Lessen's Mini Cat

[HPIguy]

That thing is sick Lessen, thanks for the vid.

 

[Lessen]

Boat is ordered. I'm gonna order up some of the conversion parts as well, that would include a couple Shockwave 26 u-joints and some other "26" outdrive hardware as well as an Octura prop.

Hmmm. having trouble finding Shockwave 26 parts. But I see a great looking hardware package at offshore electrics that is very enticing for a mini boat. Unfortunately it's not in stock anyways.

A little change of plans though. I'm deciding not to use the Traxxas ESC in favor of a CC micro sidewinder. It's a lot smaller and will be a lot easier to modify for water cooling. It's not waterproof like the Traxxas but I can fix that with no problem. I'm ordering that as well as a Futaba S3156 digital high torque servo. I think 33 oz/in. will be plenty satisfactory for the pressures the rudder will see and digital is great for fine tuning the centering of the rudder.

 

[Lessen]

Hardware

Anybody have any opinions on this stuff?

Well, I went ahead and purchased these hardware pieces. The rudder is nearly the same height as the stock piece so I'm sure they will be the perfect fit for the mini-c. Also, I've been doing some research on props and what the the numbers mean and their effects. From videos I've been watching online I see people mostly using Octura 427 and/or 430 props. The 427 (as seen in the video above) seems to offer more torque and acceleration because it has a smaller diameter and less pietch than the 430. However, I was watching a video of another build in which the 430 was used and it was obvious the boat was a bit faster. Both were running motors around 2700kv and 3S. The Velineon motor I'll be using is a 4000kv piece so I'm looking at a bit less torque but significantly more overall rpms. Considering this and what I really want out of the boat I've decided that I'm goingto make my prop decision based on a goal of best top speed rather than jump out of the water acceleration. With that said I've decided on an Octura 1630 which is sort of a blend of the two props previously mentioned. The 1630 has the same smaller diameter as the 427 but a pitch more akin to the 430. So the way I look at it, this prop will yield less drag due to it's overall size. However, I believe it will move the boat more like the 430 because of it's greater pitch which will move more water. In theory the downside is that I won't have outstanding acceleration like the video above but once she spools up I should see a very very impressive top speed. I can't wait!

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ose-80048

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ose-80046

 

[Lessen]

Welp, I got some goodies yesterday and I expect a couple more pieces today or tomorrow. The hardware is very nice although being a newbie boat guy I might need some help as to how to mount all this stuff up. There are a few more items I need to order from offshore that I couldn't fit into the budget this month. At any rate here are a few photos of all the stuff I got. You can see it's going to be a joy trying to shoehorn this motor in there. Of course I had to go with the cat style hull instead of the V. The V hull would not give me the same motor mount restrictions. Looks like my best bet is to cut down the motor's shaft a bit. We'll see once I get the rest of the drive hardware. Basically, this boat is getting gutted. I need to find a nice Mini-T roller to put all of these brand new electronics into. So you can see there is a pretty significant different in the shape of the stock prop and the one I purchased. I hope I made a good decision here. The prop still needs to be balanced and all that jazz.

 

[Lessen]

Welp... little change of plans here. I've decided to drop the Cat hull in favor of a V-hull. I'm gonna put all the original equipment back in the Cat and that'll be the wife's (since Chase REALLY wants mommy to have a boat too). I'll pick up a another Mini-C next month maybe and start the build.

 

[romeo_1984]

any updates or pics?

 

[beason]

here are some pics of my setup if you still need reference.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

I plan on doing a blast next, but with a velenion system in it.

 

[beason]

just with what i had in there i had a heck of a time with cavitation. i changed the outdrive angle many times and it would still do it. if you nailed it the boat would sit there, then start moving. once it quit it was pretty quick

 

[Rolex]

Aw crap. Now I have to finish my Humm-Vee so I can get back to the big cat project. That bronze prop you're showing above has a mean pitch to it. Do you remember the specs on it?

 

[Lessen]

Diameter: 1.18"
Total Pitch: 1.6x1.18=1.888"
Shaft Size: 1/8"

 

[Rolex]

Noted. Thanks. I'm looking for some nasty biting props for the twin cat.
It's getting E-Savage motors.