RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" You want SS? I can DO SS. I have been taking pics of the bottom of my cruiser, since I've been covering it with wood and fiberglass... Also been doing work on testing motors so that I can tell everyone which to buy without having YOU guys buy a bunch of motors for trial and error If you are going with a plain-old brushed motor, a550 size motor will do. Brushless testing will be done this weekend for the 400-size motors for anyone going the brushless route. The main thing from the build standpoint is you want a motor with a 1/8" (3.17mm) shaft, since that's the internal diameter of the collar we'll use to build the pump impeller, and the diameter of commonly-available gears for the drive system. I will post the simple outline of the main part of the SS tonight.
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Achtung, mein studenten! I haff zent dis to you! Ein line drawingk uff der zuperztructure, ja!! www.rcnavalcombat.com/Portals/0/Use...20line.jpg When you print this file, it should be about 4.5" wide. Technically, 4.6" but that's within scale tolerance. There are many ways to do an SS (superstructure for those new to nautical talk), I will show a few this evening. The SS is longer than 11" so if you want to get it all on one sheet, you'll have to print on legal size paper (8.5"x14"). Almost all the unnecessary detail has been removed to give you a clear pic of the building. I left the 2 cranes on, and little crosses outside the superstructure (where a pair of turrets mount) so you could see where they go. EDIT: Do NOT cut material to this drawing!! I noticed today that I forgot something. I will have a new drawing shortly, and a lesson that shows what to do with SS. EDIT @: Anyone else out there ever play Star Fleet Battles? The drawing here looks like I should stick little boxes all over and label it a Gorn destroyer or light cruiser
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Whew! It may not seem like it from where you're sitting, but I have been feverishly working on the class. Testing pumps and motors and things that I don't want to present in class without having tried it at home first (in most cases 2 or 3 times). I am freaking wiped out tonite, although I've had fun running a brushless motor powered pump in the pool for a while. Things that'll be coming here shortly: Superstructure and barbettes (1&5/16" diameter if you're wondering), prop, propshaft, motor mounting, planking the hull, fiberglassing the planking, and guns!guns!guns! It'll be well worth the wait, I promise. Going to try and get something put up tomorrow before work. NOTE: the drawing in my last post will be changing, so don't cut SS to it!
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Zo Schtudentz!!! Zuperztructure hyu wantz, zuperztructure hyu getz! Pre-lesson disclaimer: There are many ways to build supserstructure, and I'm certain that some experienced people out there will disagree with my method. That's cool, as there are many ways to build a ship and still have it be battle-worthy. The way I am showing is going to do the job just as many other ways will, but I don't have time to show the many ways to do an SS, and still finish by Christmas. So if you want to do it another way, feel free to do so with my blessing. You can pm to ask questions on other methods if you want, but please don't post the questions on other methods in the middle of the build thread. Thanks! (pic file to be added here after posting, give me a few minutes) Take the new SS drawing above and cut it out. The big rectangular piece that is the sternmost 75% is 2.5 inches across. Total length is like 11 & 5/8". This part of the SS will be 1/2" high. Either epoxy two piece of 1/4" together, or find some 1/2" thick ply. Balsa will work in a pinch, but it'll get shot to heck in a few battles. Not necessarily a bad thing, just be aware Glue the cutout piece of paper to the wood, and cut it out with your jigsaw. Note that I sawed straight past the circular cutouts and came back to do them. If you're doing it by hand, you may want to do them on the fly, less overall sawing that way. If you were careful it looks awesome and can be sat upon your cruiser hull to see how cool it looks! Now, if you were masterful (or close to it) with the saw, you can peel off your undamaged pattern (you DID use a glue stick so this would be easy, right? RIGHT?!). The forward part (just forward of the circular cutouts), where you see a blue line to cut on, is another 1/2" thick level of SS. So cut it out and save that for later! Below, I have the pattern removed, and have driled two holes in the middle of the SS to make it easy to put my saw blade through there. You can also see where I've started to lay out my cut line, which is 1/4" in from the outer edge of the SS. If you're using balsa, you may want to go thicker (hint hint). Like 1/2" or 3/4". This is the subdeck int he process of getting hollowed out on the old (i.e. old reliable) scrollsaw. None of the bells and whistles of the new one but it's easier to rotate the blade sideways. Comes in really handy doing subdecks which are usually longer than the throat (max cutting depth) of a scrollsaw, blade forward. The hollowing-out is complete! Look at that beauty! The 01 level of the SS atop its new home, MN JacqJean Fromage. The forward-most point is 8 & 5/8" back from the tip of the bow. Note that the nose of the 01 level will extend forward of the break in the deck. This is okay and even intentional. More explanation of that ina future lesson. Use your glue stick to attach the forward part of the SS drawing (the 02 level) to a piece of 1/2" material. Cut on the outside lines, although I again skipped an area only to come back later to cut it cleanly. If you note the two small cuts (one indicated by the wood pointer) in that back area, those are to allow me to make a clean inside corner there, vice making a curved cut with the saw. Make two short cuts from the outside to the cutouts, and then cut out the long skinny middle piece. Below, you can see what it looks like sitting on top of the 01 level SS. Sweet! In the next lesson, we will hollow out the 02 level, and add a thin deck to the exposed tops of the 01 and 02 levels. Please DO NOT glue these together, nor to the ship itself yet. There are steps yet to be taken!
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" A great alternative superstructure material is industrial foam rubber matting. It happens to be the perfect thickness, BB resistant, and very lightweight. A stack of 6 pads costs a mere $16 from Harbor Freight and gives enough to last many many ships. I'll try to track down a good link.
