Forum

Richardson/Southampton Smoke Generator

Hello: My Hobby Engine Richardson tugboat is a “premium” model with a factory-installed smoke system. Unfortunately, the instruction manual has no information whatsoever about the smoke system; not a single word. With a lot of generously given advice & help from Doug (RNinMunich) & other Model Boats members, I’m working on upgrading the tug’s lighting system & adding missing details. Unfortunately everything came to a halt last fall because of a fall & surgery to fix me up. So, for the time being I’m doing things that don’t require much finesse for fine work. I’m working on plans for future work as well as disassembled the tug’s deckhouse to access its circuit board. Once I had the deckhouse floor removed, I discovered that the smoke system isn’t a single unit. There’s a blower motor mounted in one location & the component that creates the smoke mounted in another spot. Tubing connects these two parts, then additional tubing exits the smoke generator unit & splits via a tee to each funnel. If anyone reading this post has a Richardson or Southampton “premium” model I would greatly appreciate information about the following: 1. There is a black rubber plug underneath the deckhouse. When the plug is removed I can see that it’s directly below the smoke generator. I noticed that the generator has white foam rubber inside. Is this where smoke fluid is to be placed? If not, then where? 2. Assuming there are different types of smoke fluid available, which one should be used in the tug? 3. How many drops of fluid should be placed in the system? I would appreciate any information about the Richardson or Southampton smoke system specifically & smoke systems in general. I’m not familiar with them at all & I need to learn. Thanks very much, Pete

5 years ago by PittsfieldPete

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

Blog

Cabin detail part 5 speed control & compass

Cabin detail part 5 speed control & compass The speed control has two main throttle controls presumably to operate the engines independently. The construction of this piece made it easy to allow each arm to operate independently but to ensure that the levers had some stiffness in the travel I incorporated a spring into the centre screwed shaft. I machined some detail into the body and a recess in each end face to accommodate a dial (AHEAD, ASTERN, STOP, SLOW etc). The circular body needed something to stand on so I made a cradle, which will support it when it is screwed to the framework. I left the whole unit in natural brass, lacquered it to stop any tarnishing, and mounted it with an 8BA screw to hold it in position. The compass again a simple turned piece of brass with a recess machined into the top face to accept a N,S,E,W compass dial. This item is simply glued in the recess on the console.

5 years ago by mturpin013

Forum

Kingfisher by Norstar upgrades

Ron Great to hear about this. I had a Kingfisher in 1972, powered by a DC Sabre 1.49 marine diesel. The engine was mounted just aft of the windscreen and it needed a a lot of ballast . With such a small engine and the additional weight the performance was mediocre. Is this kit in production again? if it is I might build one . Maybe this time I will fit a brushless running on lipos . This will give the model the performance it deserves. Boaty😁

5 years ago by boaty

Blog

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Back to the build. Next milestone, to complete the superstructure and engine covers. The superstructure is essentially a cowl that supports the open bridge and serves as the air intake for the gas turbines. The engine covers fit into the rear of it. The superstructure is full of curves and will be interesting to make. Still trying to save weight, decided to make it out of glassfibre. Rather than first make a plug then a female mould and finally the cowl, wanted to try the technique of making a plug out of styrene foam sheet, then covering it in a glass fibre matt. Once the glass fibre is set, the foam is dissolved out using a solvent and the cowl remains – inshallah! To ensure the foam did not react to the glass fibre resin, painted the finished cowl with enamel paint before sticking the matt down. See pictures. What a mess! The resin had crept under the paint and into the foam dissolving it. When the resin dried the plug had shrunk slightly and had the surface finish of a quarry. First thought was to hurl it and start again, this time in wood. On second thoughts, wondered if the plug could still be used. Decided to build it up with wood filler and from it make a female mould, as originally intended. The cowl would then be made from the mould. Built the damaged plug up and sanded it smooth. As the plug would be covered in fibreglass, the surface finish was not critical. Brushed a coat of fibreglass on the plug and, after drying filled any defects with glaze putty and sanded smooth. Once the finish and dimensions were satisfactory, applied a thicker coat of glass fibre to the plug. This was again smoothed down, waxed with carnauba polish and then covered in mould release. From it the cowl was made. Picture shows plug, mould and cowl placed side by each. The cowl requires reinforcement; the fittings and various mountings then adding before installing. A trial installation showed that it fitted properly the deck and was accurate. A lesson for the next time is to make the plug and mould much deeper than the finished item. That will allow any rough edges, on either the mould or the component, to be trimmed off leaving a smooth fibreglass edge.

