1956 Chris-Craft 54' Constellation by bcochran

[bcochran]

Hello friends, 
 

I bought a like new, mint, in the factory packaging, Lindberg 1/20 Chris Craft Constellation model.  I bought all the R/C components that I will need to put it on the water.  I plan to build the boat as an R/C equipped model.

 

I know nothing about R/C boats, even though at one time I owned a hobby shop and sold R/C planes and supplies.  I am experienced with radio-controlled garden railroad engines.  I've done over ten of those installations.

 

I don't even have a pond nearby to float it on. 

 

I have two other build logs here, One is a Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark that still needs the rigging done.  And the other is a Lindberg Robert E Lee steam boat.

 

I know there is another build log of the Lindberg Constellation on another site and I have been reading it.

 

As usual with me. I ask is anyone interested in another Lindberg 1/20 Christ Craft Constellation build log?

 

My first name is Bob, so you don't have to call me bcochran.

Edited May 29 by bcochran

[bcochran]

Here are the R/C components I purchased for the boat.  I haven't worked with anything like this before so this should be an adventure.

Edited November 16, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

Here are pictures of the kit.  I was lucky to find this on eBay in like new condition for a reasonable price.  I believe it is a 2006 issue.  I paid $250 including shipping for the boat and $478 for the R/C components in case anyone is interested.  It is an early Christmas present to myself.  Who better to shop for than you?

 

At times, I have sold things like this I have built on eBay for more than I paid for them.  That's where this boat may end up one day.

Edited November 16, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

The M.A.C.K. instructions say to build the kit up to step 6 first.   After that, you install the R/C components.

 

In planning this build, I have come to a decision point.  Should I paint the hull before installing the R/C parts?  What color scheme should I paint the boat?  What type of paint should I use since this is going to be in water?

 

Here also is a Revell 1/52 Chris Craft flying bridge cruiser I am using as a painting experiment before painting this kit.

 

I think I should paint the hull before adding the R/C components.  The motors and batteries add a lot of weight, and it seems to be a clumsy task to paint with them in place.  I would have to protect the painted hull while adding them.  I want to make a better stand to rest the boat on while working on it, while displaying it, and to help carry it to water. 

 

 

 

I like the way the boat on the box is painted.  I also like the way the boat on the original Marx box was painted.

 

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by bcochran

[ccoyle]

8 hours ago, bcochran said:

I ask is anyone interested in another Lindberg 1/20 Christ Craft Constellation build log?

 

The more the merrier. The RC segment of our site can always benefit from some more content.

[Ian_Grant]

Bob, nice boat, nice project.  In high school in the 70's I used to launch a new RC boat every spring. This Constellation is a little like my old Billing Boats "Admiral" cabin cruiser. I'm interested in your new RC gear; are those brushless motors or brushed? If brushless, how did you select the KV and T specs? The modern ESCs are a far cry from the old rheostatic speed controllers I had to use. What a waste of power!

 

After getting back into model ships a few years ago with static builds I decided to try RC again, with a scratch Roman galley in progress. I'm also considering a refit on my scratch WW I battlecruiser (that was my build before grade 13), wondering whether to buy brushed ESCs to use with my old motors or go all brushless. But I find the brushless motor specs very confusing.....KV.....T.....4S-6S...???? I wouldn't know what to select as replacements for my old decaperm motors. All the web seems to talk about are motors for speed electric boats not scale. All my local hobby shop knows is cars.😢

 

Looking forward to your build. As Chris says there are too few RC boats here.

 

Here are some pics of my "Admiral". She has a hard chine hull so the entire skin is four pieces of thin ply. I just cleaned off most of the dust for the pics. Wish I had painted the black stripe instead of using electrical tape 😬 it was always coming unstuck at the stem. The last pic shows the 0.35 gas engine I mounted in her with water cooling adapters at one point - not with that prop obviously - the keel came out of the water about halfway back from the bow! Had trouble keeping enough air flowing to the engine too; there's a big brass tube under the bench seat as an air inlet. You can see another brass tube inside, which was the exhaust out the transom, after the muffler. Fond memories......

[bcochran]

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

Bob, nice boat, nice project.  In high school in the 70's I used to launch a new RC boat every spring. This Constellation is a little like my old Billing Boats "Admiral" cabin cruiser. I'm interested in your new RC gear; are those brushless motors or brushed? If brushless, how did you select the KV and T specs? The modern ESCs are a far cry from the old rheostatic speed controllers I had to use. What a waste of power!

 

After getting back into model ships a few years ago with static builds I decided to try RC again, with a scratch Roman galley in progress. I'm also considering a refit on my scratch WW I battlecruiser (that was my build before grade 13), wondering whether to buy brushed ESCs to use with my old motors or go all brushless. But I find the brushless motor specs very confusing.....KV.....T.....4S-6S...???? I wouldn't know what to select as replacements for my old decaperm motors. All the web seems to talk about are motors for speed electric boats not scale. All my local hobby shop knows is cars.😢

 

Looking forward to your build. As Chris says there are too few RC boats here.

