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    Forum
    Norstar Crash Tender
    HI all fellow boaters, Have just been given a Norstar 34" Crash Tender, Part built In early 1970's then left. seems to be all here In the box except for plans, so I'm asking If anyone has a copy they could let me have either on paper or emailed to me. Will
    cover
    any postage and copy charges you Incur. PM me with any offers. thanks Colin.
    9 years ago by Colin H
    Blog
    a yacht yet to get a name
    As usual it is a long interval since last up date but some progress has been made on the Valsheda and I attached some pics that had to be done indoors as it is a bit wet from the sky outside. I have finished the decking and basic painting of hull also started lime planking of deck fittings to bring into line with decking. Have worked out positions of winches on deck and obtained stock of brass rod at a sensible price from a local scrap yard. I have to produce some drawings of winches and get into production and have found someone who can plate them with a bright finish near to stainless steel. The Management of the Bristol Aero Collection has recently sacked me as a volunteer for being too critical of them so I will have more time to get on with the boat and with rising temperatures the garage is a bit more comfortable. With the warmer weather coming I will soon have to think about the manucture of the carbon fibre mast, has anyone else made one and can give me some guidance ? I am thinking of a timber core with a woven fibre tube
    cover
    ing. Also thinking of how to attach main sail to mast.
    8 years ago by nasraf
    Forum
    1940 Chris Craft
    My wife and I were in Gig Harbour, Washington State today where we were invited onboard by the owners of this beautiful boat. They told us, it is on the water most of the year in Seattle. The boat is varnished every two years. It requires continual care as the salt water is corrosive. Also seen was a nifty outboard; even the outboard motor
    cover
    is made of wood. A group of friends were seen enjoying a dockside luncheon. They said β€œPlease take our picture” Very nice inboard Runabout.
    6 years ago by Ronald
    Blog
    Mast assembly
    The supplied mast is of white metal and although OK it has a number of minus points for me. 1- The mast does not lend its self to being hinged. 2- It really needs navigation light on top and the supplied casting is not suitable for this. 3- wiring needs to be hidden, not easy with the casting 4- it’s quite heavy Having said all that it’s ok if you don’t want my wish list. So on with the manufacture of a replica, I chose brass as the preferred material because it’s easy to silver and soft solder. The main legs are made from 6mm round tube, which I squeezed in my machine vice to an oval shape to look like the castings, each of the ends were then squeezed again at 90 degrees to allow then to join to the cross mid-section. I made some brass inserts for the hinged end from 2mm brass sheet, which are bent by 25 degrees to allow the hinge mechanism to sit at 90 degrees to the cabin roof, these are drilled and tapped 8BA. These pieces actually block the end of the oval tube and need to have a 2mm slot milled in them to allow the wires to exit the tube; these are soft soldered in place later. Two feet were made from two pieces of 2mm brass plate the base plate being slotted to accept the upright and finally silver soldered together. (A point here for silver soldering is to use as little solder as possible and allow it to flow with the heat around the joint this means that no filing is needed. I find it’s also good practice to quench the part when nearly cool to break the glass like residue of the flux then just steel wool is required to clean the parts). The feet upstands were then drilled 8BA clearance and the base fixing holes drilled the same size. The cross mid-section is made from 1mm brass sheet and is bent through 360 degrees whilst placing a 6mm round bar in the centre to create a hole for the top mast. A small wooden former was used as the piece was pressed together in the machine vice, this was then silver soldered to give stability and then filed to shape. This piece has to accommodate the wires passing through, so again a 2mm slot is milled from each leg location to the centre to create passage up to the top mast. The top mast is just stock tubing which then has a turned top with four 5mm holes machined at 90 degrees to accommodate the LED. This is a 5mm Flat top wide angle LED this will direct the light out of the four holes. Finally the cross piece, again stock tube with small ball finials at each end soft soldered in place and tapped 10 BA for the pulley blocks. All pieces now made, it’s time to assemble the parts using a combination of soft soldering and epoxy resin. The wire that I used was silicon sheaved, and when I soldered the legs to the mid-section and lower hinge piece I made sure there was enough wire to pull through to check if the process had damaged the wire, but it hadn’t. So having soldered the LED, the top was epoxied to the upper tube and the tube epoxied to the mid-section. Finally the mid-section was filled using Milliput but first putting some Vaseline on the wires to avoid them being stuck should I ever have to rewire the unit. Next the cross beam was added and epoxied in place. The bottom of the legs looked plain compared with the cast version so I have made some thin gauge brass
    cover
    s with mock bolts as per the original. The whole assembly was cleaned up ready for a first coat of etch primer, and white primer, followed later with a final coat of appliance white
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Blog
    The well deck floor & sides.
