Stingray Build

[RCnut]

Well I had a quiet day yesterday, It was my good ladys Birthday so I was busy doing other things. However I'm plesed to say that Its 99.9% done and within a 4 week period, a personal best for this size model. As you can see (just) the windows and ports are all "recessed" and the rear clear ratemaster star is done, needs a touch of cleaning up but there you are. Moulds to follow with an intended release (No pun intended) for the end of July.

[RCnut]

Very nice. I see you use all the same materials I do too- Upol filler, Halfrauds primers and 3M acryl red putty. Spooky!

Are you going to mould the hull in three parts, top bottom and cabin. Or will the cabin be vac-formed in clear plastic?

At the moment my plan is to mould the cabin in the same stuff as the main hull. It will have all the window detail on it so the builder will have to cut them out and add glass, or I may make up another bigger vac former and do it in plastic for the static modelers. Not sure yet.

[RCnut]

A work of art! Hey, is that blue toilet paper? Ive never seen blue toilet paper before.

Loooool if only you knew.

[Subculture]

Very nice. I see you use all the same materials I do too- Upol filler, Halfrauds primers and 3M acryl red putty. Spooky!

Are you going to mould the hull in three parts, top bottom and cabin. Or will the cabin be vac-formed in clear plastic?

[greenman407]

A work of art! Hey, is that blue toilet paper? Ive never seen blue toilet paper before.

[RCnut]

Well thats it now, Main hull done, I adjusted the side outlets and smoothed out the bottom of the hull. A few details to add and I think thats it.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

look up, 'cube zero'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F80ZiH90mI

[greenman407]

HEY Dave! Whats with the new Avatar? I was just getting used to the other one.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I'll buy one of those PJ's and will work up a 'front end' to the PJ as described above.

David

[RCnut]

Sounds bloody brilliant, I'll have to hurry up and mould the thing.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Very good, you already have demonstrated that a new 'front end' (your GRP intake piece) can be made to match up with the Graupner PJ unit flange. Your picture suggest that an even simpler means of pulling the water out from within the hull, using the PJ, is possible:

Simply run a 3/8" diameter K&S brass tube down from your GRP part, situated just forward of the PJ flange, to terminate just off the bottom of the inside of your hull -- no valve. The running pump-jet always draws a suction from within the flooded boat, but with the vent valve shut, 100% of the flow will be from the normal bottom intake of the GRP part. Open the vent valve, and broach the top of the bridge, and you start moving water into the brass tube, into the PJ rotor, and out of the boat.

A variant would be the incorporation of a slide-valve to block off the face of the normal GRP part PJ intake -- that way 100% of the water flow through the PJ, with the bridge broached and the vent valve open, will be hull water. The boat will be dead in the water during the de-watering operation, but the task will take very little time at all. If you still want to be in motion as you de-water, you can 'throttle' the slide valve via a servo to achieve the head-way and de-watering rate you desire.

David

[RCnut]

Graupner Jet Propuision Unit 2340, Same as in skydiver apart from I replicated the white vac forms in fibreglass for greater strength, they look messy on the outside but are perfectly smooth on the inside. And no your not being pushy, I have a limited knowlage of Sub Systems so your help and Ideas are very much appreciated, oh and I wear steel toe caps lol.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Now we're cooking, Mamas. Give me the model number and name of the pump-jet so I can get one. From that I'll work out the Y-splitter adapter. I see this also as the means of de-watering your SKY-DIVER hull.

(Tell me if I'm getting too pusher here Mamas and Andy. Sometimes I start storming around, stepping on toes, without even thinking about it).

David

[RCnut]

Today I tweaked the ratemaster and did the little pod things that hang off the side fins and the periscope head unit (Not shown) Just the star bit for the back of the ratemaster and the aquasprites to do now. Then I'll be adding cabin detail, oh and I need to sort out those rear tubes.

[RCnut]

Yep thats ok, I can see that working but the jets way more efficient, easy to install and allows me to get the Ratemaster to spin as well.