Heh, just realized I never did post any pics. I'll have to update this thread after this hectic week is over.
In preparation for the fall regionals, the solenoids get rewired. Much nicer and cleaner than the previous setup. .
nicely done. I am a big fan of modular systems and that is well built. much as I love my powerpoles, I will be going to XT30's for solenoid control. Tip of the hat to Dave Ranier. his new Biz build looks fantastic! (why do I mention that - he uses the small XT connectors on his solenoid control circuit and it is well laid out and neat. Something I have at times failed at. someone once told me, you don't have to invent everything, you just have to know how to copy_right
HOW TRUE Too many great ideas/people in this hobby. I have put my twist in my boats but I have not invented anything. If you need help ask for it, it is out there!!!!! Kas
After about two years of combat, Suffren could use a refit. She ran and battled well, but now with other ships ready to take her place on the front lines it's time she had some improvements. Basically, some newbie mistakes need to be fixed and a couple things could be improved. So this is how she sat at the end of the 2016 battling season. She had just been battled in the IRCWCC fall regionals and did quite well. Some photos of the internals. My building style wasn't quite perfected with this ship so it's a bit of a rat's nest in there. Hoping to have things neater when it's all done. To start, all the internals were removed except the motor and the rudder servo. I then de-sheeted her in preparation to move the hard area up. When I first built Suffren I guessed my waterline too low and hence marked my "1 inch below the waterline" for the hard area too low as well. My plan is to use balsa blocks to move it up and then fiberglass over it. You can see how low the hard area is compared to the waterline. It appears that I might not have waterproofed the underside of the subdeck very well during construction as the wood was a little dark and the surface cracked in places. It sat in my basement all winter and dried out, so I gave the whole underside a coating of epoxy to seal it. So that's where she sits now. Some of the things I want to do during the refit: Probably build new decks, build up some of the ribs so they are flush with the subdeck (newbie mistake), clean up the wiring, mount more of the internal components versus just having them sit in there. That's some of it. I'm sure there's more that isn't coming to my head right now. But anyway, she is well on her way to being a combat ship once again! Enjoy!
I have a Foch I scratch built that needs a major refit as well. I am doing the same thing you are, however, which is getting another ship online first before I go back and fix all of the rookie mistakes.
Thanks! Mine is much more old-school because that is what I had lying around. I am debating going solenoids, however, but I need to learn a lot more about them.
Solenoids are nice. They're faster than poppets and a little easier to set up. And the Spartans don't cost much more than a poppet setup. If that's what you're looking to do, the guys here can walk you through the whole process. Is that a BC hull?
Ok, cool. Maybe I will post over in the weapons and pnuematics section. I actually scratch built Foch using the French Arsenal plans. I'll have to post some interior shots.
