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Thread: Darin's ProBoat Miss Elam Race Prep

  1. #31
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    I decided to fab a new servo mount... Nothing special. Just a piece of 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum stock, cut and drilled up to fit...
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  2. #32
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    Once the mount is made, I marked the location... as far forward as I could get it and inline with the rudder arm, the used 6-minute epoxy to glue it initially in place.
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  3. #33
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    Once that was dried, I used some light glass cloth and some laminating resin to really secure it in place.
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  4. #34
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    Alright... after some pondering on the best approach, I decided that, due to the amount of blueprinting needed to get the sponson geometry where I wanted it, that adding ride-pads was the way to go.

    I fit some .020" G10 to the existing ride surfaces, and it was obvious that more was going to be needed... So, I used some 1/16" x 3/16" birch strips along the inside edge and aft edge to build it up. I CA'd these in place.
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  5. #35
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    Once the CA had dried, I carefully sanded in the angle I wanted. I used a strip of tape on the outter edge to keep it from getting sanded down.

    For the angles, I have the outside sponson (Left) at near Zero Dihedral, and the inside sponson (right) at 1 1/2 to 2-degrees (estimated... I'll measure actual from the pictures later). I used a block sander and some 180-grit to carefully sand then to shape, making sure to keep the length of the sponson as flat as possible.

    Willingness to take your time here and a lot of patience helps a lot... Get it right...


    After test fitting the ride-pads and making sure they fit properely, I sanded the leading edge of each at a taper to get it to blend into the front of the sponson with as little filler as possible.

    I also trimmed up the ride-pads to that they overhung the aft edge by about 1/16" or so, and they overhang the outter edges by a similiar amount. They are flush with the birch strips on the inside.
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    Last edited by Darin Jordan; 02-27-2009 at 11:41 PM.
    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  6. #36
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    Darin, are you going to fill it under the G10 on the side the strips are holding it?
    :::::::::::::::. It's NEVER fast enough! .:::::::::::::::

  7. #37
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    After a final check of the angles, I carefully epoxied the ride-pads on. I taped them down from the front to back, using electrical tape (it doesn't stick to the epoxy that runs out)...

    Make sure the pads are securely taped in place, then let the epoxy dry.

    Next... I'll tackle the turn fin and strut...

    I'll post some more pics tomorrow after I remove the tape and clean things up...
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  8. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ub Hauled View Post
    Darin, are you going to fill it under the G10?
    By the time I was done sanding the angles in place, there isn't much of a gap under there... The epoxy filled in what there was... I think this is going to work out SWEET... The angles are looking really good thus far... and the G10 will hold nice, sharp edges... and will be a nice clean ride-surface...
    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  9. #39
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    Did you level them out and take care of the dihiedral before the ride pad?
    "Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone except God.
    Billy Graham

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimClark View Post
    Did you level them out and take care of the dihiedral before the ride pad?
    Yes... I tried to just sand the factory surface, but it was too out of whack, so I added the birch strips, then sanded the angle I wanted. After that, the ride-pads layed perfectly flat onto the surface...
    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  11. #41
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    Why do you want the inner sponson with more angle then the outer?
    :::::::::::::::. It's NEVER fast enough! .:::::::::::::::

  12. #42
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    Done that before for sure
    Where do you get G10? Off stealth bombers/?
    Jim

    Quote Originally Posted by Darin Jordan View Post
    Yes... I tried to just sand the factory surface, but it was too out of whack, so I added the birch strips, then sanded the angle I wanted. After that, the ride-pads layed perfectly flat onto the surface...
    "Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone except God.
    Billy Graham

  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimClark View Post
    Done that before for sure
    Where do you get G10? Off stealth bombers/?
    Jim
    Nope... McMaster/Carr...
    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  14. #44
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    Cool stuff I may have to get some. How does it sand?
    "Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone except God.
    Billy Graham

  15. #45
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    Excellent job. You should see a big increase of speed and handling with those sponsons mods.

    Can't wait to see you get it wet.

  16. #46
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    I like that hull color. What color is it...Fluorescent Red or Fluorescent Orange? Have you found a match yet?

  17. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by detox View Post
    I like that hull color. What color is it...Fluorescent Red or Fluorescent Orange? Have you found a match yet?
    I'm not sure... I haven't looked yet... I've been trying to do everything I can to protect the factory paint and not have to repaint anything. The ride-pads, for example, will get left either as they are, or painted white... I'd prefer not to paint them at all... just adds weight and drag to an otherwise very sharp surface... I don't really care what the ride-pads look like... If you can see them, you have bigger problems than looks...
    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  18. #48
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    White is a good idea...maybe Flat White will break up the surface tension a little?

