Blog

WWII Italian MAS 562

Skinned the frames added deck and splash rail also started on cabin and superstructure, added rudder and installed twin Graupner 600 motors via Graupner style direct couplings. Motor mounting system through a bulkhead gives extra support to motors which mount on to end of the shafts. currently adding a rudder servo mount, as rudder is a close copy of the real boat's and still functional.

6 years ago by CB90

Blog

Krick Police Launch

I have just started to build the Police Launch that I have had for a while. Work commitments have left me with little time lately but hopefully I can get a good run on this one for a while. I hope to finish it by late July which just leaves me enough time to send it to Hungary so that I can test it. The kit is said to be good for a beginner. This would be good as many years ago I built a Patrol Torpedo Boat which took me five years. I am currently restoring this one as well but I think that will take most of this year to complete.😁 I have started by buying the speed controller. The motor is a 400 . Probably not going to be too difficult to keep up with this one. The kit itself is not too bad considering the price, but I do feel that the ABS vacuum formed hull could be of a slightly better quality. Also I am finding the ply wood to be rather brittle. Does anybody have an idea for a good filler to use to fill the chips which will take to acrylic paint. I have prepared the hull and added the propeller shaft and rudder holes. Care taken here to avoid splits in the plastic. Cellotape on both sides before drilling helps.🤓 I have assembled the internal parts which hold the motor, battery and rudder and also fitted the prop shaft.😲 I will start on the deck and superstructure next. An additional note about the kit. The instructions are reasonable but they are in black and white which is not helpful considering they are photograph based with text. I found a PDF on the web which is in full colour. Why don`t Krick supply this. Surely not that expensive.🤔

6 years ago by MouldBuilder

Response

Basic hull construction completed

Great work on the hull Stuart. I built the same kit last year and really enjoyed the project, the Huntsman is an awesome looking craft too and super light weight. in mine I’ve experimented with a few different motors, trying to get scale speed versus “play time” balance. I landed on a 35 turn which at half speed is pretty good for scale speed and at full noise it really gets up and moves for a bit of fun. The last few runs I’ve seen up to 25-30 mins from a 7.2v Ni-Mh pack which has been great. Look forward to seeing your progress, all the best and enjoy the build.

5 years ago by ChrisB

Forum

Anteo 2 Tug

Could someone advise me on a suitable motor for the Anteo tug 800 mm length. Also how do you reverse motor,special esc or reversing switch ? Thanks Dick

6 years ago by Dick

Forum

Anteo 2 Tug

if your intending to use a car ESC have a good read before you buy some of them require you to select reverse then go back to neutral before selecting reverse again to actually reverse the motor. The first reverse acts as a brake. Just to satisfy my curiosity why did you want rather than brushless? There are a lot of brushless motors used in the model car sport and generally have advantages over motors.

5 years ago by Haverlock

Response

Brave Borderer

Canabus, Hope this helps, Rowen Using the FS-I6X instruction Manual, dated 8/10/2018. This Tx allows infinite experimenting with the various control functions and ultimately reverting to factory settings if dissatisfied with results. After several attempts at setting the ELEVON function (V-TAIL could be similar, but the Tx channels would be different), decided this works best for me. it puts both brushless ESCs on the RH control lever. Moving it up operates both screws in the forward direction and down into reverse. Going from side to side speeds up or slows down the motors, so the boat goes in the direction the lever dictates. This was accomplished by: 1) Page 14/57 Establish the Tx Stick mode, mine was # 2. 2) Considering ELEVON, need to determine which layout allows the Aileron and Elevator controls to be operated by same lever. 3) Use Elevator for throttle (fwd & astern) and Aileron to “turn”. The Aileron will accelerate the motor on the outside of a turn. 4) Plug Port & Starboard motor ESCs into channels 1 & 2 respectively. 5) Refer to Para 5.10 and set Elevon mode on Tx. 6) Use channel 4 (LH lever side to side) for rudder and Channel 3 (LH lever up / down) for any other function needing proportional control. I am using it for the centre motor. This means that my control levers, which had previously had throttle on the LH lever and rudder on the right are now totally changed. There is also an article in the March edition of Model Boats that explains the concept.

5 years ago by Rowen

Blog

Brave Borderer

During our protracted wait for Spring, have had chance to reflect on the earlier tribulations with the brushless motor installation. My enthusiasm was sparked by an article on getting the best from your Tx in a magazine and the advantages of using the Elevon or V Tail facilities if available. My Flysky Rx/Tx has this facility, so after some experiments, set the boat up to use the Elevon function. This puts both motor ESCs on the same control lever, so advancing the control accelerates both screws equally and moving to either side accelerates, or slows the appropriate motor. Think this will reduce the coordination previously required to sail in a straight line. Fresh from that success decided to experiment further. The Tx allows reducing Servo throw, so tried that too so could reduce the max. ESC output, it also seems to work. One problem with the original layout was that if the forward speed was reduced quickly it was very easy to move the lever through the neutral point, overshooting into reverse. This immediately reversed that motor causing erratic operation. The Tx also has a “Dual Rate” facility to adjust the lever response from linear to various alternate rates. This allows the neutral point zone to be increased, so the tendency to overshoot into reverse is reduced. Bench tests of these adjustments suggest the model will be easier to operate. Hope they will make controlling the models performance better in our closest pool, which is quite small. A further precaution to prevent inadvertent operation of the brushless motors when using the centre, one, was to add two small relays; one into each of the white ESC signal wires. This allows a another channel on the Tx to be used to select, or deselect the brushless motors. Anticipate that by turning this channel and thus the brushless ESCs off, manoeuvring can be accomplished without the operation being overwhelmed by a motor inadvertently being operated. My patience for Spring is getting thinner!

5 years ago by Rowen

Forum

Mtronics W-tail marine mixer connections.

Hi Colin, Try this version, P94 for motors, from Action Electronics at Component Shop. Only throttle and rudder inputs with automatic mixing. I have one of these I intend to use for my long thin destroyer, or maybe the Graf Spee. Or the P40 for Brushless, same operating principle. https://www.componentshop.co.uk/action-electronics/mixers-multifunction.html. I may get one of these for my PT109. heers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Media

Thames cruise barge

total scratch built on fibreglass hull 127cm x24 cm,11 months to build 6volt system motor,3blade 35mm brass prop.

5 years ago by markiee

Forum

Fairmile D 1/24 Scale Build

At this moment in time. I am completing a TID Tug boat. My next project is a Fairmile D MTB at 1/24 scale. I intend to run 4 props using motors and two ESCs. I am looking for reasonable performance from motors probably Johnson 600 motors running 3 blade 40mm props. Can anyone give me advice regards this setup or can recommend an alternative that does not involve to much expense.