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" I use a scroll saw and take it slow to make sure the edges are straight and square. It can be cut by hand with a hacksaw blade or even a sharp knife.
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" I love you guys, but please take the foam SS discussion to another thread
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Achtung, schtudenten!! Vee haff had ze MOST triumphant day uff testingk der pumpen!!!! Brian K came over for the pump-test-a-thon... the pump is fabulous, running with a $10 brushless motor driven by a $7 ESC. It pumps about the same as a standard 1-unit pump. Not too shabby for a home-made pump, eh? I promise to post pics and the materials list tonite, after I go for celebratory feasting at Olive Garden. (This is also a mandatory 'keep the battler's wife happy dinner' so that she will continue to support my participation in the hobby!) Until tonite, Schtudenten!!! Heil Fluegel!!
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Yes, it conforms to the rules for a 1/2 unit pump. The brushless motor is no larger than the brushed motor currently installed, and the pump is a single-stage mixed-flow centrifugal pump. This was a prototype, the motor mount plate is made from wood; future pumps will have one made from acrylic. The body of the pump is 1" I.D. PVC pipe coupler (I believe it was for 3/4" ID pipe), 1/2" high. The bottom plate is .040 brass sheet with a hole in the center for the water to enter. Below you can see inside (kind of blurry, bad night for the camera!) where the 2-blade impeller has a very tight tolerance on the fit. It fits on the 1/8" (3.17mm) motor shaft using a standard 1/8" ID brass collar, which the rest of the impeller assembly is soldered to using a blowtorch and silver solder. The discharge tube is just brass tubing from Hobby Lobby (or Tower Hobby or a number of other places). Below is a bottom view of the pump with the base plate off. In my hand I hold one of the 3 or 4 excellent examples of how NOT to make an impeller. In the pump was the first truly good one. The grey goop on the discharge tube is J-B Weld metal epoxy. Seems to work okay, gets along fine with the water in the test basin. Note that the tube has been ground to fit the curve of the volute (that's the PVC pipe), and that it exits nearly at a tangent to the curve of the volute. Flow would suck big time if it was pointing more towards the shaft. Another view of the volute, showing how the exit tube fits. It looks like it's sticking into the swept space inside, but it's not, as you can tell from the other picture. So, to build the pump, you will need: a pack of 1/8" collars, some .040" brass sheet, some 1/4" acrylic (or heck, use some of your plywood, altho it won't last as long), one 1" ID PVC coupler, four 6/32"x1" screws, nuts to fit them, and an appropriate motor: either a 550-size brushed motor, or a 2100kV brushless motor with a 3.17mm shaft like I used. Link to the motor I used: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...duct=11175 You will also need a drill, drill bits, dremel and cutting wheel, pliers, tin snips, and a blowtorch. The total cost of these is more than the cost of a premade pump from Battlers Connection, but if you have most of the tools already, it's nice to be able to make your own pumps. If you elect to buy a pump from BC (and you are using MWCI rules), buy the regular pump and make sure to ask for a 1/2 unit pump restrictor instead of the one-unit restrictor that normally comes with it. If you use the regular pump, you will need to use a 550-size motor for drive in order to be legal (pump motor can't be bigger than the drive motor!). [NOTE: If you are battling IRCWCC, you can use a 1-unit restrictor as these ships are 3 units under IRC rules]. I will provide a step-by-step lesson in making the pump shortly. Suffice to say that it exceeded my expectations and I am thrilled with its performance relative to a premade 1/2-unit pump (or even a whole-unit pump). Part of this is that the swept area is much greater, as the impeller vanes are 1/8" taller than the cast variety, so more water is moved per revolution. Kampei!!
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" So how about a link to the motor and ESC supplier? How long to get it from Red China?
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Out of respect for the cool avatar of Ming the Merciless, I will forgo my usual snarky taunting as I say "the link to the very page that I bought the motor is just above the 2nd to the last paragraph in the post above". The direct link to the ESC is: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6460 With UPS 3-day shipping, it took... 3 days. Honestly, I was expecting it to take longer, maybe because commieland is so far away. But it was an honest 3 days. Hobbyking has also opened a US Warehouse now, which will presumably lower the shipping time and costs more. (Example: I ordered some motors and ESCs last night and shipping via USPS Priority mail was $7.99)
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Ming thanks your indulgence, Ordering and production will start soon.
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" Before you order, if you want to order the servos that I'm using at the same time, they are the Hextronik HX5010 which is essentially a clone of the standard Futaba servo (even takes Futaba horns). You'll need 2: 1 for the rudder, and 1 for the gun valves. I'd buy 4 just to have spares, and at $5 each they're a steal! I will be posting a short lesson on waterproofing them tonite. They're unusual in that you can't pry the circuit board loose without destroying the servo, so I had to get creative. But they're actually easier to waterproof than the Futabas, with some devious creativity. Servo Linky: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=3743&Product_Name=HXT_6.9kg_/_39.2g_/_.16sec_Twin_bearing_servo Side note: We will be using the same type of motor for propulsion as we are on the pump, so order 2 of them. If you want the same ESC that I'm using for propulsion (which must be able to reverse!) then order: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11742 It's $15, not bad at all and easy to waterproof. I ordered two of each of the ESCs, and an extra motor, just to have spares. The motors need no waterproofing, and there will be a class on waterproofing the ESCs.
RE: "The Cheapest Point of Entry" The Info on the pump motor dosen't say but I assume that they have ball bearing end bells? I have had problems with the life of high output brushed motors that use ball bearings in pumps, they tend to suck the seals out of the ball race and then the pump will suck more air than water. Not a good thing, I have replaced the ball bearing with a bronze oillite and that fixed it but a pain.
