So recently I bought a Emile Bertin hull that was stripped of most of its internals. My plan is to install internals and run it until I get my King Edward VII running. So here are some photos of the ship as it came to me. Brushed motors will be upgraded to brushless technology. This ship had been previosly set up with a bow gun. I'll be switching it over to a stern.
I'll be using a 4000mAh 2S LiPo to power this one. Bottle and reg go in the middle. Pump and drive ESC's can be seen on either side of the bottle. Gearbox for the drive. And the gun in the stern with solenoid to run it. Enjoy! Vive La France!
That cannon is interesting... Is the interrupter in an elbow? That gearbox looks nice too. Are the files for that available somewhere?
That's just a standard cannon. It does have a brass T port on the bottom cap instead of the usual small copper tubes to power the piston and mag. I haven't posted the files for the gearbox yet as I'm still playing with it, but if you would like to try it PM me and I'll send you the files.
"Standard" cannon? Standard for what group? I've never seen one put together out of Clippard parts like that. Standard I'm used to is using copper "T" and "Elbow" fittings from Lowes / Home Depot..... Like this one:
Maybe he meant standard piston cannon. Many ways to skin a cat. I prefer the bottom gas feed. Less chance of pushing the piston to the side and jamming on the internal cap threads.
Steve has about the jist of what I meant. I guess the photos don't show the gun too well, but it is just like a BC gun just slightly different approach on Co2 distribution on the bottom cap.
Thanks! I'm interested as well with the gears. So far the current ones (abs) have some wear on them but are holding up decently. I'd like to try using some better ABS filament to see how they'd last. If ABS fails to take the stress I'll just print a set in nylon for awesome durability.
Since I've got all 3 of you talking about cannons... I've been playing around with some ideas and I'm wondering if the timing of these guns is sensitive enough that it matters whether the supply line feeds the piston before the mag? Would have a "T" at the end of the mag work as well?
It's essential that the first blast of air seats the piston up so only the bb on top the piston is fired. If the piston doesn't seat before the mag gets pressurized you could get spurts. A 'T' as a fill port could be used, but wouldn't be my first choice for a fill port.
I didn't build this gun, it came with the boat, but it looks to be 1/4" ID. So by gas hog, do you mean it will just use a lot of gas, or have you experienced other side effects. This is the only gun in the boat and it will have a whole 3.5oz bottle, so I'm not really worried about running out of gas.
all Fast Gun style cannons must pressurize the entire cannon before it can successfully fire. The more volume you have to fill, the lower your maximum rate of fire will be. And, given how much obstruction there is between the magazine and the ball in the breech, you probably won't gain the velocity benefit from greater volume, either. Honestly given your use, it'll probably be fine. Unless you're one of those folks who wants to tweak and optimize every aspect of your ship until it is impossible to improve further.
Just to clarify for those who haven't met him (or his son)....Charley is a great guy, founder of Battlers Connection. One of the nicest guys in a club full of awesome fellows. OTOH, he builds killer boats and takes great joy in using them.....very effectively.
Since there is no rush to get this boat ready with my King Edward VII completed, I decided to give this boat a more thorough refit. That means all the old foam waterchannel gets ripped out and replaced and basically clean out the whole hull and start over. Last night the boat was taken off the shelf and the waterchanned ripped out. I gave the subdesk a epoxy coating today since it didn't look to be waterproofed, or if it was it must have been a varnish. Either way, couldn't hurt. Rudder system and stuffing tubes look good, so they'll stay. My plan for this boat is to refit her as a backup/loaner boat to take to battles with me. She is smaller and easier to transport than the Suffren in that regard. To keep everything simple and cheap I'll probably go with brushed for the drive motors. Also planning on using printed nylon props. So I guess we'll see what happens from here. Stay tuned!
One of the essential properties of a backup boat or loaner is reliability. You want a boat that works when you need it, period. To try to implement this principle in my boat, the driveline is built to withstand brutal punishment and still function. Instead of using soldered props that can throw a blade if they hit a rock, I'll be using my trademark stainless SS (stupid simple) props. Previously proven to be indestructible on the Suffren. Like the name implies they are pretty easy to make if you have the right tools. Just make a disk the diameter you want and cut four blades into it. Then just give the blades a twist. Viola, done! Since the props will be able to take rocks no problem, there is no sense putting in a dogbone universal that could sheer easily with a sharp impact. So, I'm using the coupler that BC sells. Should be able to take impacts and wear. That's it for now...
I've always disliked "dog bone" setups a great deal. Too many types of failure. A coupler or beefy u-joint is definitely preferred.