6 years ago by andyhynes

Forum

Fairmile D 1/24 Scale Build

Thanks Haig👍 I just hope Andy is still around. Maybe a variant of my four screw setup for my HMS Belfast could help him. I'm going to upgrade it with differential ESC control for the two outer motors to assist the steering, the 'beast' (125cm), only has one rudder. I also use SLAs (and motors) in such large displacement hulls, but for planing hulls these days the 'norm' must surely be brushless and LiPo (or at least HiPower NiMh😉). G'night from frozen Munich 😡 Cheers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Aeronaut Pilot Boat

Hi Ron. I am currently building the Aeronauts Pilot Boat Kit. it is reasonably well advanced now but I still have to fit the electronics. I bought two 400 sport motors and was advised at a very early stage that two speed controllers were necessary. I looked into various solutions and found that Hobbyking sell a dual speed controller especially for two motors. it is a Hobbywing Quicrun 860. I hope this helps.😊 Peter.

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Blog

Glassfibre cloth & epoxy resin

I used glassfibre cloth and epoxy resin successfully when building my 46” RAF Crash Tender and I chose to do the same with the Police Boat. See: https://model-boats.com/builds/view/23951 for the Crash Tender blog. The application of the cloth and resin serves to strengthen the hull enormously and produces a completely watertight hull, and after additional coats of resin are applied and sanded between coats resulting in a surface that is absolutely smooth and the perfect substrate for the subsequent paint process. With the benefit of my previous experience and greater confidence working with these materials I used a ‘fast’ hardener with the resin which gives a working time of 30 minutes and a much shorter curing time where previously I had used a 90 minute ‘slow’ hardener. The basic process is to cut the cloth roughly to shape with a good margin of overlap and then use masking tape along one edge so that after the resin has been onto the hull the cloth can just be lifted over onto the resin. I then lightly brush the cloth into the resin and push the cloth into any tight angles, without any further resin on the brush, until the weave of the cloth is filled and there are no air pockets and the cloth is completely flat. At this point DO NO MORE as the resin will start to harden and any more fiddling with it will cause the cloth to lift and bubble, less is definitely more in this instance. The resin should cure completely overnight and can be trimmed with a sharp blade. I tend to cover a hull in five stages, as there are five ‘faces’ to the hull and thus it’s a five day process for me, this may be time consuming but I think the results are worth the effort. I will brush on two further coats of resin when the rubbing strakes and gunwales have been added, this will completely fill the weave of the cloth to create a nice flat surface but it’s essential to rub down each coat after curing. All the materials were bought from ‘Easy Composites’ https://www.easycomposites.co.uk

5 years ago by robbob

Forum

Smoke generator

Have just made a prototype of a fan forced smoker which seems to be working well (despite breaking the heater coil by moving it while hot, - had it apart, broke wire, screw and washer repair, not quite as hot) I bought a couple of Heng Long smokers (for R/C tanks or cars) to play with, for $10 NZ each(or 5.3 Euros to you Northerners give or take a yen) from Bangood and just bought another from Ebay. There seem to be 2 different models, as one has a long coil with a lamp wick draped over it, which is sitting in the oil reservoir, the other has a small coil inside a piece of heat resistant woven tubing (as you might find insulating toaster/heater wiring etc) which acts as a wick and that also sits in cotton wool in the reservoir, (this seems to be the better of the two) Tip - don't fill the tank right up, only enough to soak the cotton, element should be just out of the oil. The wick loads the element. The better model seems to have a black top to the tank (also maybe either brown or black tank) and the other has a brown top and dirty brown tank. As with most of this stuff you won't know till you get it what it's going to be. What I did was remove the tank and cut off the pump tube just in front of the screw lugs (see black line in photo) then fitted the tank, and a 40x40x10 5v ESC fan (voltage controlled by a UBEC set to 5v on the jumpers) into a plastic electronics utility box from Jaycar (our local electronics and hobby store). I made up a double JST lead for the 2s 1800Mah Lipo and fired it up (using baby oil). it's pretty much silent and smokes well once it gets warmed up, ( starts smoking in about 5 seconds) You could control it (on/off volume) by either a remote on/off switch or perhaps a small cheap 10A ESC. I would leave the fan running and control the element to avoid burning the element. The original pump tank inlet hole seems ok as is (approx 1.5mm) but you could enlarge it very slightly to get a better flow if you could find a better oil. At the electronics store they have proper smoke machine oil for $20 NZ per litre so I may have a look at that. The reason I went for the fan idea was that I found in std pump form, if I immersed a tube from the tank in water, it sucked water back into the tank. I was hoping it would pump smoke out of my HSL exhausts at water level alongside the cooling water but it would need a very light non return valve to do this. The fan seems to pump the smoke through 2mm ID silicone tube ok, so tubing of similar ID to the OD of the tank outlets should work well. These pumps in original form work pretty well for the price, and are cheap enough to keep a few for spare elements, the only thing is they are a bit noisy but in an 'engine sounding' way, (might add to the effect on a tug or work-boat though) What you have left after this mod is a very handy little geared motor with an eccentric output wheel which could be used for winches, radar and whirly bits of any description (see pic of motor leftover and original) To avoid burnout, these should be run on no more than a 2s (around 7.5v-(suggest 8v max with fan running) The other tank is going to work a lot better than this one but I'm not making a tug, just want a bit of exhaust smoke on start-up etc to go with the 2 sound units. Very cheap to make (around $25 NZ with pump, box, fan and UBEC all through Ebay, Aliexpress and Bangood (and local electronics store) if you wanted to run an ESC to control the smoke and you have no channels left to control it proportionally, you can always try using a second receiver bound to your TX, (if your TX will allow it,) power it and a ESC (wired to the element) as normal and use the throttle channel to plug in your smoke control. This should work if you want more smoke as you accelerate or if you are using only 1 stick on a 2 stick TX you could use your 'elevator' stick pushed up (or a toggle switch if available) to start/stop the smoke (through the ESC setup) . This setup weighs 100g (10g more than std) The quest for lots of smoke continues Will try to upload vid later and update progress.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

All hooked up, nowt happens...

