Returning to the water - now 46" Fairey Huntsman

[Alastair_I]

Thought it only polite to introduce myself before asking a couple of questions..

I'm Al, based in the UK and newly returning to RC boats. Almost 25 years ago I was given my first (and so far only) RC boat, by grandparents misled by the term Almost Ready To Run on the box.. don't think my dad was best pleased as he took it upon himself to do the assembly (I doubt I was 10 at this time, but I can't be sure exactly when it was).

The boat was the Aqua Sea Master-II, by the OK Model Co.. and I still have it although it hasn't run in 15+ years..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/13052008060.jpg http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/13052008061.jpg

According to the instructions the boat is 675mm (+/- 26.5") in length and 190mm (+/- 7.5") broad, it came with a Mabuchi RS540S, an ultra-low-tech mechanical speed controller and was fitted with a Futaba 2-channel RC. As I remember it went like the proverbial off the shovel.. for about 10-15 minutes before the battery expired. My dad and I used to get through a prop every other trip due to weed on the boating pond (Stoke Park, Guildford, Surrey) but would occasionally recover one of our lost props on a later visit tangled up in the weed wrapped around the current prop!

A couple of things have led to a renewed interest in boats.. I've put in a pond and I'm busy laying 45mm track around it for a 7/8":1' live steam railway and I figured a boat in the pond would add to the ambience.. and given that the local park (The Walks, King's Lynn, Norfolk) is almost at the end of a revamp and it has such nice, slow moving canals.. well.. it would be a shame if a pond boat was static..

So.. this leads my to a two-pronged approach to a return to RC boats.. first.. to get Sea Master-II re-fitted and back on the water.. and secondly a 1:12 or thereabouts slow boat (the park canals are badly in need of dredging to remove old branches and traffic cones, hopefully this will be done in due course, but they appear navigable for anything slow.. besides, I want a decent run time. This has led me to the Billings African Queen.. although I'm not one for building anything according to the instructions.

If it's not to cheeky for an introduction thread, I've a few questions I hope you can help me with..

Could anyone reccomend a suitable motor, ESC and battery combination for the Sea Master-II - to replace the Mabuchi RS540S?
I've done some reading around digital RC, would this be better in the long run for sharing a transmitter between several models, be suitable for water and land (rail) use, and avoid interference problems?
Has anyone used the Regner steam plants (http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.regner-dampftechnik.de%2Fechtdampf%2Fschiffsmodellbau%2Fe asy_line_schiffe.php&lp=de_en&btnTrUrl=Translate), has anyone used them to convert the African Queen (tbh I'll probably stick with electric propulsion, but it's an idea, Search hasn't turned up anything)?

Many thanks, Al

[retoabcr]

subject covered.

[Alastair_I]

Thanks for the reply retoabcr. I've stripped the hull of the motor, battery (Tamiya 5N-1200SC), etc and given the boat a check for brittleness. It looks and feels ok.. but probably would do until it hit an obstruction. The original motor moment is forward of the centre, with the batteries to the rear. If I understand you correctly I would have to remove the existing stuffing tube and drive shaft and replace these. If there was any brittleness then removing the existing mechanicals already epoxied to the hull is likely to tell me very quickly..

I'm not looking for rocket-ship performance.. it would just be a retro-runabout.

Started reading through the Africa Queen instructions this morning.. eek.. terrible, seem to leave more questions than answers. And I thought the Sea Master-II had poor instructions.. the AQ isn't much better.

[steveciambrone]

Similar interests I am also in to 16mm Trains and boats. 16mm Live steam trains and electric/live steam boats.

The Billings kits instructions are weak. General instructions and then your on your own.

I built a African Queen and fitted it with a Midwest Heritage steam plant, simple and inexpensive.
The Regner live steam trains have gotten a great reputation here in the states, I would expect their marine steam plants to be the same since they share the same parts and quality standards.

The AQ ia small so it does not take much of a steam plant to get it going at a scale speed.

Thanks
Steve

[retoabcr]

Steve, that is SHARP in all 4 pictures. Your in a league by yourself with that workmanship WOW!!!

[Kmot]

Welcome Alastair!