    The β€˜box’ of the prototype I’m building is made of balsa wood, later production models are produced in ply and have the planking lines laser etched on the floor panels, and as balsa doesn’t take stain particularly well I have used separate obeche panels to line the box internally that can be finished with the Teak stain that I’m using. This does, however, mean that I can apply the deck lines using a black indelible marker pen and incorporate some detail lines around the motor housing. I started by cutting and shaping two obeche panels that join along the centre line of the deck and fit neatly around the motor mount and prop-shaft, then I used some tracing paper over the panels to make a test pattern for the planking lines. When I was happy with the layout of the lines I first applied two coat of Teak stain to the panels, and when that was dry I used a .8mm pen to mark the deck lines, the ink takes a while to dry fully and I found it all too easy to smudge some lines 😑 which had to be very quickly taken off with a dampened cotton bud and re-applied. After 24 hours the ink had fully dried and was impervious to smudging and resistant to removal by any means (except a solvent). The floor panels were then glued down to the balsa floor with an even spread of aliphatic glue and weighted down over all of the area as there was a tendency for the panels to curl and lift. Each side panel was made in one piece and then separated into two parts to make the fitting easier, the join will be
    cover
    ed with a vertical detail strip, and they were also stained before being glued and clamped in place. No lining detail was applied to the side panels as I’ll do this with other surface applied pieces later but only in the area outside of the cabin. All the panels were given a couple of coats of satin lacquer to enhance and protect the finish.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Cooling the motor – update.
    I’m grateful to mturpin013 for commenting that he considered using the propeller adaptor supplied with the Turnigy motor as it prompted me to retrieve mine from the box and adapt it to secure the fan on the end of the motor. I cut off the threaded shaft from the prop adaptor and the end was ground flat and then I placed it on the end of the motor stub and used a scriber through the bolt holes to mark the positions on the flange of the fan. The fan was then removed and the holes drilled through and opened up to 3mm and then it was a simple matter to put the fan back on the motor and attach the new piece to the motor using the three 2.5mm cap head screws which are supplied with the prop adaptor. I think this is a far better β€˜engineering’ solution to securing the fan to the rotor than a spot of CA. Because the addition of the fan was so straightforward and effective I have decided to implement it on the model anyway so I cut an opening through the end panel of the motor
    cover
    and put some stainless steel mesh over that to finish it. The motor is now connected to the ESC and I have done some tests with the motor running and I’m delighted to report that there’s a very healthy airflow through the motor
    cover
    πŸ˜πŸ‘. It turns out that my modification is not unique at all and credit is due to reilly4 who did something similar to the twin motors on one of his boats long before I came up with the idea. He posted a β€˜photo of his boat when replying to mturpin013 on the subject of servo mounts. Take a look at the motors in his picture!
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    end of week report LOL
    good week this week, i should of said that there are 2 of us working on this Tug, myself and my father. this means that we are splitting the work up and as he is retired he can spend some more time on the boat than i can. so, (and i forgot to take the "before" photos) we have the wheelhouse and the platform it sits on (as the platform is held above the deck on a number of legs. plasticard and wood veneer outer cladding with a (removable) roof. going to put lighting in the table, telegraph, binnacle, map table and ships wheel. painted the 4 Cowl vents then we dry fitted (placed no glue) the various parts( wheel house, funnels, mounts) into place on the deck to see how it looks. finally painted the funnels yellow to match the Cowl vents still to do on the Funnel mounts is to paint and place the vents (flat vents), fit the Cowl vents, paint and fit the hatch
    cover
    s (white hatches with bronze hinges) fit the pipework to the exterior of the funnels drill holes in the front mount for the steam generator funnel and finally mount the funnels to the mounts (so not too much just for those 2 bits)
    5 years ago by barryskeates
    Blog
    Basic hull construction completed
    This week has been about getting the basic hull construction completed and especially the tricky bow. This was done in three stages; the first group of pictures shows the four balsa blocks being roughly sanded to shape. The instructions were good here as they recommended the required curves be shaped using sandpaper wrapped around an aerosol can....This being achieved, the next stage was to fill all the gaps around the balsa blocks with P38 and sand back to smooth out the curves. The 3rd stage was to fully coat the entire hull with Balsa Lite fine surface filler and sand back to wood so that all the fine grain imperfections are filled. I'm very happy with the results, but now concerned that too much has been sanded off the bow to get those curves...What do you think? πŸ˜‰ Next stage is to apply a couple of thin coats of sanding sealer and then onto
    cover
    ing with 35gsm lightweight glassfibre fabric and Eze-Kote to give the hull more strength and durability.
    5 years ago by StuartE
    Blog
    Enclosing the controls.
