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I first became interested in RC sailboats when an acquaintance of mine let me try some of his out. I was also interested in catamarans, so I searched the net for model kits. Didn't have much luck at first and I even considered building from scratch, but I couldn't figure out how to build the hulls in a way that was within my modeling skills. Finally I found the Wild Cat at Victor Model Products (not to be confused with Victory Models). The Wild Cat kit is the boat only, you have to buy a transmitter, a receiver, and some servos (the mechanical gadgets that actually move the rudder and sheets) separately. This being my first RC project, it was back to the net for some research (yes, I think the Internet is the greatest thing since sliced bread).
After learning a little about what is involved, I went back to the Victor website to look again at what they offered (Victor doesn't give you much help in this area). I could have purchased this gear anywhere, but Victor's prices were reasonable so I chose to order the Option II radio-servo package. I picked this mostly to get a beefier sail servo, and I'm glad I did as I don't think the smaller rudder servo would not have been up to the job. If you go to "Accessories Radios" on the main page of the Victor site, you will see this:
| Option II | |
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This package includes the features of the Option I radio package except one of the HS311 servos is replaced by the powerful HS 755 Quarter Scale servo for a sail winch. This unit is fitted with Karbonite gears for super long lasting service. The servo is rated at 183 in oz torque at 6VDC and is ideal for models up to the Avalon in size |
After it arrived, I found that the radio package was all from HiTec and consisted of:
Ranger 2N Transmitter
HP - 2RNB Receiver
HS - 311 Rudder Servo
HS - 755HB Sail Servo
Of course, batteries are not included. Everything runs on AA's so you could just use disposables; I chose to use rechargeable, so I also ordered Victor's battery kit. The nice thing about the charger that comes with the batteries is that it has plugs for both the transmitter and the boat batteries. Again, you find this in "Accessories Radio".
| Ni-Cad | |
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rechargeable batteries for the above HITEC R/C units includes installed transmitter batteries (set of 8), assembled receiver pack (4 cell) and a dual charger for simultaneous charging of both battery sets. |
So, order the whole thing online, wait a week or so and a big box arrives. Open up the box and you see:
This is what the battery kit looks like:
Whenever I buy something like this, I check the parts list against the contents, and, sure enough, a few bits are missing. I emailed Victor with a list of what I was missing, and in about 3 days I received another package with all the missing parts. Wow! You just have to love a vendor that does things right! Thank you George at Victor Models.
Then I read the assembly manual (which is pretty good) to see what tools and other materials would be needed. I had most of what I would need, but nevertheless had to make a run to the hardware store to buy this stuff:
Now I did one more pass on the assembly manual before I started and I found something I didn't like. It was the way the rudders mounted to the hulls. Looked way too fragile to me, so I thought for a bit and decided to try to find a way to mount them with some kind of hinge that would allow me to remove the rudders. Another trip to Ace and I had this stuff: You'll see a bunch of screw eyes in the top of the photo - the kit supplies these but they are all ferrous. Wherever I could, I replaced ferrous metal parts with either brass or stainless steel.
Enought already - time to build something