I did exactly the same with mine so that the throttle self centered, and I also updated the firmware to convert it from 6 chan to 10 chan so that I could assign an aux channels to one of the rotary pots to steer the searchlight on my crash tender.
Great piece of kit for £45 !
Rob.

Sy.
I have a Turnigy i6 system and you can set servo limits so it might work although I've never tried it. Might be an easier option than experimenting with props.
Rob.

Hi Sy.
Yes, I'm planning on using a 3S LiPo and I have a 40mm 2 blade plastic prop.
You could always programme the TX throttle channel to limit the forward speed if that's possible. That would tame the performance a bit!
Rob.

Great looking boat Ed, performs really well on the water.
I have some video of my Fire Boat but I had to get another club member to run it while I filmed, It's impossible to do both things yourself !
Robbob.

Hi Sy.
The cabin re-make looks fantastic, I'm looking forward to seeing more detail.
Rob.

Liking it a lot Sy 👍
I'm now considering scrapping my cabin and starting again. 😮
Do me a favour and keep the drawings and templates please.
Cheers.
Rob.

Hi Sy.
That cabin is coming along very nicely already👍 I'm looking to see how that develops with great interest, and I can already see that your version will be a vast improvement over the kit version.
BTW. Your water pickup seems very low in the keel, it should work just fine but looks a bit odd, I did get the same set for mine but they don't look too good so I chose to do my own, courtesy of my brother and his lathe for the turned base. 😁
Keep up the great work.
Rob.

Hi Mike.
It's one of three errors I found in the kit, perhaps these issues have been fixed in later production runs.
I wonder if Skydive130 (Sy) found the same errors in his kit ?..particularly the cabin window frame error.
Rob.

Hi Sy.
It will be interesting to see how you re-model the cabin, I'm beginning to wish I'd thought about something different for the cabin now 🤔. Still, I'm too far down the line to change much now.
The bottom strakes worked out well, nicely planed to the triangular section and all in place now. My rubber fenders arrived today..but they sent 13mm instead of 10mm ...Grrrr 😠 but the 6mm is just right for the side fender frames.
Rob.

At this stage I can set the hull aside and continue work on the superstructure base which fits inside the deck aperture. If the base has been constructed properly it should fit inside the deck with a couple of millimetres clearance all round and be should be flush with the deck framework all around.
Two pieces of obeche strip were previously added to the insides of the deck aperture to support the framework at the front and rear making sure that the framework is still flush all round, if it’s not there might be a twist that needs to be corrected.
Fortunately my base was OK and so I just used my sanding plate on the base of the frame to take off any high spots.
The whole deck area was also sanded to remove any high spots too. Knowing that all was as it should be I glued and pinned the obeche strips in place. The 1.5mm ply inner deck skins were then glued and pinned to the framework all the while checking that the frame was still square. When the glue had set I trimmed the skins back to the frame leaving a very small overlap to allow for finer adjustment later after the deck skins have been added.

The deck skins were added next starting with the piece that covers the bow, but before fitting it I added some additional strips of obeche and balsa to add extra support to the bow skin, this is so that when I add deck fitting at a later stage they will be supported properly. Those extra bits were sanded to the correct curved profile of the deck using the sanding plate and the upper part of bulkhead B1 as a guide.

I fitted the skin at the bow first, followed by the rear deck. The deck side skins need some additional support strips of scrap obeche fitted in a couple of places before the skins were glued and pinned in place. After the glue had set I then trimmed all of the deck skins flush with the hull sides all round.

A small amount of trimming of all of the skins was required for the superstructure base to fit into the deck aperture and if all is well the skins should all be reasonably flush.

The cabin is assembled as a separate part that is fixed on top of the superstructure base. One of the cabin sides is laid flat and three cabin formers are fixed into it using the tabs and slots in all the parts and then the other side of the cabin former is attached.

This assembly was then glued and clamped together making sure that it was square and without any twist. Various additional formers were then added that form the engine room front face and other parts that form the cabin windscreen and rear door panel.

There appears to be another slight error in one of the windscreen formers that would prevent the windscreen panels sitting properly in the same plane so I re-made this part in new ply to make it to the correct angle, another item to bring SLEC’s attention to.

