VDT was cut out yesterday. Boy it was a tough cut. I accidentlaly cut out the angled gunwale that is just behing the cupola at the bow. Doh!! Oh well I don't know what I can do about that but I will figure something out for it. One thing.. it really is not worth all the trouble to cut out those areas. that are barely penetrable. Might have to revisit the rules on these type of ships. Definitly not a ship for the beginner. I will post the pics tomorrow. ADM STOKOMOTO
I used a 5/32 drill bit. Worked out to allow a little room for daisy bb to pass through. The cutoff wheels were Fiberglass reinforced. Adm Stokomoto
Here are some of those pics of the VDT after I cut it. It is still not finished as there is a lot of filing and clean up to do with all the ribs and corners ect. Side view -VDT STBD BOW -VDT MIDSHIPS-VDT STBD AFT- VDT STERN-STBD- VDT Port Quarter-VDT Stbd Quarter-VDT Overall Side View Stbd -VDT BOW STBD Closeup of the cupola with penetrable area. Need to file this into a nice clean rectangle. Another shot of the Bow area. STBD MIDSHIPS- the midships stbd quarter area. I disregared the Imp area I wrote on the tape. I was able to interpret the ruling to allow this area to be penetrable. Stbd aft section- vdt Stern VDT stbd side Midships-vdt
VDT PT 2 Ok this area I got right..(stbd bow cupola However....I screwed up here... can you see what I did?... Bow port side cupola area. More of the areas that I was going to make impenetrable but reinterpreting the rules I made these areas pentetrable. Stern view VDT A lot more work to do. More to come after the hull clean up is complete. ADM STOKOMOTO
Thanks for the pics! I'll soon be following in your footsteps and am following you build closely. I discussed how/whether to cut the VDT along around the small side cannon mounts (can't recall the name of that area right now). Someone did the math for me and, as I understand it, while the area SHOULD be cut out per the rule measurements it results in an area just under .177", thus a BB can't penetrate the "penetrable" area. I'm told many (most?) VDT's in the MCWI region 3 area are not cut but am not sure whether the VDT's at NATS were cut or not. I'll likely remove the area simply to avoid the debate entirely. However, it would be nice if the rules were clarified about that area. Someone mentioned the diamond dust impregnated cutting wheels and I saw a small pack of them at Harbor Freight Tools last weekend. Picked it up thinking it might be a better cutting wheel for the VDT. From your experience it sounds like I should give them a try. Thanks again for the pics and blow-by-blow....just think of all the time you're saving by not having me over your shoulder. Heh.
Good Grief!HEH HEH. Get me a pic of the cutting wheel. I could use something better. Once I clean up the small penetrable areas it should give you a much clearer picture of the pentrable areas. I need to remove the tape and file them cleanly. Right now it looks like a mess. I'm thinking if the window is not at least 2 bbs wide vertical and 2 bbs wide horizontal than make the area impenetrable. ADM STOKOMOTO
I was going to say I used this wheel for all straight lines: http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=545 I also used this for cutting out the corners of the boxes prior to using the wheel and to cut out all the small penetrable areas. This one cut the fiberglass 'like butta'. http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=9931. I only used the tapered bit on fiberglass. I used it on plastic and the plastic will melt into the teeth which is hard to get out.
The post above goes to Dremel's version of the diamond wheel I was talking about. Harbor Freight had a knock off version in my local store but I couldn't find the wheels on HF's web site. Next time I'm at Home Depot I'll pick up a couple of the Dremel wheels and compare them to the knock off when I cut my VDT. BTW, noticed that HF has a 249 piece rotary tool accessory kit for $17: Visit this site I saw a similar set on sale at Home Depot for $15 or $20 a few weeks back and I bet there will be a Christmas special as well. Visit this site I also noticed that Dremel has a new linke of "EZ Lock" mandrels: http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=EZ402 That system may require experimentation as I HATE changing out the wheels.
Yes, I have been using the Dremel EZ-LOC for about the last year with their EZ-LOC cutting wheels, talk about so much nicer when one breaks, bull back on the lock, rotate 90 deg, throw away, and just pop a new one on, and back to work, just so much nicer period. Well worth the few extra bucks.
Why is it 3/8" it's entire length? Shouldn't it get to be 3/8" only under the areas where the main deck steps back 1/2" and 1/4" at the areas where the main deck is closer then 1/2". You should not have more then 3/8" + 1/4" at any verticle area. Right now you have 3/8" + 3/8", too much solid deck area.
The Gunwale is 3/8 the entire length. The vertical is 1/4 in. If your referring to the last batch of pics that has since been corrected. I am well aware of the veritical areas and I already corrected those the other day when I worked on the hulls again. I haven't had the chance to post those new pics yet. Good to see your paying attention. I need keen eyes to keep this legal. I want to use these for MWC or Ircwcc events. ADM STOKOMOTO
Just an update. I cleaned all the ribs and windows of fiber glass burrs and rough edging. Cut out slots for the main drive stuffing tubes and temp installed the tubes for place fitting and alignment. So far so good. Rudder location holes are drilled out and test fitted.Also good on that. The layout inside will be similar to the PE. In this ship I am going with the small bilge pump so that it conforms with the rules for not having a larger pump motor than the drive motors. The PE'S previous Props the 3 blade 25 pitch I in will be attached to VDT as it is a faster ship than PE. Both ships weigh about the same and the props with the 280 motors direct drive moved the PE at 26 seconds so they should work fine for VDT. Vdt will have the dummy shafts and drag props installed too. I inventoried my supplies and come Jan I will be ordering what I need to complete the VDT,KONIG, and Graf Spee as Combat ships. The rest will be comopleted without their armament installed. Going to be busy this winter.
Re: RE: VDT BUILD Hey Snipehunter, Could you send me the pics of your VDT rib layout to my private email address? Gettysburg114th@aol.com I'm having one heck of a time finding the pictures since the change to RCN Thanks in advance,
I got one of the drive shafts tentatively installed for placement and alignment fit. Working on the stbd stuffing tube. So far the layout is working out well. Not sure exactly how I am going to mount the motor mounts to the hull. They just need a little lift at the rear of the motor mount to align them perfectly with the drive shaft. The bow will have the regulator facing the bow. It frees up plenty of space for the servos between the co2 bottle bottom and the battery tray. The small bilge pump is sandwiched between the drive couplings nicely but with no intereference so access is easy. I am missing one of my rudders.. doh! Looks like I will have to get another one from BC. The VDT is running a pair of 385s 7.2v on 6 v direct drive. The prop is scale to the plans but larger than PE's props. It should propel the model at 26 seconds. This model will have 4 shafts the outboard shafts will be dummy shafts and I can add drag props. It should work. Pe worked great without gears or esc's and I am hoping for the same success with this setup as well.
