VAC-U-DUCK - Vac-U-Boat by Osmosis - FINISHED

[Osmosis]

Taking a short break from my San Francisco Cross Section for a little fun and frivolity. I posted this a while back in "What have you received today" and am just getting around to building it. My intention is to gift it to the Admiral and let her chase ducks, coots and geese around our pond while I am sailing my RC yachts.

 

 

As the title says it is a remote controlled duck from Phil Pace at Vac-u-boat.

 

 

Besides the nicely painted duck with motor and steering servo the kit includes, a stand some velcro and a couple of allen wrenches. I had to supply the battery, speed controller and receiver.

 

This is the way it comes from the factory, motor and steering servo already installed.

 

A nice little shelf up forward for mounting the electronics but other than that it is pretty tight in there.

 

I decided on a NI-MH battery to cut down on the extra ballast that I already know I will need. Unfortunately I will not fit in the hull without some modification.

 

So first we carefully cut open and remove the outer shrink wrap.

Then we snip and remove the plastic end caps.

Next we snip the connector strap on the end opposite the wire leads.

A piece of #16 AWG wire and some emery cloth and a soldering iron and we are good to go.

 

First we rough up the ends of the connector strap.

 

Then very carefully and very quickly pool some solder on the tabs. Try not to build up too much heat as bad things will happen (Boom). If you don't get it right away let the tabs cool off and try again. Also strip and tin the ends of the wire.

 

Then quickly melt the pool of solder and press the end of the wire into it while it cools. and that is it.

 

In order to get the battery in I had to remove the steering servo.

 

Then lifting the corner of the servo mounting shelf ever so slightly push one side of the battery down alongside the motor. Lay the other half of the battery on the opposite side. They lay in there real nice and very deep in the hull. I will lay some foam padding under them in the final assembly.

 

Once the battery was in I replaced the servo and radio equipment in its approximate locations for a ballast check.

Off to the test tank (bathroom sink). As you can see it floats fairly well already. It had a noticeable port list but I swapped the positions of the receiver and ESC and that small change was enough to almost eliminate the list.

 

I added enough lead shot to bring the waterline just above the seam. Not sure if this is good or not but thought it would look more realistic that way. I also plan on putting a foam gasket on the mating surfaces just in case.

I did not take a picture of the ballast while it was floating but this is how I did it. As you can see it does not need very much. I was going to mix it with epoxy and spread it in the "bilge" but I think I will divide it up into two small zip-loc bags and lay them in the bilge one fore and one aft of the motor so that it is adjustable.

 

That is it for tonight I will get back to it tomorrow.

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by Osmosis

[hof00]

Looks like a lovely "Drake"

Watch out for amorous Ducks, "Hens."

 

Make sure the Hens don't try to sink it, or, maybe it's the other way around? 🙂

 

Cheers....HOF.

[yvesvidal]

That is a really cool project. I wonder how real ducks will react to this "intruder".....

 

Yves

[lmagna]

15 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

I wonder how real ducks will react to this "intruder".....

They will turn a cold shoulder every time he even gets close! I know because I did pretty much the same thing years ago with a real decoy. Mine was not as slick as this one but they still wouldn't let him get close. But then it may have been my technique. I was never all that successful with women.   Maybe your wife will have better insight Art.

 

I then started on an alligator but never got him finished. He would have probably been more my speed. 

Edited March 3, 2020 by lmagna

[hof00]

16 hours ago, lmagna said:

They will turn a cold shoulder every time he even gets close! I know because I did pretty much the same thing years ago with a real decoy. Mine was not as slick as this one but they still wouldn't let him get close. But then it may have been my technique. I was never all that successful with women.   Maybe your wife will have better insight Art.

 

I then started on an alligator but never got him finished. He would have probably been more my speed. 

Not with a bloke as good looking as good as this one!! 🙂

(Slicker and faster than a decoy.)

 

HOF.

[Osmosis]

Here in FL, we have mostly Muscovy Ducks and Egyptian Geese which are quite a bit larger and more aggressive than wild ones. Mostly due to people feeding them, they have lost all fear of humans.  I am a little worried but I hope to be able to out run them.

 

I did do a little bit tonight but mostly just trying different locations and amounts of ballast. I should have this done tomorrow and in the pond this weekend.

 

I will post update and pics tomorrow night.

 

Regards

[modeller_masa]

A hawk will hunt your duck if you launch it on river.  

[lmagna]

17 minutes ago, Osmosis said:

Geese which are quite a bit larger and more aggressive than wild ones.

