3 wires to the motors, Lou... brushless motors are really 3-phase AC motors. I keep the on-off switch too Also, you can run an aircraft ESC (cheaper, one direction only) for your pump.
The Erin is currently packed away, but I'll pull it out this weekend and get some pictures of the brushless drive system for you. Clark said it right; three black wires are for the motor, two colored wires are for the battery. I recommend using the bullet type connectors that came with the motor on the motor wires to make it easy to reverse the motor if the motor is running backwards ... just swap two of the three wires on the motor. If the motor or ESC did not come with the connectors, you can pick some up at a hobby shop that has electric planes. Programming the ESC with the program card is not intuitive. It wasn't till Dave showed me how to do it that I finally understood. If you are close enough to Clark, he might be able to show you. If not, Dave or I will get you hooked up the next time we see you.
Only 24 days till the Atlanta shendig at that restaurant... I can bring enough junk to show you how to do it. Just remember not to hook up the ESC to power without a motor connected. Always always always have a motor connected before power.
For internal armor, if you want clear have you thought of soda bottles? I used them on my cruiser and didn't have any problems of penetration or bounce back. I battled with Port Polar Bears and their hard hitting guns.
Mike, that would be great. Showing the wiring for the batteries would be a big help as well, what charger do you use? Clark, I will see you at the 57th fighter, I will take all the help I can get. I actually have the Lexan from McMaster, I personally like it over the soda bottle so I will go that route, but thanks for the suggestion. Was able to work a little last night and modify the wiring chase for the ESC and motors, but first I had to cut the hull to install it under the prop shafts. As you can tell, there are a few holes there already, but everything is getting a layer of mat and resin. I cut the tee so I can access the wiring if needed. The top is near the stern, it will be attached to the access plate. The uptubes will have a holder for the connectors. Next I have to make a chase for the solenoid wiring and test fire buttons. Got a package last night, went with the higher torque so there are no issues with either the rotates or rudder.
Here is the WTC (water tight cylinder), I made the cap and purchased the o-ring from McMaster. The wires are connected by a solid piece of copper which is part of the end cap. Got the idea from the sub guys, this way water will not travel in through a cut on the wire insulation. Works for them, so why reinvent the wheel. This is a 3 inch lexan tube, I might step down to a 2 inch, bought some new firing boards from Johnny that sould save some room. Here is a pic of the mascot, this is why most like to battle Allied . Ok, not really, but I have to have some excuse. She will go on top of the battery cover. Color for the inside of the ship will be a "burnt orange", with pieces in black, copper, silver.
Here is the inside sleeve of the rotate with the top cut to make the inside part of the bearing run. When looking at the pictures, keep in mind that I still have to drill a series of holes to lighten the parts, much like you see in internal ribs of airplanes. Clark, I will bring the rotates to the 57th event. And the inner and out sleeve together and mounted in the holder, you can see the glass bearing in the bottom of the picture. The entire chase will be filled with 3/16th ball bearings. The fitting between the two provides a strong but light friction action, very pleased with the lathe. The top plate will be mounted to the inner sleeve, and that will ride on top of the bearings. Then I have to make a retaining ring so when the rotate is turned over everything does not fall out.
You bringing your ESCs as well? I found some thin-wall brass tubing (bigger size is like 2" dia) that will be the 'bearing' for KGV's rotates... I'm looking at some gears and chains from servo city for the actuation. Tricky part will be stabilizing the geek breech guns on the rotating mount, but I've seen it done
I will bring them, I need help with the programming card. So basically I will bring the ship "as-is" at that point. Check with David R on how he did the Duke rotates, seemed to work fine but he took them out.
After checking the Servocity website, I am NOT using chains, I'm looking at a rack&pinion type arrangement. It's more complicated than that, but that's the short form I'll either bring it or bring a schematic to the dinner.
