15 Posts
11 Followers
141 Likes
Revell 1/72 scale Flower Class Corvette
Hi yโall. I havenโt posted the video yet, but the Patriot ran well, stayed dry, and pumped a lot of water, luckily I got her maiden done before the wind hit 22 or so gusting to 35. We had some drama but all turned out well.
So, Iโve said this before, I like to keep my bench busyโฆbuilding is therapy for me, and my wife lets me have 6 or so hours on the weekends and unless Iโm needed for something or thereโs a family emergency, about 2-3 hours a week on average. Iโm going to use a lot of that time over the course of the next 3-4 months I think. Maybe more. Let me explain. About 2 Christmases ago I was searching for something for my Christmas present. Now, sometimes I give my wife a list of things I would like to have and I am pretty good about budgeting money for gifts, food, donations, etc. AlsoโฆIโm intrinsically cheap. Blame my mom. That woman could stretch a penny clean around the houseโฆand to her credit, I donโt remember ever going without anything I needed or wanted growing up. She and my dad drilled that into my head, which I promptly forgot the first few years of adulthood. Anyway, the budget was settled. Looking thru EBay I found a new in the box Revell Flower class corvette kit. I had read of several conversions that were done, all done differently, all ran and performed wellโฆand itโs not the Tecnic kit, which isnโt cheapโฆif you can find one. It was an earlier kit after Revell bought the rights to the Matchbox kitโฆand the price was extremely reasonable. So I got it for Christmas and itโs been in my project stash for a couple of years. Now, sheโs on the bench.
This kit is pretty nice, thereโs tons of parts to her, over 1000. There are things Iโll have to address going forward, like making railing from brass wire instead of plastic, what to glue down vs whatโs removable, but the first thing to do is build the stand. Now, the stand provided is fine for a display model, but just a little sketchy for an rc model. The for and aft rods that connect the ends are just plastic styrene rod. I had 2 hardwood dowels and a piece of 6mm cf tubing that would work. Later on Iโll build a proper stand and cut the dowel and tubing away to put back in the wood/brass/whatever stash. But for now, it works.
The hull is a 4 piece affair, you have fwd port and starboard halves, and aft port and starboard also. Now, I built 2 sides then assembled the hull, thinking about it now it might have been a good idea to build a fore and aft section then complete the hull, as I had some minor fiddly alignment issues, but was able to resolve them fairly easily. Once that was done I added the chine rails, then decided on internals.
Hers where you have to stop and think about what youโre going to do. The aft deck has a good sized opening, maybe 10x4 or so. Not huge, but workable if you plan things out. All my equipment , running gear,etc is built into this hull with that in mind, as Iโm going to make the aft house removable for aces and battery changes. Looking at the instructions this looks like a good way to go. I may have to make a compromise how the foscle and bridge connect to this, but from what I can tell this will work.
I thought I had a Fineline stuffing box but I only had a standard box in my stash, so I had to carefully drill and ream the propshaft exit to fit the box. I added a greasing tube, then scuffed the tube and the inside of the hull, then glued it in place with copious amounts of epoxy mixed with microballoons. I heated the mixture with a heat gun till it got runny, and poured it in, around and under the tube, the heating makes the epoxy runny enough to get into nooks and crannies, but it also makes it fire off quicker so you gotta be quick.
I built the rudder next. Instead of making a rudder from brass, I opted to use the kit rudder and modify it into something useable. I had a Robbe rudder tube in my parts bin, but I was out of 3mm brass stock. Luckily I remembered that I had a short 3mm steel shaft that I wasnโt using for anything. It was bent at an angle, cut to fit into the rudder halves. The shaft was centered, the angle boxed in with wood strip, then filled epoxy was laid in both halves and clamped together. Works like a champ.
I used a piece of 1 inch thick balsa, drilled to fit the rudder tube. I glued a piece of 2 mm sheet on top to prevent splitting, sanded the bottom to reasonably match the hull contour, then once lined up epoxied into place.
I decided on a 650 KV Zippkits outrunner for power. This motor is wound for tugs and workboats, and it hauls my Taucher Wulf around with no issues whatsoever..bench running Iโm pulling less than 1 amp at full chat. I made up a motor mount and once jigged up I tacked down with ca, double checked motor to shaft alignment then epoxied it down. I then made up a rudder servo mount from scraps and an electronics shelf just fwd of the motor. Iโm still on the bench about the receiver placement there though, as itโs awful low in the hull, and 2.4 doesnโt like being surrounded by water. That might change.
Thatโs where sheโs at now. Next up is reinforcing the hull joints, making a battery shelf then loading the hull up with ballast to the waterline and a leak check. Then..,the real fun begins.