5 years ago by Rowen

Forum

Smoke generator

I made them myself (and s, battery mounts etc...) on my 3D printer. I printed a solid version to line up the motors then replaced those with the flexible ones afterwards.

5 years ago by landie

Forum

Hobby Engine Factory Tug Motors

Hello: I have a Hobby Engine “premium” 2.4GHz “Richardson” tug. This boat is identical mechanically to the “Southampton” tug. I’ve read many posts on the forum having to do with replacing the factory-installed motor/gearbox unit with two separate motors mounted side by side. Personally I’m happy with the factory drive setup; it’s quite powerful & it runs smoothly. The reduction gearing is a bit noisy, but my boat is new & will likely quiet down with use. I have two requests for those who have removed the factory drive unit & replaced it with separate motors: 1. If you’ve still got your factory drive unit & have taken it apart out of curiosity, if possible will you please post photos of the internal parts? I’m interested in seeing what’s inside the housing & how the gearing is set up. 2. Along the same vein, I’d like to acquire a spare factory drive to have on hand, just in case. If you have a complete, working drive unit that you’d consider offering for sale, please send a PM to me & let me know what you would want for a price. Thanks very much. Pete

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

Forum

Elaine motor update/assembly pictures

Ah, now it's clean, it's easier to see. A Mills 1.3 Mk 2. A very good and much sought after engine. Much copied too! The water jacket is clearly an amateur jobbie. Not sure if Mills made a flywheel for marine use. Possibly for use on small tethered hydros and cars. The engine is worth more than all the rest of the boat put together! Nice job on the clean up. You could repair those mounting lugs with some of that aluminium solder I referred to recently. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Forum

Cheap motor for a quick fit, but what prop gents?...

OK, found one, 'discontinued product' 🤔 Seems Tower pro only make gas engines these days. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/towerpro-brushless-outrunner-2408-21.html Specs "TP 2408-21 The most widely used towerpro motor available today. the 2408-21T is often used in GWS (means Grand Wing System, USA apparently!) upgrades. Paired with just an 18A besc, this motor is an excellent and cheap way to upgrade small planes to brushless. An RD1047, RD9070 or 8040 size propeller are the best choice, with the RD9070 and 8040 giving the best thrust and amp draw balance. For 2-3 Li-Poly Cells (7.2-12.6V) 31 mm diameter x 62 mm length Maximum current: 13A Weight: 50.2 grams / 1.77 oz Comes with stick mount plastic frame Firewall mount capable Comes with two prop nuts and one washer 3mm shaft diameter 10mm x 10mm stick mount Kv: 1750 9 Stator Poles, 12 Magnets" So it's OK for a 3S LiPo, which will give about 19.400rpm OFF LOAD. Max current 13A ON LOAD. No way of finding the other little one without at least a hint🤔 Looks like an Outrunner plane motor as well. Suck it and see! Probably similar specs to the Tower motor. The two brushed ESCs should be good for your Taycols as none of them should take much more than 10A or so. Use 15A fuses, as I have already fitted to your converter boards.😉 Bon chance mon ami, Cheers, Doug 😎 Re GWS; https://www.google.com/search?q=GWS+models&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=Yy9FOffyN9znOM%253A%252Cm55UYJTjtHfuaM%252C_&usg=AFrqEzdcX_L57leaM37UXLA9kg6sVLbSag&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyo8mUnO_cAhUkB8AKHc_UDNEQ9QEwAnoECAYQBA#imgrc=Yy9FOffyN9znOM: Pic is a typical GWS small plane, called 'Slow Stick'. if I had one I would name it 'Spindle-shanks' 😁

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

engine

All parts of the engine made. it is set at the angle it will be installed in the boat. The regulator- reverser will probably be mounted remotely, but how knows. The gland nut drilled down a solid core in the cylinder for better alignment I hope. Have to hold the nut when drilling other wise it will undo.

