My first fast electric boat !

[DeltaAPmech]

Thanks Tony !!
Progress has been at a standstill. I am going to get it done but I have been busy swapping my camper trailer brakes from electric drums to electric over hydraulic disks. Camping season is close and dealing with towing around these nuts that have drivers licenses is interesting at times and I need to be able to stop quicker.
The other problem is the weather. Can?t paint in all the rain we are having lately. Don?t give up on me it?s gonna get done as quick as I get time.
Pete

[DeltaAPmech]

I finally had a chance to paint. It?s not much but it?s a start. I put down the white. Now it has to dry forever and I can mask it off and put down the next color. I was thinking about having a prize for the one that correctly counts the number of runs in the paint but there are just too many of them for me to count to know who would win?.

I sure do hate painting, I want it perfect like a show car finish, but I don?t have the skills to achieve that.

Pete

[Xrayted]

I built a Miss Tide Hydro many years ago and rattle canned the three colors used on the boat, then had a sign shop cut me vinyl graphics for it since the Tide boat has a simple scheme that is easy to duplicate and easy colors to see. Then I took the hull to a cheap auto painter place like Maaco, and asked if they would shoot it all with clearcoat for me. They didn't charge me much because they used what little is left over already in the gun after doing a car, so the majority of labor to paint had already been done. The hull looked amazing with the deep automotive clear, and one would never know it was a rattle can paint job!

[DeltaAPmech]

Hey now that sounds like a good idea! I would have never thought of that. I’ll have to talk to the shop near me!

[DeltaAPmech]

Put another color on the boat. I managed to sand down the runs and figure the clear coat will gloss it back up. I may have to repaint the white in a few places where the sanding made it a little thin. I?ll decide when I can look at it in bright sunlight.

[DeltaAPmech]

Another color sprayed on. I?m beginning to wonder if I should have gone with lighter colors to be able to see the boat better. Not sure how visibility works with these fast boats. I know my planes need to be really easy to see, but these boats do throw up a big rooster tail of water marking where it is. I guess I?ll see??or maybe not🤪🤪🤪

[Xrayted]

Darker colors will be fine for running the boat. The visibility issue can come from being dead in the water with other boats running around it. Dark colors on a low profile hydro sitting dead in the water can sometimes blend right in with the race chop and disappear depending on where the sun and shadows are on the water, making it harder for the others to see and avoid it. Its why the hatch is bright red on the carbon mono in my avatar. I ran it all carbon for a while, but it was dang near invisible when dead in the water with any chop to it

[DeltaAPmech]

Ok that makes sense. There is white on the boat mostly on the tall part of the canopy so that should help with visibility when it’s dead in the water…..I guess it’s not a matter of if it’s sitting dead but when !

[DeltaAPmech]

The painting gauntlet is ongoing. Wet sanded the whole boat to prep for the clear coat, took it outside to rinse it off and sun revealed that the lighter blue color was uneven.....UGGGGG.....Looked fine under my garage lights. So that meant a setback in time. I sprayed another round of paint on the lighter blue and in one area the new paint messed with the previous coat. I think that's what I hate the most, the can says 48 hours before recoat but its been twice as long as that and yet it still crinkled a bit. It may sand out. I really need to spend money on real paint someday. Being cheap is a lot of work and frustration. Its just a toy I know and I should just finish and run it, not make it ready for SEMA. Its gonna get beat up I'm sure.
Pete

[Gary]

A recoat should always be ...First coat very thin and let set up really well , Second coat a little thicker, Third nice and wet. When it's too wet from the start it will "eat" the coat under it.

[DeltaAPmech]

Yep I did that and yet still had an area that it chewed into the first layer of paint that had been cured for a long time. Oh well it will be good enough. Thanks for the advise. I’m sure I’m doing it wrong.

[DeltaAPmech]

Hopefully this is the end of painting. I put clear on the belly to cover the epoxy/glass. Now I just have to let it all cure and start polishing it up. I was going to clear the whole thing but I don?t want to take the chance of lifting the bottom color coats. The fancy 2K clear paint would work great but I don?t have forced air to breath and according to what I have read even the 3M company says they don?t have a filter to protect my lungs from whatever the nasty chemicals are in that paint. The body shop option is a great idea but I?m gonna cheap out ( notice a theme here ) and just wet sand and buff the rattle can paint. I?m ready to learn to drive this thing!!!
Pete

[DeltaAPmech]

Making progress, lots of careful sanding with 2000 grit paper followed by a heavy rubbing compound then a light version and then a wax. It's looking pretty good for a rattle can held by an amateur painter. It should look even better out on the water moving at a good clip. Probably won't notice the mistakes at that point.
Pete

[Xrayted]

That is blocking and polishing out nicely! Likely a good call on not bothering with any professionally done clearcoat for your first. Mine I was talking about above was beautiful until its third race when someone drove over it and prop walked over the deck

[DeltaAPmech]

Uggg that would be painful to have happen. I haven’t really thought about another boat doing damage. I’ve just been thinking the destruction would come from my own screwup. I’ve watched enough car racing to know what you’re saying is totally right it just didn’t click in my head. I really wanted the clear from a shop. Maybe if the boat survives for a while I’ll give it a beauty treatment with a pro. I saw the Facebook message for NAMBA time trials and the picture was of a boat tumbling in the air ! It was funny and intimidating at the same time.
Pete

[Gary]

Yea in my opinion getting them perfect is not worth it. The time I spent on mine was washed right down the drain after it's first ESC smoke show, than motor show, than another ESC fire LOL. The inside of the hull starts looking and smelling REALLY bad for sure. It happens !!

