Forum

Brixham trawler IBEX

Edward, Yes - thinking out problems is half the fun😊 My first build was a Vic Smeed Starlet - just completed. Pretty straight forward but I over engineered it to try out some ideas - thinking the ideas through was great fun. So although I will not start the Cariad until January I'm trying to explore problems now. The angle of the rudder shaft is one that I think I have a solution to. Take it right through the deck then put a handle onto it, hinged at the shaft so that it does not rise and fall as it is turned. Then a Bowden cable from each side of the cockpit to power the steering. I will enjoy building a mock up and trying it out! As to the rudder, I am thinking of a detachable extension - downwards. I'm also thinking about placing the prop to one side - perhaps more authentic but also well clear of the rudder. One thing that I'm still thinking through is the access hatch. I see some builders move the to the centre and create a hatch here but I like the clean decking on the original, with the to the side. A hatch to the side would work for everything but the top screw for the detachable keel. Some more time dreaming up a solution. Thanks Sam

6 years ago by sam

Blog

Update

Hi All Finished the , hatch, skylights and companion way. Added some paint, matt 131 green for the hull, under water the hull is matt37. Yellow for the trim bits with matt vanish for the wood work. Canabus

6 years ago by canabus

Response

Bulwarks and

Impressive work Canabus👍 Construction is very similar to the Billing Danish fish cutter I am slowly restoring and converting from static to RC so picked up some useful tips from your photos. Thanks 😊 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Bulwarks and

Hi All Installed the bulwarks and started on the which I added 19mm to the stern to match the hatch size. Canabus

6 years ago by canabus

Forum

Old outboard motor...

Doug, I will have to empty the thing out as I use the currently for storing the more regularly used tiny paint brushes, but I'll get a pic or 2 later today and some of the ancient outboard. You might find the Hobbies 7 quid o/b will be sufficient for your little RIB? Could be worth giving it a chance. Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Response

Hellen Fishing Boat

Hi All Installed the masts today and also mounted the on the hatch. Canabus

6 years ago by canabus

Blog

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 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 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 brass sleeved 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

RE ads90's Vosper Firefloat

It is a little while ago since this subject was raised but I came across it to day whilst passing my time looking through this continuingly interesting web site, but for what it is worth I will outline a bit I know about the RAF marine branch. I was one of the last National Service RAF enlisted men and started my service 5 th April 1960. I was then trained as an Air Wireless Fitter at Yatesbury and on passing the reqired tests was posted to RAF Mountbatten in May 1961, this was sited on the coastline of Plymouth Sound and the marine craft were moored on the Cattewater. Not long before I got there, the main base for the RAF Marine activities was on the I. of W. at Calshot but the decision had been made, due to the great contraction of the marine arm, as helicopters had taken over the rescue task and the loss in interest in aircraft operating from water, the MU ( Maintenance Unit ) was moved to the operational station at Plymouth. Mountbatten was quite busy with various activities and it was the H.Q. of Coastal Command the other activities was in providing targets for Shackelton training, drill for aircrew and survival training for aircrew on Dartmoor. All the useful marine craft were moved to Plymouth and I would imagine things like Fire Floats would have been disposed of prior to the move. All that was at Mountbatten were RTTL's of various standards, RSL's and Pinnance's. The only strange item was an old Rescue Launch which was powered by 3 Napier Lion engines, all the later RTTLs had Rolls Royce Merlin derivatives. This was the only large boat that I ever had a fast ride on, but unfortunately we were only a few miles out of the Sound when one of the engines failed and we had to limp home. I never had a fast trip on a RTTL. I used to have lots of trips outside the breakwater on RSL's on RAF crew drill, when the pilot under training had to jump off the boat with his uninflated and when the RSL made as many waves as possible he had to inflate it and climb in whilst the launch continued to rough the sea up as much as possible. He then stayed in his for about 45 minutes which was not very pleasant in winter. It was for us lesser mortals an enjoyable spectator sport to see commissioned officers undergoing sme discomfort. I think that all the odd marine equipment was lost when Calshot closed.