Hi Steve, I have the same problem with the ESCs in my HSL. They are cheap Chinese car models and can be a bit tricky to get into reverse quickly. I have found that either waiting a few seconds in neutral before trying reverse, or going to neutral and flicking the throttle forward a few clicks and back to neutral quickly (in .5 sec) usually sorts it. I think it may be that the motor stops somewhere that the cheaper ESCs can't detect (bit like an old car starter that hits the bald spot on the ring gear and you have to jog it a bit) so you have to move it slightly for it to 'see' it (maybe the capacitors also). ESCs don't have that problem as the brushes are in constant contact, rather than relying on correct positioning in Brushless motors. You will also find that some Chinese motors are not timed/wound correctly, and you can feel weak or 'floaty' spots between certain magnets which may also cause a problem. Perhaps trying a higher or lower ESC timing by 1 step either way might help if you have that capability. if it works by just flicking the throttle method, you can just slow down as you come in and take you time finding reverse in a scale like manner (remember the PT109 movie where they went through the shed on the wharf) You can also try swapping the other pairs of wires on the motor (same direction but different pairs). if you are still not happy then it might be time as Doug said, for a better ESC with instructions. Get one which has all the programing features, (fwd, rev , timing, auto batt detection (lipos or NmH etc) starting mode- ie soft,hard, brake etc) this will give you plenty of options for adjustment. Doesn't have to be a marine one, a good known brand car/buggy one will do and if you have any heat problems you can always put a mini fan on it. Water cooled marine ESCs are really only for high amp high speed setups. My 36"HSL has 2x 30A car ESCs running 2x 28/45 2000kv water cooled motors and ESCs never get even warm. Pictured are the ESCs I am using from HK which have an output plug for a fan if needs be. The 3rd pic is the brushless ESC types (EBay, AliExpress) I am using, which have no problems with reverse transition (see vid section re Thornycroft MTB maneuvering) also the HSL vids to give you an idea of how these brushless ESCs perform even with the minor reversing problem. Hope you get it sorted.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Cooling coil

I have one on a 540 motor which is a reasonably tight fit on the motor. Also I have a Graupner on to fit Graupner 400 speed motor and that again is a quite tight fit. There is no gap between the motor and the coil. it is acting as a heat sink so therefore surely it should touch to disperse the heat with the water flowing through it. if it isn't in contact with it then doesn't it make it pointless putting it on there. Also wont it make it rattle about when the motor is running and the boat hopping about on the water ??

5 years ago by BOATSHED

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

HI a chap in our club sails a Vosper mtb ,quite fast on a single screw , planes easily even on its motor . every time he tries to turn at speed the boat dives bow going under water . we think the rudder , when the boat banks is taking on a horizontal conponent like an aeroplane elevator . we seem to use rudder sizes much larger in comparison to full size boats which wont help Cheers Ian

5 years ago by TOWN3810

Blog

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Back to the build. Next milestone, to complete the superstructure and engine covers. The superstructure is essentially a cowl that supports the open bridge and serves as the air intake for the gas turbines. The engine covers fit into the rear of it. The superstructure is full of curves and will be interesting to make. Still trying to save weight, decided to make it out of glassfibre. Rather than first make a plug then a female mould and finally the cowl, wanted to try the technique of making a plug out of styrene foam sheet, then covering it in a glass fibre matt. Once the glass fibre is set, the foam is dissolved out using a solvent and the cowl remains – inshallah! To ensure the foam did not react to the glass fibre resin, painted the finished cowl with enamel paint before sticking the matt down. See pictures. What a mess! The resin had crept under the paint and into the foam dissolving it. When the resin dried the plug had shrunk slightly and had the surface finish of a quarry. First thought was to hurl it and start again, this time in wood. On second thoughts, wondered if the plug could still be used. Decided to build it up with wood filler and from it make a female mould, as originally intended. The cowl would then be made from the mould. Built the damaged plug up and sanded it smooth. As the plug would be covered in fibreglass, the surface finish was not critical. a coat of fibreglass on the plug and, after drying filled any defects with glaze putty and sanded smooth. Once the finish and dimensions were satisfactory, applied a thicker coat of glass fibre to the plug. This was again smoothed down, waxed with carnauba polish and then covered in mould release. From it the cowl was made. Picture shows plug, mould and cowl placed side by each. The cowl requires reinforcement; the fittings and various mountings then adding before installing. A trial installation showed that it fitted properly the deck and was accurate. A lesson for the next time is to make the plug and mould much deeper than the finished item. That will allow any rough edges, on either the mould or the component, to be trimmed off leaving a smooth fibreglass edge.

5 years ago by Rowen

Response

aeronaut classic

I built the Aeronaut Diva and even with a 350 size motor the performance is brilliant. it gets up on the plane early on and hiesvlije stink.

5 years ago by Manofkent

Forum

Ship rudders

Mornin' Toby, I'm back😁 Pardon the delay, just finished tidying up the wiring and final running tests on Colin's Taycol Supermarine motor and converter board - to make it run off a standard ESC! The rivets look great👍 and the last pic was much better as well😊 Soooo many rivets 😲 guess you have to do them in batches, and then go pull up a tree or something, or you'd go doolally 😡 And I thought I was patient doing all the portholes and stanchions on my 4' 6" 1936 destroyer - that was ONLY hundreds! Rivets? Didn't even contemplate that!! I think you should continue this in a proper Build Blog - there's lotsa good stuff you're doing here👍 And at the end you can make a pdf file of the whole story with just a few clicks😉 Be a nice memento👍 Look forward to the Launch Report. During my career I attended the launches of several naval ships I had worked on,designing the COMMS systems. The funniest one was a glass fibre minehunter at the intermarine yard in italy near La Spezia. The ship was still in dry dock, like a huge bath. They turned on the 'taps' and slowly up came the ship! Keep up the good work, cheers, Doug 😎 BTW; were you sitting on the saw to help keep awake? 😁😁

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

fuse holder

Depends how fast you want it to go! Electrical kit is either rated continuous or intermittent. Continuous ratings are usually conservative - you can exceed them somewhat - but they also assume decent cooling. The inside of a boat is usually sealed, and so is poor for cooling unless specific provision is made. Chinese ratings tend to be a bit unreliable - and watch out for cheap kit with phenomenal specs that are only achievable if you plunge them into liquid nitrogen! I typically run my 12v rated brushless motors at 7.2v. That way they just get a bit warm in a sealed boat and need no cooling. For motors the brushes tend to be the weak spot if you put a lot of amps through them. Check your motors for heat after a run and you'll soon find out if you're mistreating them... If you're thinking about Taycols, the smaller ones were definitely brush-limited. Though the bigger ones are typically rated at 12v, the initial review for the Standard reckoned it could take 20v or more. Open frame motors are easier to cool. But I wouldn't like to guarantee the paxolin bearings if you did that...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Mornin' JB, Guess I'll have to remain 'agnostic' on this issue for now - I'm still to be convinced. This might explain a phenomenon I've noticed during testing of the Taycol Supermarine I've just renovated for Colin. More on that later in the 'Supermarine resurrection' blog. I'll do some experiments using my digital scope and see if I can trap and measure these elusive spikes for various wire lengths😉 Can't comment on the guy from Castle, don't know them, except to say that I found his comments a bit vague and without explanation. There are also contradictory posts on that link; some say before the ESC some after. Can't really see the point of putting the caps in front of the ESC, switching spikes SHOULD only appear on the output side I'll look at that on the scope, and after all a fuse to protect against fouled prop and jammed motor is standard fit between battery and ESC, or should be! So some wiring extension for that is essential. Also I would expect the battery to flatten any spikes that do appear at the ESC supply side. As you say the internals of several 'manufacturers' ESCs are often the same. Nothing new, branding and badge engineering has been going on for decades for all sorts of things and no RC kit manufacturer / distributor produces his own components. Important factors are; quality of his own assembly and where does he buy his components - originals or cheap copies? 28 ESCs! Wow 😲 and I thought I had a lot! As reported I have so far had good results with the Quicrun series, both and brushless. Next one to test is their Dual version. Prior to going brushless I used a lot of Graupner ESCs - made in Korea., never managed to blow one of them either, not even the little micro and pico jobs. Thanks for raising this issue - I like a good debate and we can all learn something from it I hope👍 Plus; piquing my curiosity is always dangerous 😁 Greetings to Down Under from 'Up Over', cheers, 😎Doug PS Further thought just struck me (Ouch😡); if this is really a dramatic problem why have I never seen any warnings about it in any ESC instructions? Yes, I'm THAT guy who actually reads the instructions!!