Thanks for the description Sy, since I asked the question I've found a offcut length of decking board that has long parallel grooves that holds the strip very firmly while I plane it down. I don't know why I didn't think of it before 🤔.
By comparison the other strakes were easy.
Cheers.
Rob.

Hi Sy.
Congratulations on you honourable discharge today, onwards and upwards to Lakenheath 👏
Can you expand on how you successfully shaped the spray rails to a consistent triangular section? They're giving me problems at the moment ☹️
Thanks.
Rob.

The EasyComposites resin is much cheaper by volume but it's essential to get the mix ratio absolutely correct (by weight) and it's cure time is ambient temperature sensitive, and also the surface has to be cleaned thoroughly with 'panel wipe' or else you get blotches and 'fish eyes' in the finish. Saying that I do get very good results if all the above precautions are observed.
Just as an experiment though, I used a lightweight glass cloth on the superstructure with some Eze-Kote which I'd never used before. It dries very quickly and you can build up a nice surface finish in no time. Flat it down with wet & dry and it's mirror smooth !
I do find that sanding sealer sometimes still lets the grain show through and hence the Eze-Kote experiment.

Hi Graham.
That's a very practical stand and carrying solution 👍.
BTW. Pipe lagging works fine but neoprene rubber strip would look better if the stand is for display too.
Rob.

Hi Sy.
I use EasyComposites 100gsm twill cloth and resin on the hull first which makes it super strong, then after rubbbing down I use Z-Poxy finishing resin over that 'cos it cures really fast and rubs down to a super finish for paint. The deck and cabin is covered with a 50gsm cloth and Z-Poxy too.
The final coat of Z-Poxy on the hull is really to seal all the wood strakes and fender frames.
Like you I use quality 25mm disposible brushes from Screwfix at 30p each. I use little aluminium Tuna pots for mixing but so far never found any fish bones in the in the resin..LOL 🤣
Rob

Sy, I haven't stuck the fender frameworks on yet but I will pre-finish them with resin then probably tack glue them on with superglue and then give the whole hull one more last coat of resin before painting.
Rob

Likewise, the fenders will go on after all the painting is done, hull all black and probably green and orange topsides. Got my fender foam from 'Seals Direct', they also sell on eBay but at twice the price 😮.

Hi Sy.
Another productive days work there 👍
Your internals layout is almost identical to mine and yes, I recognise the colour 😁.
You'll need to put the spray rails on the chines and the lift rails on the bottom soon, I machined the bottom rails to a triangular section instead of half round, to be more authentic and give better lift at slow speeds. And also using half round neoprene foam on the rubbing strakes and side fenders, but I expect you've already thought of that too.
The steak looks delicious 😋.
Rob.

Hi Sy & Doug.
I always use a high current power switch so a fast battery dis-connect is not a problem (for me) 😁
The 'Lucar' fuseholder solution (see pictures of my Police Launch electrics) is easy and inexpensive to make if you have the bits for it, and it's in-line in the +ve supply between the switch and the ESC, also it's very compact and doesn't need to be fixed on a bracket.
Doug's Veroboard solution is fine if you have room for it.
Rob.

Sy.
The wiring of mine will be exactly the same as in my Police Launch but with the main power switch on a bracket close to the battery box. I'll most likely make the fuseholder in-line using Lucar female connectors and heat shrink sleeving the same as in my Police boat too.
I hope that's helpful.
Rob.

I also use HobbyKings XT60 connectors and also the MT60 motor connectors too. I did but some XT connectors from eBay but they were rather poor quality copies, the housing plastic just couldn't take the heat from a 30w soldering iron without softening and distorting. I never have that problem with the genuine articles.
Robbob.

Hi Sy.
I haven't got as far as you have with the power system, I still need to get the ESC and a LiPo battery, but I will be fitting a main power switch and a suitably rated fuse as usual. I won't fit a receiver switch though as the switched ESC/BEC will be sufficient. A battery level alarm will be used on the battery balance connector too. Not too sure at this stage about active nav and mast lights which will need to have a connecting cable and plug/socket between the hull and the removable superstructure.
Robbob.

Hi Sy.
Ahhh....that would explain it.
I have all my blogs 'episodes' pre-written as Word docs ready to copy & paste and all the pictures pre-selected to drag and drop one at a time in the desired order so my blog postings just take a minute or so to do.
Nothing like a bit of 'magic smoke' to spoil your day.
Rob.

