Sitting up on a ridge is a good thing, I am in a similar position. If I get flooded there would be a lot of people in a much worse condition, mid you flash floods are a problem for almost anyone.
Nice little video.
Good to see you are pushing along with your Landing Barge and with a crane truck, I have seen on AliExpress some pretty neat little cranes fully articulated even with hydraulics on some of them, bit on the pricy side as well. It will be interesting to see how your magnet idea goes.

Currently I am doing some repair work to the Flower class corvette I was given, the rudder shaft detached itself from the hull. I am making a new one from brass.
Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
No problem with missing the start, I actually finished the small trawler a while ago. There is certainly more to life than just doing this sort of thing. I hear what you are saying about how much effort to put into an article. There is a button to reverse the updates however it is still a bit strange the way it has been done.

I am not really doing much model making at the moment, I have been working on my car a fair bit. I did quite a bit of work on the interior and also sorting out some brake problems, I have had the car for 23 years and until now haven't had to do much on the brakes. Also the garden needs attention.
Unfortunately the Drifter is on the back burner at the moment. I still need to get the 2 semi-kits up to a point where the fiberglass hulls won't get out of shape. I will get back to doing some model making when I can.
Your new Landing Craft build is going along well, the use of foam is a good idea, it would be hard to sink it. The 20k round trip just to find out the conditions there are no good would be frustrating and expensive these days with the price of petrol, mind you the price has dropped a fair bit here since it's peak a couple of months ago.
Yeah I wouldn't want to go for a swim in a drainage retention pond unless I really had to, and salt water has it's own problems.
You know what they say "if you fly you crash" at some point. I saw your post, the wing didn't work and needs replacing. I guess the question is how do you know if the new wing will work as hoped?

I heard you guys have been getting a real drenching with some crazy amounts of rain.
Getting pretty cold over here I had a -2 degree C morning this morning, which is the coldest morning for a while and with a top of just 14 degrees C makes things pretty cool, sometimes fairly heavy rain . It is suppose to be wet tomorrow. It is winter.
Take it easy.
Cheers,
Stephen.

Just read your message. It’s hard to imagine that there are leaders in the world who do not believe the science of climate change.

After suffering heat stroke in Haiti, the doctor told me not to go to regions where high temperatures are possible. Well, now with the climate warming in many parts of the global warming, even our area on southern Ontario has temperatures in the mid 30’s but not the 40’s.

We have a heat-pump which provides A/C and our homes are equipped with a basement where in hot humid conditions the air is tolerable.

Where you are, is it humid and hot? Do the sea breezes help to moderate your body temperature?

Ron

Wow 50% planing on med power ! - will she fly JB ??!!

Hi John,

That was lucky to miss both houses.
I tried uploading some photos this morning but this site didn't like the file type.
The tree is much smaller now, they ate not fully removing it, more a severe reduction.
The work is coming along well.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
Yeah things are very busy at the moment with work and sorting things out after Rosa passed away. Had a bit of drama here with the very big gum tree in my back yard developing a large split and threatening to squash my workshop or my neighbours house, most of the tree is coming down today with a bill of $8,580, bit eye watering but better that it coming down especially on my workshop in the next storm.

Nice looking pulleys. I will be interested in seeing what you come up with for the sail winch.
Good to see someone getting some hobby time in.

I have thought about making one room into a hobby room in the end I decided against it, I think having a dedicated space for hobby work is a good thing.
Nice view from the shed. 😁

Got to go now the arborists will be here soon.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Thanks John,
Yeah it has been a tough start to the year and it is very hard to watch someone that you love suffer, you are right it takes a toll on all concerned. Time will heal. We couldn't afford top level care in Shanghai and as you suggested the care here is probably better. I am busy clearing out stuff that I will not need or use, there is a lot to go through, I may not finish it for a while.

I tend to think some of the site members have no idea at all, that's alright but trying to help them is really hard without standing next to them.

I will get back to the Drifter at some stage not sure when yet.
I want to take my car off the road and work on it fairly soon and get rid of my wife's car before the rego is due in Jan of next year.

Great to hear you got some money back from the power company, it's a pity they couldn't have owned up to what had happened without you having to stuff around like you did.

I followed your cat and Stiletto build and the resalt is great.
That is a lot of models.

I will let you know when I start up on the Drifter again, I still have the small plastic kit conversion on the bench and I have nearly finished making the replacement hand rails out of metal, I will probably start a build log at some point.

Yes the banana benders (Queenslanders) and Western Australia have really copped it up there with crazy amounts of rain.
Luckily I am a fair bit south in Melbourne.

I don't keep up with the news much these days, I tend to not believe a lot of what is said on many topics.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
I hope things are going well for you over there and the first part of this year has been good for you.

My wife came back from Shanghai mid Jan but unfortunately she was in a pretty bad way and without going into the details she was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer within a week or so of arriving home. She passed away on the 8th of April and is no longer suffering.
I thought I would share this with you as we have been in contact on and off.

By the way is it me or is it quite expensive to be a paid up member on this site even at the bronze level given the exchange rate.

Regards,
Stephen.

Hi JB, I have just noticed your comment on my build. A fellow Kiwi. You must live local to be talking about the Silverdale Menzshed. Give me a call sometime, my number is 021963765. Cheers Ian

Awesome ! looks real !!! Cant wait to see some more how the "cat" handles ⛵🤞👍

Good evening John,
My time 19.38h ! Europe / Central Switzerland / Lucerne
Thanks for your comments and I think you are right about Martin 555.
I've only been on board here since the end of 2021. You experience and find so much,
I find this site the best I've signed up to.
It helps you to have the courage to continue.
See you again soon, we'll “read” each other again soon!
Best hobbyist greetings
Michel-C.

Hello JB,
Ideas of this kind always help to improve an idea in your own way.
There are so many variations and ideas, it's crazy!
This site is also really great!
I don't know who gave me the tip with the clothespins when I started here. I use them all the time today.
Best regards
Michel-C.

Dies habe ich gefunden . . .for you
bb Michel.C

Hi John,

I am alright thanks all thing considered, life is great if you don't weaken...
My wife is now living in Shanghai for the time being (which is where she was born) and is receiving a herbal treatment for her severe liver cirrhosis due to hep B, she believes that coming back to AU will have a negative effect on her health, all of which is very expensive, thankfully I earn a reasonable wage so we can just keep our heads above water.

No progress on the Drifter though not sure when I will get back to that yet, I have been working on other projects with the limited spare time I have at the moment one of them is a Revell trawler plastic kit that I have converted to RC. I will do a build log at some point.

Gee that's a bugger, the joys of owning a home. Yeah I would agree the power company is hoping you will forget about the matter.

Hopefully that's your run of things for the time being.

Didn't know we were pinching your nurses, doctors and police, though it might be part of the annexation of NZ by Australia. 😂😉

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi Jbkiwi.

Thank you very much for your appreciation.

They are especially welcome coming from a good and experienced modeler like you.

I am very happy that you like my RC model.

Hi Jbkiwi.

I'm not an expert model maker but if you want to look at the ship model I'm finishing, this is the link:

This is a very long topic and I don't blame you if you give up, hahahaha.


https://model-boats.com/forum/128542

Hi Jbkiwi.

Thank you for appreciation.

Hi John, congratulations on your Youtube channel, I signed up today.
I haven't seen all your videos, there are so many, but the ones I have seen now have a like and a comment.

If you're interested, this is my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@romacaputmundirerums/videos

What you say is very true John.
I too have noticed that many contents are lost in the oblivion of pages from the past, which are very difficult to trace.
For this reason I have put up articles that group together some topics.
I put two example links at the end.

As for the YouTube channel, I will watch your videos and leave likes with comments.

https://model-boats.com/wiki/137058

https://model-boats.com/wiki/133196

Hi jbkiwi, how's it going on the opposite side of the world?

Congratulations for the attached video.
Of course I am interested in your videos on your Youtube channel.

Can you confirm that this is your YouTube channel?

https://www.youtube.com/@jrbaeronz9840/videos

No link arrived. I'm on a restoration project at the minute...

Hi John. Ahh the wonders of technology. I'm sure there must be an explanation, I wouldn't have thought Stephen would boot you over the lack of a donation. Joanne doesent like fuss, she is getting married in NZ to avoid having a big wddding do here. Aparently they are getting married in a field somewhere, a quick 10 minute ceremony and all done. Sounds like a trip to the dentist!😂😂.
Well I'm off to bed bow, It's 04 25 here and I've been buggering about with a large steam engine all night, it's so easy to loose track of time when you are playing in the workshop!.
Nice to hear from you,
Best wishes,
N.

Thanks John,
Plenty to cogitate over!
Let me think of the best way for me to go about it.
Rowen

Hi JB, A little while ago you were experimenting with using plastic tubing as a propellor shaft coupling. Did you reach any conclusions?
I am tying to quieten down a brushless motor/waterjet installation and do not have space for a more traditional flexible coupling.
Thanks as usual,
Rowen

Hi JB.
Good to hear from you and hope you’re ok.
God he just p….s me off all the time the same old things and never anything new or building related.
I just wish someone would tell him to wind his neck in.
I was tempted to say more but don’t want to start a war.

Take care my friend.
Regards
Bill.

Hi John, what a terrific collection of
radios still looking in great condition.
I can understand that having those tactile bits of kit in front of you bring the memories flooding back !. The Yaesu Frg 7 was my first SW radio followed by the FT-ONE when I got my licence. Working the world and making wire antennas was fun for me. So much has changed with digital comms as I'm sure you appreciate. Getting back into radio since stroke has been a challenge but I do still dabble on the digital modes via computer and with an SDR FlexRadio 1500,
Looking forward to seeing more test runs with the land yacht - I have had just the same problems as you with wx conditions and finding empty car parks without potholes !!!!.
Best wishes John.
Phil👍

Hi John,

Thanks for the message.

Yes my wife's ill health is the reason for no real progress, hobbies take a back seat in these sort of circumstances. Unfortunately I don't see that changing for some time she seems to keep going backwards not forwards, I don't know how much further she can keep going for.

Interesting little project you have got there with the land yacht.

Cheers,
Stephen.

If I want to replace running lights or just a spot light and put in an LED what is required? Can I just solder wire to the LED leads?

Ron

Great Sleuthing John,
Thanks for the Pics.
Good Looking Boat!
(I should have recognized the 871 due to the twin blowers.)
Trev

Hi John,
Well I managed to get your message, by accident. While I was writing a message I tried opening the messages and it worked, doesn't make much sense to me but it worked.

Yeah bloody terrible I heard that you guys are expecting 200 mm of rain soon, better get a snorkel. 😁 I didn't think that cyclones were a thing in NZ but there you go.

Hopefully this will be the end of the horror show for some time.

Be safe.
Cheers,
stephen.

Hi John,
For some reason I cannot get to your private msg, I was notified there is one, ill try again later.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,

How are things going over there for you with all the disasters?
I heard Napier was and maybe still is cut off and the death toll is getting worse unfortunately, your ex pm doesn't live there does she?
Sorry I didn't get in touch earlier I ran out of time.

Take care,
Cheers,
Stephen.

JB

I know the owner will tow the barge alongside the Beamsville. It was my plan to do it the last time out but a set screw on the drive shaft would not hold. Couldn’t fixit till back at home. It is one of the configurations I intend to do.

