Okay, there have been some delays, as the gears I have didn't fit the gearbox; new ones were ordered. I have gotten the 1/4 unit cannon built, and tested a servo mount that holds the pump switch and MAV-2, saving the space and weight of a second servo. Still need to get an accumulator big enough to fire 13 shots. Any ideas on sizing from the peanut gallery? Oh, el Almirante has been informally renamed the Othar Tryggvassen, in view of the audacity of a 0.5 unit ship and the attitude that one must have when driving it Feel free to google the name.
Karl - that is the finest webcomic ever! (for those who have not read it... go to www.girlgeniusonline.com and start from the beginning. It is a comic by the esteemed artist Phil Foglio and his wife Kaja. Prepare to be addicted. Brian Koehler is also an addict.) @Dave - I am using an accumulator that is charged from an offboard bottle and regulator.
Does it fire your 12 BB's single shot? You could use a Palmer, or strike fixed, with a Palmer adaptor with a 16 gram threaded disposable, should not weigh too much, if that does not work for you. It would last 3 sorties I think.
My backup plan is indeeed a Strike Models fixed regulator which is lighter than helium farts, with a palmer adapter. I am going to try a 1"x6" (or so) accumulator this weekend to see how many shots it yields when charged to 150#. If the accumulator works out for Othar, then the Strike regulator will go into Evstafi.
Well let me know, I have a adaptor and a few disposables you can try out if you dont have the parts yet, before you need to purchase them, to see if they work out.
I appreciate it Dave, but I got an adapter in trade for a Kent hull a while back (along with other stuff). I'm looking forward to installing your pump outlet As I get closer to having a complete ship, it's amazing how tight the packaging is.
Got some work done on the Tryggvassen tonite... got the MAG throttle done, rudder servo mount, and the gun. After I get the motor mounted tomorrow morning, I will be doing the last fiberglassing and then sheet him and drive him about the pool with panache. Pics to follow. The work on the cannon firing mechanism is stalled temporarily while I wait for Tower Hobby to ship me a new, more powerful microservo that can actually fire a MAV-2. But that's a minor detail {channeling Star Wars} 'What good are snub fighters going to be against the Death SoDak?'
After a lot of work yesterday, I may be becoming too proud of the technological terror that I've created... It did not get on the water yesterday. I got the motor installed and connected to my tiny lil MAG throttle. It's so cool watching the props turn Rudder is 100% also. Pump is installed, and the hull got fiberglassed. Gun was finished, test fired, and fitted. I even figured out how to recharge the accumulator without extra components. What stopped me was I had to figure out how big an accumulator I need to fire 13 rounds. I charged the accumulator from my old I-boat (1/2"I.D. x 95mm inside length) and got two shots out of it on one charge. Repeated 3 times to satisfy the scientist in me. So, I need roughly 6.5 times the volume. The 1" I.D. copper I had been planning on using needs like 200mm of length to accomplish this, which would be fine if I didn't need a receiver or pump switch, or a MAV-2 to fire the gun. So I go to Lowe's after I finish my coffee and try to find 2" copper pipe. That will be a tight fit, but much shorter for the necessary gas volume. Today he gets sheeted and I do a test drive!
Ay carajo it's been a long 2 weeks! I finally got to go out and work on Othar (and leak-test Scharnie's gas system before the Memorial day battle). A big holdup has been the gas supply for the gun. The biggest accumulator I can fit in Othar and still fit a pump will only deliver 6 or 7 full-power shots. Of course, my old regulator has been checked as low as 130# and that was a while ago. So tomorrow night at the Boy Scout meeting, I'm testing it on Brian K's gauge. If it is running low, I'll up the pressure and see what the effect is on gas storage near(but below) the legal max of 150#. If that fails, I will just use the Strike regulator and a CO2 cartridge. Actually, I'm leaning towards just doing that and worrying about accumulators laters. In any case, the gun is done and works, and has a nice lil mount that it sits in. I still need to sheet and connect the pump to power. Not that big a deal, really. Since All Electronics is taking their time with some critical components, the pump will be always-on for now (only 2 weeks till the debut!). I need to hurry up so I have time to paint the tiger mouth on the bow! ps- thinking on it, time is the enemy. I will go with the CO2 cartridges and adapter with the Strike lightweight reg. One CO2 cartridge is well capable of 3 sorties of 13 rounds each. Almost a waste, but sacrifices must be made.
I forgot the other reason all my crap needs to be in order... The doctor from the office I work in is coming to battle in one of Brian K's cruisers! I need to have everything for my ships in good order so I can help Faiz out too (he's from Pakistan, good guy, did relief work during the earthquakes in Kashmir). Anyone who's gonna be there please say Hi (like I need to encourage you guys to be nice to new prospects) He has watched several videos on youtube, and I gave him Bob's 'Welcome to the MWC' DVD. He's out of town this weekend, alas, so I can't edumacate him in the shop, but he's a quick study.
Sounds great. Can't wait to see photos of Othar in battle. I am damned curious to see the internals as well.
The back end around the motor/gearbox/gun is a fun place to see... Tomorrow I will sheet most of one side, so I will take some closeups of that area with the sheeting as a background. The area around the MAG throttle/batteries/pump/MAV-2+servo is also kind of tight, but less so than the engine room. I have been taking pics but not had time to post them; I will be writing it up as a proper build log on Brian K's boats page. I will at some point do a second Orfey class DD using plans revisions that I came up with during the build process. This is not a criticism of Wookie's plans, far from it. The improvements were things that occured to me after I had built the majority of the ship from his plans. One big one is that I could have taken the two separate pieces of the main subdeck, and taped them together, then cut the subdeck, giving me one continuous piece. I would not change the existing plans layout, as it fits nicely onto 8.5x11 paper which for me is too cool for words and really handy for people who don't have a local blueprint shop or Kinko's. But a continuous subdeck is a desirable thing. I would leave the stern two deck sections separate, because my aftmost deck isn't going to routinely come up; it'll be sealed and screwed down for watertightness. I forgot to mention: Othar, sans sheeting and receiver, weighs less than 2 pounds. That's with CO2 cartridge adapter, regulator, pump, gun system, and batteries included.
How many ci was the accumulator? Looking forward to the pictures. My Orfey is on hiatus while I work on a larger project.
