FN France - The Black Death

Looks great! I recommend putting another screen around the entire lower portion up to the sides, the single screen over just the inlet can get blocked more easily, the larger screen increases the flow area going to the pump, so much less likely to be obstructed

 

Yeah double-tapping on that. I had a similar screen and got clogged in seconds on the first sortie. next sortie, Tyler and Peter found a bunch of spare screen material and saved my bacon.

Kevin, have you ever seen that fluffy aquarium filter stuff used in place of/in conjunction with screen around the pump? I'm thinking the filtration-in-depth would help, but it's only a theoretical

 

In the past I have seen the aquarium filters used, only issue is when they clog it is not easy to clean. Moss plugged it up fairly quick and reduced flow to the pump. Another solution was to encase the entire water channel with screen at the top, this would extend around the pump as well, idea was increasing the surface area and no one place would be restricted by moss.
Easiest for me was the pump screen on the inlet, then another around the body held in place with a zip tie (around the can). Between sorties if the screen was getting clogged, just removed and replaced with a new screen zip tied to the can.
Good news is this is easy to check on the bench to see what will work, just add stuff to the water you pour into the hull and watch what works best.

 

Best solution depends on what kind of debris to expect. Balsa chunks are one thing, green pond-snot moss is another. You really want a fairly fine-grain mesh with a LOT of surface area, and easy cleaning. Covering the water channel is one solution, wrapping the whole pump in screen is another. A third is to build a large sump area around your pump, and put your filter on the sump. Either way, maximize your surface area so you still get good flow when it's half-choked with gunk.

 

Thanks for the ideas guys! I'll work on making a better pump screen.
Actually got to test my pump tonight. Optimum settings yielded 3.5gpm with 18amps of draw. Not bad I don't think. Could mess with the restrictor and get a few more tenths of a gallon but I'm happy enough to take it to nats this way.

 

Very nice, what voltage? Can’t wait to see it in action

 

Same as everything else, 24v.

 

Ah nice. I seem to remember you saying something about testing Steve's 24V philosophy.

Post some pics up of what you come up with for a screen system when ya get it knocked out. I just finished building the mounts for those stinger pumps on Idaho last week and am slowly figuring out how I want to screen them.

 

Will do.

Redid the rudder. Original rudder had the shaft too far back. It was an experiment to see if that would improve coverage and increase turning ability. Eh, didn't work very well.
New rudder has the shaft close to center and is a rectangle instead of slanted. Cut out some of the keel to make it fit. Turning is massively improved. Very glad I did the conversion.

And with those adjustable shafts, I just peeled off the old E6000, slid the shafts forward so they're tight to the rudder, and added more glue. Whalla!

 

lololol that bodes well for my rudder. you did the same thing as me. also, slick idea with the shafts. I used washers as spacers to get the right distance. worked out pretty darn well, but E6000--nice touch.

 

Getting very close to calling her done.

Made a pump screen. It has 3 layers of protection, metal screen over the pump inlet, screen covering the whole outside, and a removable basket that can be easily cleaned. Hope it works.



Built the stand. Yoga block worked great.

New rudder painted up and installed.


Added the Vichy franc back it.


She needs a few things yet like a bootstripe and a pressure test outlet but those are quick easy things. Everything else is looking good so fingers crossed she does well at nats!

 

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Don't forget to make spares of everything, especially if you're coming to Nats!


And the France is battle ready. Not done per se but it's ready to fight.

 

Okay! NATS report.

First off, big shout-out to @Nate G for hosting an amazing event. It couldn't have been better. Thank you.



Now, on to France. Gotta say, I love this boat. It's a hoot to drive and can take/dish some damage. Many times I was stuck in the middle of the Japanese fleet, fighting my way out. Even outnumbered 5-to-1 and being the slower boat it took a while to put her down, if at all. Sink damage was usually around 100-15-30 and that was with bad balsa. Overall, a very tough boat that won me Rookie of the Year.

I ran all week with not a single component failure, something I'm pretty proud of.
Some of the things I liked:

24v brushed drive worked like a dream all week. No failure and great performance. A couple people even commented on how quiet she was. Definitely a fan of this system and would definitely use it again.

My custom pump with soldered metal impeller kept me afloat most of the week. I sank a total of three times, all of them with pretty heavy damage. The screen I made right before nats did a good job of keeping the massive amounts of balsa bits coming off my sides from going into the pump. I'd say the damage control in this boat is satisfactory.

Eh, I could go on about every component in the ship but really it all worked and worked well. Pretty much all I did during the week was patch, load, fight. Extremely fun.

Some bad things:

My balsa suuuucked. I used lacquer to apply the silkspan and several vets took the time to explain how lacquer causes big chunks to blow out instead of leaving nice round holes. By Friday, I had some spots that were mostly paper, and I had to resheet the midsection and bow on the starboard side after night battle. Next time I'm using weldwood.


Not a major issue but the ROF on the guns wasn't as fast as my trigger finger. If I didn't slow myself down I'd end up blasting air into someone's sides instead of BB's.

There was one time where I test fired my bow gun right before battle and the switch stuck open, dumping gas. Pulled the boat in and couldn't get the switch to close so I just unplugged it for the battle. Adjusting the subtrim in the radio after the battle fixed the issue. Not sure why it changed though.

Almost had a disaster Wednesday or Thursday night. I had propped the boat on its side for patching and walked into the hotel room to get something. Heard a crash outside and found France had rolled over and fallen off the table. Luckily the only damage was a crack in the one drag prop epoxy job. Everything else luckily survived.


I really enjoyed battling France. This is my first real sidemount boat and I'm liking the hug-n-slug life. Can't wait to battle again.
Some photos from NATS.
Two Courbets about to sink @Panzer in a 2v1.

Nasty damage from one of the days. I think she sank.


Slow boat fleet launching.


France resting beneath the waves. Only the tip of her battle flag is visible.


Courbets all day!


Nasty damage.

...and more


French HQ, where most of the fun at Nats was had.


And I gotta share this glorious photo again.



Vive La France! I'm not a rookie anymore!

 

Where do you get those French flags?

Kotori87 told us at a build session you guys put a French flag on a British ship and it started working.

What is with those oversized, magical French flags? What sorcery is this?!?!?!
I want magic flags too!!

 

Join the French fleet is all I can say.

 

ONE OF US
ONE OF US
ONE OF US

 

You did quite well at Nats. France and the other little Courbets are nice tough little baguettes that worked well on the water. I definitely respected the stern end of those boats.

 

Nice! what did Craig bring to the 2V1 battle?

Also, how was the internal heat with that black paint job?

 

Thank you, sir. (Not sure which axis captain this is lol) I had lots of fun driving her. I noticed how the axis respected that stern.

Nagato. Wasn't a fair fight but we all had fun. The axis kept the insides water cooled all week. No problems.

 

More importantly, how effective were your repairs with that dark paint scheme? There's a reason I paint my PDNs bright colors, and it's not *just* to blind whoever looks at them. The light colors help me spot damage in need of patching, so I'm properly watertight before I head out again.

Glad to hear you had a good time. I really wish I could have been there, Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein are completely new boats after their overhaul. I still fully expect to sink every single sortie, but now I'll do so with empty magazines and a frosty bottle, blowing cold air at my surviving foes.