since i can't wear a dust mask for now i decided to finish the non sanding parts of my shimakaze and have finished 80% of the basic hull - skin i might be able to put a single spurt gun in the bow with maybe a 15 round magazine in it just don't have all that much room up there. then i need to find a motor and twin drive system that will actually fit in the hull and move the ship fast enough to make time. but first i need to put some skin on it and see if it will even float. that one needs trimmed at the 3rd to last rib and the last one needs to be attached but that will happen once the rest dries.
well damn the bow thickness at the weather deck is 2.5 inches and just under it is 2.25 inches this extends for maybe another .25 inches for a total of maybe half an inch that is over the 2 inch max in the rules of ircwcc. so i would either need a waiver or to trim things strangely.
What I'd do is to finish the bow hard area back to the rib, 'glass it and then go back with a dremel and cut out the 1/4" that needs to be removed from below the deck/caprail and the bottom hard area. Not hard at all.
bottom of the hull is attached and drying but will need to be trimmed up in places to meet the 85% rule and i may have to remove a couple ribs or at least sand them down some. cutting a water channel will also be interesting and may involve reinforcing areas right at the edge or the solid areas in the bottom. I am however completely lost on propulsion for this ship. i can't figure out what size of props, motors, battery, gearing/non geared i should go with. rudder is fairly simple as it is a single post. dual prop destroyer. I currently have a single 550 park motor and 15 amp controller for it that i cannibalized from a rc plane i have but the battery for that one is shot and needs disposed of. i can happily say that when it comes time to make the prop shafts i can just go find some scrap stainless i have laying about(if i have anything small enough) and turn it down properly. Finding some Zert fittings might be fairly handy as well.
What's the KV of your motor? Keep in mind that a 550 is probably too much for a destroyer, weight-wise. 1/2" or 3/4" props would do. Battery, I use LiPOs, a 1600mAH 2S battery would do well. Plus or minus a few mAH won't matter, you can change batteries in small ships every sortie. That's fast gun, though. If you're still gung-ho for big gun, you'll need a LOT smaller motor; the 550 won't even idle slow enough to keep it to legal speeds, even with a gearbox. I exaggerate, but still...
im planning on fastgun and it is an eflite park 400 brushless inline at 4200KV not a 550. turning on lights and actually pulling the motor out of the gearbox helps alot. and have a 20 amp esc with reverse for it. http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLM1100 if this is far to big i am not adverse about getting a new motor just wondering if i could reuse some of what i already have. mostly building on this so i have something to go play with in the local lakes until i get down to Fl this summer but i want to make it legal and useful so it can be used around others. Cut out the bow of the ship to comply with 2 inch rules and glassed what was left. going to have to drill some holes in rib 1 for drainage for when that area gets shot-up as well as not to impede flow of water that will sink it.
4200Kv is WAY too fast. You'll want something in between the 750-1500Kv range. Will you be using direct drive or geared?
probably going to go geared and get the 1-2 converter that BC has as i don't have the time to mill out a mount myself correctly. and what is the lighter gun type? just going to purchase my first one as i don't want to compromise safety with that part.
acquired full face mask. discovered my numbness in face is reaction to fumes in epoxy. now i will probably not do any fiberglass hulls but then again doing layup is what leaves you around the reacting epoxy the most. fiberglass is trimmed and i need to mix some micro to clean up the crap tastic job i did this time as well as order the 1 input 2 output gearbox and machine out some stuffing tubes so i can get props and rudder mounted then get some sheets on it and see if it actually floats. currently sitting at .8 pounds with nothing in it and no sides on it and no superstructure.
all work on ships is stalled until at least Jan for me now. moving is getting into full swing and I need to let this nerve damage heal to figure out if it's also an epoxy allergy.
face healed and move stalled. back to work on the shimakaze. cut the holes for stuffing tubes and removed every other rib from 5-19 as i was under 85% pen area should give me enough now was sitting at 79% before bow complies with 2 inch rule and has a section removed from the first rib for free flow. not managed to make much of a water channel and may have to bring height up with foam rather than grinding down the ribs. doing so would require inset to keep lower sections penetrable but not provide as large a resevoir for water as it will not take much to sink the ship. taken what i have learned from this and started a kongo class as well. keel is a solid peice of 1/4 plywood that will not be glassed and ribs are slotted into it's sides. when i get more plywood and get the first subdeck on i will post about it and bring pictures. shinano is laying unworked on but i may finish it now as parts i got for the shimakaze where way to big but will fit perfectly in the shinano or the kongo depending on time. hope to finish the shimakaze but the end of december and have at least the hull done on the kongo by then as well
Hello! I have an Akitzuki class destroyer that I've run for a couple years now. Just converted it to a spurt in the bow. These little guys don't need a lot of power to make speed. a pair of 365 motors is definitely enough (maybe too much?) I run a pair of 280's on 7.2 volt and make speed just right with a 1-1/4" prop I sanded down a little bit. The Shimakaze at Nats last year ran 1" props with similar motors on 9.6v I think and had to use the ESC at like 20% or something crazy low to get down to speed. Destroyers are so lacking in internals, I would not worry about any channeling for it at all. Space is at a premium and you just won't take enough damage to warrant it. Also weight is "fun" to make. Using pretty thick ply as you are you might have to get pretty happy with the sanding to get the weight down low and not tip over. Good luck keep it up!
Oh also forgot to add that any of the BC gearboxes are too tall for a destroyer. Might get the 365 ones in there, but barely. Direct drive is the way to go. You don't need the torque from a bigger motor, she doesn't weigh hardly anything.
i have a pair of 180 motors which are one size under the 360s which should help in the space department. i figure if i can't keep the ship level and underweight i toss the whole thing out as i have less than 20$ into the hull at the moment. and rebuild with 1/4 on the keel and 1/8 everywhere else.
while i wait for thanksgiving to be over so i can order parts i cut out 11 of 18 ribs and laid the stuffing tubes in and rudder. started to plan where everything will actually go and figured rudder servo mounting finally. and that is indeed 1/8" shinkwrap might put another sleeve over it if i find it shatters during runing space is at such a premium as well as weight. i wish that the 16oz cartridge adapter that strike used to have was still available but similar things that are somewhat wider are available. i may have to try them.
Palmer's Pursuit sells a setup called 'Rock the Boat.' It is much smaller than the Strike unit, but more expensive. I love mine.
Rock the Boat is a good regulator for destroyers. I don't think you should use a flexible shaft as long as you're showing. It could very easily start vibrating and lose a lot of energy. If you really need the flex over that distance, do a two-part coupling. Have a short length of flexible hose (I use R/C airplane fuel tubing) to a brass rod, run the brass rod almost to the motor, and have a second flexible hose to join the rod to the motor.
Yeah, when I used a flexible tube, it was like an inch long, counting the 3/8" of it on each shaft. Short as possible is good. Long ones tend to get their knickers in a twist if ya know what I mean...
soldered the motors together to spin inwards. and made a mounting bracket for them. not terribly happy with the way they mount but not unhappy now. going to have to cut a grove in the middle of the motor bracket for the rudder arm. or i might try moving the servo behind it again. need to order a esc for the brushed motors and the rock the boat regulator (thanks for that recommendation)
