After the initial outing with "Nelson ", I have decided to make a case for transportation to and from the lake. Too many small part's to get damaged. Pretty basic made from whatever scraps I had, but it works. Can always upgrade if needed at a later date.

Quick sail at the lake with the club meeting today. Initial trial was ok, need a bit more ballast towards the bow as she was sitting a tad heavy aft. Didn't want to venture too far out in case of any mishaps, stability as a whole is good and steering as well. A bit of tweaking to be done and then another "sea" trial with more photos and video to follow.

Well, it was only a very short journey of about 4"in either direction and a turn to port then starboard but it works 👍. "Rough weather "encountered when the test tank was topped up via the watering can, but stability was good. Real test will be when I go to the club, hopefully this coming weekend. Thanks to everyone for their advice and encouragement. Happy with the outcome but always room for improvement 😀

Cheers buddy, wish it was only 2 months, actually started around Christmas but couldn't get my act together. Really got into it in April after what I still believe to be a misdiagnosis from the hospital and DVLA revoked my licence prevents me from working currently so decided amongst other things to start on Nelson and bite the bullet so to speak.
Hopefully back to work soon 😊

Thanks Roger and Bill for your comments and everyone's likes. To date it's seemed a long and at times perplexing build. In my day's of youth when making plastic kit's, it always seemed to be that there was the correct amount of parts or occasionally not. With this build it appears that although I've gone through the build in my usual fashion of marking off all parts used and sections completed, I still have excess parts unaccounted for as well as a boat missing. Clearly shown in the build and the finished model on the box. Nowhere to be found, gone awol😂. I'm sure that there's probably a lot more I could add to, but for now I'm happy with what I've accomplished and can move on to finishing off other projects.

A little bit more this afternoon, finally taking shape. Still got the railings to spray and fit, hopefully will get to have a trial manoeuvre in the test tank this weekend and if all is good in the world 🌎, she'll make her maiden voyage early September at the club.

After a time consuming hunt around the house and asking the neighbours, I finally found some flexible pipe to fit the smoke unit and link to the funnel. Unfortunately, due to the lack of room internally, I might have to forgoe my idea of having the turrets on a servo. The smoke unit is quite large both in height and width so has been located forward of the motors. Flexible tube is fixed to the funnel via two circular magnets with holes in them to allow the smoke through, plus it makes it easier for access as the tube will be able to disconnect. Initial trial is good, will have a ponder tonight on how to fit the rest of the rc in and if I can work a way of getting the turrets to move.
Have a good evening fellow shipmates 😀

Thanks Bill and Ron for your comments 👍 😀

It's seems to have been a long build since I started before Christmas, but there's light at the end of proverbial tunnel so to speak.
Laid down an initial base coat on the deck today. First impressions are pleasing, I'll see what the dry version looks like in the morning

Well managed to get a bit of me time ⏲️ today, all family and relatives have returned to their respective abodes. Gave the smoke unit a dry test, all good, now to make some adjustments to fit into Nelson. A little bit more on the deck, made a school boy error with being over enthusiastic on initial playing of paint and forgetting that there would be more fixtures and fittings. Hey ho, could be worse. Getting frustrated with TRUMPETÈER instructions and the fact that there's a few phantom parts which suddenly appeared in the construction plans or simply don't exist. Plus why do they keep leaving parts out at an early stage of construction when you've already placed half of the same parts. Easy to be confused. Com but the end is in sight.