters have.

[srislash]

More videos. Moving the trim tabs up made a world of difference. Now I need to angle them down slightly to stop the porpoising. In the last run the port motor threw the U-joint which you can hear. The flung U-Joint also took out the water cooling hose for that motor which is why you see water in the hull. The GPS clocked 32 MPH max speed and I did not even give it full throttle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDcd...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD-B...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As_V...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDbQ...ature=youtu.be

Well that certainly cleaned up the water running everywhere on you.

It looks like it wants to run light for sure. Very light adjustment on the tabs. It doesn’t usually take much

[ScarabChris]

Well that certainly cleaned up the water running everywhere on you.

It looks like it wants to run light for sure. Very light adjustment on the tabs. It doesn’t usually take much

Yeah for sure the tabs needed to be moved up. I think I got the drive angle perfect, just need to move the tabs down a little. Hard to see in the videos my wife took with her phone but when it's "gettin it" the hull is riding on the last 3 inches of the keel.

[zooma]

Hey, Chris, hate to see you running in salt water. Are you aware of the RC boat lake at West Delray Regional Park?

[ScarabChris]

Hey, Chris, hate to see you running in salt water. Are you aware of the RC boat lake at West Delray Regional Park?

Nothing wrong with running in salt water. Yes I know of plenty of lakes but I have no desire to load everything into my truck and drive, especially to the one 30 minutes away in Delray. I have lots of water right in my back yard so why would I want to load all my crap and take a long drive to test my boats when I can walk out back and toss them in the canal? I got into RC boats because I grew up on real boats and I like bringing my RC boats out in open water on my real boat.

I don't see salt water as a problem, it's just water. I rinse and flush the salt water after each run. All my boats run in salt water and I have never had a salt water related problem.

[emspjay]

Awesome build! That is so cool!

[ScarabChris]

Thanks for the compliments. I'm almost done with the mechanics. Next is the cosmetic stage. Stay tuned....

[ScarabChris]

Working on the cosmetic end of the build. While waiting on a new wrap from MonoJeff...I'm doing something different with the hatch. I never liked the huge scoops on the engine cover part of the hatch on these Apache 50's. So I cut them off and put in some clear blue acrylic. I haven't trimmed it out yet. I'm in the marine LED business so I may put some LED strip lights inside just for the "cool factor" which is demonstrated by putting a flashlight in the hull.

I though it would be cool to be able to look in and see the motors.