6 years ago by hammer

Response

54 year old Crash Tender

Great job being done there Martin. My memories were of my Veron Viceroy in the 1960s with Taycol Asteroid sailing on New Brighton model boating lake rapidly going through 4.5 volt cycle lamp batteries wired up in series. I am made up to see a very original Crash Tender as the one I have now is a 1962 version I restored in 2014 from a wreck that was about to be binned which I bought for next to nothing from another person. in Ellesmere Port . On examination there was no evidence of the boat having an I.C engine but I did manage to find some mounting holes which appeared to match those of a Taycol Standard. This was a coincidence as Taycol did use photos of a 34 inch Crash Tender powered by the Standard in some of their advertisments including the leaflet that was supplied in the box with their range of motors. Boaty😊😊

6 years ago by boaty

Response

Seaplane Tender 360

Hi Bryan, If you want to do the SOE version she was most likely painted all matt black! The colour of skulduggery 😉 What ever you do, despite your good intentions to retain the 'old patina', judging by the photos you are in for a complete strip back and redo. Just as I have discovered with the PTB I bought. Thought it would just be a 'cosmetic job', flatten back and respray with Pacific green camouflage. Ho ho ho! Pics show what she currently looks like after cleaning off layers of enamel, and discovering that the prop shafts and rudders were misaligned and the chine strakes glued to the paint. 😡 Never mind an engine room fire when I tried to test the 'as bought' motor installation. 😭 Since those photos I have fitted new a new chine strake and started reinforcing the thin hull with glass fibre tissue. Next issue; set prop tubes properly and make an alu bracket to mount both the motors. Then set the rudder stocks correctly. Last thing I want is to dampen your enthusiasm, but that hull looks like it needs oodles of TLC. 🤔 Be aware of what's ahead of you and plan accordingly👍 Deck looks pretty neat, if unusual for a WW2 in service boat! As far as I can tell from the photos it's not just the cabin roof which is warped 😲 cabin and window frames will also need some attention by the looks of it. Before you run that motor I would strip it, clean all parts and check brushes and commutator for wear. See my Sea Scout blog 'Taycol Target motor' for a 'How to'. Should run well with a 3S LiPo, 11.1V. These boats weren't the fastest, 28 - 30 knots I believe. Which is why ST360 was reduced to more mundane duties after try outs by SOE. Don't forget some spark suppression!! Good luck, whatever you decide to do have fun doing it, Cheers Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

engine

Started work on the engine. Drilled & turned the cylinders & end caps off centre. Simply done by packing one jaw of the chuck. The reason so I can mill down the port face to increase the width. (arrow & black mark) Also reducing the amount of metal, reducing start up condensation.

6 years ago by hammer

Forum

Fire Float info.

I have found that the No. 153 boat was possibly either a Brooke, of which one is for sale or a Maynard of Chiswick. I reckon the second as they made a 27 foot one which I reckon this is, interpolating the mens' height to the length of the boat. I will press on at that assumption and make a simple round bilge hull, as light as possible to use a small motor. The real one would have been a 75 HP ish engine, mounted just inside the raised foredeck. I'm sure there must be plans for the BPBCo. 37'- 6" Mk1 fire float somewhere. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Blog

engine

Sketched out the engine, on a scrap of paper. the main frame 1"+ 1/8" two of joined by two 3/8" square. The square drilled through the centres (steam passages). Cylinders 5/8 hexagon, turned off centre to leave one flat. Also 1/8" left at each end to take six 10 BM studs for the end caps. The throttle - reverse mounted upright above to one side. Size over all 3"+ 3" The drawing shows most but questions welcome. I have altered this from previous engines I have made. Split the standard so I can increase the size of the bearings. This was a weak point before, didn't wear well.

6 years ago by hammer

Forum

It's a sad day!.

I still have 2 SC 90's, 1 Sc 61, and an Irvine 120, all marine engines new in the boxes. I don't know what to do with them at the moment. Also a Zenoah 26cc all blinged up in purple with an electric start on it only been run in ready to go into an old 54" Hydrofibre Pipedream that has an outdrive mounted ready to take the Zenoah. Scratching my head as to what to do now.