    The original boat had a wide and deep seat at the back of the well deck and this is an ideal place to conceal the fuse, ESC and receiver. I started by setting out the components and marking an area sufficiently big enough to accommodate them all with room for the associated wiring and plumbing (water cooling for the ESC). A framework of obeche strip was formed on the floor and sides in such a way that the top and front panels of the
    cover
    would be flush with the frame, the side frames were also built out so that the
    cover
    would be narrow enough to clear the coamings on the sides of the well deck. The rear panels and floor of the enclosure are 1.5mm obeche panels, the rear one with cut-outs for the wiring to come through, both were given a coat of Teak stain before being glued in place. The
    cover
    β€˜seat’ was made from a framework of obeche strip and panels with bracing pieces at each end to add rigidity and it fits neatly into the frame, some finishing detail was also added to this. This was also given a first coat of Teak stain. The
    cover
    will be held in place with small neodymium magnets.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Forum
    Planking
    What type of boat/ship if its purely a sport boat you can
    cover
    the planking with tissue and dope then high build primer. Sand it down and paint with whatever takes your fancy. On the other hand if your wanting the planking to show ( scale type model) you need to seal the wood on the outside and inside with a decent varnish that should provide all sealing you need.
    5 years ago by Haverlock
    Blog
    Deck Parts
    good weekend Made up, painted and planked up the engine
    cover
    and the 2 funnel stands. Funnel stands need to have the Cowl vents, funnels, hatches and tow mounts fitted to them. Need top make up, create, paint all of those first of course😁 also looking at a steam generator to go into the front Funnel so a hole will be drilled into the mount for that as well
    5 years ago by barryskeates
    Blog
    Deck and Funnels
    Going for a removable deck (bold on so to speak) so most of deck cutout and generally marked up for Engine
    cover
    , wheel house platform as well as where the funnels will go. also dry fitted the Funnels to the main funnel mounts to see what we have and ensure it all fits together
    5 years ago by barryskeates
    Response
    The motor
    cover
    .
    Hi Mike. A 5v supply would be easier to derive for that fan, but recent informed opinion says it should not need forced cooling though, and I tend to agree. Cheers. Rob.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    The motor
    cover
    .
    Rob I have just bought a miniature fan which runs on 5volt 30mm x 30mm x8mm Β£4:78 free post Miniature 5V Cooling Fan for Raspberry Pi https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Miniature+5V+Cooling+Fan+for+Raspberry+Pi+%28and+Other+Computers&_sacat=0
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Response
    The motor
    cover
    .
    I know exactly what you mean, it's do-able but there's not enough room inside the box for a miniature fan, I could mount it externally on the forward vertical face of the box over another opening and I'd need to derive a 12v dc voltage to drive it as well. All of which would spoil the apperarance and add to the complexity. it would seem logical for the motor to turn it's own cooling fan 😜
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    The motor
    cover
    .
    Could you have fitted a small computer fan inside the engine compartment to cool the motor and put another grill on the end of the engine
    cover
    for the fan to remove the heat from? if this makes sense to you, I know what I mean but unsure if you would understand what I mean.
    5 years ago by BOATSHED
    Response
    The motor
    cover
    .
    I did consider somehow fixing some fins to the rotor to create some air movement or perhaps even glueing a very small fan blade, taken from a PC graphics card that I have in the junk box, to the end of the rotor but I fear that this could easily unbalance the motor and harm the bearings. I won't find out if my ventilation slots are effective until the sea trials πŸ€”
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    The motor
    cover
    .
    Nice solution to potential heating problems. Hope it works as I want to try the same idea.
    5 years ago by Joburg-sailor
    Response
    The motor
    cover
    .
    Nicely constructed as usual
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Blog
    The motor
    cover
    .
