Larry is building a Gearing Class Destroyer for R/C Combat while traveling on the road.  This page is a compilation of his reports.  Keep checking back and follow his progress!

This year at NATS, the master builder Jim Pate asked me if I was serious about building a Gearing. I replied, boastfully, that not only would I build it, but I would build in according to a plant that made it easy enough for a rookie to mass produce.

What I did not know at that time was that I would be traveling virtually every week for the rest of this building season. So I rise to the challenge, the Gearing will be built **on the road** in the hotel and motels of America. Since so many are interested, I will report to the list.

Holiday Inn Elmhurst

I have a Ralph Coles hull, a small toolbox and a handful of bass wood. Goal is to rim the hull. For some reason, the wood to superglue to hull bond that is so strong on a swampy hull is not as tonight on a Coles design so I switch to epoxy. At Wal-Mart I bought a bag of clamps (er, clothespins) and stop of at the golden arches where they are drawing in shipbuilders by giving away epoxy mixing cups (in the restaurant, they use them for catsup).

Back in the hotel room, I fund the trash pail did not contain the useful sticks of wood my trash at home has, so I fund my epoxy mixing stick in with the in-room coffee pot.

And to make a story short, 1/4 inch by 1/16 inch basswood is now clamped to the hull gunnels is now set up and drying. Tomorrow to finish the ringing job, and maybe make some motor mounts.

Holiday Inn Elmhurst

I like this shipbuilding on the road. Normal business travel puts me near restaurants, cocktail bars, Internet browsers, CNN and even worse sources of fat and viral infection. Everything I do not need.

This is my second night with healthy veggie Chinese food in the hotel room, and plenty of time for building toy boats. Why did it take so long to figure this system out? I shudder to think what the RATS fleet would be if I had discovered this a few years ago.

There is lots of time on the road- someone else cleans up, and there is no honey-do anywhere to be seen. In fact, I might start to like to travel again. Wives are nice on weekends.

Anyway- the last of the deck rails is drying now, and I found a great hobby shop (Al's) that had some 1/32 aircraft ply for the deck. I figure if I back this with fiberglass, it should be both light and strong enough. Comments?

Next problem is to pack up for tomorrow. I do not want to damage the extra ply- might be able to get two more decks out of it.

This time I remembered to bring a hacksaw blade.

I wish every ircwcc member could watch Bob Amend at work. He has never been seen with any tool other than a hacksaw blade. It is said he once build a ship while on a tour of duty in a coast guard cutter- not exactly roomy. I put my wood down on the nice firm Holiday Inn furniture when I saw, but Bob has this freehand 'float in space' technique. The bitch is when he puts the parts together, they fit like they were cut from a die made in Yokohama.

Anyway, started work on the radio box and glued up the pump impeller. Also epoxied the deck. I will copy the wedge-shaped box built by Orrill Furgeson for the gnat at NATS 98. I wish I could solder like Nathan, but I have had some luck with epoxy on my impellers, backed by epoxy paste. Seems to hold up.

Hotel tip for the day: TV's make a great warm bench for curing epoxy. Put your impeller here while the epoxy sets up.

Cheers!

Holiday Inn York Road

Built most of a radio box tonight. Also added epoxy paste to the impeller. Rudder is going to be a problem I think, seems the servo is a little tall for installation under rear deck. I wanted to do this with normal servos, but looks like to do this I will have to put it on its side. Could be.

The best thing about building on the road is it keeps me away form my creeping mess. Everywhere I work just gets messier and messier. In hotel land, somebody picks up the mess and vacuums the rug. Then after a day or two, I pack up and move. Forever neat, Me??

From the road-

Marriot Courtyard, Foxboro

Finished up the radio box tonight. Making good progress. The only problem with building on the road is illumination. All the hotels have gone to these new-fangled low energy light bulbs. Next trip I will pack a lamp.

Hotel Essex, the baddest part of town

Tonight I slipped. Rather than spend time with my nice boat, I fell into the clutches of a cholesterol rich dinner. Yummy. But back to the philosophy of 'every day, do something' I epoxy finish coated the radio and servo boxes.

Oh yes, and BTW the mystery of superglue has been solved. If you remember, my first question was why superglue did not stick to Ralph's hull. The answer- humidity. Apparently, humidity is the agent that makes superglue dry. In these super-dry hotel rooms, superglue is quite slow drying. In fact, I regulate it now by turning off the AC and running the shower.

Another advantage of building on the road: you can control the humidity to regulate your superglue.

From the road-

Lazy today!!

All I did today was buy the Dubro widgets for the rudder linkage, and work on placing stuff. Fiddle, fiddle. I promise, if this ship works, I will provide a full set of plans, including internals and bill of material.

Also bought a 50 bb straight magazine gun from Swampy. If it proves too heavy, I will swap the copper magazine for brass tube. Now, weekends are coming up. Time to work on the NC, the Gangut and the Houston. Boats, boats!!

Embassy Suites

Making really good progress. This is the week for 'system integration'- that is to mount the radio box, the motors, the pump etc. Tonight I finished the motor mounts (as recommended by Curly- quick change motors) and made one prop shaft (I was short one tube).