I have different recommendations than retoabcr. He has given recommendations for a true Fast Electric (FE) boat.

To keep your vintage boat in character, but still very enjoyable I recommend replacing that miserable Mabuchi 540 with a 550 size motor. Many 550's are available4 but I recommend you source a Traxxas Titan 12. It is a 12 turn 550 fan cooled motor that costs under $20 USD (on ebay) and has brilliant performance. Traxxas motors are virtually bullet proof and will outlast your boat if not over volted. The Titan 12 will give surprisingly powerful performance on a 6-cell battery pack.

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=27458

The SC1200 battery you have is from the dark ages. :p Today you can buy a 4500 NiMh battery that will last more than 4 times as long and they can be had for around $35 USD.

http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1873

For a speed control I would get an Mtroniks Viper Marine 25:

http://www.mtroniks.net/details1.asp/ProductID/183/sid/2/Viper-marine25.htm

Determine whether your prop shaft is threaded or has a drive dog. Once you know this, source a few different plastic props in various sizes because you really should test a few to determine the best combination of speed, endurance, and temperature of the electronics.

Cheers!

[pompebled]

Hi Alastair,

I agree with Kmot, the boat is rather small for the 700 12-14 cell set-up retoabcr suggested.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but it feels like a bit overkill in an ABS hull.

You'll be surprised at how brisk she will run with the motor suggested by Kmot.
If you want to spice it up a bit, run it on 7 cells (8,4V) the motor can handle that.
Start with a 28-30 mm prop and work your way up to see what's the best balance between speed and runtime.

By the way, runtime; if you go with the suggested 4500mAh cells, expect runtimes of 15-20 minutes full throttle, depending on the chosen prop.
This long runtime causes considerable heat build-up in the motor, the internal fan helps a lot, but adding watercooling is greatly adviced, specially on the brushtabs.

Regarding the aging of the ABS hull; if it has been painted, the coat of paint helps contain the solvents in the plastic, keeping it flexible.

Should the ABS be (a bit) brittle, it is wise to glue strips of ABS sheet in the hull, under the motormount and under the batteries, to prevent them from wanting to exit the hull though there, as a result of the pounding on the water, cracks may appear, reinforcing the hull will prevent it (largely).

Regards, Jan.

[Shaun Hendricks]

Kmot probably has the right tack for this boat, not only due to age but also useability.

A true fast electric needs an appropriate hull and all kinds of trim, steering and cooling gear. They also use LiPo batteries and specialized equipment for operation.

The boat is nice and would do well with the gear Kmot spec's out. Keep it simple and it will be an enjoyable boat. Get too fancy and you'll probably end up hating the performance versus the money input into it.

[Alastair_I]

Thanks for the tips everyone.. I think Kmot is closer to my way of thinking. This is just to be a fun boat. Fortunately I'm passing a decent model shop on Friday and will have some time to spare.. (decent shop for boats, cars and 'planes but not for rail, except for those odd detailing pieces and some materials). I'll print out the thread before I go.. any tips on the RC gear.. stick with conventional or go digital? Ideally I'd like to be able to use the same tx for any boat I run and be able to use it for rail use too.

The yellow on the hull is the native colour of the material it's made from, everything else is period decals. I did wonder about reinforcing the hull from the inside.. I can certainly do that to the load bearing areas, but to get full access I'd have to split the deck from the hull, and that's still factory glued. I'd rather not do that at the moment. As it is I need to see if I can adapt the existing motor mount as it's firmly epoxied to the hull.

The prop is threaded.. I now suspect this is why we lost so many props all those years ago.. get stuck in the weed.. try and reverse out.. unscrew prop..

Steve.. the reason for asking about the Regner boat units was because I already have one of their rail steamers..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/ModelRail/PICT1541crw.jpg

A G-scale Lumberjack.. currently (still) awaiting a new cab structure to bring it up to 7/8":1" scale. Regner do link to the AQ as an example of one of their units in use, but don't specifiy which of their units has been installed -I suspect it's the mini (http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?.intl=uk&lp=de_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.regner-dampftechnik.de%2faktuelles%2fneuheiten2005%2fdamp fm_mini.php).

