20 Posts
15 Followers
185 Likes
Billings Banckert
Hi yโall. Iโve temporarily put the Antje aside for reasons that I stated in the build blog and started on a Billings Banckert. I originally bought the kit for a very good price off EBay ( yes that still happens!!), then added it to my stash. I havenโt had it long when one of my โtrading partnersโ, Fred, started eyeballing it. Long story short he had it about a year, decided to thin out his stash, and brought the Banckert along with 2 other kits I had traded him and made a trade back for a kit I had in my possessionโฆ.so I decided to start her before she got traded again!!
Nowโฆitโs a Billings kit. Good quality parts, nice laser cutting, good brass, slightly confusing instructions with hardly any measurements or written details. Itโs like my Taucher, you just have to think a few steps ahead. Unlike the Taucher, the kits parts are marked with drill holes and the like, so each step, from what I can tell, Billings wants you to dry fit the parts and see how they fit in relation to each other..which you should do anyway, but their kits seem to be engineered to encourage this. Now, there is no suggestions on power, battery, etc..there is a box fwd of the fwd bulkhead for the receiver. Thatโs it. Also, no useable tiller nor is there mention of one. So here goes
The first thing I did was to cut out the hull and deck, making careful note of what to leave via the pics in the manual. I then added the floor, 2 bulkheads, and the stuffing box support. I then tackled the stuffing box and the rudder/ Kort nozzle setup. The Kort nozzle is suppose to be held in place with 1 screw and the bottom shoe. The rudders are May of ply halves that youโre supposed to grind away enough material to allow room for the rudder shaft. I did mine out of layered balsa, sanded and lightly glassed them. I then decided, fatefully, to build the whole assembly up and bond every thing in place..this necessitated having the prop installed, as it will be a real pain to replace with the whole works glued togetherโฆhowever, if I damage that prop itโll probably mean the Kort nozzles toast too, so there that.
I decided to use an old Hitec HS81mg for the helm, as it has enough torque for the job and has metal gears too. Itโs also in a semi bad place, but where it sits I have a straight shot to the tiller, and works perfectly. Power is being handled by a HobbyWing 30 amp brushless esc and a 28 mm 880kv motor. I made a ply/plastic mount out of scrap. Iโll have good access to the motor, tiller, and electronics, the servo will likely be a little hard to get to but not impossible, and the prop/Kort/rudders have โno user serviceable partsโ
Thats where Iโm at now. I have to make sure I get my battery setup just right as the fwd hatch is narrow, so my choice of battery might be a little limited, but I have options. After thatโs all completed, and if I feel I have enough room to easily ballast the boat with the deck on, then my next step is to secure the deck to the hull.
Cash
๐บ๐ธ Cashrc
3 days ago
2 Posts
4 Followers
12 Likes
Building a Scale Model "Springer" push boat
Many of us have seen or heard of the "Springer" push boat (a.k.a., tug, truckable boat, etc.). Most of them are not scale models but still built to the enjoyment of the owner.
This blog deals with how I build "Springers" to look like a scale model of some real boats. I will deal with some of the issues as well as ideas for searching for you own "scale model Springer".
Follow this blog as I build my latest "Springer", a US Army Corps of Engineers truckable push boat working at the Little Goose Dam in Washington State where it moves river debris to the "stoplog" gates.
Lew
Florida, USA
Here is the introduction video:
https://youtu.be/bZZJOWAsU0Y
๐บ๐ธ LewZ
4 days ago
2 Posts
6 Followers
6 Likes
Veron Titan Tug
I'm looking for a copy of the Veron Titan Tug drawing. It is more a building guide and a top and side elevation that a drawing. My late father build it in the 1960's and it survived until 2012 when he passed away. It then disappeared.
๐ฌ๐ง EdW
11 days ago
3 Posts
2 Followers
4 Likes
Bismark
This model is a kit of some sort it has a few issues with putting it on the water the top comes off in one bit
so I have put the build as follows
1/ The hull is minus every thing inside I am not sure if I need to add more compartments
its float test was not good its top heavy
2/ Props
๐ฌ๐ง Stephen T
13 days ago