Schumacher U-88/U-37

[wayne middlemiss]

He must be a taswegian scott

 

[scott williamson]

You want me type something for you to read, because you..... didnt read it the first time? wow, somebody skipped class the day comprehension was taught

......and reading.... for that matter. haha

Funny, no comments or posts being critical or nitpicking!

Well, THANKFULLY, I do actually have an obligation to still help newcomers feel welcome....... because part of me feels like some people are just playing dumb in guise to not having any credible material to present.

I did ask for it didn't i? im going inside now and locking the doors, this is getting way too weird .

In other words:

Well I look like a fool now.....

Well said Nicholis , you work looks to be very hi quality. I look forward to watching your progress with this project. More people building boats the better.

Ah, Thank you

See, not all is in vain!

get over it and move on.

 

[nicholashansen]

You want me type something for you to read, because you..... didnt read it the first time? wow, somebody skipped class the day comprehension was taught

......and reading.... for that matter. haha

Funny, no comments or posts being critical or nitpicking!

Well, THANKFULLY, I do actually have an obligation to still help newcomers feel welcome....... because part of me feels like some people are just playing dumb in guise to not having any credible material to present.

I did ask for it didn't i? im going inside now and locking the doors, this is getting way too weird .

In other words:

Well I look like a fool now.....

Well said Nicholis , you work looks to be very hi quality. I look forward to watching your progress with this project. More people building boats the better.

Ah, Thank you

See, not all is in vain!

get over it and move on.

This is my thread dude

if anyone should get over something and move on rather than persisting incessant condescension, its clearly you.

lol

 

[nicholashansen]

Anyway, Ill have more pics uploaded tonight of some more progress. The Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent, about 20 minutes from where I live, is having their annual RC gala tomorrow and although the few things I want to bring with me are extremely far from being finished, let alone worthy of display there, I still want to get as much done as I can. Im looking foward to acquiring as much valuable insight and information as I can

Im waiting for the epoxy to dry on the inside of the starboard sponson right now, I just installed some ply for the brass inserts ill be adding to secure the skid fin turnbuckles to the hull. After they dry and I dont need to access anything else on the inside of the hull (outside of the tub), im going to start working on the sub hatch setup, as well as the rest of the standard interior hardware. With what I have in mind as far as mounting all the components and accommodating the electric parts, im going to try some other different and slightly unorthodox methods with the running gear.

For starters, im going to have the motor mounted just about parallel with the floor and thus I plan to have the flex shaft running in an S bend. Thankfully the orientation wont be too difficult to achieve mainly due to the floor modifications I did. The belly pan is as low as it can possibly be without protruding past the depth of the tunnel, and with the motor lying flat in that pan, the angle of the bend wont have to be too drastic and lengthy for that matter as well. Also, another consideration ive had is using teflon around the flex shaft as greasing/oiling has been giving me alot of trouble. However, I feel as though just one of the previously mentioned plans should suffice, doing both may be a little overzealous. Lastly, I am in the process of making my own homemade micro vacuum former, so I can obviously make my own polystyrene and ABS parts. More on that later.....

Thanks!

 

[nicholashansen]

Hey guys, got an update!

I been feeling really good about the progress I have been making here, but I still got a huge amount of work to go even before testing. The sub hatch setup took me a while to plan out, as the last one I did for my last build gave me alot of trouble in all honesty. Its a simple concept but too me its very important, and a critical part of converting the hull from nitro to brushless. Alot of people dont even consider a classification or designation with hulls in this sense with their builds, but with scale hydros in my opinion, its critical to the design from the start. I really wanted to have the lip all around be as flat and level as possible, and for the actual hatch to sit as tightly and flush as possible too. I ended up incorporating the sidewalls of the cockpit area into the lip to help achieve this, and overall it came out pretty well I think.

Also I made my own motor mount and ESC setup, pretty simple but I hope it should get the job done. I actually scrapped the idea of having the motor flat and parrellel with the floor, although that leads me again to wonder about the driveline and flex shaft setup. I know it may be against typical setups with scale hydros and perhaps against conventional wisdom, but I am thinking ill probably run a teflon liner inside the stuffing tube this time, as the idea of not having to constantly oil and grease the flex shaft really appeals to me. Ill be drilling out the slot and epoxying the motor mount and other component accomodations tonight, and then ill be sealing up all the wood.

I sanded out the inside walls of the cockpit to the best of my ability, as the inside seam had a huge gob of epoxy running all around and it actually probably gave me a good quarter inch or so of extra width up front once I removed it. The packs in the picture are 4s, 5500mah packs, and I have the same ones in 5s as well. I feel real good about where the COG is at this point, and theres plenty of room for even bigger capacity batteries, hopefully I wont have to add more than 10oz total of lead in the front sponsons before testing.