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Rowen, here are a couple of things that may be of use to you (and others). The battery alarm will save you worrying about running out of steam as they can be set to beep at varying voltages to warn you of low battery, just put one on each batt balance lead and when one goes off (when an individual cell drops below the set voltage) it means start heading back. These can be picked up on Ebay for a few dollars. I use them on my planes as well and are audable from around 100m (these twin horns are the best) Secondly, re your ESC switches, these electronic switches (AliExpress) are great for this sort of thing (as long as you have enough aux switches on TX ) You can link them with a Y cable to work together or use them independantly for anything, (lights, pumps etc, - they can be operated by TX rotary switches as well) The ESC and 2000kv motor (HK) are the ones I am using in my ASR model and will work smoothly down to a crawl, the purple 1980 kv seems to have superseded these but I think they will be as good. The props are from Ali Express and are resin and available in L and R hand, are only a few bucks and perform perfectly while looking quite scale(ish). I painted them with an acrylic bronze which seems to have stayed on pretty well. Model weighs 2.8kg and will run at more than 10mph flat out with this set-up (using the 26mm L+R) props) which is silly speed and that's with 2x 2s 2200mah lipos (which will last till you get sick of it and still have 60% left) I was just looking at your Daman set-up and noticed the wiring method from the batts to the ESCs. You might want to make your batt to ESC connections direct to your ESCs (as per original ESC lead length)as your capacitors may get a thrashing (spikes) due to the extra length/ resistance you have there. There is a general rule that you don't lengthen the batt to ESC wiring without adding a 220mf capacitor of same voltage as the ESC for every 4"of extra wire length (ESC to motor - not so much). Might want to check this out in case you fry your ESCs You probably have thought of this but thought I'd mention it, 'just in case' Might help with your modulation as well. Have chucked in a vid of the HSL manouvering (first trials so wasn't perfect) and also the MTB () which I have just converted to a twin system (was twin but single Electronize unit) plus a sound unit. You may know that you can use as many RECs (bound to the same TX) for various purposes on the same boat (have run 2 boats together from the same TX) Might get you round the mixed brushless/ problem with a bit of thought. Have you thought of changing your old HK silver 6DF TX to twin throttles, it's a piece of cake(as is the TGY 6x), just remove the aileron/rudder centering spring and make a friction plate as per throttle stick, and use the elevator channel as your other throttle. Set your ESCs and you can then use a twin system giving you perfect control. Saves a lot of hassle.

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Ref the PTB Rowen, I 'inherited' it for a reasonable sum and it came with two what I believe to be 2200s! Can't tell for sure as the labels are worn blank. Previous owner said it was 'too much a handful for him'. We'll see - sometime next spring 😉 If I fit a third motor I was thinking of a 385. What did you fit? Cheers, Doug

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Finally the new brass propellers arrived, delayed about a month in one of Canada's regular postal disruptions. After minor modifications to the boss profile (the brass are more streamlined and thus longer than nylon) to give clearance with the rudder leading edges, they were easily installed. Could now refit the electrical equipment previously removed to get access to the shaft couplings. Inevitably took the opportunity to make “improvements”, so then could not get anything to work! After much frustration determined the problem was not from my improvements, but from the cheap and nasty slide switches provided with ESCs. These must have got damp during the test runs and corroded internally. Suggest when using these switches they be consigned to the garbage and replaced with proper toggle ones. Had decided to use the centre motor/propeller for manoeuvring and low speed operation and then the outer brushless for high speed. Brushless ESCs do not modulate smoothly and motor operation is erratic. This was particularly evident when going from forward to reverse and vice versa. Using a lever control Tx, it was also easy to inadvertently operate the brushless control along with the making the model response unpredictable. After some thinking, decided to insert a small relay into each of the white signal wires for the brushless motor ESCs. These relays would be controlled by a RC switch operated by another channel on the Rx. Hoping this way the brushless motors could be switched on and off whenever desired. The two relays would retain the ESCs as separate circuits and avoid any interference between them. The idea worked, can now operate the motor confidently knowing the brushless will not be inadvertently triggered. This means low speed manoeuvers can be gently undertaken using the modulation and control ability of the brushless motors and, by selecting the auxiliary control, can add the high speed capability of the brushless. Am also hoping that when the Li-Pos trigger the low voltage cut-outs in the ESCs, this will retain a “get-home” facility on the motor as that ESC operates independently. Much to look forward to when next on the water.

6 years ago by Rowen

Forum

All hooked up, nowt happens...

You're as BAD as me Boaty 😉 but I had a Rover 2000 with fully reclining seats back then - no problem 😁 Re 3 wires on a brushless. Simply put, this is analogous to a 3 phase AC motor (such as used in bathroom extractor fans etc). If you apply a single phase AC voltage to an AC motor it just twitches backwards and forwards in the same place as the voltage crosses from the positive to the negative half cycle. Thus 3 phases are applied giving 3 'shoves' in sequence to keep things moving. A starter capacitor is also needed to give the motor a 'belt' to shove it off. Similarly with a brushless: the ESC senses where the motor armature is in relation to the magnet poles and applies a DC pulse to the next armature coil in sequence. When you shove the throttle up the pulse width lengthens applying a longer shove and thus more energy and speed. Pulling the throttle back with a reversible ESC just turns the pulse train upside down so that negative DC pulses are applied to the motor, reversing the magnetic field created in the armature and thus the rotation. Simple really. It's the sensing and timing done inside the ESC that's the tricky bit, which is why we had to wait about a hundred years from the invention of the AC motor (Nikolai Tesla) until we could use them in models - thanks to micro-electronics. Here endeth today's seminar 😁😁 Happy brushlessing Folks, cheers, Doug 😎 Hmmm, perhaps that's why electric toothbrushes use motors! 😁😜

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

All hooked up, nowt happens...

