Winter Project S1

[Tunnelbill]

Hey Everybody,

I am going to build a New S1 this winter. No Novarossi/Andy Brown motor this time. I want to keep the boat in one pc. That was the FASTEST TUNNEL I have ever seen but the Mile High Club is Very Hard on the boat. I have it on vidio to back it up but my mouth is so bad, I do not show it to anyone, I was going to send it to Mike but my mouth needs to be washed out several time. If I can fine a way to edit my mouth I will send it to Mike.

I have a Mod K&B motor with a pipe and I will be buying a SS for the boat. I want this boat for Sport racing in NY. They have great tunnel classes in NY, 10-20 per class.

I need some input on the lead placed on the noise of the boat. I would like to build most of it into the sponsons when I build them. How much lead does it take for the SS motor? I had like 8 oz of lead on my Mod tunnel and it was not very good looking with lead sponsons.

I look forward to all inputs on this boat.

Thanks,

TB

 

[Slideblues]

Bill is being modest here...... B)

Gang, Bill got his Villain to the low sixty's "WAY" before I did, It was Bills input that made me know that it could be done, and lead me to want to co-design the V2 with Mike Z. We changed a few things to handel the speed, She was SMOKIN!!!!!!

Good luck with the build up Bill, Take some pics Dude,

Oh hey, how big is that vid, I'll wear earplugs

Gene

(Seems like my fav setup was 30% CG, with 1 1/2oz. on the sponson tips)

 

[Grimracer]

TB

I placed 1 oz of lead on each tip on my new...not so new (kit# 3or4).. makes sence to build this in if you want. all Pro-Bult hulls come with this weight installed.

go for 1 oz per tip..this will get you real close..Big B...chime in here before TB starts slaping wood together..

grim

 

[Tunnelbill]

Hey Gene and Mike,

Thank you for the info on the boat. I will see if I can find the tape. The first run was the best, the guy that was taping it could not keep up with the boat. I change the lead around and I could never get it back to the setup I had. Lesson 1, Leave Sh** alone when it is working.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[Grimracer]

TB

If you can find the tape i think that i can covert parts of it to MPG..that would be cool.

grim

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

Re: lead placed on the nose

I mixed up 3 oz. of lead soup(epoxy and lead shot), poured it in the nose of the cowling, and set the cowling nose down till the soup cooled(er, I mean cured).

It would be possible with a little reworking of the how the radio box is installed to move the radio box further forward.

JD

 

[Grimracer]

Be careful when adding weight to the cowl.

Jerrys right this will work but I do not recommend moving the radio box. If you need to add a touch of weight after the weight is built in the sponsons your best to place it in the radio compartment under the battery back.. Its not ideal but also does not look all crappy on the tips. I have mounted weight to the front of the radio box on the outside of the thing but if you have a weak glue joint (we never build weak) you could compromise the box.

One more note: The front of the radio box and the top of the cowl are just about kissing off as it is now.. There really is little room to move it forward with out making mods to the box.

Blow the boat off all day long and the sponson tips never break.. blow the thing off a few times and you never know about the cowl.

Just my thoughts..

Grimracer

 

[Tunnelbill]

Hey Everyone,

This is all great info. Mike I will see what I can do about the tape. I do not mind some lead on the sponson tips, 1 oz each is fine but much over that and it looks like hell.

I did put lead up in the nose of the cowling on my first boat and every time you took a Nasty Blowoff it would bust the balsa plate at the glue joint. I do not want to go through that again.

Talking about the radio box. SORRY MIKE!!!!, I did not like the way you have to tape it down. I was not comfortable with the seal I was getting at the slop down front. Is there a trick to this? It may just be me, I build all my radio boxes but they are heavier that the one in the S1 and they seal flat. Mike I am not saying anything BAD about your boat, just looking for ideas.

Thanks

Bill

 

[Slideblues]

If ya wanna go radical.......... :blink:

MUHA!!!! I cut mine down to fit the narrower nose of the 3.5 Dumas cowl.

Note: if ya go this low you need to use one of the high torque mini's or low profile servos, Like the JR NES7005 Dual BB for rudder.

 

[Tunnelbill]

Hey Gene,

What did you do to that radio box? I need to find room for 1-1/4 Scale, 1-standard and 1-mini servo, 5 cell pack, 3ch RX. I do not think it will fit in that box. What do you think? TB

 

[Slideblues]

Hey Bill,

Yep you are correct all that wont fit this one, I did mine this way on Villain no III to be ultra lite and fit the smaller cowl. Its just the stock Villain box cut down with a added bulkhead.

You might just draw a straight line down the side of the stock box at the top back to front, check to make sure all your stuff will fit and just cut it flat, the stock box is roomy enough for everything if you dont reduce the height too much I would think.

Gene

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

Re: Room for 1/4 Scale servo,......

