Please let them get shot up,,,, That means my boat is on the water doing combat!!! Happy,Happy.Joy,Joy. Moving in that direction I was troubleshooting a non functional cannon. Kas gave me some Great pointers on what to look for and now it is the hardest hitting cannon on the ship. I had my safety glasses on and @ 120 psi from my compressor it blew threw a cloth!! and pinged around garage 37 times before going out the door! Holy Cr.....P. I think i need to learn how to tweak my other guns that hard hitting! Thanks to Kas for great advice and to Will for the Hipower BBs.
i still have a picture Strategically placed over a mirror in the basement from doing gun tests...will be moving shop to outbuilding in coming weeks ...the mirror might get accidentally broken ....7 years bad luck or wife pissed about gun testing in house...hhmm?!?....moral of story be careful
thought I would throw a few pics in the mix while i tweeking the guns. I had a great time blowing wholes in the styrofoam. And Fun was Had by Methanks to all for the great advice.
So a little update, I battled VDT at Saranac twice and at Xenia Ohio for the labor day w/e event, and had an absolute Blast!!! I have now gotten ready to reskin the VDT and thought I would post some pics of what I'm doing so someone can advise on how to do it the rite way and save me some screw ups. The Casemates have definitely taken a pounding. I am trying to rebuild them with ABS sheet and fiber-glassing over it. I am also fiber-glassing over all the broken and cracked ribs and other areas that are damaged. Any suggestions are Appreciated. She has some fiberglass repairs in progress but I am hoping I can have her ready to sheet on Saturday for the build session. Craig
First bit of advise don't mix ABS and FG resin. You would be better off using Milled fibers 1/32 and poly resin. Make a paste with Resin then work it like a putty in the chipped area. use FG matting and poly to reinforce the backside of ribs/Casemates. Remove all glue/ paint before doing any of the above
Does it make a difference if I'm using west syst Gflex epoxy for resin? Where can I get milled fibers?
This is my opinion if you use West system your paying to much... back on topic yes you can. I have been around FG my entire life My Grandfather built boats as did my father. I built model Warships Your hull was formed with Polyester resin. in order for epoxy to effectively bond to polyester it has to be clean and free of contaminates(paint, glue, etc...) the surface has to be scored/sanded(effectively cleaned) during the layup/molding of your hull the surfaces exposed to atmosphere with poly produces a film/skin if you were to reapply poly it would dissolve this film and bond. Epoxy will not dissolve anything hence needing to score the surface for a proper bond. Short answer you can use epoxy and with milled fibers it take a little longer to wet out the fibers but it will and be strong. Take note it takes a lot of MF to a little resin to make a putty also mix thoroughly make in small batches and give some time (10-15min) to off gas the air before applying in sections of your boat. this is one link to get you rolling http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-32-fiberg...ash=item3aab8628f2:g:sYEAAOSw9N1Vn8DG&vxp=mtr
So the VDT made it to Nats and took a licking but kept on ticking. Started fixing all the stuff that got pounded. Out with the old, In with the new. I am currently working on the 10 minutes to Victory plan. So looking forward to seeing everyone on the water.
Battle Ready!!!! Well the repairs appear to be done and it seems to work as it is supposed to. I found a broken wire to one of my solenoids that I replaced as well as repairing my pump which blew out the tube during Nats Night battlelaugh:) causing more than just the inside to get wet. I did too! I replaced the props as you saw earlier. and all seems to work well again, guess I will find out at the GLAS Battle tomorrow. If anyone out there has the time you are welcome to come play with us. See you on the water. Craig