Hi Westquay It sounds Doug has got it right. I only went over to brushless 3 years ago when I returned to fast electric. All my existing models at the time had motors installed and I did become confused with the "new technology". Having three wires from the motor to the ESC was a bit difficult to comprehend but as the boat was an RTR it was helpful due to having an instruction manual with it. It just takes time and experience to get use to such changes but it will be right in the end. My only experience of a non starter was back in 1976, this being the only time I had a date with a married woman. I had a Lotus Elan then and there was no room in the back and it would have been a waste of time calling the AA to resolve it.😁😎 Boaty

6 years ago by boaty

Forum

Wild Duck Sailboat article

Mornin' John, Hows things 'Ol Mate'😉 Basically on a PC the 'Photos' App built into Windows 10 should do the job. Pic shows the opening window displaying the last photos I downloaded / Stored. i haven't experimented much with it yet but it should find any photos / pics on any drive, stick or memory card on your PC. If you are using a Smartphone I don't know, although most seem to have a 'Gallery' function built in! it will depend on which phone you have and which operating system it uses. Best thing to do there is look at the Apps already installed or in the Google or Microsoft App Stores. More later when I've fiddled with the 'Photos' App a bit more. Better shift to a new thread then as well, afore we're arrested for hijacking😲 (again😁)! At the moment I'm putting the finishing touches to Colin's Taycol Supermarine. Just reassembled it with new bearings and ran some tests using my prototype converter board. Runs fore and aft perfectly on a normal ESC.😊 Will update the 'Supermarine Resurrection' blog shortly. All the best, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Media

Ashes the scratch built Motor Torpedo Boat

I found this hull at thingiverse last year. I printed the hull from a local shop and rest was handmade. Firstly I bought a 2426 4200kv brushless 2-3s which was too powerful and too heavy for the boat size. The length is 38cm. And the 30Amp esc was also too big for it's size. After that I tried small 180 motor with 20A esc w/brake. it was perfect (still it's heavy😂). The bridge and deck is made by 1.75mm pvc,torpedos are made of wooden pencil. Small battery space takes a 2s 500mah lipo. 30mm 3blade propeller. YouTube video link is here: https://youtu.be/KZdmZ8_Z0IE

6 years ago by Sakibian

Forum

Brushless motors (again)

Again, as not wanting to nick someone else's thread. Huntsman 31 currently has a geared (belt) motor which was probably quite a good spec. many years ago. I don't remember how quick it was but having watched brushless boats running this morning in Southsea I have decided now is the time for change before I start painting. I've been reading various threads and gleaned some info but it is still a minefield. Whilst this boat (original) is twin screw I am not yet ready to go that far so will stay single screw. A thread suggested 3639 -1100KV which is fine as a spec. but there are a zillion different makes and models for that spec. Cornwall models seem to offer 6 or 8 so I am looking for more specific advise for make and model of each piece of the power system...motor, ESC, battery, charger. I'm not going to say 'money no object' just that I don't 'need' to buy bottom spec. I suspect there will be as many different suggestions as 'Cornwall' have motor makes but something good will come out of it. Many thanks Steve

6 years ago by steve-d

Blog

Range Safety Launch?

The ‘Range Safety Launch’…………. Intro. I am now the owner of this boat. Wooden, good hull lines and hull paint work but needing to be finished. I am told that it looks like it started life as a kit, but has had considerable modification to at least the above deck layout and detail. Advice is that it could be a rather simplified Range Safety Launch, but maybe I can use a little ‘artistic licence’ and just make it look interesting and capable. There are two main reasons for sharing this project. 1. I will undoubtedly need guidance 2. Maybe some of the information will assist others The hull is 44 inches ( 112cm ) long and 14 inches (36cm ) wide, it has two MFA Torpedo 800 motors………. and weighs in currently at 15 lbs 4ozs (6.91 kgs). It is large enough for me to be able to work on reasonably comfortably and apart from the cabin/upper deck areas to be ‘improved’, I aim to introduce sound, lighting, active radar sweep, search light, together with maybe a deck hoist and water /fire monitor appliance. At my age it is difficult to tell the difference between wishful thinking and dementing…… However, the prime aim is to try and achieve at least some of this whilst having the boat usable during the current ‘season’. There is so much knowledge, good will and help available on this site that even before I touched a thing, information came pouring in. If anyone feels like making a contribution then please just ‘pile in’. Have ordered some parts so next time should have something to show. NPJ.

6 years ago by NPJ

Blog

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

The weather has quickly turned colder, giving an excuse to get back to this model. Stripped out much of the interior and the prop. shafts to replace the nylon propellers with brass. These items all needed removing for painting, so decided to paint the hull before reassembly and then moving onto the superstructure. Fortunately, examining similar naval vessels and several U Tube videos, confirmed the hull as light grey, the deck a darker one of the 50 shades of grey and the lower hull below the waterline black. Used thin Tamiya masking tape to define clean colour separations, followed by regular tape, masked the hull into colour sections and sprayed using “rattle” cans. After the colours applied a light overall Matt coat to subdue any shine. The results are satisfactory. Will now reassemble and move onto building the superstructure and the other fittings. Prior to the season closing decided to experiment with my new Flysky Tx/Rx package, shortly to be fitted to this model. This Tx has a servo limiting function, which was hoping could also be used to restrict ESC output. Would like to make the full speed motor response correspond to full Tx control position. Currently can over power the model; which lifts the stern, causing it to come off the plane and then dig the bow in. Was thinking that if full throttle could be set at around 90% forward control movement and 40% sternwards the model would retain adequate performance, but without being overpowered or very sensitive to control lever movement. As the Brave was not available, tried the idea on my Daman Stan 4207 model. This is motor powered and a good performer. Obviously the settings for the Brave will be different, but at least could try to see if the idea would work – it did! This Tx function is easy to use and adjustments can be made whilst the model is on the water. Once the ideal settings are achieved they can be programmed and then retained in the Tx. Will try this on the Brave when back on the water next Spring.

6 years ago by Rowen

Blog

Motors

Don't know what happened MOTOR COMPARISON Model Number Caldercraft CEM 900T MFA Torpedo 850 Nominal Voltage 12v 12v Operating Range 6-24v 12v Type Current Cons No Load 0.4A 1.9A Current Consumption Max Eff 5A 10,8A Stall Current 20.3A 40A RPM at Nominal Voltage 3000r/min 9778r/min Prop Caldercraft 75mm The Motor I am putting in this Sea Queen is a Torpedo 850. This is due to the Caldercraft motor only manages just above walking pace.

