I just need enough clearance to get the brackets up off the bottom so i can have enough room to slide some velcro strap underneath. I was looking at 1/4" as that is how wide my ribs are, but I think I will give myself some more breathing room.
Did some more work on the battery brackets tonight. I should finish up with these tomorrow. I also re-did the rudder linkage. Linkages and cannon mounts are my two least favorite parts about building.
No boat progress tonight. I just found out that the proposal I am writing will go to the chairman and vice-chairman for approval. I did manage to get in some day-dreaming on what paint scheme I should use. Battleship grey is a little boring, and I was wondering if I should think about one of the cammo schemes used by the Richelieu during the war. Any input from the Francophiles would be welcome.
I think you should use whatever you think looks cool and makes you say f@#$%^g right!!!!! (my inner Axis Smack-threader says 'paint it yellow! paint it yellow!) WHEW! Good thing I didn't listen, wrong thread. J
I removed the cable conduit and opted to go with another cable management technique. I also redid a bit of the plumbing by replacing the two 1/16" lines with one 1/8" line and move the T back to the stern accumulators. Don't worry J, if I couldn't take a little smack talk, I wouldn't have built French. I do look forward to sinking the first Axis ship I get a chance to in retaliation. It looks like my first battle with this boat I will be Axis---next time
Got some work done on a prototype cannon mount tonight. The idea is that depression can be adjusted by a screw coming up from under the barbet "deck". A turret: Y turret: I should get the other two fabricated and waterproofed tomorrow or Friday.I need to cut a notch into part of the deck/sub-deck inside the barbette on turret B so I can align my guns to port. Also, here is the end result of my re-plumb and change in cable management: I still don't have my battery brackets mounted to the hull yet--still stewing that one over. It looks like the main power "junction" area is going to be a bit of a birdsnest no matter what I do because of the ESC and motor leads ending up where my radio and firing board will have to go. I was thinking about doing a radio box, but everything is already waterproofed or has connectors on it.
Black 20, red 18. I am only drawing .6A under load, so I don't think it should be an issue. I decided last night to do a radio box anyway...
Nikki, my ships are never done. I just run out of time before the first battle. That said, she might be ready for the June 16 one-day in Xenia. I managed to get some work done on my radio box tonight. The main power bus is done. Main power will come in through a Traxxas male connector to a lighted 20A 12V automotive toggle switch. From there power goes to a cut down terminal block, whereit branches off to the drive ESC and the pump ESC. Drive power goes out through 4mm female bullet conectors, and pump power goes out through a female Dean's Ultra-Plug. I will be able to hook up the firing board to the bus, and outputs will be female Deans when the board comes in. All I have to do until the board arrives is to bring in my rudder servo extension lead with a small slot. I also dropped in a 7 channel Futaba Rx. The way I've done holes is to cut the leads to length, tin them, run them throught the holes, solder the connections to the plugs, apply Marine Goop to the holes. and pull in the leads until the plugs are flush against the box. I also went aroung the outside seams of all the connectors with some more Marine Goop applies with a spatula made from 1/32" ply. The 20A 12V switch has dielectric grease filling the inside of the toggle sleve and the seams of the toggle body have been hit with gap-filling CA. I will also drop in a few dessicant cylinders from pill bottles to help with condensation. This may not be very ortthodox, but all of the components have already been waterproofed, so this is something I am not very worried about. Normally having ESCs in an enclosed space is something I would worry about, but the load on both of then should be no more than 5-6% of rated capability.
Neatly done. That is a well oranized WTB. Not so sure about using an electrical box as a WTB. They are notorious for not sealing well and leaking when submerged. The issue is when the corner screws are tightened, the lid warps and allows water to leak in along the sides. I know this personally because I tried using one of these boxes in my first ship. Mark did a mod to that type of box that sounded like it fixed the problem. He basically drilled a hole in the middle of the lid for a bolt to screw down and pull the middle of the lid flat. Maybe Mark can chime in on how well that worked.
Mike, I was going to do a version of Mark's mod with a coupler instead of a CNC machined servo tray. I just want to make sure everything fits and I will not get any interference with wring before I tap that hole. It looks like I will not be ready for the battle next week as I have to go to Arkansas for some family stuff today--not sure when I will be back.
I love your mounts. I am thinking of building a set for my Washington. At least for the stern. My reason is to get them to shoot closer to her stern and stop using plastic shims to achive it. Thanks for the idea. KIm
Thanks! The prototype is just CA'd together, but the final ones will be silver soldered--if I can figure out a way to keep the 9/32" tubes parallel and stationary while touching them with solder. CA should be enough for Treaty, but I like to be careful. I got back from my trip today and had a little shop time. The battery mounts are attached to the hull and the retention straps have been cut to size and attached to the mounts. I've made a variation on Mark's junction box mod with a 10-32 coupler nut and some 10-32 stainless machine screws. I wanted to use Nylon like in the original, but I could not find any long enough to reach the coupler. I will have to be careful not to over-tighten. A 1/2" screw from the bottom holds the coupler in place and a 2" screw comes in from the top to attach. Neoprene washers are thickly CA'd to the top and bottom holes and another washer will be used at the top hole. Again, this may be overkill because every component inside the box is waterproofed.
IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP: Dielectric grease is a conductor. It will work its way down into a switch housing causing a short circuit when hooked up to main power. This will cause heat issues. There may be melted wire insulation. As the now useless switch is pretty much permanently attached to the box: on to radio box V2 it seems......
Ok, after a little family emergency back in Arkansas, back to Ohio and some more boat time! (everything is fine back home BTW, but catching up missing over a week in the middle of the biggest project of one's carrer is not fun) I finished up the battery brackets. Here is one showing my mount to the hull. The brackets act as a jumper connecting the two cells in each bracket in series. I added some tooldip to the inside of the brackets so the bottle will not short between the two brackets. Here are the two brackets with cells: [ And here is everything wired up: I also ordered a DSM2 compatable 6Ch Rx from HK to keep everything a little neater. I really do think I am going to stick with Spektrun radios because of the ease of programming. ( I do enough computer stuff at work) My new radio box as it currently stands: Here it is in the boat with main power turned on. Note the very bright blue LED on the rocker switch (Camera flash is on). I went with this switch because all moving parts would be on the outside of the box and it is sealed in the "Stem". Just a little WD-40 on the rocker after each sortie to keep corrosion at bay. Here is a shot looking forward through the middle section of the hull: Still no firing board. The order was placed in mid-April, so I might revert to ordering some Team Delta boards if I don't get definitive word this week. I've got a lot going on at work, so I might not be able to finish this until Treaty con. That really is unfortunate as I was really hoping to have a couple of battles under my belt before then, Not to mention getting my next battlestations project ready for late August or September--I haven't even enlarged the plans for that one....
