That looks good Stephen T 👍

Your Wavemaster 34 will steer better without the deep keel and it should also help to reduce or avoid any tendency for the hull to "nose dive" when turning RIGHT into choppy water or a wake.

You have also left enough keel on the hull to remove some more IF you should experience any future problems with nose diving.

As you have now discovered - removing the keel from a built hull is very simple and quick to acheive.

Well done !

Bob.

As promised Stephen T - when I got back I took this picture of the Wavemaster 34 keel.

It is indeed a very deep keel.

I will be cutting this off when the hull build is completed as I am sure that the boat will steer and handle better without it.

Bob.

Hi Stephen,

I used a Tamiya razor saw to cut off the unwanted section of the keel.

This saw cut away the excess keel very easily - like a hot knife through butter!

If you don't already have one of these tools, they are easily available
from a number of sources and come with a spare blade.

I have found this saw one of the more useful tolos I own for making and restoring model boats.


Bob.

thanks to bob for the info what did you use to cut the keel down with

Hi Stephen T,

These three pictures show the different stages of the keel reduction.

The first picture shows the keel when it was reduced by about half of its original depth. When tested, this improved the handling quite a lot and helped to reduce (but not cure) the "nose dive".

The second pictures shows the keel cut down quite a bit more and this worked and solved the "nose dive" problem.

The third picture shows the hull as it is being driven now and it no longer has a problem with the nose dive.

Hope this helps,

Bob.

Hi Stephen T.

If you have experienced the dreaded "nose dive" when turning RIGHT into choppy water with your Wavemaster 34, then you do need to remove (or at least reduce) the depth of the keel if you want to cure it.

.......just like I have done and shown on the picture of my Sea Commander hull (that you are showing here at the start of your thread).

The deep keel is the CAUSE of the "nose dive" and nothing else will help to cure it other than removing it or reducing its depth.

Please read the link that I have added to the bottom of this commment as it details the exhaustive trials and testing of every suggestion offered to stop this nose diving characteristic when I first experienced it with my Sea Commander.

NOTHING WORKED to fully resolve the problem - until the deep keel was cut off.

Your comment:-

"Reglued the keel and are going to fit strips to base off hull as suggested hope this stop the diving affect"

If the 'strips" you are referring to are the triangular section "strakes" that I have fitted to my hull, then these will do nothing to help stop the nose diving characteristic.

I think the strakes look really good, but they do nothing to help prevent the "nose dive" as far as I can see - but fortunately they don't cause any problems either (!) so I am very happy to keep them on my Sea Commander

Your comment:-

"going to leave the keel intact and not cut it back as per this suggestion"

If you are experiencing the "nose dive" with your Wave Master 34, then you will continue to experience it with the keel left intact.

I hope this helps.

Bob.

blogs/156374#156374

Hi Stephen T,

You can see from the pictures of Harry's Wavemaster 34, that his hull and my Sea Commander hull (that you used to start this thread) are not the same.

What is the same, is that both hulls have had strakes added and both hulls have the sprays rails fitted.

Harry has ended his stakes part way along the hull on his (white) Wavemaster 34 hull and I have continued the strakes on my (red) Sea Commander hull all the way along to the stern.

Both hulls have had the depth of the keel reduced to allow them to steer better.

I was not aware that the Wavemaster 34 suffered from the same "nose dive" when turning RIGHT into choppy water (as the Sea Commander does) , but I am sure that it will be able to steer better with the keel depth reduced (or even removed).

Bob.

Hi Harry,

I remember when you first refurbished your Wavemaster 34 and fitted those short length strakes that do not run to the end of the hull).

It looks like it runs well enough with them at that length, and it is nice to see a Wavemaster 34 on the water.

Bob.

HI All
This is my setup on the Wavemaster.
Harry

That picture by Stephen T is a picture of the underside of my Sea Commander after I chopped the keel down as shown in the picture.

The modification transformed the handling of my boat, but I am not aware of the Wavemaster suffering from the same nose dive when turning RIGHT into choppy water.

My H&M Wavemaster (only available in 34” length originally) build has been left for some time, but I will take a look at it to remind myself of its keel depth.

When I get home later today, I will take a look at it, but as another design from Les Rowell from the same sort of time period as the Sea Commander it may well have a deep keel - for the same reasons that were desirable at the time.

Bob.

Hi Stephen,

They would have been the standard (for the time) 1/8" x 1/4".

Fit one on each side, and when the glue has dried fit a second one on top of the first to give a finished 1/4' x 1/4"

The laminated pair is much easier to fit than trying to use 1/4 x 1/4 - and the laminate is also far stronger too!

Bob.

any idea of size of spray rails the ones fitted are a flat section

Hi Stephen,

I always fit the spray rails along the line where the bottom skins join the side skins.

This gives a definite edge to work to and looks "right" on all the Classic Model Power Boats that I have built or restored so far.

This is where I will be fitting them on my own vintage HHM Wavemaster when I get to that stage.

Bob.

The Wavemaster kit has been remade by SLEC in two sizes, the original 34” and a new shorter 25” version.

Both kits are still currently available.

There is a basic fittings kit available for them that is available in white metal or 3D printed.

You can also take a look at the fitting available for other boats of a similar size as you might also find something in amongst them that you could also find a use for?

Hope this helps,

Bob.

https://slecuk.com/product/wavemaster-25-34in-fittings-kit/

It won't be scale as such as it's not based on a real boat but I don't think you will go far wrong at a scale of 1:12.

If there is a door then that could be used for reference but often they are lower than a standard door, nothing like a proper door or often no door at all!

Your Wavemaster is the original 34” long Classic Model Power Boat that was probably jig-built from the early kit produced by HHM.

It was not unusual for the builder and/or the owner to mark their name somewhere on the inside of the boat back in those days (not so common now) that helps to identify the age of the boat more accurately.

These early model boats were often powered by water cooled diesel engines that were converted aero-engines.

One well known example was powered by 3.5cc Oliver Tigre engine, and was owned by the maker of these engines !

Bob.

It looks like this is a duplicated thread about the same boat that you have just mentioned here already, but it is a good boat and nice to see.

If your Wavemaster actually was built in the 1950’s, then it would haven been made from the same original HHM kit that I have.

My kit has not been built, but I have made a copy of it so that the kit has been preserved for anyone that enjoys collecting or building these old original saw cut kits.

The boat was later kitted by Yeoman after HHM stopped making it, but as far as I know there were very few (if any) deliberate changes and it was still intended to be built on a jig.

I built my own copy Wavemaster on a jig that I made to the original HHM instructions, so mine is precision jig built - the authentic olde fashioned way!

I have added some pictures of my Wavemaster hull as it was being built on the jig as a reference .

I look forward to seeing the finished boat on the Classic Model Power Boat thread as we have not seen any of them on there yet.

The second picture that you have now added shows a model in a classic pastel sage green with white colours that really do suite the boat very nicely.

Bob.