[charlie eaton]

Alastair, Go with KMOT'S recommendation. That way you will not have to change anything from the motor mount aft,just the motor. He is correct as far as the batteries go also. There are several waterjackets out there that will fit on a 550 very nicely and an electronic speed control is a must. These are simple changes and will give you fair performance and not overstress an older boat hull.

[pompebled]

Could you show some pics of the interior, that way I can see how far a little reinforcing would help.

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Interior shots..

Top down through the open cabin onto the motor mount..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/13052008062.jpg

The motor mount looking forward..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/13052008066.jpg

Looking aft from the motor mount.. the orginal battery sat on a saddle over the driveshaft..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/13052008064.jpg


Looking down on the aft hatch (the RX and servo gear was fixed here in a box that drops into the hatch)..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/13052008063.jpg


Stern shot..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/13052008065.jpg


Again, many thanks for all the help.. Al

[Kmot]

Regarding radio, is the 2.4Ghz stuff available in the UK? If so, that is the ultimate in radio gear because it can be used for anything, surface or air. Virtually all major radio mfg's now make 2.4Ghz available here in the USA.

You can mount a 550 motor in your existing situation with an aluminum motor mount that looks like this:

[steveciambrone]

The Regner mini would work, so would a single cylinder, The AQ has a lot of room to spare so if the footprint of the engine fits it will work. I did not ballast mine so it rides a little high in the water, so the AQ can accept more weight of a larger engine.

Regner is a fairly recent import to the USA, I am looking at there Chaloner engine as a next possibility.

Thanks
Steve

[pompebled]

Hi Alastair,

Thanks for the pics.

I'd leave the motormount as it is, sturdy enough for a 550 motor, adding watercooling it would be reduced to brustab cooling, but if the motor runs as cool as Kmot says it does, that should be sufficient.

There seems to be room to add a (wooden) battery tray, keeping the cells away from the ABS bottom, as they tend to get hot with long(ish) runtimes.

I've seen an ABS hull sag, due to the hot batteries inside the hull, once the boat was out of the water, the heat from the batteries deformed the hull..., not nice.
I'd divide the cells into a four and a three cell pack connecting them with 2,5mm² wire and 4mm goldplated connectors.
Please steer clear of the Tamiya connectors, they are no good in a boat with high capacity cells.

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Thanks again guys..

Kmot - 2.4GHz is available in the UK, I've seen the Spectrum series and I believe that Futaba have now released a set too, I'll have a good look at them on Friday.. The original steel motor-mounts look just like the aluminium ones you've posted.

Steve - the Lumberjack runs like a dream.. I'm thinking of fitting a servo under the footplate for the regulator and another for the whistle, but the reverser is mounted off the front under the smoke box door, so I'm struggling there unless I fashion a tram-like body. The Chaloner looks very appealing, but for a second engine I'm tempted to wait and see what the delayed Regner Shay looks like first. The Willi and Konrad locos have developed a bit of a following in the 7/8ths crowd for conversions. The advantage of the Regner powerplant to my mind is that it is gas fired, twin cylindered with regulator and reverser - I believe the Midwest runs on fuel tablets?

Jan - I have the original ABS battery cradle that sits over the drive shaft, I can fit temporary securing to stop this sliding (velcro?) and it will raise any battery pack I put in it just off the hull. Or as you suggest, I can use this as a pattern for a wooden battery deck.

[steveciambrone]

Alastair,
The Midwest Runs on Sterno (Gelled Ethanol) and works well. The Regner is far better Throttle control, Reversing, and internal gas firing. It is definitely a step up from the Midwest.

Thanks
Steve

[Alastair_I]

Sea Master-II is almost ready to get back on the water, new motor, new batteries, new r/c.. not quite the spec you guys gave me, but what was available and recomended by the LHS (fast electric guys.. so had to tame down their aspirations for the hull..). Just need to enlarge the hole for the ESC connection to the reciever and make up the crank for the rudder.

I have the one original prop.. but I'd like a couple more to try out and hold as spares.. problem is the shaft measures as 3mm diameter. I can't find a stock 2-bladed prop (36mm diameter) for a 3mm threaded shaft. Any ideas? Or am I not looking hard enough?

