OK, having recently returned to this amazingly addictive hobby I decided that the hulls that I have are 1) not enough or 2) need to be rebuilt either from the ground up or as the big gun ships they started out as. To that end I have obtained a Mogador hull from Froggyfrenchman. It is scheduled to arrive today while I am at work and I am looking forward to starting this build. I have built before. Several actually but this will be the first in about 10 years. I will be looking for advice and direction since there have been tech upgrades and building technique changes. Also, I am building this ship primarily so that my 8 year old daughter will have something to battle when the battle falls on a weekend that she is with me. Now for the plan as it stands. The plan: 1 armed rear facing turret to take best advantage of the speed of this destroyer. .5 unit pump. Brushed motor or motors with esc that I have from previous ship abs based super structure. home made props. I have a new 3 channel radio and receiver. My current questions are this: Should I go with 1 motor with a geared setup for 2 props or 2 motors and either geared or direct drive and then adjust the endpoint on the esc? What pump should I consider? What drive motor size? Layout and number of ribs to cut out of the fiberglass hull? Thanks in advance. I see that there has been a recent build for a moggy and I have read through it a few times. It has been a great help and inspiration.
I am happy to see someone building this boat. I like the idea of the rear cannon, and the 1/2 unit pump. Does your 3 channel have end point adjustments? Especially for the ESC? My old destroyer had B/C 365 motors using Dumas dog-bone universals. I liked the idea of having two motors. In case one goes dead. And I used a B/C micro pump. But that was a long time ago. And I have not really kept up with the tech that everyone uses now-a-days. But in any case. I do look forward to seeing this ship on the water. Mikey
My plans at this time are as follows: Dual motor direct drive with esc. Probably an older Mtronicks Micro pump from Battlers connection Single unit aft mounted cannon 16 gram CO2 system I do believe the radio system I have does have end point adjustments. It is a new radio so I am not really that familiar yet. Still up in the air would be the power system. I think that the pump is going to be continuous run possibly with a separate battery pack. What do you recommend for such a small ship? If I have the weight when everything is installed I would like to add a little bit of a bilge keel for stability.
You won't have room for two battery packs. In my Mog I'm running a 2.6AH 4S lipo pack. That's 16.8V to the motors and pump. That pack ran the boat through a 1 hour scenario battle with pumping the whole way no problem. You really need to settle on motors before making voltage decisions. Take a look at the following motors. I haven't tested these yet in the Mog but Caleb has in one of his smaller hulls. The motors I'm currently running are working well but out of production. http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G9332 For the ESC I really like the Wasp from Robotpower. It's expensive, but small and absolutely bullet proof (with proper water proofing). http://robotpower.com/products/wasp_info.html
Those are basically the radio shack motors. That is pretty much what I was thinking. How well do those push your ship?
That's what he is saying, yes. But to put that in perspective, he's running a 2.6AH 4S pack (14.8V), which is equivalent to two 2.6AH 2S packs (7.4V each) wired in series. So if you are going to use a 4S pack, you'll only have room for 1 pack. But you might have room for two 2S packs if you wanted to run the boat at 7.4V instead of 14.8V.
Pretty much settled on these as motors since I have used them in the past, they are small and inexpensive and relatively easy to come by. Thoughts? https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-9vdc-micro-super-high-speed-motor
These are totally inappropriate for a direct drive setup IMO. You want something with an rpm in the 7 to 10K range at your selected voltage. They may work if you have tiny props but that won't push the Mog up to 22 seconds. I am building a test rig where I can measure stall torque and free rpm of these smaller motors. If you can wait a few days I can have some better recommendations for you. I have a bunch of commercially available motors that I will compare to the motors currently in my Mogador. The current motors push the Mog to 22 seconds with 1 1/8" props using a 4s pack (without melting or burning brushes).
Ok, so it has been a few days since I have reported anything. I know that without pics I am just peeing in the wind but I will mention what I have done anyway. I have the motors purchased, the rods and tubes to make the prop shafts and stuffing tubes. I have the cap rail started being installed and the chain drive for the rudder setup. Have decided that abs plastic will be used for decking and super. And I have the radio from a previous setup. Had to purchase a dremel style tool and will be looking to purchase a scroll saw very soon. I even purchased the brass for the props along with the collars for them. I should have pics soon. I still have to purchase pump, batteries, cannon and co2 system. Once I finish the cap rail my next step will be to mark out ribs and cut the windows. Since this ship will be for my 8 year old, it has to be fast and simple. She also said she wants to paint it pink and purple camouflage. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
My plan, if I ever build a ship from a fiberglass hull, is to let the hull cutting till last. That way you don't have to sheet the boat to go try it out at the pond, and you don't have to worry about the balsa getting all beat up while you're building it. Again, just my opinion. Follow it at your own risk.
Way back, when I built my first ship, USS New Orleans I sheeted it way too soon, and kept putting my fingers through the hull while working on it. This occasioned some rather salty language when I do so, and my wife would complain "You are going to let someone shoot holes in it, why are you complaining."
Although she makes a valid point she clearly didn't realize the holes are a bit smaller then a finger lol
Cut it first. It makes building so much easier. You need the holes in the side to see how things fit. To reach into the hull. You can't get the entire deck easily sealed without the sides of the hull open. If you want to test it without sheeting use duct tape as sheeting.
Ok, so since I got paid on Friday I figured that I would order a few pieces for this build. I purchased dog bones, rudder post, a pair of prop shaft supports and a micro pump from BC, I ordered the abs plastic for deck and super from grainger and I ordered the GI regulator from amazon. Hopefully all will arrive intact. I have cut the holes for the prop shafts and started assembling the stuffing tubes. I think I need to start looking for a scroll saw soon. Next step is to layout and cut windows. I think that I need to purchase the cannon after windows are cut.
Dude, If you have any plumbing skills I'd highly recommend building a cannon similar to below (ignore the plastic mag) (you could also convert a BC or Strike cannon to similar). Stock cannons have that brass right angle breach which adds top-weight and takes up more vertical space (both commodities in short supply on the Mogador). The bent steel uptube breach (pictured) saves weight and space. An aluminum barrel and magazine helps also.
