After the running
hardware was installed, I did a tank test. The
tank test serves several useful purposes. Checking
the hull for leaks is an important purpose, but not
necessarily the most important. This model is
inherently top heavy. Buy doing a tank test before
the deck is attached, I can better identify the required
ballast for this model and it's best location in the
hull.
For the test I made a simple tank from 1"x12"s and some
plastic. A trip to my local lumber yard allowed me
to find the needed scraps I needed for a few pennies.
I
had only about 6" of water in the tank. Just
enough to float the hull. Inside the hull I
installed the batteries, motors and other items that
would be installed in the hull. If the items were
not mounted, they were placed approximately in the
location where they would be mounted.
I
used two levels to verify the model was level in the
water. I slowly added ballast to bring the hull
down to 1/8" below the top of the Boot Topping.
For ballast, I used BB's. I arranged the
ballast until I got the hull to sit correctly in the
water using the least amount of ballast. I also
kept the ballast low in the hull. I made a
note of the ballast and it's location in the hull.