This project started as a result of building the Amati 1/10th version, I ran out of room in that hull to add the functionality I had in mind. But I did have the plans, the tools and so this one is twice the size, started November 2021 and not yet finished. 172cm LOA and a beam of 54cm, weight at the moment is around 25kg with a theoretical/scale limit of 32kg, but I'd rather not go there.

Propulsion is from two Overlander T5065 320kv Outrunners driving 7015 three bladed (Prop Shop - fast scale) propellers via custom built exposed 5mm shafts. Two 8,000mah 6S Lipos for main power, one 4,000mah 4S LiPo for the electronics. Construction is lime planking over birch ply frames followed by mahogany planking. Epifanes high gloss varnish, 12 / 15 thinned coats, flattened and polished. All fittings being hand made mainly in brass that will in time be chromed. This build is getting the full treatment and I suppose that's why I'm nearly 5 years in and don't see the finish line... It's been on the water on a couple of occasions this year as tests of the main systems and engineering of the mounts and shafts, a few tweaks here and there but essentially runs well.

Given the extra room in this hull I'm aiming for authentic behaviour where possible so there are features like:

- Currently running two Arduino Pro Mini based sound systems built for the 1/10th, but moving to custom ESP32 based sound systems for each of the V8s. Recordings sampled from an Aquarama V8 motor during startup / rough idle / 1000rpm / 2000 rpm / 3000 rpm and shutdown. Port and stbd 'motor' uses a different set of samples. Crossfades, pitch, inertia, siren, tx volume control, built and tested on the bench, to be integrated. (Used some AI coding support for this part of the project..!) The rough idle of dual V8s is an awesome sound. Each sound system has its own amplifier, a 20w speaker and 20w Audio exciter attached to the hull.
- Watercooled motor mounts with rubber bobbin mounts to isolate motors from the hull, similarly the ESCs are isolated from the hull (I really don't like the brushless whine!). Custom three part couplings (Kali type), thrust bearings for forward and astern to avoid any thrust reaching motors.
- Water pump varies flow by motor speed, and is synched to motor sounds.
- Dual vapour system using misting discs and fans being built, synced to motors.
- Dashboard gauges perform full sweep on startup before registering true values for port and starboard motor speed (tachos), LiPo cell voltage monitored (voltmeters and 'fuel'), temperature monitoring and active ventilation (temperature), GPS derived speed (speedo).
- Steering wheel is active, as is the 'throttle' and gearshifts, they drive the skippers articulated hands / arms.
- 200rpm Vibration motor to simulate engine cranking during startup.
- Shafts controlled independently for low speed manouvering.
- Separate MP3 player loaded with 'La Dolce Vita' playlist... Well why not..!

The above and other bits are controlled by nine onboard Arduino Pro Mini units and various sensors. They and the ESP32s are all synchronised by an 'arming' signal coming from one toggle switch on the Tx. This allows the boat systems to be powered up, but not active. They go active on command and the boat appears to start its 'engines', port followed by starboard, but then go inactive also on command, so gauges slew to zero, sounds wind down (starboard then port), water pump slows and stops, rather than a hard power off.

The project has turned into a real challenge, but there are so many areas to work on that I'm not getting bored, yet. Great to have reached the stage of seeing her under power too. I'm new to the forum but please let me know if a build blog / progress updates would be of interest going forward.

Regards to all.
David.