Back in my RC days we often ran on a local pond that had ducks and geese during the spring and summer. Of course they got chased now and then as a matter of course. Mostly by the guys with the bigger boats. One day a guy with a HUGE Mr. Darby:

 

went after a mated pair of geese, not realizing, or not caring that they had a new clutch of goslings. Instead of swimming away as would be normal they attacked in force, using their feet, wings and bills. He was barely able to escape without being sunk! He had a broken mast, the crane was almost overboard, hanging by it's wires, and several railings were missing all together!  They had really done a job on him! Needless to say those geese were given a wide berth from that day on. We always referred to it as "The Battle Of Goose Island".

[thibaultron]

If you want, I can give you a design for a RC BB gun, to protect your duck from attack. 🙂

[hof00]

I don't think that attacking the "Hens" is the way to go....

I'd like to see the ladies chase Mr. Vacu Duck.... (Does he have a name?)

 

Cheers....HOF.

[mtaylor]

3 hours ago, thibaultron said:

If you want, I can give you a design for a RC BB gun, to protect your duck from attack. 🙂

As I recall, there's battleships and cruisers t;hat fire BB guns.... against each other... to the death (or sinking if you prefer).  Then they wade out, recover the ship, patch the holes and do it again.

[lmagna]

21 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

As I recall, there's battleships and cruisers t;hat fire BB guns

Those are gas powered BB guns built into the ship and the ships are at a standard scale or 1/96th scale. The sides are built of balsa sheeting and this is what allows them to be sunk by the relatively low powered BB guns. There is another class of combat ships that have guns more scaled to caliber of the real vessel. They can fire bearings up to 1/4" and can have a number of operational turrets and guns bases on some formula related to the real ship. These ships can take up quite a bit of lake and the outcome can be obviously pretty brutal. Obviously they can run a fair amount of money as well.

[Osmosis]

If there was a little more room I was thinking if installing a pump and hose (water cannon) through the "bill". Maybe later but for now I don't think he will be seen as much of a threat. 

 

 

[lmagna]

I thought he was supposed to be a lover not a fighter?

[thibaultron]

One of my former hobbies, was indeed RC Warship Combat, hence the origin of the offered gun. Our ships were 1/144th scale. Built several over the years, both kits(2), one from a stripped hull, one scratch from plans, and one I did the drafting for myself from Naval Archive plans. The guns were either 50 or 75 shot semi-auto, the number allowed varied by ship size and class.

 

I can supply plans for a bilge pump also.

[Osmosis]

Thanks for all the comments and the likes.

 

Some updates on my progress over the last couple of evenings.

 

First I finished the battery mod.

By covering the exposed ends with a dollop of silicone sealant.

I also connected bound and tested all the radio gear so that it is ready to go when the time comes.

Then I cut a gasket from some closed cell foam I had left over from another project.

 

Then it was time to install the ballast.

I divided it up roughly in half.

Then divided one bag in half again. and placed it in the bilge.

As usual if I think about it long enough I will finally decide to do it the right way. I was going to leave the ballast "loose" (in zip-loc bags and attached with velcro ) so as to be adjustable. But with so little room and limited access once the batteries are in place I decided to make most of it permanent.

 

So after once again removing everything.

I mixed up a little 30 minute epoxy.

Added slightly less than half of the lead shot and mixed well.

 

Then using a tongue depressor as a scoop carefully placed it in the aft bilge.

Then lather rinse and repeat for the forward bilge.

I kept about 1/4 of the shot for final adjustment. Once the epoxy is set I will reinstall everything and that should be about a wrap except for getting it over to the pond.

 

I will let you know how that goes in the next installment.

 

Best Regards

Edited March 5, 2020 by Osmosis

[lmagna]

I'm a little concerned about coating the batteries in silicone. Are they vented batteries? If so then you could run into a situation, especially when charging them where they could try and vent and end up blowing up instead. I have seen it happen in a RC sub. It was being charged by the owner while we were loading other stuff in the car for a day at the lake. Luckily when we were pretty far from where the sub was sitting it blew up! Just one cell went, but it still blew a hole in the hull large enough to stick the handle of a large screwdriver through!

6 hours ago, thibaultron said:

Our ships were 1/144th scale.

Was there another class of combat models that use 1/96 scale Ron, or am I just thinking wrong again? As an after thought, now that I think of it a 1/96th scale battleship would be huge.  I stand corrected 1/144 it is.😫 

[thibaultron]

There were several different clubs, there may have been a 1/96. Yes a 9 foot or so Iowa would be imense! Our club was the original, and others started from our example. Other than the BB(ours) or 1/4" ball bearing, the biggest difference was most of the other clubs went with scale X actual ships speed/X for model. Ours was the square root of the speed, ie. 1/12th of actual ships speed.  This is the formula that the US Naval Design group uses when studying a model in their water tank. This gives the same wave dynamics as the real ship will. Water does not scale. The other clubs run into the problem, that any sort of wind will blow all the models to the downwind shore, as they can't go fast enough to counteract it.

