Got this off a fellow DH when he posted in the " Marketplace for Boats " section.
PMed him, then he went missing for two weeks.
Finally when I almost gave up on him, he came back to complete the sale.
It was worth the wait ( I had gone down to RotorHobby to get one, but fortunately it was out of stock ).
It was a nice boat.... very shiny, smooth and bright coloured.
In fact, it was too shiny, too smooth and too bright coloured that looked very plastic and toy like.
It came with a 27MHz radio..... which was crap.
The controls were stone age simple.
Stop, full gostan, full gohead, full right and full left.
Aiyah... so lousy control system, how to play ?
The boat has a spray nozzle that works.
However, the water that came out was more like an obscene ejaculation.
All these will not do, so I took everything apart for modifications.
Good thing is all parts are put together with screws.
Disassembling was easy.
The original battery was a 1000mAh 9.6V Ni-Cd.
I am the greedy for power type, so I replaced that with a 6V 4.5Ah Lead Acid.
A 4.5Ah Lead acid is S$11... a 4000mAh Lipo is S$40.... my pocket made the choice which battery to buy.
Lower voltage = Lower speed..... never mind lah.
Now the big ass battery needs a place to sit, so I break out the water ballast compartment to create the space.
Nice idea was this water ballast compartment.
It gets filled up when the boat is in the water and let the water drain out when you are done for the day.
The boat will be lighter for transportation.
As I will be using the big ass battery as ballast, I don't need the water ballast compartment.
I sealed the water ballast inlet with 30 min epoxy.
Why do 30 min epoxies take more than 30 mins to cure.... and 5 min epoxies take less than 5 mins ?... I don't know.
The world is crazy.
I used back the stock brushed motor, I have a 10A Gohead Gostan ESC for that.
Installed a Futaba S3003 standard servo for the rudder.
Took away the water pump for the water spray ( if I need one, I'll get one that is used for vehicle screen wipers ).
Did away with the tower ( without a tower, the boat has more stability ).
I lightly spray painted parts of the boat in grey and then sprayed black paint here and there to give it the weathered look.
I wanted to apply brown paint in some places to give the effect of rusts... but don't know how to do it yet.
The boat is now 90% completed.
There is still work to be done to the life raft and crane.
Maybe I'll put in some lights and a rotating radar.
Current drawn at full throttle in water is 3 Amps.
My usual lazy speed draws about 1.7 amps.
The 4.5Ah battery can last me more than 2 hours.
The boat is ready to run.
Needless to say, I was restless.
I just have to maiden this boat.
The desire to do it was very strong.
Just like a 50 year old spinster dying for love.
Finally, I got to do it today at the Tampines pond.
Wahhhh.. so happy everything went well.
Final weight: 2.3kg
Will need to tidy up the electronics and painting.
Need silicon sealant between the hull and deck to keep water out.
For S$70...... it was a good buy.
PMed him, then he went missing for two weeks.
Finally when I almost gave up on him, he came back to complete the sale.
It was worth the wait ( I had gone down to RotorHobby to get one, but fortunately it was out of stock ).
It was a nice boat.... very shiny, smooth and bright coloured.
In fact, it was too shiny, too smooth and too bright coloured that looked very plastic and toy like.
It came with a 27MHz radio..... which was crap.
The controls were stone age simple.
Stop, full gostan, full gohead, full right and full left.
Aiyah... so lousy control system, how to play ?
The boat has a spray nozzle that works.
However, the water that came out was more like an obscene ejaculation.
All these will not do, so I took everything apart for modifications.
Good thing is all parts are put together with screws.
Disassembling was easy.
The original battery was a 1000mAh 9.6V Ni-Cd.
I am the greedy for power type, so I replaced that with a 6V 4.5Ah Lead Acid.
A 4.5Ah Lead acid is S$11... a 4000mAh Lipo is S$40.... my pocket made the choice which battery to buy.
Lower voltage = Lower speed..... never mind lah.
Now the big ass battery needs a place to sit, so I break out the water ballast compartment to create the space.
Nice idea was this water ballast compartment.
It gets filled up when the boat is in the water and let the water drain out when you are done for the day.
The boat will be lighter for transportation.
As I will be using the big ass battery as ballast, I don't need the water ballast compartment.
I sealed the water ballast inlet with 30 min epoxy.
Why do 30 min epoxies take more than 30 mins to cure.... and 5 min epoxies take less than 5 mins ?... I don't know.
The world is crazy.
I used back the stock brushed motor, I have a 10A Gohead Gostan ESC for that.
Installed a Futaba S3003 standard servo for the rudder.
Took away the water pump for the water spray ( if I need one, I'll get one that is used for vehicle screen wipers ).
Did away with the tower ( without a tower, the boat has more stability ).
I lightly spray painted parts of the boat in grey and then sprayed black paint here and there to give it the weathered look.
I wanted to apply brown paint in some places to give the effect of rusts... but don't know how to do it yet.
The boat is now 90% completed.
There is still work to be done to the life raft and crane.
Maybe I'll put in some lights and a rotating radar.
Current drawn at full throttle in water is 3 Amps.
My usual lazy speed draws about 1.7 amps.
The 4.5Ah battery can last me more than 2 hours.
The boat is ready to run.
Needless to say, I was restless.
I just have to maiden this boat.
The desire to do it was very strong.
Just like a 50 year old spinster dying for love.
Finally, I got to do it today at the Tampines pond.
Wahhhh.. so happy everything went well.
Final weight: 2.3kg
Will need to tidy up the electronics and painting.
Need silicon sealant between the hull and deck to keep water out.
For S$70...... it was a good buy.
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