The top edge of the hull can be 3/8" high for the parts on the VU that aren't cut out. Don't worry about ram damage potential, changing it by 1/2" won't change the fact that it will cause damage, and its more for the other team to worry about
The top edge of the hull can be 3/8" high for the parts on the VU that aren't cut out. Ha! I just saw that in the rules, man i was certain it "had" to be 1/4" because there's a casement below.. Thanks Kevin!
I'm back, has been awhile eh? ^^ (Battlers connection motor mount above) I modeled and printed motor mounts for my Mabuchi 500's the design allows 'easy' removal & replacement of the motor & gears ^^ (Battlers connection small pump above) I redesigned the pump to have a replaceable “cartridge” to allow for “in field” motor swaps. The impellor and housing were redesigned for better efficiency and a smaller footprint. Parts drawn in AutoCAD and printed on Flash Forge Dreamer in ABS. ^^ Diy stainless props & 4" Long stainless shaft seals w/ custom zerk fittings Been watching Some of Kevin's videos on construction, very insightful! Next steps? I'd like to make some templates/ mock-ups of the batteries, bottle and turrets so I can install the stuffing tubes & place the motor mounts. I picked up several sheets of 1/8" acrylic for the deck/ subdeck, but were not there yet..
^^ Some initial thoughts on arrangement for Florida. I want both ships to be somewhat similar in design & operation. Still need to size the batteries, CO2 cylinder, etc. My (uneducated) thoughts are to use my 1" diy props close together with my rudder just aft of them. Still pondering further details and hesitant to cut holes for the stuffing tubes just yet..
1" props are going to be too small. They just don't have enough blade area to stop/start quickly enough. 1.25" or 1.5" are usually the size for smaller battleships. The gun layout is problematic. The sidemount will not be useful as you have to expose basically half the length of your ship, front or back, to place it on target. Also being right in the middle you can't wiggle the stern back and forth to change the range to stay on target. It is also going to be right in the middle of where you'll have other stuff like batteries and co2. I don't have a problem with bow guns, I actually love my funny gun, but you will be putting 2/3 of your fire power in one quadrant which with only 3 guns is generally a bad idea. I'd suggest keeping one of the bow guns (I like B), moving the sidemounts to E and D, one on either side, and you'll have the more or less standard death Y. You could mix it up and put a stern gun in E and put the sidemounts in A and B.
Very interesting, I thought a 4 unit boat was allowed a single side mount? Though admit I have an old copy of the rule book... ^^ Picked up a pair of these
Arm the Florida with two stern sidemounts and a bow gun in B. Same with the VU. One pump each. If you get a half unit put the extra 25 bbs in one of the stern sidemounts.
You might also want to think about moving the pump further aft. Generally right in front of (or between if lucky) the drive motors is a good spot. Water tends to collect aft when you are driving so it's usually best to have the pump in that location. Generally, you also want to have enough water channeling in the stern to keep the water from sloshing too far back as well.
^^An updated plan Many thanks for the replies! Renodemona, Thank you, I'll certainly go with the bigger props. A 'death Y' as you call it sounds much better than my initial layout. (I had an old copy of the rule book ) I like having most the guns in the back, less chance of unintentionally ramming. This boat has a wicked ram bow.. What size CO2 canister should I go with? Battlers connection has 3's and 5's Iunnrais, Good call on that. I'm certain I can get the pump in the last 1/3 of the boat. Water channeling will be 'crucial' on this boat. Its 8” wide amidships! What's an appropriate width for a water channel? Other thoughts, I'm considering 18650's for a power source. The Panasonic NCR18650B is 3400mAh, six of these batteries will give me 6.8A @ 11.1V Alternatively I could get a Turnigy 5000mAh pack @ 11.1V for around $25 I'm weighing the pros and cons: Availability, Multi-use, Price, etc.
Love it, will be very fun little slugger I'm sure. I've always gone by 1 ounce per gun unit, but recently I've upped that a little because of high flow guns. If you can fit a 5oz tank I'd say go with that, but a 3.5oz should be ok too especially since you have 3 50 round guns instead of 2 50s and a 75 like I have on my Italian. Glad to help, If you're ever wanting to come down south to battle I'm a good halfway point to go to Los Angeles to battle too.
I would go with 5oz bottle, should have plenty of room in either boat, with a smaller bottle you would need to get a really good fill each time which can be a hassle. For waterchannel, plan for 2” wide in middle (1” either side of centerline). You’ll want a stepped channel for Florida based on beam, make the outboard portions stepped up to height of bottom of windows to prevent rolling. This will keep water in middle. For batteries, go with the turnigy LiPos, plan to run 2x at a time in parallel. The 18650’s current rating is only 5A which is too low for those ships, assume pump will draw about 20A full load, drive motors 5-10A each.
Thanks again everyone for the feedback. Now that i have the basic layout down, I need to sharpen my pencil and figure an ideal design for my intact & damaged stability. Free surface area is a tough one w/o any baffles or bulkheads of any kind, my best bet is getting the CG as low as possible and providing buoyancy where I can for roll and pitch resistance. Should be interesting Renodemona, Thanks for the offer, I don't see travel anytime in my future. But if were headed down that way well let you know Kevin, Many thanks, I was leaning towards a 5oz for that reason. Florida's going to be a challenge to get right =/ Good catch on those batteries, didn't see that
Strangely, unlike Tirpitz long-prescribed adage that a warship's primary responsibility is to remain afloat. Were designing ships to sink... I modeled out these sections of foam and lead 12 inches as if it were a straight section. Its super simplified but is intended to show the thought behind my construction technique as it relates to stability. You can see the Florida is significantly wider than VU which offers greater intact stability, but once water starts pouring in it drops off quite rapidly. I believe its important to not 'permanently' place the lead until the Longitudinal Center of Gravity (LCG) is determined in the finished model. That's why I decided against covering the lead with foam. When the model is in a 'finished state' I'll be able to slide the lead ballast fore & aft as needed. It will be held in place by 'tacks' of 5200
Shucks, any idea how to attach diy Sheetmetal props to a shaft? Both are stainless, my thoughts were to thread the end for the rod and tighten a nut on either side. But I 'may' have underestimated how hard it is to thread stainless...
if you don't feel like doing heat stuff, there's some threadlock that can do the job too. it requires a torch and special tools to break the bond, so make sure ya do it proper the first time. no threads or anything needed.
