Mechanical Modifications
This is my latest RC project, converting a 1/350 Mini-Hobby USS Missouri into an RC kit. Originally the kit came with rods for the screw shafts and they even put in some grease. We did not find a motor or gear box. Although the box says that the model is a "static model", there were holes drilled for the screw shafts to fit through. I believe this was done so that a realistic rear section could be done, however the ship is open to modifications (the area around the rudder featured an offset piece that went up into the hull).
We purchased an RC Truck from Target for $25.99 USD. The truck is manufactured by New Bright Toys, and I recommend them because all of their parts inside the truck are modular. The battery compartment plugs right out along with the steering and the motor (the motor is a bit picky to get at). I always make sure to check the frequency of the truck before I buy it: in my case the way the packaging was presented allowed me to see the frequency on the back of the RC remote (27 MHz). Also let me issue a fair warning we discovered: 27MHz is apparantly a common frequency. If you are having a range problem with 27MHz but not 49 MHz, move the truck (in this case ship) away to a different area by about 200 feet. At this time I don't know of any "Made in America" RC Trucks, however if anyone knows of such RC Toys please let me know, I would love to, in the future build a "100% American" model.
Installation of the motors. The Iowa Class Battleships had 4 screws, however on this model only two screws are capable of driving the ship (I guess you could make all four screws work, with difficult modifications). We acquired the motors from a Battlebot toy (Radica, 2001) and were thrilled to find out that the battlebot contained three 3 volt motors. We put two into the ship to drive the screws. For easier modifications and adjutments later, the motors were hot glued down so that they would be stable, yet easily removeable. We are also working on installing a bulkhead system to keep water out. Instead of routing wires through the bulkheads we will more than likely reroute them over the bulkheads.
If you are going to RC this kit be very wary: The hull comes in two halves in the event you want to do a waterline model. I know for a fact that this model is a "copycat" of Tamiya's USS Missouri (1945 fit) model, and I believe the Tamiya kit (now discontinued) is full hull. In order to successfully captain our vessel we will need to seal the two hull halves together. I would recommend doing this after you paint any camoflauge (if applicable). My plan is to secure the outside with tape as a clamp, then apply plumber's goop to the interior. I won't glue an excessive amount because of the possiblity of it leaking out the joint. I have used plumbers goop before on a homemade potato gun and it was able to hold 30-40psi of air pressure easily, so I have no doubts it WILL keep the water out. Allow 2 days for it to fully cure. You will know it is cured when it stops smelling of plumbers goop and the surface is hard (it will be hard to make an indentation in it with your fingernail). Please note, although the packaging recommends not to use the goop on polystyrene (plastic) products, I found no problem using the goop and within 10 minutes the goop not only sealed the hulls, but began to chemically weld the plastic. At first I thought "oh my gosh its going to eat all of my hard work!" but after 10 minutes of observations it behaved well.
The speaker system. I would talk with my roomate about his HO Scale train hobby and he told me about the benefits of DCC. A trip to Trains and Lanes in Easton, PA turned into a four hour "play with the trains!" fest as we talked with the gentlemen in back on a very barren Saturday evening. I thought it would be neat to integrate sounds into my ship after watching a few videos on youtube of a gentlemen putting in large speakers into his 8-9 foot Missouri. The speaker also features a baffle- this is nothing more than the end piece cut from a bottle or something similar. A baffle helps to amplify the sound. A floormate at the campus had a 20 year old RC truck that we hacked for parts. The battery is shot, however the 7.2 volt motor will come in handy for the future. The truck featured sounds played from the circuit board: we hacked out the speaker and rewired it to a headphone jack that can be purchased at Radioshack for around $1.00 USD. Any MP3 player (preferably a smaller one, the Ipod Shuffle is the perfect size) will be able to plug into the jack and we can have the speaker play sounds such as broadcasts, turret fire (I went as far as to get 5" turret fire sounds, too) and man your battlestations. Heck, I wanted an abandon ship warning too. Special thanks to user HMAS for locating me to these sounds and also thanks to user Jim Baumann for directing me to a few more sounds. I am putting those sounds in my Yamato in the future, Jim!
One of my favorite portable tools to have around the dorm room is my Dremel Drill Press Station. The drill press not only allows me to drill, but the press also rotates to 90 degrees and any angle in between for other jobs. I used this feature to help sand the bulkheads. The press also helped out in creating the holes for where the deck chain will fall into the hull.
The steering mechanism from the truck. It has taken some modifications. We removed a part of the axel and replaced it with a strip of evergreen stock. That is hooked to a linkage which is connected to the rudder. After soldering a few joints it will be ready to go.
The rear struts were cut out of the interior of the Missouri after the hull parts were sealed. This was done so access would be easy incase we needed to get to the linkage, steering or interior parts in the future. The front struts were left in, one because it helped support a deck piece and the others were redundant: I hate having to do more work than I have to: they would be just a waste of time and dremel life.
Installing the speaker system. This is a speaker ripped out of a 20 year old toy that no longer worked, so we botched it for parts. Wiring a speaker is very simple- and Radioshack will cary the proper jack to hook it into any headphone port- IE an Ipod. I like using the Itunes system- I can add a "show" as a playlist and have clips play in random order, or an order I choose. The speaker was fitted with a baffle approximatly the size of the speaker to aid in sound amplification.
Taking a closer look at the interior. The steering was hacked out of the RC truck, and in order to balance it out we needed to add supports to make it a box-like structure. We eyed the height and from there attached the linkage that would steer the rudder. Later on we developed a system where a screw was soldered onto a piece connected to the main steering rod- and that screw culd be adjusted since we did not bind the insert that the screw went into (which as left so that we could rotate it incase we needed to adjust the length of the rod for greater or less pull). This may be somewhat obvious, but from inspection it was determined that since the linear motion of the coil is limited, and I don't want to mess with it, that the greater the torque farther away from the center rod of the rudder, the better the turn radius.
Checking out the rudder and screws. The rudder came with a shaft molded onto the top- like most models. Most of the time you need to drill into that shaft, but luckily that was already done for us. Brass rod was inserted and properly secured. We could now bend the rod and have it ready to be mounted to the linkage. The hole was sanded, reemed and lubricated properly for easy rudder movement and a prevention of water intrusion.
To Do:
+ Mossfet (leak warning system)
+ Rudder Control
+ Linkage
+ Bulkhead Installation
+ Mossfet system installation (wires)
+ More that I can't think of off the top of my head....
Questions1) Any idea how we can increase the volume on a speaker, or where I can acquire one that can really project? the one we have now is muffled even with the baffle. I know sound travels over water, but I wanted something louder that will fit inside the hull.
2) How should I go about making the turrets rotate or the radar on top the superstructure rotate?
3) How should I go about making a linkage in order to control the rudder properly?4) We have been having range issues in regards to connectivity between the RC controller unit and the boat itself. After backing away 10 feet I am starting to lose a signal. This Missouri operates on 27MHz. Any idea what is going on?
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