[pompebled]

I have the one original prop.. but I'd like a couple more to try out and hold as spares.. problem is the shaft measures as 3mm diameter. I can't find a stock 2-bladed prop (36mm diameter) for a 3mm threaded shaft. Any ideas? Or am I not looking hard enough?

Hi Alastair,

I've looked in my spare box and found precisely one prop with M3 thread and it's a three bladed one for a tug or other slow vessel.
M3 is not a very common size I'm affraid.

Replacing the propshaft for a 4mm threaded one would allow you to run a lot of props, as M4 props and M4 drivedog adapters will widen the selection enormously.

Depending on how well the boat is assembled, taking out the old stuffing tube can be easy, if there's a piece sticking out from under the hull, which you can heat with a fitting soldering iron, untill the glue softens up and you can pull it out with a pair of pliers.

Or, if heating doesn't work, drilling it free of the hull, using a tight fitting brass tube around the stuffing tube; the brass is put in a handdrill, the front of the tube has teeth filed onto the edge, slowly turning it will cut the material holding the old stuffing tube in place.

Drilling around the stuffing tube works very well, but produces a lot of frtiction and heat, so retract the drilling tube often, clean off the glue and plastic residue and resharpen the cutting edges if required.
Work slowly and patiently.

Regards, Jan.

[ooby]

...drilling it free of the hull, using a tight fitting brass tube around the stuffing tube; the brass is put in a hand drill, the front of the tube has teeth filed onto the edge, slowly turning it will cut the material holding the old stuffing tube in place.




Jan, That's a great idea, one that will be tucked away until needed. Thank you.

Ooby

[Alastair_I]

Thanks for the suggestion.. I've been given a place to try for 3mm props, so I'll see what they say. Changing to a 4mm shaft would probably right off this hull in the short-term as in addition to removing the stuffing tube I'd have to replace the external bracket-support and I don't know if the hull would take this abuse.. unless I can find someone that can produce a 3mm shaft with a 4mm threaded end.

[pompebled]

Thanks for the suggestion.. I've been given a place to try for 3mm props, so I'll see what they say. Changing to a 4mm shaft would probably right off this hull in the short-term as in addition to removing the stuffing tube I'd have to replace the external bracket-support and I don't know if the hull would take this abuse.. unless I can find someone that can produce a 3mm shaft with a 4mm threaded end.

If you have room for it, a machine shop could make you an adaptor; M3 inside and M4 outside.

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Prop-Shop to the rescue.. spare prop on its way..

Must make sure that any future vessels are 4mm..

[pompebled]

Prop-Shop to the rescue.. spare prop on its way..

Must make sure that any future vessels are 4mm..

If it's a brass one, most of these come unsharpened and unbalanced, this needs to be done before running it.
Only a few metal prop suppliers offer sharpened and balanced ones.

Regards. Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Thanks Jan.

[expat flyer]

Regarding radio, is the 2.4Ghz stuff available in the UK? If so, that is the ultimate in radio gear because it can be used for anything, surface or air. Virtually all major radio mfg's now make 2.4Ghz available here in the USA.


Yes they are available in the UK and I really recommend the Spektrum DX6. I bought mine from Phil Greeno in Harrow (via eBay). Two years and several dunkings and never a glitch. Absolutely delighted.

I did a power supply mod (Dimension Engineering) that gives me 18 hours use on the transmitter, and changed the charging wires round for compatibility with other makes of radios and chargers. I'm not sure if the Spektrum only comes with a 110v charger - it was removed from my UK outfit, but is supplied on mainland Europe purchases.

Current model DX6i should be even better. Futaba and others are available but more expensive, and I'm not sure they offer any advantage.

Jerry

[Alastair_I]

Motor installed, receiver, servos, ESC and battery all trial connected and everything works.. I've left a DIY servo bracket clamped for the glue to cure whilst I have a couple of days away with work.. then I'll have to set about forming a rudder linkage and mounting the rudder servo. Oh, and it will need some serious water-proofing in a few areas due to the open cockpit layout.