Went to MAG HQ over the weekend and Nathan and Mike helped me by running tachometer tests to help with motor selection. I left with three motors running slow, medium and fast. Fast for sure is for the pump. One of the three should be a good selection for the drive motors. Best bet is the Wha Ming which is a five pole job. I just got six of these from BDE, thoughtfully packed them with capacitors. Very thoughtful, I go nuts paying a semi-buck at Radio Shack for what I know is a penny part.

The entire concept of the Gearing project is that by careful component selection, the impossible becomes possible. Getting the balance between the motors, the battery voltage and the battery amps is crucial, I suspect some experiments will be required. A little blade pitch is the margin to bring the ship to rule limit.

Other critical element is the CO2 system, I assembled it today. I tried two ways, in line and "u" shape. In line it is a little long, it will just fit the Gearing I think between the pump and the Radio Box. But add two 90 degree elbows and it is not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. This might suite other battery configurations.

Did a float test today, in the Hotel tub. It looks like I have weight to spare with one 6 cell R/C car pack in place. Possible I could go up to 8 cells (9.6V) or some other battery technology. Maybe the best thing would be two 5 cell packs (6V) with 12 V to the pump. Oh well- we will have to wait on speed trials to answer these questions.

Dreams of Fall Regionals? Who knows??? And maybe I will travel south for the Winter- this ship packs well you know!

Marriott Courtyard.

I hate to do glass work at a Marriott. The furniture and rugs are so nice, before I check in. But progress is demanded; with the Allied ranks decimated by defection I know that the Allied victory at NATS 99 will depend on the RATS and there ships. Every Dad must do his duty.

Today's order of work is to finish the motor mount, stuffing boxes and hull shaft mounting.

Trimming up the motor mount was easy, a little sandpaper and a Dremmel. And some basswood sticks to make the motor seats a little tighter. And a bit of 6/32 threaded brass rod and nut for a hold down. And a two inch bar of good 1/2 x 1/4 inch basswood, with a hole in the center as a motor hold down. And why am I writing stream of consciousness?

Now the motor mount is painted with 20 minute finish cure epoxy, that stuff always takes two or three hours to dry for me.

I cut slots in the hull for the shafts, lined up nice and careful with the motor. I made a spreader bar to put over the shafts external to the hull to verify spacing, works great.

I suspect I will not epoxy in place until tomorrow, I forgot my glue type epoxy. That will be tomorrow.

BTW for you other Gearing builders out there, the motors sit just aft of the break in the hull as it rises to the stern. The pump will go just in front of the drive motors. This leaves enough space for the CO2 system on the starboard between the motor and the radio box forward. It lies very flat, along side the six cell pac.

Plan is to put CO2 on one side, and gun magazine on the other. As CO2 goes, bb's go. Hope for balance.

Until tomorrow-

Marriot Courtyard, Elmhurst
 

Today the stuffing boxes, motor mount and rudder shafts were put in place. Many thanks to Frank Pittelli for teaching me that the slots in the hull can be cut oversize and filled in later, And for Bob Pottles suggestion to tack in place with superglue before using the fiberglass. Also thank myself for the foresight to make a couple of spacers, exactly motor width. These allowed me to space the drive shafts and the rudder shafts too. All nice and square.

This is a good day to lay up the glass with epoxy. The AC in the hotel is on the fritz. So 80 degrees makes for strong hulls and aggravated businessmen. I think I might be the only traveler here who has not complained.

And what is to complain about building on the road. This is now 10 reports, and the toy boats have kept me away from cholesterol, fermented products and sources of viral infection. If the Gearing sinks first sortie, the little ship has still scored some kind of victory.

Building went well, but down loading. Yech! 470,000 Bytes!! ATT choked.

Anyway, today I mounted the MAG and the servo, and snaked the wires through radio box holes. Touched up the glass work.

Had a close run in with fermented product at an office party, but all is well. This ship will battle soon!

Holiday Inn Again

Heck, perfect for glass work and I forgot to bring stuff to make molds. So I mounted the MAV and wired motors. Also glued up the exit tube on the pump.

I got my 50 round swampy straight magazine gun, it will fit easily. I would mount it this trip, but I forgot my set of plans so I am running out of things to do. And this is a problem. Next week, Tuesday, I take off for of all places, Las Vegas. Talk about fermented product, cholesterol and sources of viral infection. I'm gonna be in BIG trouble unless I can get my mitts on the plans and some fiberglass mat. Help me!!

Anyway, this trip to LV on business is actually kind of a career goal. I have only one objective past this, to fly the Concorde to Rio during Carnival, on business in a public company. I figure If I can pull this off, I must've **really** done something impressive.

Like reverse the stock market.

Holiday Inn Elmhurst

Mounted the rudder servo box tonight. With a block to mount the cannon. I had to call home and have David read the plans for me so I could get the gun to pop up inside the stern turret, I hope he knows how to read a ruler!

Went to Home Depot today to get some "free" paint stirring sticks. Left with $10 of whatever. I bought some springs just because I 'might' need them. That place is dangerous!

Tomorrow is a travel day, very late check in. I think I will just bring some pump parts, easy to carry.

Do something EVERY day.

Holiday Inn

Let me tell you about packing epoxy. See, a plane pressurizes at about 3000 feet, say about 10 PSI or so. That leaves 4.5 PSI to pop the top off a tube of epoxy resin and pump an ounce out into your clothes. Fortunately, the hardener cap stayed on. Now, the thing you must remember to do is pack your suit a plastic suit carrier bag. That minimizes the costly damage.

