5 Posts
11 Followers
38 Likes
IMEX Taurus-from Sport fisherman to police boat toโฆ.police boat?
Hi yโall. Almost 8 years ago I posted a build log on RC Groups where I built and converted an IMEX Taurus Sport Fisherman into a police boat, simply by moving and using the windshield as a fairing, adding a light bar and police decals. It ran good, looked okay, and I gave it to my Daughter Grace who ran it twice and then it sat in my shop till a few months ago. I got it back in the water, and I was surprised at how well it ran and handled. To make a long story short, I received a Fiberglass hull for Vhristmas from Modelmast in Poland. Itโs not a kit, nor is it a very popular subject, but I have to scratch build everything from the deck up including the build. Iโve done simple projects before with plasticard and wood, the most complex thing Iโve done was to build up a superstructure for my PT15 that went overboard on her maiden. Iโve decided that as a warm up, Iโm gonna make the Taurus โPoliceโ boat moreโฆpolicey.
First thing I did was to get rid of the rails, details, etc, in doing so I heard a crack. My glue joint was giving way!! Now, I do use a combo of filled epoxy and ca to build my boats, and Iโve never till this time have had an ABS joint come loose as long as Iโve scuffed the joint and used a good epoxy with a filler. Looking at the failed joint, I realized I used a โplastic epoxyโ and upon further inspection I realized I hadnโt scuffed the joint at all!! I also remembered this boat was knocked Offaly branch during some moving around at least once. Anyway, I cleaned off the old glue, scuffed the joint and rebuked it.
Iโll keep this as short as I can, cause it could get a little confusing. My goal is to make a more modern 2-4 person patrol boat. So I basically googled โpolice boatโ and came up with a design in my head. Didnโt draw a blasted thing till I got to the cabin proper. Now, the original hatch is the entire superstructure, from just forward of the stern all the way to maybe 9 inches from the bow. I built a well deck aft over the rudder linkage using plastic for a bulkhead, some strip wood for support and reinforcement, and made up a hatch in the floor for rudder servo and linkage access. I then started to build my coaming, and halfway into it I realized itโs not going to look right, and my coaming is too short. So I got the Dremel and a cutoff wheel and went to town on the deck. Iโve been off all week, so 3 days later, I have a decently proportioned deck, sub deck/hatch and the start of a modern (to me at least) cabin. Iโll post pics, please be honest and tell me what you think. Remember her, this is NOT a scale boat, itโs the faul of my fevered imagination and Google..
Cash
๐บ๐ธ Cashrc
5 hours ago
15 Posts
15 Followers
127 Likes
NEW GLASS ON FOAM CATAMARAN PROJECT
Started on a 1m catamaran on the weekend as another design as you go project. It will be modelled roughly on the 18' Ron Given (NZ) designed 'Hustler MK2' 'A class' catamaran I restored in 1979, (pics) and so far it's progressing ok. Hull is from three 25mm strips of polystyrene laminated using foam safe contact spray. Laid the 2 blanks on a flat board with 2 4" nails through each to stop them moving, and weighted them down for a day to set.
While waiting, I cut the decks from 5mm ply and shaped the bow sections. When the blanks were dry, I glued the decks on with lots of PVA glue, (which sticks foam well to wood,) and weighted them down with clamps sideways to stop them from moving. Left them for 2 days to set in my warm shed then gave the bows a rough shaping. Next was the fun part, shaping the hulls using a Surform file which creates a major mess with lots of vacuuming needed. The beauty of it is, is that the basic hulls were shaped and tapered (bow to stern) in about an hour. The laminating seams are used as a guide when shaping, plus eyeballing and straightedges.
Today, while the deck sides were still parallel, I set the hulls up in the work table and routed out preliminary spaces through the deck for winch, rudder servo and radio. Tomorrow, I'll hopefully be routering a side taper to the decks, (hulls will taper bow to stern on bottom and sides) The hulls will then have to be refiled to the new shape.
Shaping is done 90% with the Surform, then longboard sanded and hand sanded to the final shape, later to be completely sealed and glassed.
Crossbeams are 12mm ally tube with orange conduit bored to a tight fit and epoxied to the ends, then steel saddles epoxied over them. The whole tube/saddle assemblies will also be drilled and screwed together to prevent any tendency to turn. Center beam will probably be a double like the 100% cat, (yet to be worked out). Would be nice if they could be made like the originals, but welding thin ally tube might not be feasible.
JB
๐ณ๐ฟ jbkiwi
6 hours ago
8 Posts
7 Followers
34 Likes
1/24 RAF 68Ft Vosper RTTL
This will be my first boat build at this scale, so who knows how it will turn out.