6 years ago by BOATSHED

Forum

47'' Fireboat power question

Hi Shaun, This design of hull forces the craft higher and higher the faster it goes. When it is high on the plane and almost hanging on the last few inches of propshaft it can fall off the plane either way, usually to the right (Starboard) side because of engine torque. The full size boats were fitted with 2 or 3 engines to help counteract this. The British Powerboat Company, who originally designed the hull that Vospers copied back in the 1930s/40s also noticed this which led to double skinning the hull with 1 inch thick mahogany for extra strength against pounding and falling on the waves. Lowering the drive angle of the propellor shafts and adding more weight from the C of G back to near the stern. We build this 3 screwed designed hull with one mainshaft usually so do not have the benefit of shaft rotation to stabilise the boat at speed. It was in the 1960's that Fairey engineers had the same problems (Swordsman,Huntsman etc) They came up with large transom mounted powered Trim Tabs. Their boats had similar problems and only one shaft in the main. I suggest you try fitting 2 x 2 inch wide by 1 inch deep trim tabs at the very bottom of your transom midway between the keel and the chine as well as move your battery packs forward a bit initially. Try some fast tests with this, you only need 2 to 4 degrees of down on the tabs initially. Add removeable weights near the CG as needed, a bit at a time but don't stop the bow lifting up onto the plane. Have fun, best of luck. Ron Rees

6 years ago by ronrees

Response

Higgins PT Boat

Not me, never heard of 'em til now, but here are the specs and a pic😉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huckins_Yacht_Corporation Happy Huckin', Doug 😎 Technical Specifications Lindsay Lord, a commander in the United States Navy who was stationed in Hawaii during the war, examines wartime PT boat design in his "Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls" and records the Navy's planing hull research and findings. This is the most complete source of information on PT boat hull design and construction, and provides hull test data as well as detailed analysis and comparisons of the various PT boat designs. U.S. Navy Technical Specifications of the Huckins PT Boat (Patrol Torpedo) Motorized Torpedo Fast Boat: Crew: 11 Length: 78 ft (23.77 m) Beam: 19.6 ft (5.97 m) Draught: 5 ft (1.52 m) Displacement: 42 tons Machinery: 3 x Packard 12-cylinder gasoline engines delivering 1,350 horsepower each to 3 x shafts. Surface Speed: 40 kts (46 mph) Range: 0 miles (0 km) Armament: 4 x 21-inch (533mm) torpedo tubes for 4 x Mark 8/13 torpedoes, launchers arranged as inline pairs along port and starboard sides. 1 x 37mm OR BOFORS 40mm Dual-Purpose cannon fitted on forecastle. 1 x 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon at stern 4 x 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) anti-aircraft, air-cooled heavy machine guns in dual mounts (2x2), one emplacement amidships and one forward, offset to starboard. Optional 0.30 caliber machine guns, mortar launchers, rocket projectors and additional 20mm cannons (and captured 23mm anti-tank guns) as required/available. Ship Class: PT 95 Number-in-Class: 18 Ships-in-Class: PT 95-102; PT 255-264 Initial Year of Service: 1942[23]

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Sanding down.

Hi, I like the article it has reactivated my interest in in restoring an old Aerokits P.T. boat hull I was given about five years back it had originally ran with a diesel engine but the hull is sound,there are no upperworks just the hull with no hatch covering so it will be a deck up new build just need to get some plans now,I like the gun mountings where did you purchase those,look forward to further updates.

6 years ago by Ray

Response

Fascis Board and Molding!

The engine room floor is in place. using Resin it's not going any where! It's ok I'll make do! I believe that Dumas used the motor mount floor design from their fiberglass hull. So it fits very high in the plastic hull design! No worries it will work! it better!!!!!!😡😊

6 years ago by figtree7nts

Media

PT 109

PT 109 was one of the hundreds of motor torpedo boats (PT) of the PT 103 class completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco Naval Division of Electric Boat Company at Bayonne, New Jersey. The Elco boats were the largest in size of the three types of PT boats built for U.S. use during World War II. Wooden-hulled, 80 feet long with a 20-foot, 8-inch beam, the Elco PT boats had three 12-cylinder Packard gasoline engines generating a total of 4,500 horsepower for a designed speed of 41 knots. With accommodations for 3 officers and 14 men, the crew varied from 12 to 14. its full-load displacement was 56 tons. Early Elco boats had two 20mm guns, four .50-caliber machine guns, and two or four 21-inch torpedo tubes. Some of them carried depth charges or mine racks. Later boats mounted one 40mm gun and four torpedo launching racks. Many boats received ad-hoc refits at advanced bases, mounting such light guns as Army Air Forces 37mm aircraft guns and even Japanese 23mm guns. Some PTs later received rocket launchers. This Proboat PT 109 model was brought in 2013 for £100 these boats are rare now, This one had a few faults with the propshafts they were bent and noisy both were replaced, with quality 4mm shafts, motors twin 600s were also replaced by Graupner versions along with mounts and couplings, basically all the running gear, also two ESCs by Aquapower were added and a 2.4G RC system.

