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BRAVE BORDERER

Thanks Doug, Those features are part of my winter build / rebuild of the model. Funnily enough, the brass shaft in the seems to work.

6 years ago by Rowen

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Hellen Fishing Boat

Hi All This year I bought an unstarted kit, but, sold it to a club member. A month later one of the club member wish to swap for a faster boat and as my Sea Commander required a repaint and fittings. I thought a swap for a very good working Hellen was a good deal. So are making a dingy and replacing the broken prop with a brass one I had my second Hellen for the year. Three weeks ago another Hellen pops up on Gumtree(aka EBAY), so it was to cheap not to buy it. While waiting for it to come, I made a new stand, a dingy with oars and a set of fenders. When it arrive the mast where laying on the deck broken, but , the posted pics show that. The motor is a 11 to 1 geared MFA Como 919 D which runs OK. A spare new plastic prop. Started on the repairs, like the keel and deck around the mast bases. The aft mast was broken in half, so I d it. The aft sail was missing and the forward sail was all glued up, so I bin it. So this is the boat pics so far. Canabus

6 years ago by canabus

Forum

Bristol pilot cutter mascotte

Your boat is beginning to look suspiciously 'Museum Standard'!👍 Yep, shame about Kingston, but can understand why Robin didn't want to build for Frank's kits anymore (or anyone else's for that matter) wouldn't fit in with his No Hectic policy! Re 'tin bashing! Here's a couple of examples of my last attempts from several years ago, from my H Class 1936 destroyer, scale 1/72. I note that they need the years of neglect cleaning off 🤔 I'll pass it off as North Atlantic Convoy duty muck😁 First two pics 20mm Oerlikons, made from 0.5mm brass sheet, 1mm copper for the carriage frames and 1 and 2mm brass tube. Guns can elevate 😉 Recoil 'springs' are shrink sleeve, but I now have some suitable real springs. Will try to finish them off when Hotspur comes up for refit completion. Pic 3 is one of the depth charge throwers port side. Core is a 1/4" wood dowel, the rest is 0.5mm brass, tinned copper wire and 2mm brass tube for the firing cylinder. I used John Lambert (RIP) plans for both. Pic 4, the thrower on deck and copper wire ladder rails, crewman shanghaied from Monty's 1/72 Airfix 8th Army. A Desert Rat on board! Under the black square is the hole for the aft torpedo mount. Underneath is the speaker for the "Whoop Whoop". That part of the 'deck' is just painted aircraft silk! Must get back into practise now I've got nowt more important to do 😁 Cheers Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

TAMIYA. King George V.

Hi Colin, what scale is it? If you Google 'Plastic Magic' you should get lots of example of this from 350 / 400 scale carriers and battleships down to 72 scale Vosper MTB, KM S100 / E-Boat etc. There are also several Plastic magic articles in Model Boats magazine. The general principles are always the same: lightweight miniaturised electronics incl. servos! Do a max payload test on the bare hull as the very first thing. Weigh the major superstructure assemblies and decks and subtract from max payload: that's what's left for electronics and battery! The kit props are generally useless, no pitch, so make your own out of tinplate or 0.5mm brass. can be a little oversize, no one will know😉 Prop shafts and tubes: 2mm OD / 1mm ID brass tube with 1mm silver steel or piano wire shafts. Couplings from shrink sleeve. will dig out some motor types and sources tomorrow, there are also some given in the Model Boats mag articles. That's where I found the Micron Radio tip😊 Can heartily recommend Micron radio for the smallest combination RX and ESC on one tiny board that I've ever seen! Talk to Andy Rutter, he offers excellent advice and will fit tiny connectors and pre-program the RX board to match what you want to do. He also has very very tiny servos which are ideal.👍 http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/ Look under RC components - 'Deltang Ultra micro'. you ain't gonna get no teeny weenier! I went weak today 😲 and ordered a 350 scale Prince of Wales, to match my 350 scale Bismarck, Hood and Ark Royal. Battle of Denmark Straight here we come! Cost a tad more than 25 pence though 🤔 Good luck Doug 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

