The Funcub needed some colour.

I used the included kit stickers, cut and moved them around to get a little more strict look than stock. Result in the pictures.

Tech Toys V24 RC Boat, brushless conversion.

The V24 is a toygrade boat. A friend gave it to me, it had dead electronics. I have since bought a stock V24 but it is very boring. The brushless is faster, more quiet and smoother to steer Most of the gear is leftovers from cars and planes. The servo is not a noname, I swapped it for a leftover Dymond wing servo.

Hull: Tech Toys V24
Rudder: Banggood "blue anodized"
Propeller: 35 mm plastic
Shaft: Banggood, Stainless
Motor/ESC: Racerstar 540 combo, Banggood
Servo: Dymond
LiPO: 2s Zippy Flightmax 2200mAh
Radio: Radiolink RC4GS

Tech Toys V24 RC Boat, brushless conversion (2 min 56 sec)

I have added a simple watercooling since this test.

Months ago I finished a Tech Toys V24 boat given to me as a hull - electronics no longer working. I put leftover parts from a car into it and this week I tried it in the sea. During the time my modded V24 sat on the shelf, a used one popped up locally and was mine for €18.

The power in the mod one is a 2s 2200mAh Lipo and a Racerstar 540 brushless motor/esc combo from a car. A 12g servo does helmsman duty. Propeller, propeller shaft, rudder are new items from Banggood. I looked at pics of similar boats and selected sizes and put the parts where it looked right.

In the bathroom sink the modded boat felt about as strong as the stock one, splashing surprising amounts of water everywhere.

The stock V24 I tested with a stock 6-cell NiMH setup. It was not particularly fast, and the sound was dreadful too, but it looked nice in the water.

The modded one was fast. Very fast. It struggled at first gurgling around at slow speed and not turning well and after some exploratory turns I opened up full throttle. Once up on the step it took off like a shot, with little more than the propeller in the water. Whoo! Being new to boats, I turned too hard and the boat flipped and rolled a complete lap. It jumped on the waves too and after some passes the top lid fell off.

So, the lid needs securing, a better battery tray, more steering throw for low speed handling and ... that should do it. Back to the building board!

The stock v24 I gave one more chance with the lightest 6-cell I had but it is just slow, way too toy-grade and crude to control. Despite some attempts to silence it the sound is unpleasant. I might keep it as a spare hull, perhaps.

Premiere flight!

Wind has died out, sun is down and mosquitoes had me for dinner.

The FunCub has become one of the all time classics and it’s easy to understand why: Excellent flight characteristics and control harmony, goes insanely slow, easy to fly but fully aerobatic.

Usually on a first flights it’s jitters and controls tuning. This time I did spins, inverted flight, stall turns and just enjoyed the flight and forgot it was the maiden! Both touchdowns at my feet. >400W ensures spectacular climbs too.

Also it was my first proper flight with the Multiplex Cockpit SX9. Very happy with this radio and for me, the rollers felt very natural.

Funcub

In my ever-growing hangar of Multiplex models is now the Funcub. I got the kit version from my fb who originally bought it for spares.

The build was pretty straightforward, instructions clear and precise, though I actually stumbled on some things - in particular the rear wheel install requires some thought. A pro tip is to just remove the center spread with the instruction figures to be able to read in your preferred language and look at the figures at the same time!

I would recommend waiting to install the elevator and rudder snakes until after the tail is done. The ”cut to length” instruction only made sense after I had them installed.

Servo choice were Emax ES08MA all around. They are not identical to Multiplex recommended items, so the crevices in the fuselage for the rudder and elevator were a bit too large. I took the opportunity to glue some hard balsa to create a tight fit and finished it with screws for good measure.

I also did the removable tail mod I found here at RCGroups, inserting a threaded wood block in the fin and a nylon screw from underneath.

Just for good measure I put some carbon strips in the fuse before gluing it together. I have done this to several of my Elapor models and they become very stiff, almost balsa-like.

The only receiver I had available was a Multiplex DR-6 so the dual flap servos use a Y-cable. Rather than buying an electronic-servo-reversing-gadget I cut out the wing to fit one flap servo the other way...Continue Reading