Towboat Rebuild

[mitchlandry]

Well, i have decided to rebuild my first scratch-build. Have some issues with the hull and cabin that bother me, rather than fix, i am starting over. There are some things that i want to do differently this time around.

Here is the orginal thread
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=510420

This time around it's going to be a fiberglass hull

[green-boat]

Nothing a Black and Decker mouse can't handle with some 60 grit paper.

[mitchlandry]

Don't have the mouse, but have an air DA sander and a electric orbital sander.
Just need to make a run for more sanding disks.

[green-boat]

That DA will work, just take it easy. Sanding thru the glass would be a bad thing.

[desron48]

did you lay up the hull??

[mitchlandry]

Yes, it is layed up with 2 layers cloth and 1 layer mat sandwiched in between.
Sorry did not get any pics during layup.

[towboatjoe]

Wow Mitch, I wish I could make fiberglass hulls like that.

[mitchlandry]

Joe,
You can, just make up one of your hulls. Use the cheapest material available. it's not your final product. This was from a foam mold.
Just remeber the size needs to be a little smaller as the fiberglass hull will be the mold + fiberglass thickness for size.
Wax the heck out of the mold.
Instead of laying 1 thin layer cloth for protection, lay up 2 - 3 heavier layers. Depends on how thick you want the hull to be.
Once resin has cured, pull the mold out of fiberglass hull. I am not building the plugs to be re-usable, even though i really should. If your lucky and waxed enough, the plug should be re-usable and not be destroyed in the process. This is why i said cheapest material, it maybe damaged.
This is only my second hull, with hull no. 1 being the dabrimar's hull from the other thread.

I am working on a second hull right now. I am going to take some pics and post a thread as I go. This hull is for my Joey Carol, then next hull is for a Charlotte. After that will be the American Enterprise. All being built in 1/48

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I remember when Mitch started his first build it was like,

"Hey guys, what next...?

Now he is teaching master builders like Towboat Joe how to fiberglass..

:cool: Awsome :cool: Awsome :cool: Awsome :cool:
.
.
Kudos to everyone here for just being here. :cool:

Can't wait to see how you new build comes together Mitch. :)

[towboatjoe]

If you want to do a detailed pilot house and have working radars i can help you out on that. My biggest job was to fully detail the pilot house of the Viking and still make the radars work.

What I done was use the spotlight pole that went from the console to the ceiling and used it as a stuffing tube for a shaft that ran from a motor below the guest cabins into the ceiling space. I glued a sheave on it to use as a pully and used two different size sheaves for the radars. I also used another sheave for the band to run through to clear the ceiling lights. I then ran a band around each sheave.

Here's some more photos to get ideas with.

[Ghost 2501]

those cabin celing lights are very effective :)

[mitchlandry]

Well finally getting back to it. After beginning work on the center console with the possibility of being nitro powered, i decided i needed to get my retreaval boat ready as well.
Just some pics of the progress, nothing much.
Did some fairing of the hull, made the deck and some running hardware bits.
Put the old cabin structure on to see how she'll come out, thinking i might just rework the old cabin rather than start from scratch. Don't know yet.

[mitchlandry]

Started on the running gear. Got all the rudder and prop shaft stuffing shafts put in place. Put the rudders and wheels in place to make sure every thing lines up and to get some measurements for the motor placement.

[towboatjoe]

It's looking great Mitch. Becoming a regular ole pro at it I see.

[mitchlandry]

Thanks Joe,
It's about time I get back to it. Too many hobbies, too little time.

I had a question for you, do you have any pics of the rudder connections that are under the protective grates on the back deck of towboats?

[towboatjoe]

I have one that would work for that size vessel.

[mitchlandry]

Thanks Joe

Please send any more pics if you have any. I can make that one out, but it's a little far away.

[mitchlandry]

So for this build I wanted to do the rudder controls topside like some of the fullsize towboats with the use of the hydraulic rams(at least look similar). Then i can put a protective grating over if so desired or leave off to show the rudder hydraulic controls. So I set off to see how i can get this to work since the ram will be topside and the servo will be below decks. So after some tinkering i worked out the test model. Didn't want to put all kind of new holes on the real deck, so i just used a small piece of wood.

For the solution, i chose to use flex cable to simulate the hydraulic ram (real hydraulics were not an option). The problem with flex cable is it does not take sharp bends very well. In order to allow for enough bend to not bind the cable, i just enlarged the ram mounting housing.

The final solution will look similar to Joe's pic above.

On to the pics.
Rudders of course are not in the correct orientation, just there to test the control linkages.

[pops52]

Mitch, good looking mechanics. I love push-pull cables. You can do allot with them and do it remotely eliminating noise and long servo extensions.

Great work!!

[mitchlandry]

Just some more work on my rudder control linkages.
Here you can see the flex cable going thru the deck as i have not built the covers yet.

Also need to get the tiller arms for the rudder shafts. Just using some old servo horns for the layout (of course don't have enough to connect all the rudders), may make some from brass. Another side effect of doing this, now i have to go and cut some more rudder shafts as my originals are not long enough to protrude thru the top deck.

[mitchlandry]

Working on my rudder arms (homemade of course). Drilled first one, of course ended up off center. So will wait till tomorrow to get them on the drill press to help center up the holes.

[mitchlandry]

Fitting of running hardware and motor placement. Nothing permantly attached yet. Just laying things out.

Motors are mounted to a piece of wood that will be removable. the 2 side blocks will be anchored to the hull. I also plan on mounting the 2 rudder servo's to this motor plate. Will make it convienent to pull the guts out with couple of screws, actually thinking 4, 2 on each side.

Once i get the battery, i can make a little support box for the battery, then the deck can be glued to the hull. Most likey going to put a 12v 4.5A battery.
Should give plenty of run time and some extra weight to help with ballast.