6 years ago by nasraf

Place

New build

I can meet up at the club lake for an hour on Thursday afternoon if you want ,if you can help me with the rescue if needed, basilsdad

6 years ago by basilsdad

Response

Ship's Boats

should hide the instructions from she who must be obeyed seemingly its something to do with sanitising the drum ??? your guess is as good as mine ,they got some wood coloured pla at the work so may try a bigger one then square off one end so it looks more ish ,or else print a full size one boil it and shrink to fit.Cheers Marky

6 years ago by marky

Response

Ship's Boats

here is a Titanic lifeboat down loaded free from thingyverse it took about 2hours to print in halves as printer wasn't big enough to do it in a oner cost of material was 56p and no charge for use of the printer I asked in the local library who have a printer and they charge £1 per hour inclusive of material so boat would have been £2,i have cut some bits away as I'm going to alter it and make a for the puffer. Cheers Marky

6 years ago by marky

Forum

2018 Boat Race

Got it, I must admit I have not driven past the first roundabout for a while, normally take Oakhurst way, I can see the water now, it is on the new road into the housing estate, parking may well be an issue as well as a problem if a boat breaks down unless someone can bring a rubber of sorts, I have just managed to get the Sea Commander up and running, having painted the hull by hand, not 100% finished but enough to sail, if I bother to go, as there are several questions that need to be answered, like is the original organiser going to turn up?, who owns the body of water? does he have permission to sail on the water, unless these are answered then I will continue to use Coate water boating area, as it is weed free and only 3ft deep.

6 years ago by RichardSReade

Directory

(Pleasure Craft) Aero kits Sea Queen

I felt the need to build something large from scratch having built Sea Nymph Sea Rover aero kits Swordsman kit. Many GRP based I/C powered before converting many of them to Brushless power. in Feb 2017 I bought plans from ebay in readiness for a family trip to Wales. My brother in law has a well kitted workshop in which he produced Sailing kits before retiring. The aim was to produce this boat for the least possible cost. Thankfully there are lots of ply off cuts in Wales plus an 8x5 sheet of 1.5mm so I set about making my own kit during the time I was there. The motor was to be a Marx Decaperm selected from my bits box which I chose to set up using the geared drive. On the first launch performance was lacking to say the least so the motor mount was adjusted to direct drive but alas performance was not much better then everything stopped. The wires on the commutator had become unsolder end a common problem apparently I've now fitted a 3650 brushless stolen from an early attempt of a Huntsman 31 built for my Grand daughter which had replaced the Graupner 600, she is now 19 and interested in other things beginning with B. Having fitted the brushless a lot of vibration was experienced his was traced to a misaligned coupling,next outing will be with a huco type of fitting just to check it out roll on Thursday. (Motor: 3650 watercooled) (ESC: Hobby wing 100 amp w/c) (8/10)

7 years ago by Rex3644

Response

Jet Sprint Boat

Hi Phil and Doug There is no noticeable tork effect when using a nozzle. My nozzles use a steerable tube at the nozzle exit to direct the jet port or starboad. Reverse is achieved by using a bucket effect over the end of the steering nozzle. However the use of a steerable flap inside the tube may have this effect. if you had a banking effect with the you can expect the same with this model.

7 years ago by Dave M

Response

matinda 111

I have used my tugs to tow me round in a , the looks from people watching are superb

7 years ago by jarvo

Response

Margaret

I love her classic line and lets not forget her ! 👍

8 years ago by figtree7nts

Blog

Tugboat Serenity

If you look at her Smoke Stack you'll see her logo is too high up the stack, I wasn't sure if I was going to use the logo that came with the Kit! About her , it comes as two pieces of molded abs. which I then cut out and tied criss X cross! Oh, I forgot to mention I made her stand out of one continuous piece of plastic! Also the dinghy really floats.