6 years ago by Ianh

Forum

Veron Vosper F.P.B. 52''

Hi John. interested to know what kind of offers you have had. Boaty, yes Veron did an RTTL Rescue Target Towing Launch, they featured in the black and white film ' The sea shall not have them'. This though is their fast patrol boat. I believe it's called a 'Trinity class patrol boat and some were supplied to the Trinidad and Tobago navy. You will sometimes see the model bares the name Coureland Bay'. I have seen photos on this website of her. They were built by Vosper Thornycroft in Portsmouth. if I was building her I would put two meaty brushless motors n her which should bring a sprite lay planing performance. I have fitted two Graupner 900s in mine, which give her an excellent turn of speed. These are motors but are not available any more. The hull space is vast so easily accommodates batteries with space for sound system working radar etc. Regards Kevin

6 years ago by kevinsharpe

Forum

Twin Motor Perkassa

I attach some pics of my 34" Perkassa. It uses two large water cooled motors (650?). Two Mtronic 25amp ESCs with one red wire disconnected. You can see the ESCs on off switches over the former in the next to last pic. Presently has a Planet Tx/rx and I use 9.6v or 8.4v NiMhs of 3 to 5 amps. Not fused (naughty). The battery sits between the prop shafts towards the stern in a tray. I control the motors on the left and right sticks with the rudder on the right horiz stick. The left stick has a ratchet so I set the speed with that and use the right sticks to keep straight and steer. As an ex flyer this is an easy set up for me. Run time is about 10/15 mins but that's long enough for me and the other models on the lake!

7 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Taycol Supemarine Resurrection

IN THE BEGINNING there was what looked like a pile of rust😲 which got soaked in WD40 for 24 hours! After washing off with warm water and washing-up liquid, and drying in the sun for a few hours, the bearings (and copper wire brushes) were oiled, missing connecting links bridged, and 6V (with current limit 3A set) was cautiously applied. Lo and behold she rattled and protested BUT RAN! Oh! That nostalgic smell of ozone, and enough sparks to read a book by🤔 Next connections were changed, to separate field and armature coils (brush gear), and connected to a standard motor ESC (Graupner Navy 30A) via my prototype converter board, and a Robbe Servo Tester to simulate TX and RX. lo and behold chapter 2; she ran forwards and backwards😊 and no sparks! Now dismantled (last 3 pics) to start clean up and replacement of corroded parts. Sorry Col, I broked your motor😁😁 Armature was cleaned up and commutator polished; surprisingly lots of 'meat' on it so motor has not been run much. Next stop; lathe to make some new frame spacers. After that new bearing bushes cos the old Paxolin end plates have worn so that there's about 1/32" slop! Will probably have to turn the drive shaft down from original 1/4" (6.35mm) to 5mm to remove last traces of rust and pitting. Cheers All, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Calculating scale speed

Hi Colin, must admit I'm using some skills I didn't know I had, or had forgotten through disuse! it's been interesting though and I think I'm on the 'back straight' now. I'll write it up in the blog later. For the ESC any decent 20A ESC will do nicely. I've been doing the testing with a years old Graupner Navy V30R and a Robbe Servo Tester, see pic. Good idea with the SATNAV, 7mph seems to be Spot On 👍 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

BRAVE BORDERER - BRUSHLESS SUMMARY

Although have modeling experience, all my earlier vessels used motors. This was my first brushless. The model is now running well, but thought, for the benefit of others considering this transition to summarize my experiences. Must stress the performance of a brushless motor is incredible when compared to a similar sized ; for a vessel such as this they are almost obligatory. They are worth the trouble! Had been advised that the best powertrain installation for a 37” Brave Borderer is either a single or twin screws, not three. This was good advice! Much heartache could have been avoided with a single screw installation. Unfortunately, that is not the correct layout for a scale builder. Tried three major powertrain iterations, with several variations within each group. All motors are 28mm O/D : 1) The original installation used 3 x 4600kV inrunner motors with 30 A ESCs. Had bought these items used. The motors were too fast and had little torque. The ESCs also did not have adequate capacity. The result was erratic performance, a high fuse failure rate and the eventual failure of an ESC and motor Picture #1. 2) First upgrade was to 2 x 2400kV inrunner motors, using 50A capacity ESCs. The centre shaft was fitted with a motor. This combination did work, although suffered greatly from motor “squeal” and “stutter”. Eventually a motor burnt out and failed. Picture #2 3) Upgrade two: retained the 50 A ESCs, with 2 x 2600 kV outrunner motors, again with the inner shaft motor. Reprogrammed the ESCs to soft start parameters. Much better, performance and reliability can now be considered acceptable. The squeal and stutter are largely corrected it has justified the challenges of getting here. Picture #3 Have tried both 2 and 3S Li-Po batteries, suggest use the minimum voltage needed to achieve the desired performance. Higher voltages translate into faster response and performance, but with less control modulation. The model can be easily overpowered. In summary, from my experience. For a marine application; chose low (under 2000kV) kV rating motors with an outrunner layout wherever possible (produce more torque than inrunners). Use ESCs with a ratings comfortably in excess of the motor ratings, fit fuses to supplement any ESC protections. Ensure the ESCs are programmed to “soft start” characteristics. Also, the obvious check of making sure shaft alignment is correct is even more important with the higher speed capability of brushless motors. in spite of the trails, cost and tribulations of getting here. Have enjoyed the challenge and the end result does justify the means. Also, do not finally fit the deck until you are satisfied with the performance. Making the changes described with limited access would have been very difficult and frustrating.

6 years ago by Rowen

Response

BRAVE BORDERER

Just put up another vid showing the speed at around 2/3 throttle which looks reasonably scale for 38 knots (bit hard to scale water movement as we all know!) and it doesn't squeal too much at this speed. Just been back through my old info on the ESCs and found I may be able to change a few things (forgot due to approaching dotage and so many projects on electric (18 planes as well converted from ic to electric) I was thinking with your high kv motors that if you can get away with smaller props or some the scale diam bit finer pitch props, that would allow the motors to rev how they should, but give you finer control. As I mentioned before, on 8v per motor they will spin at around 16-18000 rpm and won't like a big load (you've no doubt heard those delta wings scream) . My props are 28mm x 3 blade on a 2000kv motor and are spinning at around 12000 rpm (probably around 8000 rpm in the vid at 2/3 throttle) The general rule with brushless is the higher the kv the smaller the prop/pitch and vice versa planes or boats (would also apply to ) if you have an in line amp meter/batt checker you can check the amps drawn in the water at full power (have someone hold the boat) and see if you are under max A for the motor. You can then prop to suit if necessary. This is the only way to check for correct load and is an absolute must for aeroplanes. After a run, motors should be around cool to almost too hot to touch (60-70deg C) There are backplate water cooling units available for using out-runners in boats if necessary eg pic.