    I want to keep the motor
    cover
    as compact and in proportion as much as possible so I drew up a design to visualise it and get some practical working dimensions, it also needs to enclose the prop shaft and coupling, and the MT60 connection for the motor so there will not be very much free air space inside. Because of this the motor
    cover
    will need some ventilation as the brushless outrunner motor can’t be water cooled and I don’t want to fit a fan, so the side panels of the box will need some gauze
    cover
    ed slots so that any heat generated can escape, assisted (perhaps) by the rotation of the motors outer β€˜rotor’ creating some air movement. I don’t intend to run this boat very fast so I’m hoping that the motor will not get too hot anyway🀞. I transferred the dimensions of the side panels from my drawings to some 1.5mm obeche panels and cut the side pieces to size and cut out the ventilation slots, some framing pieces and cross braces were fitted internally and the whole assembly glued and clamped together. Additional framing was added to support the part that
    cover
    s the shaft and coupling and obeche panels applied to these. Some finishing details were applied around the base and the top to improve the appearance. The internal framing will later incorporate some small cylindrical neodymium magnets that will hold the motor enclosure down on the deck, I’ll fit these later when the deck floor has been fitted. The mesh is some of the stainless steel mesh that I had used in the water pickup tube on my RAF Crash Rescue Tender hoses, and this was cut to size and epoxied in place. The completed enclosure was finished with the same Teak stain as the rest of the boat. Next up will be an enclosure at the rear to conceal the control electronics.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    Painting
    Thanks Doug. Do you have any idea as to why white spray paint is much more difficult to get good
    cover
    age with than most other colours.πŸ€“
    5 years ago by MouldBuilder
    Blog
    Painting
    I must admit that the painting process is not my favourite. it takes so long and time is always at a premium due to work commitments. I rush it a bit so that the build can continue. I fitted all of the windows into the deck structure and
    cover
    ed them with the low tack film. I then primed, two coats, painted, two coats followed by two coats of lacquer. I am quite pleased with the results even though it is not perfect. I decided not to fit the deck until all of the electronics, including the ESC, battery and receiver had been installed. This is because one of the big problems with this model is the lack of room to work in once the deck is in place. Another problem I encountered was the fitting of the tiller cranks onto the rudders. if the instructions are followed, it is almost impossible the adjust or remove them once the deck has been fitted. I solved the problem by reversing the cranks and bending the connecting wire to miss a bulkhead support. The screws can now be reached from the deck opening. I have now completed the majority of the painting and have started to assemble the remaining parts. Currently I am doing the wiring of the lighting and making a couple of circuit boards. There are a lot of wires involved so to reduce the amount I have decided to us e a common negative. (Cannot remember what this is called right now). There are still a lot of wires and they are mostly coming out from the cabin structure. I have decided to introduce some nine pin connectors to make cabin removal a lot easier. This is quite a big job and will take a little while. I really enjoy this bit. The results add that little bit of extra satisfaction when it all works as it should.πŸ€“ The top search light assembly came as a bit of a surprise. it is manufactured from nickel silver plate and requires soldering together. Even though I am a precision engineer, I have not soldered a box since I was at school. Once I stopped burning my fingers with the heat, I quite enjoyed the assembly even though it would have been useful to have an extra hand and took the best part of today to complete.😀 I can honestly say that I have enjoyed most of this build and even though earlier on I was thinking to avoid Aero-naut models in the future, I have changed my mind. They are very cleverly designed. I expect to complete this model some time in March. That would be the first for me to complete in recent times even though I have two others on the go and one new one in its box ready for a Summer start.😊
    5 years ago by MouldBuilder
    Response
    A QUICK BUILD IN PICTURES OF HMS EXETER
    Pictures are great, but they don't give away any trade secrets that could help others eg what's the second
    cover
    ing on the hull (white stuff) ?
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Blog
    Rudder location, blocking, fabrication
    Looking at the proper rudder location, I added some 1/4 triangular hardwood blocking to both sides of the centerboard. Needed blocking to drill through. Was able to pickup the work board and all fit under my drill press to keep the hole plumb. Rudder post will be a 1/4 brass rod with brass tube as a bushing. See photo, brass tube in hull. Next, I built a rudder substructure assembly which will be
    cover
    ed later with a wood or styrene full size rudder to fit the era. Took some very thin brass and formed it around the post, some brass plate and soldered as seen in photos. Brass heats up and solders well using my soldering station.
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Blog
    HMS BRAVE BORDERER
    Winter seems to encourage modeling, have spent many hours in hibernation working on the deck and superstructure details. A supplier offers a full set of Perkasa fittings, most of which would work on the Brave B. At one point considered buying a set. They are made in both resin and cast metal. Eventually parsimony prevailed, so only purchased a small number of hatch
    cover
    s and other intricate shapes that would be difficult to make well. The items duly arrived and the quality is good. Was surprised by the weight though, so am pleased had embarked on making the other items from the usual materials. There should be an overall weight saving, along with a reduction in my surplus styrene and wood stock. One of the design tenants of the Brave class was flexibility. The vessel could operate as a MTB, MGB or Raider, or with a mixture of these capabilities. The weapon mountings were designed to allow armaments to be installed and moved around to suite the requirements of the role. Have reviewed many Brave class photographs trying to establish a β€œstandard” armament configuration, to reproduce. Not only does the configuration define the weapons installed, it also establishes the ammunition and flare storage cabinet arrangements. Eventually decided upon the 2 x 40mm Bofors gun arrangement with 2 x 21” torpedoes and 4 x extended range fuel tanks. The model is now essentially complete. No doubt as I keep examining it will add further small details and refinements. Only disappointment so far is that it does not achieve the original weight target of 6 lbs, it is 9.5 lbs. The 6 lbs may possibly have achievable using one screw and motor etc., but once three are installed, not likely. The real test is when finally back on the water. Will close this blog then with a concluding report.