Ron here in Port Perry 🇨🇦
Did you move to a different place? The previous videos have been at a more remote location where the water levels changed, a launch ramp, a tree out over the water, and sand beach.

Hi John
Thanks for sharing the pic of the BSA's
I aways loved the BSA, almost bought a 650 while in college but couldn't come up with the cash. They are truly beautiful bikes. Hens teeth to find today.
Trev

Hi JB
The Pics you show of New Zealand are beautiful.
It does appear we have the same interests.
Your bike is beautiful.
Sorry to hear that you don't ride any more, my days of riding are numbered.
I started out with bikes when I was in my teens with a Cushman motor scooter.
Then progressed to a 750 Norton Commando. Later a couple Triumph 650's.
Finally ending up with the Harley.
My riding is just local, now. just putt putting around the neighborhood, avoiding traffic.
I find it very relaxing. Love the throb and the sound.
Trev

I know everything is going electric. But you can't beat the sound of an ICE.
I have a Harley Breakout. There is no way on God's Green Earth I would ever get an electric one!!

Hi JB
Thanks for the Vid. I love the planes. I never had the resources or an area to fly them much less the skill. Did try an electric Heli though, complete bust due to my lack of skill🙄🙄
I have seen some in action in my youth. I was especially taken with a radial engine Machine😁😁
Re the Vid, it amazes me how you keep track of the plane especially at those speeds😮😮
I was expecting a spanking when we started to talk planes😂🤣😂
Trev

Oh John B!
My Optimist is also still waiting for its rebirth, but there are many building fittings missing there. . . but one ship at a time otherwise the chaos is perfect! 🤣
I have so much time. . . .
Greetings Michel-Cl.
Ps See my Harbour

Hi JB!
Your Commodore is really cool, I had one in the basement too! Now I have activated them again, but with the old motors. so she has a speed that fits this model.
Greats Mike

Hi John,
Once again lovely photos, was the father and son in the rescue boat. 😁
It is quite ambitious to operate so many things at once, pity about the LiPo.

The jeep looks a bit small compared with the boat it is pulling, have you tried adding some weight to the wheels like rock crawlers do to get more traction?

Some days things just don't go well and you had one of those for sure, all the stuff you have described is stuff I can see myself doing on a bad day, it doesn't hurt to have a bit of a laugh at yourself I think, in those sort of instances.

Yeah I wouldn't like to leave stuff either like you said too many dodgy sods out there, and pinching a chopper stinks. Hopefully some karma catches up with people like that.

I will get back to your previous post about cars soon I hope.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
Not quite, might not be the right era. 😁 Yeah they looked quite good props and nozzles.

Wow a bit of check book model making, all dollars and no sense.

No progress on the trawler, after trying some stuff I have had for a long time that is for blackening brass which it does after a very long time but won't blacken solder so my wife, daughter and I went into Melbourne to buy some other chemicals to blacken brass and other metals, couldn't get it anywhere else. Also going to try another lid stile when I get back to it.
Other than working full time, running around because my daughter has been in hospital to have a plate removed from her arm, due to an infection from when they put the plate in around 18 months ago after she badly broke her arm roller skating. Also working on my wife's car, changing front wheel bearings and a drive shaft.

Once again I am with you when it comes to climate change, mind you I don't agree with what man kind is doing on this planet but I also am suspicious of all the hype around climate change and seeing that there will need to be even more mining done to extract other stuff out of the earth I remain skeptical at best.

I hope you manage to get some pond time in around all the yachties, where I sail there is a yacht section where members of the group sail there yachts away from the power boats although there is no real problem sailing near by the yachts it is all pretty layed back.

Lovely photos.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
Sorry for my slack response, been quite busy lately.

The Hartley Voyager look great.
Sounds like you had a really nice boat, that's quite an old motor, mind you the good thing about an old motor is it's relative simplicity.

No real progress since I went back to work. I have been working on the coal bunker covers (see photos) I am trying to work out what to do with the tops of the covers, plans don't show any detail nor does the book. I have had a go at doing a non slip surface (see photo) or something like a series of rings (see photo).
All being well your drive shaft will arrive soon, I find it better to mostly forget about it then things seem to arrive sooner.

Yeah I did see HK AU was shutting soon, I don't really have to get anything at the moment, I guess the market isn't big enough or it has reached saturation. People like me only buy small amounts infrequently and maybe the plan-demic didn't do much for business.

Sounds like things are not easy to get for you having to drive a long way to get to a hobby store, it's not that bad in Melbourne yet there are still a few good hobby stores within a 35 min drive of my place.

$35 NZ is a lot to pay for post as a minimum. I am guessing the Cressida is the Blue/Green ish coloured car in the videos, that's nearly as old as my 1989 Volvo 740 turbo estate, see photo. I would be interested in seeing a photo of your Cressida if you want.
You could be right about HK, boom and bust.

How much is petrol over where you are? It's $2 per liter over here.

One thing that has kept me busy is we just bought a Toyota Corolla my first brand spanker, mind you my daughter will be driving it mainly, see photo.

That's it for me feeling tired easily at the moment, let me know if you have any thoughts on the coal covers.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
I will have a look at the rest of the videos soon, NZ is a very picturesque spot.

Good to hear your new boat is coming along. The pump and heat exchanger are a good idea, looks like you are using a peristatic pump for circulating through the motors.

Hopefully the plane was tied down well.
Weather over here is no better coldest start to winter since 1949 so the weather man said.

At least the charger switched off at 4.2 v per cell, although I am sure the experience of the charger wanting to go to 5 amp was not good.
I usually charge at 1c slower is better don't want to stress the battery unless you need charge quickly. Yes you don't want to see the magic smoke.

Chinglish is not all that good in instructions.

No real progress on the trawler since last weekend, I will have to work next Saturday it would seem at the moment further reducing progress.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
I am sure you have found similar stuff but I found this and thought it might do the job, not sure how it will enjoy high revolutions but it might be alright.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294804041263?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110018%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.COMPLISTINGS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D238171%26meid%3De3d09e33a0184215a693ce9447e826b5%26pid%3D101111%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D264872118457%26itm%3D294804041263%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2563228%26algv%3DThematicAlgo%26brand%3DHot+Racing&_trksid=p2563228.c101111.m2109&amdata=cksum%3A294804041263e3d09e33a0184215a693ce9447e826b5%7Cenc%3AAQAHAAAA8LwVoSbxFsxNTl7u%252B0ZoqBZaKMVJvl4QaPvUCa6yRyn0cnoCPdNaacrrNUMFmx32ERp56zzlSHZc%252BgZs6kClGh90DZHe1Wo%252BKZ1uKv6GhChuElnzWRRXWbQPqSlxb%252BzeHqgPSU5FyX8z59rpD8uVIB1ZjynP%252FcjvsaGgtVV0UUZr4PpfwijFnVwnBX%252B%252F3G7zMzqHxuYzEptbirZ2vIWuwWXssM6B2XcU6K5Tbk3QWBd1DgSzeoaltxnN7q0X%252BngCfieEI9KDCWVdo8h8r5pau7YV%252BTVCL0rYo%252BePYZMJMjXHx0NJaxj8Q%252BFd%252BIBjP4qv9g%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2563228&epid=17012062422

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
Bloody hell mate, that is some top shelf gear. Very impressive.
I will answer your earlier post later.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,

Yes it was great to get back to work, got a worm welcome which was great also.
Thanks for that, I am pretty happy with how the deck is looking.
I posted an update but the photos don't seem to be working I'll try again later.

An Inrunner should be good.
Sounds like a challenge to make a steerable surface drive should keep you busy for a while. Will be great if you can pull it off.

I would think that a heavy duty cv joint might be available, there are all sorts of upgrade bits you can get.

That's a pretty fancy looking charger, I tend to agree how does the auto function decide what to do.
I have two 4 button chargers from HK they work ok.

Looks like you are well on the way to building the frame. Your jig looks great, should work well.

I watched a couple of your "going for a drive" videos, I am guessing there is no real purpose it is as stated, just going for a drive.

Cheers,
Stephen.

JB , I sent this text to Model Boat Website administrators, to acknowledge T

s & C

s .

No problems if you want me to delete the post.

All is done with best intentions - and good therapy for the brain following stroke and recent heart surgery !!!.

_________________________________________________________________________
PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE - I TRUST THIS POST MEETS WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF POSTING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi jb ( not sure of the name , sorry ) - Philcaretaker here, located in Buxton Derbyshire.

I can see you have been suffering from insomnia again !

Loved your jig and the Kiwi ingenuity - so much so that I used your photos and write up to present as a short video share on my "RC Sailing" youtube channel. Obviously all credit is to you and I get no monitory gain at all.

I will upload it - but will remove it if you are not happy with it - but thought your idea so good, that not share with other "Youtubers" as well as "Model Boat Website" members would a shame.
I will send you a couple of screen grabs of the presentation.
Cheers
Phil

Hi JB

That's the kit drawing under your jig. It does use a similar construction to EeZe-Bilt doesn't it. It doesn't show the bulkheads but they are easy enough to draw as you know. It is shown in the Stiletto thread on Page 3 of Harbour. I borrowed the drawing off Eraser, got it scanned and someone else cleaned it up to remove marks etc. before Canabus/ Harry posted it. It is still a bit distorted though and the beam measured narrow for the length so I've completely redrawn it.

I got involved because another couple of guys wanted to build one but can't draw and I like the hull. Like you I don't like the look of some of it i.e. the superstructure, as it is dated and also like it to lift-off as one for access.

Working on the drawings to produce more modern superstructures and some alterations to the hull as well. I fancy doing a water jet version at some point. I notice your version doesn't appear to be having a traditional prop shaft and rudder? Getting into our summer here so it will be awhile before I start building as well.

Whereabouts in NZ are you? We toured both islands about 6 years ago, it's a stunning country. SiL just got back yesterday after visiting her two children near Queenstown.

Chris

Hi
I like the jig, good idea for lining everything up. Interesting that you are producing a bigger/modified Stiletto as that is something I've been working on. Not as big as a Rapier though as it will be around 33".

Did you use the kit drawing that Canabus posted?

Chris

Hi John,

Yeah I recon I am pretty well over the bug.
The great news is I am now able to return to work with a vaccine exemption, that will last until mid September and hopefully by then the mandate will have changed. WA has already changed their mandate and workers like me can return to work on the 10 of this month. Because I have had the virus I cannot get jabbed for a few months this is why I can get an exemption. I go back this Monday.

One day I might have a go at playing with a Lipo but I don't need to at the moment.

That makes sense that the plane looks further away in the video than it really is. You cover a lot of ground at 100mph in a short time, of curse the main problem with speed is if there is a sudden stop. The fun police make it difficult to fly anywhere except at a flying club as far as I know.
One rule of thumb, is intelligence is not required to breed and there are plenty of examples out there.

I haven't watched the Corberts show, I tend to think most pollies like to get their mush on tv.
Yeah they say our economy is going well but I think it is only at the top end of town, there are a lot of people hurting out there. The main people pollies look after is themself and the top end of town.

Looks like the Chinese push might have hit a hurdle at least the new gov is talking the people in the Pacific.

Great to hear another project is happening on your work bench. 38" is a good size. I look forward to seeing more.

Are you going for a single or twin shaft/motor?

The deck is very very close to done still a bit of calking to do and stick down 2 more planks probably do that tomorrow, next job is to make the 4 coal hatch/scuttles, 2 of them need to be removable to gain access to the cap head screws.