I have another rather large cosmetic modifcation id like to do. I noticed recently when looking dead level port side, the curve of side of the boat looks odd as a result of the drop sponson mod. The real boat has that level of the deck running much more uniformly from the front to the back, whereas here ive got a large downward curve toward the transom, so ill be fixing this. Im just not sure how I want to approach it yet, as ill either just cut out a large portion of the deck and side and simple rebuild it with wood and foam and glass over it, or ill simple do like I did with the sponson deck mod and just add foam to the top of the deck and glass over that. I just want to go with whatever is best for the weight without making a big compromise on strength.

Recently I bought the HET motor in the picture off the marketplace on OSE, as it was a very very good deal that I couldnt pass up. This model motor is actually legal in some races here but not in this KV version as this is 1170 and they only allow the 840kv model. Since I have seen alot of guys running their 8th scales with the 1Y wind NEU (1250kv I believe) on 8s, I figured this 1170 would be just fine.Im not actually sure if ill use all the components in the picture yet, but as of this moment theyll serve for setup just fine

more to come!

 

[nicholashansen]

Got enough content for an actual update now, yay

I also finished the reshaping of the port side non trip I discussed in the last post, im pretty happy with how it looks now, and overall the dropdown on the sponson from the front of the boat and all the way to the back looks alot more like the full size boat now. I just need to add the small sloped bulge at back of the sponson deck now. In addition, I did my best to sharpen the edges of the deck and sides of the non trip, as the real boat in general from all angles just seems to have crisp, streamlined surfaces and seams, and Steve adds alot of thickened epoxy to all these areas for strength, so ill be doing ALOT of sanding (and filling??) all around the hull to recreate that look. Aside from the dropdown in the sponsons themselves, this is one of the biggest things I like so much about the U-88/U-37, but as far as actual aesthetic modifications to the hull, im getting pretty close to wrapping it up.

Elsewhere, im getting pretty close to finishing up most of the component mounting and internal accomodations. I decided to scrap that makeshift motor and ESC mount I fabbed up (or tried to) and just ordered a more standard 40mm sized motor mount from OSE. Should be here in a day or two at the most, and then after I get that glassed in, ill figure out how ill be mounting the ESC (most likely the same, with a plate positioned above the motor). Ive glassed the outer stuffing tube into position, epoxied the lot of it and subsequently faired over and cleaned up the surrounding areas too, as i needed to do this before I started on mounting anything else, im really pressed for room at this point. Thankfully its worked out alright so far though, as I have the servo mounted and in position, along with the other radio gear as I originally planned. Now I just need to secure the lipo packs in the cockpit (most likely with simple wrap around straps) and the electronics box will be pretty much finished!

Next im going to close up the inside of the engine well. Since removing so much of the original tub walls and floor has altered the overall structure of the hull, im a little concerned about the flex in the top deck. So im probably going to drill a couple holes in the bottom of the hull and run a dowel vertically through each to reinforce the top deck, epoxy them into place and then cut and fair afterwards. Perhaps ill use some 5/16" carbon rods or tubes. After this, ill close off the tub again with a little bit of pink foam for the sides of the e-box, and some G-10 the rest of the way. After I finish all this, ill setup the points for securing the cowling, setup the rudder pushrod assembly, and then finally create a system for mounting the dummy turbine and tray.

try to get more soon!

 

[jojoinotown]

Nick, I have been trying to get in touch with you. Call me. I'm getting close to ready to test.

 

[nicholashansen]

ah, Sorry about that Joey! been meaning to get back to you, having trouble with my cell right now so ill probably give you a call from my work phone tomorrow.

Heres a few pictures of the boat currently, im really happy with the shape of the deck and drop down now, much more resemblance to the real boat

 

[nicholashansen]

hey guys, have an update for this build if anyone is still interested

would love some feedback and constructive criticism!

Ive gotten the motor mount glassed into place and driveline setup nearly squared away, I just need to figure out exactly what kind of strut ill be using. Ive actually started contemplating where and how ill be "mounting" the ESC however. Originally I planned to work in some sort of plate that would bolt in overhead of the motor that I could run straps through to secure the ESC, but I was worried about the subsequent protrusion on the sub hatch and whether it would fit underneath the cowl. So you can see a chunk of the deck is missing in some of the pictures, I may just remove a portion of the radio box wall and create a side pocket, similar to where a fuel tank would be and just put the ESC in there.... not sure yet entirely though.