DAMEN STAN 4207

The twin rudders were made out of styrene strip and brass rod, which slide into s in the hull. The rudder horn movement is severely restricted by the rear hull RIB well. The rudder posts are adjacent to the inner wall of the well precluding fitting a rudder horn that allows free rotation. To overcome this fitted the rudder horns facing out board from the rudder posts. The adjacent bulkhead had been recessed to allow the horn to swing freely into it. The rudder linkage rods were fed forward to a set of cranks and then linked together. The cranks were then joined to a servo with a short link. The intermediate cranks were introduced to allow free rudder horn movement. The RIB well can now be completed as the rudder mechanism works. I use the same Tx with various linked Rxs fitted to several models. To avoid confusion over control sense it is important to ensure all Tx movements remain the same. Thoughts currently are to control both the stabilizers and rudder servos with the same Tx lever. This means the linkage must allow one of the servos to be reversed, which in this case should be the rudder to retain consistency with other models. Unsure of the degree of stabilizer fin movement relative to the rudder so procured paired, and also mixing servo wiring harnesses to experiment. Each linkage has adjustment capability, so the results of sailing trails can be incorporated. As had now resolved the rudder movement issue decided the sterngate, which is behind the RIB well, could also be made operable. Perhaps one day will also make the RIB operate!

8 years ago by Rowen

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DAMEN STAN 4207

Fitted the bow thruster casing, this also requires very careful measurement and location before gluing in place. A brace was added to firmly locate the thruster as the adhesive dried. Reinserted the propeller shafts and trial fitted them. The motor couplings were installed along with external sleeves to hold them rigid. This enabled the motor and mount assemblies to be aligned. Found that leaving the upper hull sheathing off helped eased this operation as can measure and use straight edges in both planes. The next items to install were the stabilizer fins. Made the fins out of styrene sheet bent around a brass rod, the gap was filled with epoxy adhesive. This holds the rod in place and gives the styrene the requisite aerofoil shape. The rod slides into a to allow the fin movement. Fitted the sleeve into a wooden reinforcing strip glued to the hull inside face. Took care to ensure the inner ends terminated above the water line. Described this rudder building technique in my HMS Beagle blog and can report it works equally well for stabilizer fins as for rudders. Fitted rudder horns onto the brass shafts inside the hull and made up a linkage using old bicycle spokes. Thought this might be difficult as the two stabilizer shafts follow the contour of the hull bottom and are inclined towards each other with an included angle of around 140 degrees. By bending the linkage to replicate the contour found the movement remains free. One of the rudder horns was then connected to a servo to operate the fins. As the servo is mounted parallel to the keel top and the fins are inclined, during operation there is a force that tries to slide the rod out of the servo horn. This was overcome by using a threaded portion of rod through the horn fitted with a nut to hold the rod in position. Not sure if the fin movement should follow that of the rudders (the sense is opposite, but do they move through the same arc at a similar rate?). To allow corrections the stabilizer linkages were made adjustable. The first test sails will show if any are needed.

8 years ago by Rowen

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HMS BULLDOG / BEAGLE

Whilst there is still access to the "engine" areas decided to finalize the motor mounts. The attached picture shows the process. I concentrate on getting the alignment correct, so this takes quite some As you can see replaced the flexible HUCO style joint with styrene rod cut to the same length. The brass couplings are inserted into the ends of the rod so the alignment is maintained. The motors were mounted on a short bulkhead which was initially tacked into the hull. Once the alignment was established the bulkhead was epoxied in place and the dummy sleeves removed. A small rubber block was inserted lightly into the gap between the motor casing and hull to relieved the weight on the bulkhead.

9 years ago by Rowen

Forum

CLUB 500 BOATS SHAFTS SEIZING

hmm..! lets think about this The stock bearings in club 500 (assuming you still have them) are acetate (look like black plastic). These are water cooled, and by the nature of their construction, not metal, wont actually seize. Roll the shaft on a piece of glass, this is an rc helicopter trick to check for bent mainshafts. See if shaft is bent. I have also seen in club 500 when the boat is accelerated, the cheap u/j supplied fails, and the actually slips down the inside on the u/j either up to the motor, causing a motor seizure, which will resemble a shaft seizure, or down towards the propshaft and causing the nut to seize on the stuffing tube. Got any pictures, we might see something 👍

9 years ago by pmdevlin

Forum

smitt rotterdam

Thank you dave. I understand about the . I can't work out how to fit wooden rudders to brass tube. Do I glue wood to brass, there are tiny pieces of metal to go around the tube onto the wood rudders but not a clue how they fix, or are they just for show. I'm a novice with a expert kit. I'm enjoying making it but stuck on this problem. Barry