The only down side of returning to work is a steep reduction in hobby time.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
Thanks.
I am glad to hear you did the Lipo mods outside.
It now sounds like something I might have a go at in the future
Good idea using a single cell for lighting and various stuff.

Yes you need to be careful with Lipos , although I didn't know that one pin prick would be enough to cause problems. Generally I store mine in a Lipo safe bag and then put the bag into a steel tool box.
I haven't had any problems with balance leads yet. 🤔

You are right a Jell cell cannot handle the discharge that a good Lipo can but they are not too bad, I was mainly thinking of scale tugs or trawlers that don't need high discharge batteries.

I can imagine it would be a mine field trying to get a very efficient setup, I guess it would be a case of how much effort you want to put into it opposed to what is acceptable performance and duration.

I watched your video of your flying session, I don't know how you can see the thing net alone bring it back safely, I would probably go in the wrong direction, think I will stick to boats. There are several rc flyers at the group I belong to who have tried to encourage me to have a go a flying, my main problem is time and what I want to dedicate my limited hobby time doing and I find boats are enough.

There was a English series on TV with 3 entertainers in it Griff was one of them cannot remember the other guys although one was a standup comedian anyhow one episode included a steam puffer that raised steam from cold, probably the same boat. Incredible you could track him down, the wonders of modern tech.
I looked at the videos the sound out of the diesels was incredible in the first vid. The hydrofoil didn't seem all that quick although it might have been deceptive.

Had a look at the church and surrounds although the view wasn't that great looks like people are living in a mix of Highrise and what I would call normal single or 2 story. Ok I probably need to follow your instructions better.

That is some fish farm.

Meanwhile we have a new government over here who will probably send us bankrupt over the next 4 years.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,

Sorry for my slow response.
I am slowly getting better, but it is bloody slow or seems that way.
I don't recall having whooping cough which is a very nasty thing to catch, I do remember mum putting my brother and I into the same bedroom so we would catch mumps or whatever it was from the one that had it so we would both get it and get over it. I also smoked for years I think I gave up about 25 years ago.

80 amps is quite a bit of power. I think you are wright HK is only a middle man and sources stuff from wherever.

You are braver man than me cutting up a dodgy Lipo and getting it to work again at a lower voltage. 👍 I have had HK batteries "puff up" really quickly and have been able to return them without any drama.
Definitely Hyperion as far as I know were at the top of the pile and you usually get what you pay for, not always though.

Thanks for the link RC Echo have some good stuff.

I don't fly so I know nothing about aircraft but I agree people seem to have issues with brushless motors sizing of motors and props is a bit of trial and error for me at least, also what sort of batterie to use with a brushless it, there seems to be a belief that brushless motors must have a Lipo which is true for aircraft where weight is an issue but if you have a brushless in a tug you can use a SLA/jell cell, you only need a DC supply in my opinion.

I guess the noise is all to do with tip speed if the tip of your prop is breaking the speed of sound it will be noisy.


Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
Afraid it was omniblob at least according to the RAT test.
I had childhood asthma and I tend to be more likely to have chest problems which is a bit of a bummer but I'll get there.

That's a lot of batteries quite an investment and maintaining them would be quite a job, I find I get fairly good life out of the Turnegy Nano Tec batteries.

5 mins is not a long run time, reminds me of when my cabin cruiser had Nicad's and still went slow.

45-90c is a pretty serious batterie you can drain that quite quickly.

I had ideas of trying to have a universal batterie that I could use in more than one boat, that's something that hasn't really happened.

I think most people don't look after their battery's and forget to storage charge them as soon as possible after use.

I think noise is the other benefit you get with electric, a lot quieter than gas.

30 amps is quite a bit, my cabin cruiser which is pretty heavy uses about 14 amps, if you put more power into it then the boat becomes unstable mainly due to running a big prop and outrunner that causes a lot of torque effect. I could reduce that by re mounting the motor so the output shaft faces forward instead of rearward to reduce the torque effect, but I don't need it to go any faster.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,

Sorry I hadn't got off my arse and emailed you, I still don't seem to have much energy at the moment although things are improving day by day.

Building of the deck is progressing slowly, I haven't got any photos yet though I will take some today. There will be an update coming soon.

That is quite a collection, nice variety of models, what looks like a couple of Vampire's a Pit's special and a Chipmunk trainer.

I saw your short video of an Orange coloured plane flying around until it found the goal post, thinking to myself that's something I would do.

I think you are right about the building being more enjoyable, although I am quite happy operating the few boats I have as well.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,

Looks like I mozzed myself as I have come down with a bug, I will respond when I am feeling a bit more human.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
I would have to agree it's all a load of crap, and most people are too busy with whatever shit they are doing to have a look at what might be being injected into them or cannot risk losing there job, bloody terrible all round.

I recon this flu season may well be like no other with all those people immune suppressed and like you said not being exposed to the flu, we will find out soon I guess.

Yeah I have heard that omni is not much at all and yet is supposed to be much more virulent, strange when you remember back to how contagious delta supposedly was, and like you I have been out and about and haven't caught anything yet.

Yeah our premier relaxed most restrictions a week or so ago except for un-vaxxed being able to return to work of corse, so I am still working remotely, although there is talk that that will end in a month or two. Then there is a state election coming at the end of this year, but hang on all these mandates are based on science and a panel of medical advisers so it couldn't be political if the mandates are lifted just before an election.🙄

I am sure another build will come along. Good to hear you got out for a sail it can be quite relaxing. Thanks for the interest in my boat, at least I am getting more hobby time than I would normally due to the mandates. Not sure I know who Simon is but that is a lot of money to spend on a boat especially if it sailed like a brick that would be very disappointing.

Cheers,
Stephen.

G'day John,

I hope things are going well over there in the land of the long white cloud.

I read something that was quite concerning yesterday, that your PM is planning to give big fines or jail time to anyone who is un-vaxed, is that right?

Cheers,
Stephen.

Yes I saw it. You could be waiting for awhile if it is coming out of China, even if you are just across the waves🤓

I have not seen any recent posts of the truck on land n sea. Is that project done?

Our ice is out on many small ponds and beginning to be on the lakes. I should be able to begin ballast testing under sail soon.

Ron

Hi John,

Good for them, there are some people who are prepared to make the hard choice. In South Au according to a report 150 odd police were stood down for not being jabbed, their union is calling for the premier of SA to allow un jabbed cops to return to work to help solve a shortage of cops over there, and I am told that there are thousands of health workers either stood down or have left because of mandates, so all the talk about being short staffed in a lot of areas can be fixed with the removal of no jab no work mandate, of coarse the powers that rule don't want that.

They have started jabbing 5 year old's over here, it is beyond words, how many do they want to harm?

Main stream media only promotes the rhetoric that is laid out by the gov and the people making a lot of money out of this plandemic that includes polies IMHO. So much censorship.

In AU 15000 people die of diabetes each year a lot of them type 2 a totally preventable condition, that can be reversed with good diet and a bit of exercise.

The runabout is a Vic Smeed design hull Piranha, I didn't like the look of the cabin on the plan and thumbing through some of dads old Model Maker mags found something I liked which was a Huntsman and I copied the overall look, my first scratch build.
It is an old quarry it's the first time we have sailed there, our old site which is a drainage pond in an industrial estate is now covered in duck weed.

Re-The expat, IMHO it is all a bit sad.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,

Sorry I didn't respond last night.
I agree things are very stupid, the Vic Gov has now said you don't have to QR code on entering a shop any more, not that many people were anyway, unless it is a restaurant, café or pub where you must be vaxed to enter anyway. If you got Omricon it's more like a cold, it's good to get it and get on with your life.
Don't know if we are any tougher, might be all the fresh air.

Our governments really need to keep people scared otherwise all their BS is going to fall apart and once the truth about how dangerous the gene therapy's are is known by the trusting masses otherwise known as sheep, they are not going to be happy with a whole bunch of people. IMHO people are simply not questioning or doing their own research.

Good to see the gov stepping in if someone shoes initiative, cannot have that might make the gov look silly. We may follow if our premier gets his way not sure what they would rename Victoria.

As I said in the public forum the photos look great.

The particular ex pat pom has a strange sense of humor, as I am sure a lot of his comments to him are funny, bit like his comment in your blog about a Sherman tank, which may be a valid project but why he felt the need to make a comment like he did is beyond me.

Here is a link to a Flicker page that has some photos of the model boat group that I belong to on our first run on a new to us pond, conditions were not good and only 3 of us ventured out, my Cabin cruiser with shaggy at the wheel and his trusty mate scooby beside him.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/153787832@N02/albums/72177720296642380

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
Same over here big protests in Canberra there may have been 3 million there, turns out they used sonic weapons and sprayed something into the atmosphere using aircraft, my brother told me this because he was there. The authorities are trying everything to provoke a violent response to enable them to use excessive force against protesters.

No real surprise, it makes me wonder weather these people get the green light because of corruption.

I think Russel has some good points in his presentations.

I hope you are feeling better today, you certainly put a lot of working features into your builds.

Your newly made fuel tank really looks the part along with the outboard.

Mainly worked for work today, remotely of coarse, although snuck an hour in for hobby time, nearly finished the rope making and serving machine, should be ready for testing soon.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,
The link for a bad flu season was cemented with the video, though was started with the government saying something about a possibly bad flu season ahead which now makes total sense, in a sense they are "priming" the population for this to happen and attempting to normalize what has been created IMHO by the jean therapy, sorry my mistake "vaccination". I would say keep taking those vitamins and ovoid junk or processed food as much as possible, to keep your immune system as good as possible.

Yes Dr Campbell is very good at doing that, it is a pity more people don't watch his videos and start to question what is going on.
The veneer of our democracy has been lifted and what has been exposed is that our rights are only given if we comply to what ever they wish, this is not what my uncles in both world wars fought for.

I also watch Russel Brand and Neil Oliver among others, I don't rely on the TV news and hardly watch it these days.

There is a similar story with Ivermectin.

Ships of Scale is the site.

Wow that is quite a story, pity you couldn't talk to him, yeah I think when people get too much money they are sacred that everyone is trying to pinch some or looking for a hand out, this is something I am not likely to experience.

You are quite wright my family is similar other than 1st cousin I barley know any of them.

Cheers,
Stephen.

Could be, I some how pressed the send before I had finished. 🤔

Hi John,

I am really happy to hear that taking some vitamins has helped your situation, supporting your immune system at the moment is paramount in my opinion.
That is not a good add for Specsavers, although it sounds like the wait was what was needed, funny how these things happen sometimes.
I watched the video, makes me think this years flue season is going to be a real killer with peoples immune systems over reacting to any corona virus, the magnitude of the deception is staggering.
Nice looking dinghy's, I only found a couple of your models.
I know that if you Google LT100 model you will get a bunch of photos of my build, cannot say that I was over joyed by this, but there it is.
I am told the protests in Canberra were huge with possibly 3 million people, not on the main stream news of coarse.
Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi John,

Wow that is quite a write up. 😁

In my opinion polys have their own interests at heart followed by the big end of town/corporations and lastly the ordinary people, as you pointed out the claimed 10,000 houses was probably what is needed, then winding up with 30, and I wonder how much the tax payer really forked out.

