Decided to leave the batteries connected up in series and use an adjustable voltage regulator to vary the voltage and determine the ideal. Total hull weight was checked and is under 7 lbs.
The pond was again nice and calm, so first investigated the effect of adding weight to see how much could be added to finish the remainder of the model. With the boat floating 'as built' the bow is slightly down vs the stern. I have several 2 lb weights, so balanced one on the RIB slip. The bow rose above the waterline and the stern sank to slightly below it. Tried a further 2 lb weight and the water almost reached deck level! The ideal seems about 2 lbs, but mounted further forwards towards the centre of the model.
Left the first weight in place and started voltage runs. At the base voltage of 7.2 (the NiMH rating) performance was good. The model has a nice turn of speed and is totally predictable. increased the voltage in 1.2 volt increments to replicate NiMh voltage steps. As the voltage increased the vessel obviously goes faster, but the turning response becomes rapid and very sensitive.
Finally increased the voltage to the a maximum of 14.4 volts and decided the ideal would be 7.2 volts. This also allows all the vessel systems to work at this voltage without a voltage reducer for the bow thruster. With the cells wired in parallel, this should give over 3 hours running time.
Continued to experiment with the model for about 1 ¾ hours before a drop in performance was noticed, indicating discharging cells. During this period was able to make further assessments of the performance of the linked rudder / fin system. This system flattens turns, reducing heeling and gives a tight turning circle. if anything it is tighter than the full size vessel, so a real crew would need to hang on very tightly during max rate turns!
To my relief the only trace water was from one of the propeller shafts, the hull is sound and without leaks.
Unfortunately the weather has now turned colder and cannot do any further sailing until next Spring. At least can continue building confident in the knowledge this is the basis of a great model, one which will justify the many hours needed to finish it properly.

The weather has turned colder and forstalled any temptations to spend valuable boat building time outdoors. Have now been able to focus on finishing the hull.
This was done with the usual technique of rubbing down (both mechanical and manual) and then filling any depressions or defects with either wood filler or glaze putty. Then rubbing down again ' and again!
After each completed rub sprayed the hull with aerosol paint, initially primer, then working up to colour and finally a clear matte to protect the decals and dull the earlier gloss finish. I prefer to use gloss for the intermediate coats as it reveals the surface defects clearly.
The only problem encountered was with the opening stern gate, after much trial usage this began to get a 'chatter' during opeation. Dismantled and examined the micro servo and found that several small gear teeth had broken off. Attributed this to operating the gate by hand during the build. in future will only operate the gate under power. Whilst more time consuming this prevents any tendency for the linkage to go over centre and lock up, thus overloading and breaking the small gear teeth.
The pictures show the hull finished up to deck level. There are no fittings installed.
From now on anticipate the model completion will follow traditional lines, so will confine blog entries to those that either capture a milestone, or where something interesting or unusal has happened.

Am building this model to replicate HMCC Vigilant. Up until now have found that this vessel and the hull of the standard Damen Stan 4207 production similar, so the Damen drawings have worked well. Moving to the superstructure this is not the case, whilst the two vessels are broadly similar, there are many differences. The photos available on the internet enable these to be identified, but the pictures kindly sent by Liverpool Maritime Museum proved enormously vaulable. These were so good that dimensions could be scaled off to help replicate details. The Canadian Hero class tends more towards the Damen standard, although have many pictures of this they confirm the drawing details.
Started on the superstructure, using styrene as it is light and easy to work. The structure is now virtually complete, built from a combination of styrene sheet, strip and wood strip. Made the bridge and mast structure removable from the lower portion to assist any future repairs and to add interior detail.
The mast was a particular challenge as it is quite complex. With the objective of reducing weight and thus heeling moment, made this from styrene tube. This material is easy to work, but an extra wire for the light grounds becomes necessary. Fitted a common ground using a bare wire with the various negative LED terminals soldered to it. The positive feeds are all individual and will need to connect beneath the bridge deck to install the correct LED & resistor combinations. All the wires were passed inside the mast legs. Hope to never replace a LED, that will be a real joy!
So far, the weigh of the superstructure (less final wiring, glazing, paint and detail) is 14 oz. This should allow the model to be completed at around the 9lbs total, the target established from the earlier buoyancy tests.