 

Here are some pics of my "Admiral". She has a hard chine hull so the entire skin is four pieces of thin ply. I just cleaned off most of the dust for the pics. Wish I had painted the black stripe instead of using electrical tape 😬 it was always coming unstuck at the stem. The last pic shows the 0.35 gas engine I mounted in her with water cooling adapters at one point - not with that prop obviously - the keel came out of the water about halfway back from the bow! Had trouble keeping enough air flowing to the engine too; there's a big brass tube under the bench seat as an air inlet. You can see another brass tube inside, which was the exhaust out the transom, after the muffler. Fond memories......

Hi Ian,

 

I am so new to R/C boats that I don't know anything about the components from personal knowledge.

 

Rich Koll (bigrichmodels@optonline.net) at http://www.mackproductsrc.com/power packages - v.htm  put these components together for me.  His site has quite a few power packages for various boats.

 

He used to sell the kit to power the Lindberg Constellation when the model was on the hobby shop shelves.  He still has the parts in stock.  I talked to him on the phone, and he told me what I needed.  I just ordered what he suggested. 

 

I believe the motor has brushes because the speed control is for brushed motors.  See the image of the data from the kit below.

 

I don't know what KV.....T.....4S-6S means yet.  Like I said, I am new to R/C boats.  You should call Rich, (732) 870-2966.  He should be able to answer any questions you have. 

 

I like your boat.

 

 

 

[Ian_Grant]

Bob, thanks for the reference. I will check out the web site. You're definitely going with a brushed setup, so you don't need to worry about KV or T which only applies to brushed motors.

 

4S, 6S etc refers to the number of cells in a lithium or nickel hydride battery pack, as an indication of battery voltage. A given voltage requires a different number of cells for these battery types since the chemistry of the basic cells differ and so does their voltage. This is all new to me too as back in the day I used lead acid or latterly gel cell.

 

Looking forward to your build.  Is the hull plastic?

[bcochran]

9 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Bob, thanks for the reference. I will check out the web site. You're definitely going with a brushed setup, so you don't need to worry about KV or T which only applies to brushed motors.

 

4S, 6S etc refers to the number of cells in a lithium or nickel hydride battery pack, as an indication of battery voltage. A given voltage requires a different number of cells for these battery types since the chemistry of the basic cells differ and so does their voltage. This is all new to me too as back in the day I used lead acid or latterly gel cell.

 

Looking forward to your build.  Is the hull plastic?

Ian, yes, the hull is plastic.  It is very thick and heavy. I don't think I have to worry about the hull when on the water.  But since the rest of the boat is plastic, I do worry that I'll break parts off when handling it.   I am going to have to find a way of carrying it safely.

[bcochran]

The first step in the boat kit instructions is to add this piece of the stern to the hull.  It will need some filling and shaping to fit well.

 

I had to force the stern piece in to position on the starboard side and hold it in place with tape while the glue cures.  I put some thin plastic sheet in the cracks on both sides.  These will be trimmed, and the needed places will be puttied, sanded and shaped.

 

I used Tamiya Putty white to fill the seems.  I also used some superglue in the seams

Edited November 17, 2022 by bcochran

[Ian_Grant]

Bob, just noticed your boat has twin rudders. I recommend you glue in a brace across the hull near the top of those two plastic rudder tubes, to reinforce them.

 

Digression: in the 70's I made a Class M RC yacht (50" LOA) and the instructions said to epoxy in a block of wood inside the fiberglass hull through which to drill the hole for the rudder tube. Can't imagine why now but I used balsa wood. I sailed that boat for about a decade. A few years ago I thought it might be fun to fix her up and sail her at the cottage. She was running well directly away from me on a reach when I realized I could see the top of the deck, somehow. How could this be?? ........  She was sinking by the stern because the balsa had let go from the bottom of the hull and water poured in. The lead keel bulb took care of the rest.

 

Luckily we are in a fairly shallow bay (20ft at deepest) so I snorkeled out and managed to find her on the lake bottom. Amazingly the RC stuff was fine after being packed in rice, but the battery was wrecked. Fond memories.

[bobandlucy]

Nice project. I'd like to do an RC boat model one day. I did planes for a while, but making mistakes in the air gets rather expensive. . . 

 

Have fun! I'm following.

 

Bob

[bcochran]

31 minutes ago, bobandlucy said:

Nice project. I'd like to do an RC boat model one day. I did planes for a while, but making mistakes in the air gets rather expensive. . . 

 

Have fun! I'm following.

 

Bob

I used to repair wrecked planes in my hobby shop long ago.  I'd repair the frame and recover them and hang them from the ceiling.

Often a guy would crash his plane and rush in to buy one of my repaired ones.  They just needed to fly that day.

[bcochran]

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

Bob, just noticed your boat has twin rudders. I recommend you glue in a brace across the hull near the top of those two plastic rudder tubes, to reinforce them.

 

Digression: in the 70's I made a Class M RC yacht (50" LOA) and the instructions said to epoxy in a block of wood inside the fiberglass hull through which to drill the hole for the rudder tube. Can't imagine why now but I used balsa wood. I sailed that boat for about a decade. A few years ago I thought it might be fun to fix her up and sail her at the cottage. She was running well directly away from me on a reach when I realized I could see the top of the deck, somehow. How could this be?? ........  She was sinking by the stern because the balsa had let go from the bottom of the hull and water poured in. The lead keel bulb took care of the rest.