I got a set of Vic Smeed's plans from Sarik Hobbies along with their wood packs for the model - I thought having some laser cut parts might be helpful.
I grew up in Alness, so if the build goes well I'll probably paint it as 2757 which was based at 1100 MCU Alness/Invergordon in the late 1950's to early 1960's.
๐ฌ๐ง peterbro
6 hours ago
1 Post
6 Followers
2 Likes
Billings St Canute
I am having problems following bulkhead curves with 5mm planks in stern area of this boat. Any suggestions?
๐ฆ๐บ DAVID2001
18 hours ago
1 Post
0 Followers
4 Likes
Deans's Marine 63' ASR restoration
Thirty plus years ago I built a British Power Boats co. Motor Gun Boat from the Dean's Marine kit, and sailed it all around the south of England at various shows. I sadly sold it when I was moving abroad, but never forgot the great little boat.
Last December, I was shown a Dean's 63ft ASR (same hull as the MGB both in model and full size versions) which the oxford model boat club was selling as it had been donated in order to help the club raise funds.
The motor (540), ESC and rudder servo plus Tx & Rx were removed by another member of the club and a little money changed hands.
Got it home, and started working on it. Obviously, I needed to replace the drive and radio components, as the prop shaft and stern tube simply fell out when I picked it up - I think it was held in mainly by the motor coupling!
The coaming around the deck edge had definitely seen better days and was held together but patches of plasticard. I moved the entire coaming and replaced it, with a light wooden strip to help it sit against the edge of the deck.
I then turned my attention to the stern tube. I had a spare of the same size (bought a while ago from Steve at Model Boat Bits) and set about removing the mass of filler that was intended to hold it in place. Once the filler was removed, a rather large hole was revealed.
At this point, I visited Dean's Marine for their Christmas open day and bought a second MGB kit, as I still wanted to replace my old one and also because the dimensions for mounting the prop shaft, etc. were the same for both the MGB & the ASR.
I have followed Ron Dean's advice and added an inner stern tube support as a precaution. Just a piece of 1/8th ply held in place with microballons and cyano.
Two months or so later, I now have the ASR hull ready for the final placement of the battery tray & radio gear, which shouldn't take long. I will then make a start on its sibling the MGB.
๐ฌ๐ง Oxford-Dave
6 days ago
1 Post
5 Followers
12 Likes
A Banana Boat??!
Happy Groundhog Day fellow model boaters. Seemed like a good day to start a build blog after the weather we have been having here in SE Texas. From hurricanes to snow fall, now nice sunny temps in the 70's.
I asked my grandson earlier this summer what boat would he want me to build next. Without hesitation, he said a cargo ship showing me a picture of a Maresk Lines container ship in a children's picture book. I thought about this one for several weeks wondering how to build a realistic replica of something that large. My dry dock isn't very big, and the Admiral frowns on large models. One morning at breakfast I was peeling my banana, and I realize the perfect boat. A quick google search verified my thinking of the perfect cargo ship.
I have lived in this area all my life, and my first job was in the small gulf port town of Freeport, Texas. In the early 80's it basically only served the shrimp boat operators and commercial fishermen as well as a few cargo ships for Dow Chemical and the like. The size does not compare to the Port of Houston or even Galveston. However, in the 90's the Dole Fruit Company started operations delivering containers of tropical fruit for distribution to the US.
At that time I was commuting to Houston for work, and would see the Dole container trucks on the road and would chuckle to myself "must be a banana boat in port!
The Dole company just celebrated 30 years of service in Freeport, and in 2023 launched two sister container ships, the Aztec and Maya, specifically for the Gulf of Mexico deliveries. These are smaller ships which I estimate carry only about 500 containers.
Since I could not find any plans on the internet for a smaller container ship, I decided to make my own. From pictures of the Aztec, I free handed a graph paper drawing of what I intended to build, and when satisfied, I produced a CAD version in Autosketch.
The attached pictures are of the Aztec in port at Gulfport MS.. The Maya being built in drydock. My hand drawn rendering on graph paper, and a .PDF of the cad version with bulkhead detail.
The model ship will be about 26.5 inches long with a width of about 4.5". I plan to have a brushless motor driving a 1 inch 5 bladed brass prop.
Chris
๐บ๐ธ cjanik001
7 days ago
14 Posts
11 Followers
127 Likes
Graupner Optimist re fit
Forgot I had the Optimist to re-do so I'll do a short blog on what I'm doing. I had already re-fitted the stays with solid stainless fishing trace as the original wound wire stays had frayed and had nasty sticky out bits. I had also re-joined the cabin roof which I had cut behind the mast for R/C and battery access (once assembled the model had no access to the interior and involved removing all the stays sheets and mast to get at anything,- about 10 mins work!)