6 years ago by CB90

Forum

Donations - Thank You

Hi All, Just a quick thank you to everyone who donated in 2017 and so far in 2018. It's only with the kind contribution of members this website keeps going. Advertising helps, but it doesn't fully cover the costs of hosting, domains, mobile apps, security certificates and upkeep on its own. A few things on here are due an overhaul again, usually I take time out at Christmas to overhaul sections of the website, but this Christmas break was too hectic, so the website had to take the back seat (or the stern perch). Going forward it's still a life project that continues for me. The website will turn 11 this year, it's come a long way in that time. Originally just static pages, people would email photos of their boats and I'd manually put them online. Laughably unsustainable these days if that still happened, so I must thank you all for keeping the ship sailing, the engines firing and the masts raised! I'd still like to overhaul the website, so amongst juggling a job and other commitments I will be working on this. If you haven't yet but would like to do so, please consider donating. The average donation last year was £8 - so an even bigger thank you to those who stretched a bit further. Donations can be sent securely through PayPal – just click the amount you’d like to donate in the left side panel on the website or at the bottom of the home tab on the mobile app. If your local currency isn't GBP, PayPal will let you enter a value in your local currency. Cash and cheques are accepted although less preferred because of security. If you wish to do this anyway, please PM me for details. Many thanks once again, Happy 11th Birthday to the website and Best Wishes to everyone for 2018! Stephen

6 years ago by fireboat

Forum

Steam sound unit (variable speed)

Hi Doug and Eric If you want synchronized sound they will be synthesised. I bought an original Action sound unit for my Trent lifeboat as the sound was sampled on the Whitby Lifeboat which is the model I built. The sampled sounds are all available on a disk and you can easily reprogram to any sound you require. The latest offering can reproduce two motors which is good for twin props where the engines are often changing direction when manouvering. You do need a large solidly mounted speaker to deliver the deep engine notes. My Noisy thing works with any rx and both brushed and brushless ESCs. I suspect that they are designed to link into the Action ESCs which may explain the situation. We did have a discussion re the Action twin ESC some time ago and I did note that the two positive and negative connections had to be wired correctly or risk damaging the output stage. Whatever you choose the sound will greatly enhance the models prescence.

6 years ago by Dave M

Blog

Electronics Down Below (5)

This time I will try to remember to put in the ‘source’ information on the bits and pieces I use........... In the most recent piece I should have included exciters/transducers are Dayton Audio DAEX 25VT -4, 4 Ohms – 20 Watt pair, obtained from Sound Imports Netherlands and very quickly as well. The sound unit is a Mtroniks Digisound 5M diesel sound, available all over the place. Now to look at where I am at. Exciters are in place as high up the Hull as possible, but remembering the Deck level. Used the adhesive pads as supplied after wiping that part of the Hull with Meths and Silicone adhesive to keep in place as well as using the wiring tidies from Modelsport Ltd., for the cabling. (Pic 1+2) Before I start the motor and controller wiring I changed the platform ‘up front’ (pic3) with a piece of thin ply which I have given a couple of coats of varnish to waterproof. Then I thought to myself “why am I waterproofing this when, if it gets that wet, it will have gone to the bottom and be useless anyway”! (Pics 4) However, the platform gives a little more choice in terms of layout of other components and my plan for them is not really settled yet. I am concerned about the stern and possible swamping, but it currently seems the best place for the upgraded battery. (Pic5 ) Whilst talking batteries, I have gone for a separate battery supply for the receiver and hope to use the Bec supply for running other less critical items. Also the fitting of the battery in the stern bay drew my attention to the rudder servo for a couple of reasons. First is I am still considering increasing the size of the rudders and I am assuming that will increase the strain on the servo. The servo supplied is a standard issue and not water resistant so I have gone for an upgrade as shown(Pic6) That gives torque increase of 17Kg/cm over the Hobby Engine S1040C and has metal gears, metal control arm and waterproof for 20grams extra weight. Second is the closeness to the new battery position. So I was going to alter the servo arm setup anyway and the new metal arm suits this well. Maybe my ‘tutors’ will consider all this to be a little ‘over the top’ but I do so enjoy messing......................... New Servo DS 3218 by AYANI from Amazon. (Pics 6/7 ) Following that distraction, back to the front end and the Motor/Mixer placing and wiring. Now a little time ago I drew a plan to see what could go where and it came out that most of the ‘bits’ would go in the front bay with motors to be wired once power was brought forward, followed by the Esc/Mixer. (Pic 8) At that time I bought a P94 dual esc/mixer from Action Electronics and got the 20 amp version to be on the safe side................. My ‘guardians’ did point out this was ‘over-kill’ but I had already got it. Now, when placing the unit on the mounting board I found that the heatsinks made it too high to fit in the Hull! So being a spoilt brat only child I ordered the 10 amp version and as usual it came very quickly from up here in Bangor. ( Will keep the other one for the next project............Happy Hunter??) Unboxed it and it looked just the same, heatsinks and all. (Pic 9/10 ) So at that moment there was a bit of a set-back so I rang Component Shop at Bangor, they said “take the heat sinks off and you have a P94 lite”! Such a simple answer and such a nice chap. (Pic 11 ) Now a quick 'measure up' before I have a glass of wine (Pic 12) and does it all fit...? Well it appears to at the moment! (Pic 13) Next time really going to screw down the components under the forward hatch and wire it up. NPJ

