I skinned the gearing and wired up all the esc, the gun board, solenoid and expansion tank. Going to float test and get it ballasted before I secure everything down and run airlines. Paint coming next.
Hi and congrats on getting the Gearing together . They are a neat little kit that is well thought out. Having battled one at Nats, a few comments: 1. The Predator cannon works quite well - if fed properly. The starter beverage reg is good for 5ish shots and then cannot keep up. While this is not terrible for the role this ship plays, the upgrade is exactly what you have done. I used the BC reg and was very happy with performance - fast shots with good force. 2. Steve T's concern is true re the small amount of air space behind the breech. In practice , my experience is that this design does work. It is just enough space and the slotted piston does the job. 3. Both previous posters have discussed ultralight cannon designs that put weight lower in the boat. This is a great piece of advice from a physics standpoint and I agree. That said, the problem with ALL destroyers is that , in our scale and speed, they take a considerable amount of water over the decks in maneuvering. Keeping the cannon complete in the Super allows a better seal underneath. They will sink themselves if deck seal is not perfect. My first sink came at Nats while chasing a slower Japanese cruiser that was "On 5". I was twisting and turning back and forth to get shots on his sides fast enough as I chased him that I took too much water over the deck and sank. Fortunately, I had taken a few hits from him before he was out of ammo and did not get a combat unworthy penalty. I sealed the deck better after that. 4. looking forward to seeing how she rides and ballasts with the solenoid. I was not sure I could afford the weight without getting tippy. Hope you can put up some maneuvering videos when you get to sea trials. 5. consider a pump upgrade. 6. I do not recognize your avatar. we need to develop some sort of naming rules. any chance you are coming to Nats?
I’ll get some video when I get around to it. No Nats for me, I was at the oakboro nats in 12’ with my Bismarck. It was easier for me to play then since we had a few battlers in NC and I wasn’t married. I sold everything I had a few years ago and started playing around with the dd’s since my wife doesn’t pay much attention to them in the garage and they don’t take up alot of space. No nats for me this year, I have a business to run and a 3 month old son that keeps me pretty busy on the weekends. But he’ll get older and then I’ll have someone to go with me eventually. Just kind of hectic this year with everything going on. I would like to maybe build another big boat in the future again when I know I can make some battles. Im going to mount the solenoid laying down to try and keep the weight low. The combat gear board matched with the solenoid can really fire off the rounds quickly! Going to have to get another BC reg for the fletcher as it is a HUGE step up from the beverage regulator. I had to add quite a few ounces of lead to my fletcher so hopefully it won’t be too heavy. Anyone know the max combat weight of a gearing right off hand? Hope I’ll have weight to spare and can add a little flat lead to the bottom of the hull.
Sigh. Understood. life with more mobility will come. RE having a Bismarck - OK, so you know your way around the tech and a super ship. When I got into the hobby, my son was 10 and he and I decided to get into it together - choosing it over racing RC cars or boats and the airplane hobbies. I was fortunate in that my wife felt it was a great father-son bonding experience and was very supportive. Good Luck.
thanks, combat loaded I’m at 2.8lbs. Should be able to add a little more weight in the bottom to help with stability. Need to setup a YouTube account so I can get some video rolling soon..
Mounted the gun different for more down angle off the bow at 15 degrees, and now the magazine is a little lower in the hull too. Cut out the torpedo section the the SS to load the gun. Secured with Velcro. Hull has been silkspaned and painted red. Awaiting a float test to add the waterline and rest of the hull paint. Grass needed mowing today and didn’t get to it.
Glad to see the cannon lower in the boat, but how are you doing your deck seal? These boats are very wet, and will sink themselves if left unsealed.
I agree with you that getting weight low is critical. That said, the secret of this kit is the ultralow weight of the deck and superstructure combo. all elements go together and allow the cannon weight to be the only significant weight. It is also light enough that you need to add approx 8 ounces of weight and she handles well. Heh heh, but, you will have issues if your seal fails. Just sayin.
Ordered some neodymium magnets to try and use instead of the screws, and then going to attempt some sort of rubber or foam gasket to seal the deck to the hull rim. If it turns out to be a bust I’ll try something else for sure. My old z23 ran quite wet too but hopefully I can come up with something that will work rather than using the lexan covers and tape. Will post my failures or success. I have tomorrow off and the wife has to work so I will be trying something out before the true water test. Float tested yesterday, secured everything in the hull and added some sticky wheel weights to the hull for ballast and to get it floating level. Should have some sort of footage sometime over the weekend.
I really like magnets and did this on my hybrid Gearing -F/G hull with vacuGearing top. when it sank, the light super pulled off the magnets. I will add a screw at extreme bow and stern. just a thought.
Magnets turned out to be a bust... Not enough holding power to do the job unless I go bigger, may try again in the future.. However I got some neoprene under the deck for my water gasket which seems to work well using the provided screws so that will suffice until I come up with a different solution to take the deck off faster. Added some rigging and flags to give it some extra character.. Now I just need the wife to let me make a battle.
very nice looking build. as for battle - NO Brainer. next weekend is the Fall regional in your back yard - Oakboro,NC. I will bring my Gearing that has done well through 2 Nats as well as the new Narvik which should be ready for sea trials. We can do comparison sea trials.
Had the in-laws over tonight so I may have finally gotten my pass. Haha last time I battled was oakboro nats in 11’.
View: https://youtu.be/72pVAigUess View: https://youtu.be/IMWToRRmfts little pool testing took some weight out of the bow because it was running a little too wet. Both the gearing and fletcher ran well and sank a few cardboard boxes.
As many of you know from my other post about boards I had been having issues getting gun boards working and somehow burnt out 2 of the smaller 10amp esc’s typically ran in these destroyers. Not sure how I did on 2s no issues but maybe I had my endpoints set to high on 3s so I killed them. Haven’t been in the water since making the switch from 2s but I now also added a 25amp esc from hobby king and running a multi-c board from battlers for my gun and pump. So far really liking it, here’s a picture after the float test where it sits level loaded minus a little air plumping to the new solenoid. I know I will need to adjust the endpoint down when I pond or pool test soon on 3s without a doubt. Sitting at 3lbs 4 ounces loaded without a few more inches of hose. Will post a video of this gun ripping tomorrow.