It is the same over here dictator Dan our premier wants to go for the mandatory 3rd jab for a virus that is now no more dangerous than a normal cold. On you tube one of the people I watch is Dr John Campbell I find his stuff very informative. Personally I have not had the jab and consider it to be dangerous, which means I an not allowed to go to work lucky for me I can do stuff remotely but it is not easy.
People have been tricked, hypnotized into having these experimental treatments, and you are wright people are like sheep only problem is they are being led into a river of crocodiles and most people cannot see that, partly because the people who know how bad these things are have been shut down, over here doctors face de-registration if they talk out about the negative side of these treatments.
I thought the pharma company's were "immune" from litigation entirely.
I tend to be in the camp that thinks this whole thing is centrally controlled and coordinated.

On to a more enjoyable topic, I agree this site is not easy to navigate and that is quite frustrating. I don't mind Ships of Scale or SOS the only problem is most people on there are only interested in static sailing ships, nothing wrong with that.

As for me I am taking a break from building the trawler and finishing off building a rope making and serving machine that I started probably 30 odd years ago, I might post something on this site though I tend to think there would not be much interest in such a thing. You are quite wright a lot of time and energy is put into a build log, a question I ask myself is why do I do a blog, and I guess mainly to share what I have done with like minded people and on that level it doesn't matter all that much what I get back though it is nice to get real feed back from people who have taken time to read what has been written.
After that I need to do some things for my long suffering wife.

And I also hope you are awake still.😁

Cheers,
Stephen.

Hi JB,

Fantastic photos reminds me of how beautiful NZ is.
Tsunami have an incredible force.
Great videos of your Amphitruck, I had already watched one a while ago, but silly me didn't think to check if there was a blog, for some reason I thought the truck was one you had built a while ago.
Thanks for sending the pics and video.

I hope things are going alright on your side of the ditch as the madness continues, in my opinion both of our pollys and I don't discriminate between sides of politics or pollys as I tend to think they are all corrupt especially when they have got to the top. I tend to think they are all hoping for Covid19 not to end and force everyone to be injected with whatever they deem needed.
Sorry for the rant.
Take care.
Cheers,
Stephen.

I am very sorry that i have not been able to contribute to this wonderful site for the past few weeks but my wife has covid she got it from going to her brothers funeral in whitstable she stayed overnight in a travelodge but our daughter and her son and his wife and more family members have covid i could not go as my younger brother was taken ill the day before and is in hospital and i am not very well so have had to put my build project on hold for the moment

Best Regards David

Thanks for looking into that Seems O/K now & Thanks again .

Thanks I reset sound after reading instructions & working O/K now

Super! I’m pleased it got to him safely, and to hear it’s cheered him up 😊😊

Thanks for letting me know 👍

Stephen

Hi John,

I’ll contact Martin and see if he’ll accept. I don’t have his address at the moment, so I will need to get in touch to request it.

It's very kind of you, I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

Thanks,
Stephen

Oh thank you JB!
I'll take a close look at the whole thing and take notes!
Thanks again!
Greets Michel-Cl.

Bonsoir JB!
Oh, You are right, the optimist is always opti in the beginning. . . "mist" (Germanword, in English :dung)
But if you take your time, something like yours will come out! Excellent!
Get tips from you, ok?
But the first question: How did you solve that with the sailing servo? May I ask for a few pictures?
Thanks in advance Michel-Claude

Hey you!
Now I have started my work. You can look at it in the "Build Blogs" under my transport helper.
Greets Michel-Claude

Great minds John.

Martin.

Hi John,

I knew your Lathe would go down well.
People like to see these mechanical things.
Maybe you could post updates as to what you are doing to her and how you are doing it.

Just an idea.

Martin.

Hi John,
Business did make me smile, i bet they has a lot of laughs when making that song.
Martin.

Hi John,
He will be on his own if he gets tong-tied LOL!!

Martin.

Hi JB,
That poor skipper LOL!!
Wait for one and four come along.
The one on the left look's like a gold digger LOL!!
He will be a poor man from now on.
He will have to sell his boat as they all look like high maintenance LOL!!

In a way i am lucky with deliveries i don't get any as i cannot afford to purchase anything LOL!!

Martin.

Hi John,
I will be doing the minimum to 'MOJO' now just to get it out of the way.

I used to make RC plains many years ago and very quickly run out of bin bags so gave it up LOL!!

That did look a nice plain until the nose modification.

Over here in the U.K. We now have to have a licence to fly RC Plains now thanks to the guys flying Drones over the Airports.
We also have to have a licence to fly Drones over a certain weight, and we are not allowed to to fly within a mile from any airport.

The same old routine a few have totally ruined it for the rest.

Martin.

Hi John,

I think that is the reason why i really like you'r builds because you start totally from scratch.

I must admit that the majority of so called model makers are just model assemblers.

I think that is why i am not enjoying making 'MOJO'
Altho i am changing things a bit from the original it is still a kit.
Even more so because the guy that wanted this made seems to of totally disappeared off the planet leaving me out of pocket.

I must force myself to Finnish it.

For my next project that i have in mind there are no plans/drawings, no measurements, and at the moment very little to make it with.

But you know me that will not stop me LOL!!

Martin.

Hi John,
I don't have a lathe as i to don't use one often enough.
Most bits for my models i make by hand.

One day i might make a small lathe again just for making model parts, it would save a lot of effort.

I do have some electric motors so maybe i will start looking out for the components needed.

That is some nice wood turning there.
Another thing i have not done before.

Martin.

John,
Have you thought about making something like this but maybe smaller or even modified ?

Years ago i made something similar but smaller using an electric motor from a model boat like this.




Unfortunately that vanished when my first wife did.
I don't miss the wife LOL!!






Martin.

Hi John,

I have never used clay before so it would be interesting to see how you get on with some of your mouldings.

Have you tried a two part mould in clay yet ?

Martin555.

Hi John,
How about a small rectangle of fine 'wet & dry sand paper with a painted border and then Varnished with matt Varnish?

Martin.

Hi John,
Well it likes like nobody complained unless sometime one clicked the flag tab if so then Stephen has not done anything about it.
I agree about boys and models, i would like to play with lots of models LOL!!

The problem with these models is they very quickly turn into big trouble.

Martin.

Well JB,
It may not come under boats.
But you could say it comes under models LOL!!!

I bet even mturpin dose not complain LOL!!

Martin.

Hi JB, Interesting photos and article. Looking at the photos, one shows hatches with tarpaulin covering so is almost certainly wood. Another photo showed the hatches with no cover and I would have thought these would be steel. I have seen a similar arrangement on some small coasters. I'd hate to say either way.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi JB,

I just thought i would let you know that Myself and Bill (Scratchbuilder) are thinking about leaving the site.
It seems that a curtain Moderator is allowed to make inappropriate comments on the site and nothing is done about it.
When we reported this to Stephen (Fireboat) Site Founder/owner he said he has not got time to sort it out and if this continues he will ban all the Moderators from the site.

The same Moderator continued making inappropriate comments, again this was reported by Bill and myself.

So now Stephen said that he don’t need Moderators anymore so he will do away with them altogether.

He has now done so.

So it seems that the rest of the Moderating team is now being punished because of one person.
And that the person who made the comments is getting away with it.

Here is a contact email address if you would like to keep in contact with me.

mdrumsh@googlimail.com

Hi JB,
There were a few issues with the How-To system.
Stephen has now fixed the problem and also combined the info from the EXTRA How-To to the original and deleted the EXTRA.

Martin.

Hi Jb,
Your worry seems to be coming true!
Apart from a 'few' likes on other posts he does seem to be flooding us with his blogs, photos and spurious threads like his 'This Week I Bought' 🤔
(I just posted a tongue in cheek entry on that thread!😁)
He's also started PMing Martin with all sorts of suggestions for 'improving' the site.
Some of which I fear that Stephen might be taking seriously🤔
I'll be keeping a close eye on him, even if I'll be taking a back seat on moderating etc for a few weeks, got some stuff to sort out.
Cheers, Doug 😎

I have mentioned this before to Stephen that it is to easy for members to change/delete How-To's.
So i will mention it again.

Thank's again.
Martin.

Thank you JB,
I thought there was a problem but was unable to test it out as at the moment i cannot delete How-To's completely.
I will pass this on to Stephen for him to take a look at.
Thanks again.

Martin.

Hi JB,

Thank you for doing the How-To.

RE :- HOW TO INSTALL AN EASY MUSIC SYSTEM FOR YOUR MODEL (How-To)

I noticed in the EXTRA How-To you said you could not add the extra photos to the original How-To.

Is it a problem with the site editing not allowing you to add?

Martin.

Hi JB,
Thanks for the heads up 👍
Both Bill (Scratchbuilder) and I have started to wonder about Andy a few days ago, and have discussed him, and a PM he sent to Martin555 complaining about the site structure and format "Too much bling!" he said. We are keeping an eye on him.
BTW: He lives in Leeds, Yorkshire, UK and is a member of Balne MBC. Balne is a suburb of Leeds.
I also noticed that one of his mates on Mayhem has also appeared her; Zooma.
I'll be watching the pair of them🤓, and checking as best I can for any more cohorts from Mayhem or elsewhere.
Cheers, Doug 😎

Sorry jb, I forgot to thank you for putting up all that information on the scows. Don't get a lot about them in this country but it's nice to know there is some restoration of them going on. I'm always interested in restoration of old sailing craft particularly working boats.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi jb,
How nice to know that I'm not being pilloried from all directions. I never thought 'someone' would get so worked up. When supporting red's post, I thought I would be one of many but either we are in a great minority or nobody else wants to show support. I think it a great pity that one is not allowed to have their opinion, the opposing view having their's and just leaving it at that without getting in an almighty tiz and throwing their toys out of the pram. I think it a bit much that it should be me receiving all the flak now
Having three , four hour sessions in hospital each week, one sees and hears things and I have heard from the nurses about people dying of renal failure and other things and it being put down for official purposes as covid. One nurse was taken off work for a month because her nine year old daughter had (erroneously) been diagnosed with covid. Through this and other things, I am convinced that the figures are being fiddled.
I really do not know what to do to calm things down, just shut up and let him have the last word, or write a post trying to calm things down, perhaps suggesting that politics should be banned from the forum if it is going to create so much argument.

Many thanks for your support, all the best.

Nerys

Thanks JB 😊
Appreciate your support, and your marvellous Blogs and 'funnies' research.
Keep 'em coming👍
Yeah, shame about David. A troubled man.
Don't like Blocking folks, but enough was enough!
This was the last message David managed to get through, via the Support function - Keep it under your hat please!
"Subject: Other
Name: D WALKER
Message: Fuck off you hatEfull lot ROT IN HELL"
I think he needs a psychiatrist, not a Model Boat forum.
Cheers, Doug 😎
PS Time for a whisky and dry ginger here - then think about what to eat 😋

Hi,
Yes I was referring to your video. Sure looks fun! I have not gotten into RC vehicles, pretty expensive here in my area even used. Lots of moving parts and most are race cars, drifters etc. Crawlers too.

After being in the salt water, do you clean everything in fresh water right away?

I repaired a large sailboat that had been sailed in saltwater. The rudder post had seized. Would not wish that upon you!

Looking forward to future videos.

Pretty cool video.

I worked as a welder fitter for ten years in my father-in-law’s shop. We built many things, and trailers were one of them. Would you be able to add a longer tongue? Is adding a tilting device too much at this point? How about a winch? Or is the whole idea to retrieve hands free?

