1:12 Swordsman from Aerokits Kit Plan and 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 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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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.