Seeing there is not a huge amount going on at the moment, I thought I might put up a timeline of the restoration of an old M/M plan built 'Fairacre' launch, which was found in a farm rubbish bin, and given to me by a fellow plane club member. I did the restoration quite a while back but never put it together on the site, (only a few pics in my harbour).

The boat was almost completely rotten as it had been sitting in a bin outside for years, so it needed a lot of work. I first de-moulded the inside which was black and washed it all out. It was then left in the sun for a few weeks for the balsa to dry thoroughly. Next thing was to repair the hull, which required cutting out the rotten sections and re sheeting them. Other areas were ground out and filled where necessary.

The prop shaft was renewed and then the hull was glassed and painted. The inside was coated with 'Everdure' timber sealer/preservative to kill any mould in the balsa and toughen it. The rear rubbing strakes were replaced with dowelled in varnished hardwood and a rubbing strake fitted to the gunwale. The deck was sanded back, the plank lines re-drawn and the deck varnished again. The hull was painted inside with grey enamel which improved it somewhat.

The cabin was almost a write-off as the front part had warped out of shape. This required adding small sections of thin ply and veneer to get the deck line anywhere near straight. The cabin saloon roof was cut off to allow access to the inside (and to later re-do the windows). The cabin sides were sanded back as far as possible and then re-varnish/stained with 4 coats to try and hide the ply weather staining defects.

The inside was carpeted (left over grass from my sons model layout) and the seats painted (don't ask me why I painted them moroon😀). The cabin roofs were sanded back and repaired, then painted and re-fitted with blocks and screws so as to be removable. They had been planked originally but were pretty rough, so paint was the best option. New windows were installed after re-shaping and repairing the openings in most of them, and some left-over Graupner 'Commodore' curtains (from 1978) were used to cover the windows.

The old Graupner monoperm motor was re fitted after a tidy up, although it's pretty knackered as the bushes are worn out. It still runs very quietly and pushes the boat at a decent speed, so saved having to buy a new motor. I used my old 1978 Futaba FP-MC llB 12-24v 10A ESC which still works perfectly, to run the motor from a 3s Lipo and a Sanwa servo for the rudder. The main power switch is a 12v car aux switch hooked to the ESC, and the output from the ESC run to a stereo speaker connector, then to the motor (simple to disconnect) The TX used is a 2.4 TGY (Flysky) 6x, converted to twin throttles (used on the MTB as well)

The lighting is a mixture of LEDs (nav/running lights/dash-top power indicator) and grain of wheat bulbs for the 3 cabins. The are all independently controlled from an 8 way micro PCB switch and have resistors to balance the lights. I also fitted a mast,, grab rails, a few deck ornaments, and made a boarding ladder for the transom.

The model is far from perfect, but considering it's previous state I think it's a slight improvement. The boat runs nicely and is very quiet as well. The original builder made a good job of it and used ply frames and 4x4mm hardwood stringers which probably saved it from extinction.

While I'm waiting for the sampan to arrive from China, I am going to make a start on a small refurbishment and tidy up a few bits. I'm going to fit a spray rail on the chine, a toe rail, simplify the lighting (all LEDs switched from the TX), better on off switch and tidier wiring, anchor, bow roller, new motor, new interior and whatever else needs improving. Wouldn't mind actually getting hold of a plan (still available) and scaling one up to 40" and 'Starcrafterising' it, - would make a nice and unusual model.

Think I may have found the boat this was modelled off. I had a thought that it was modelled on a Bates 'Star Craft' cruiser, and having tracked down the star craft owners club, I found this photo on their site which might support that thought. Main difference with the model is that it is a hard chine hull (probably for ease of modelling) whereas the Bates is semi displacement. Everything else is pretty much the same. Fun fact, Bates Star Craft were made to be a British competition for Chris Craft cruisers. Very well made with laminated double diagonal mahogany or teak hulls on Oak frames, and nicely fitted out .

JB

Boat was 'hauled out' and went into the shed for a bit of work. Progress so far, - chine spray rails fitted, along with port toe rail, (stbd toe rail varnished and ready to go on). Hull re sprayed, old interior lighting wiring removed and 'propspeed' applied to prop and rudder. Preliminary 'Star Craft' decal printed. Cabin carpets cut to shape.

Fittings all 'chromed', spray rails and toe rails finished, and 'Star Craft' decal made (might need re-doing, hard to get it looking good in such a small size) First one I did was on clear sheet which looked good, but came out black when applied on the varnish. I tried the white which came out ok colour wise but with the usual rough edges from having to cut them to shape. Hardly ever looks good on very small decals. Best way is to use a white background and the clear decal sheet, (bit hard to do in this instance). One day we might be able to print white.

Decided to do a bit more towards the refit by fitting a new motor. The old Graupner Monoperm was too slow, so it now has a 550 45T brushless and new car ESC (El Cheapo, might fit a Hobbywing later) I've removed the original glow engine mount (it actually came adrift after I had made the cutout for the new mount, and was trying to cut the age hardened brass bolts for the old anti vibration plate, -even better!) New motor has more than enough power, and will enable cruising at very low throttle. The original Bates twin V8 boats were capable of around 25knts, so this should not look too much out of place, moving at a reasonable pace.

Made the new ply mount and realigned the new motor and propshafts. Had trouble with my usual reinforced silicone tube coupler as the prop shaft didn't protrude enough for a decent grip. I ended up using the crappy spiral coupling which had come with the jet I fitted in the Hartley, and having to balance it using a big cable tie. Still vibrates a small amount but not critical. I changed the prop to a much smaller 2 blade, as the other was a high pitched racing prop to gear up the slow monoperm.

I also removed the 70s Graupner ESC (works perfectly but quite large) to fit the car ESC, plus a bit of surplus wiring. I'll be fitting LED lighting instead of the old grain of wheat bulbs and running them through a small VR so as to be adjustable. Might fit an air/smoke/water exhaust if I get the urge as there is plenty of room inside to play with. I've also added a Hextronic RX battery monitor to the dash area, just as a power on/off light. Still a few more additions to come. It's not as quiet as it was before, but will go a heck of a lot better.

Fitted the new cabin lights and the RC switch which is just a micro servo operating a micro switch, (looks primitive but works perfectly) This is hooked through a small VR which enables the voltage to the LEDs to be adjusted to suit. The LEDs are stripped down 5mm white Xmas tree lights which are perfect for the job. The wiring looks horrendous but is unseen, it also allows repairs or replacement without having to destroy anything. If I painted it all white it would look better but serve no real purpose.

The tape is just to hold some of the wires from sagging, and to allow some slack if the roof needs to be removed. I always build things to be able to add mods later if required, and usually don't permanently attach any internal wiring, as I find masking tape painted over holds things in place and can be easily removed years later if required. The cabin can be removed easily by unplugging the blue RCA plug (lights) and the servo lead to the battery monitor on the dash/firewall.

Goes a lot better with the new 550 45T brushed motor. Prop is a Graupner medium/fine pitched 40mm 2 blade, battery is a 2200mAh LiPo 2s. Runs and turns very well, and the new chine spray rails do a good job of keeping the boat dry. Later on I'll invest in a Hobbywing ESC for better reverse action (current El Cheapo car one is a bit slow at times) Still a few more things to add yet.

Decided to remove the aluminium spiral type connector as it's complete rubbish, due to the oversized shaft holes, and needing to be balanced with a large cable tie. I made another one of my 'special' silicone versions for it, and it's now about 70% quieter. Also changed the motor from a 45T to an 80T, as the 45T was a bit 'hot' for the type of boat. Will be giving it a test whenever it stops raining and we get some fine weather.