9 years ago by shill

Forum

smitt rotterdam

HI barry Most rudders consist of a rudder attached to a rod, the rod fits inside a brass or similar sleeve which fits into a suitably sized drilled hole in the stern so that the rudder is central to the prop when viewed from the rear. The is glued to the hull once aligned and an arm attached at the top of the rudder rod to allow for a connection to the rudder servo. it's Important that the sleeve inside the boat is above the waterline otherwise water will seep into the hull. You can grease the sleeve and rod to help prevent this. I usually apply some plastic padding around the sleeve and hull to make a neat fit. The sleeve inside the boat should be supported with a cross beam to avoid being dislodged by the occasional knock to the rudder. I am not familiar with your particular model but from my experience with other Billing wood models you may need to make a space in the rear section to fit the arm. With a plastic hull I would just use balsa to build up the stern above the rudder position and then drill the hole for the sleeve. Hope this helps, please ask if you are still unsure. Good luck dave

9 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Too many questions

Steve Glad to have helped. The motor is not that current hungry and at lower volts should not struggle too much with the reduction unit. The actual speed will depend on the throttle settings but if you use 12v the output should be just right for your purpose. The ESC suggested sounds perfect. The actual amps used will depend on the load placed on the motor so can really only be indicated with static info. You can buy cheap power meters that will give an accurate on water indication and holding the model as you apply full speed will give a good indication of the current being drawn. The real benefit is that you can ensure that you are not exceeding the watt rating on your motor or speed controller, both of which will overheat and damage if the amount is excessive. In case you have not fitted one a big fuse on the battery feed is a good idea to protect your model from any electrical faults. Fuse needs to be just above the stall current rating so 25 amps seems about right. You may need to adjust this higher if the fuse keeps blowing and there is no obvious fault. Depending on the time you wish to spend collecting logs will determine the battery size. I would suggest 12AHr as a good starting point, as you have lots of room and need the ballast a Golf/Wheelchair type battery may be a good choice but some may be costly and 2 12 AHr in parallel would work just as well. I use stuffing boxes at the motor end of the shaft with a turned brass fitting that is threaded onto a sleeve over the shaft. I can then adjust if water is seeping but your solution should work well. The control sticks on transmitters can easily be modified to have the spring return removed. You may need a small ratchet brass shim to ride on the internal serrated plastic adjacent to the internal part of the stick. I suspect this may not be present on the horizontal fitting so you may need to Improvise or turn the whole stick unit thro 90deg. if you are happy with a free floating stick this may nt be a problem. Very Impressed with the nozzle. The pic loaded OK. Be good to see some more pics of the boat. You can load up to four pics per post or why not start a build blog. Your model and its proposed usage is certain to attract some interest. Good building Dave

9 years ago by Dave M

Blog

refurbishment of Ignotus

The prop shaft has been removed from the hull, new bearings made and fitted at each end, then the tube was cut in two and a centre bearing fitted, the two pieces where then soldered over the centre bearing and the whole lot cleaned up. The oiler. A sleeve was made to fit over the tube with a small bore brass tube fitted into it, after drilling a hole in the tube the sleeve was soldered in position,

10 years ago by AlanP

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Fiberglass option

This picture shows a fix I have had to do after forgetting how deep the ply would end up the bit on the skeg with the blue arrow is a brass bolt I had to slot and solder on, I had made them long enough but chopped em off short anyway I did not feel like starting again so this is the fix. The next picture shows a quick mock up all the red dots are pieces of wood that are only temp and will come of after the epoxy is hard, but they enable you to precisely position the parts each time you try them and when there is epoxy running down your sleeve it helps. The next pictures show the size of the opening that I will have and gives an idea why I went for the bulk heads to hang the deck of and help position it. I am going to try and get some nice up-stands to keep water out, it looks like the opening will be a lot bigger than I thought so I may go down the Aerokits route and have just lids removable. I'll mock it up first (yes I did say Mock) I am also looking at having the batteries between the shafts if there is room I fancy trying Li-Poly to keep it light but it may end up with nim's. Back to the decking I don't want any timber that can get wet so I may go down the route I've used on my other boat that is to use Fiberglass sheet. They use this to skin wings on model planes and is very light, but tricky to use. I am waiting for a couple of ally motor mounts (hate working ally you get rotten dirty) so they will arrive this week and I can then fix some bits in.

16 years ago by Peter HS93