Author Topic: 1/72nd radio-controlled scratchbuilt aircraft carrier - USS Nimitz  (Read 3791 times)

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Offline Rokket

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Looking beautiful! Do you have a place to go for flags? (I can get you a deal...) Anxiously waiting for the next report.
AMP - Accurate Model Parts - http://amp.rokket.biz

Offline dougie47

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Hello all,

Here is a progress update for recent months. Firstly the two rear deck section have been cut and test fitted. Both sections are 4 feet long and there will be two more to be made at a later stage when the two hull sections are together.



I added wheels to the stand so it can be moved -



The two rudders were scrathbuilt. I began by bending the shaft to an L shape. The bend is inside each rudder, with wood added around and over the shaft. The bend means the shaft won't slip when the rudders turn. You will never guess which one is port and which one is starboard.




Next up are the driveshafts which had to be custom ordered from Modelboatbits due to length. Two are 37.5" long and two are 30" long. Size is 8mm O.D. with M5 thread. The props are Raboesch M5 60mm C-type 5-blade props.



The 4 motors are MFA Torpedo 850s. I added a belt reduction gear (MFA Como Drill 966D2.11) to each of them to help with torque. The photo shows after i fitted the kit to one of the motors. As always I file the drive shaft to have a flat face and replace the alley key pin with a bolt. The flat face of the bolt against the flat face of the shaft should prevent slipping of the shaft.



Here are the electronics mounted on a wooden board. The first ESC is for the bow thruster. Tamiya connectors are used to connect to the various motors.



Here is the board fitted in place and connected up to the rudder servo. The tillers have been added to make the rudders move and it was quite a thrill when the rudders and motors all worked properly.



Cheers,

Dougie

Offline dougie47

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Hello all,

Some more progress from the shipyard. Time was limited for a number of months so I did not get much done. In the winter I soldered the supports for the driveshafts. Here are four of the eight supports -



Over the winter I also fitted the four motors in place. I was planning on adding the supports and driveshafts in place before adding the two main hull sections together. When I add the two hull sections together there is a big gap which needs the marine ply added over. This requires moving the hull on its side and upside down to glue the ply sections in place. My battle with gravity was unsucessful and I haven't as yet found a way to make CA glue flow uphill - hence the need to move the hull around. It is too easy to damage four driveshafts sticking out the stern end when moving the hull around so I decided that the supports and driveshafts will get added after the hull is completed and covered in glass fibre.

A problem arose with my shipyard which is, I am sad to report, merely a 48 year old garage with a 48 year old roof. Time has taken its inevitable toll, which it tends to do whether on a 48 year old human or a 48 year old garage roof, meaning that the leaky roof had, I am even sadder to report, gone from moderately drippy to a minor deluge. This was not a problem in the past when little drops of water splashed onto a car roof (cars are pretty waterproof anyway) but is a significant problem when you have a plywood Nimitz with no water protection as yet. I knew I was on a losing run when having to resort to hanging a small paddling pool from the roof to keep water off the boat. I am sure you will not laugh or even giggle at my expense when you hear that water inevitably got into the boat. I then had to build a new PVC roof with supports and gutter to make the garage roof waterproof, hence why I made zero progress on the Nimitz for a while. Making garage roofs is not usually on my build list.

The marine ply is prone to mould and this was going to become a problem so I next had to paint the entire boat, inside and out, with anti-mould paint. The colour of the paint is white so I now have a white mini-Nimitz which better be free of mould.

I then had the fun bit I was really looking forward which was adding the two hull sections together. Again I added the broom poles between the hull frames with car body filler for added strength. I would like to think I straightened up the bow correctly to avoid a wonky hull. Here is how it looked after adding together -



I have started to add the marine ply to the hull sides and is so far going well. Once a few of them were in place I convinced myself the bow wouldn't fall off. Thankfully I found that my wife / shipyard assistant and I are capable of lifting the thing between us. I was a trifle concerned given it weighs about the same as a small elephant and I don't have a crane to assist within my now-dry garage.

Next up is designing the photo etch for the four radars. I will also need PE for the nets at the side which are designed to catch sailors with a death wish. First calculations are that the netting will be 2 cm wide and a total of 4.4 metres long.

Cheers,

Dougie


Offline SG

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WOW!! Speechless!

Offline falo

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Hello Dougie,


thank you for the update on the construction progress. What an ambitious project, have you already informed your wife that she will have to vacate her space for an aircraft carrier in the shared bedroom?  ;) 8) :)


Regards
falo

Offline dougie47

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Hi Falo,
I think if I try that I might end up living in the garage. :)
Cheers,
Dougie

Offline Mr. Bill

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This is such a wonderful project, Very few, if any, have attempted such an ambitious build.  Congratulations on your work so far - it looks superb!Regards,Bill