Now with long lasting LiPos there will be no need to remove the top for the whole day. I have two 'El Cheapo' winches to fit,- one for the jib and one for the main. Not sure how long they will last as they won't even center properly and sit there and hum most of the time. The alternative is a very expensive modern winch, around $600 or maybe a winch servo arm type, (still quite expensive).
I have ripped the rudder and shaft out as it had completely seized up over the last 40 years and was spinning in the hull, (having broken the epoxy) I've made a new shaft and bushes to go back in, and will be adding a lower (skeg) and upper (deck) bush as the original had none and just sat in a hole in the ABS skeg, and the shaft tube was just held by 2 ply wedges to the inside of the hull. I am strengthening all this up, and the top bush will now support the shaft where it comes through the deck to stop any flex in the ABS.
It was a very nicely made model in its day but ABS was the wrong material to make it out of, considering the weight of the keel required. If you pick the model up on its side, the hull flexes, so I might glass the inside for a bit more strength as it's getting old and probably a bit brittle in that area, (as long as polyester resin won't distort the hull)
The rudder shaft goes through the deck, through the shaft tube and into a brass tube which is epoxied into the rudder blade, and through to the bottom bush of the skeg. The shaft and blade tube are drilled through before the blade tube is epoxied in place. Shaft and rudder blade are then assembled as one unit into the hull ( shaft going through everything) with all the bushes epoxied in at the same time to line them up The shaft and blade are then pinned in place through the pre drilled holes.
This time I'll fill everything with grease to hopefully stop it seizing again. Might use a small stainless split pin to lock the blade and shaft as it might be easier to remove. This design also was not a brilliant way of doing the rudder, and prone to corrosion inside the blade tube.
I have also re modeled my modelling room as a complete area, (was getting sick of working between rooms. Have put both 6ft tables in so now have more 'bench space'. Now to get rid of some planes!
๐ณ๐ฟ jbkiwi
7 days ago
14 Posts
7 Followers
113 Likes
HMS Macedonian: a working RC model in 1:36 scale
I've been into the Hornblower series of books since elementary school, but it was C.S.Forester's The Captain From Connecticut that lead me to Horry. The first story published has Hornblower in command of the 32 gun frigate Lydia. I've always wanted to build a model of Lydia, but, of course, there were no kits or plans to be had.
My friend and I have a 16 foot Windsprite daysailer, hull #1 of 16 built, which we named Lydia. In the picture, the 20-something girl in the 40 year old boat is also named Lydia.
After starting on Constellation, i was thinking of donating or selling that model, so I wanted to build and RC square-rigger I would keep. Lydia came to mind again, but I what plan to use for a fictional ship? I decided on a British frigate and since the lines for one were in Chapelle's History of the American Sailing Navy, and getting a copy would cost under $10 US, so that's the boat I went for; HMS Macedonian of 38 guns. At 1:36 scale (like my Constellation) she would measure...
Beam: 13-1/2" (34.3cm)
Length on spar deck: 55" (140cm)
Length of the hull: 59" (150cm)
Length over the rig: 85-3/4" (218cmcm)
Draft: 6.7" (17cm) w/o ballast keel, 10.2" (26cm) w/ballast keel
Making her a little smaller than "Stella."
Later, after I'd already built the hull, I found out Lydia, of the novels, was based on the Perseverance class of frigates. One of the pics attached shows the profile of the Perseverance in front of that of the Lively class showing how small she would have been by comparison. Actually, if I had built Macedonian at 1:48 scale (which is what the plans were) she would have been very near this size.
Anyway, what's done is done, and while I don't have the ship of my fictional hero, I have a ship that was one of 16 ships built to that class. Built at Woolwich Dockyards, England, in 1809, and launched on 2 June 1810. In October of 1812 she encountered, fought, and was captured by the American frigate United States. Captain Decatur of the United States was intent on preserving his battered prize, and after two weeks floating in the Atlantic, she was repaired enough to sail to the US. She was officially taken in to the American Navy in April 1813, though she spent the remainder of the War of 1812 blockaded in the Thames River in Connecticut with United States. She was decommissioned near the end of 1828, and broken up at Gosport (Norfolk Virginia)
While not a glorious history, full of battles, the Lively Class did have great histories in battle; Lively, Resistance, Apollo, Hussar, Statira, Horatio, Spartan, Undaunted, Menelaus, Nisus, Crescent, Bacchante, Nymphe, Sirius, and Laurel. Ships that fough at Lissa, Naples, intercepting the Spanish Treasure ships, and more.
My model is a representative of a great class of frigates of the Napoleonic Wars, even if it isn't HMS Lydia.
๐บ๐ธ Jerry Todd
12 days ago