Steve I hope to see you at a battle I hope you can make NATS, you can see this boat "in person" The more BBs I shoot the happier I get!!!!! Kas
Sub deck got glued in last night. Been slacking on this due to other hobbies and life getting in the way. Next up is sealing all the wood internal structure. Trying my best to get everything done for testing June 10th!
I thought it was contact paper (for a cupboard) I think you will have a GREAT chance for best of scale at NATS!!! Kas
By nats I should have lifeboats and the Arado in place with spares standing by if someone decides to target them haha
Using time crunch as the main motivator, here's my mounting solution for the triple stern cannons. Fiberglass plate will be epoxied in place to the deck and bolts to the cannon mount I made long ago. Enough tolerance was built into this that I should be able to tweak elevation and lateral aiming of the guns too. Still worried about clearance space under the magazines for batteries/pump/solenoids. May have to do some creative bending.
Found a way to route the magazines and placement for solenoid bank & pump. Trying to centralize the bulk of the weight to the center of the ship for tighter turning. Next will be looking what batteries I have will fit and where then glue everything in place.
All wood is sealed up. Electronics system is assembled and function tested. Just need to clean it up for install. Before I screw this up by encasing it in epoxy; I'm correct in seeing most builds of this boat angle the propshafts in a "V" towards the stern? This should also force more thrust over the rudder right? I almost glued them in straight last night and decided to "measure twice" by looking at some build photos.
I stole djrainer's bismarck rudder belt setup seen here: https://rcwarshipcombat.com/threads/uss-missouri-build-ircwcc.445059/page-2#post-513556 This setup is really slick and I will incorporate this into all my builds for like-parts/spares. I went to install the BC servo gear only to find I would have to run a low-profile servo and grind out most of the rib structure I glued in place. Gap under the step down deck is now filled. This Duckworks DWX epoxy is really nice as far as no odor/fumes and doesn't get super hot, but it doesn't seem to cure nearly as hard as West Systems when using Cabosil to thicken. It's curing to a flexible state about the same as cured E6000. Rudder is all fitted and ready to install. Just debating if I should fab a mount that incorporates both the servo mount and the rudder post. Figured it would be handy to have some belt tension adjustment in place or maybe an idler.
For future installs, here's an MXL pulley that fits right onto the servo. Futaba: http://www.robotshop.com/en/lynxmotion-servo-mxl-timing-pulley-futaba.html Hitec: http://www.robotshop.com/en/mxls-01-hitec-timing-belt-pulley.html
