Who wants to build a semi-scale all-wood micro hydro?

[Dr. Jet]

well the round nose made it to my sisters thanks I might see it by summers end lol so waiting for you to finish up yours so I can see what hardware is in the box and a video of it running lol

I'm working on it....

Looking forward to your build thread.....

[Dr. Jet]

Next????

A friend suggested this........

[Diegoboy]

Oh Yes! Now we're talking.




This hull makes these plus many other boats.
I'm in!!

[Dr. Jet]

Another Kit?

After the underwhelming response on the full and complete kits I've done thus far , I’m thinking anything I do in the future should be a “Short Kit” with just the 1/16” ply bulkheads, instructions, drawings for the skins and assorted parts, and recommendations for the hardware. I may include the precision 1/16” SS tube for the 1/32” wire drive because it is rather hard to source.

Here’s what I would have to do to make that happen:

1. Buy a set of plans from Newton Marine.
2. Take them to Kinkos and get them scanned into an electronic format.
3. Import them into AutoCAD and trace them with polylines with complete dimensional precision.
4. Allow for cutting kerf on all parts.
5. Design a parts layout to minimize waste.
6. Obtain plywood.
7. Deliver plywood to laser guy.
8. Pick up cut plywood from laser guy.
9. Buy boxes.
10. Package and ship the kits.

There’s a whole lot of time, money, and work up front to make this happen and I’m already sitting on a ton of inventory. The only way I would want to do that is if I had commitments from enough people up front to make it worth my time and effort.

[Dr. Jet]

Some Thoughts on 1/20 Scale Racing

In my first post on this thread, and subsequent others, I talked of why I am so enamored with these smaller hulls. A lot of folks chimed in with the “loss of places to run the smaller boats…” and other excuses to avoid building one .

Hello!! You can run these little boats ALMOST ANYWHERE . Yes, I understand they don’t like wind and the waves it creates, but there’s something called: EARLY MORNING, and in some places: EARLY EVENING where the wind dies down and the water is like glass . And yes, fast moving rivers aren’t really good for these either, but there are hundreds of thousands of little ponds and lakes throughout the country where you can run these.

Big lakes that host sanctioned events could run 1/20 scale before breakfast with clever names like “Hangover Hydrofest” or “Morning Delight” . The simplicity of these little hulls and ease of transport means little to no support equipment is needed to run a few heats. All you really need is a few batteries and a roll of tape; maybe a couple of Allen wrenches and a screwdriver if you’re really hardcore.

Diegoboy really wants me to do a more modern hull, and I’m willing to do it; provided there’s enough interest to make it worth my effort. I’m not looking to make a profit on these; I just want to avoid taking a loss. I don’t mind donating my time in doing all the CAD work; it’s like playing video games for me, but plywood and laser cutting isn't cheap. It's far better to amortize the costs over several hulls to keep costs down.

So come on boys and girls, get on the 1/20 scale train where "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control" is more than a slogan, it's a motto!

[Diegoboy]

The smaller boats are so much fun and cheap to power and quick to charge and easy to haul and I can go on and on.

[Dr. Jet]

Starting to Look Like Something

The cowl sides at the cockpit opening were pretty thin on the prototypes. I modified the production kits with thicker sides and more support on the bottom. This additional support gets sanded away at the end, but it prevents breakage during most of the shaping process. The underside of the cowl needs to be hollowed out slightly to accommodate the curvature of the deck/hatch.

[Dr. Jet]

An Exhausting Dilemma

So I've mounted the cowl to the deck hatch, and I'm faced with a new dilemma: What to do for the exhaust? The hatch has a narrow tape ledge all around it that should be easy to access for the convenience of taping down the hatch. On the full size boat (later named "Miss Detroit") the entire exhaust manifold was below the top of the deck and only the tailpipe stuck up above the deck. This tailpipe would be right in the middle of the tape ledge. If I had chosen to do an exposed engine hull to model, I could have used a 3-D printed motor and "fudged" the hatch and motor location to work.

I've given this a whole bunch of thought and think I have an easy solution: Forgetaboutit. The cowl will be exactly as it is in the photos other than it will be painted yellow with the Thompson Electric Co. decal on the fin and the Chuck Thompson decal on the sides. I may make a decal for the grill opening in the front of the cowl, but that's it.

Hey! It's 1/20 scale, I don't need no stinkin' exhaust......


UPDATE: I was just thinking....... (Uh oh... :) I wouldn't have this exhaust problem with a modern turbine hydro. Come on, show some interest; these little boats are FUN!

[old guy]

103-i.jpg this is the one I am going to build pipe might work

[Dr. Jet]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]165138[/ATTACH] this is the one I am going to build pipe might work

That one will work perfect. Some K&S aluminum tubing and black paint will do the trick.

[Dr. Jet]

Things to Come

As the epoxy is cooking off on my 1/20 Short Circuit build, and I'm waiting for the laser guy to cut motor mounts for MPR Prototype #2, I'm thinking of things to come. The order of completion of my projects is as follows:

1. Finish the Short Circuit.
2. Finish MPR Prototype #2.
3. Finish the Atlas (Screwed-up some paint).
4. Finish the Mini Outrigger.
5. Begin Secret Project X⁴.

#1 and #2 might be done concurrently.

[old guy]

and number 6 is make a video and build Manuel lol

[Dr. Jet]

and number 6 is make a video and build Manuel lol

All my kits come with an instruction manual (*.pdf file on a CD). If I can get the cameras, the weather, and my schedule to cooperate, I'll make some vids.

[Dr. Jet]

I Thought I'd Add Some Color.....

...... So I decided to paint the cowl. Looks like I need to contact my DLP guy and have a driver printed up.....

The instrument panel will eventually have a brushed aluminum cover and the interior bottom will be painted flat black.

[JimClark]

That is looking great Dr Jet.

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