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

BRAVE BORDERER

Good to hear you are making progress with the noise. My ESCs are not programmable as far as I know (There may be a card somewhere). They were cheap Chinese waterproof car/Buggy ESCs with Fwd and Rev which I wanted for independent drives but for the price and how well they work, you can't beat them (about NZ $20 each) They have a very soft start (you can count the revs) programmed in as std, and the only problem I have found is that they sometimes won't go straight into reverse without quickly nudging forward and back, (just need to drive in a scale manner and it's fine.) I'll put a pic of the unit and motor in (also a one I am using in the MTB (x2) which work perfectly only NZ $9.00) They have braking, FWD, FWD+REV and batt type adjustable by jumpers. Throttle set-up is simple with full FWD and partial Rev set by the sticks. Both types are 30A and never even get warm. I purchased some fans for them but have never used them. The brushless units have a fan plug on them. The squealing I have may just require a switching frequency change on the ESC (8kHz/16kHz -more RF noise on 16kHz but more efficient) but I don't think I have that option (do you have that option to try on your set-up ? might be worth a crack). The sound units muffle it a bit anyhow. Boat runs at 10mph (GPS) flat out (looks way off scale) but only needs about 1/4 - 3/4 throttle for normal cruising. Will try to put up an external vid soon. Transmitter is easily modded to twin throttles,- excellent cheap set for boats ( later model has internal aerial)

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

It is correct that brushless motors don't modulate as smoothly as . I have had the same problem but now I only use brushless on my fast electrics. 3s lipos do put out a lot of power and as Brave Borderer is a scale model it could be that the speed exceeds the limitations of the hull thus when running on 2s it is more stable. Boaty😋

6 years ago by boaty

Response

BRAVE BORDERER

Starting a bit backwards here as have posted more recently with some ideas. if you are going to have a twin brushless system using 1 REC, you probably should have twin 2200Mah 2s lipos, a power lead (I use a JST plug set) taken from the input leads of ONE ESC (not the batt leads) (I break into them and solder the JST leads on ) run those to a UBEC and then to your REC switch then to your receiver. if your ESCs have a built in BEC, withdraw the red power wires from the BEC receiver plugs and tape them back as you now don't need the power from these. if your TX is 2 stick 4/6ch etc and is capable of being changed to 2 throttle sticks (provision for ratchet strip - copy if necessary - on opposite gimbal - ie using set up as mode 1&2 throttle) you can use the existing throttle and elevator stick to give full independent control with either rudder or aileron Ch for rudder. The Chinese ESCs I use have a power switch as well as BECs which is handy. I would keep the system separate from the brushless altogether with its own battery (or try power from the other batt as described above) otherwise you may be trying to mix 3 phase and single phase at some point. if you are using 2.4 you could use another paired 3ch receiver (does work, as mentioned in my later post) to only run the brushless throttle from a rotary sw on your TX (if you have that )

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

BRAVE BORDERER

If you are using 2 ESCs/BEC/UBECs with 2 plugged into 1 receiver you should remove the red wire from one of the plugs and tape it back to the lead, as both plugged in will possibly supply too much voltage for the receiver (you are getting double the voltage from 2 different sources) and this can cause the ESC to stutter . You should have no problems with Brushless out-runner motors as with the correct match with the ESC they should be as smooth as . I have dual 2000kv 28/45 in-runners (with water jackets) and twin ESCs and 2 sound units using 1 receiver in my 64ft ASR model with no problems regarding proportional control (fwd or rev). I had a 28mm O/R in a Maiami ASR and it would crawl along (but the high noise was ear wrecking so have changed it back to for now. I do have a similar slight high pitched squeal at certain speeds on one motor and this may be caused by the particular motor not 'syncing'properly with the ESC (Chinese cheap ESCs and HobbyKing /made in china motors) but short of changing that motor and ESC I am just putting up with it for now. The high pitched sync noise is fairly common and sometimes not fixable, (a number of my larger planes do it and its audible from 100m away (also amplified by a hull,-nice sound box). it can depend on the way a particular motor is wound (no 2 are identical) or even magnet placement/timing, as the may be hand wound by 2 very nice Chinese ladies at different ends of a bench ( just read some of the Hobby King motor reviews ) You could try changing the frequency on the ESC if it has that option as a higher motor Kv sometimes requires a higher frequency. Also make sure your ESC is set to the correct battery cell count. if it has an auto setting that should usually work best for general applications unless you are running fancy motors. Regarding interference, make sure you keep your aerial as far as poss from the motors and ESCs (even on 2.4 - I put mine right up in the bow) and there should be no problems. I have had 2 twin engined boats (my MTB & ASR) 1 and 1 brushless running side by side 10" apart using the same radio for both (same type of Rec in each boat) with no problems at all. The bow down is probably prop shaft angle (the shallower the better) but if you are using counter rotating props you could try swapping props (inward rotation to outward) and motor rotation to see if it makes a difference. Also with 2800Kv motors you should be using small props (around 28-30mm diam 3 blade) as these motors are made to rev) as on a 2s battery they will be turning at around 20,000 dry and perhaps 18,000 wet (depending on prop) and if you load them too much they will cook with no cooling (assuming they are around 28mm dia ?) Only other thought - silicone couplings will squeal real loud if they slip.

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Blog

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Adjusted the transom flaps and reprogrammed the ESCs to the softest start settings, retested. Until now, the test runs did not have the duration or stability to really examine what was happening. Using 3 S batteries acceleration is rapid and a is plane quickly achieved. However, as the acceleration continues and speed increases, the bow digs in. A cloud of spray then surrounds the model as the plane is lost. Brushless motors do not modulate as smoothly as and adjusting power tends to be erratic or exaggerated. This is a scale model and the propeller shaft angles are per the plans. The thrust from the propeller has two components, horizontal and vertical. The horizontal propels the vessel forward. However, the vertical component forces the stern upwards and, correspondingly, the bow down. Have moved as much weight as possible towards the stern to counteract this, limited by maintaining the correct displacement and waterline. The easiest solution is to reduce motor power, decreasing both speed and the lifting component. Decided to retry the 2S batteries as they give reduced power. A plane is again achieved, but as the motor response is more docile, it can be controlled. if the speed gets too high the bow lowers, as before, but the motor output can be more easily adjusted. Spent a pleasant half hour or so with the vessel accelerating onto and off a nice, controllable plane. Much less spray and drama than with 3S and much more controllable. Have now decided to revise plans and use 2S rather than 3 batteries. A further advantage is the motor noise is muted and now sounds more like a gas turbine than a dental drill! Finally feeling comfortable with the model. Will thus shelve further building until the late fall when sailing in Canada concludes. Want to enjoy the rest of my fleet in the meantime! Will summarize my experiences with brushless motors in another blog shortly for the benefits of others contemplating their use. After restarting the model will resurrect periodic build blogs to advise progress.

