Hello, going through the many threads in the various forums I noticed that there is not much attention given to a very important aspect of our hobby; how to recover these super expensive FE boats that we build. I happen to live in a very boat friendly area- 1 block from the slip of my 30' sailboat on a tidal saltwater creek 3 miles from the open Atlantic Ocean. Perfect place to run everything from float planes, sailboats and FE boats. Having played around with RC sailboats on this creek, and while trying to dock my full size boat, the extreme tides here and the resulting 7 knot current makes a recovery vessel mandatory. It is a pain to inflate the dinghy everytime I want to use my models. Now, as a modeller, I could not bring myself to buy a cheap RTR rc boat and trust it to recover larger sailboats in this current. In addition, I am looking to build a FCR Fantasm in the near future. Given that our boats usually have at least a grand worth of expensive electronics aboard, I would hate to see my boat being carried out to sea. So, I chose to build a Vac-U-Tug- available from Vac-U-Boat.com.
Now, the stock setup that comes with the tug is a 12v low kv brushed Johnson 385. It also comes supplied with a 1/8" shaft and 3 blade plastic prop. I am sure this works fine but being a crazed modeller who can't leave well enough alone, I decided to "upgrade" the drive system. Now, I am sure this is most likely overkill but why not? So, the parts list of upgrades is as follows;
Turnigy 28mm 950kv brushless outrunner
Turnigy 30 amp water cooled esc
50mm Raboesch 4 blade brass prop
Harbor Models 3/16 prop shaft and stuffing tube
Subwerks electric waterpump
Water cooled motor mount
Various LED's to recreate deck lights
1/48 scale radar with a modified micro servo to spin it
Various scale parts- tires, fenders ect from harbor models
The plan is to have a forced water cooled setup that is turned on and off via channel 5 on my tx. The radar will be tied into this so that I can visually see that the water pump is on by looking at the radar. The lights will be controlled by channel 6. I will modify mini aaa maglight housings to operate as the two forward search lights. The tug will be modeled after a tugboat on the Savannah River named "CYNTHIA TURECAMO".
Overkill? Maybe. But it should be a fun build nontheless. 20130315_105443.jpg20130315_105454.jpg20130315_105504.jpg20130315_105513.jpg20130315_105532.jpg
Now, the stock setup that comes with the tug is a 12v low kv brushed Johnson 385. It also comes supplied with a 1/8" shaft and 3 blade plastic prop. I am sure this works fine but being a crazed modeller who can't leave well enough alone, I decided to "upgrade" the drive system. Now, I am sure this is most likely overkill but why not? So, the parts list of upgrades is as follows;
Turnigy 28mm 950kv brushless outrunner
Turnigy 30 amp water cooled esc
50mm Raboesch 4 blade brass prop
Harbor Models 3/16 prop shaft and stuffing tube
Subwerks electric waterpump
Water cooled motor mount
Various LED's to recreate deck lights
1/48 scale radar with a modified micro servo to spin it
Various scale parts- tires, fenders ect from harbor models
The plan is to have a forced water cooled setup that is turned on and off via channel 5 on my tx. The radar will be tied into this so that I can visually see that the water pump is on by looking at the radar. The lights will be controlled by channel 6. I will modify mini aaa maglight housings to operate as the two forward search lights. The tug will be modeled after a tugboat on the Savannah River named "CYNTHIA TURECAMO".
Overkill? Maybe. But it should be a fun build nontheless. 20130315_105443.jpg20130315_105454.jpg20130315_105504.jpg20130315_105513.jpg20130315_105532.jpg
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