    5 years ago by Rowen
    Forum
    fuse holder
    I’m using this kind of car fuse holder, on 15 Amps size, the difference is that mi fuse holder it’s mounted using two M3 or 1/8” screws, and have a
    cover
    too, very nice from AliExpress
    5 years ago by Escrich
    Response
    Sports cruiser ''ALI''
    Hey Joe! Thanks for your reply. I do agree with you here about the CA glue. We call it superglue here. I have a plan to
    cover
    the whole boat by painting. But i think pvc works great with CA glue. it gets stuck so fast that soetimes my fingers are stuck with it🀐 Some pictures when my younger cousin broke it. But i fixed it again. it was a pain in the butt thoug.
    5 years ago by Sakibian
    Blog
    Tin Work
    The tin can that I used is from a small tomato paste sauce from the market. Use whatever tin that you would like or can find. Look at my sketch to see how it needs to function and adjust your design to what enclosure is available to you. Lots of ways to do it, just make sure you have these points
    cover
    ed: 1. Method of attaching a fan to push air into the unit. 2. Place for output stack / tube. 3. Method of mounting a wick with heating element attached that can sit above the fluid level. See sketch in previous post. First photo, I cut three holes, each sized to fit the brass tubes and fan opening. This tin is thin and easy to poke holes in. I start by marking the opening locations with a marker, them I use a small sharp awl or pin to stare a hole. With hand tools ( power drill will easy shred the can, be careful) I enlarge the holes with small hand drills or reamer, found files, etc, I rotate the tools slowly in the opening and gradually enlarge it to size needed. Then I cut brass tubing to length with a small hand held hobby razor saw. Our in place, apply flux and solder. Once heated properly the solder flows easily.for the larger fan opening, I then used a dremel tool with sanding drum to make a nice round opening. The fan has corner openings for screw mount. Secure with some tiny sheet metal screws. Next I will build an enclosure around the fabpn edge to fit the round can. Might just use silicone caulk. Note, I did not open the can with a can opener, left the ends in place and poured the content out thru the holes made, Yes, it's a bit messy and wasted the sauce, but it's a cheap way to get an tin enclosure. More to come. Please give me feedback, am I being clear enough? Thanks, Cheers, Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Response
    Sports cruiser ''ALI''
    Hello, Looks good! I use PVC for all my wood. CA is not very water resistant. if you can get the waterproof type PVC, use that. if not, if it is just a white glue, make sure all glued areas are
    cover
    ed with a waterproof coating. Such as varnish or paint. When I glue wood, I put glue on each joint, let it sit for a few minutes while it soaks into the wood grain. Apply a bit more glue and press together. Clamp or somehow hold the joint securely while it dries. Most PVCs take at least 30 minutes to set. Depending on the joint, I usually will come back a day later and fill any gap that may appear. PVC creats a joint stronger than wood. CA is brittle and the joint can snap. Give it a try and good luck to you. Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Forum
    Bournville Illuminated Regatta
    HI ROB does Bournville
    cover
    insurance for sailing on open days or whats the arrangements
    5 years ago by Captain-Steve
    Response
    Motor, mount & prop-shaft.
    That's a really good question that I really can't answer right now as I've yet to run the boat !. The motor enclosure does have quite large ventilation panels on either side which are
    cover
    ed in a mesh and I'm hoping that the motor will be able to 'breathe' as a result. The brushless in my Fire Boat doesn't even get warm after a long hard run and that's enclosed in the hull but has admittedly got a lot more free air around it in the motor compartment. This is not a racing boat remember, so I'll not be using the motor to it's full ability, scale speed is all I really want and expect. I'll report back when it's had some sea trials 😁 Robbob.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Forum
    Park lakes
    Earlier today I mentioned a park in Wallasey that I was taken to to sail boats .It is Central Park .It had a lovely lake but you need RC or waders to re
    cover
    Or both . Not seen it lately though .Like over 40 yrs ago:tears 😁 πŸ˜‘ Cheers John
    8 years ago by onetenor
    Blog
    Can't stop adding stuff
    Well, when I started this build I said it was just going to be a quick, easy build.....but I can't stop getting more ideas and adding on. Lights, now exhaust smoke! Could not resist taking time last night to try my hand at a homemade smoker. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to build one and it works great. Then today I decided rather then put it inside the hull I would put it topside for easy access and to keep an eye on it....fires don't do well on boats. Mounted as shown, still in progress but I made an enclosure to
    cover
    it. Will fashion a new stack out of the white tube in the last photo. Now what else can I add...... Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Response
    Cabin detail part 5 speed control & compass
    What do you mean when you say you will inspect it for real this weekend. Where are you going to find a REAL RAF Crash Tender. I didn't think there were ANY left in existence. I have seen MTB 102 several times and spoken to the crew of that day and when I asked could I come on board to have a look around, they always decline saying sorry insurance will not
    cover
    us for that.
