Well, I forgot to account for the volume of the shot and I had to double my sealant estimate: three tubes total. That is 3-4lbs of hull, about 10lbs of shot, and just under 2 lbs of sealant (9.77oz per tube). My kitchen scale only goes to 12lbs and my bathroom scale requires bare feet, so I will have to wait a few days for the sealant to set completely for a final weight. It is going to be in the 70's and 80's all week, so it should set by Friday or Saturday. Sorry for the lack of pics, but this is the boring stage of construction where nothing really changes appearance-wise.
Well, the sealant hasn't fully cured yet, but tomorrow it is going to be 93 degrees, so I think I will sit it out in the sun to see if that helps.
The concrete sealant still isn't fully cured, but I finished sealing the hull with more finish grade epoxy and started coating spar varnish for the sub deck and deck rails. I also started on the decks. I have not done the edges to the decks yet as i want to be sure I have enough clearance. One thing I do not like about the self-leveling concrete sealant is the tendency it has to stick to everything. I brushed on some epoxy over it to prevent this from happening.
The self-leveling sealer stays very pliable, so it may be cured but just doesn't feel like it is. However, if you have it more than a 1/4" thick, the curing time is measured in weeks, not hours. I put the stuff in a mold for a 5" single turret, about 3/4" at its thickest, and the inside was still liquid after a week. I did find out this week that hitting the stuff with a heat gut will greatly speed up the cure time. I was using the heat gun to pop some bubbles on the surface and I guess I over did it a little - the surface actually cured fast enough that it didn't level out first.
I laid it in 1/2 deep. It is skinned over enough to handle, and I will be out of town on business for the next few days, so that will give it more time to cure. I did notice a few spots I missed on a couple of ribs when sealing, so I will need to hit those when I get back in. I did manage to get some work done on the superstructure today: level one and the front "building" assembly are 90%, plus the barbetts for the secondaries are done.
The outer shafts are in, and so is the rudder post, but I got it about 1/8" father astern than I intended. I finished the forward super structure and will have the bridge and rangefinders act as a recovery float. I have waterproofed my pump ESC, finished sealing all completed wood assemblies, plus caped and wired my motors. My rudder is done, but needs to be sanded to an airfoil and sealed. I talked to Stephen and my batteries, pump, and an ESC shipped out and should arrive Wednesday or Thursday due to the Holiday. My firing board is not yet ready, so I may not be ready for the June 2-3 battle--I was pushing it to make it anyway. I will post some pics tomorrow.
The drivetrain, rudder, rudder servo, and solenoids are installed. Pnuematics are plumbed and tested. Since my order with the pump has been delayed, Mikey offered to let me borrow a BC pump and a good 12V pump motor--I will try to get it installed tonight.
Since I have not added any pictures in a while, here is a upload from my phone of a couple of pictures that I took week before last and of my progress as of tonight. Here is what 10lbs of #8 birdshot looks like in the middle of the hull The Hull with water channel in and rudder servo mount installed: The forward solenoid assembly velcroed into place: The rear of same assembly and the main junction of the plumbing: Rudder, drive shafts, and dummy shafts: Rudder servo and pull/pull linkage with 65lb test line: Stuffing tubes, shafts, rear solenoids, pump outlet, and pump: Pump, drive motors, and pump ESC: Drive ESC and hookups for the firing board: Bow progress: Stern Progress: Overall, a very productive holiday weekend! I've got some servers to move at work tomorrow, so I am done for the night.
Thanks! Once nice thing about a boat this big is that there is plenty of room for the internals. The drive motors draw .2A each with no load and the pump motor draws .5A without load, so these are pretty efficient. I will be able to get draw under load figures when I do sea trials if I can find a helper to man the radio. I think 10Ah should be plenty of battery for Treaty rules. I think I am going to remove the cable snakes as they are pretty inflexible. Also, I am not sure I am happy with the rudder linkage--there is a little play back and forth. Looking at the rudder installation, I realize how much I miss my old drill with the built in level. The rudder post leans forward about three degrees. I also moved the priming hole down on the pump because of the height of the watter channel. It is NTXBG depth at 1/2" and the original priming hole was almost one inch above the bottom on the water channel. I swapped out the drilled 10-32 plug with a solid one for impeller set screw access.
Dustin, I love the work thatyou are doing on built. She is a beautiful ship. I like the conduit that you ran for your electrical wiring. I would like to do something similar on my Wisconsin build. Where did your purchase the material for the conduit? I appreciate your time and assistance. Ken
I got it from Radio Shack in the area where stereo supplies are (speaker wire, etc...). I had it laying around in a drawer for years. It is pretty stiff, so I am thinking about pulling it out.
I've thought about using braided wire sleeving, but I've always held back for concern it would make an excellent moisture trap and not much else. It is much more flexible though, so you might take a look at it as an option.
Another nice find at Radio Shack is the 14 gauge flat speaker wire... it's really nice for keeping the wiring pretty and underneath other stuff.... (sorry to briefly hijack the thread). I am really enjoying your build thread!
Not a lot of boat time the past few days, but I did manage to test the pump tonight. Draw under load was under .6A and flow rate was just over 1.5 GPM at 12V, so I will have plenty of overhead to dial down on the ESC at 13.2V on the main bus. My batteries plus some other stuff should arrive tomorrow, so I should be able to finish internals except for the firing board this weekend. My drive motors drew .77A hooked up to the drive train, and squeezing the shafts as much as I dared to simulate load, the draw went up to 2.1A. The shafts started to flex about 1/16", so this was probably more resistance than I will get on the pond. I feel confident that one charge should be able to get me through one day of battling with just under 4 hours of total run-time unless I get mossed badly. Due to my draw loads I will probably drop in the 25A ESC that should get here with tomorrow's shipment and save the 40A one for my next project that will be running BC 6V 550's which draw 1A each with no load.
My batteries arrived today. After some layout tests, I think I might redo a little bit of the wiring to clean up the section just forward of the motors. I pulled the 40A ESC and will be using the Viper Mirror 25 in this boat. For The battery mounting brackets, I think a trip to the hardware store for some aluminium U channel just might be the ticket. Speaking of which: what adhesive is best on aluminium? E6000?
