My batteries and Hansen Hobbies order came in today! The decks are cut out and I need to finish the additional sub-deck height cutouts tonight. Layout is locked in, and it looks like I will be able to add two secondaries: one each port and starboard about 65% aft. Weight with all the internals, minus ammo and CO2 comes out at 10lbs. I will wait on the concrete sealer until I am close to completion so I can add lead shot to the bottom of the hull so I don't have to add too much ballast inside the finished hull area. Space is tight amidships for my radio, wiring, and pneumatics, but I should be good.
The sub-deck is finished, with support bracketss made for the secondaries. I have started work on cutting the deck hatches. I hope to have everything (final contours, sealing, fiberglass) on the hull finished this weekend.
The hull and decks are complete. Everything is sanded/blended to shape. I just need to fabricate the other four servo mounts, then I can start sealing/fiberglassing.
All eight servo mounts are done (rudder, 2 rotates, 2 elevation, 3 firing), the rudder and linkage are done, as are the poppet mounts.
I didn't finish sealing this weekend. I got one layer of fiberglass on the bottom and about 70% of the inside of the hull. The weather today was not as helpful as I expected in getting the epoxy to cure. While I was waiting on the epoxy, I knocked out the superstructure except for the rear mast and some stand-alone platforms.
Still not done sealing the hull, as I have been under the weather the past couple of days. but here as asked: Four of the secondary turrets are balsa blocks, the other three are hardwood and hollow: two for armed guns and one is a cover/protector for the external safe switch.
The boat is 98% sealed. I need to add spar varnish to the very tips of the bow and stern plus epoxy the secondaries. Construction wise: I need to make the armed secondary turrets, main turrets (which will be done last), cut the main barbets to height, final fiberglass of the bow and stern, and make mounts for the secondary cannons (which will be after I have all the internals installed). My ESC and ammo should arrive tomorrow from Strike, and my rotate linkage should arrive Friday. I am going with the o-ring method since it is so easy to install. I hope to sheet the hull Friday night so I can do a float test with the internals temporarily in so I can get the ballast right over the holiday weekend. I think I've done my prep work on the internals well enough I should be able to install them in about six hours. As usual, I'm pushing it to be ready for the battle, but I should be able to make it.
It's looking very nice Dustin. I like the toggle switch cover. Have you considered putting a wedge in the turret so the switch cannot be moved with the turret cover on? That way you would have a positive indication of the switch position, i.e., turret forward is armed, turret backwards is safe.
Actually, I designed it just to keep hits from shutting off the gas. I will take a look to see if that is possible.
Alas, that will not work for two reasons in combination: The turret is asymmetrical on the inside, causing the switch to go to "arm" position when the barrel is forward, and since the superstructure is in the way, I cannot get the barrel to face astern. About half of my attempts to try it about 45 degrees off stern ended up arming the system as that is the direction of the spring returned throw of the switch. I cannot do a "screw" plane to safe at 90 degrees either because I misinterpreted the level 3 deck as the level 2 "building" and cannot turn the turret that much..
Did some electrical work tonight. I replaced the Tamiya connector on the ESC with a Traxxas male, capped the pump motor, and started wiring my pump relay. Unfortunately, I crossed + and - on one side of my hookup and summoned magic blue smoke from my NERS and flyback diode on the relay. So I ordered some more components that should arrive Thursday if they ship out Tuesday. If they do not ship out, then I will have to fit in a micro servo and switch somewhere--likely all the way in the bow. I managed to replace the flyback diode on the relay board in the meantime.
Weight with most of the components came out to 15.5lbs when making allowances for CO2 and ammo, so I went ahead and added the sealant to the bottom of the hull. Once the little bits and pieces I forgot to weigh are in, I should be very close to standard displacement. The boat is sheeted and I have started on the paint. In the morning, I will start on the blast shields and internals. I burned out the flyback diode on my relay again, so I will probably just go with the pump always on for now.
Looks nice - keep sending the pictures. They are the only means that I (in Alaska) get an idea what other folks do. Cheers. Thomas
Holy cow, space is tight in this thing! It took me an hour to get my drive train hooked up due to the fact that I kept dropping things and had to use tweezers to get them back. Apparently, the only place I will have room for my receiver is in the bow or above my rear accumulator. Above the accumulator makes more sense because all but two of the servos are in the rear--however, space is more restricted there. It is starting to look like I will not have room for my secondaries. Taking a short break, then back to the shop. I will post some pictures tonight.
I will eventually learn not to estimate time to complete a task.... The internals are done with the exception of the forward rotate linkage and the last few pnumatic connections. The secondaries are armed, but I do not yet have mounts for then. They will be aimed 45 degrees to the stern to keep torpedo boats honest. [FONT=arial, sans-serif][/FONT] I was extra careful to make sure nothing interferes with the dogbones. Tomorrow I will finish the hookup and program the radio.
While I was at it, I did a float test. Just short of the waterline. Once I add ammo and CO2, I should be good.
Well, I hit the program button on the ESC and that produced flame and smoke. All eight servos were hooked up, and the pump battery is on a separate circuit. I think it was because I had the servos hooked up. I had never seen an Mtroniks smoke before, then two in the past six weeks. I am trying to decide what to do next.
Plan B: Traxxas waterproof ESC running drive on 6.6V (4500mAh cell) with the BEC disconnected. Castle Creations 10A BEC powering the receiver and servos on the other 4500mAh 6.6V cell. The less than ideal news? As this is a car ESC, I have to "brake" before going in reverse. The Fantastic news? The drive motors draw 2.8A under stall load at 6.6V, and I now have three compatible spare 6.6V battery packs for my drive. Matt ran a 1/44 South Carolina at 38.5 seconds at 6v with these motors, so this should be enough to get me to 44 seconds, given that I am 12" longer, an inch or two wider, and less then five pounds heavier. Now I'm off to the shop to get some time in redoing what needs to be redone...
Most car ESCs can be programmed to avoid needing to do the brake-neutral-reverse shuffle -- although I only know how to do that with Hobby King Car ESCs.
