The Happy Hunter

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Andy, looking at your pictures of all the gear in the hull, prompted me to think.....Where does the ballast go? Bearing in mind the high superstructure, presumably it will need quite a fair bit! If so, what sort is used?

There again it will have powerful batteries for all the gear, is that used for ballast?

Thick questions from an R.C. Boat newcomer!

[Guest]

Ron, as far as i can make out it will not want much ballast, those 2 6v batteries weigh a tidy sum alone. There is still a lot more kit to go inside yet as you will see as we progress. If we need any at all it will be at the rear and id probably get down the fishing tackle shop and get some heafty lead weights, i think they call them ledgers. These will be easier to add or subtract as necessary. Before this is done i will need to find the correct water line.

It will be a lesson for us both i think. Stay tuned mate.

Andy

[Guest]

Kiora. Its not for Crows its just for me and my dog...

[Guest]

impressive progress Andy, this is very interesting and is giving me the urge to have a go at the airboat i want to make from scratch, the ally, plastic and wood is waiting for me in the shed ... still got a few motors/battery packs and some rc gear so i may have a bash.

keep these updates coming mate, it's a great read.

Colin, I've just bought a bumper bag of pop corn, so shift over and dig in! I've ordered the drinks for the next interval....

good job an' all, i've run out and am feelin' peckish.

[Guest]

Thanks Colin. Go for it mate. Give you something to do over Christmas lol.

Cheers

Andy

[Guest]

, those 2 6v batteries weigh a tidy sum alone.

Got a couple of 7.2 and an 8.4 (car type) battery packs knocking around if you want em Andy .... or are the battery packs specific to the boat??

[Guest]

Seems that they are the specified ones 2 x 6v never checked the Ah as they were specified for the kit. I know i could fit a 12v 12Ah in that slot quite easily so im not too sure why they have opted for 6v in series. Might find out later, perhaps something in there runs on 6v i dont know for certain.

Andy

[Ian M]

Looking good Andy.

Ballast: I belive reading that you hunt...Loose shot is a great ballast. Get all the gubbins in and then find a plastic bag. Put the bag or bags in the hull so that the weight will be even and ballanced. Poor the shot into the bags until the waterline is reached. (dont forget to allow the weight of the super strucktures.)

It helps if you can add some bulkheads to keep the bags free from fowling on things. Once the correct weight and ballance is found you can pour thinned pva into the bags and let it set hard. One set of fitted ballast that can be removed for transport and display.

As alternative is water! you will just need to build water tanks with baffles and you're away. No need to hump round with loads of ballast either...;-) I have a mate that has an RC tug that needs 25kg ballast!! He changed over to water tanks and has never looked back.

Ian M

[Guest]

Thanks Ian, ill bear both in mind when the time comes.

Thanks

Andy

[Guest]

The dreaded bow thrusters are finished. I took it steady and they came out great i think.

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The next thing i wanted to do was to make sure the whole thing was watertight, i decided to go a little OTT on this part. Best to be sure.

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Here you can see that i have added the oil filler tubes for the prop shaft lube and waterproofing.

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Next part was to start the aft deck. This has quite a few parts to it and it has to be built upside down. Making sure that it isnt built the wrong way round as you will see there is a lip on the right top side when the right way up.

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Cheers

Andy

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[Guest]

Looking good Andy, i see your giving her all the bells and whistles and i saw a video on youtube of her with all the things working and it looked great

cheers steve

[Guest]

Cheers Steve. I saw that video to. There is a lot to go inside this thing, should make for a good build i think.

Andy

[Guest]

Continuing on from last nights episode, the next job is to make the covers fit into the slots. Only slightly oversized didnt make it too much of a job.

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Once in place its time to turn over and glue in place the strengtheners, these have a slight curve to follow the deck curve for the water to run off.

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Now complete its onto fixing the deck rail that the aft deck will sit on and be glued to.

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Next is to fit the deck, some sanding was necessary to get it to fit snug. Now we can see the extra 3mm lip that was to be left on the stern. Once the deck is glued into place this lip can be sanded level with the deck.

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Starting to look a little ship shape now haha.

Cheers

Andy

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[Guest]

Looking great Andy!! Very clean Job!!

I love your your atmosphere and the touch of tranquility in your models!

Cheers

Polux

[Guest]

First on the list tonight was to finish off the aft deck process and flush the stearn level.

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Loving this material, its so easy to work with. This complete its time to move onto the aft bulkead.

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Now for the roller box.

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As we are working towards the front it will soon be time to do some serious wiring.

Cheers

Andy

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