Ok, I have a question for those who have built more ships and understand the rules better than me. So the KE7 class of ships had sponsons on the sides of the hull to extend the deck for the secondary turrets as shown in the photo below. Now the hull I have doesn't have these modeled but I would like to add them. So I'm wondering, do they get treated like a casement and be solid, or do they constitute part of the hull and have to be penetrable? Either way I'm allowed a stringer underneath it, right? Thanks!
I'd say it's a bump in the hull just like a bulge or armor belt. Use a stringer on the bottom and put a couple of your ribs on the side.
Well, this is how the drive train is gonna look. ESC's sit right behind the motors, bolted in place. Motors will be cinched down with zip ties, and some dogbones for the universal link.
I've used the dog bones in my cruisers for many years. Have some spares they do snap. Check the plastic regularly to see how it's wearing. Even the brass parts where out after 5-7 years.
The dog-bones last longer if they are aligned straight with the shaft and stuffing tubes. I chewed up pinions in Kumano the past year with the old gearbox, bearings were finally wearing out after 5 years, but have been using the same plastic dog-bones for the past 5 years with little wear.
Not stock, I had to turn them down to fit the universals. If I moved the motors to the extreme sides and come up with a different mount I could get the motors lined up with the shafts.
I don't have any photos, but the process was simple. Just run the motor and use a file to grind down the shaft.
So, work on this boat is moving along. Since my last post I've gotten the motor mounts glued down, ESC's securely fastened, firing boards prewired and waterproofed, stuffing tubes are now glued into the boat, and a lot of other things worked out in my brain but still need doing. Cramped in there, but it's clean. Pump mount is in the works.. Pump esc is zip-tied to the cross member. A piece of 1/8 alum is glued under the cross member to give it support and provide a heatsink for the esc. Waterproofed firing board: conformal coated in E6000. If the weather permits and I get enough time to work on her, I could have the King ready for the Spring Regionals. We shall see.
A lot of work has been done over the weekend. Here's an update. Over the weekend the solenoids got reducer fittings in preparation for plumbing. The 'in' and 'out' ports on the Spartan solenoids have 1/8" NPT threads. To reduce that down to sizes more suited for our purposes, I made reducers out of a 3/16" compression coupling cut into two pieces. The one on the left gets threaded to 10-32" and the threaded section on the right get a 3/32" copper tube soldered into it. The bow gun solenoids with 1/8" in. hose barbs. Also constructed over the weekend was the wiring harness. A total of 5 power connections were needed: 3 for the drive motors and pump, and two for the solenoids. 4mm bullet connectors for the battery connection, XT60's for the drive and pump, and 2mm bullet connectors for the solenoid connections. Here's the dual bow cannons power connection. Motor are ziptied down now and the beginnings of the pump mount can be seen. McMaster Carr provided me with the base component for my all-stainless props. More to come on that later though. Till later...
