discussion The Happy Hunter

[spanner570]

Andy, looking at your pictures of all the gear in the hull, prompted me to think.....Where does the ballast go? Bearing in mind the high superstructure, presumably it will need quite a fair bit! If so, what sort is used?

There again it will have powerful batteries for all the gear, is that used for ballast?

Thick questions from an R.C. Boat newcomer!

 

[Guest]

Ron, as far as i can make out it will not want much ballast, those 2 6v batteries weigh a tidy sum alone. There is still a lot more kit to go inside yet as you will see as we progress. If we need any at all it will be at the rear and id probably get down the fishing tackle shop and get some heafty lead weights, i think they call them ledgers. These will be easier to add or subtract as necessary. Before this is done i will need to find the correct water line.

It will be a lesson for us both i think. Stay tuned mate.

Andy

 

[Guest]

Kiora. Its not for Crows its just for me and my dog...

 

[Guest]

impressive progress Andy, this is very interesting and is giving me the urge to have a go at the airboat i want to make from scratch, the ally, plastic and wood is waiting for me in the shed ... still got a few motors/battery packs and some rc gear so i may have a bash.

keep these updates coming mate, it's a great read.

Colin, I've just bought a bumper bag of pop corn, so shift over and dig in! I've ordered the drinks for the next interval....

good job an' all, i've run out and am feelin' peckish.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Colin. Go for it mate. Give you something to do over Christmas lol.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Guest]

, those 2 6v batteries weigh a tidy sum alone.

Got a couple of 7.2 and an 8.4 (car type) battery packs knocking around if you want em Andy .... or are the battery packs specific to the boat??

 

[Guest]

Seems that they are the specified ones 2 x 6v never checked the Ah as they were specified for the kit. I know i could fit a 12v 12Ah in that slot quite easily so im not too sure why they have opted for 6v in series. Might find out later, perhaps something in there runs on 6v i dont know for certain.

Andy

 

[Ian M]

Looking good Andy.

Ballast: I belive reading that you hunt...Loose shot is a great ballast. Get all the gubbins in and then find a plastic bag. Put the bag or bags in the hull so that the weight will be even and ballanced. Poor the shot into the bags until the waterline is reached. (dont forget to allow the weight of the super strucktures.)

It helps if you can add some bulkheads to keep the bags free from fowling on things. Once the correct weight and ballance is found you can pour thinned pva into the bags and let it set hard. One set of fitted ballast that can be removed for transport and display.

As alternative is water! you will just need to build water tanks with baffles and you're away. No need to hump round with loads of ballast either...;-) I have a mate that has an RC tug that needs 25kg ballast!! He changed over to water tanks and has never looked back.

Ian M

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ian, ill bear both in mind when the time comes.

Thanks

Andy

 

[Guest]

The dreaded bow thrusters are finished. I took it steady and they came out great i think.

View attachment 54185View attachment 54186View attachment 54187View attachment 54188

The next thing i wanted to do was to make sure the whole thing was watertight, i decided to go a little OTT on this part. Best to be sure.

View attachment 54189

Here you can see that i have added the oil filler tubes for the prop shaft lube and waterproofing.

View attachment 54190

Next part was to start the aft deck. This has quite a few parts to it and it has to be built upside down. Making sure that it isnt built the wrong way round as you will see there is a lip on the right top side when the right way up.

View attachment 54191View attachment 54192View attachment 54193View attachment 54194

Cheers

Andy

View attachment 56422

View attachment 56423

View attachment 56424

View attachment 56425

View attachment 56426

View attachment 56427

View attachment 56428

View attachment 56429

View attachment 56430

View attachment 56431

View attachment 169448

View attachment 169449

View attachment 169450

View attachment 169451

View attachment 169452

View attachment 169453

View attachment 169454

View attachment 169455

View attachment 169456

View attachment 169457

 

[Guest]

Looking good Andy, i see your giving her all the bells and whistles and i saw a video on youtube of her with all the things working and it looked great

cheers steve

 

[Guest]

Cheers Steve. I saw that video to. There is a lot to go inside this thing, should make for a good build i think.

Andy

 

[Guest]

Continuing on from last nights episode, the next job is to make the covers fit into the slots. Only slightly oversized didnt make it too much of a job.

View attachment 54227View attachment 54228View attachment 54229View attachment 54230View attachment 54231View attachment 54232

Once in place its time to turn over and glue in place the strengtheners, these have a slight curve to follow the deck curve for the water to run off.

