1994 Hydrofest Smokin' Joe's ML Boatworks build

[Matt Fobes]

It will be a 1/8 scale. Thank you for the advice! Rudder left sounds like the plan, I am curious on rudder servo sizing. I come from a background of car RC, and servos there are defined by load/purpose. I have a few brushless high speed servos that are around the 20kg mark that were for a 1/10 scale crawler but were too weak, for a hydro should I be more focused on response and speed over torque?

Thank you for the advice with the arrow shafts, I have a couple laying around that I should be able to make work. To check my understanding of using the arrow shaft as a rod. I assume you could either use the existing tip insert to use as a threaded shaft, or if you cut/pull that out, you could then just use any solid stainless to create the linkage. Do most people run a gromet and boot over the protruding end of the shaft (In this case it would either be 4-40 or the arrow shaft itself?), or would you bed an o-ring in the transom to seal against the arrow shaft?


Thank you very much for the help and the photo! I will be picking up some aluminum plate to reinforce the transom, as well as the mounting point for the turn fin on the right sponson. I had not considered adding an incompressible barrier in the wood, I will definitely be doing so, thank you! I plan on threading the aluminum, and bonding it to the inside. When doing so is a lock nut necessary, or would the threading in the aluminum and some locktite keep everything in place? Thank you for the advice on getting the alignment correct, when is the best time to install everything? Would it be best to waterproof the inside first, then do all the cutting and fitting with a final coat over anywhere that saw work done?

I'm getting ready to place an order with OSE for the Speedmaster rudder and strut, as well as other assorted odds and ends. I have seen several options, both Piano wire as the drive, and the spring-like flex cable. I am not sure what would be the best in this case, and have been considering the wire drive. However, with the wire drive I believe I would be committed to placing the strut in line with the motor centerline, whereas with the flex cable, it would be able to flex and the strut could be at the true centerline.

Finished to where I can without the plans and glasswork for the main center section. I have yet to run into a situation where I would need more clamps, but it's been really close a few times. The ML Extreme kits are built with a 3 piece construction, center section and each sponson. I am continuing to work on the front of the sponsons for the time being while I wait for parts to arrive! I spent a good few hours sanding the stringers to match the angle and slight curvature of the ribs, hopefully this helps when skinning later on! It was difficult to get the back sponson rib to lay flush with the inner, so I had to add a little bit of weight to the end of the outer in order to get it to lay flat. The non-trip ribs are just set in place for test fitting.

Thank you all for your input and advice so far, I am feeling a lot more confident than when I started out!

It's a lot easier to most of this except for sealing the inside of the boat before you get to far along because of other things like framers getting in the way. You seal the inside of the boat after getting some of the skins on like the bottom of the center section, bottoms of the sponsons glued on but before the skin on the top of the boat and on the sponson sides. You can use either lock washers or lock tite on the turn fin bolts, but if you use lock tite it will help seal the threads so water can't get in. It's easier to plan ahead also if it's nitro where the fuel tanks go, servos for the throttle and 3rd channel fuel mixture. If it's electric, batteries, speed controller etc. I know your supposed to balance the boat, which is somewhere around the turn fin, but try and keep as much weight off of the transom.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I know your supposed to balance the boat, which is somewhere around the turn fin, but try and keep as much weight off of the transom.

The general rule of thumb used to be around a pound of weight on the prop. Since your boat has the twin tails and wing, that's almost not possible. Balance it about mid turn fin initially and adjust from there with the battery placement.

 

[Mark Feola]

This is my ML Boatworks build, i have 3 of his kit and they are great kits in my opinion.

 

[JakeZella]

This is my ML Boatworks build, i have 3 of his kit and they are great kits in my opinion.

That boat looks beautiful! I look forward to seeing my build get to that point!

I have been busy this past week getting the sponsons together. Just received the parts from RC Boat Company this week! There's definitely a long way to go, but I am starting to see the build come together.

My apologies for the delay in updates, I've been waiting on the parts from RC Boat Company, now that they're here, I have a lot clearer of a picture of how to get this all put together!

For anyone who has built the ML Boatworks kits, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the Canard wing attachment, and the photos provided on the site aren't the most clear for this section. I am curious about the order of the parts, is the doubling plate supposed to be on top or below the canard wing in the interior of the cab? There's a rectangular stick that fits easily through the 1/8" ply, and somehow interfaces with a matching slot cut into the bottom sheeting, but I am unsure if that is just supposed to attach flat or go through a set amount (The piece in question is directly behind the 123 blocks in Cowling3.jpg). Any assistance in this front would be greatly appreciated!

Happy Halloween!