"Started the morning".................and Wot?
Edit.
Strange....your posting started with just the above and nowt else...then suddenly the rest of your text appeared, hence my question.
Got my attention though!!
I'm relieved to hear that there's no apparent damage, boat ESC's are a bit scarce at the mo!.
Rob.
(Fleet Admiral has taken a small liberty with your post Rob😁😎)

What a beautiful chair ! Your granddaughter may not appreciate it now but as ianed57 said, it will be treasured later.
Robbob.

Hi Graham.
I'm amazed at how well your build is coming along, your wood skills are clearly as good as your electronic skills. At the scale you're working at it must be nice to produce such a substantial hull in oak and mahogany, and employing good 'joinery' practice too. It 'aint going to be a lightweight but 'aint going to be fragile either!
I'm really enjoying this build blog.
Keep up the great work 👍😁
Robbob.

Doug, your'e a master of the 'double entendre'.
Thanks for your praise, I'll try to keep my end up 😆
Rob.

Must seem like Déjà vu seeing my blog updates appearing Sy. 😉
The thing is I actually wrote them all while ago but I need to keep posting them and at your rate of productivity you'll still finish way before I do 😁
Rob.

With the bottom skins firmly fixed in place and the glue set, all of the clamps and pins were removed and I was then able to trim them back to the lower chine using my small block plane and sanding plate paying particular attention to the area where the side skins overlap the bottom skins at bulkhead B1.

The application of the side skins is also quite straightforward and again I used my heat gun to pre-form the skins to the shape of the hull at the bow. It’s quite remarkable how well the heating a bending of the skins works and the process only takes a few minutes to achieve the correct curvatures. All of this means that the skins sit almost perfectly on the hull framework first time and really don’t need to be forced in place. Despite this advantage I still prefer to fix the skins down with pins and clamps as the aliphatic glue sets.

The side skins need to be trimmed back at the deck level and the chine and it’s very satisfying to see the hull taking shape. The side skins were blended into the bottom skins at bulkhead B1 and the excess overlaps of all skins carefully removed at B1 and K3 to allow for the fitting of the balsa blocks that form the lower part of the bow.

The supplied balsa blocks needed to be sanded back slightly on one face to fit properly into the recess formed by the main keel K1, bulkhead B1 and the formers K3 because those parts don’t form a true internal square but it’s easy to sand back one face of the blocks on my rotary sander. Before glueing in place the waste areas of the blocks were marked and removed with a razor saw. When set the medium hardness balsa blocks are very quickly and easily shaped with a block plane and sanding plate, and the whole of the bow area was then blended together into the bottom and side skins and the keel.

Moving to the other end of the hull, constructing the stern is the next stage described in the supplied instructions. This starts with the lamination of three balsa parts that form the upper part of the stern which are glued in place and then sanded back to the curvature of the rear deck. The transom former TS3 was then fitted between the keel and the balsa lamination.
Because I have sufficient overlap of the bottom skins I decided to fit the lower transom formers TS4 inside the skins, this involved just re-shaping them slightly to fit against the bottom skins and the bulkhead part B5. After the addition of two outer strips of obeche the whole area was then sanded back to the correct curved profile of the stern. This deviation from the supplied instructions means that the bottom skins are continuous to the stern and I think make for a stronger and neater finish. This is another thing that I may suggest to SLEC as a possible modification.

The inside faces of the stern cavity and the internal exposed areas of the stern skin were given a couple of coats of sanding sealer (but not over the glueing areas) as a precaution against any ingress of water affecting the wood as later on I will be piercing the stern to fit the ESC water cooling outlet tube.

Finally the stern skin ST5 was glued and pinned in place, as before this skin was heated and pre-formed with a heat gun and when the glues had set the skin was trimmed and sanded back flush to the side and bottom skins.

As with my other models I will be using glassfibre cloth and epoxy resin over the whole hull to add strength and to provide a good surface for the paint finishes. The hull still needs the addition of some bottom and side rubbing strakes once the fibre and epoxy stage is done.

Glad the maiden voyage went well Sy, she looks fantastic on the water, well worth all the effort.
Congratulations.👍
Rob.