I had a look at the local lake yesterday.. great club (King's Lynn Model Boat Club) with several boats out on a Wednesday morning.. hmm.. that lake is big.. much bigger than the park pond I used this boat on in the past.. in any sort of chop I can see this open cockpit powerboat shipping water.. maybe this isn't the boat for this lake.. but I'll finish getting it running again and give it a go.

If the Sea Master-II is a bit toy-ish for the lake, and Africa Queen is a long-term project if I go the steam route.. now I'm looking for something to get on the water quickly.. The club boats seen so far were mostly sail, but also a mix of scale and semi-scale electric (couple of MTBs, fishing boat, RNLI lifeboat). The Sunday crowd is more mixed, and about 20 members rather than the 7 or 8 on a Wednesday. The Aquacraft Bristol Bay seems to get good reviews (and at cheaper than the thundertiger equivilent is a better bargain) as does the Atlantic tug and both would form a quick solution to getting on the water with the option for serious kit-bashing.. but a LHS has a second-hand Fairey Huntsman (at least 36" I think - if not 40", didn't have my tape measure) for just over half the price of a BB/Atlantic. No idea when it last run (the LHS is a plane/car specialist), but other than some loose trim it looks fairly sound. The barbie dolls in the cockpit would have to go.. and heaven alone knows what music was played in the walkman and speakers mounted in the hull.. but it should be almost good to go (motor, battery and servos all installed), and a project for future improvements. Large enough to be stable on the lake, good cruising duration on batteries, but with the right motor it should be able to put on a decent turn of speed. Good choice/bad choice? New ARTF vs. unknown SH..

By the way.. I went with a Futaba 40MHz set as there seems to be quite a bit of local dissatisfaction with 2.4GHz at the moment.

[pompebled]

Get the second-hand Fairey Huntsman!
Get the second-hand Fairey Huntsman!
Get the second-hand Fairey Huntsman!
Get the second-hand Fairey Huntsman!
Get the second-hand Fairey Huntsman!

Or am I getting too enthousiastic...?

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Jan.. ok.. I give in..

Bought the Huntsman, photos follow but here are the specs as recieved..

I got the length wrong... it's the 46" fibreglass hull!

The trim is knackered, soft decorative wood that hasn't stood up to lifes knocks and bumps. But the structure is sound. I'll replace the weak trim with hardwood copies. I'll be nearby the Gorleston shop next month and I'll try and get the plans. All the detail parts are plastic, so some brass replacements won't go amiss.

The paint job doesn't seem to be sticking to the hull too well, already nicked a bit of a corner.. so a rub down, primer and few coats of topcoat will be in order.

The running gear.. I was expecting to find nothing special in the motor mount, I hadn't made a note when I first looked. Today I found it has a Torpedo 850 12V 9778rpm 157W direct drive to a 2-bladed 2" prop. Power is from a Lead MCS 7-12, through an inline 15A spade fuse to a M3:Sonik Marine ESC. Just a guess but I imagine it will go like stink. There's a seperate box for a pair of D-cells to power the lights.

As yet everything is untested, but does this set-up sound about right for this boat?

I'll swap out the 27MHz RX that was mounted in the hull for my 40MHz and give it a dry test later this afternoon. I know I've got a lead-acid charger in the loft somewhere.

[pompebled]

Wow, nice!

I'm looking forward to some pics.

The set-up sounds good to me, just check all wiring for unpleaseant surprises and lube what needs to be lubricated before doing a test, if the bearings are brass and dry, it will make a horrible noise, next to damaging the bearings....

If the lead battery if still operational, use it and see if you're happy with the performance.

An 800 motor will also run very nicely on 20-24 NiMH cells, which will really go like stink.
Watercooling the motor (can and brushtabs) is a must then.
Also make sure the ESC can handle the cellcount.
On 20-24 cells you'll need a seperate receiverpack, and the red lead from the ESC must(!) be pulled from the plug and taped back, if the ESC has a BEC up to 12-14 cells!

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

As promised..

