I just picked up one of these. So far, very slick. View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C1BZSYO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
wow. that looks cool! Alright, sorry @Kevin P. for the tangent. I'll slink back over to my texas build and get out of the way here. The Bellerophon looks great so far!
I just gave one to Jeff and he loves it. I couldn't use it as it requires 9v minium so it was a hassle to run around with a receiver battery (9v) connected to it.
Clamp on meter just goes around the red lead on your battery, spring loaded, they sell them at my local HD, for around $40.
Some progress so far today. I re-evaluated the motor spacing and moved them about 1.5” forward, slightly better shaft angle Overhead with other components Another view Simple shafts, brass tube and oilite bushings Shafts in place Alt view Taped up the bottom Extra tape is always worth it to keep the epoxy in the right place View of mounts. Roughed up and holes drilled for better adhesion. The 90 degree angle is flush with outside contour of hull I CA-ed the shaft end holder to the hull so nothing moves From aft Used a bed of epoxy and micro fibers and set the mounts in, covered the top. The first epoxy job was to just get the mounts in, once the shafts are set I will pull the motors and glass over the top of the mounts More or less OK with how the first set went It set quickly, so I taped up the bottom to prep to epoxy the shafts. Before shot After. I was careful to not bend the shaft with tape, it may have happened on agincourt slightly Inside set up Prepped pieces of mat to reform the hull around shafts Filled with micro fibers and pieces of mat I also cut holes for struts, much easier to do before installing shafts. I will use pieces of 3/16 ply for struts I’m the morning I will pull tape, then disassemble the motors and shaft, then finish patching the holes in the hull I cut before, install struts, and reinforce the motor mounts
Looks good, but still a bit steep. The metal Dog-bones Marty told us about would have fixed the angle issue.
Yeah, I have some metal dogbones but I wasn't happy with the fit with the couplings I had, and I've spent enough time knocking Steve's no-flex couplers that I figured I should try them out I pulled the tape Put the props on just for show. 1.5" kort's from Chris' shapeways site, very nice I left a larger gap than normal for these, not a huge deal with the dual rudders Clearance to hull is good I cleaned up the epoxy job with the dremel Test fit motors. Looks like it will work Added a few layers of mat to the extra hole and over the mounts to better lock them in place, so they are now integral to the hull I also cut little shaft struts. I was going to epoxy them in place now but I decided to coat them in epoxy to waterproof, then I will attach to top of shaft with E6000 and fiberglass the top part to the hull through the holes I cut
What were you knocking? The whisper quiet operation, the 100% power transfer to the props, the awesome look of the installation, or all three?
They look great, but in Kevin's boat, they just still look too steep of a mount to me, in reverse its going to pull the stern under maybe.
Won't know till testing. I'm just glad to see Kevin experimenting with the method using the outrunners.
Some progress today. Started with drag shafts. Main part is 9/32 bass tube, with each descending size and 6-32 bolts. Cut little sleeves, CA-ed them together. I used E6000 for the threaded portion, will see how it works out. The nut is keeping tension on the bolt while it dries Assembled with strut Marked holes. Generally want to keep disks inside of the beam, not quite possible here Drexel with cut off disk is most used tool. Last year I switched to the big bag of disks, very good decision Holes cut, test fit with reference disk Also sized up the rudder so I could figure out rudder post placement Marked on hull where to drill Test arrangement for servo placement, probably enough room to have it forward of posts To get the post aligned, I use a longer run inside the rudder post tube to better judge alignment. Then for this case with 2 rudders I decided to just use filler to support the posts and not deal with sanding a block down right Anchors to a temp alignment piece Checking in front of screws I CA-Ed the rudder posts and drag shafts in place to make epoxying easier Taped up And fiberglassed Temp barriers for rudder posts. I will build the servo mount off of this base and will have a piece of wood that holds the top of the posts and the rudder servo to keep gears engaged . Balsa block to take up space Side view of the days progress Pretty much done with drive stuff, little things here and there left. I will probably make the rudder servo mount soon, also consider water channel and then deck. Deck will be tricky with the wing turrets, but probably a few weekends to go before I get to that point
I don't imagine bringing new, barely tested hulls to NATs is the best way to do things... at least you have a million other ready and tested hulls to choose from though.
Allied will try and every year new and better will appear. And then the sinking starts and gets worse day by day. Axis field older boats generally and older and more experienced captains. And win. Remember Winning is what matters. For some.
That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "These are the ushers of Marcius: before him he carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears: Death, that dark spirit, in 's nervy arm doth lie; Which, being advanced, declines, and then men die."
Monday morning Allied attrition is remarkable. The ~10 ship advantage typically falls to ~5 by the end of the first sortie. Some will be battle damage for those who 'forget' which axis ships they probably shouldn't go side to side with, others will be 'my pump melted(?)!' or 'they said war and I lost control!' or 'it was just working on the bench!' The allied admiral should impose a pump test for all ships on Sunday. Last year I ran the Missouri essentially brand new at Nats, 2nd time it had been on the water, the typical allied tendencies are hard to shake.
sounds like running new systems and ships all the time is a general drawback, and that, as in war, the experienced dude with only one boat is usually the most dangerous.