I also got alot more cosmetic work done on the hull, and im really liking the way the hull is starting to shape up. I mentioned earlier in the thread that one of the things I really like about the aesthetics of this hull is the sharper, crisp lines and streamlined details, and its important to me to try and mimic this the best I can. Being an epoxy hull, obviously most of the edges are rather rounded, and even with plenty of sanding, they will only get so sharp. One area in particular thats been bugging me is the inside walls of the sponsons, and basically the entire picklefork area in general looked nothing like the real boat. So ive removed the ram wing entirely and ill be making my own thats more accurate, just havn't decided how exactly ill be doing that. After I did this, I cut out a couple pieces of 1/32" ply and shaped it to cover the inside wall of each sponson, plus extend a small portion foward of where the curve of each sponsons tip begins, so that there was basically a gap there. I then subsequently glued the plywood pieces into place, and filled in the remaining gaps and edges with thickened epoxy, and sanded it all to blend in and sharpen the deck seams. Im pretty happy with how it looks as a result and im thinking by the time the boats ready for primer and paint, its going to be a big addition towards the scale look of the boat. If you compare previous shots of the hull to the ones in this post, you can see what I mean.

I dont think ill be doing any more major cosmetic changes to the hull at this point, as I feel anything else would be overzealous or simply not worth replicating. I still need to do the rest of the transom work, extend the rear end of the cowling back a bit, and figure out how ill be finishing the rest of the engine tub and the rear tray setup, and im confident that once ive figured that stuff out along with whatever other smaller finishwork I have to do, that the hull will be adequate in serving as the U-88

hopefully! Its a little odd, as overall this boat is not really drastically different from other typical unlimiteds on the circuit in the past decad.... and aside from the drop sponsons, there isn't many glaring aspects of its design that differentiate it. However, despite that, its general form and essence still seem to embody a very different look overall. So now ill be moving on to the changes/additions I have been wanting to do to the bottom of the boat, namely adding some depth to the rear shoes and non trips, and the rearward sponson pads as I think this hull will need it badly.

 

[Samuel Hagan JR]

What is your plan to keep water from coming up through the shaft into the radio box.

 

[nicholashansen]

Oh I probably should have mentioned, I havn't actually installed the stuffing tube and shaft yet other than a test fit. Thats actually a 11/32" tube thats only about 3 inches at the most, its an anchor for the actual 5/16" tube that will run all the way to the strut. I was told by some to do it this way so the stuffing tube can be replaced without having to realign or tear into the hull. Still undecided if ill install a clamp with an oiler or just pull the shaft after every use and grease it by hand

 

[nicholashansen]

CORRECTION:

Silly me, my last post was way off base, forgot I was going a little unorthodox with this builds shaft setup.

The shaft log that I glassed in is in fact a 3/8" brass tube, as I will instead be using an 11/32" sized tube for my actual stuffing tube. This is because I wanted to give running teflon liner a try on a bigger sized cable, as I havn't been keen on greasing the shaft in my T5. As a result, Ill be applying a few more items that I hope will be key in accomodating the teflon setup to work successfully:

- I tried to make the angle of the driveline as subtle as possible

- I will only be using teflon for perhaps 2/3 - 3/4 of the actual length of the entire shaft, specifically in the bent areas of the stuffing tube, where friction and rubbing would normally be taking place and then the rest of the shaft will have breathing room to spin freely. Hopefully, this will in theory keep the liner from getting worn out faster than it would if it were occupying nearly all of the space inside the stuffing tube.

- Rather than a more conventional collet or coupler between the motor shaft and flex cable, ill be experimenting with a square ended cable setup there. This way, the shaft will still be moving "freely" rather than being fixated with the motor and not necessarily generating as much torque when its being yanked as RPMs rise.

Ill still liberally grease the entire thing before I set it up for good, but I think ill most likely be CA'ing the teflon on each side as opposed to having it glued to the inside of the brass tubing. Not entirely sure about this yet however, still need to give it some thought and research. Im excitied though to see how it works out!! Lets just hope it doesnt backfire

 

[nicholashansen]

Wow, I completely forgot I had made this thread. Its certainly time for an update!

Ive done even more modifications to the hull since the last post here, and despite really feeling overwhelmed at one point for getting quite a bit overzealous with my changes to the hull, ive now started sanding the entire hull with 220 grit in prep for my first coat of primer. However, ill be mainly using this as a sealing coat of sorts, to get the hull all one color and protect some of the filler ive applied. Ive got some Klass Kote epoxy primer that ill be brushing on in an effort to reduce wasting it, and also to help fill some of the smaller imperfections and contour the surfaces of the hull. I expect to block sand majority of this coat off, obviously. After this ill take the boat for a test run to see how it performs so that I can make any more changes to the ride surfaces if necessary before I begin the actual finishing work and prep for paint.