    5 years ago by BOATSHED
    Blog
    Glassfibre cloth & epoxy resin
    I used glassfibre cloth and epoxy resin successfully when building my 46” RAF Crash Tender and I chose to do the same with the Police Boat. See: https://model-boats.com/builds/view/23951 for the Crash Tender blog. The application of the cloth and resin serves to strengthen the hull enormously and produces a completely watertight hull, and after additional coats of resin are applied and sanded between coats resulting in a surface that is absolutely smooth and the perfect substrate for the subsequent paint process. With the benefit of my previous experience and greater confidence working with these materials I used a β€˜fast’ hardener with the resin which gives a working time of 30 minutes and a much shorter curing time where previously I had used a 90 minute β€˜slow’ hardener. The basic process is to cut the cloth roughly to shape with a good margin of overlap and then use masking tape along one edge so that after the resin has been brushed onto the hull the cloth can just be lifted over onto the resin. I then lightly brush the cloth into the resin and push the cloth into any tight angles, without any further resin on the brush, until the weave of the cloth is filled and there are no air pockets and the cloth is completely flat. At this point DO NO MORE as the resin will start to harden and any more fiddling with it will cause the cloth to lift and bubble, less is definitely more in this instance. The resin should cure completely overnight and can be trimmed with a sharp blade. I tend to
    cover
    a hull in five stages, as there are five β€˜faces’ to the hull and thus it’s a five day process for me, this may be time consuming but I think the results are worth the effort. I will brush on two further coats of resin when the rubbing strakes and gunwales have been added, this will completely fill the weave of the cloth to create a nice flat surface but it’s essential to rub down each coat after curing. All the materials were bought from β€˜Easy Composites’ https://www.easycomposites.co.uk
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Railings
    Last night I had done a quick railing mockup as seen in the first three photos. Decided to go with styrene and use a rectangular stanchions (verticals) and top handrail along with horizontal round intermediates. Drilled holes through the verticals and inserted the round rods, then glued. Worked pretty well. Next few shots show how I typically sketch up to scale and determine proper spacers, dividers come in handy for this. Then drew some guide lines for assembly, taped it to my tack surface,
    cover
    ed in wax paper and pinned the assemble in place. Pins do not penetrate anything,just uses pressure to secure. Some drops of styrene cement and the parts are welded together. Then on to all the railings needed. Will let dry overnight and trim ends in place. FYI -- Tack surface is just a piece of acoutical ceiling tile, I cut down the 2'x4' size to make smaller ones for my tiny workbench use. I learned this pinning method from building balsa airplanes, comes in handy a lot...... Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Forum
    rudders
    Reilly, Good Tip....I also use brass rod 3/16" dis. Easy to slot and solder a brass plate to, have never had a problem with bending, etc. I generally use them as a core and
    cover
    with plastic, wood or just leave as is. Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Forum
    Paint finish for warships
    I am building a 1/24 th scale Perkasa,but this recommendation applies to any warship. Autotek etch primer
    cover
    s anything with even one coat,and, as an etch primer is good for any substrate including galvanised , ally, plastic / resin.It has an authentic Matt finish,and one squirt repairs any building marks.When finished, I will laquer with Autotek MATT laquer. Find it on ebay at about Β£10.50 for two 500ml cans! Use in well ventilated room,it is acidic!
    5 years ago by drspock
    Response
    aeronaut classic
    the varnish is a type i bought from the web but the seat is the kit version just wood frame with some foam and a pliable vinyl
    cover
    glued in place ,, the white bead is , nylon cord
    5 years ago by sandgrounder
    Blog
    Hatch & Tow Bitts
    Last night I started on the large hatch that will
    cover
    the entire deck opening rather than several hatches, this is to keep with simple approach. The pilot house and whatever else I decide to add will be attached to this for easy removal and access for battery charging and maintenance. it's not as easy as a flat deck hatch as I curved the deck and wanted to curve the hatch as well. See photos, I cut curved sides, then I clamped it to blocks on the bench to bend , glued and let dry for 24 hours. While that's setting up I started on building some tow bitts. These I am making from styrene that I had from my railroad scratch building. See two small for aft and 1 larger at the bow that is in progress. In addition, I showed some shots of my Brooklyn Tug Bitts. These are heavy duty and were made of brass! Still enjoying this simple build..... Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Blog
    Crack in Seam Update!
    Captain's Log: Supplemental Well, today was a good day to fix. The leak in Brooklyn's aft end! I scraped off the paint around the skeg area and boss! I then took a piece of 10mm x 110mm plastic. And glued it to the seam. Making sure to
    cover
    the area. That was cracked and leaking! I am then going to let the glue set over night. If all goes well, the leak should stop..... I will reassemble her aft end. And do a Domestic Test Tank Test! If the Test Succeeds. I will then repaint the aft end of the tug! And put all of her Ballast back and her batteries! Hope my repair works!!!
    5 years ago by figtree7nts
    Forum
    All hooked up, nowt happens...