  19. #49
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    Ride pads are finished...

    They turned out very well, with one slight issue... The right-side pad slipped under the tape slightly and dried just a tough to the right of where I wanted it... Easy to deal with... I just sanded down the outside edge to get it straight with the hull, then sanded a bevel into the inside edge, which will act as a non-trip while the hull is sliding through the turn. Ideally, I'd have liked it to be flush and square, but I don't anticipate it being an issue.

    Once I removed all the tape, I used a block sander and scuffed the surfaces and sanded the edges to get them square and sharp. The pads a very flat now and solid.

    At the tops, the epoxy combined with the tape-down method I used blended them in almost perfectly. A light sanding here and it's good to go.

    Next I'm going to work on making a new turn-fin bracket.
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  20. #50
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    Just a few more shots to show the finished results...
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  21. #51
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    Here are the finished angles...
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  22. #52
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    I was thinking flat black would look good. Nothing slick. Alot of the hydros and drag boats have that on theirs but it is a special coating of something.

  23. #53
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    I don't think I'll be painting anything until I find out if it works first... there may be some fine-tuning that needs to be done.... Much easier to do if you don't have to get through the paint first...

    If I do paint them, it'll be flat white...
    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  24. #54
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    Why do you want the inner sponson with more angle then the outer?
    :::::::::::::::. It's NEVER fast enough! .:::::::::::::::

  25. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ub Hauled View Post
    Why do you want the inner sponson with more angle then the outer?
    Without getting into too much technical detail, which would likely give someone the opportunity to call me out on being totally wrong... it helps the boat track straighter and corner faster... Most of your fast Nitro riggers are done this way as well... and some even use toe-in on the sponsons...

    Maybe someone who knows more about what they are talking about could chime in and give more detail...
    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  26. #56
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    I initially set out to just modify the existing turn-fin assembly to give it more rigidity... I added a piece of .060" carbon fiber to the bottom of it and drilled it up. This bracket is PLENTY rigid and would work great...

    However, with the stock turn-fin mounting with only a single bolt and way up at the leading end, it flexes some laterally from this point.

    I decided to make an extended bracket and will drill up the turn fin for a second mounting hole at the top. This should firm it up.

    The stock turn fin should work well. It's very rigid and made of stainless. Just needs to be sharpened some and I think it should be up to the task. I'm not really that fond of curved/bent turn-fins, but I'm going to give this one a shot.

    The bracket I made is from some 7075 T6 aluminum angle pieces I had laying around. I got the stuff from Boeing Surplus, and it's INSANELY rigid... especially for being so thin...

    I think this new bracket may be overkill for most, but I'm going to do it anyhow!
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  27. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darin Jordan View Post
    Without getting into too much technical detail, which would likely give someone the opportunity to call me out on being totally wrong... it helps the boat track straighter and corner faster... Most of your fast Nitro riggers are done this way as well... and some even use toe-in on the sponsons...

    Maybe someone who knows more about what they are talking about could chime in and give more detail...
    that's what I thought Darin, but I always thought it was on the outer sponson?!
    Hmm, I'll research a bit more on that...
    :::::::::::::::. It's NEVER fast enough! .:::::::::::::::

  28. #58
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    No, inner sponson from all that I've seen. Darin hit the reasoning pretty well.

  29. #59
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    I made some more progress...

    Got the turn fin assembly ready mounted. I used some JB-weld to affix a piece of .090" carbon fiber to the new turn-fin bracket, then drilled up the sponson to fit. We are in luck guys... the ProBoat Miss Elam has an aluminum backing plate across the ENTIRE width of the sponson transom, so I just had to drill it up and tap it accordingly. I tapped it for 3mm screws so I the wrenches would be consistent.

    I decided for now to stick with the stock turn-fin. It's made of stainless and is actually VERY rigid. I sharpened it up a bit more and it's like a kitchen knife now. We'll see how it works before putting time into something else.

    For now, I'll also just leave it mounted with the single bolt, but I may add one additional in the future. I may also brace the bracket with a brace to the non-trip, but we'll see if it's needed...
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

  30. #60
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    After mounting the turn-fin, I found that the sponson has a fair amount of "flex" to it. This part was a pain to execute, but I layed in some 5.5oz Carbon Fiber cloth into the sponson the best I could. I cut one piece to go into the turn-fin area, and another to lay down the side, then epoxied the heck out of it. I may put down some more tomorrow, depending on how rigid it feels when I'm done.

    No magic tricks here, just a struggle and patience.
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    Darin E. Jordan - Renton, WA
    "Self-proclaimed skill-less leader in the hobby."

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