RonBauer

Hi JB,

I did get to the bottom of this bug. Some photos from other users pending posts were being crossed over. Basically there was no check for the user ID.

Hopefully it'll not happen again! Thanks for reporting it. 😎

Stephen

He is mad - asking the same question on RC Groups , Model Boat Mayhem , MB Magazine Forum and this one - time waster has been sent numerous plans & suggestions , feel like making a rude one. Still not touching sides here - too much to do .
Take Care & have a good Xmas JB

hi pal thank you for the plans for yacht they will help a lot can you send them pm as might be bit bigger like you said

Hi,
I sail Seawinds at Onepotu pond. Seeing your Air boat vid I wondered if the pond it is filmed in, is at "Millwater"?
I ask because i need to test out my boat mods ect ect from time to time and could do with something closer to home.
My location is Stanmore Bay.
Cheers,
Kjeld

Hi JB ,
Have the plans for Orca if you are interested (offered them to the guy that built it - went ahead and bought them anyway) - also the Maine Lobster Boat and a NZ shrimper .
Did you get hold of Steve Mahoney - see he is up and running on a new model on Mayhem already - prolific static modeler .
Regards
Peter G

QRZ de Phil G0WSP !

Hi John,

I do like that, looks excellent!

Haven’t been ignoring you deliberately, we are just back from a few days away visiting my family in London. Having grown up in the countryside, I can’t understand how my son can live in the east end of London. Each to his own I guess..


Regards Graham

Hi John,

Just thinking about your stick operated smoker control. If you had room for another microswitch on that servo, and a relay, you could arrange for it to latch on with the stick in one direction, and off with it the other way.

Most radio sets here are now 2.4G, but that won’t work under water hence the interest in 27MHz for a sub. My 35 MHz set is FM with 8 channels, so converted to 27MHz will make it ideal. It is built from a design which was published in the RCM&E magazine in the late 70s. The initial design was for 27MHz. A subsequent article, a few years later provided the information to modify it for 35MHz. I built it as a 35MHz set, but I have the initial design details so it will be relatively easy to convert. Around 1980, Citizens Band radio was approved in the UK on 27MHz and it was very popular for a while. It made the frequency very risky for model control, especially for aircraft. Hence the move to 35MHz. Nowadays, there is not much CB radio about, and I guess the risk for a submarine is small. I’d want to fit it with a failsafe to force it to surface in any case. That’s for the future, I finished the yacht today so I’m hoping to try it out later this week. The weather will have to improve though. It has been snowing here today.

Regards Graham

Hi John,

My electronics ability comes from more than 50 years as a hobby and a job - ( I did start very young 😉) My Dad used to repair valve TVs on the kitchen table when I was just a toddler. I remember he built a transistor radio in the mid 60s from a kit. The ‘circuit boards’ were cardboard with the circuit layout printed on them. Bare copper wire was used to connect the components together. I guess my interest just started there. I built a valve based public address amplifier in the late 60s and used to use it for discos in the local scout hut. When I started work, my first job was writing software for a CNC lathe. Looking back, the processor I was programming then had less power, and storage, than one of the PIC chips I now use for models. I have six PICs built in the Crash Tender (rudder/throttle mixer, lighting, searchlight movement, searchlight on/off, monitor pump and smoke generator).

The modern TXs are amazing. I have the FlySky i6 which has 10 channels with lots of programming options. I still have my home built 35MHz set I used for slope soaring, the only adjustments on that are the mechanical trims on the sticks. I’m considering modifying it to work on 27MHz if I decide to build a submarine. 35MHz is restricted to flying models over here. 27MHz is OK for surface vehicles.

If you would like a centre off RC switch for your ST just let me know. Could set it up to operate with on in one direction, and off in the other. Or two outputs, one in each direction. Or whatever......

Regards
Graham

Hi John,

It is important that the fluid tank is sealed so that there is nowhere for the forced air to flow into it. I don’t know if my tank extension has helped with this, I hadn’t considered that. The extension ensures that the original fluid tank is always full of fluid, with no air space. Thinking about it, that set up, in the Crash Tender, doesn’t seem to have as much of an issue with flooding as the other, non extended tank I was using for gunfire trials. I can probably get back to some more trials soon, as painting the yacht is finished, just waiting for it to harden properly before completing the final fit out. Could take a while, really need you 30 degrees for a few days - that would do the trick. Forecast for today is rain and 7C. Snow a little further north.

I’ve built quite a few electronic remote switches for the Crash Tender. Being able to build bits of electronics is one reason for the interest in the hobby. Indeed the original build of the Crash Tender was driven by the desire to build my own radio gear. One of the switches for the nav lights has three outputs driven from one channel. It works on a centering stick, with one direction for on, and the other for off. It also counts ‘on’ and ‘off’ pulses to decide decide which output to activate. I just updated the software in it yesterday as there was a problem if I gave it 4 ‘on’ pulses by mistake. It didn’t know what to do in that situation and got confused. Took it about 15 minutes to figure out something was wrong before it started working again! Now it resets instantly.
Regards Graham

Hi John,

That looks better. It was difficult to see the smoke in yesterday’s video. The sputtering water looks effective. I have the smoke power turned up a bit to make it more obvious on the lake. Probably too much, but at least you can see it. Does attract comments though about the boat being on fire 🔥 Maybe I should turn it down. The air goes through the mouthpiece as it was designed to, I.e. flows from the battery connector and out through the mouthpiece. Not had any problem with leaks, but I do get a bit of flooding with the glycerine. Meant to mention, I have almost 5L of glycerine so I won’t run out anytime soon! It is quite cheap if you buy it in bulk. I had it left over from another, non boat, related application.

Regards Graham

Hi John,

Wow, you must have thin fingers to get in there 🤣 - I thought my Crash Tender was tight, but it has lots of room in comparison.

I was expecting ice on the lake on Sunday morning, but it was clear. Hoping CaretakerPhil will post a video soon. Today it is above freezing, but thick mist/fog. Can’t see to the end of the garden. Not a breath of wind. Need to go and light the stove in the workshop. More painting to do.

Regards
Graham

Hi John,

Smoker looks good.

Yes the pdf downloaded without a problem. We used to have Maplin stores in the UK, originally just electronic components, but then moved in to modules and anything that had a wire on it, or batteries in it. So similar to Jaycar. They went bust a year ago. It is tough for retail shops now. Lots of stores are closing due to falling sales. It isn’t difficult to understand, why would I go in to town to buy something, maybe having to try several stores to find it in stock when I can order on line and get it delivered to the door in a couple of days ( unless it is from China when I have to wait).

Envy you your weather right now. It has hardly got above 0C here for the past few days. I’m having to light the stove in the workshop each day and wait for it to warm up before I can paint the yacht. Took the Crash Tender sailing yesterday, it was -3C when I left home! No ice on the lake, no wind, and clear blue sky, so it was great provided you could keep warm. I’m hoping there will be some video posted on the site in the next few days.

Regards
Graham

Hi John,

Good that you have the car finished. I’m glad I don’t fix my own now. Spent far too much time in the past crawling round under cars trying to release stubborn bolts.

I have come across the Jaycar name here as they seem to be involved with many of the construction projects in the hobby electronics mag that I occasionally buy. I’ve just looked them up on Google and they have a UK website with prices in GB£. They also have their catalog available for download, but it is too big and just errors when I try it. They look to have a good range of bits and pieces. The downside is everything is shipped from Australia and there shipping fees start at a minimum of GB£20. Would need to buy a lot to make that economic when I can buy many items from China for pence, including shipping.

For future reference my email is graham@highfieldbees.co.uk

Regards
Graham

Hi John,

I have a similar solution. I tried using two switches, one for 'full' and one for 'empty'. It worked, but works better just using one for the full position and topping up the tank after each shot. I used magnetic reed switches operated by a magnet on the hinged plasticard flap in the tank. Much less pressure needed to operate them. The switches are cheap chinese junk and not very reliable, but it works well when the switch works. There are semiconductor 'Hall effect' switches available that would be very reliable but they won't switch much current. They would work OK with my controller though. I think I have one somewhere from a previous project so I'll see if I can find it sometime. I don't have a model I could use this on, and no plans to build one right now so I'm going to put it on the shelf for now.

Assembly of the yacht is almost finished, just needs painting and rigging so I'm going to see if I can finish that over the next couple of weeks. Then there's the rowing boat to build, and I recently saw a submarine built from three glass jam jars that looks like a challenge...... Addictive this hobby isn't it!!!

Hi John,

I've got the gunfire software working now. The video clip shows it driven by my RC gear. A single switched channel triggers the gunfire by operating the solenoid valve for a fixed (preset) pulse. After each shot, the air pump starts up to refill the air capacitor. Once full a reed switch on the capacitor turns the pump off. You can just see that happening in the video.



My pensioner travel card only gives me free bus travel after 9:30, not the trains, which is a bit limiting. Especially as my wife isn't eligible for a pass until later this year. Not much point in me going on the bus and her driving along behind 🤣.

Back to the website now....

Hi John,

Happy New Year to you. Hope the car repair and house maintenance is going OK. Haven’t had much time for boats during the past week, too busy building a new website for an organisation i’m involved with. I got the job of Webmaster, as no one else was prepared to take it on. Don’t know much about building websites, so it has been a steep learning curve. Went live yesterday, and seems to be working. I suspect that I still have 90% of the work to do!

Boiling water sounds an interesting approach. Will be really neat if it does away without having to carry, and refill with glycerine. I hope to have a go with the air reservoir controller tomorrow. Will be nice to get back to some practical activities after a week in front of a screen😁.

Just waiting on the arrival of my eldest son, his wife and our youngest granddaughter (3 months). Staying overnight on their way to the other grandparents in Scotland. I’ll be able to get back in the workshop after breakfast, once they have left👍

Regards Graham

Hi John,

I did wonder about storing smoke in the balloon. Not sure how well that will work. Will it just condense and make a mess. Worth an experiment though. I’ve written some code for a PIC microchip to control this air capacitor/solenoid set up. It will use a single RC switched channel. The first switch activation will turn on the coil and pump. The pump will then be switched on/off to maintain air in the capacitor using MS to monitor balloon inflation. Subsequent RC switch activations will operate the solenoid to release stored air/smoke. If there are no activations for a period ( maybe 10 seconds) then the coil and pump will turn off. The software will allow adjustment of the pump speed, the solenoid open time, and the overall timeout period using buttons on the pcb. Now I just need to debug the code and get it working.

The yacht is progressing slowly. I’ve been somewhat diverted to domestic issues. My eldest son decided he needs to borrow the family cot for his new daughter and wants to collect it this week when he visits. Being over 40 years old it needs a bit of maintenance and cleaning before he collects it (it is solid oak and was made by my father in law).

I bough a laser cut wood pack for the yacht thinking it would make assembly easy. Wrong! It has been quite disappointing to find lots of problems with the assembly as the ply parts are too thick in a number of areas. However the basic hull is now assembled. I’m using two part epoxy to seal the ply, and with added filler to filet the joints between parts. It’s taking several days to harden as I can’t maintain a reasonable temperature in the workshop 24/7. I have a wood burning stove to keep it warm, but it won’t stay in overnight. I’m also short of some bits and pieces which I won’t be able to get now until after the holiday period.