8 years ago by figtree7nts

Forum

Has any member fitted a depth sounder

Haverlock Carp fishermen have been useing depth finders for many years with there bait boats, they get the telemetery in real time on a screen, would be good for finding a model which has sunk, I have one but it is a cheep one with a cable only goes about 10feet but from a it is clear on the screen what is on the bottom down to about 20', even shows the type of bottom, ie mud or sand Mark

9 years ago by jarvo

Forum

Paddle wheeler lists

Had a look at your motors set up. Twin motors may not always run with the paddles in a balanced state so if one is entering the water earlier than the other it will tend to dig in pulling the boat down on that side. My attempts at rowing a small spring to mind. I note you have a similar problem when starting and at full speed on another tug and I suspect this may be where the cause lies. Do you control both motors from one ESC? if you had two ESCs you could experiment with staggering how you start each motor to counter balance the effect. I have a friend who is using a giro (from a model helicopter) to counteract a similar problem on a model boat. Hope this helps and you can find a solution Cheers Dave

9 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Coal barge

For sale Is my coal barge, ready to run, all you need Is water. The barge Is 40 Inches long by 12 Inches wide and weighs In at 12.5 Kg. fully ballasted. It can be sailed on Its own, towed by a tug or tow a barge Itself. Driven by two 555 motors with a 15amp Mtronics speed controller, two 6v 7 amp hr batteries coupled to give 12v, (will run for hours) (the big battery Is ballast) twin 3 blade 50mm props, twin rudders, all controlled with a 27mgc two channel radio complete with crystals, batteries and even a flag On the barge Is a hand carved (not by me) a bicycle, a tool box with opening lid and tools and rope Inside and a fellow stood standing, the hold Is full of coal, none of your painted stones on this barge. 😁 There are bollards all round, a tow hook on the stern and tow ropes. The roof of the wheelhouse will come off so that more detailing can be added If you wish. The barge sails well In all weathers with more than adequate speed and a very good turning circle, having a flat bow with rubber fender It also makes a good recovery vessel Delivered to Haydock show on the Saturday morning, unless you want a trip up to Cumbria Price £120 cash at the show, or If you don't want the TX, Rx It's £100

10 years ago by AlanP

Blog

Wallasey III Mersey Ferry

1. Plenty of vents; all very long tubes. 2. A closer look at the vents. 3. Closer look at the . 4. Closer look at the bridge and the fore deck.

10 years ago by MAXTON

Blog

Wallasey III Mersey Ferry

1.The top prom deck on this ferry was covered giving the passengers some weather protection. The orginal was wood and 1/8 light ply painted grey serves the model OK. 2. The rescue fitted at the stern with home made davits again. The cover on the in this model was duct tape and painted matt green, cotton lacing finishes off the . 3. Another view of the prom deck cover unpainted. 4. Lifebelts in place.

10 years ago by MAXTON

Blog

Wallasey III Mersey Ferry

1. The main deck now finished and the supports for the prom deck all in place. 2. Prom deck cut to shape and stairway access holes cut out. No planking yet on the prom deck. 3. The tricky bit was to get the holes just right, as the prom deck has to be removed for access leaving the stairways in situe, fitted to the main deck. 4. Getting the bits ready for the top deck. The funnel was made from an empty silicon sealant tube. The banding was done with masking tape cut into thin strips. The whole thing painted in black and white. Ventilators were made from plastic tube fitted to the white metal cowls, or plastic vented tops. The ventilators where very long on the ferrys so no commercially made fitting were suitable The rescue was purchased, (sorry about that) the cover was made from cooking foil and painted to suit.

10 years ago by MAXTON

Response

y knot

Yes you'd be right to put a hatch behind first row of seats, that's where motor access hatch was originally, not second row seats as in your model. it original only had two set of bench seats, each behind their own window screens. Cannot remember what happened to my "Hornet", maybe it went the same way as my CorgI and toy car, kindly given away by my Mother in my teens, whilst I was in the RAF, thought I finished with them, women they don't understand us fellows :-) I've just launched my latest model a RAF Fire Launch pictures on this site, still some way to go, fire monitors etc, turned out to be very responsive and quick, once fitted 50amp controller and tweaked blades. Peter47

11 years ago by Peter47

Forum

Wanted Clyde Puffer Parts

If this is the 24" model in your harbour I would expect some 1:32 scale fittings would be about the correct size. Mobile Marine web site have pics of the fittings. There was usually a single mast with a boom used for off loading the cargo from the hold to the beach. A simple winch at the front was used to do the heavy work. A ladder and were often carried and the cabin probably had an H shaped flue for the galley stove. Probably lots of clutter on the decks as they were working boats. Several of our members have modelled Puffers in various scales and I am attaching some photos which may help you detail your model.