The only issue facing me now is what I could call the 'underwear' decision. Wear my Haynes all gooey and sticky with resin, or show up tomorrow at the office natural under the pinstripe wool. Decisions, decisions.

But tonight I will finish gluing in the rudder box and then maybe make some rudders.

5 days to Vegas

Lakeshore Hilton, 23ed floor (a really nice joint)

Well- I guess I am stepping up in the world. Mahogany worktable with a marble surface. Perfect for epoxy work.

Wife and Son are here, but still I still did some work, in fact quite a bit. Gun mounts, pump mounts, and finished packing the rudders with glass and epoxy. I make airfoil style rudders by bending a sheet of brass around a brass tube. I tack solder the assembly, and then stuff with fiberglass and epoxy for rock-bouncing strength. Seems to work, and on this little ship will help by putting weight low.

Getting very near field trials, which I will run w/o superstructure at first. If all is well, I will make the superstructure, cut penetration windows, sheet and then go soak some bacon ;-)

On the road-

Suite 1707 New Otani Hotel, Los Angeles

Checked in late with a big convention in town and got upgraded.

Now this is more like it. Big glass topped worktable, perfect for epoxy jobs. Big rooms, with TV in view of work space so I don't have to miss a minute of Monica Vision. Plug near the table for the Dremel, and phone with modem plug to file my reports. Liked it so much I changed my travel schedule to stay an extra day. And BTW down in Little Tokyo near here there is a Raman Noodle shop that can not be beat.

Back to work. Tonight I made the hold-downs for the pump, mounted the gun and then cut cardboard templates for the superstructure which I intend to make from foam. Need to make superstructure decks next, with light weight and strong deck rails.

I need some help here. I think I may finally lay up some fiberglass myself. The I want to do is make a female mold from wood for each deck. This is a very simple shape, I can glue up 3/8 inch sticks on top of plywood.

Then I can lay up fiberglass inside. A little trimming and I should have a very light deck and rail. Question is -what do I coat the wood with to make it easy to pull out the deck? All you glass masters out there, offer a little help. This might be just the thing for the Nagato and the Gangut and maybe other ships out there with tall superstructures. I suspect a sandwich of fiberglass decks and foam slabs will be the lightest and easiest to build superstructure we can build. Got advice guys?

New Otani Hotel; Little Tokyo Las Vegas

Light night tonight. I went on a drive to find a hobby shop, did some browsing and bought some modelers clay.
If you remember a few days back (in the Pre-Vegas era) I reported trouble with the impeller I had so carefully made. The set screw jammed. Not a fan of set screws in pump impellers, I decided to try and cast a resin one from my carefully shaped metal master.

So the [process is simple- I just pressed the impeller into the clay, and carefully pulled it out. Then I touched up the marks on the clay, and dropped a few rings of fiberglass into the hole. Some 20 minute epoxy is next the thing is drying on top of the TV. By the time I pack up to leave this boat-builders paradise it should be hard enough to pull from the clay.

You know, I have 20 minute epoxy that takes 5 hours to harden; and five minute epoxy that is hard as soon as it is mixed.

I plan to mate the deck to the hull next work session, and then finish the wiring. Good chance to put the Gearing in the water this weekend!

Holiday Inn Elmhurst.

What a pit this place is. I know I committed to build the Gearing under difficult conditions, but the complete lack of bellmen, the noisy air conditioner, make this the worst of all hotels. Even so, work must continue.

The key to boat building is to do something every night. At least every night you are not in Las Vegas. And Elmhurst is definite not Las Vegas.

So, tonight I pulled the epoxy resin impeller from the clay mold. It was soft, flexible, not what I expected. I think I will try it anyway. And I also made a hold down for the pump; It has been reported that Jim Pates Gearing once took a 360 roll in combat, I want to be able to do the same. So hold downs are the thing to do.

Tomorrow I will stop at Home Depot and try to buy some nylon threaded rod to make deck hold downs.

Elmhurst Holiday Inn

Well the deck is on the Gearing. I cut some rod, drilled some holes. Did not take too long, about 1/2 of a Jackie Chan movie on HBO. I hope I did not miss too much plot development by not paying close attention, but Jackie Chan is better than Monica Vision playing on all the other stations.

I went with a simple mounting system for the Gearing. Rods point up from the deck rail through holes in the 1/32 plywood deck. Hex nuts hold the deck down. A long time ago the hex nuts would bother the scale modeler part of me. But that was before I learned that a standard 6/32 nylon nut is a almost perfect 144'th scale replica of the HGO (Hexagonal Gray Objects) that enlisted men fastened to the deck of USN ships to stub the toes of Jr. Officers who walked around with their nose in the clouds.

Maybe in a while I will do some linkage work.

This is the hard time for boat building. Lots of little stuff. You know it is all possible, so there is no challenge of the unknown. And the "Everyday do Something" rule can become every day do something less than you should. I will try and push a bit.

Elmhurst Holiday Inn

Boat building continues. The rudder linkages have been assembled and the pump outlet mounted. And I also made a mold for the bridge deck and splinter shields. Made this mold of one of America's great, largely untapped, natural resources. Paint mixing sticks from home depot.

