I got the front end epoxied together, including the deck rim atop the subdeck on the front part. Looks the business! Looks really really sweet Time prevented my getting pics but I will take some tomorrow when it'll look even spiffier with the stern deck rim cut and epoxied, and some of the hull planking on. Some time ago, I bought a whole mess of 1/64" ply to plank a future project with. That project is here, and I'm glad I got enough to do several ships! I don't want to delay Izzie for want of planking. J, do your fast gun rules go to the 45 degree line, or the 60 degree line, or 1 inch below waterline? I don't want to get the plywood fitted and a layer of glass on it then find out it's not in spec!
I spent some quality time in the shop tonite, until halted by yet more intestinal distress Damn Pizza Hut! Anyhow, I have the aft deck on, rudder tube in, stern shaped, and have started planking the bottom (about 1/2 done). I was going to take a pic when I finished tonite, but I had to run, and don't feel like wandering far from my loo. This ship looks sooo cool! I have learned some nice-to-know things that will make Izzie better/easier to put together, too.
"was going to take a pic when I finished tonite, but I had to run, and don't feel like wandering far from my loo." New rule for Tugboat builds: Shop time THEN dinner time.
You have my sympathy my friend. Pizza, mexican, anything greasy...all are enemies of my gastro-intestinal system.
In a rush to get done before the battle this weekend. The hull bottom is fiberglassed, props mounted, CO2 bottle mount is done, and lots of guts to put inside tomorrow when the epoxy is done drying.
Glad to hear she might be ready in time for Saturday! I'm still on track for heading down Friday night and watching Saturday's battle.
No 'might be' involved, Comrade! I got a load of work done on it today, and hopefully also figured out my problems with repairing the Alaska mold, to boot! Edit: The 'glass looks like heck because of the rush It still needs trimming before I sheet tomorrow so don't judge it too harshly! Anyhow, this is the Evstafi build thread After many days of feverish work, great progress has been made; a few little things here and there are not what I had wanted, but time waas pressing and I likely won't make another battle for 6 months, so I had to do what was necessary. Below is a view of the back end of the boat. The packaging in the engineering section was VERY tight. The motors are right up against the pump, and the stbd motor mount was clearanced to allow the pump outlet to fit. Below, you can see the rudder servo mount better; I've always had crappy servo mounts, so I worked on one that would hold well and still be a quick change mount if needed. So, the servo slides in between the two long arms, and you tighten the thumbscrews to hold it fast. There are little pieces of wood to hold the servo in the vertical direction to guard against shifting under load over time, put in after this pic was taken. The gun servo has a similar mount as well. Another view from above and aft, we can see the gas bottle and battery making appearances. I will have to put in ballast on the port side to counter the 288g weight of the battery, minus the equipment that goes there. The space on the port side is going to hold the pump switch and the Spektrum receiver. (I know the ESC is there, it's going to move down and to a more centerline location) Below, we have moved forward, where you can see the stringer/gundeck, the gun servo mounted far forward, and the two PAV-2's in the aluminum bracket that holds them. The servo puches on the MAV-3, which pushes on the two PAV-2's, making the guns fire. Not mounted yet but in this area will be the 2 accumulators and the cannons. Below, another view of this section, showing the not-quite-fully-formed bow. But it still looks COOL! Just because I feel like it, a pic with the forward deck on. Tomorrow, the hull gets sheeted, rudder fitted into its happy home, guns fitted and connected, and ballast/drivability checks performed in the test basin. Brian K will be coming over to assist with sheeting and gunnery installation tasks. Anyone else who wanders by can have all the diet coke they can choke down if they help
Well it looks like you are making progress, but you look like you need about another week, not 2 days. Excuse me 2 days,and 3 nights, lol.
I know someone who did a Big Gun SoDak in a week, but this is still pretty impressive. Be sure to take some pictures of her on the bottom. Predreadnoughts always look great underwater Actually, I do have a question. I see that you are test-fitting a 7.2v NiCd battery. I'm assuming you use several, so how do you protect those batteries from water? I've tried everything from superglue to tooldip to skotchkote, but so far nothing has worked for me.
I think the water acts as a lens or filter on all ships, to make any ship look better underwater than it does on land. Lying in a bed of weeds, or in soft silt surrounded by small pebbles and shiny steel balls, with ripples of light from the waves, any ship looks good. My underwater impression of an otherwise bland ship has been better than some highly detailed models seen on land, and the underwater ship would get my vote for Most Detailed Ship Award any day. Tugboat, you've got to get us some underwater pictures if you want us to truly appreciate the beauty of your creation.
LOL... you guys... I don't think underwater pics will be a problem as Don Cole will be at the battle and he has always made a point of baptizing new ships David, please remind me to gets pics before I rush into the water to drag her ashore. Brian and I talked about it last night, and if I don't have time to build a superstructure by Saturday, I'll hot-glue a couple of 1/144 planes to the stern deck
looks great Tug, maybe a little rough, but definitly great. Good job, good luck, and Godspeed to your poor little Dreadnoughts
Yeah, they go in far enough to be solid. If it's ruled illegal, I have plenty of time before my next battle to fix it. In the meantime, work continues on BBCV Evstafi!