11 years ago by Dave M

Forum

RAF Range Safety launch help.

Sorry I cannot be much help in suggestions as to how to make the aerial. This was the aerial for the VHF comms system that was the common transmitter/receiver system used by the RAF at the time 1950's, for its time and using valves it was compact device. When I was doing my national service at RAF Mountbatten we were just fitting the first UHF systems to the RTTL the I do not remember what the aerial looked like then although it is probable that this was never fitted to the RSLs. In my time 1960/62 the RSLs never had any contact with aircraft and were mainly used for drill for aircrew, I.e. taking pilots outside the breakwater and getting them to jump off the boat with their lifejackets on, and with an uninflated , which they had to inlate and get into whilst the RSL would run up and down trying to make as many waves as possible.

12 years ago by nasraf

Forum

Model shop location

Thanks Gregg and Dave, Have seen your replies and concur wholeheartedly, my main problem being able to get 1/16th fittings for my fireboat, 1/12th scale parts for motor launches,1/24th scale fittings.and other parts at scales I'm not sure of at present, its mostly finishing components such as deck fittings and navigation lights. The main items that I need at present are the fire monitor bases and Navgation lights and tow hook for aerokits 34", Have made the Monitor jet heads from drawings suplied by peterHS93,they realy good and give good jet of water. I'm able to do small turning or milling jobs to make my own parts when my Arthritis lets me. Also have a small fiberglass that my son and I use when we go fishing which I've been able to use as rescue boat when needed.(must get a small trailer) Not stuck for motors or RC gear at present, am still looking for a local lake to use for club sailing activities, although I am lucky enough to have a dissused gravel pit only 200 metres from home, to trial my boats on. Thank Colin. Gregg are you near cannock as I've heard that there is a good model shop there. Which club is nearest to Hereford. T

12 years ago by Colin H

Forum

Paint Colours for fireboats

Thanks pm I am not going to be very exact on colours and shall use some flexibility in what I can get, but will take your advice on 2 shades of grey for deck etc. I have already got decals and waterline strip but there are various widths, so as you suggest I will chose one that looks the best. On deck fittings I am using some lattitude as I have made them from brass I.e. cleats and twin bollards in place of fairleads as I want to attach a protection bumper on bow, as I am not that good at steering and end up running into pool side, that does not do the woodwork much good. I have also made the net retention rails in brass but I do not think that this would look very nice with a brass finish so I think I will do this in black just for contrast. I have also made window frames in thin brass sheet and hand rails also. I am going to coat all brass finish parts in 2 part epoxy varnish and will do hull in it ( providing it does not attack colour paint ) I will be testing some before doing this. As for the RAF and cleaning, I did the second part of my national service at Mountbatten 1961/1962 and was never aware of any great activity on polishing front, but it is a long time ago now and perhaps my memory fails me and I was not involved in operating the boats. When I was there we had RTTL's, RSL's and Pinnace's it was an operational station and Maintenance Unit so there was always something to do. There were 3 types of RTTL all except one were powered by twin RR Merlin derivatives, one of these was an experimental boat with a light alloy hull in place of the double planked standard build. The other oddity was an old boat with 3 Napier Lion engines, the only boat I had a long ride on down the Cornish coast until one of the engines failed. On this boat it was not much fun for the engineer as there was no telegraphic control of the engines, so he had to ride with the below decks, they were made of sterner stuff in those days! Of a summers evening the sound of the RR powered RTTL coming in across the Plymouth Sound was was very evocative. I had lots of rides on RSL's outside the PLymouth breakwater to watch aircrew doing their drill. Also lots of miserable winter mornings trying to start the single cylinder diesel APU to do the DI's on the radios. Unfortunately I never saw a Fireboat as they had gone to another place by the time I was " Getting Some in "

15 years ago by nasraf