Worked on the bow and getting the bottle to fit. I am using a strike models adjustable regulator (make sure to get the plugs), this is a really nice piece of work. Using a 3.5 ounce bottle. Removed all the waterchanneling and tried to get it as far forward as possible. Will have to really protect the bottle from BB's, using a few layers of lexan so nothing bad will happen. Tried out tinting the foam to see if I could get to a grey shade, close but still too dark. Covered the bottle and regulator in aluminum tape, this will come out and should leave a custom holder for the bottle. The neck has been elevated to help prevent bottle freezing.
You sure that a 3.5 ounce bottle can handle a sortie with 5 guns? I definately like the Strike regulators, nice and light. I did something similar (for the bottle mount) for one of the coming Edgar Quniet leessons, but I just wrapped the bottle in wax paper. I will be in the shop more this weekend as I improve my stamina and will try to get some pics on my own thread so as to not hijack yours.
Cut the inner sleeve so that the legs are now the correct size and shape, started work on the upper and lower plates. These pieces are made out of 1/8 thick aluminum, so to get the top plate cut out in the middle I had to use a hole saw and take my time cutting it. For the bottom plate I used a larger hole saw, this way i could be assured that the middle hole was correct, very important as this is where the servo horn will exit. I cannot have any binding in this area. Went ahead and tapped the inner sleeve and top plate, these will be joined with stainless steel screws which should make for strong connections. So at this point I can mount the holder to the underside of the deck, insert the outer sleeve and have a solid connection. The inner sleeve can have the top plate attached and that can slide into the outer sleeve. By raising the top plate up a little, I can insert the ball bearings and the inner unit is now a bearing. Sorry for the quality of this picture, not sure what happened. In this picture you can see the inner sleeve flipped upside down showing the new legs. Next to it is the retention ring, it started as a circle like the top plate but has to be cut down to get around the legs of the inner sleeve. As a note, there are about three failed rotates to get to this point, working in metal means if you screw it up you go back to step one. :blush: Whatever I can get to work also means I need to make another copy for the B turret, so lots of time in the shop for this part of the project. Any newer guys to the hobby, I would put rotates as something to think about AFTER battling for five or more years. The complexity and reliability usually doesn't pay off, in fast gun we are less a naval battle and more like a "knife fight in a telephone booth". Anyone else remember telephone booths or watch too much Doctor Who?
I got ~400-450 shots out of a 3.5oz tank at NATS in 2009 when I was doing some testing. Pretty standard gun at a normal battle tweak. As long as your guns aren't complete gas hogs and you make sure you get good fills 5 guns for one sortie on a 3.5 oz tank is doable.
As was slightly hinted at, there are three bottles (overkill) for this boat. Each stern gun will have their own feed, and the sidemounts will each have a bottle, the third bottle being used to actuate the air pistons. Received the motor pinions, thanks to David and Clark for bringing it up in another thread on where to buy them. Anyone have a good source for the connectors for the motors and ESC (would like to keep the same bullet style as Mike mentioned earlier in this thread). Cut the foam and removed the bottle, will have to use bondo to really get it smooth. Will use fiberglass board for the top of the channel, the bottom has a slot cut in it so that any water will flow back to the pump. Here it is with the bottle in place, it sits low enough that I should be safe from damage from all the bow shot BB's that are sure to come.
I'm surprise the motor didn't come with the female bullet connectors to fit the male connectors already on the motor.
Still trying to work out firing switch position in the stern as well as mounting the guns, so the next step will be to smooth out the sidewalls of the boat. I have already filled in the bulge with foam, next will be to skin it with fiberglass board (red stuff in this pic). Will use west system epoxy to attach to the hull. Placed the inner sleeve back on the lathe and made another chase for the retaining ring. Drilled and tapped and mounted the ring to the inner sleeve (rotate is upside down). The top plate is installed and bearings are in the until so that the correct adjustment could be made for the retaining ring. It needs to only allow 1/32 of travel vertically, any less and it binds. Here you can see the unit with the bottom plate attached, this assembly will slide into the retaining ring in the background. Next part will be the turret base so that the swampy made castings can be attached to the unit. I am more than likely going to cast my own turrets out of flexible plastic with the color already done.
I'm surprise the motor didn't come with the female bullet connectors to fit the male connectors already on the motor. it did, but I didn't have any for the ECS's
