My RC boat is almost finished! I got the rudder installed and I just finished installing the stuffing tube, shaft, and motor. I now just have to get a battery to use and then I’ll try ‘er out!

To mount the stuffing tube to the boat I drilled two holes in the center of the boat about 1-1/2″ apart. I then connected cut out the piece of plastic that was in between the two holes. The stuffing tube was then just slid through this slot in the hull with the oil port facing upward. I then used a large amount of hot glue to hold the stuffing tube in place and make the hull watertight. I then removed the rudder to slide the shaft into the stuffing tube. When I got the shaft into the stuffing tube I marked where the end of the shaft comes to on the inside of the boat. I did this so I would know where the motor needed to be mounted.

To build the motor mount I took a piece of steel stock that was about 1/32″ thick and cut a rectangle out of it about 1-1/4″ x 2″. I mounted my motor to this steel rectangle and then to the boat. The first thing I did to the rectangle was cut a slot from one end about 1/5″ – 3/4″ long for the shaft to slide down into. Then I marked the holes where the bolts will go that will hold the motor to the steel rectangle and drilled them out. After bending a less-than-90° angle in the metal, I mounted the motor to the steel bracket and the hotglued it in place on the boats hull. At this point I stuck the rubber gas line onto the boat’s shaft and then shoved it onto the motor’s pinion gear.

The boat is pretty much finished. I hooked up the electronics (I ran a servo extension to the servo and plugged the motor into the ESC) and it is now ready for testing! . . . I just need a battery. When I get a battery I’ll post how the testing went, and hopefully get some video of it in my pool or in a pond or at the lake. Stay tuned!

Again, I guess I got too busy working on the boat that I forgot to take pictures. So here are the ones I do have. . . .