[Predator]

Well, while Uncle G’s aerial video was quite spectacular (as aerial videos usually are) the venue was wrong (certainly not the canal we know & love) and overall I would join with Bodge in giving Kermit my vote.

It was quite an artistic effort from our sick little frog however I must agree with one comment (from one that shall remain nameless) that the shot of the sewer stormwater discharging did take away from the overall ambiance and would have better been left out. Same for the finishing shot of the rubbish treebranch stuck in the mud.

Other than that I thought the clips through the trees & grasses were a nice touch.

Hope you got written permission to include the kids in your video though, you know how much of a stickler for political correctness YouTube has become of late.

Just my thruppence worth!!

[Predator]

Hoppy, you are a game man nominating anyone before ALL the days entries are in.

Don’t want to get the little Green Frog offside !!

[Predator]

Great to see a couple of new boats this week.

Very nice indeed.

Thanks Uncle G.

[Predator]

Thanks Mr Moose, I’m on a bit of a roll at the moment & its going well.  Hopefully I’ll get it masked up tomorrow morning then get the paint on when I get back from visiting the Covid Clinic for my second AZ shot.

If painting doesn’t happen tomorrow then it will need to wait till Friday as hopefully we are all flying on Thursday.

I am assuming we will see you @ the field on Thursday with your collection of planes.

[Predator]

After walking the dog it was time to get a bit more done on Double Trouble today.

Motors & electronics were removed (yet again) just to make life a little easier.

The lower hull was then spotted, sanded and cleaned (several times) ready for primer tomorrow. I will only need to paint to the waterline as the gel coat finish on the rest of the hull is very good and after a bit of effort cleaning today she looks like new.

In between spotting & sanding I managed to get some of the vinyl lettering done (to replace the paper signs that have been in place temporarily  since August 2013 – not bad for paper, ink-jet printed & covered with clear tape).

First time I’ve tried double printing (two colours) and whilst it came out OK it really was a lot of fiddling to get right .

 

The Blue & the Black Shadow – cut separately

Colour overlaid on the shadow – ready to apply

Ah, the joys of modelling.

[Predator]

Yes Moose, its finally underway again.

Whilst this winter has generally been fairly mild it has knocked me about a bit health wise.  At least it’s got me motivated to get all these outstanding projects finished while I’m still upright !!

Still got 3 more yachts to finish once this is done, the 1/5 fuelie Dune Buggy still needs the clutch fixed before our next West Coast trip, the Drift Car needs a rebuild & the list goes on.

[Predator]

I have one here that I used a bit of for the bumper on the Ragazza during the IOM conversion.

From memory the pair of thongs (flip-flop type) cost a whole $2.00 at Big W so it’s probably cheaper to buy a pair than drive out here to pick it up.

[Predator]

Sorry about the late reply Tug, to be honest the weather over winter so far (apart from the last week) has been pretty decent for winter. We haven’t been missing too many flying or sailing trips and most days I still manage a 3k or 4k walk with Pyro.

He does like a nap in sun when we get back though.

Anyway looks like the “Double Trouble” project is back on track – well for a little while anyway.

[Predator]

After a fair bit of hunting around to find all the bits & pieces (after all it is 4 years since she was stripped down) the work is finally under way.

Cooling tube holes have been epoxied over and had a light coat of spot putty applied so the hull is now ready for paint preparation.  After another quick rub down & tidy up, a coat of primer followed by spray putty on any rough spots then a final primer and several top coats.

I was going for deep blue originally for the underwater area but as I have black in stock methinks it may end up black below the waterline.

Motors & ESC’s have been temporarily installed and the alignment looks OK. Once the drive couplings turn up final alignment can be set & the electronics permanently installed.

    

I’ve opted to install the ESC’s in the cabin area (below floor level) so there is plenty of room in the rear for batteries & video gear etc.

[Predator]

You will usually find colours are much more vibrant over a light coloured primer, either white or light grey usually work best.

Polyurethane over the cardboard first should seal it OK, also a thin coat of bondcrete works well (and is far cheaper) to seal cardboard, timber, foam etc.

[Predator]

Just about a day for D rigs by the look of it. !!

[Predator]

Looking good Ron, it will appear to be perfect in the air.

[Predator]

Today it’s time to start again on “Double Trouble”

I have finally managed to source the correct universal joint couplings (5mm x 4mm) to connect the new brushless motors to the propshafts.  No doubt they will take a few weeks to arrive from downtown China so in the meantime I’ll remove all the watercooling pickups & outlets that were fitted to cool the brushed motors that were fitted when the Outboards were first removed.

                      

The brushless ESC’s are aircooled (fan assisted) and the motors are so oversized that they barely get warm so no additional cooling is required.

Inlet & outlet pipes have been removed so next job is to fibreglass all the holes then the bottom of the hull & the rudders can be painted.

Also need to manufacture a timber stand for storage & display purposes.

[Predator]

Thanks Mr Moose, it’s still not quite right but its getting closer.

I tilted the mast forward a bit today so see what happens next sailing day.

[Predator]

Another quality video there Uncle G, thanks.

[Author]

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