View attachment 54233View attachment 54234View attachment 54235

Now complete its onto fixing the deck rail that the aft deck will sit on and be glued to.

View attachment 54236View attachment 54237View attachment 54238

Next is to fit the deck, some sanding was necessary to get it to fit snug. Now we can see the extra 3mm lip that was to be left on the stern. Once the deck is glued into place this lip can be sanded level with the deck.

View attachment 54239View attachment 54240View attachment 54241

Starting to look a little ship shape now haha.

Cheers

Andy

View attachment 56464

View attachment 56465

View attachment 56466

View attachment 56467

View attachment 56468

View attachment 56469

View attachment 56470

View attachment 56471

View attachment 56472

View attachment 56473

View attachment 56474

View attachment 56475

View attachment 56476

View attachment 56477

View attachment 56478

View attachment 169490

View attachment 169491

View attachment 169492

View attachment 169493

View attachment 169494

View attachment 169495

View attachment 169496

View attachment 169497

View attachment 169498

View attachment 169499

View attachment 169500

View attachment 169501

View attachment 169502

View attachment 169503

View attachment 169504

 

[Guest]

Looking great Andy!! Very clean Job!!

I love your your atmosphere and the touch of tranquility in your models!

Cheers

Polux

 

[Guest]

First on the list tonight was to finish off the aft deck process and flush the stearn level.

View attachment 54292View attachment 54293

Loving this material, its so easy to work with. This complete its time to move onto the aft bulkead.

View attachment 54294View attachment 54295View attachment 54296View attachment 54297View attachment 54298

Now for the roller box.

View attachment 54299View attachment 54300View attachment 54301View attachment 54302View attachment 54303

As we are working towards the front it will soon be time to do some serious wiring.

Cheers

Andy

View attachment 56524

View attachment 56525

View attachment 56526

View attachment 56527

View attachment 56528

View attachment 56529

View attachment 56530

View attachment 56531

View attachment 56532

View attachment 56533

View attachment 56534

View attachment 56535

View attachment 169550

View attachment 169551

View attachment 169552

View attachment 169553

View attachment 169554

View attachment 169555

View attachment 169556

View attachment 169557

View attachment 169558

View attachment 169559

View attachment 169560

View attachment 169561

 

[Guest]

Looking great Andy,for us non boat folks whats a rollor box?

 

[Guest]

Looking great Andy,for us non boat folks whats a rollor box?

You know Trey im not quite sure myself. Id be guessing but i think its to do with the towing rope and that it would have rollers on it for the rope to run over when the winch is working. Perhaps it will become clearer to us both as the build goes on and more bits are added to it. There are some other parts to stick on it yet i think.

Cheers

Andy

 

[yak face]

me too, ive no idea what a rollerbox is but it looks mighty fine anyway andy! top work mate , keep the pics coming , cheers tony

 

[Ian M]

You hit the nail on the head Andy. Its a box or frame that holds the rollers that protect the tow cable and the stern of the tug.

nice work on the deck so far, looks like its going together quite well.

Ian M

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys for the kind words and thanks Ian also for confirming the Roller Box. Here are some more for you, Scuppers and Hawses. Learning all the time with this one.

Well first off i needed to fit the Bulwark would you believe lol. its the part that runs around the stearn above deck level.

View attachment 54340

And now for the Scuppers and Hawses.

View attachment 54341View attachment 54342

This next part was a real nail biter i can tell you. As you can see from the inside of the Scupper there are slots that have to be cut out for the water to drain off the deck, OMG what a risky job, you cant do it from the deck side because you cant get the Dremel in to do it so you have to cut blind from the outside. I decided to shine a tourch from the inside to give me some guidance as the light shone through the single skin that needed cutting out. The tricky bit is to cut it out with the Dremel without going outside of the said area, the real tricky bit is not to cut too low as the Dremel would eat away the deck and that would be a disaster. The cuts in the Bulwark had to be done with no guide as there was nothing on the inside to guide me, a total guess work job on these 2. Anyway, as you can see below i got away with it this time, fingers crosses for the upper deck.

View attachment 54343View attachment 54344View attachment 54345View attachment 54346View attachment 54347View attachment 54348

Cheers

Andy

View attachment 56572

View attachment 56573

View attachment 56574

View attachment 56575

View attachment 56576

View attachment 56577

View attachment 56578

View attachment 56579

View attachment 56580

View attachment 169598

View attachment 169599

View attachment 169600

View attachment 169601

View attachment 169602

View attachment 169603

View attachment 169604

View attachment 169605

View attachment 169606