Finished the structural work and painted the partially assembled model. Environment Canada has advised winter is now officially half over, so have decided to suspend further efforts on the detail components and focus on repairs and upgrades to my fleet in anticipation of the forthcoming sailing season.
Readers may recall concerns over the weight of this model and stability. The final trial test showed the performance at 7.2 volts was satisfactory and that using two 5,000 mA NiMh stick cell sets in parallel gave a running duration in excess of a hour. After trawling E Bay found a source of 10,000mA NiMH C size cells. Unfortunately the seller would not advise the weigh of these cells, eventually decided to purchase some for a trial.
After the usual delivery period the cells arrived, so made up a 7.2 volt set using plastic 2 x 4 C cell battery holders. The total weight of the assembly was 8 oz less that the two stick cells! if the duration works out this will contribute significantly to efforts to minimize weight. Think the effect on stability will be little as it was good during the earlier tests.

Although we have had several signs of spring, the local outdoor pool is still closed. Our club was requested to attend a local boat show, using our portable pool, so took the opportunity to test the vessel as she is now almost complete.
In an earlier post described that if the later additions could be contained within 2 lbs the model should be close to the correct waterline. This was determined by using weights balanced at the stern. So far, have added about 1 ½ lbs, but mainly around the mid section.
From the attached pictures it can be seen that the bow is slightly low and the stern high. This suggests that by moving weight within the hull the correct balance can be obtained. if 16 oz is placed at the stern both bow and stern become correct. Am loath to just add ballast, prefer to rebalance and retain the current weight.
Fortunately within the hull there is space towards the stern that can accommodate a heavy component. Had been reluctant to commit to either a stick or stack style NIMH battery, so decided to make one up using two plastic C type battery holders and individual C cells. See picture.
The electrical system is 7. 2 volts, the cells were divided into 4 and a two cell trays. The heavier of these was disconnected and moved 8” sternwards. it is too early to finalize the weight distribution as have to build the R.I.B. and it's launch/retrieval system. Think that moving this 12 oz sternwards though the vessel should be close to the correct waterline.Hope to be able to check that shortly.
From the stern picture a list to starboard is evident. This is easy to correct by moving the batteries slightly in the opposite direction.
Although the pool is quite small, was able to test all the other functions. Scale speed was realistic and during a sharp turn little heeling is apparent. Everything else, bow thruster, fire hydrant, lights, radar scanner, fin and rudders work satisfactorily.

Repositioned 2/3 of the battery weight 8” sternwards into the only convenient location available. Rewired so the battery segments remain in series and the 7.2 volts operating voltage retained.
Was able to retest and determined that adding 4.5 oz of ballast at the stern established a similar waterline to one of the pictures the model is based upon. Considered moving the remaining battery cells sternwards to avoid ballast, but this would be difficult due to the internal configuration of the model.
The effect of saving the 4.5 oz ballast on a 9 lb model would have little discernible effect of the waterline, am thus reconciled to adding a small lead weight of up to this amount under the stern slipway.
The next step is to complete the stern R.I.B and devise a launch / recovery mechanism. Whatever the weight of these item turns out to be will need to be subtracted from the 4.5 oz and become the final ballast weight.

R.I.B completed, adding about another 1 oz to the vessel weight, also added the 4.5 oz as permanent ballast. Total model weight is now 156 oz.
On review of many HMCC “Vigilant” pictures, note the top of the boot-topping can be almost coincident with the waterline. Decided the slight extra weight , beyond the 4.5 oz originally tried, will help raise the bow and have little effect on the stern draft, so left it as is.
Sailed again in the portable pool and now consider the trim acceptable. The boot topping is visible for the full length of the hull; she sits very much like the full size vessel.
Once the ice to leaves our local pond will see how well she performs in open water and what the run time will be.
Have tried several approaches to making a R.I.B launch / recovery mechanism, but with little success. Seem to be able to either launch or recover using a single radio channel, but not both. Now decided to shelve this feature until inspiration strikes!