    ".. Worked through the instructions and it made beeping and squawking noises in what seemed the right places but still no reverse. The increase in revs does now
    cover
    the whole of the stick travel above the mid point so I has changed something. Lost the will to live after 2 hours so went and worked on something else. Steve..." Just a thought - may not be applicable, but we often share our reversible ESCs with the car fraternity. And some of them have an odd reverse. For some cars, you may be happy with straight forward and reverse, but for racing this is not ideal. Dropping into reverse if you move the stick/trigger back past neutral would make the car uncontrollable on a corner. instead, the racing car boys have a system whereby the forward stick increases speed, while 'reverse' performs dynamic braking by shorting the motor terminals (or perhaps even regenerative braking!). To a boaty, this would seem as if the forward stick worked, while reverse did nothing. These racing car ESC programs DO allow a proper reverse. The way you usually get to it is to bring the stick back to reverse, then forward to neutral, then back to reverse again. it's a two-stage process - call for reverse twice. if you go into reverse, then forward, then back again you won't get reverse - it has to be reverse, neutral, reverse. Which is fine if you are manoeuvring a car into a parking space, but rather clumsy for a boat....
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    riva
    I checked, and it looks to me like they changed the design. The current oen shown is plank on frame. if you seal the inside with epoxy you can
    cover
    most of the interior to seal it up. I honestly don't think you would have a problem
    5 years ago by bustedknuckles
    Blog
    Moving along
    Merry Christmas to All! Yesterday I made a brass strap to secure the motor, then aligned the drive shaft and stuffing tube. Tacked tube in place with a gel superglue, will be
    cover
    ed with epoxy later. Used a short piece of aluminum tube to help align the motor and shaft. A coupler will be placed here. Cut some plywood pieces to create keel at the shaft tube. White stuff is marine epoxy by locktite, just enough to set everything. I will then coat and finish this assembly. Finished the day's work by constructing a rudder, no photo yet. Enjoy Christmas! Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Response
    Hum, Now What!
    Hi Joe, Thanks for the idea! I'm going to take the boat apart! I have to take her ballast out! Take her batteries out! I think she's leaking from where the prop shaft. comes out of the Boss! So, I'm going to make a flange. Which will be the same size as the Boss. And will
    cover
    the Boss! Hopefully this will fix the leak problem! Regards, Ed
    5 years ago by figtree7nts
    Blog
    HMS BRAVE BORDERER
    After completing the cowl, turned to the rear structure
    cover
    ing the gas turbine and other engine spaces. This can readily be made from styrene sheet. The sides and top were cut out, reinforced with β€œL” shaped angle and fitted together with CA glue. No particular challenges, other than determining where the various section transitions occur. Luckily had two different sets of plans to compare, so the nuances could be established. It was not until the rear structure was fitted into the cowl, the assembly fitted to the removable deck and placed on the hull, realized just how important this milestone was. Once everything is firmly located the accuracy of build becomes readily apparent. Any inaccuracies show up as an obvious misalignment. Was able to check the alignments and squareness using eye, rules, squares and a spirit level and was pleased with the outcome. A subtle sanding of about .020” off the base of one side of the superstructure and everything became square, parallel and correctly aligned. Quite a relief! Have always stressed the importance of accuracy throughout a build. This supported that recommendation. Once the superstructure was completed realized my plan to lift the deck off to gain access to the electrical control switches was impractical. Have thus cut a small access hole in the rear deck to facilitate access. Still undecided how to best disguise the hole, but at least access is now relatively easy. From now on, until the test program can be continued on the water, will add detail to the model. Doubt there will be much to describe is that of interest, or that has not been
    cover
    ed by others. Will continue this blog once there is anything significant to report. In the meantime, best wishes for Christmas and 2019,
    5 years ago by Rowen
    Blog
    1-35 Scale Schenllboot By TeeJay
    Hi all for the second blog report on the schnellboot I am going to go over the rudder a propeller shaft assembly in more detail. The first stage was to make the rudders which were made of brass ,and having taken note of what has been said about the increase in size needed for the kit by other members I have increased the size of the rudders by 50% so that they have more effect and hopefully the boat will be more agile .I fitted 3mm treaded rod on to the rudder and in a 4mm flanged tube to reinforce the brass rod. The second stage was to make and fit 5mm flanged tube in the location for the rudders in the boat, these were made to be above the water line and will be sealed in place to reduce the possibility of leaks. These were fitted to a rudder platform inside the boat which was fitted to the kit moulding for the rubbing strip that runs the length on the boat and secured by making resin blocks which were fitted with computer extension nuts. which were then superglue in place to secure the rudder platform. The rudders were then fitted in place and held in position with the tiller collars which were made from 8mm rod and fitted the tiller arms and locked in place with 3mm computer screws and ni-lock nuts, a connecting plate was then fitted to connect the three tillers together, I also fitted rubberised washers to seal the rudder tubes. The third stage was to make the propeller supports. The centre support was a direct copy of the kit part made of brass and fitted