Hi all I just received my VU from Michael in Australia, so its what I will be working on for the next couple of months.
Don't know why, but it will not let me edit the above post? I was going to add these pictures. Says I was not the originator or moderator.
I had planned on doing just that, I have been really enjoying looking at Katori's posts on his ship building, you can pick things up that you would never think of yourself.
Hello all Battling is almost over for the year, we have a 1 day scheduled for Dec, but the Roma is about ready, so I have finally started on my PE. I cut out and installed the sub and main deck, still needs some clean up work and then the wet systems applied.
I'm getting what I wanted on the rudder throw, the starboard needs a little adjusting. The inner rudder is turning about 15 deg more than the outer, should help the stern skid around. Not bad for me, got most of this done in the last 2 days.
Why not get all the power from the inside props and use the outer 2 as drag props to help in turning?
Thats what I'm doing, the outer will only be used when I go to Nats, or other areas to battle, since they are using what is called super reverse, I want to ensure that she can do the same thing. They will be controlled by a additional relay board, so all I have to do is turn it on with a switch. Some day when the MWC figures out how to test the ships in reverse I will be able to get rid of the extra motors.
But when not at NATS, will that center motor provide enough power to move the ship at appropriate speeds?
I hope so, she will weigh 18 pounds, and is only a 28 sec ship. I put 1 1/4 inch 25 pitch props on her. If she is too slow I can go to a 40 pitch, or increase the pinion gear. Ths motor is a 7-8,000 rpm motor. Right now I would guess she will be fast, and I will have to add drag disks. I wanted to use the 500 series motor, so that I could use a 500 series pump motor. The 400 motors will only be able to go in reverse in normal usage. I actually plan on doing some expermental testing, putting some 3/4 on the outside props and running them in the reverse direction of the inner props, using the reverse rotation as drag disks, it may improve the turning even more. I don't know if anyone has tried it or not, only problem would be if it would stay on speed or not.
The set up looks great and clean looking. Nice motor mounts on the wing motors where did you get those? I can install 2 large 6v12amp batteries in the center of the hull this brings the model with all the gear down to 16. 5lbs. Do you have the barbette holes cut out yet? I am wondering how your aft gun setup if you are going with aft cannons how that is going to fit back there. Have you tested to see if you have cannon clearance? Am I correct to say that a straight mag will be setup back there? I have used these motors before in ships at about 17 lbs displacment and they have more than enough power to push your ship. It may be overpowered right now but I am sure you will get it corrected if it turns out to be so. I am running 2 7.2volt 385s on charlie's gears using a 12 tooth pinion. It's the lowest pininon I can get from Charlie. I prefer to use lower pinion for the smaller ships. I can angle the gear moutns to either side of the hull which will give plenty of clearance for the large Basin shipyard Pump. The last time this model was out for sea trials it just had the one 6v 12 amp battery and it was floating high.I had it on 2 385s 6v or they were 400s but I couldn't tell for sure. It was setup on direct drive and well it took off like a PTboat on High Octane. It actually made doughnuts in the water. The bow was lifted slightly out of the water. It had 1 inch 3blade Rivabo props 40 pitch. Accelleration was incredible but I find with the 40 pitch stopping power was affected and it did not stop as quickly as a 25 pitch prop. Looking forward to hearing about the sea trials. Hope all goes well. Great pics and nice set up so far. What kind of wood deck are you using?
Nice motor mounts on the wing motors where did you get those? They are actually a mount and 2.3 to 1 sealed gearbox all in one package, they were around $35. Visit this site I plan on cutting the barbette holes in the next few days, I installed the stainless hardware for the center and rear deck sections this evening, but then Wife and Dau wanted to go out to dinner, so construction had to stop. Right now I think I will mount twin guns facing aft, will only go in the aft high turret, the turret fully aft is blocked by the motor and gearbox, and a rotate up forward I'm thinking. I was thinking about using a clippard CO2 cylinder to actually move the turret from side to side, very light weight that way. Looking at the wide stern with only having 1 inch forward allows a stern to stern shot to actually hit a balsa area, while the bow facing towards the enemy would actually be harder to hit on this ship. So the guns are really still un-decided as of yet. What kind of wood deck are you using? 1/8 inch 3 layer aircraft grade ply. I weighed her with everything in it, including 2, 6v 12a and she is at 17.8 pounds with no superstructure, that is why I decided to go with a single 12a, and 7a. Here is what I have got done last night and tonight. The side deck above the casemates cutaway, and the stainless hardware to hold the deck on. Maindeck on. Stainless hardware.
There is a website that has some 3d renderings of the VU class ships. It is www.viribusunitis.ca . It has some nice 3d models to use for any detail work.
Yep I know of that one, was the main reason I decided to make this ship, I thought that it was a cool looking ship, with quad turrets, and tripples, with dual rudders. I Emailed Andrew about 4 months ago and got permission to print out and use his drawings to make my PE, he said no problem.
Well I got a little bit more done, added turret rings. Curt asked about clearance for the stern guns. Here is a shot from the Stern towards the Bow. And a starboard forward side shot. Thanks for the input Curt, I know she will not look as nice as the one you are working on, but she will be fully functional, at least all my internal systems have allways worked , XX, up to this point anyways, LOL>
I went over to Rick's today and made up the 3 cannons for the PE. I wanted the magazines to extend no more than 1 inch into the center section, so I made the mags point forward, and put a 180 bend back towards the center. That way they will not interfere with getting the bottle and batteries out from the center of the ship. []
