R/C Naval Combat

Back to the build forum, this time with an NC that needs to get ready for the Bruhaha in March. I have received a lot of help from the mailing lists (MWC and Region 3) and though it would be fun to show the build. This is going to be a fun boat, so I would not copy what I am doing, just sit back and enjoy the build as something fun to watch over the next few months. While the major goal is to have a fun and reliable boat, I really want the inside to look great as well.

Some highlights: Lithium batteries, brushless motors, dual aluminum rotates, and multiple bottles just to name a few.

As Bob H lost the bet this year and will be driving an Axis boat, I want to be able to tangle with him and Jeff L and live to tell about it.

hey Lou,
What ship are you build, dont tell me it another Bismarck! 6- of my friends have Bismarck or her sister Triptiz! I was even looking at her for a time, but talked out of getting her!!
Nikki

Ok, little history on the ship. Purchased and built in 2002, made an appearance this year at the Brew with dismail results. So at this point she has been completly gutted, the Axis part of me approves.

What you see now will be even further stripped this weekend.

Holes are for speed controllers and wiring. I want to hide hoses and wiring for a clean look, but be able to access them if needed. The aluminum stringer is too large, so I will be cutting that down as well. The rudder servo is waterproofed and placed in a tube like the sub guys, redundancy can be a good thing. Going to leave the old skin on it for now, but it will be removed sometime during the build.

So, the first part of business will be the stern. The plan is to have the guns be part of the ship, and the deck be removable around them. The idea is I can take it off lakeside and check any hoses, then place it back on without screws or other time consuming methods. Solenoids, ecs's, hoses, and wiring will all be recessed into the hull to give a clean appearance.

Sanded out the stern for the new inserts, started the mold for the soleniods. After a few attempts at mocking up the speed controller boxes, going with fiberglass sheets instead of plastic for ease of construction.

Issues facing the build right now:

Hoses to soleniod and routing them around the speed controllers. Speed controller wiring and where to put the wire chase. Reinforcement for the gun mounts, thinking of molding in an aluminum ring or inserts.

She is really and truly ugly looking right now! And as in the first sentence of the build, an NC.

Nikki, I do not know of a WW1 battleship North Carolina. Lets not post any questions and keep the build fun for others to read. If you want to ask off topic question just post in the general section. While I want it to be cool, lets wait and see how it turns out, I am not the best builder out there by far. This is just something I thought would be fun to share while I rebuild her.

Just to be clear, WW2 swampy hull of the North Carolina.

Working on the stern, made the mold for the solenoids and now just have to create three copies in plastic. Had a little too much left over so I used the excess in a secondary mold. Once the three are placed in the boat, I will start on the ESC boxes and wiring chase. My plan is a modified "Ranier" in that the wiring is hidden, but easily accessible via a hatch. All this will be made out of fiberglass board from McMaster-Carr.

Bust! The mold was a failure, looks like I didn't mix the material enough which resulted in . So I went back to the old mold, made a few repairs and will go forward with three plastic holders.

These are used to provide a mounting plate, they are the same as the ones in the Cleveland build.

Doesn't look like much right now, but when mounted and the top plate in place it should look great.

Made all three holders and mounted in the boat in their new positions. Still lots of work to do, have to make the channels for the hoses as well as the wiring to operate the solenoids.

Once all the components are in, I will use 3:1 expanding foam to lock everything in, then fiberglass board on top for a finished appearance.

Now I have to get this mess into the stern area as well. The white rods are plastic tubing to be used in the hose channel.

Have started work on the rotates. My goal is a reliable but robust system, something that won't fall apart at the lakeside. I am using a mini mill and lathe to work the aluminum. The barrels will elevate with a piston (this was very reliable on my VV for a number of years) and a servo will be used for the rotate. Have to make a complicated magazine bend to get it around the servo, so I have bismuth on order.

Here's the start, this is all aluminum that has already been cut to size (using a chop saw), now it needs to be turned on the lathe.