Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

Hi, just a short report abut the upgrade of Paradise... The original Paradise is suitable for very low winds only. In case of stroger winds (4-5 kts and more) it is almost impossible to control her, she lives her own life at the water, turning herself, laying down etc...

When analysing the problem and after some tests I found that:

1) The rudder is too small (38 sq. cm only) - I made a new one, approx. twice as large as the original one (78 sq. cm)

2) The bulb is too light and poorly designed. The original ballast is made from the iron stick, covered and formed to a "bulb" by a lot of plastic/plyester cover. The weight of the bulb is 350 g, but, as the volume of the bulb is apporx. 100 cubic cm, the effective weight is only about 250 grams (!!!). I cut off the old bulb from the keel and used it as a model to make a gypsum form. Then I made a new, lead bulb, with the same diameter, but a little bit shorter, with the weight of 780 g and volume some 70 cubic cm, so the effective weight is more than 700 g (almost 3 times more than the original one). The new bulb is fixed to the old keel by epoxide adhesive.

After those changes the Paradise became completely different boat, perectly controllable (my 8 years old son has no problem to sail her as his first sailboat), tested till now in winds up to 10-12 kts without any signs of troubles known from before.

3) It was necessary to add seal to both main and rudder cover - I made it from self-adhesive, 2mm window seal.


Sorry for my "English" as well as for using European units, but I hope it can help to all who bought Paradise and who has the same troubles with her as I had...

PS: Thanks to [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/community/profile.cfm?section=profile&forum=1&memid=302154]LARRYDS[/link] for some suggestions and mail support :-)

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

Ofranek,

I had to make a bulb similar to yours for my Blackhawk 24.

You can have a better looking and more Hydrodinamic unit doing the following.

1) Sand it for a smoother finish.

2) Paint it with aerosol paint the color you like.

3) Cover it with a layer of epoxy for a brighter look and ultra smooth finished surface. Let it dry with the longuitudinal axis of the bulb in a vertical position to get an even depth of the epoxy layer.

Hope it helps.

Have fun

Luis

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

Many thanks, the finish will be the nexts step now :-) but I was so impatient and wanted to test hes as soon as possible :-))

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

The final look of the bulb :-)

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

Great job my friend!! You should be proud. Keeping this one in my favorites so that I can mod mind someday.

Larry

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

So some more experience with "updated" Paradise - 16kts wind (gusting up to 22 kts): works fairly well, just under the tailwind gusts goes nose down :-) but 20 kts is really more than one can expect :-)

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

What did the extra ballast do to the floatation? Is there enough hull displacement to leave a good margin?

Also, has anyone tried to make better sails for this boat? The stock ones seem to be flat sheets. I would expect some serious gains in performance with properly contoured ones.

Finally, what about vang adjustments? Is looser better, or how do you know how to set it?

I am a total newbie at this, being an airplane type all my life. Are there books or magazines that anyone can recommend?

Thanks, Larry Renger (Designman)

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

The pics look great! I've had this boat for awhile now and suffered some of the same problems. I'm not going for speed or anything so I zip-tied an 8oz. lead fishing weight to the bottom of the bulb. It's fixed many of the handling issues and I haven't had it dip down into the water like Ofranek even in gusty weather, though it may tip over a bit more than his.

I didn't have to seal the top hatches but ended up having to seal around the rudder and the keel to keep it from leaking. I've had the same bit of petroleum jelly around those parts for almost 2 years without leakage.

Alas, the rudder is terribly small and I have no idea how I'd go about making a larger one. Any suggestions?

Wish I could help you out Larry, but I'm an airplane guy too. Half of my strings broke when adjusting the sails so I'm not sure if I'm anywhere close to rig at this point.

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

Hi, I bought this boat 4 yrs ago when I was getting into rc planes. I have lots of rc experience but no sailing. I sailed it 4 yrs ago and it wasn't bad but I have nothing to compare to (1st sail boat, 1st time sailing).

I saw this thread recently and am trying some mods to have a go again.

My boat from factory had the rudder cocked to one side (that's how I sailed it BTW) so I cut part off the plastic insert and glued in a chunk of brass to sraighten up the rudder.

