I was thinking that the gear would simply be removable. Having a tube run through the fuse to accomodate a length of music wire would prevent water entering the fuse. I replaced a lost wheel retainer on my Dr 1 with that little piece of soft tubing that protects the little battery connectors. I simply poked a hole in an slid it on the wire. Remove the retainer and mains simply slide out.

I've got the kit now and it's next in line to be built after I finish my Steven's Aeromodel DH 53.

well I finally made a video of my Triton. thanks to ken for all the help. I went with model masters acrylic Insignia red.

this one is an experiment with different foam. it uses a j-3 cub brick and a j-3 cub 6mm motor in an ember gearbox turning a cessna centurion prop. I'm using a standard eflite 120 mAh battery. the all up weight with battery is 21 grams!

these little gems fly great and look fantastic

video:

Micro RC Triton Seaplane kit by Ken Spencer (2 min 12 sec)

I'm v impressed. Well done. Vid quality is good too. Which Camera I wonder
I want both the plane and the camera ( + gym )

Cheers

Good video and nice looking plane. I haven't built mine yet because I'm trying to not have too many projects going at the same time, but 'm really looking forward to it. Did you paint yours with craft paint?

Good video and nice looking plane. I haven't built mine yet because I'm trying to not have too many projects going at the same time, but 'm really looking forward to it. Did you paint yours with craft paint?

thank you. it's a great little camera. it is a Canon Vixia HF M301. I got a fantastic deal on amazon. it is an easy to use very nice camera for the price... HOWEVER, it makes .mts files not MP4.
so editing can be difficult if you don't have a newer video editing program.
I like Adobe premire pro., but need to step up to CS5, as CS3 does not support .mts

I highly recommend using quality paint on your plane. it will have more pigment per the weight added.

What paint did you use? The original was painted w/craft paint and I wondered about the weight. I thought, since only the wingtips, floats, and waterline were painted, there was some sort of trade-off going on there. Of more concern to me is what sorts of paints will stick to Depron and what sorts of paint will attack it.

BTW, CS6 is already available for preorder.

Originally Posted by dcwwcp

thank you. it's a great little camera. it is a Canon Vixia HF M301. I got a fantastic deal on amazon. it is an easy to use very nice camera for the price... HOWEVER, it makes .mts files not MP4.
so editing can be difficult if you don't have a newer video editing program.
I like Adobe premire pro., but need to step up to CS5, as CS3 does not support .mts

I highly recommend using quality paint on your plane. it will have more pigment per the weight added.

Thanx - I thought the camera was a quality one - I'll have to research and possibly invest,

Cheers


Edit :

We're still on M100 --> long way to go to M300 :-(

Ray: re-read my post.

"well I finally made a video of my Triton. thanks to ken for all the help. I went with model masters acrylic Insignia red"

it works well and has more pigment, meaning you don't need to use as much. I even watered it down a little bit.

you can use alcohol based lacquer paints. good lacquers like this will be the lightest,and stick the best but more expensive.

quality acrylics stick better than thick, cheap ones. they can be a good altternative to lacquer.

enamel sticks, but some can eat depron and they are heavy and slow drying.

I like model masters acrylics. they are good quality and stick well. cheaper than lacquer.

I've seen KEN's originals in person, they fly great, and look great. Heck, everybody at the Wichita fly wanted one as soon as they saw it. I m just not a fan of the craft acrylic paint. I don't like working with it, but it will do the job without a doubt.

Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to make you repeat yourself. Model Master is certainly good paint and fairly opaque. Reds and yellows in craft paint tend to have coverage problems. Anyhow, your read scheme really does look nice.

I have a Steven's Aeromodel DH 53 Hummingbird in progress and the Triton in next in line, so I'm actively looking for paint schemes.Coast Guard or USAF Search and Rescue perhaps. I need to perform some experiments on scrap with Krylon Fusion.

Now a question that's not about paint...

Have you flown yous off water yet? I'm wondering, looking at the plan and watching the video whether it would benefit from the addition of a shallow keel down the center of the main fuse from the nose block to the step?

Thanks for taking time to respond to my questions. I've never worked with foam or seaplanes let alone seaplane made of foam.

I have to get one for the pond behind the house......subscribed

Originally Posted by RayRangel

Have you flown yous off water yet? I'm wondering, looking at the plan and watching the video whether it would benefit from the addition of a shallow keel down the center of the main fuse from the nose block to the step?

Hi, Ray
Yes, a shallow keel would most likely help the tracking on water take-off's. I thought of adding this to the kit. But, was not sure where most people would want to fly the Triton.
I, myself fly mostly indoors and use the flat bottom to slide across the gym floor for take-off's and landings. The Triton will even taxi on the floor. With a keel indoor it maybe very hard to get the wings leveled during a take-off.
Just my two cents and its not worth much.
Keep Them Flying ! Your friend, Ken

Hi ken, thanks for the response. I think that I will add a shallow keel on mine. I also have some PZ P-51 landing gear and I'm thinking about ways to make plug in gear for the Triton. I also have a Mini Drake in the que so the gear concept might work there too.

On the otherhand, maybe a keel behind the step. That way it would be protected by the lower fuselage on grass or the gym floor but would help as the plane rotates to retain directional stability. It might also help break the suction as it tries to lift off. Just thoughts...I'm still working on my DH89 so I have time to do some thought experiments.

Has anyone thought of a brushless motor for this neat little plane? Just looked at one a 2gram onethat uses a 3030 prop. May try this as I have ordered 2 kits one for me one for my son for some lake flying this coming summer.

JMUpilot

Originally Posted by jmupilot

Has anyone thought of a brushless motor for this neat little plane? Just looked at one a 2gram onethat uses a 3030 prop. May try this as I have ordered 2 kits one for me one for my son for some lake flying this coming summer.

JMUpilot

The 2g outrunner is not a good motor. It's very inefficient, gets hot and is very fragile.

A Parkzone J-3 motor/gearbox and prop will fly rings around a 2g at the same amp level for about the same weight... it just won't sound as cool.