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**Avera** · 05-31-2012, 12:13 PM

Almost done with the holes on the first half of the hull. In regards to the three holes near the keel midships, the plastic is very thick so I have been using a large drill bit to enlarge the openings. I am up to a 1/4 inch in diameter. To make it rectangular will be hard. Will the 1/4 inch opening be sufficient or do I need to enlarge further?

Secondly, based on the PDFs, the propeller shaft is housed in a 1/8" ID brass tubing that appears to run through the plastic shaft into the hull on one end and through the support skeg brace up to the point where it is flushed with part of the the brace facing the propeller. Is that correct? I have seen other builds that apparantly do not use the brass tube.

Revision: Ok, now I found another PDF specifically for the prop and rudder that does not use the brass tubing. I guess I'll go that route.

**Reckless** · 06-01-2012, 03:37 PM

mine doesn't have brass tubing... but then again I didn't build my hull ... and I'm discovering and reworking things as I go..

I imagine over time it could wear out the plastic ... but I also beleive your into a couple hundred hours or so of run time before it'll be anywhere near an issue

**Avera** · 06-01-2012, 05:20 PM

The metal front axle to all of my slot cars rub against a plastic/nylon chassis and I never seen wear. Although the rear axles (which are powered) perform better in a brass bushing. However a lot of slot car manufacturers still use plastic bushings in the rear axle without any problem.

**Avera** · 06-03-2012, 09:56 PM

Okay,

I think I have gotten all the hole done, shaved the area for the stern plane controls, drilled the holes for the rudders, widen the are for the stern tubes, test fitted the propeller shafts. I test fitted everything and it appears to fit and function.

Is there anything else I should consider before gluing the hull together?

**He Who Shall Not Be Named** · 06-03-2012, 10:59 PM

Prayer!..............

**Reckless** · 06-03-2012, 11:49 PM

ah.... just do it! ... it's not like the hulls gotta seal...

**Avera** · 06-05-2012, 06:45 PM

Hi Folks,

Before I glue, I have a few questions:

1) After you glue on the stern tubes, do you need to fill it in with putty as shown on the VII Cabal PDF? If so, I have both the Green Putty and the JB Weld KwikPlastik, is either better for filling in the stern tubes and holes in general?

Note, I am not using any brass tubing on my model, but following the VII Dive Planes & Prop PDF which does not use the brass tubes.

2) In a test fit, I find the propeller shaft snug. I can turn the shaft with my finger tips, movement is not hard, but not real smooth. David as advised using a rat-tail file (not sure what that is) to bore out the problem hole. What is a rat-tail file and any other suggestions?

3) This is even more basic: how do you glue the hull halves together? I have both Plastruct Bondene and Model Master Liquid Cement for plastic models. (I have never used either of this stuff). Don't know why I suddenly have become overly cautious as I have glued models before, maybe not using the best technique. The bondene is very thin and I am used to using a medium viscoisity CA PLastic-Zap on my models.

From what I have gathered, when using the Bondene, you clamp the hull then apply the solvent using the brush applicator along the outside seam. Is that correct? If not please advise how you do it.

4) Is the propeller dunce cap glued to the propeller using epoxy, CA or something else?

5) What size hole do I need to drill on the bell cranks (rudder and forward dive planes)?

With this information I hope to complete the fittings part for the hull. Then to order the SD.

Thanks,

Andrew

**trout** · 06-05-2012, 07:49 PM

I can help on some questions.

2) A rat file is a round file that has a slight taper to it
3) Bondene - it is a cohesive meaning it will weld the two halves together. I like to clean the surfaces with some steel wool or fine sand paper (you want to get rid of the oils), I scrub mine in soapy water first, then use 0000 steel wool. You are correct it is very thin and will flow into the crevices by capillary action. I would apply from the outside first and get a good fit and finish later on the inside. You could put a slight camphor or bevel in each side to allow the glue to flow in the channel. If you want test it on a piece of sprue to see the characteristics. It will set pretty quick.
CA is an adhesive which will hold the halves together, can be jarred loose by impact and moisture. So that is the draw back to CA.
4) the dunce cap might be better adhered with RTV silicon, but I will let another person respond to that.
5) do you mean for your pushrods? If you are using 1/16th brass rod, 1/16th drill bit and make it slightly larger than the push rod.

I hope this makes sense or I did not miss your question. If I have let me know, I like making things clear as mud :-)

**Avera** · 06-05-2012, 07:55 PM

Hi Trout,

Thanks for the info. I guess you did not know or have an answer for the putty in the stern tubes. I don't see the point of filling them in if I am not using a brass tubing as a prop shaft housing.

As for the Bondene, although you did not state it in your response, but I presume before applying the Bondene, you clamp the halves together.

For #5, yes it is for the push rods, since I don't have them I was not sure of the size needed and wanted to drill the out before assembling them into the hull.

Andrew

**trout** · 06-05-2012, 09:38 PM

Andrew,
your correct, I could not answer about the stern tubes. Don't hold me to the 1/16th size, that is better answered by the maker of the WTC. Yes clamping can be done, for my Gato I used blue painters tape and spaced it far apart (or what ever you need to get it to fit together. Then apply in-between the tape (not letting the glue get under the tape). once it was dry, I removed the tape and applied glue where the tape was.
PEace,
Tom

**Avera** · 06-05-2012, 10:10 PM

Thanks Tom, I truly appreciate your advice and input.

**Avera** · 06-10-2012, 05:31 PM

Hi Folks,

My next two questions:

1) How do you support/connect the deck as one piece? I don't think that the small lip connecting each piece is sufficient.

2) How much lead weight goes in the keel?

Thanks,

Andrew

PS: I added some pictures of my progress, pretty poor quality from my iPod Touch. I'll do better later, this was a quick thing.

Attached Files

**vital.spark** · 06-10-2012, 10:33 PM

Hello Andrew,

There is a wealth of information on the forum. I suggest you spend the time going over the Cabal reports from David along with all the other previous builds. Here you will find what problems or questions that might arise during and after the build. This does take quite a bit of time to do as you have a lot of verbal nonesense that some members insist of wasting everyones time by including in the foroum replies!!

To speed things up, use some plastic white plastic sheet glued under the deck overlapping about 1/2". I carfully taped on top of the deck and added a bit of glue between the 2 deck pieces. All my subs and workshop is in a shipping container halfway between New Zealand and Hong Kong so I can't give thickneses etc. Caswell used to supply premoulded leat weight and almost 3/4 of the keel was tken up with the lead weights.

I do hope this helps. I tend to like to learn from previous mistakes by reading through the past forum enteries but still make many mistakes in addition!

Regards,

Myron

**Avera** · 06-17-2012, 07:26 PM

Since my last post, I have been working on completing the plastic part assembly and some painting (I could not resist and could not stand looking at that pale light gray plastic mixed with the resin colored parts). I have attached all the fitting parts and now will be ordering the SD and rest of the electronics to begin the trim work. I have made some better photos of my progress. Thanks to everyone for the advice and inspiration, especially David.

Andrew

Attached Files