I made the rudder larger. I cut out 2 rudder shapes out of sheet brass, slightly curved them around the original rudder (one on one side one on the other), then I joined the 2 brass pieces together by soldering just the edges on 3 sides leaving a hole at the top. Then I pressed the original rudder in between the pieces sandwiching it in. Then I epoxied the gaps at the top.

I do not want to mess with melting lead etc. so I srewed on an 8oz fishing weight to the bottom, hope this will be ok?

I will run it with my old radio, a DX 6 and ar6000 rx.

I want to run a 3s 1000mah and I already have it set up with a UBEC to step the power done to 6 volts.

Can anyone tell me a guess on how much sailing time I can get off the 3s 1000 25c?

I realize this is not a very good boat by other readings and such, but I have it, I paid a lot for it and I may as well give it a go to see if I enjoy sailing as much as I do flying.

Any tips are welcome to a noob sailor, but I don't want to put any money into it, just see if I like sailing and then move on to a better craft.

Cheers

Brent

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

how did you get that bulb off? I want to do the same and make a plaster mold so I can pour a new one from lead.

Thanks

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

I just picked up one of these in a trade. Never sailed before. I tried it today. I see why it needs a bigger rudder. I'm finishing up my rudder modification now. Just need to finish primer and sanding. Then finish paint. I made mine larger by wrapping a layer of fiberglass and resin around it. Then cut out the shape to start working with.

Here is a pic.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...i/6a14fa3f.jpg

I've replaced the servos because they were corroded with some better stronger ones.
Also added flotation inside the hull just incase it takes on a bunch of water in a worst case senerio. I mean the thing has a weight on the bottom. It would sink for sure if the hull filled with water.
I also noticed the setup the manual shows you is missing a step on how to hook lines up. And seems to be important to how the sails open equally.
I sprayed something similar to corrosion x on all the electronics so they should be protected.

I may end up making a new weight for the bottom. But first will try stick on weights to see how beneficial it is. I fig if I like sailing and this my first sail boat. I may just skip all the extra work and get a new boat.

Other than that I'm excited to set sail again. It's a nice little relaxing change from my FE boats.

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

Hi guys,
I have an Aquacraft Paradise and I find it quite ejoyable now that I have done the rudder, bulb mods, outhaul additions and went to a line adjustable boom vang instead of the rod...it's so much faster to adjust. I also lowered the sails to just above the booms. Not a bad little boat after you monkey with it a while.

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

ofranek
Really enjoyed your pictures, especially theone with your boat making like a submarine. Bow diving is going to happen to most boats at one time or another. Even the big boys dig the bow in heavy weather.
This boat was not designed for 18+ knots but looks like she was hanging in there.

Just a thought - you might try pulling the mast back a tad with the back stay to see if that will help keep her bow up. Another consideration might be to add small amounts of weight to the aft end - this helps on some boats as their CGoften favors the front of the boat.

We use very small segmented weights to get the correct CG on RC aircraft - they are sold at most hobby shops that sell rc aircraft. I have used them successfully on a Seawind and a Nirvana to get a little better trim angle the boats.

I posted a picture of the weights and of an install on a Nirvana for your reference. I get the weights here in the states from Tower Hobbies, here is a link to them. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK204
The weights have adhesive on one side, so it's a very easy to install them. Takes a few trys to get it right but it worked for these boats. Just a thought..................

Nice job on the up grades. I think you'll find many of the production boats can be improved upon, and after all, that is part of the fun! http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...wink_smile.gif

There is a very active sailboat forum you guys might enjoy checking out = rcgroups.com It has the most active sailboat section I have found. Check it out.

Enjoy
Boomer

RE: Aquacraft Paradise - modifications
 

<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ofranek,

After doing my mods, especially the 680 gram keel bulb, and the easily adjustable boom vang/kicker that adjusts with a bowsie, I got pretty much the same results as you up to around 18knots of wind. The only time I got nose dive was running with the wind at+16knots. It handled everything else beautifully. Your info and photos really helped me a great deal. Thanks for your expertise. Now the little 26 inch Paradise is an enjoyable sailing experience!

Bud
</span></span>