Oh the pulleys are literally just there to keep the rudder posts in place. I was thinking of using them but then I need to order new belts and design a tensioner system and it was just a pain. I designed servo and rudder post arms as well as “heim” joints for 3/16 rods so bending and binding arent an issue. I set it all up in Fusion so I could get a good estimate on range of motion on the rudders. Right now the deck is printing. After that is done I will print the arms and joints. I’m not sure she will be in fighting shape for October but she should be on the water. If sea trials goes well, I am contemplating uploading all of the files for anyone to print the nearly complete ship.
I'm sure that if you upload them, they will be greatly appreciated. I was just thinking about how I would do a rudder system in that ship, and I keep coming back to the setup that was in my Baden that I rather liked, which was a servo linked to a gear running the twin rudder gears. But since you're only running a single rudder, a simple arm should be plenty. I would just suggest putting a 'pin' in place so that it can't toggle to the 'wrong' side, kind of like my old Sheffield. Bah, you can't really see it there, but there's a vertical piece of nylon tubing ahead of the rudder arm so that it can't rotate around to the wrong side. I hope that made sense. And yes, she's an olde bote. I should probably post some pictures of her elsewhere...
Yeah… single rudder… right now she has both rudders installed. The front only has about 60* of total swing before hitting the prop shafts. The rear has about 120* total swing. I know, its not a full 180* like some ships. The beauty of it being all modeled is that I can mock things up, print, test, and tweak or change everything at a few hours print time. So the rudders and motion are not set in stone. I thought about gears too, but didnt model in any posts for support. Though I could probably cludge something together…
We have steering! Geared so 45* servo throw is 75* rudder motion. She wont spin in circles, but hopefully this helps. I DO have an idler and B.A.G. For the front rudder to limit that to 30*. Playing with the idea of ‘drift’ steering. Making the front rudder turn opposite the rear rudder to kind of make an arc.. at this point I’m just playing. So good-bad-ugly idea, doesnt really matter. She wont be combat ready by Hagerstown anyway.
Progress update! Motor gears arrive tomorrow! Ordering fiberglass and resin on friday. Skinning on friday. It should be water proof enough to float this weekend!
Once I have everything printed and working, I was going to see if any one wanted a “Print-a-ship” Ive been thinking of doing beginner/novice ships to hopefully help the community grow. As 3D printers are becoming cheaper, I can see the draw of being able to print a boat as an entry point. I know that is why I bought my first printer 7 years ago. I spent a long time working on my New Jersey. I tried to build a wood hull, I bought a fiberglass hull, and eventually bought a printer and tried printing it. I think it would be awesome if others also joined in with designing rookie ships for people coming in. I would love if we could get a handful of good starter boats designed for printing.
So.. guess I am printing motor mounts now. The TRAXXAS ones I have do not give me enough adjustability to mesh the gears. Probably because I went with 48p and not 32p since those were the only ones I could get with a decent gear ratio and before next month. Minor setbacks....
right on, dude! yeah if that Armored Cruiser rule passes this fall, I think there'd be a lot of interest in ACRs for beginner hulls. I think Will T. is looking at doing Minotaur for printing, but Tennessee, Blucher, and that japanese ACR would be great too
