My first ever classic r/c power boat model was built in the 1960’s from an Aerokits Swordsman kit that was paid for from my meagre apprenticeship wages.
I chose this model because I really liked the look of the boat and I loved the way that the deep vee hull performed on the water.
This model was run for many years in rivers, canals, ponds and lakes, but it’s biggest achievement was when it raced in the sea in an off-shore race that took place in a 6 foot swell, performed well and survived without incident.
After I got married in 1971 and moved to Exmouth I was disappointed to discover no interest in r/c model boats (in this seaside town!) but plenty of interest in r/c aircraft, so I sold it to help pay for my new hobby....and regretted it ever since.
Now, almost 50 years later I am scratch building another Swordsman based on a used Aerokits plan that I found on eBay and some drawings from Chris.....who seems to have some interest (!) in Fairey Marine power boats. 😂
I started by making templates for all the parts to be cut from birch plywood and then cut them on my bandsaw after checking that every template was symmetrical.
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1:12 Swordsman from Aerokits Kit Plan and Bulkhead Drawings from Chris.
My first ever classic r/c power boat model was built in the 1960’s from an Aerokits Swordsman kit that was paid for from my meagre apprenticeship wages.
I chose this model because I really liked the look of the boat and I loved the way that the deep vee hull performed on the water.
This model was run for many years in rivers, canals, ponds and lakes, but it’s biggest achievement was when it raced in the sea in an off-shore race that took place in a 6 foot swell, performed well and survived without incident.
After I got married in 1971 and moved to Exmouth I was disappointed to discover no interest in r/c model boats (in this seaside town!) but plenty of interest in r/c aircraft, so I sold it to help pay for my new hobby....and regretted it ever since.
Now, almost 50 years later I am scratch building another Swordsman based on a used Aerokits plan that I found on eBay and some drawings from Chris.....who seems to have some interest (!) in Fairey Marine power boats. 😂
I started by making templates for all the parts to be cut from birch plywood and then cut them on my bandsaw after checking that every template was symmetrical.
I do a bit in the summer but the winter is my real time for building and the reason I took up the hobby. Summer, my wife tells me, is for doing other things which I can't really argue with. 😊
What motor are you going to use? I tend to over-motor mine so that I don't have to water-cool and am using an Overlander Tornado Thumper V3 4250/06 800KV running on 4S to give enough revs and performance.
The original TURNIGY 3648-1450KV out-runner motor that I had in my Rapier was a bit too fast and power hungry (only 8 minutes or so on a full charge) Chris, but since then I have got bigger capacity LiPo packs (!) so I am thinking about using another one like it in the Swordsman.
I actually removed this out-runner motor from the Rapier and fitted a smaller Surpass C3548-1100KV motor in it - and that one performs well enough.
When I checked my Vic Smeed Remora I was surprised to see that it was running on exactly the same 1100 KV Surpass out-runner that I currently have in the Rapier!
That TURNIGY 3648-1450KV motor was so impressive at shoving the bigger Rapier along that I admit to buying a couple more of them at the time (with my Swordsman models in mind), so I will start with one of those and experiment with prop sizes to see what performance and duration it produces.
The motor also was only run on 2 cells and can accept much more power than that, so it could be a rocket on 3C…….and even faster on 4C…., but as I like to run on the small Southport Club lake, I keep the speed and the power down - partly because it is fast enough for a boating lake of this size, and partly out of respect for other lake users that may be on the water at the same time.
I am away from home at the moment so I will check to see if I have any pictures of it so I can give it a name and a bit more information.
This was my first experience of fitting home made strakes to a hull, and I used brass tacks to position them until the glue dried, but them removed them after the glue had set.
After this application, all more recent strakes that have been fitted to different models have been fitted with super glue only - without the use of any tacks.
This includes those fitted to my restored LesRo Rapier and my scratch built Kopy Kommander that have both clocked up a lot of hours on their straked hulls with no problems whatsoever.
Bob.
This was my first experience of fitting home made strakes to a hull, and I used brass tacks to position them until the glue dried, but them removed them after the glue had set.
After this application, all more recent strakes that have been fitted to different models have been fitted with super glue only - without the use of any tacks.
This includes those fitted to my restored LesRo Rapier and my scratch built Kopy Kommander that have both clocked up a lot of hours on their straked hulls with no problems whatsoever.
My next attempt added a guide for the square strip both in front of the blade and after the blade.
This idea worked really well and gave much better (and safer) control of the square wood strip as it was slowly pushed against the blade and I was able to start production of triangular strip with no failures .
Making triangular strips with this profile from square section hardwood strip effectively split the wood into two identical halves so there was NO WASTE at all.
The keel was copied from the original kit plans onto some card from a cereal packet, drawn onto plywood and cut out.
Other parts were drawn onto cardboard in the same way and used as templates to draw around onto plywood ready to be cut out.
Bob.
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Bulkheads and other formers were cut from card templates and copied onto plywood, cut out and glued together using the original plan for reference.
Bob.
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I increased the glueing area where ever possible as this boat is intended to be used a lot….in all weather conditions..!
Bob.
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Added these reinforcements and mounting on my sea commander just need to sand the profile. Many thanks for this as it will make mounting the board much easier and offer much more strength to the bow.
@E8southport Well done Adam, your first build is coming together and when the side skins are fitted it will suddenly look a lot more like a boat, and the deck skins can be fitted next.
I will look in to see how you are doing, but know that you are keen to do all the work yourself.
The additional internal bow blocks will strengthen the bow no end as well as giving a much larger bonding area for the glue to work with.
I worked out the shape of the bottom skins using my usual “bodgers” method of “trial and fit” with cardboard before cutting them out with my Tamiya razor saw.
Bob.
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I worked out the shape of the bottom skins using my usual “bodgers” method of “trial and fit” with cardboard before cutting them out with my Tamiya razor saw.
With the bottom skin fitted the motor mounts and prop shaft were fitted whilst it was still easy to see them to ensure a perfect alignment with each other.
Bob.
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With the bottom skin fitted the motor mounts and prop shaft were fitted whilst it was still easy to see them to ensure a perfect alignment with each other.
With the bottom skits fitted and cut back to the side stringers the shape and position of the strakes could be drawn on with a fine Biro pen.
Bob.
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The stern shape of a Swordsman has quite a complex framework made to fit it to.
I really enjoyed making this part and the read deck supports at the same time.
Bob.
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With the framework in place, a simple card template was made for a thin ply cover to skin it over with.
Bob.
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What motor are you going to use? I tend to over-motor mine so that I don't have to water-cool and am using an Overlander Tornado Thumper V3 4250/06 800KV running on 4S to give enough revs and performance.
I actually removed this out-runner motor from the Rapier and fitted a smaller Surpass C3548-1100KV motor in it - and that one performs well enough.
When I checked my Vic Smeed Remora I was surprised to see that it was running on exactly the same 1100 KV Surpass out-runner that I currently have in the Rapier!
That TURNIGY 3648-1450KV motor was so impressive at shoving the bigger Rapier along that I admit to buying a couple more of them at the time (with my Swordsman models in mind), so I will start with one of those and experiment with prop sizes to see what performance and duration it produces.
The motor also was only run on 2 cells and can accept much more power than that, so it could be a rocket on 3C…….and even faster on 4C…., but as I like to run on the small Southport Club lake, I keep the speed and the power down - partly because it is fast enough for a boating lake of this size, and partly out of respect for other lake users that may be on the water at the same time.
I am away from home at the moment so I will check to see if I have any pictures of it so I can give it a name and a bit more information.
Bob.