All you have to do is go into Home Depot and ask for them. Same thing at the hobby shop would cost five dollars. I take this as clear proof that the only reason the homeless are homeless is they like it that way. If they wanted homes they could just go to Home Depot and get as many sticks as they want to build a house. Seems self-evident.

Spent a couple of hours building and then started to feel hungry. I guess I shudda got the spring roll appetizer from the Tai take out I frequent. Then danger caught my eye. You see, when I checked in this week the management, in thanks for the $3000 a month I push at this place, rewarded me with a coupon good for a free drink in the luxurious lobby bar. Actually, the award of this wonderful coupon certificate wasn't even that glamorous. The desk clerk, reading the Marriott Longing look in my eye, was trying to make good for the messy room, the door lock that would not open, and the lack of bellmen. But results are what counts, and I got this wonderful prize.

For three nights I have ignored the coupon, but boredom overtook me and I took the certificate in hand. Problem. As those reading since report one know, the major objective in this Gearing Project is to keep me away from fermented beverage, cholesterol and sources of viral infection. I am afraid I backslid a bit today.

This charming bar was all done up in a 'sports' motif. How original. And with Chicago's own Sammy Sosa set to break the record, the place was humming. So one award coupon got me a beer, a then a few bucks brought forth a plate of chicken wings. And there I sat, watching the hometown hero fan. I was happily tearing away at poultry flesh and drinking bacteria piss when I sensed the third of the major dangers: A well shaped twenty something blonde cocktail waitress with two marriages behind her and a brilliant career in food service in front of her. And, I fear, ready to throw it all away for a night of unprotected passion with a stranger, Since it was clear there was no one in this bar any stranger than the ship-building business consultant, I had best move on.

So back to the ship, and some epoxy work to waterproof the new wood on the boat, and to smooth out the mold for the deck. Hope it is all dry by tomorrow.

Well, the ship is close to built now. At this time it is assembled 'dry'. No lubricant, tube stuffing, no silicon RTV, no lock-tight. If the ship floats right turns right and so on the next step is to take it all apart and cut penetration windows. Then to put in some foam water channeling. Then sheet it. Add the superstructure. Add the works back in, this time lubed and loctited. Then go hunting for some Bacon. (I can dream, can't I??)

Next trip will bring the radio and a battery charger to sea trials in the hotel pool. But this weekend home to MAG and family. BTW- David reports he has signed up another RAT at school. Let us see.

Well guys, 20 reports and basically 20 work sessions. Maybe 2-3 hours each session. So 40-60 hours. And guess what- tomorrow the boat goes in the water.

We are not done yet! The ship is wired, the hose and outlet are on the pump. And the ship is all together, 'dry' as I say. Not lubed, locktited or water-proofed. If she floats and runs right, back to do those three things, to cut penetration windows, and to put on and detail the superstructure.

But all in all, things have gone well. Fiberglass hulls are great. And buying most everything first makes things easy. And I really like my method of laminated deck rails. But still a long way to go, to get the ship in trim, fighting form. This is the real trick, one that I have never really mastered.

BTW- the low mass CO2 system has one component that was pretty hard to get. This little fitting has a 1/8 inch NPT on one end, and tire stem thread on the other. You would think the two most common threads in the world would be easy to find. But for six months I have been trying to trace these items back to their source. The first one I found in a garage sale. And then a bin at ACE- which was never filled again. But finally, today the breakthrough.

These things are called 'tank valves' and sold in auto supply stores. Tank Valves are used to fill the pressure tanks that tow trucks carry to inflate tires. They are sold under the brand names of Camel, Amflow and Milton. Apparently there is a bit of a shakeup in the tank valve industry, Camel was taken over by Amflow, but no doubt that now legions of RC warship builders will start their class 1 ships the business will boom. I plan to buy some stock I think.

I have a Milton s684 right now, and two more on order. Also, there is a web discounted selling some Camel fittings- I have purchased 5 of them as well. I will have a few extras.

Will keep you posted-

On the road,

Elmhurst Holiday Inn

The proud Gearing Class Destroyer Blackjack was launched at 21:00 CST (02:00 Zulu) today for trials in the Holiday Inn Pool. Results were exceptional.

The ship was launched without superstructure, but with all other systems installed. Power was a 1600 ma six cell RC car pack plus a standard Airtronics receiver pack. Ship carried a full 16 gram CO2 load and a unloaded Swampworks 50 shot cannon. The ship was launched dry- no lubricants, sealents, or locktite.

Shakedown lasted 40 minutes of hard running. The following were the test results and recommendations for further constructions and commissioning:

Weight and Balance: Ship floats a bit high; superstructure should bring it down a bit. May be a little heavy by the bow, but room exists to move batteries back. Left/right balance is critical, battery and regulator will require fixtures to hold in exact position. This narrow ship will require a very light superstructure and will benefit from bilge keels.
Speed: Ship, powered by Wha Ming five poll motors was quite slow, perhaps 28 seconds. Motors were quite warm after trials, suggesting friction. Props were four bladed scale units. Best path to speed might be to lubricate the shafts and to use high-efficiency props. If this does not work, go to faster motors. All motors are on plugs for easy switch out.

Turning Radius: This was a pleasant surprise. The ship turns very well. The compound rudder linkage gives the rudders plenty of throw, and the inside one turns in sharper then the outside one. With more water moving over the props, and with bilge keels, this ship will turn quite well; certainly inside a Musashi or Iowa, probably inside most North Carolinas; defiantly inside most 3 unit cruisers I have seen.