 

Unfortunately, with the reccession, and time my old club has shrunk to be mostly bases in the NE, and my limited budget does not allow for much travel. I also found that after my sons grew up, and dropped out of the hobby, my interest also diminised. Now all my batteries are dead and the RC equipment out dated, so a large amount of funds would be needed to restart.

 

I still have all my, and my sons' ships though, I did sell my first one to fund the USS Arizona I scratch built for the 1991 season.

[lmagna]

3 hours ago, thibaultron said:

Now all my batteries are dead and the RC equipment out dated

I know the feeling. I still have many of the ships from my RC days but almost all of the radio gear would no longer be allowed.

[Osmosis]

Imagna, Thanks for the info I will remove the silicon as soon as I get home tonight.

 

My RC interest actually started with helicopters. From helis I slowly started to acquire airplanes but as with most hobbies life seemed to intrude and I slowly got rid of all of my planes helis and gear. Thankfully I was able to get a good value for all of it as FM was still the preferred radio. If I had waited another couple of years I would probably never been able to get rid of it. Once my Daughter was grown up and married and I got to the point where I could take up hobbies again I decided yachting was now my speed and since I have a nice pond right across the street it is very easy to grab a boat and set sail.

[lmagna]

4 hours ago, Osmosis said:

I will remove the silicon as soon as I get home tonight

The only place you need to worry about is the little hole you will be able to find on the positive end of the battery pack. If it is open and any gasses have the ability to escape, remember my friends boat was a sub and it was mostly sealed up ready to go when it blew. If your vent is open and the top of the duck is off you should be good to go on charging, even fast charging.

 

I agree, yachting has a pleasure all its own. For some reason just sailing about and getting the right trim is enjoyable even though you are really just going back and forth pretty much aimlessly.  I have always wondered if glider guys feel the same way when they fly? 

[thibaultron]

The point of sailing is to go, it is the journey, not the destination, that is important.

[Osmosis]

Just a small update.

 

All of the innards are in and tested. Batteries are fully charged.

The clear acrylic hatch needed to have the corners rounded slightly in order to seat in the recess fully.

The ESC power switch did not have a means of through mounting so I filed a small notch in the hatch so I could have access to it. I will finish taping the hatch prior to going to the pond.

 

Here he is ready and waiting for his first swim. Now if only the weather would cooperate! It was blowing 18-20 yesterday and more of the same is predicted for today. When I let the dogs out this morning it was blowing pretty good so we will see. Maybe it will lay down enough by this evening to get him wet.

 

Regards

[lmagna]

On 3/8/2020 at 6:47 AM, Osmosis said:

It was blowing 18-20 yesterday and more of the same is predicted for today

You mean you don't want him to set off for Cuba looking for his mate?  Would that be called a maiden voyage or a mating voyage??

Edited March 9, 2020 by lmagna

[Osmosis]

Since it is a Drake I did not want to call it a maiden voyage..... but then again it is 2020. 

[lmagna]

When you are out looking for "Maidens"..................?????????????? 

[hof00]

On 3/10/2020 at 4:50 AM, lmagna said:

When you are out looking for "Maidens"..................?????????????? 

From Google the correct Ornithological term is "Hen" but is acceptable to call the female a "Duck."

 

The Drake looks especially slick....

Maybe call it "Sir Frances?" 🙂

 

Looking forward to seeing it on the water.

 

Cheers.... HOF.

 

 

[lmagna]

5 hours ago, hof00 said:

Maybe call it "Sir Frances?"

PERFECT name!

You mean Hens are never "Maidens"? (Used as a status, not a gender)

Edited March 11, 2020 by lmagna

[hof00]

20 hours ago, lmagna said:

PERFECT name!

You mean Hens are never "Maidens"? (Used as a status, not a gender)

I think of a Maiden as something from the 17th/18th century.... or, well before? Call me old fashioned.

I think these days it's Miss, Ms or Mrs?

 

Cheers.... Harry. (HOF)

Edited March 12, 2020 by hof00

[Osmosis]

Well we finally got some decent duck weather so we took him out for "pond trials".

 

Of course as soon as we walked up the freeloaders came swimming up for a handout. Not today though.

This pond is directly across the street from my house. Really handy when I feel like sailing or fishing.

The locals wanted nothing to do with him and got up on the bank as quick as they could.

The Captain and First Mate at the helm.

He really floats well. I did not need to adjust the ballast at all. Looks pretty natural. I had him going for about an hour and was a little worried about building up to much heat but when we got back home his insides were cool and bone dry.

 

I asked to Admiral to shoot a short video but apparently she hit the wrong button.

 

Well that about closes this one out I will label it finished.

 

Thanks for all the comments and likes.

 

Best regards and see you next time.