RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Tea and fish and chips, eh? Most of my friends in the UK, from my other hobby, seem to get together for a pint and curry.

Bill</p>

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

hi captains after my arm fell off i put it back on and got the very first coat of primer on

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

sorry about the bad pix

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Russell - Welcome and wow that's a good looking and fine running model you've got there. Only took 18 months and your first build, WOW!

DS - Very nice work as usual!

Bob - I don't see thousands of video icons in my subscription. Not sure what the deal is.

Rich - I'm excited about your weekend test runs!

All - I think I'm finished with this version of the radar. Guess it's a semi-sorta-kinda version of the military-looking radar she had in the stock pic. Not the detail or rotating dish I wanted, but it'll do (unless my toddler gets his hands on it again) :). There wasn't room on this radar tower for the cup anemometer. I may mount that next to the spot light temporarily since I really think it is a cool detail.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

WOW Dauntlessfan!!

The radar mast came out beautiful!!! http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...ades_smile.gif

-Rich.</p>

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

<font size="3">Russell - Welcome!  Enjoyed your video, nice looking Dauntless.  Upload some pics when you cna for a closer look at a fine boat.

DF - I used IE and did not have all those icons.  It seems to be unique with Firefox and it didn't have anything to do with the amount of time it took to load RCU pages.  I like the look of your "rebuilt" radar.  I'm sure you'll figure out the anemometer in due course.

DS - I see another excellent Dauntless on the way! :)</font>

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Hi rblubaugh
Im off to spain on monday when I come back 2 weeks time will put some pics on including the seagull on the stern .

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Hi Dauntlessfan,

The anemeter went in two places at different points in history.

I found that the radar mast also went through three noticable changes over the years. Your mast has the strongest look of the (version 1) where the anemeter was located on the front of the triangle platformat the back of the awning. It looks like the little piece that you cut off in the front of the triangle would be exactly where it would have gone. Possibly a little extension on the front there would be a good place to put it. Note it on the stock Dauntless photo.

-Rich.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Hi Bill &amp; Dauntlessfan,

I want your input.. Can you guys estimate the size of the three storage compartment doors in the aft (lazarette) cockpit facing the transom? This is the area where I have the speaker. My Dauntless info is scattered on various CD's and not on my computer.

Possibly if we can get an agreement on the size then we all can add the detail without inconsistencies. I'm sure at some point both of you will end up tackling that detail whether they are static for working. I need the doors to be removable to let out the sound when the boat is running.

Thanks.

-Rich.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

The only placeI have seen a photo of them is in the video on the beach. I can say the middle door is smaller than the ones on each side and there is more clearance between the top of the doors to the aft deck than below. I doubtI will be adding them and if soI am not worrying about the scale. Everything on my boat is measured by eyeball! :)

Bill

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

I made those three doors a while ago. But never put them on because the wood I used was too thick, and I had rounded the corners too much that they looked out of place to me. Same for the cabinet doors on the main deck walls on each side of the jump seat (Rich already has these added). I'll check my notes and screen grabs of the boat's final walk-thru and see what I did to come up with the dimensions since I need to make a new set anyway.;)

On the video there was also an access hatch on the floor of the lazarette I think to get at the rudder linkages. Maybe another detail to model and let sound through?

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Okay Rich, adjusting for the slight dimension differences between Big D and Dumas D, here's what I came up with as a middle ground:

Cabinet door height (ALL) = 7/8"
Center door width = 1 1/4"
Outer doors width = 1 3/4"

I quickly cut and taped up a set from craft foam so you can see how this looks as compared to screenshots I pulled from the final Big D walk-thru on UTube.

And a few questions in red if anyone can answer those [8D].

Now I'm off to add that newly discovered trim piece... tonight's 15 minute project!

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

ebay item 280955050361

Bill

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Hi Dauntlessfan,

Thank you so much for this info!! You are the man!!

Hi Bill,

That is actually a really nice looking Dauntless!!

-Rich.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Added the guy wire that supported the 360 nav light on the radar mast. Used 24 gauge solid wire. Only took a few minutes and adds a feel of intracacy to the radar tower[8D].

And added the second trim piece to the stern wall as promised.