6 years ago by Rowen

Forum

Taycol Supemarine Resurrection

Shucks! An I was hopin' you'd build me a little 4 cylinder diesel for me to run a motor as a Genny for all the lighting on my ships! Or for the diesel electric propulsion on my Type 45. Now wouldn't that be cool!?😁 BTW Some of Nick Carters tips an tricks showed me how to convert one of my tools to something that'll do what I want! So, out with the Proxxon mini-grinder😉 Cheers, Doug PS it wasn't a wrong steer cos it led me to all sorts of useful 'stuff' and above all helpful info👍

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Taycol Supemarine Resurrection

Mornin' John, agree re chromite, but still don't know what chroDite is! I only personally own the one Taycol Target. I got into this whole Taycol business while I was renovating Dad's old Sea Scout last year and decided I wanted a bit more Oomph so upgraded it to a 1000kV brushless, which gives goods results on a 3S LiPo. See the vids I've posted of the the 'Sea trials' (Lake Trials!?). So I decided to use the Target in the ancient Billing Boats Danish fish cutter I'm restoring and converting from static to RC. Figured the Target would cope OK with the plodding pace of a fish cutter😉 BUT, I wanted it to be reversible without cumbersome external switches or relays as recommended by Taycol / Keil Kraft in those days. After surfing around a bit a found a website where others had tackled the same problem. Looked at their solutions and refined them slightly. All I do is rectify the pulsed (square wave) signal from the ESC with a bridge rectifier (4 hi-current diodes in a bridge form in one package), apply the + and - outputs from the rectifier to the field coil so that it produces a constant magnetic field just like the permanent magnet of a canned motor. The two alternating (pulsed) outputs of the ESC are applied to the AC (~) inputs of the rectifier, which go + / - or - / + according to the command from the TX, I apply to the brush terminals just like a normal motor setup. The output of the ESC is a train of either positive of negative going DC pulses. Pic 2 the positive train on the scope. Pic 3 the negative train. The larger and wider the pulse the higher and longer the voltage is applied and the faster the motor spins. So called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). The gaps between the pulses are smoothed out by the inertia (flywheel effect) of the motor, and anything hanging on it - like a prop and a few million gallons of wet stuff 😁 Hey presto, a field coil motor that runs forwards or backwards on command 😊 Main thing is simply to separate the field coil from the armature coil (i.e. brush gear) so you can control each one independently. No rocket science but highly satisfying when it all comes together and works on the pond. OK, I'll look up Mr Lynch, wasn't he the Sarge in Z Cars 😁😁😁 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Taycol Supemarine Resurrection

Hi Boaty, The Taycols have fascinated me as well, ever since I dug the Target out of the Sea Scout my Dad built in the early sixties. I blogged my renovation of that and the conversion to run with a modern RC system and presumably that, and the converter boards I built for Martin (Westquay), is what triggered Colin to ask me to have a look at his Supermarine. How could I resist!? 😉 The 'smell of something electrical' is the ozone gas caused by the prolific sparking of the Taycol metal to metal brush / commutator combination. The other source of Ozone is on the coast wherever there is a strong surf! I agree, a nostalgic smell, which unfortunately disappears when the converter board is attached to make it run with a standard ESC. The diode bridge kills almost all the sparks. 'Almost' so the usual suppression capacitors are still recommended. 0.1µF across the brush terminals, 0.047µF from each terminal to the motor can, or frame in this case. Earth to prop shaft tube as well if possible. The motor may not disturb the on-board electronics of your own boat, if using 2.4Gig, but could still affect anyone nearby using 27 or 40Megs. The power density of spark transmitters (e.g. unsuppressed E-motors, peaks in the upper HF bands and diminishes to almost zilch in the UHF bands. I.e. approx 30 MHz upwards. Like me and other submariners for instance; 2.4Gig is useless for subs cos it don't go underwater. Cheers, Doug 😎 But here! BTW Boaty: where are the pics of your Avanti? Harbour posts without pics are pretty dead 🤔 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Italeri P.T 109

I bought an italeri PT109 kit in 2011. it took 4 months to build as I had other projects on at the time. I notices the high quality of the parts, especially the hull and the actual paint finish was very easy due to it being plastic and got the nearest colour match by using Humbrol spray acrylic of Grass Green with Regency Red acrylic for the waterline and below. Difficult decision was as to build as a triple screw to maintain scale or go for the single screw. I eventually went for the latter with just one rudder. Power was by a 480 flight motor with a 30 amp esc which was a bit over the top as power was by a 2200mAh 2S Lipo but the esc was the only one they had in the shop. Getting the motor installed was very straight forward as it was done before the deck was fitted but I had to make the aft cabin detachable for access to taking the battery in and out and also lubricating the propshaft .The boat performed well at scale speed but got slightly out of shape when full power was applied, appearing more as a fast electric. Overall the boat was ideal for smaller ponds (providing it was not running flat out). The outcome was a well detailed model that appeared like the real thing on the water but I would not recommend sailing it in rough conditions.. Boaty😁

6 years ago by boaty

Blog

BRAVE BORDERER

Been researching the squeal and stutter on other websites and conclude RFI is probably not the major contributor. Others attribute it to a mismatch in the ESC / motor timing, which seems more likely. Whatever caused it, resulted in the affected motor failing. Which came first, the failure causing squeal or squeal causing failure is open to conjecture. Much to my surprise the manufacturer has decided to replace the motor under warranty. In the meantime, the motors I had planned to use originally (2800kV Outrunners) came into stock, so purchased a couple. Until now have had to use the ESC default settings as did not have a programming card. This also arrived with the motors. Following advice from another contributor reprogrammed the motors with “softer” start and acceleration settings. Fitted and tried the new motors and settings. On the bench, the squeal and stutter have almost gone. The motors are also more tractable. As the brushless motors are now going to be used for high speed operation only, with slow on the centre , thought could simplify the controls by putting the brushless ESCs on one control system using a “Y” lead. However, this introduced inconsistent and erratic motor responses. Reverted to the two previous separate controls, port and starboard. On the water the performance is fine, as is the reliability. The 2S battery gave almost half an hours operation. The bow lifts nicely with both 2 & 3 S Batteries; plenty of spray. Hopefully resembling a 50 knot vessel! Another adjustment is needed to the transom flaps to try to hold the bow down later as she accelerates. Feeling now to finally be making progress with this model. The squeal has not gone, nor has erratic motor operation. The squeal is high pitched screech, rather like treading on a budgie! When it happens, bringing the control back to neutral and advancing it again almost always overcomes it. The erratic operation happens also when starting and is rather like the motors are not getting a signal to react to the control. Again, returning through neutral briefly seems to correct it. The revised motors and ESCs have increased the weight to 6lbs for the hull including all running gear, excluding batteries and superstructure. Whilst still trying to control weight have concluded this figure is satisfactory as the performance certainly is.

6 years ago by Rowen

Forum

Old motor

Hi Rob, If you've a hundred quid or so to spare- https://www.ebay.com/p/Robbe-ELT-Max-50-4061-Motor-Setup-Old-Stock-RC-Boat-Proboat-Dumas-Boat/23005426178 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich