X craft build

Richard(Admin) wrote:Much as I regret saying this, but that was a total disaster! It's too far forward (again!) and I can't get the tank back any further due to height restrictions under the deck, so it's back to the drawing board again.

A shorter tank is called for, about half depth of the Mark 2...now, where's my razor saw?



(why didn't I leave this as a dynamic dive boat.....)

Becouse YOU LOVE chalenge!!!.

It's certainly turning into a challenge, Marius!

Don't matter how far back you get it,if it ain't in the middle the affect will be the same.

Ah, you fell into the trap, Mr Chairman sir...

I want a bows up attitude when travelling on the surface, a level attitude with the tank filled, then use the planes to dive from there.

See photos below..



Tank empty, bows up, travelling on the surface.



Tank filled, boat is now level with decks awash and ready to dive using forward motion and the dive planes.

(yes, I know that the photos depict two different boats, they just show what I mean)

It don't work like that, let me try to explain, try this get a length of timber place it in your sink and add two weights one front and one rear until is just awash, now place a two pence piece on the front,you will find that the front drops a huge amount and the rear stays where it was,this is the effect that a bow ballast tank has, you are trying to revolve around the stern, the second photo is X5 it has a center ballast tank and runs with the bow high on the surface,this was achived by moving the batterys rearward on the surface and forward whilst submerged, when hovering submerged the bow and the stern can be moved up or down by allmost 20 degress enabling the boat to be driven simply by shifting the weight forward or backwards,hardly ever used the dive planes and never needed a leveler,this is a system I have used for many years now,pioneer works in the same way as does hunley, niether have levelers.

I understand that boss, and I can see it would work with shifting the batteries to alter the attitude of the boat. But I don't have movable batteries, mine are in the keel, a long stick of ten AA cells running practically the length of the keel, and under the cylinder. One end is hard up against the prop shaft support, the other end is virtually at the bow end of the keel.

I did think about putting the battery pack inside the cylinder, but they wouldn't fit under the tray...the only way I could do that is to make a longer cylinder, but that means altering everything again.

I'm seriously contemplating leaving it as a dynamic dive boat, which was the original plan...

surely thats better than a boat that won't work,early darnells have a forward tank most have been cut in half and a center tank added because they just don't work,you would be better off without a ballast tank they work very well as a dynamic diver,if you can't get the tank near to the center don't fit one at all.

I think that's going to be the plan...it would save me a lot of work, to be sure.

(trying to find reasons to avoid cutting out the flood holes)

I thought I'd have a go at fitting the bullring in the bows...what a job that turned out to be. The first two inches of the bows is practically solid fibreglass, it took me the best part of half an hour to drill and file the hole for the tube, the gel coat kept cracking and splitting, and now there's more of Andy's special filler then there is original boat.

But, it's done...just waiting for the filler to set, then it's out with the glasspaper.

Thought I'd have a change from the JellyBean...yes, I know I'm not supposed to working with fibreglass, but I class this as working with styrene and brass wire.

No fibreglass was injured during the making of these hatches...

Those hatches are FUNCTIONAL ,LOL

MARIUS

Those aren't, but the next one will be...I plan to use it to gain access to the radio on/off switch, to save taking the top off every time.

You wouldn't believe just how long this took me to drill and file the exhaust pipe outlet slot, make the exhaust up from a couple of pieces of brass tube, and then fit it. (the screw you can see is just there to hold the exhaust in position until the epoxy dries, it'll be removed when everything is secured.)

Plucked up the required courage today and started on the job of opening up the flood slots in the hull...and what a caper I'm having. I only have to show the boat a file and the gel coat splinters and pieces crack off, it's a right mess. This is turning out to be one of hardest builds I've ever done, I think...I don't remember the mouldings being this bad on X22 (that was a genuine Darnell kit, this is by Models By Design)

Everything I look at seems to crack and splinter on this boat, I've never had a moulding this bad before. Just had a long talk to Nigel about it, and I've decided that (for the time being anyway) I'm going to abandon the build of this boat. It's a case of one step forward, five steps back...I drill a hole, and end up having to repair the damage round it.

I'm going to call the manufacturers on Monday morning to see what's going on with these moulds, this is the second one in a row I've had problems with, the other being the Biber, and I know of at least one more AMS member who has had exactly the same problems as I am having.

I'll report back on what they say after I've called them, but for now, the X craft is back in it's box under my bed.

all i can think rich is they have left the gell coat to dry for to long before adding the matting

I don't know what they've done with it, mate...but it's a right old mess. The interior is like the Biber, solid in the stern area...it took me ages to drill through to be able to mount the rudders.

I've just had a chat to Paul Cook about this problem, he came up with a really clever solution. Take a look at the conversation on the AMS Facebook page...it's very interesting.

I've asked Paul for his permission to copy his ideas to the forum, as I know there's more than a few of you who don't use Facebook...it really is clever.

Meanwhile, I retrieved the poor old X craft from under the bed, and I've done two more slots, this time without any problems, so perhaps the problems were caused by my non cooperative hands and fingers.

Damn the fingers, I will NOT be beaten...apart from the fingers and hands, these mouldings cost me a fair bit of cash, and I have quite a lot of money invested in it, what with buying all the parts, buying the tube, the end caps, and making up the cylinder etc. Alf Blake came up with a very simple idea to help my fingers with the filing of the slots...fit bigger handles to all my small files. I made mine using wraps of masking tape wound round the existing handle...so simple, but it works.



This is the slot for the rudder linkage rod to pass through the hull, again cut and filed without any problems.

And here's the completed cylinder for the X craft, just need to connect the two cables inside the end cap and that's it done.

Seeing as how my doctor is away for three weeks on holiday, I've restarted working on the X craft. Made a few more small deck detail pieces (not fixed as yet, there's still some more flood slots to open up) and made a start on wiring up the wtc.










Richard

WTC now finished, water tested and electrically tested...no leaks and no electrical problems.

HI ,

Looks awesome , like everything You do....Looking forward to see hem in the water .
I see you changed the operating rod for rudders and dive plains .... any particular reason for that? ;

MARIUS

Thank you, Marius...I wasn't happy with the brass rod linkages, so I thought I'd try these flexible rods. So far they seem ok, I just need to trim the red outer tube back a bit.


Richard

If Is not against the Forum policy can You say where did You get those rodes ?

MARIUS