Handling: I wish my son Propwash was here to really work out the handling, but it seemed pretty good. Slamming over the rudder did not induce too much roll, and response was fast. Key factor to understand is that most of the ships drag seems to be from the rudders. This is defiantly a ship that will slow down in a hard turn, and one where the Flugel technique of starting straight and easing into a turn is well advised. Handling was precise, suggesting good aiming potential.

Reverse: In reverse the ship turns in a wide radius, not to useful for combat maneuvering. At full speed reverse, the deck goes awash, demanding good water seal.

Pump: The nozzle was not installed for this trial, but the pump did work. Not enough water was taken on for any conclusive test.

Conclusion: Blackjack Boogies!! Stay tuned for the fitting out and completion process!

Holiday Inn Elmhurst

Well, this time I lucked out; a suite. With a real nice, big worktable and a super desk light, with two plugs very handy. Followed a light schedule tonight; just wired up a pair of 380 motors and replaced some servos.

Blackjack Gearing's rudder and gun servo were pulled at Regionals to keep Cameron Mourys mighty California on the water. The RATS have standardized on many components, radios and pumps for example. Many times this has kept us in the battle. Other clubs should consider a similar strategy.

This trip I hope to finalize the weight and balance issues of the Gearing. I will make a bulsa & plywood superstructure just to verify weight and balance. And if all is well, I will build the next two with foam superstructures.

The ship was running a little heavy, so then I went back to check my original calculation. The original plan was to use 5 sub c cells for drives plus radio. Shedding one C cell and the four-cell receiver pack should get me back on weight no problem. Must confirm fore/aft balance; maybe I will have to move a box or two. Since I will have to make up five cell pacs, I could also put one back, in between the rudder shafts.

And if THIS is not enough, I could further trim weight by going to Nickel Metal Hydride pack. And if THAT is not enough, there is a really nice $59 Lithium Ion pac; very light. Basically, NiMhd is 2x the energy per gram of NiCAD and Lithium Ion is 2x the NiMhd.

Finally, I am carrying on an extended correspondence with Glenn Palmer on the 'optimum' lightweight CO2 system. He may be able to push the limits for us even further. You folk out there with low weight needs, send me some email so I can advise Mr. Palmer what he might see as sales.

Holiday Inn Elmhurst

Another lazy day. Finished mounting the servos to replace the ones Matt used in the California, and wired up a poser switch, and packed the shafts with Vaseline. I used a VPD (Vaseline Packing Device). This is a tube small enough to fit in the shaft hole, and a brass rod to fit in the tube snugly. Step one for shaft packing is to stick the assembled VPD into the Vaseline and pull out the rod to draw Vaseline in. Step two to insert in the shaft bore and push it out. Repeat step one and step two until shift is packed. Push it on and push it out, again and again. Read these instructions to your significant other slowly tonight.

Guys- Do something EVERY day, the ships get done that way!

Holiday Inn Elmhurst

Superstructure today. Simple bulsa job, mostly for weight and balance. Kind of crude, but it is carved and coated with epoxy finishing resin. I guess it must weigh 3 oz B4 detailing, that will bring it up to 6 oz. Above weight budget.

Running this ship off 5 sub C cells is looking pretty likely now!

Thanks guys for the input on the NiCad and the 380 motors- this is all very relevant to me .

Gonna watch Letterman now- good night!

Elmhurst Holiday Inn

Well this was a good day. Superstructure was mounted, and down I went to the pool for a check out.

This time I had the 300 motors- the kind swampy sells with the little gears attached. And ran on a 5 cell (6 volt) pack. Ship made speed nicely. Blade tweaking will put it right on. So I guess I have a few Wha Ming motors looking for a home. Convoy maybe?

I really like the speed our ships run, they make scale wakes. You can gauge the speed pretty well by watching the bow wave. I have absolutely no idea how the 'slow gun' get the idea that we run too fast.

Anyway, this ship really zips. The captain needs to be careful, If the rudder is slammed over hard at speed, the inside rail goes under. Kind of realistic I think. Bilge keels will help. And yes, with the speedy motors, the turning radius does seem to improve.

Back home for the weekend, work on the RATS fleet there perhaps.

TWA Flight 375 in route to Seattle

Well guys, the byline sez it all. Out of the Hotel and onto the aircraft. Every idle minute must be used to build this fleet.

After the horror show of yesterday's ground-bound United non-flight, I learned my lesson. A minimum tools kit at least in the carry on. And for this dreadful one-stop-saves-us-$1000 flight couplet, I needed some good honest shipwright work. This was a 'surprise' trip- I had moved into the Holiday Inn expecting a four night stay, but this and that, so I fly.

Lucky enough to have an empty seat next to me, I spread out the Gearing, some wood and tools and got to work. Built both stacks, fire control director and the gun tubs. Also did a trial fit on a new regulator system- but more on this later.

Now, for those of you who wonder how best to spend airtime, let me give you some tips. First, do not build an Iowa. Second, don't be shy. Third, be careful with your xacto knife. But I can only wish I could give you a tip on the central problem associated with on the road building: glue spill.