I used to do all my own car maintenance, mainly because I couldn’t afford to pay someone else to do it, but not anymore. Modern cars are too complex to work on, and I have too many other, more interesting things to spend my time on.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year,

Graham

John,

The supplier has promised to send me a replacement, hopefully it will be electronics this time😉.

I'm using a simple resistor to drop the volts for the LED at present, but it is a 1W LED so doing it that way is wasteful on battery power. When I get this converter it will be a lot more efficient. I hate wasting battery power unnecessarily and the converter cost less than £1 - it also came with a free packet of seeds!🤣😂

I don't understand these big models. I suppose they attract attention and are good for public shows, but as you say potentially dangerous and very impractical in terms of transport. At least with boats we don't have the same danger issues for the public.

I couldn't resist having a go with a balloon. Works fine with a solenoid and would be realistic for battleship guns. The solenoid is a normally open one so I was having to disconnect it from the power to release smoke.



A few thoughts on the implementation for this. I'd want to monitor the balloon inflation and keep it within two values, max and min using a couple of limit switches. The pump would be controlled on/off to keep within these limits. I don't think leaving the coil on, with no airflow is a good idea. It will likely overheat and possibly burn out, so I'd want to switch it on just before use, and off afterwards. Also saves on battery power! So I'd envisage switch pump on/coil on together. Wait for balloon to inflate between limit values. FIRE! (repeatedly). Switch it off after a few seconds of inactivity. Another software job 😀

Back to the yacht this afternoon.

regards Graham

John,

Here’s the battleship:

Hopefully you will get the heaters before too long. I have been waiting on a constant current LED driver for the Crash Tender searchlight. A package arrived eventually, the customs declaration stated ‘electronics’ but inside the packet were seeds - don’t know what they are, but I have my suspicions. Not something I should be smoking! 🤔

Regards Graham

John,

I was just about to mail you suggesting using a micro switch to control the inflation when your mail came in 👍 I think it’s a better idea than the timed on/off control. Like the bottle with a flap implementation, I hadn’t worked that out.

Have you seen the Dec 19 Model Boats article about smoke for gunfire? That uses hot (230c !) metal chamber to instantly vaporise smoker fuel when it is squirted into it. I’m sure it works, but at the expense of heavy power consumption. I think the balloon based solution looks just as effective, at a fraction of the power requirement.

Now I’ve started the yacht build, I’ve run out of space in the workshop to try any more smoke experiments until I Han get the hull out of the way.

Regards Graham

Hi John,

Thanks for the video. It looks effective. Does the balloon self limit on inflation? I.e. does it reach a point where the pump isn’t strong enough to pump any more air in? Would hate for it to explode inside the boat....

Addictive this modelling 🤣 I’m tempted to get in the workshop and have a go, I have a few solenoids lying around, but I really must finish a few other, non modelling related things off first.

Shotcut is free here. Interesting if it is different in NZ. This from their homepage:

About

Shotcut is a free, open source, cross-platform video editor for Windows, Mac and Linux. Major features include support for a wide range of formats; no import required meaning native timeline editing; Blackmagic Design support for input and preview monitoring; and resolution support to 4k.
The version I have installed doesn’t seem to be a trial time limited version, time will tell. I did try another package before Shotcut which worked OK for a few days and then started demanding payment before it would let me do anything.

Regards Graham

John,

I like the air capacitor idea. I think I’d want to make it auto fill and stop when ‘full’. Wouldn’t want to overfill it- that could be quite dramatic! Love the idea of a row of solenoids connected to a series of guns, appeals to my technology interests. Almost tempted to build a battleship just to have something to try it on.😆 Another project to add to the ‘to do’ list.

It will have to wait though. Christmas preparations, and the new boat build will fill all my spare time for the next couple of weeks.

Regards Graham

Hi John,

Glad you like the video. I decided I needed to combine different clips so I could include them in a single post. Didn’t want to have to do separate posts to cover the different settings.

I’m new to video editing so I found a free editing app, Shotcut. The merged video is my first attempt. It took a few tries before I worked out how to use the app, but it wasn’t difficult in the end.

Hope your house maint is going OK. Can’t do much outdoors at this time of year. We had snow yesterday, and rain all day today. Trouble is, it isn’t good weather to go sailing either. Started a new build today, simple yacht this time.

Regards Graham

John,

I’ve started the post. Hopefully the post title will make it easy to find in the future.

Regards Graham

Hi John,

I thought about a Blog, but again, only the originator would be able to post new items to it. I think a simple forum post will give most flexibility for us both to add to it. I have just edited several videos together so I can put different examples into one post.

regards Graham

Hi John,

I looked at the ‘How to’ section. There doesn’t seem to be any option to add to a post, or comment on it. Neither can you post videos, so it doesn’t look too promising.

I think I might just post in the general forum, with a topic title that makes it a bit easier to find when searching. Want to post a few different examples of using the Vape atomiser in different ways.

Didn’t get to the lake yesterday to get a new video. I was all charged up and ready to go, but the weather turned cold (5 C), windy and wet by mid-day. Not ideal for standing out by the lake.

Regards Graham

John,

Going to try and get a better video of the boat on the lake later today. If I do, I’ll post that. I agree, finding things on this site can be difficult. I was wondering about posting my smoker in a separate blog on ‘how to make a smoker’, but the ‘how to’ area might be a better option.

Terrible news from White Island this week. We visited it some years ago. The crossing from the mainland was quite rough, I was OK but my wife was terribly sick both ways. I remember that more than the island itself.

You are very quiet at the mo JB - That usually spells trouble..........
Hope you are OK
Regards
Peter G

John,

I agree. My first impression of his exhaust ports was that they are very nicely made, but sort of miss the point. That’s why I commented that I was looking forward to seeing them working😉.

I’ve built a new controller for the smoker, but not had time to try it out yet. Hopefully later today. If it works as expected I might post something about it.

Regards Graham

Hi JB,

I am late to the party on this forum - so I have not read all the history/journey/development.

Sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs! - Go careful with you latest setup as I think you have all the ingredients for flames after a few uses!!

Regards
Jonathan

John,

I’ve often found it difficult to locate posts a second time. The search engine seems very limited.

That video was posted as a comment to an earlier blog post. I think that’s why it is difficult to find. I’m hoping I’ll have some better videos by the weekend so I’ll post those maybe as a media post. However getting the videos does depend on the weather, which isn’t looking too good.
Regards Graham93

Hi John,

I did wonder about exhaust flaps, but as far as I know, the Crash Tenders didn’t have them fitted. I also noticed this week that on my boat, the exhaust ports are under water when the boat is stationary 🙄. You can see it in the video. Think I might need to sort out the weight distribution and move a few things forward. I still have a few things to fit in the boat yet, If I’m not careful, it might become a model submarine 🤣.

Thinking about the reversing problem, you could set the TX up for normal operation, and then fit a servo reverser in the cable before the smoke ESC. That way the drive ESC would be driven normally, and the smoke esc in reverse.

I’m trying to make things on the boat as simple as possible to operate. Despite that, by the time I’ve finished I’ll be using all 10 channels on the Tx and won’t have enough fingers to control it all at once, and take photos etc!

My control unit currently runs with the smoke coil full on, the water pump on slow, and the air pump pulsing. I can probably arrange for the smoke coil power to be inversely linked to throttle setting, which would do away with the need for a separate ESC. Or perhaps it would be a good idea to have the smoke running just for ‘engine startup’, I.e. for a few seconds, and then leave the water pulsing without smoke once the engine is running. That should keep me busy trying to write some software to achieve that.😁

Going to the model boat show tomorrow, so who knows what ideas I might come back with, not to mention bits and pieces.

Regards Graham

That’s interesting. So if I understand correctly, you are reducing the coil power as you increase the throttle. I haven’t tried that. I did try pulsing the coil with the same pulsed power feed as the air pump, but found it didn’t work well, the coil wasn’t getting hot enough to produce much smoke.
Yes, I recon you can just reverse the motor connections to cope with the reversed channel and it should work OK with both ESCs on the same channel.

I found that trials on the lake are different to in the workshop, so the settings need to be different. I think the pumps need to work faster in the model than they do on the bench. Trouble is, I can’t easily adjust that on the lakeside with my current build, so I’m planning to put together a new control board that will allow easy adjustment of the smoke pulsing and pump speeds. Already had one expression of interest. Didn’t really want to get back into manufacturing 🙄
Graham93

Hi John,

Replaced the simple 'T' I was using to mix the smoke stream and water with one based on the attached sketch. It works much better. I'm getting more smoke, and I'm not getting water flowing back into the smoker and flooding it. The water tube is thin walled 6mm o/d, 0.45mm wall. The smoke tube is 3mm o/d and about 0.5mm wall copper tube. I bent it be hand and it distorted a little so the cross section must be quite small. Might have another go at making a better version of this. The video I just posted has the coil running at 3.5v. It probably needs turning down a bit, certainly in the workshop! Current drain is around 1A off a 7.4V supply.

I like the trapdoor idea 😉 I think that works because you have cotton wool in the tank which will slow down the liquid flow into the coil. There is no wool in my tank and I think having it open will just flood the coil. If I have time, I'll try that tomorrow to see what happens.

I've been thinking about switching so that it only operates on startup and idle. I think I could put something together to switch it automatically based on throttle setting. So it would run on idle, and accelerate with throttle setting until the throttle is at, maybe 40%, when it would turn off. Similarly, it would turn back on when the throttle drops below say 10%. That would save having to use another channel on the R/C.

Happy to put some electronics together for you eventually if you would like. Need to wait until it settles down a bit though as it is all a bit too fluid at present.

Regards Graham

John, the video looks good. It must be using more power than mine, as I get very little heating. Switching the coil would help keep it cool at the expense of less smoke.

I’ve got mine working reasonably this morning so I might post a video later. Getting too much smoke in the workshop, but it will probably be OK on the lake.

John,

That looks good. It will be interesting to see how it works with the air pump. I’ve been playing with the pump power and on/off times, but I’ve only succeeded in making it work less well than it was before. Ah well, tomorrow is another day.
Regards Graham

Hi JB - seen you have not yet read my last message. You said you have 3 boats - which ones are you referring to ?
My Dad & I built dinghy's on our verandah - Mother was very easy going about some things - cant remember what order - normally 2 at a time. there was a Heron, Enterprise, GP14, and a Mermaid (built like a Mirror but pointy ended, gaff rigged). First was a "Feather" duckboat - 8' of sheer pleasure to a 10 year old. Tough boat - went over a drift (wading crossing instead of a bridge) and hit various rocks at times with very little damage. Last Dinghy we had (sold the rest) was the Mermaid - rotted under her cover at the club some 25 miles away as I was away in UK studying for two years. Brother in law promptly built a pram and used her sails & fittings including rudder, centreboard etc. Good times - but have not owned a full size boat for many years - my last one a 16' cathedral hulled Fisherman with an electric start 50hp Mercury "Thunderbolt" used on Kariba - not much convenient sailing water around Johannesburg where we lived while the kids were growing up - (needed to be there for a good job to pay the bills) - the bit that was convenient was totally overcrowded, even the model boat club had to move to a lower pond because of canoeists infringing on our section. My one steam boat actually sank a canoe leaving the occupant struggling in the water - but that's a long story

Hi John,

The sealed version should work, that’s effectively what I have. The oil tank has to be sealed else too much oil gets drawn into the coil and it floods. I have a filler screw with an o-ring seal on my oil tank to fill it. I don’t think the fan version you have drawn will work. The oil tank isn’t sealed with that one.