First open water test went well, but with two caveats:
1) Would like to increase performance somewhat, closer to her looks. The initial tests of the unfinished hull showed adequate performance. As the detail and superstructure have been added, it has deteriorated. The increased weight of over 2 lbs has increased draft and wetted area, thus drag.
2) The bow is slightly low.
Decided the best way to improve performance would be to increase the NiMh battery output from 7.2 to 9.6 volts. Thus added two more cells to the forward “C” cell holder. Also increased the LED resistor capacity and added a voltage reducer to avoid burning out the lights and bow thruster at this new voltage.
By examining the drawings and the model layout decided to tackle the second by moving the forward battery carrier from just in front of, to just behind, the centre of gravity. Fortunately the Damen drawings show the C of G location. This increased the stern draught by about 1/4”, with the bow similarly decreased. Also reduced the stern ballast to about 3 oz.
A further open water test showed an nice improvement in speed with the model now sitting on the waterline. Running time exceeds an hour, she also looks trim and purposeful.
Think this is about as fast as an 9.6 NiMh installation will operate. Adding more cells will increase weight, adding to the draught. Am toying with trying a LI-PO installation in the future. This will provide increased voltage with a weight reduction, but rather costly though.
Have decided to enjoy the model as she currently is; there is plenty to look at with the working fire hydrant, the bow thruster, the work and navigation lights. Will concentrate on launching and making the RIB operate, have some ideas on how to do this and will report in due course.

Decided to advance LI-PO plans and try a 4S 4000mAh pack. This weight of this pack reduced overall model weight by 8 oz, so it is now 9.6 lbs, close to the original target. Was also to slide the pack further sternwards until it touched the inner face of the RIB slipway, about 2.5” from the stern.
The effect on the waterline was limited; the model now sits slightly higher with the waterline remaining level.
Slowly increased the speed of the motors to assess the LI-PO performance. There was a significant improvement. There is no need to use “ full” power as it probably exceeds max scale speed. As the model accelerates the bow lifts exposing an area of the red bottom paint. The wake streams down the side of the vessel and curls off the spray rails. She looks very realistic. The attached picture is at part speed.
The model is totally controllable, the influence of the centre fins is noticeable as the heeling is not pronounced unless extreme manoeuvring is tried.
After 90 minutes of use decided all original objectives for the model are now accomplished. She looks and performs well. The next task is to tidy up the temporary wiring and fit the LI-PO properly. Will also have to re-route more accessories through the voltage reducer fitted for the bow thruster so the LED lights are not overpowered.
Have also bought a small r/c controlled child’s jet ski toy with the intention is using the drive and control system in the RIB. it will require much mutilation of both the jet ski and the RIB to work them in together, but think it can be achieved.
My next blog will tell.

Blog 20 (Conclusion) Posted 18 Aug 2017
Have experimented with converting the jet ski into an RIB with some success. The project is not complete, but have made provision for it in the sternway. The RIB weights something around 8oz, so decided to move the LO-PO cell forward to compensate for this addition and also improve accessibility.
Much to my surprise the cell fitted neatly in front of the rear bullhead, about 2” forward of the previous position. The nett result was that although the model is slightly heavier, this is not readily apparent. The waterline remains just above the water level.
Have now conducted several trials in a sheltered local pool, so ventured forth onto a much larger open lake. One reason was to try to get a video of her on the water as requested by one of my peers. This has been submiited to the Video Gallery.
This lake is large and deep. As there was a 10 – 20 knot gusty breeze and was apprehensive about going far from the dock. Would estimate the video speed at about 85% of her maximum, quite fast enough to exceed scale.
The model performed well; even when heeled by the wind in a turn there was no water over the lee deck edge. The effect of the stabilizers is apparent, she answers the helm quickly and remains stable.
In summary, a very satisfying project, one that will give years of pleasure.
This is the concluding blog entry as am now moving onto a new project, a scale model of M.V. Teakwood.