I wish I would have taken more pictures of certain key points during the mods, but I didnt so I want to start by attempting to list the changes ive made since last posting here.

probably the largest change is that I removed the entire cockpit section and moved it backward about 1.5 inches. I had noticed the cockpit on this particular hull was too far forward even before I recieved my hull just through pictures I had seen, however I didn't feel like changing it because I felt that it enabled me to place the batteries farther forward and thus, less weight would need to be added in balancing. But obviously I changed my mind and im amazed at the overall aesthetic change since. In addition, this was the perfect time for me to replace the carbon fiber tube running between the sponsons for the ram wing, so I epoxied this into place with a steel 4-40 rod inside of it.

Ive made extensive additions to the entire underside of the hull. Ive added about 1/8" to both the sponson ride pads and the rear shoes. The ride pads on the sponson were also widened and the angle of attack changed, now they are much more profound in definition and very sharp

Accurately reproducing the transom of the U-88/U-37 has been very difficult, alot more than I at least anticipated, and thats even with a certain noteworthy characteristic on the real boat being omitted. I had trouble deciding if I really wanted to leave it out, and now im glad I did as that would have been just a mess of work and stress! At this point, ive added a little bit of balsa thats been glassed over with 3.7oz cloth to get the correct shapes. Im still concerned about the corners though, theres really just alot of sharp edges on this boat!

But thats certainly one of the reasons I like the full sze hull so much, it just has such a cool, streamlined and cutting edge design in its appearence. The mods I did to the deck and inside of the sponsons walls are almost complete, and im really happy with how they turned out considering the amount of work I had to put into them. The shape of the sponson tips and getting the top edges of the inside walls sharp like they are now has really improved the look of the boat form the front. The drop down on the port sponson is at an angle thats much similar to the real boat, and im happy I went through with this change.

I only have a few crappy pics at the moment so ill post them, but im going to get more uploaded ASAP that detail the work ive discussed above. I know the boat really looks like a heap currently due to so many different colors and scuffs all over it, but its really shaping up nice and I think that once I have some primer on the top of it, the fruits of my labor will hopefully reveal themselves

Thanks for reading!

 

[jojoinotown]

Nick I have been trying all summer to get in touch with you. You have missed out on some great racing, give me a call dude.

 

[nicholashansen]

Just wanted to post some pics of the hull as she currently stands, im really close to putting on the first coat of primer, but it wont necessarily be in the conventional sense. I have some Klass Kote white primer, and usually when I spray this I go with a 1:1:1 mixture with the reducer, sprays very well at this point. However, with this first coat, mainly due to the high amount of very small surface imperfections/pinholes, ill be brushing this first coat on. Klass Kote, despite its strength, sands very well and also flows very good, so Ill be most likely mixing it either without any reducer, or a very small amount. In addition, ill have another cup with a small amount mixed as well, which I will add microballoons to until its about the consistency of heavy whipping cream. Once that sits for perhaps 60-90 minutes and its thickened considerably, ill use it to fill any larger or more noticable imperfections that I can find at that point. Then in a few days, ill block sand the hull and take her out for her first test session. Its important to me that I get the hull performing properly before I begin any of the real prep work for painting as I made many modifications to the underside of the boat, and need to know if any more will be required. Hopefully shell perform in the manner I desire, and then depending on where it stands after that, ill start spraying a gray 2k urethane high build style primer (not sure exactly which one yet however, id like to go with PPG throughout this build if possible).

I should also say that I believe ill be going with the 2012 U-37 Beacon Plumbing instead of the U-88 2011 Degree Men as I initially desired.

Im really excited and happy with how the hull looks at the moment, i cant believe how much work ive put into this now. It really was discouraging not that far back and I was in over my head, but thankfully I didnt give up! Its most apparent when I compare to how Steves SG121H hull comes originally and how my hull is now, specifcally the transom area, the left side sponson deck

 

[nicholashansen]

I found this video and was real excited, I felt like this gave me a really good idea overall of how the boat looks from the rear, mainly the more boxy and sharp edges I spoke about earlier in the thread. I believe ive gotten pretty close overall of achieving this look.



I have just a tad bit more work to do before the sponsons are finished, and the ram wing needs a little more finishing and sanding, but overall the hull is just about ready for primer. The cowling still has more work though, as if anyone has noticed, I swapped a T5 cowling from Phil thomas with the included cowling I got from Steve. Im much happier with this configuration.

 

[jojoinotown]

Bring your stuff out to the Northwest scale Championship race. You should come up even if you don't bring any gear. I know people would love to see your works in progress.