No device I have tried has truly kept the top on the epoxy. Ooze and more ooze as the cabin drops below sea-level pressure. But the real startler, up close and personal , was the super-glue,

I have this REAL SMALL travel-size jar of the extra heavy gooey glop kind. Back in the hotel room, this stuff pours like molasses. (BTW- when was the last time anyone ever saw molasses?). Well on the plane, what news. The cap practically popped off, and the CA just gushed out. Mess. But once I got used to working with it I was OKI. Major puzzle though- why is it gooey in the hotel, and runny on the plane? Is there not some great lesson here?

Anyway, here is the good news, much better than epoxy ooze, about the evolution of the Rock Regulator.

Palmer sent me a nice new Rock with a Milton Tank Valve installed. Very nice, screw on the Leyland penetration fitting and the assembly is only 6.5 inches long. But news gets better. Today I got some email from Glen Palmer HISSELF. This be THEMAN. Maker of the Autococker- the $5000 super-dreadnought of paintball guns. And he tells me that down in their labs they are working on a Rock that will have some new sort of fitting and be maybe 1/2 inch shorter!! So THEMAN is traveling for a while, but in 3 weeks he will get back to the labs and build some. I want three, since this will give me some more flexibility in placing the regulator in the ship for weight and balance. Can you say Fletcher?

Anyway, those of you out there thinking of DD's and small ships might want to start saving your allowance. I am not sure how THEMAN will do this, but most likely he would like to build a bunch, not to take orders in dribs and drabs. I will keep you posted on this exciting development.

On final descent-

Holiday Inn Elmhurst.

Whoopee. Back here in Elmhurst once more. Was it Bob Dylan who said "to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again?" He must have been a business traveler.

And this was a b-i-t-c-h of a day; United was stacked up 1 hour over Chicago weather, re-routed to Detroit where we sat on the runway for 3 hours. And my tools were in checked baggage!! All I could do on the ship was clear the rubber tubes off the motor/propshaft drives and mark the position for the on/off switch. Hard to make this productive time, I wrote some business stuff and played solitaire until the laptop batteries went dead.

BTW- back to ship stuff- The rubber tubes were fine for the Wha Ming five pole motors, but the higher speed Johnson 300 three pole jobs twisted them to bits when the bridge called for a fast reverse to check stopping distance. A new solution for this problem must be found, hopefully at lower cost than Dubro universal shaft drives, and one that works well on 3/32 inch shafts.

So after a visit to Al's hobby shop (no good driveshfts or 1 inch props there) I went back to the hotel and worked on the superstructure. I covered the bulsa with thin ply to withstand bb's better/ And put some splinter shields around the bridge deck. Cut out some thin brass for a funnel too. I made the stacks on the RATS first ship, the Invincible Class HMS Sir Sinksalot, out of thin brass and it worked out pretty well. Strangely, the Axis guns, which will easily pass the 'both sides' coke can test did not shred the I boat stacks. I posit the survival has something to do with the paint over brass, where the pain is thicker and the brass is harder than a soda cans paint and aluminum.

The normal MAG standard for ship detailing (bearing the name of some famous Axis builder of long ago) sez that detail is right when you can stand on it. No way for this Gearing, that would be way too heavy. I mean to detail the Gearing enough so it can go through a airport x-ray detector, smashing through the hanggy-down lead lined curtain strips, without damage. This is WAY SHORT of the masterful Gearing built by Jim Pate. He sent me some photos which I will post if I ever get the time. Jim's ship is every bit a scale warship; unbelievable job.

Having some trouble with my modem- so this report may be delayed a while. Sorry to keep you all waiting ;-)

Elmhurst Holiday Inn via TWA 107

Well this was a good day. A four hour flight plus my favorite, familiar old hotel Must have put in a solid five hours today.

Good thing too, because the last two nights were a bust, hotel check in at 11PM both times. Too bad, these were kind of deluxe jobs with real nice tables for building. Well, back on schedule.

So on the flight I finished putting on the splinter shields and stacks. I will go for a basic- scale at a distance look, stop at the Quad 40's.

Back at the hotel I added a hull stiffener, wired and mounted the on-off switch, and float tested. With five full size C cells, the four cell receiver battery pack, and no hull cut outs yet the ship floats about 1/16 deep. It should make weight OK when I cut out the hull and move down to sub-C cells.

Most important job was a new system to link the motors to the shafts. If you remember, with five pole Wha Ming's in the ship, rubber tubes worked fine. With the Johnson 300's, the tubes got twisted to bits. I had no luck finding short 3/32 inch shaft universals so I improvised. I got some aluminum tube and stuffed it with the same tube I used for the Wha Mings. Superglue on the shafts and install as before (love those Mansfield Mounts). My transmitter battery was dead so a pool test was out, but in the tub it seems like this will do. Too early to judge right now- I need a good stress test running the battery right down, but it looks OK.

So that is it, late tonight-

And I am on the road one more night

As every great ship nears its day of commissioning, a swarm of dignitaries, officers and engineers will review every detail. So it is for the fine MAG ship, Blackjack Gearing.

Today we took it to the pond, Captain David of BB-55 And RATS Minister of Ships in command.

Performance was good, ship was on speed. Interesting note- when I tested the ship without superstructure, a hard turn would push the lee rail down, almost under. But with the new weight aloft, centrifugal force keeps the ship upright! I guess sometimes even weight aloft is your friend!

