a constant disappointment to the rest of us, I assure you. Edit: there are now 21 posts in this thread. 1 belongs to @Kevin P. Sorry Kevin!
back on ship planning - For the benefit of Kevin ( and me since I am in the middle of building one with the same motor spec) what size props would others recommend? 1 1/2 inch or 1 3/4 inch? 3 or 4 blade if BC type?
I'm going with 1.5" 4 blade, starting off with BC while I wait for the Kort props to show up from UK. I should have the shafts epoxied in tonight. The shape of the stern is not ideal, it was difficult to get the props in under the stern. Based on the proximity to NATS I've decided to start out with DC motors with BC gearboxes, and then maybe pursue brushless over the winter.
yeah. conventional wisdom 15 years ago was 1.5 inch but some have been playing with larger recently. the stern is an issue. look at vvholic's thread on building QE Frankenship. we may have to do some surgery as he did. Ijust CA'ed in the shafts for the second time trying to "get it right". I am setting the shafts up with room for 1.75's and we can compare at Nats. I might have her in the water by Ming's though. back to the shop to glass.
last battle I attended was fall reg in H'town with USS SoCal refitted with brushless. As I recall it was all ready in the box when I arrived. I do like to build and usually underestimate how much time it will take to get a job done to my satisfaction though. I need to retire so I can have more time for the fun stuff
You will want to go bigger. Even a Kongo needs more than 1.5" to be happy, especially bumping and grinding in the furball. I think there are 1.6" or 1.7" props from the prop shop, or get a 2" BC and sand it down.
I finally got the drive shafts in tonight. As Nate and I were discussing, the shape of the stern is not ideal, it does not form a good "roof" to go over the props. Here is what I ended up with, its an interference fit so at least some of that fiberglass between the props will be going away in the near future. The electrical tape held the epoxy well. Lining up the shafts is one of my least favorite parts of the build, so I'm glad to have them in.
Where's the rudder going to be? If it is in that flatter area close to the stern you can move the props back as close as possible. Should also help get that closer together with less of the keel in the way.
The rudder will most likely require removing the aft end of the keel, it should go in this week. I kept the props at that location so they would not stick out beyond the beam as the stern is narrow in that region. Progress since the last update I cut away some of the keel to allow the props to move freely Here are the motor mounts in progress, I epoxied the bases in one night, then used a "sanding template" to shape the balsa on top. I decided to go with 12V DC motors to start, using gearboxes from BC. The dogbone angle doesn't look that bad in real life. And the motor mounts ready for final epoxy I moved on to the windows next. I definitely used less effort figuring out optimal placement this go around and decided to eyeball it I also cut out all of the "casements." The boat didn't actually have casement guns so I cut out the whole section, even the >1/2" portion based on my reading of the rule. Also including a picture of the one instance of dremel runaway I faced. After cutting the windows I decided that I wanted to reinforce the ribs (it did make cutting the hull go significantly faster than what i was used to). I added two layers on fiberglass mat to the ribs and deck rim on one side so far, I will repeat on the other side tomorrow, then cut away the excess another day. After that, priorities are the rudder post/servo mount, water channeling, and deck and subdeck.
Thanks Renodemona. To reinforce the ribs I covered each rib with blue tape from the outside to keep the epoxy under control. And a close up once I was done I did the ribs first, then covered the ends at the top and bottom. Here is a picture today with the tape removed The second side is drying now, I will cut off all of the excess tomorrow and then move on to the rudder and water channeling
You can also use some plywood backers tied in to the subdeck. Gives something to attach the internal armor to as well. Looks plenty strong to me as is though. Nice work!
I always liked the way the plywood backers looked, but I thought adding mat would be quicker given my resources. I'm happy with how it turned out. Today I cut off the excess fiberglass around each rib, cut out the area for the rudder, and started on water channeling. First picture shows the ribs (thickness doubled) and the section of the small keel which had to go. post dremel Tomorrow I need to make a new rudder for the Rivadavia for this weekend so work will slow down on the new boat for the next few days