[DeltaAPmech]

Wow that’s a lot of smoke getting out of the electronics. Seems like this hobby is rough on expensive esc’s motors and batteries. It’s one more thing making me nervous about this boat. I haven’t ever played with something that pushes the components so hard.
I have a bad habit of trying to make stuff look good that ends up getting beat up a bit in use. I built this sail boat and worked really hard on the fit and finish. On the forums that support this kit one wise commenter said when you get it all finished and looking like a nice piece of furniture, then take it out to the driveway and drag it around, flip it over a few times and then you’ll be able to enjoy using it in the real world. I’ll tell you what he was right, the first rock I drug it across on its first launch nearly killed me! Since then it’s gotten easier and easier to just have fun with it as it’s getting more and more “character “. We are out on the lake camping this week and here it is beached on a not so smooth surface. Plenty of sharp rocks to slide across. On day one when it was newly finished I wouldn’t have done this but now it’s getting easier to do.
Pete

[Xrayted]

Ha, so true! I'm an RC heli guy as well, and the fastest way to crash a model is to buy a nice new shiny canopy with a custom paint job for it! The sailboat looks amazing!

[Gary]

If you use the right motor and an over kill ESC propped correctly you should get years out of it.

Im an rc heli guy as well and have crashed this thing at least 30-40 times. I keep all the parts in stock at all times and just put her back togather in no time.
Trying new stunts is always a love hate relationship LOL

[Xrayted]

Ive been flying helis 20 years myself, but there is no putting my last crash back together, as it was my dedicated speed competition model which is a 600 size running 2800RPM with a 14HP motor. That's blade tip speed of 250 MPH on that particular model. Speed models like this one can actually bend the blade grip bolts from the extreme forces on them.

Its a 150 MPH model, and the tail belt broke in the middle of a run, causing the belt to wad up in the gears and locking the head up instantly. It all happened in an instant and plowed in. Total annihilation with bits and pieces everywhere at those speeds, but I was at least able to salvage the motor and the FBL unit. Sorry Pete for the "alternate" hobby post, but I know you like all the toys!

[Gary]

That's bad ass and out of my league for sure.

[DeltaAPmech]

There is no reason to apologize at all, I do like all kinds of toys and I had no idea something like that even existed. 250 mph tip speed and 150 flying speed is insane. I love hearing about stuff like this. Besides I threw in a brake job on my trailer into this thread, if that’s not going sideways in subject matter I don’t know what it ��

[Gary]

That is a model,Xrayted that you have to REALLY have your sheet together or really bad / expensive things will happen and that is not including things beyond your control like a parts failure that you had.
I have always said that RC boating is in a class all by itself too. When you start going fast you need to have done your homework...plus a flipped or stalled boat becomes a challenge to retrieve and may kids/people will not be up for that challenging part of the hobby and quit or move on to something else .

Delta you have to be getting fired up for it's maiden voyage by now !!!!

[DeltaAPmech]

Yep I?m ready for it to be done but not ready to destroy it!

So here is the wing. 3D printed with light weight PLA for the airfoils and PETG for the bases. There is a carbon fiber rod down the center of the horizontal wing for strength, and the two bracing rods are the same material. It came out at 1.3oz with attaching screws so it?s pretty lightweight. Like I said it won?t run with this wing until it gets trimmed out and runs well without it and then I?ll add it and see what happens.
Pete

[Gary]

The wing on my H@M 1/10 Miss Bud makes a huge difference when changing the angles so you will for sure be able to use it to your advantage.

Ooops ... just looked and saw it is not adjustable so get it as neutral as possible.

[DeltaAPmech]

Ok Gary, that’s good to know. I do plan on making an adjustable version in the future. I can shim this one a little. It’s sitting level to the water at ride height for now. How much adjustment should something like this need? How many degrees or what kind of distance do you move the wing to get results?

[Gary]

Depends on how fast the boat is. AT 50mph and up the wing will make a difference at 1 degree or so. At 70mph the wing can make or break your performance.
Does it need it? No not at all as some of the fastest boats do not have them but it could become a tuning tool for your hull.

[DeltaAPmech]

Ok so shimming might be enough. Like I said it?s mainly just for show when sitting still.
Been polishing the belly. Should be done with all the decorations soon. Then it?s time to load up the running gear.

[Gary]

Did you happen to weigh the hull yet ?

[DeltaAPmech]

Nope I haven?t. I?ll throw it on the scale when I get the chance.
Ok I am saying ?uncle? on the finish.
Here are the last shots of it looking this good. It?s all down hill from here🤪 I think it came out pretty good for my ability.