Brent, I would be happy to help, but are you able to send a picture or drawing of the area you want me to measure?

Bvanter,
I was able to get the cabin and cockpit sides measurements right. Thanks anyways for the help. Will post pictures soon.

Ok...no problem, I just added some details to the tower, lower and upper cabin decks...let me know if you want me to post any pics of specific areas

Bvanter - - please post the updated pictures. Always nice to see what is new.

I took some onboard video from my tugboat (thanks to the help of Kmot) today at Hansen Dam - - different perspective of the boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWWgu841m2E

Pictures below.

u163665....she looks great in the water, I will take some pics tonight or in the morning, and post them tomorrow. I tried viewing the video, but it was still in process.

Posting a couple pics per u163665's request:

Here ya go....some updated detail added to the cabin and tower

I have to do 3 pics at a time....RCU can't handle the large pic files

3 more

This what we dream about, and hope to have one day!!

Bvanter,

Your Donzi is coming along very nicely. I love all the details. Is it too late in the season to put it in the water? I imagine it is - - something to look forward to come spring.

365 boating days a year here. In case you have not seen Kmot's video post of the Donzi in action - - here it is. Great video (ok - - I am slightly biased here).

http://media.putfile.com/Donzi-With-Outriggers

Bvanter,
Awesome job!!!! I just hope mine turns out half as good as yours. Great job again.

Bvanter,

Water cooling. After running the boat last Thursday, I have decided to add water cooling to the motors (in addition to the fan cooling). I am going with the new silicone "water cooling jackets" available at offshoreelectrics.com - - - certainly pricey at $20.99 each! I think the price is justified as I have seen how well a similar water cooling system works with my supervee 27 brushless motor. Incredible cooling performance.

I have a couple of questions for you. First - how noticeable is the water flow out of the side of the boat while you are running? Do you think the water flow is adequate? Also, why did you choose to run both water lines on just one side of the boat? Scale look? Lastly, I am debating about where to drill the water intake valves. Any specific reason you chose to install your intake valves where you did?

Thanks for your help.

-Matt

Hey Matt. To answer your first question....the water flow out the side of the boat looks very realistic as she runs. I mounted the exit ports about 2 inches above the water line. However the water flow could be better, and I believe this is directly attributed to where the intakes are mounted. I have seen many posts on proper location, but I feel it all depends on your specific hull. Unfortunately it may take a little trial and error to get the "sweet spot". I am actually about to move the intakes just behind the props...which is the most popular application.

I am also playing with the idea of installing a pump to also cool the motors and ESC when they boat is at rest.

Please share any findings on this...thanks

Thanks. I want to install the water intakes behind the props, just that I fear the longer distance the water has to travel from the intake to the motor. The longer the distance, the less effective the water cooling (unless with a pump of course). I am leaning towards installing a water outlet on each side of the boat (the side closest to each motor). I will keep you posted on the results - - please do the same.

wow, its been a while since i was last here......bvanter, you shure have made some progresswith the build......after some time thinking, i am either going to get the donzi, or one of the cat or vee hulls from exrpresscraft.......but i am currently leaning toward the donzi after lookign at the price of a good zen or QD.........

as for the cooling exits, on the full scale tournament fisherman, or boat like it, the water exits are about 10" or about and inch or so in the scale verson, from the waterline.......

the water intakes work best when behind the prop, more waterflow, but if you are using a pump, they could be anyware that water touches the hull when at any speed.

also, if you had a pump, could the water exit be anywhere, even underwater?? because the force of the water being moved by the pump would not let water go back in the exit....

has anyone tried to mount a small, scale looking dinghy on the front deck??
there is nothing there, and this would also bring attention to the empty spac up front......

another question, what kind of battery does the donzi take?? the large cells with long runtimes or the regular sub c and 7.2v batterys?

ive noticed that when turning or at mid speed, the water being displaced at the bow would rise over the deck and make it seem less scale, how would you eliminate this??

well, christmas is getting close, and it looks liek this will be my christmas present.

bvanter, how did you make the seats on the second level of the superstructure?? and are you using the wooden dowels or the meatal rods??

also, is the hull on the donzi fiberglass or ABS plastic??

ive seen differnt add's on the same boat, but some list fiberglass or ABS for the hull material.

saleens7, I have been looking for the dinghy, but haven't found the right scale.

The chairs were scratch made using styrene plastic for the frames, and balsa for the cushions.

The tower super structure including the tower bridge was made of Styrene rod or tubing. I found this much stronger and resistant to impact that wooden dowels, and also easier to work with than aluminum tubing. If you go that route be sure to use the correct bonding solvent ( CA is not the way to go ) . The correct solvent actually melts the plastic styrene at the points of contact...which allows the plastic to become one piece.

I used Tamiya plastic spray paint...which also bonds to the plastic in the same way

My hull is fiberglass...which was purchased a few years ago. I heard that Dumas is migrating their hulls to ABS....however I couldn't even find the Donzi kit on the Dumas site.

i found the ABS hull on MACK's or something like that......i woul rather get the fiberglass, as its stronger and is better to use......ive also looked into a bow thruster......i know its not neccessary, but it will allow more mobility when docking or going out.....there is a maze of weeds and seaweed around my lake and a bowthruster would almost be neccessary to get around it...

i hope tower still sells the fiberglass hull......ive also noticed the abs hull is a lot cheaper....

is styrene a type of plastic or foam?? i dotn know what it is really....

Styrene is a type plastic...here is a link to Tower's list of Styrene plastic. However most Hobby shops should have a supply.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...=++&search3=Go

what size styrene did you use for the dowels??

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

saleens7...I used 3/16 size for the tower structure . I don't have any of the old packaging, but I believe I took a 3/16 aluminum rod and matched it as close to the Styrene rods

what is that in inches....like .060 or .100 or .165 or something like that???

ok, i just did a calculation.....your 3/16 dowels were .1875 of an inch diameter, so i should find something like .180 ich diameter.....i might also try the dowel inside the stainless steel rod too.......

ok did a quick search.....was it .177" diameter styrene???

Matt,

That Gundert silicone cooling jacket requires you to seal all openings in the motor first. You should consider brush cooling as well. Most of the heat is generated there.