Cash
๐บ๐ธ Cashrc
2 hours ago
3 Posts
7 Followers
17 Likes
New to me bulk carrier
Hello, I've been given this ship and would like to refit and refloat her. I don't have any info on the ship but I plan to out fit with new parts mostly 3d printed. Would anyone have any info on the ship or maybe the time lines she represents, (1960s ?). Thanks for any info
๐จ๐ฆ Westwind
3 hours ago
5 Posts
6 Followers
20 Likes
Hopper Barge
A friend of mine has asked me to make him a Hopper type barge to tow behind his tug. He already has a scratch built shoe box, but it does not tow well and doesn't look the part. I will be 3D printing it and I have designed it in FreeCAD. Attached is my first attempt. I should mention that it has to fit in his transport box. It is, length-542 x beam-150 x depth-120 mm. The sections are glued together and use the 1.75mm filament as location pins. The bow section can be used as a stern.
๐ฌ๐ง SimpleSailor
22 hours ago
5 Posts
10 Followers
55 Likes
The VMW Marlin Cabin Cruiser by Robbob
The VMW Marlin Cabin Cruiser by Robbob
Preface.
At the time of writing, Iโve had the construction of this boat on โthe back burnerโ since July 2022. By then I had spent about two months on and off constructing the boat to a stage where I could consider applying a glassfibre cloth and epoxy finish to the hull. However I couldnโt spend any more time on the Marlin project as I had a more important project to undertake, which was to paint, decorate, refurbish and prepare our house for sale so that we could downsize and move to a new area now that our kids had all fled the nest.
Fast forward to today (mid-April 2025) and itโs taken a while to get the new house and gardens into shape and settle in, with the emphasis on converting my internal garage into a great new workshop, I can finally pick up from where I left off.
Introduction to the kit.
This new model is the latest undertaking by Vintage Model Works, now famous for their very popular models of the RAF Crash Rescue Tender and Thames River Police Boat kits which are based on old Aerokits and Veron designs.
The Marlin is a re-working of an original Veron design by the late Phil Smith in 1953. His son Colin Smith, who was also responsible for the re-design of the Thames River Police Boat, has made some changes to his fatherโs design to take advantage of more modern materials and production methods such as CNC and laser cutting.
The photograph below is of a prototype built by Colin Smith to give you an idea of how the boat looks in finished form. And there is also a review of the Marlin that appeared in Model Maker magazine, November 1953.
The size remains at 36โ and it employs the same construction method as the original. The spacious cabins of the boat makes it very easy to accommodate all the latest control hardware required, not that the original was lacking in that area even when the radio systems used valves and large batteries and the propulsion was usually IC or a large electric motor.
Even the pre-production sample the Vintage Model Works kit supplied to me is well presented with a full size drawing including a pictorial construction sequence and separate pages of building instructions.
All the required materials are supplied in quality ply, balsa, strip-wood and dowel including clear plastic sheets for the windscreens, and various white metal deck fittings. The builder is of course required to supply their own adhesives and paint of choice, as well as the propulsion, drive train and radio control gear. In the latter respect I will likely restrict control to throttle and rudder and not add any lighting or other features. That has already been done magnificently by Mike Turpin.
Construction.
As with the Thames river police boat, another Veron design, construction starts with the assembly of a box structure onto which formers and bulkheads are attached to make the basic hull shape.
I will be tackling this in the first part of my build blog which I hope you will enjoy following and I encourage you to ask questions, leave comments and hopefully some โlikesโ as I make progress.
Robbob.
๐ฌ๐ง robbob
2 days ago
1 Post
0 Followers
6 Likes
Quick build report Menk excavator M154 LC
Just wanted to show a series of pictures of the assembly of the Menk excavator M154 LC in scale 1 : 87 from Kibri.
The excavator and the construction trailer will be placed on the pontoon I built in the near future.
Then there will be a construction report.
๐ฉ๐ช Wolle
3 days ago
3 Posts
6 Followers
31 Likes
Graupner Ton 12 Krabbekutter
Last year I was given a well-worn but mostly intact Graupner Ton 12 Krabbekutter kit by a neighbour clearing out his parents old home. I have decided to start it. Much of the wood is brittle and fairly well warped (but should be ok with some love and attention). The packs of smaller deck fittings were missing but I managed to purchase them on ebay (amazing that someone had the unused bags of fittings up for sale on their own). It is the first time I have built an ABS plastic hull. I have fitted a small MFA 2.5:1 geared motor I had aside for another project and a 2mm propshaft to a 30mm 3 blade prop. I will be using 6v and an initial test in the hot tub shows this will probably be fine. Iโm not going to rush this project as I am also completing an RC plane at the same time but I will post pictures as the various elements take shapeโฆ so far I have installed the gear, built the wheelhouse shell and framed the underside of the deck.
๐ฌ๐ง Trident73
3 days ago
1 Post
1 Follower
4 Likes
Refit Of The Loyal Class Fleet Tender Part 2
Hi Shippers
Here we go this was quite difficult to do by myself holding the camera and operating the transmitter.
Sorry but the are bits where I had to put the camera down whilst I operated the transmitter, this model took quite a while to do, same if you think I should have done something different or any suggestions if I do another model like this
Good luck with the building
๐ฌ๐ง SouthportPat
6 days ago
1 Post
2 Followers
6 Likes
Refit Of The Loyal Class Fleet Tender Part !
Details of my refit
https://youtu.be/4iNNYhz81I8
๐ฌ๐ง SouthportPat
7 days ago