Finally, getting around to painting the recently rebuilt main cabin windshield area white as well. It's taking several coats to cover the grey and not show brush streaks for some resaon but I think my patience will be worth it in the end.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Very nice work Dauntlessfan!!

Last night I worked until 2:30 am finishing up the mounting &amp; wiring. This moment I am finally running the motors in break in mode. Afterwards it's off to tuning the motors to shafts, recharge the batteries &amp; off to the pond for sea trials.

-Rich.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

HI Rich
Good luck with your sea trials I will send some photos when I come back from Spain in 2 weeks time
Russell

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

WELL....<span style="font-size: larger">WELL......<span style="font-size: small">WELL.......<span style="font-size: medium">WELL.......<span style="font-size: large">WELL????

<span style="font-size: smaller">Bill</span></span></span></span></span></p>

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Thanks Russell, Have fun in Spain!!

Hi captains,

Today sea trials resumed but this time with the Astroflight 25's. Do I start with the bad or the good?? Lets take the good...For one, she runs a lot faster than with the Krokers. I am happy with the speeds I am getting out of her. I think this is a big plus!!

The bad, she still runs hot but I can work on that. I need to pick up a new pair of external fans for one but I also need to find ways to better tune the motor to shaft coupler assembly in the same fashion as I did when the Krokers were aboard. Also I think slightly smaller props will also help too.

Here is where it gets worse. Perhaps someone here knows of a fix for this: The starboard motor has a #10 stamped on it whereas the other doesn't. I assumed that it was a quality control stampso I never paid it any mind. The other motor doesn't have one. Anyway I noticed that this motor refuses to turn on it's own. I have to spin the coupler by hand in order toget it to turn over. I spent a lot of time on this and it is also a problem even if the motor is not connected to a coupler. This is a red flag. So when I run the boat I have to hand turn it in order to get it started. A problem is that when the throttle is thrown into neutral it is now a dead motor.

The vids &amp; pics were taken just before I brought the boat in &amp; the batt's were drained. Also note that the stance has changed on the boat with the heavier motors installed.

Does anyone have an idea why this is happening? Astroflight will get a call...I hope they will not turn their backs on me because I'm just starting to use them after having them for a few years.

I was preoccupied on driving, photographing and videoing, but I think the other watercooling might now be working...

-Rich.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Looks good in the stills, Rich. no video?

Does that motor do the same in reverse? How about also swich Esc leads to be sure it is the motor. I would also try taking everything off the motor terminals and just try jumpers from a battery. one last thought could be a weak brush spring.

Bill

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Vid is uploading now. It will be a couple of hrs before it's up..but it will be done tonight.

Two bloopers in the vids. The onboard vid I struck an underwater object, just some scratches to the rudder...

The other I was holding the camera and running the boat...I almost ran out of water in the end... http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...bout_smile.gifhttp://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...ssed_smile.gifhttp://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...sn/biggrin.gif

I reversed the leads and the same thing...I will try jumping it from the batt...

-Rich,

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Hi captains,

Here are the vids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a169UyNcVQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4xOHkEmP5U

-Rich.

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Rich your boat looks lean-n-mean out there on the water, I'm impressed with the speed! Thanks for posting pics and vids.

On that motor have you removed the brushes to make sure they're seated correctly, or the springs like Bill mentioned?

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Rich, those really out perform the Krokers! They also seem even quieter which I didn't think was possible. If the problem isthe motor than I would think it would be in the brush/commutator area. BUT be sure to rule out the esc. A possibility is it is not sending enough starting current.

Bill

RE: the unofficial home of the dumas dauntless
 

Thanks guys I will be sure to check out the motor further to rule out the little stuff...Hopefully that is all it is..

These motors are FAST!! I cannot stress it enough!! What you guys seen here was after the LIPO's were run down. I did the videos as the last hurrah before I packed it up.

With fully charged LIPOS out the gate she took off like a thoroughbred, she was lean, mean and really performed how I envisioned the boat to be. Now that I have the speed I want I will go through it and fine tune it to be perfectly reliable.

The next video I do shewill be when she is fully charged.

She is getting there!!

-Rich.