After a good shakeout, here is the punch list of items to complete before battle:
 

1) Wire direct receiver power with cap filter
2) Reverse prop configuration
3) Adjust rudder arms for better throw
4) Put waterproof boot on rudder box
5) Cover both boxes
7) Waterproof main box cable penetrations
8) Silicon seat to waterproof deck rim
9) Switch deck hold downs to nylon
10) Cut out hull ribs
11) Add bilge keels
12) Water channeling
13) Epoxy coat inside and out
14) Make two five cell sub c pacs
15) Mount turrets and cannon
16) Install 3/32 pump outlet restriction
17) Add internal armor
18) Fiberglas reinforce splinter shields on deck
19) Install new pump impeller
20) Locktite all systems
21) Make a leak shield for the stern gun
22) Sheet with silkspaned balsa
23) Paint
24) Mark waterline and paint
25) Tape waterline
26) Extend rudder cable
27) Secure rudder servo

Anyway, I publish this list because a few newbies out there are following the Gearing Reports, and I wanted to show this vital step. Make a list and keep at it. Every day, do something. And pack tools and glue in your carry on.

At home and happy-

Holiday Inn Elmhurst

Well, I have made a big thing about building only on the road. Maybe I cheated a bit this weekend.

I made my sub-C PACs at home. But forget that, tonight was for the ship itself. Finished the superstructure, mounted the turrets, torpedo tubes, and made waterproofing for the gun mount. Also I put some fiberglass backing on he splinter shields to stand up to bb attack. I also put in wiring to operate the radio form the main pack. seems to work OK.

And a setback- the nice new impeller I had made? well it was BACKWARDS!! I had to start a new one tonight.

Tomorrow I cut out the hotel I think.

Its a big day!

Finished the superstructure today, and put the ship together with its new 5 cell pac for a quick spin around the pool.

Quick is the word!! Yes, I was running on cell over-peak, but this ship was FAST. Will need some prop tweaking I think. I may be able to run on FOUR cells if I have a weight problem. Been marking the hull for cut outs. This ship has no casements, but with the legal 3/8 at the rail, there is only a 1/2 or so along the waterline.

BTW_ I found an easy way to mark the hull waterline. I just folded the plan vertical a few times, and measured down from the gunnel to the waterline. Mark it at a few points, and connect the dots. Then I made a 1 inch spacer and marked BTW line for the penetration windows and a 3/8 inch block and marked the top.

Doped up the balsa tonight. Room smells like a punk rock band stayed here. Where are balconies when I need them!

Still hope to pack a functional Gearing for a Battle in Houston this weekend!

Elmhurst Holiday Inn

Tonight, the shipbuilder worked an extra shift. Each report covers a typical 2-3 hour work session, and I was sitting down to do some businessman-and-his-laptop 'productive' work when I realized a Saturday battle was close.

Tomorrow. I may be busy in the evening. Friday, I fly; limited work is possible. That leaves tonight and Thursday. Bitch. The last time I took an untested ship into battle a certain BM pasted me pretty good.

So, in the second shift tonight I cut out the penetration windows and added the bilge keels. If I work hard I might get some pool time on Thursday late.

I can not stress too much how important it is to cut the Windows last. After everything is placed. After the ship meets weight and balance requirements. Do it NO other way.

Of course, this will also force the builder into doing something else right- making a ship that disassembles easily. Be ready to lift our your radio box, motor whatever at a moments notice. Makes life easy.

Now, about the bilge keels- again I used the laminate in place technique I used on the hull rails. Thin strip of basswood, epoxy, another strip of basswood, until the keels are the desired size. Easy, and comes out super strong, formed to the curves of the ship. With the hull skeleton cut out I could feel just how ridged the deck rails were. I think this might be the cure for those 1/16 inch BB stringers that are so prone to ram cracking. In this case, I would laminate with a little carbon fiber or Kelvar.

Also, another tip for the traveling builder. Home Depot sells epoxy in toothpaste like squeeze tubes. Hurray!! My gooey travel mess is over!!

On the Road-

Elmhurst Holiday Inn

Tired, Really tired. But tonight I put in the foam water channeling. With a push and some luck, in battle this weekend.

I will detail the water channeling process for the newbie's , but right now. sleep.

Good night-

Well tonight I put on the balsa, assembled the ship, pained a base coat, and launched, and had a party.

Lets back up to last night, water channeling night.

Here is one way to water channel a hull. Clean it out, and get some expandable foam from the hobby shop. Mix up some foam and pour it in and spread it out while it is sill watery. Let it dry and puff up, WAY too high. Let it harden well- for a few hours at least, over night if you can. The you want to be HARD all the way through. Then, with a hacksaw blade slice the whole thing down to the 1 inch below line. Then, using an Xacto and a screw driver as cutters, cut out the channels and places for the pump, motors, radio box, battery and everything else. Taper the 'floor' down to a central water channel. Let that channel slope up to bow and stern. Finally, paint the whole thing with runny epoxy mixed with micro-bubbles to harden it. And that's it.

Do not overdo it, the idea is to channel the to the pump. Just adding floatation down low can backfire, water can slosh over to one side or the other giving you ship a deep heal and lifting the pump out of the water. Sure death.

OK, now tonight.