 

Luckily we are in a fairly shallow bay (20ft at deepest) so I snorkeled out and managed to find her on the lake bottom. Amazingly the RC stuff was fine after being packed in rice, but the battery was wrecked. Fond memories.

We have a lake nearby, and I want to check it out to see if there is a nice place near the shore where I can float this boat.  Not having done R/C boats before, I am worrying myself about the boat going out too far or sinking.

[bobandlucy]

22 minutes ago, bcochran said:

I used to repair wrecked planes in my hobby shop long ago.  I'd repair the frame and recover them and hang them from the ceiling.

Often a guy would crash his plane and rush in to buy one of my repaired ones.  They just needed to fly that day.

I do understand the need to fly. . . It's a lot of fun. I still get out my RealFlight simulator sometimes, and I still have an unused Slowstick plane (relatively easy to fly), which I may fly in the future. The hard part is finding a place to fly. . .

[bcochran]

I have the filing and sanding of the transom piece done.  You can see where I had to add plastic to some areas. A coat of primer shows me where there is more work to be done.

[bcochran]

The hull has been primed for painting.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by bcochran

[Ian_Grant]

Nice! You aren't wasting any time.

[bcochran]

I am using Tamiya spray paint.  It is tough, goes on smooth and dries fast.  And I ordered some white striping tape.  I am going with the black hull.  Supposedly the Constellations were delivered that way.  I don't know this for sure.

 

The colors I am using are:

Light Gray Fine Surface Primer

TS-6 Matt Black

TS-33 Dull Red

TS-27 Matte White

TS-68 Wooden Deck Tan

TS-1 Red Brown

 

Edited November 19, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

29 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Nice! You aren't wasting any time.

I am an old retired guy with time on my hands

[bcochran]

I added the props and a pad to attach the motors.  I could not use the kit parts for the motor pad because the motors I am using are much larger than the kit supplied ones.

 

I stripped the chrome off of the shaft brackets with Super Clean.  I think it is the best product for stripping chrome and paint off of plastic.  It is hard on your skin. Wear gloves.  It works in minutes on chrome.

 

I am going to paint the rudders and shafts to match the hull.

Edited November 19, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

I am waiting for the Tamiya paint to arrive in a few days to finish painting the hull, then I will install the R/C components and test them out.

 

I bought a used stand on eBay that someone had built. The plastic things the kit supplies for stands are useless in my opinion.  I hope the new stand are ok.

Edited November 19, 2022 by bcochran

[Ian_Grant]

Looks good Bob. I again recommend that you add a brace across the rudder tubes, like the one you have on the prop shafts. Looking forward to your RC test, in particular to hear if there is any hum/tone audible when motors/ESC run....

 

I did exchange emails with "Big Rich" about rejuvenating my old boat. Looks like new brushed ESCs with my old Decaperm motors is the way to go, providing that those old motors are ok. Plan to lube them and try them out.

[bcochran]

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

Looks good Bob. I again recommend that you add a brace across the rudder tubes, like the one you have on the prop shafts. Looking forward to your RC test, in particular to hear if there is any hum/tone audible when motors/ESC run....

 

I did exchange emails with "Big Rich" about rejuvenating my old boat. Looks like new brushed ESCs with my old Decaperm motors is the way to go, providing that those old motors are ok. Plan to lube them and try them out.

I will most likely build a support. My first try was not successful. 

[bcochran]

When looking at reference photos of a Chris Craft Constellation, it looks like the transom has a ledge just below the top edge.  I am trying to duplicate that on my boat.

 

I flattened one side of a piece of plastic rod and glued it on the model transom.  I then filled in the edges with Tamiya body putty.

 

Next I will shape the place with sand paper, files and sanding sticks made from gluing sand paper to flat tooth picks.

 

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by bcochran

[yvesvidal]

Great job. Now, you need to source small sheets of thin mahogany to finish the hull, in a similar way to Sea Goddess.

 

Yves

[bcochran]

If anyone looked at my Cutty Sark build and my Robert E Lee build, you may have picked up the fact that I like to learn the history of the models I am building.

 

So with that in mind I bought the book, "The legend of Chris Craft" by Jeffrey L. Rodengen.

Edited November 21, 2022 by bcochran

[bcochran]

The final coat of dull red on the bottom of the hull.

[bcochran]

3 hours ago, yvesvidal said:

Great job. Now, you need to source small sheets of thin mahogany to finish the hull, in a similar way to Sea Goddess.

 

Yves

That is a good idea Yves.  I am going with the black hull version, like the kit box shows.  The black hulled Constellations that I have seen pictures of had a black transom.

[bcochran]

I am experimenting with some artist's oils to create a stained wood effect for the decks.

 

I first sprayed Tamiya "wooden deck tan" paint on a sheet of styrene, then used burnt sienna and burnt umber artist's oils streaked on randomly with a small paint brush.  I use turpenoid to thin the oil paint in small plastic storage cups.

Edited November 22, 2022 by bcochran