TB,

Any particular reason you need a 1/4 scale servo in a 3.5 stock tunnel? Maybe you just have some extras and would rather not purchase a regular size hi-torque servo. I had two regular size servos(steering and throttle) and a mini servo in my Villian S1 radio box. I installed the steering/throttle sevos side-by-side and the mini servo for mixture control was mounted behind them.

I never had a bit of problem with the tape down seal on my Villian S1 radio box and I was upsidedown plenty of times. Personally, I prefer a flat top on my radio boxes.

JD

 

[Tunnelbill]

Hey JD,

Thank you for the info. About the servo, I have run Hitec 645 MG servos and I have stripped a bunch of gears, the servo has a small plastic gear in it and that is what strips. This has happend in some nasty spills. I have stripped on 1/4 scale servos also but the gears are much stronger that a standard servo.

I have been running Hitec Digital servos in my 1/8 scale Buggy for some time and have not stripped one one yet and I say YET!!!

This was all done with Mod Tunnels, I have never run a Stock Tunnel. So what do you think, will the Hitec Digital servo work? Please let me know what you think, I have tons of servos.

Thanks,

TB

 

[Grimracer]

TB,

No probelm with changes.. its just nice to understand why.

I designed the radio box with the wrap around taping for strength..if you use bad tape you will get a bad tape job.

I have never had leaking probelms with my setup and like Jerry spend plenty of time upside down. Its all in the day of a tunnel racer..hehehe

Grim

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

TB,

I should mention I only use metal gear servos for steering. I suppose any servo will fail, but I think a standard size, hi-torque servo would be more than sufficient for the steering requirements of the Villian S1 set up for stock class racing. I'm using a Futaba digital servo in my JD WOF 30 with a Precision Boats O.S. RG 21 Outboard and it has more than enough power to make the boat corner.

JD

 

[Tunnelbill]

All Very Very Good Pionts,

Santa came early this year, the new boat arrived today, Thank you Mike, I owe you for that spec. detail on my boat, it looks great. Do not mess with what works well. I will leave things alone. I do want to add a remote needle. I guess Grim is so good he don't need one. Ha Ha Trust me I need one, I have lost several races because the motor was Fat Fat. This is a small thing and is done very easy.

With any luck the XXX Villian vidio is on it's way to my house tonight. My buddy is trying to find it, that same day he destroyed his roadrunner so he should still have it.

Grim makes the best kit I have ever seen, I look forward to getting started.

Many Thanks,

Bill

 

[Grimracer]

TB

The use of a third channel to control the mixture is not a bad idea. The reason I do not use one is for weight and because i have run the same motor for so many years I know the goofy thin like the back of my hand, what it should sound like on shore, how to drive the throttle for when i do miss the needle...etc. My years of car racing and flying have allowed me to make changes to my driving style and power settings at a moments notice, if need be.

One cool thing that happened this summer as we were shooting promo pictures for Byron Originals is the fact that my friends have a hard time driving my setups.. Right Big B and SJH... You can see results of Big Bs driving on my pictures and videos page of my website..www.grimracer.com...its the Villain S1 that is about to blow off on the top of the page....hehehe

Good job Big B...now have to get the water out of the motor...o yea i best shutup..i do this all the time...shhhhh dont tell him..

Thanks for the kind comments on the kit. Since your first kit we have made changes to the kit but only the adhesive that is used on the foam... now its better then ever... I still need to get one built with the new adhesive.. My boats are still using the old glue... o well its not a big deal just me being picky.

WANT VIDEO..pant pant

ROCK ON RACERS..

Grimracer

 

[Tunnelbill]

Hey Grim,

I have looked through 6-6 hour vidios and I have not found it yet but I will keep looking.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow. TB

 

[izitbrokeyet?]

Hey Mike,

What are you using for adhesive? I may have stumbled on a cheap…but better alternative.

On my last Full WOF(my 11th full WOF not just center section) I used a small tube of “Special Projects” Liquid Nails from Home depot…..Turns out, cure time was excellent, and the adhesion was much better than any of the epoxy and polyester resin adhesive I’d used previously. On the same hull, I had a dead boat hit (2 weeks ago) full on by another tunnel at bouy 4. He was still “loose” and the left sponson took the full impact of his skeg. When retrieving the boats, I though I’d find my boat had been carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey.

Long story short, the Liquid nails not only completely adheres the plywood, it appears to add a bunch of strength that wouldn’t otherwise be there. The pic shows where a small chunk had been carved out by mark’s sharpened lawless skeg. Easy fix was just filled with 5min epoxy and re-shaped with a side grinder….that was it for the damage (other than scuff marks in the paint).

If inquiring minds want to know: the sponson is removable….that’s why it’s not attached to the boat 

 

[TomMoorehouse]

how did you spread or apply the liquid nails? hows the weight?