FBS - full boat shot
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/Aquaria/20080529_Huntsman_FBC_PS_cw.jpg

The cockpit with under-scale wheel, tatty seats and "interesting" vinyl padded walls..
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/Aquaria/20080529_Huntsman_cockpit_cw.jpg

The "business end"..
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/Aquaria/20080529_Huntsman_motorcomp_cw.jpg

Rear of the hull, with flimsy battery compartment..
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/Aquaria/20080529_Huntsman_battcomp_cw.jpg

Plan of attack..

The batteries are charged.. so it's time to fit it with an emergency bouy and lanyard and get it down to the water to see how it goes as-is..
Next step, make a temporary hatch cover so I can remove the cabin to worl on slowly whilst still being able to run the hull.
Strengthen the battery compartment, replace the wiring loom.
Remove the plastic and under-scale deck fittings, sand down the deck and hull, repaint deck and hull.. probably a solid deep gloss blue. For fibreglass is car paint suitable? I'm currently debating whether to paint or veneer the deck.
Strip the cabin.. remove the weak fittings and create templates for replacements.. investigate sheet aluminium replacements for the cabin window frames.. investigate any available replacements for the cockpit windscreen.. form new mast from aluminium u-tube
Figure out just what is going on with the cabin electrics.. construct a logical wiring loom (labelled), replace the bulb cabin lights with LEDs and make sure that each fitting is provided with the right voltage (at the moment the cabin lights dim by 2/3rd when the mast light and the navigation lights are switched on, although an additional switch does something unknown to the circuit to give them a little boost)

That should keep me busy for a while..

Oh.. and rename her.. but that will have to wait until I've seen how she performs..

[pompebled]

That sound like a good plan!

What a very nice boat you have there, I'm jealous..., these boats are so rare here, I wish I 'found' one at my LHS.

The wiring looks flimsy, I'd replace it with something substantual and shorten the leads as much as possible, mayby even before running it as it is.
I looks like there are no caps on the motor, do a range check prior to potentially loose the boat as a runaway onto the lake due to radio interference...

Keep the (running) pics coming!

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Jan.. the flimsy wiring is the massed tangle associated with the two D-cells for the cabin and navigation lights.. really over complex in my opion.. I'll probably replace the D-cells with pair of AA 2500mA rechargeables and mount them underslung from the cabin floor, this might fractionally raie the CoG buit the AA will be a lot lighter than the D-cells.. and it will make the cabin lighting self-contained within the cabin structure. The motor wiring is the heavier black/red and yellow/blue.. getting consistency in the wiring is part of the goal.. as is securing the cable runs (although I've ripped out much of the masking tape securing the wiring in order to replace the RX and to try and work out what the wiring was doing.

I'll try and bring all the wiring to the opposite side of the boat from the RX.

The boat as-is has cost me £120 (EUR150 or USD240), the price of just the hull (http://www.angliamodelcentre.com/product_info.php?cPath=8_66_68&products_id=137) new today. With that was the motor, batter, ESC and running gear.. A bit of a bargain for a boat this size I think, even with the work required to get her the way I want.

[Huntsman]

:)
Great project....

please please don't paint the deck...... get some planking and make a proper job of it...

[Alastair_I]

Very nice Hunstaman.. any more detail photos of the full-size craft? in particular the mast, deck fittings an cockpit.. the Fairey owners page doesn't really have detailed shots.. and do you know of any decent replacements for the cockpit windscreen and the window surrounds?

I'll get in touch with a furniture restorer I know and see if he can source me some nice veneers for planking the deck..

[Huntsman]

:) Yes I can supply those pics. R U in the UK? or over the water

[Alastair_I]

UK.. King's Lynn, Norfolk. I'd appreciate any pictures you have..

[VO70]

Have a look at this thread, a lot of detail pictures. Also a lot of discussion on Fairey boats under their own topic.

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10852.0

HTH
Richard

[Alastair_I]

Thanks Richard, I noticed last night that Mayhem had created a new forum section for the Huntsman/Perkasa boats. There's a lot of interesting detail on those pictures.. although I haven't a clue how to go about that planking pattern - there isn't a single straight plank that I can see! The mast also looks interesting to attampt in scale, with those cut-throughs.