[hobbymaster63]

i am in waco tx i will be moveing back to houston soon i want to join a boat club to run my tugs my home number is 2544203920 i will trade for tow boat all so

[mitchlandry]

Do you know of any clubs in the houston area, i have been looking for some, but haven't found except sail.

[mitchlandry]

Had a chance to work on it a little over the weekend. Not much, just getting the internal layout complete prior to permantly mounting the deck to hull.

Also worked on superstructure, removed railings i did not like, filled bad areas, etc ...
Put a coat of filler primer on so i can see any more bad areas before applying paint.

[mitchlandry]

Well, started back on it. Trying to get all the driveline and linkages setup before i start working on the structure.

Rudder linkages
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h267/mitchlandry/radio%20control/th_MVI_2528.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/albums/h267/mitchlandry/radio%20control/?action=view&current=MVI_2528.flv)


You can see a crack in the structure i need to take care of, as well as the deck needs to be cleaned up (paint)

[green-boat]

Welcome back. :D

[norgale]

Goody goody. This is interesting, Ha! Some ideas for my pushin' boat. Pete

[pops52]

Looks great Mitch! Love the rudder mechanics.

[mitchlandry]

Started on the guard lights, need 15 of them.

First, i filed down the outer lip from the LED
Then i CA'ed 1/16 strips of Styrene (.010)
Added some balsa wood
Sanded to shape

For size reference, those are 1/4" squares on the cutting mat.
Thinking of holding in place with hot glue to the inside of the superstructure, just in case i need to do any repairs down the road.

Sorry for the blurry pics, camera doesn't operate very well at close ups.

[Massey]

Sorry for the blurry pics, camera doesn't operate very well at close ups.

Does your camera have a little flower icon on it settings dial or menu? If so that is for taking close up shots, give it a try and see if you get cleaner pictures. Also more light will help make everything clearer.

I love the lights. I need to make something like that for a couple of my boats that I am working on and those ones should work great for my Aurora. Did you use the 5mm LEDS or are those the 3mm? I am building Aurora in HO (1:87) scale so I will be using the 3mm for my deck safety lights and 5mm for the clearance lights and spot lights. Thank you for the idea on making the lights

Massey

[mitchlandry]

Didn't even think about the macro setting, usually just fire the compact camera away on auto. Will try to get better pics once they have been painted up.

Those are the 3mm LED's, infact all of the LED's for this towboat will be 3mm with the exception of the spot lights, could only get the ultra bright in 5mm.

BTW, here is the photo from Towboat Joe's website i'm trying to duplicate.
http://towboatjoe.com/dwl-guard.jpg

[norgale]

That's very nice work on the steering linkage Mitch. The rudders too are all excellent work. I like the flex cable control as you can run it almost anywhere and it still works. Maybe some good ideas there for my present project.
Also on your pictures your camera may have a two stage lens trigger. Press the button partly down and the focus will come in. Then press the rest of the way to take the picture. You would find a tripod will help a lot too. I found an old telescope in my neighbors trash one day and the tripod fit my Kodak C533 perfectly so you don't have to go buy an expensive camera tripod. It works for my camcorder too. Pete

[mitchlandry]

Little bit better pic of the light. Still need some filling and sanding.

[green-boat]

Are you going to put a cage around it?

[mitchlandry]

Are you going to put a cage around it?

Wasn't going to as the pic i'm referencing doesn't have a cage, but it shouldn't be too hard to do. Also, i haven't lit them up yet, but i may attempt sanding the lens with ultrafine grit sandpaper (1000) to help diffuse the light so it doesn't look so pinpoint.

[mitchlandry]

Worked on the H-bits today, need 5 of them.
Made with 1/8 brass rod with 1/16 brass rod pinned and soldered across them. Just primered for now.
Made them a little long so i can trim the width as well as have enough meat to glue into the deck.

Wanting to start the new super structure rather than patching this one. Thinking about using lexan or acrylic sheet instead of wood this time, will just have to see.

[Shaun Hendricks]

Sintra... use the PVC Luke! Let go your wood materials... :D

[mitchlandry]

Want to give a try @ sintra, just not sure where to buy locally. maybe on the next project, just picked up a piece of acrylic sheet to try. Fairly cheap, so if i make mistakes, didn't loose too much.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Little bit better pic of the light. Still need some filling and sanding.


Hey, cool, I am working on some of those...
:cool:

[mitchlandry]

Umi,

What are those cast with to still be translucent with an LED inside? Assuming these fit over LED's.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Umi,

What are those cast with to still be translucent with an LED inside? Assuming these fit over LED's.

The white set is standard polyurethane.
The lighted set is "waterclear" polyurethane.
Although for these, I might use a "clear" polyurethane, which has
a little bit of a yellow tint when cured... :)

[large mike]

Mitch, you can order Sintra from these folks: www.foamboardsource.com, I just received an order for Sintra and it arrived in less than a week.

Large Mike

[CaptPutt]

Wasn't going to as the pic i'm referencing doesn't have a cage, but it shouldn't be too hard to do. Also, i haven't lit them up yet, but i may attempt sanding the lens with ultrafine grit sandpaper (1000) to help diffuse the light so it doesn't look so pinpoint.

According to USCG regulations if the globe is made of glass it must have a cage, but if the globe is a polycarbonate then a cage is not needed. I must say from first hand experience the glass/cage is better as the poly globe doesn't melt and catch fire from the heat of the bulbs :(

[towboatjoe]

A lot of the boats are using flouresant bulbs in the poly globe type.

[mitchlandry]

Little more progress. Got the bulwarks on and painted.
Bulwarks made from .030 styrene.