I can see why your old diecast box isn’t useable for this!
Graham

Hi John,

The coils I'm using are 1.8 ohm. They are designed to work with a single LiPo battery, i.e. nominal 3.7v. I have been running mine on 3.7v - 4V. It gets slightly warm, but nothing to worry about. I'm powering it from 8v through a buck converter which has an adjustable output and is claimed to be 98% efficient dropping the volts from 8v to 3.7 - 4v. You can just see the converter in the top righthand corner of the photos. When combined with the pump, it draws about 0.9A from the 8v supply when the coil is operating at 3.7v and 1.0A with the coil at 4.0V. The pump is running on the 8V supply. The nice thing about the buck converter (from ebay) is that it halves the output voltage and halves the input current. So 8v 0.9A input equates to 3.7V 2A output to the coil (approx). I'm looking to power this off the receiver/aux battery in the Crash Tender which is a 2S LiPo. I got 5 coils for less than £5 so they are cheap here. Apparently they need to be replaced in an e-cig at regular intervals. I'm still using the original one, despite it having a lot of mistreatment.

Agreed, not something to run for extended periods. I don't know what the threads on the coil are, certainly very fine. That's why I bought the complete tank, etc as it is ready threaded for the coil and makes it really easy to replace.

The plumbing isn't quite as you drew it. See the revised drawing. I'm not using the 'tube in tube' outlet. I found it works better with a simple T connection as shown. Bubbling the smoke through the water gives a more realistic effect (IMHO). The smoke isn't absorbed, but I think that is due to the higher air pressur from using the air pump rather than a fan. The only problem with the plumbing is the risk of backflow of water into the smoker. I've had a couple of issues with this. I've just tried adding a non return valve to the smoke pipe just before the 'T', but it didn't work too well as the smoker doesn't like any back pressure. I've now moved the non return valve to between the pump and smoker and I think that will fix the issue. As the pipework and smoker are sealed from the non return valve to the water T, there shouldn't be any backflow. Not had time to test it properly, and I'm away for a couple of days so it will be the end of the week before I get chance. Updated the electronics, see the second picture. Now much simpler and with better performance - also smaller than a matchbox!

I plan simply to drive this on a 'Y' lead on the throttle channel, (and possibly a syncronised sound generator 🤣 - but that is something for another day).

Yes, we could probably make and sell these for a few £/$. However I have recent experience of making and selling electronic devices on line. Made over 300, including etching circuit boards, etc. Lots of demand but not worth all the time and effort. Stopped making them a year ago, but I still get enquiries.

regards Graham

John,

The e-cig is listed on ebay.uk as 'H2 Atomizers Clearomizers E Cigarette Oil Vape Pen Juice Wickless Refill Tanks'. Don't know if you have anything similar in NZ.

Attached is a photo of the motor control electronics. Need to simplify this!

regards Graham

John,

I tried lots of different setups including pulsing the water with a solenoid, pulsing the airflow with a solenoid, pulsing them both, tube in tube mixing. They all sort of worked, but it was all getting too complicated, and too bulky. So I decided to go back to the start and use as few components as possible.

The set up now is the air pump feeding into the smoker. The smoke outlet tube is then connected with a simple T to the water tube. The water runs continually, using an aquarium pump in my test rig. I’m hoping that the normal flow from the water scoop on the model will be OK, or I might have to use the fire monitor pump. The speed of the air pump is pulsed with a bunch of electronics. It is pulsed from slow to fast and back, not simply on/off. The change from slow to fast is ramped, not instant, as with it instant, there was lots of water spurting from the exhaust. The pulse rate is varied by the throttle setting. I still have some work to do on the electronics, to improve its operation, and make it smaller.

The e-cig I bought included the heater and the tank/mouthpiece and cost £1.75 from eBay including postage. I’ll find some details and send them to you.

Regards Graham93

Local scientist is predicting end of world in 10 years - hastily contradicted by French one who says 30 years . Something to do with Global Warming and what killed the Dinosaurs...........
Don't think I will be around to see in any event , COPD catching up with me now after too many years supporting the Rhodesian tobacco industry and demolishing/renovating houses without using a dust mask.
Opening new shop on Monday - so will have time to get on with unfinished boats whilst sitting there - usually quiet midweeks. Time off will be running the laser from our garage.......
Getting to be a bit of a pain at 74...........
Regards
Peter G

How This Then JB
"As part of its commitment to support Lead2030, Mondi formulated a challenge related to SDG 12 ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’ to address the issue of waste. Mondi selected Kenyan company Eco Blocks and Tiles as the challenge winner and provided them with R733,470 ($50,000) in financial investment, alongside 12 months of business coaching, to equip the company with the expertise to grow and scale the business.

Eco Blocks and Tiles, co-founded by Hope Wakio Mwanake and Kevin Mureithi, turns plastic waste into affordable roof tiles for homes. The business positively contributes to SDG12 by creating value out of plastic waste. The One Young World annual summit will take place this week in London, and Wakio Mwanake as well as colleagues from Mondi will be attending."
little bit late for the world though
Regards
Peter G

John,

You should be able to adjust the pipes I sent to look more like your diagram with the central pipe offset. The central smoke pipe is soft soldered into the bush at the end of the outer tube. The bush, and the water inlet pipe are silver soldered, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to melt the soft solder and reposition that tube, without upsetting the other joints.

Regards Graham93

John,

Here are a couple of photos. I have made an acrylic connector to fix in the end of the e-cig which makes connecting to the heating coil easier, and also connects the airflow from the pump. The e-cig only has a capacity of 2ml of smoke fluid, which doesn't last very long so I've added an extra reservoir which holds lots (not measured it yet) and it runs for ages. I've had it running on/off for most of the day and it has used only half the fluid. The whole thing can be unscrewed to replace the coil if it fails. Touch wood, it hasn't done yet.

The second photo is self explanatory! It copes well with a length of silicone tube on the e-cig outlet (originally the mouthpiece). I have about 2 ft of tube connected so I can get the smoke out of the workshop. I think the difference here is using an airpump rather than a fan.

I'm not going to publish any of this yet, as I need to finish off the crash tender fire monitor saga (another installment on that coming soon). Then I'll look to publish the smoke generator as part of that blog as I install it in the tender.

regards Graham

John,

It has just occurred to me today that, for the crash tender, I don’t need smoke and water coming out of the same port. The full size boat has a separate cooling water outlet. So if I add the extra outlet, I can avoid the mixing problem.
Rather than steam, the ultrasonic mist units might be a better approach. They are available quite cheaply and will use less power than boiling water. Not sure if they produce enough volume, and I think they work on 24v which will need a step up converter. I haven’t any experience with them. Maybe I’ll get one to play with.

The e cig smoker is coming on well. No pictures today, but I might sort some out tomorrow and post them on your Mk5 thread.

Regards Graham93

Hi John
I guess the smoke just gets dissolved in the water and disappears. Keeping them separate until the exit point, with the tube in tube approach seems the best solution.
I like your pulsating water video. What about pulsing the smoke on when the water is off, and vica versa.That way maybe there will be less water for the smoke to dissolve in?
Regards Graham93

Hi John,

Strange that you didn’t get much smoke with glycerine. Perhaps I need to get some baby oil to try as a comparison😊 Before that I’m going to have to sort out a way to vent the smoke out of the workshop, getting so thick I can’t see what I’m doing 😉 and it can’t be doing my tools any good. I can open the window, but it is only 10C outside. Brrrrr...

Regards Graham

Finally got started with smoke generation. Using an e-cig to start with. It runs on 3V at about 1A. Using a small air pump to drive it. There isn't much air flow. The fuel is vegetable glycerine diluted with water. Started with 75% glycerine but found that it doesn't flow quickly enough to replenish the wick. 50% seems better, but I have lots more things to try out. Had to stop as it was getting a bit thick in the workshop. Hopefully it won't be raining tomorrow and I can try it outside.

Regards Graham

Hi John,

Thanks for the update. You know what they say “ No smoke without fire”! Sounds like you have been having fun with electrics. I blew the RCswitch I was using for the fire monitor pump yesterday, probably on account of it getting filled with water.🤔

I now have everything I need to start experimenting with smoke, except the time! I have had a few problems with the plumbing for the fire monitors which has delayed me a bit. Hope I might have this sorted tomorrow.

Have you thought about using parts from an e-cig for a smoke generator? I don’t smoke, but they seem to produce clouds of smoke. Parts are available cheaply on eBay. Another approach I’ve come across is to use an ultrasonic device to vaporise water. Not sure this will be very effective, but it will use a lot less power than heating oil.

I have a workshop (shed!) in the garden so I can make as much mess and smell (!) as I want without causing any friction in the house.

I think being able to switch it on/off remotely is a good idea. These things consume quite a bit of power, so leaving them on for too long is going to drain the battery.

If I don’t go sailing tomorrow - it is likely to be raining, I might get chance to try generating a bit of smoke.

Regards Graham

Yes, distance and family just doesn’t seem to work out. Modern technology has made such a difference, but it isn’t the same as face to face. We would have considered moving to NZ after our first trip there, but at the time we had elderly parents to keep an eye on. Sadly, they are no longer with us, but now we have an increasing number of grandchildren and couldn’t imagine being so far away from them on a permanent basis. So it looks like it’s just going to be the occasional trip, if we decide we are up to the long haul flights again.

Yes, could be a problem. That was our 4th trip in 15 years. Just love the country, shame it is so far away.🙄 No plans to visit again yet, but you never know....

As far as I can deduce, commercial smoke fluid is diluted glycerine. Something like 3:1 glycerine:water. I have a large pot of glycerine so will try that. Hope to get started on trials next week.

Regards
Graham

Thanks John,

Will post them tomorrow. You can buy me a pint next time I'm in Auckland. Was last there in 2017.

John,

Like this? There isn't much clearance between the inner and outer, not something that could easily be machined in one piece. I've made an temporary end cap to center the inner tube in the outer while it is soldered. Hopefully that will keep it concentric (haven't soldered it yet)

I've ordered some bits to make my smoker. They should arrive later this week, but I'm not sure I'll get on to it for another week or two. Want to finish and install the fire monitors and searchlight first.

If you let me have your postal address, I'll put these in the post to you tomorrow. Should take about a week to NZ.

regards
Graham

Hi JB,
whats the time there - see you are on line .

JB,

If you need something turning, send me a sketch and I’ see what I can do. I’m interested in seeing how this develops as I’d like to add something similar to my Crash Tender.

Hope you don’t mind the PM but I didn’t want to offer in public and find I get inundated with requests for turning.