to the kit with a plate and screws (this plate and the rudder plate were made from galvanised steel) and will sealed with resin after the I test the boat for leaks. The port and starboard supports were made by taking the kit parts and cutting them in have along the joint line or mould seam this gave me a template ,which I used to make cross-section segments but I did alter the template by increasing the boss diameter to 10mm and extending the support legs so that the finished support could be fitted through the hull (the picture of these show the mk1 version where I forgot to allow for the 4mm prop shaft which has a 6mm tube) any way the boss of these segments were drilled out with a 7mm drill and a length of 7mm brass tube fitted through the boss to assemble the segments, all of which were coated in soldering flux at this stage of the assembly which were riveted at both ends to hold it all together during soldering, after soldering the supports were then filed to the size and shape to resemble the kit parts as close as possible and fitted to the hull using a superglue and talcum powder mix and then I cast resin around the extensions to secure the prop supports in place. The fourth stage is the propeller shaft housing for the centre propeller housing I place a brass rod in a plastic straw and place in position in hull and using resin I sealed the hull with the rod in place this gave me a pilot hole for the centre prop shaft after I removed the brass rod. For the port and starboard shafts I used the kit parts which had hole place when assembled, this when I reinforced the housings ,the centre housing I glue 2mm of plasticard on each side and for the port and starboard I made a brass tube shroud which
    cover
    ed the housings which left gaps between the kit part and the brass which was filled by casting resin in the gap this increased the diameter to 10 mm so that there were little chance of breaking throw with the drill and finished these off by fill-in the outside with body filler and sanded to shape and finish . I then drilled through the pilot hole in the housings using very long extended drills and a wheel brace ( if I had use a power drill the heat would have melted the plastic of the kit and may have caused problems) I drill the shaft housings out 6mm them filed them out with 6mm file so that I could insert a length of 6mm brass tube. After all this was done I fitted a flanged bush made from 7mm tube and 2mm brass plate turned to 11mm to the ends or the propeller shaft housings. And now it is time I must ask for some help could anyone advise me on the length of propeller shafts, I know I can use a 300mm shaft for the centre shaft, but port and starboard will have to be longer. and I also need advice on selecting the motors, I want to use 4mm prop shaft with 35mm propellers. Any opinions welcome.
    6 years ago by teejay
    Response
    Internal wiring & bottom skins
    There's plenty of access to fit the rudder tube at this stage because the deck skins have not gone on yet, and I still have fairly nimble fingers πŸ–– 😜 I'm generally following the kit instructions but I have sufficient experience to 'plot my own course' and deviate from them to achieve the same or better result. A great deal of thought and forward planning goes on when I build anything so I don't usually 'paint myself into a corner' so to speak. Here's a 'sneaky peek' (see pics) at the rudder and servo location that I'll
    cover
    in detail in the blog shortly. Happy Crimbo to you and yours πŸŽ„ πŸŽ… ⛄️ Robbob.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Internal wiring & bottom skins
    Because I am keen to conceal as much of the wiring as possible I have decided to place the battery at the bow and the operational equipment at the stern, the engine on the original boat was central and
    cover
    ed with a soundproof box and this is convenient as the motor can be positioned and concealed in the same way. This means that some of the wires will have to run the full length of the boat and the easiest way to conceal them is to run them beneath the β€˜box’ around which the hull is formed, and this needs to be done before the bottom skins are fitted. Holes were bored through the bulkhead formers under the port side of the hull and battery cables were run to the stern where the ESC will be and three motor wires from the ESC run to the centre, emerging near the motor position. For good measure I put in a servo cable and a separate draw wire just in case I needed to put more cabling in for any additional features, perhaps working navigation lights? Satisfied that I had all the cabling in place I was able to fit the bottom skins starting with the starboard side first. Before doing so I put a very slight 'hollow' in former F1 which should help blend the shape of the the hull where the ply skins meet the balsa blocks that will to be carved and shaped to form the bow. This can be seen in the last picture. The process of forming and fixing the skins is the same as for the side skins but in addition to the pins holding the skins in place I used some brown polythene β€˜packing tape’ to pull the skins tightly against the bulkhead formers and strakes. The packing tape has a very high tensile strength and is ideal for this, and of course cheap and easy to remove. Once the aliphatic glue had set thoroughly overnight I removed the excess from the skins with a small block plane and finished them with my sanding plate. Before I fit the skin at the stern I will have to arrange the water cooling for the ESC, with the pickup just behind the prop and the outlet on the stern. I’ll
    cover
    that aspect in the next update.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Forum
    All hooked up, nowt happens...
    Worked through the instructions and it made beeping and squawking noises in what seemed the right places but still no reverse. The increase in revs does now
    cover
    the whole of the stick travel above the mid point so I has changed something. Lost the will to live after 2 hours so went and worked on something else. Steve
    5 years ago by steve-d


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