The Gearing sheeted with one piece of balsa, each side. No vertical seam! Very neat. Way to do this. Cut a 1/16 inch groove to notch the balsa over the bilge keels (they are about 3/16 of an inch below the penetration window). Start from the middle. Sand the fiberglass, and put some superglue in the notch between the bilge keel and the hull. Press the balsa in firmly- hull can feel the glue get hot when the wood and the glass touch and the glue trips into its super-gluey reaction. Then a rib at a time, let some superglue drip down one rib (use the not so gooey kind) and press the balsa on. Glue along the gunnel and down the next rib. Hold it in place with lots of clothes pins. Continue till sheeted. Took me about 1 hour per side.

The ship went together smoothly, using my "over the top" design. What this means is all cables and hoses should go OVER transverse beams and supports, so part of the ship can be lifted out from the top. Only I forgot to pack the tubes with grease, heck. And I did such a nice job with the locktite.

For paint, I just ran out and got some cheep spray enamel. What I was looking for was Krylon spray primer. It is EXACTLY navy haze gray, dries fast, easy to put on. Then, for touch up I use Tamyia water based scale paint. This expensive hobby store product is the best paint I have ever seen- very fine pigment- but too costly to paint the ship. But for touch up, just fine. Only one problem with this scheme- home depot does not carry Krylon and more. So I bought some other brand.

You who keep pace with this series of reports know that conservation of hotelliers fixed assets is not one of my outstanding virtues. But spray painting over the nice new rug (those Holiday Inn maids have been through here with the chain saws recently) painting over this rug was more than I would undertake. So I went out to the parking lot. Wow, you should see how lousy gray splatter looks on a gold Ford Taurus. (Give me a break- the wind was blowing!!).

So then came the launch. And this was nice. The pool was locked up, so at first I was depressed. I went to the sports bar, to drink away my misery. But Dezzie, the right-from-central-casting, cocktail waitress with the heart of gold, took pity on the poor boat builder. She called the general manager of the hotel, and asked him to open the pool. Then guess what- the entire night staff turned out for the occasion. Front desk, maintenance and bar. And Dezzie brought a split of champagne!

Well after photos and speeches- into the water we go!

Performance report will follow.

On the road-

Laquita Inn, Houston (the one behind Denny's)

Well, Blackjack Gearing is ready for its first battle. Sort of.

The initial shakedown in the Elmhurst Holiday Inn pool was terrible. Unseaworthy sink in one minute. And in front of a filed of dignitaries, including the night manager himself!! And Dezzy!

Tonight has been spent in a frantic effort to put things in order. Silicon water-proofing the deck rim, reducing prop pitch and so on. I had hoped to work on the plane- but I had a center of five seat. No way.

I have held off filing this report until the last minute lest my honorable adversaries know my weakness and come hunting. But hopefully some of the problems have been fixed. Hopefully- still have not tested the guns- (no bb's). I will fill in the details later, after the battle.

On the road-

Blackjack Gearing Boogies!

Collected a ton of fun points at the battle. Ship works well- I will not detail the battle but ship did OK, took some damage and did maybe a little bit more than it too. I managed to set up the wonderful "death spiral' a couple of times- a first for me. But this is not the place for a battle report- others will do that. Let me fill you kind readers on the ship issues, and future building plans.

So, here is the result of 33 building sessions, and the recommendations for the grand fleet of Gearing and other DD's to follow.

1.    Weight - The Blackjack Gearing, like its builder, is a few ounces over weight;-) But Blackjack can be brought into the ircwcc rules in the following ways:

a) bribe the CD
b) foam superstructure
c) four cell power pack
d) new, smaller Palmer regulator
e) thinner bottom on the glass hull
f) microservo for the rudder
g) balloon waterproofing for the radio in lieu of box. Waterproofing the servos.
h) thinner deck rails
i) aluminum bb magazine instead of heavy copper tube

Can do- this is not a fragile ship. Big issue is to make an absolutely water tight seal between the deck and the hull. During the battle, I had a servo lock that put me in a tight circle. With no trouble, I managed to pass my "on two" just spinning in a forward circle, and shifting to reverse to back out in the direction I wanted to go. So without forward speed and without rudder and with Flugel on the water, I managed to survive!

Watch It!! This ship has a power to weight ratio that will surprise you! And all the drag is in the rudders- so the difference between a hard slow turn and a shallow fast turn is dramatic. Kind of reminds me of Nintendo MarioKart when you hit the rapid-fire mushroom power. ZOOM!

These things were HOT.

Fiberglass Hull
 

1. Laminate in place deck rails and bilge keels
2. Palmer Rock Regulator
3.Radio antenna fed out the bow and over the mast as rigging
4. Mansfield Motor Mount
5. Ricci RAM shaft couplings
6. Over the Top design

1. Full size servo for rudder

The cost of the extra linkage to allow side mount was as much as the extra for a micro servo.

2. Waterproof Boxes

Untested, they both leaked. Sky Rucker showed me a way to use a balloon to waterproof a radio- looks very good. I would love to drop the weight and the tedious build required for these boxes. Some testing required.

3. Plywood superstructure decks and splinter shields.

Time consuming to make, heavy. I will learn to make molds and casts for decks. Glass or Kelvar decks and gun tubs, coupled with a foam superstructure, will reduce ss build to an hour or two.

So that is it. Blackjack is on the fleet.

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