Regards
Graham

HI JB ,
Very nice - they are both either FB5's or 9's - single seat fighters. Are they kits or did you mould them yourself?
The T11's and 55's I flew in had a much wider cockpit with two ejection seats - which the single seaters did not have - the only way to bail out was turn upside down and jump out - if you tried right way up were usually cut in half by the tail........
We only used ours in desperation and lost one rather dud ex RAF pilot who never even tried to bail out........
The Vamps had two bad faults (all models) - if you let the port tank run almost dry before changing over they were prone to an incipient spin from which it was impossible to recover and the Goblin engines were prone to flameouts usually at the most inconvenient time . The only way to recover was using a shotgun type cartridge in the Kaufman starter - for which you needed height to spin the motor first in a steep dive - so a lot were lost early on in all Airforces as flameouts occurred near the ground.
It had been found that most ejections of all aircraft take place on takeoff , followed closely by those on landing - all others are a small percentage.
I actually had about 70 to 80 odd hours on Vamps - had forgotten about a trip to Beira in what is now Mozambique with the squadron to visit Portuguese counterparts who were flying US Shooting Stars...........
Was not too impressed as one Vamp FB55 ran into a hailstorm - stripped all the cloth covering on the nose and caused the inevitable flameout - fortunately veteran pilot kept his head and recovered. Had not fully dawned on me that they were made the same way as a Mosquito in WW2 from moulded plywood.
Cheers
Peter G

Hi JB, that would be good . They are fairly simple to design once you get the hang of it - my problem being I do it the other way round - setting up to cut on the laser........Would be simpler to cut & build - then draw parts as Dodgy does.
Regards
Peter G

Hi JB - how about joining Martin & myself making a EeZeBilt 50+ for Dodgy's site now you have finished the Launch. (it must be finished by now?).
You must have some ideas lurking in your head - remember it can even be a caricature of a boat you like or have dreamed up like Martin.
Regards
Peter G
PS don't want to pressure you - tell me to take a jump if you like - just thought it might be a nice gesture for Dodgy after all he has tried to do.

I am much BETTER at building than no think computers.
How could you have possibly got it so right about the foot wear!
It is beyond me how clever some others are. Also did you see that they wear the wellies on the wrong feet.
I have to give up now as I am overwhelmed at your accuracy . Also on the 4 3/4 inch prop to absorb the enormous power of steam as the hull will not allow any bigger diameter I do NOT have scale rivets NOR a cat on board ship . Not a feline fancier Regards Lyle.

Hi John,
It's a better habit than smoking and cheaper.
I get a year's club membership for less than 40 cigs.
Just been thinking about the boats I have, earliest was built in 1914, made of papier-mache over a card frame with wooden deck and powered by a clockwork motor.
Sadly the motor rusted to dust and the Hull is suffering from delamination. And my newest usable boat was built in the 80s. We have a total of 37 between my wife and I that are used when we get the chance, problem is there is no sailing water near us, my club water is a round trip of 104 miles.
Plus we have at least 20 undergoing restoration or rebuild.
Just a few pictures from my last show display.
By for now, hope I haven't bored you, cheers Colin.

Good morning John,
I hope my first contact with you didn't put you off this wonderful hobby.
I still comment when I have something to say.
But I read through all posts daily, and try to be a useful member, but sometimes my memory needs a reminder and I have to check back with my notes about the models I have built or restored to give a useful comment. As my fleet has been growing since my 5th birthday (still have my first boat) and I am now 70.
My attic and garage as well as my home plus a trailer are used to store my fleet. That should be our fleet as my wife has boats as well.
Thank you for reminding me of long ago posts.
Cheers Colin. 👍

Gotcha! Thanks. Will let you know the results.😉

Ron here...since this kit was is a Billing’s “bookshelf model” not intended for RC the rudder size just might be the issue. How much bigger should it be? 1/4” CA glued to the back edge? Or is it a try this, try, try, situation?

all done - need your email to send +- 6mb

Hi John - take a few days - work interfering again - bugger at 74. Will convert Corel drawing to JPG - might be a very large file . Send via we transfer with pics .
Regards
Peter G

H John,
only one pic of the Miami - in its broken state . Think I will remove the propshaft and replace with the Graupner 400 unit with 28mm 2 blade prop . self aligning which saves a lot of hassle. Will take a few more pics and send later to give you an idea of the hull and superstructure .
I have redrawn the Pritchard 4 station version - GA does not match the plan view or the stations. So corrected those and added /moved stations . Can turn into jpg for you and you can then resize to anything you want . Not drawn Keel etc as I am turning it into an EeZebilt. You can easily draw those and allow for the thickness of the planking you are using on the stations.
Regards
Peter G

Hi John - be nice to see how you did it - have stripped mine out entirely - was all stuck in with rubber type glue - came out clean . No motor esc etc just a bare prop tube. Want to try a brushless and Lipo's as the GF hull is a bit heavy. Superstructure weighs next to nothing - totally removable in one piece. Only had 3mm ply at the time - stripped one layer of ply and used the resulting 2mm ply for the deck and superstructure - used a bit of card too. Kids were young and expensive - not much budget for modelling at the time - was also very busy making furniture etc and remodelling the house.
Regards
Peter G

Hi - have you modified the Miami yet , Be interested to see how you did it .
Regards
Peter G

NYC club is 3 hours each way, tough driving there. Go 1-2 times pr year. 🤓

oops, pressed send.

Sailboats too slow. ⛵

Funny getting a comment from fellow rc boater half way around the world. Even funnier to recognize where'e he'e from and I've been there. It's now winter for you but summer now for me.

It was more than 20 years ago. Yeah. it's really far . I looked about 9000 miles (as the crow flies), took a long time to get there. Trips for me start out with a two hour drive to the airport, park, wait for bus to terminal, luggage check, security, wait for flight, six hour flight to west coast, bus to different airport terminal, wait some more, long flight to N.Z., bus to city. Probably a 24 hr ordeal.

Not many rc boaters in the U.S. somehow we find each. No hobby shops around here. I scratch build, but if I need something it's usually mail order. There is a local sailboat club, but too slow for me. There is a good club in N.Y.C. it's

checked your harbor, nice models.

See you live in or near Auckland. I've been there, nice place

Ouch! - the reason I make marine and not aero models!
Thanks for the MTB pictures, food for thought as am trying to determine a future project.

Hi John,
The Damen was a good project and she does sail nicely. Running a 4S Li-Po with 2 x 550 motors and 24 v ESCs. Took some time to get to the best drivetrain, but well worth it. I did replicate the opening tailgate to launch a RIB, problem was could never finish a adequate RIB model. Tried to make one from a child's jetski but found it was uncontrollable. Just another project
awaiting completion! The model was covered in a build blog a couple of years ago.
I doubt a Merlin would reach 25 knots, the 505 was always though to vie with Flying Dutchman for the fastest centre board dingy, with trapeze, back in my days around 1980. The Javelin is I think, a later design, either way an excellent performer.
Do not disparage your models, they look good and sail well. Very nice. You have every reason to be proud of them.
Cheers Rowen

Hi John,
Your full size sail boats look great. Used to sail a 14' Merlin - Rocket in the UK and then a 505 in Canada. Great fun.
Pity as you get older interests change. Like you find model boats a wonderful hobby once retirement strikes. Just returned from a days sailing my earlier build of a Daman Stan 4207. Entirely scratch built including developing plans.
Rowen

Hi John,
Not sure how the story arose that had more than one BEC feed to the Rx, but that is incorrect. Have always used a single feed and removed the other positive wires to avoid issues. I think my problems were several ranging from motors with a much too high kV rating to batteries that were too powerful. The programming of the ESCs also contributed. Anyway, all seems resolved now. it was a good learning experience. Will keep posting updates as significant events occur, including a video.
Those tenders you sent pictures of look fabulous, very neat and attractive. Will make excellent models, even nicer with the local flavour.

Your model looks great, should be well pleased. My Brave rises onto a plane now so that the forefoot is exposed. Quite happy with that as the full size pictures are similar. We are not blessed with water as large as yours, if she went any faster would run out of room quickly.
My first ESCs were similar to yours, but controlling 4500 kv motors drew an enormous current in excess of 40 A. Which is probably why one burnt out!
Have rather neglected to get current and rpm measurements, but will once we are back on the water. I am using 30 mm 3 blade props which are correct to scale. Also using the same Tx as you.
Unlikely will get much more sailing in until Spring. Have been summoned for jury duty next month and our pond gets drained early in November. Summer flies by so quickly in Canada.
Once I get any further news will let you know, but am now happy with things. The squeal is sporadic and erratic, but will put up with it as it is nothing unique.
Rowen

It seems that there was not enough 'take up' to justify all the effort from the usual small group of 'workers'.

Regrettable, but as I am sure you have found, these things roll in cycles.

The good news is that after a lot of effort from some of the members, the Lake is now free enough of weed to allow use.

That must have been a lot of hard work.

TTFN

NPJ

Wot 'appened? 😲

Sorry to say the Colwyn bay Venetian Evening has now been cancelled.

NPJ

OK Thanks for that.

NPJ

Please watch out for an email update on Sunday

Venetian Night still on the Civic Offices site ?

NPJ

We are now sailing on Llyn Eirias lake thanks to the lads
making a good job of cutting the weed down.

The usable lake is effectively an 80 metre circle.

I have seen the old lake but not the new one. From what I've read it sounds exciting.

Is it big enough for fast electrics eg Proboat Blackjack 29s and Voracity etc.

Boaty

Our weed control is multi-layered.

Our lake is kept filled by ground water from the surrounding hills, it enters the lake through a specially created reedbed that is being allowed to develop naturally. The habit captures the silt from the ground water and the new habitat feeds on the incoming nutrients which reduces the ability of weeds to grow.

The lake itself is protected by high TEC ultrasonics which destroys algae etc at cell level as it forms.

Of course the swans and ducks eat any weed that gets past all the other defences.

Thanks for suggesting grass carp, that's now first reserve!

Get some grass carp in as soon of possible to keep the weed down 👍

Shame about this years regatta, but what an opening year 2018 will be, if you can give early warning on the date i will be there, good luck with the rest of the renovations, you are making fantastic progress

Mark

The dinosaurs went a good few years ago and we have just scrapped the remaining paddle boats.

No Regatta this year, our old lake may be empty by then and our licence for the new lake is still a work in progress.

This year is all about completing the move and settling in.

glad to see that big lake will be back in use, I'm not that old, and remember the paddle boats there, then it all fell into disrepair. I take it the dinosaurs have moved out of the new club house!
I take it general parking is either infront of the old bike rental building (from the prom) or up at the swimming pool at the top of the hill? Will this years mayors regatta be there? maybe I can bring my avatar picture some time!😊

Looking great, hope to be visiting in May

Mark

Today we started the ground work for our move to Llyn Eirias. The first two of 8 purpose built benches were concreted in place with the rest following as soon as possible. in the background is our centrally heated clubhouse, complete with full kitchen facilities and toilets. As you would hope, it is all disabled friendly. We are also working hard to fit out the lakeside boathouse with storage racks and a workshop.

It is a huge improvement on the facilities we had at the old lake with it's open sided shelter and a small toilet once used by the gardener.

Access is from the promenade, turn up the hill. The correct road is opposite Porth Eirias.

Hi Kinmel, do we use the old roadway to the new lake??

Mark

Access is good, club members can park at the lakeside , others must use the public car park about 75 metres away.

The lake is open to everyone 7 days a week. Unless you have access to the clubhouse, you will need a second boat to rescue your model if it breaks down.

Members have use of the clubhouse which has toilets and a kitchen, public use the leisure centre about 200 metres away.

We meet every Sunday morning in winter

Good news about the new lake. What is access like and can non club members use the lake with their r/c boats ?

Looking Good. Eiras Park had Paddle boats on when I was a lad. Lovely spot and the increased size will be good for yachts and larger models
Dave

At present we are able to sail at both the existing lake and the lake that we have restored in Eirias Park. The old lake will close some time in the year.

The photo shows our old lake on the left and our new, much larger, lake on the right