Hey my name is Nate and I'm from Central Illinois. I work for Horizon Hobby here in Champaign. Great to see many of you guys using Spektrum equipment as I'm directly involved on the development side of things. I briefly got into Big Gun back in '06 but didn't dedicate much time to it. I just purchased a Lutzow kit from Strike yesterday and I've already done tons of research here on the forum so I can get building immediately. I'm also really heavily involved in building radio-control heavy equipment, semi tractors, airplanes, submarines, rock crawlers, and large scale gas trucks. For the heavy equipment, we use real hydraulic cylinders to do actual digging/loading. I do a fair amount of machining and fabrication so the boat build shouldn't be too much of a challenge. I've also recently acquired a 3D printer so that will definitely be a great time-saver for detail parts. I'm also an avid Milsim (airsoft) player. I use HPA systems in my rifle but according to some info on here it's already been attempted and proven not as efficient of an option. I still may play with it to see if I can't come up with anything. Using a scuba tank as a fill station is pretty handy in remote locations. HPA is an amazing system for stability and consistency. Here's some photos that certify my level of nerdery:
Working at horizon, did you ever meet Colton Clark? He is a friend of mine and a flying buddy. One of the best rc pilots you will ever see, and a super nice guy. He used to work there as a test pilot.
While waiting for my kit to arrive I've started gathering supplies needed. I've got Scotchkote and DWX resin/hardener on the way. Add to the list if there's anything I'm missing. I have all basic tools I should need unless there's something special I don't know about yet. Not sure what brand of dope to buy and how much I'll need. I plan to immediately build 1 or 2 more boats after the Lutz so I'd rather have more than I need. (I hate waiting on shipping)
When I was building my boats I compiled a list of ALL the supplies I used. I will see you in Saranac and compare notes
You certainly have the skills for this I think you will like this hobby (OBSESSION) I've been doing this for 12 years. father/son I can't wait for the first battle of the year!!!! We will have TWO other Military men at Saranac, stories will have to be paused for battles!!!!lol
Decided on the non-tautening Randolph dope and thinner. One would think working for HH it wouldn't be a problem for me to get it there.....except we don't have any aero gloss right now.
Low profile because of the limited space in the low rear deck on the Lutzow? I think I know a place to get servos.......*hint* it isn't hobby king.
Plenty of room under a Lutzow deck for anything short of a 1/4-scale servo. Anyone that thinks different hasn't built one People can poo-poo HK all they like, but the servos are smooth and reliable. And at $4 each, impossible to beat on value-for-the-money. At that price, I bought 6 and have 4 spares, but to date haven't had to replace any. If you want to run titanium-geared brushless low-profile servos then by all means do so, but it's completely unnecessary.