[pompebled]

Jan.. The motor wiring is the heavier black/red and yellow/blue

Those wires I call flimsy, on motors that size, that wiring is too thin and will heat up under load, causing considerable resistance.

Use at least 2,5 mm² diameter for the 800 motor.

Your price for the boat was a bargain indeed!

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Thanks Jan.. I'm sure I have some off-cuts of 2.5mm^2 armoured cable or domestic twin-and-earth I can strip down for this job. I might even have a small roll of 20A auto wire left over somewhere.

The motor/esc/prop set-up looks like the standard torpedo motor pack from a few years ago (the ESC will probably date it).

[Alastair_I]

First try on the water.. and even before it gets wet she goes down with RX failure.. ho hum.. replacement ordered and I'll try again Wednesday.. worked fine during the week on the test bench.

[pompebled]

Bummer....

Better luck next week!

Regards, Jan.

[Olscuzbut]

Hi Huntsman builders. Built mine about 20 years ago, and just re painted and made a slightly different mast.

[jeepers1940]

A beautiful boat; the blue and white makes a very nice combination. Not to nitpick, but compared to the size of the captain's seat, the orange lifering looks awfully small.

[Alastair_I]

Very nice model.. I think I'm going to go with a dark blue hull and veneer the deck.

OK.. TX/RX problems resolved.. fancy digital TX obviously had a wrong setting after I finished setting it up.. factor reset to all model memories and everything was back to normal.. all I had to do was reverse the ESC and rudder servo.

The battery seems to drain quite quickly, maybe it's a bit elderly.. full throttle brings it up to plane, 3/4 throttle gives a nice scale cruise. Rudder response is good, but she ruolls a bit in turns and I was getting motor jitters on full throttle under hard turns.

All in all a promising start.. time to finish the temporary hatch and get the cabin onto the workbench.

Olscuzbut - have you got a close up of your modified mast? I'm thinking about fabricating an aluminium mast.

[pompebled]

Congrats on a succesful maiden run!

If the battery is not too old, it may recover after some cycles.
It could be the battery showing it's age, if it causes motor jitters under full rudder, or the motor has no caps on the motorleads, which may cause the interference as the motor must work harder pushing the boat through a turn, making it spark more, which could cause the radio interference, hence the need for caps.

If the battery is 12V 7A, you can't expect very long runtimes unless you either crawl all the way, or get on the plane and stay that way untill the battery starts to cave in.

If you have some reasonably priced (quality!) NiMH cells at your disposal, say 4000mAh+ and run two 10 -12 cell packs in parallel, you'd be surprized at the runtimes.
Lipo's give you a much lighter boat with long runtimes on 4S 5000mAh packs, but would cost you considerably more.

Even a fresh 12V-7A SLA will probably be an improvement.

Did you run the flimsy wiring? If so, that's also heating up power the motor could use.

Regards, Jan.

[Alastair_I]

Still the original wiring, Jan.. the auto wiring I had wasn't rated high enough and I wanted to resolve the RX problem - which wasn't a RX problem, when a new RX also gave servo chatter I tried a few things.. then I justr reset the memories on the TX (probably too fancy for its own good) and things sorted themselves out. I think it's a conflict between the programmable ESC and the programmable TX. I'll go carefully setting up the ESC properly next time.. without the end points and nuetral properly set on the ESC I might not have been getting full juice from the motor..

Rewiring added to the to-do list.. and the list of potential scratch build projects is growing.. I must have eyes bigger than my workbench..

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/Aquaria/RogueCountyMonitor-0-02-a.jpg

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r222/SaltGeorge/Aquaria/RogueCountyMonitor-0-02b.jpg

I tend not to take modelling entirely seriously.. and the Maverick Monitor is very much in the style of Rogue County (http://4largescale.com/chris/c10.htm).. still working on the proportions using sketch-up. Idea is to make it as a foamie hull with a ply box containing all the gubbins..

[Olscuzbut]

Yup! The life bouy ring is small. (its for the dog) lol. Just had it kicking around, so decided to hang it there. I can take a closer pic of the mast, but right now I am on the road, and my boat is at home. Will get close up pics when I get home next week.