7 years ago by NPJ

Forum

Richards 48'' Swordsman

Hello, another couple of months and a progtrress report is due. I have attached a photo of the electrics finished. All but the permanent , the current (sorry for the pun)one is adjustable I will make a more stable one in due course. next to finish the top sides, the windows, the windscreen and the mast. Richard

7 years ago by rmwall107

Forum

Motor Mount

Hi Mark Try Aluminium SKU: 017000594-0 on the Hobby King site https://hobbyking.com/en_us/catalogsearch/result/index/?erp_category=&p=5&q=motor+mount You might need to find the bigger one Neil found Dave

7 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Rudder Position

I'm after some advice on rudder position in my ever tedious restoration of a crash tender. After some great advice from DaveM and Doug I actually 'bit the bullet' and removed the old IC and lessened the angle of the shaft which will hopefully make motor alignment easier. I removed the rudder bearing tube and water pick up for ease of access whilst re positioning the shaft and then noticed the rudder and pick up were not centrally positioned on the hull. On looking at the plans for the 34" Crash Tender I found that the measurements of the rudder and water pick up tubes were also not positioned correctly. I am now presuming that I will be need to re position the rudder as a priority and possibly the water pick up?😤😤 Any advice on this one would be much appreciated from you the experts😁😁😁

7 years ago by neilmc

Forum

Crash Tender Shaft Tube Poistion

Hi Neil, yes, very similar. Could be regarded to as a first step before applying Eze-Kote to give it a harder, knock and almost everything else resistant surface. Hammerite then sticks to it like the proverbial to the blanket and you have a super clean 'engine compartment' dead easy to keep clean. 😊 80 quid for a brushless !!! Do you want it gold plated or what? My Propdrive 2830 cost less than 20 knicker from Hobbyking and was delivered almost before I ordered it! Just make sure it comes from the UK or EU (still!?🤔) warehouse and not USA or Global. otherwise you might get stuck for import tax 😡 For the motor mount / shaft alignment: no one said it was easy, but Nothing's Impossible', maybe that's why I drive Toyota!!😁 back end is determined by the diameter of the prop you want to fit, which in the case of brushless motor should be roughly the same diameter as the brushless (outrunner). in my case 28mm motor and 30mm prop. This defines how far you can lift the aft end of the shaft, leave at least 1cm between the prop tip and the hull! This reduces unwanted interaction between the vortex from the prop and the lamina flow along the hull, result; more forward thrust and better rudder effect. (Didn't spend 30 odd years talking to shipyards for nowt😉) If you have plan (or at least a sketch - take some measurements if you don't have one of these and make a sketch) of the keel and existing motor mount; project back from the newly determined exit point of the shaft. Check how far forward you need to go to be able to comfortably fit the motor mount with good alignment and purchase a shaft of appropriate length. Cut a wood block to fit around the keel as the basic mount and 'fiddle' with it until your motor and mounting (e.g. the Robbe / Romarin 400 mount) aligns with the shaft line. Alignment is checked by running the motor at a fixed low speed with an ammeter showing the current it draws. Shim the motor mount up / down, and shift slowly from side to side until the current reading is a minimum. Then glue and screw everything in place quick before anything moves! Takes almost longer to describe than to do😉 The coupling type shown in my photo is called a 'Steg' coupling here in Germany (don't know the English🤔) and available from Krick Modellbau, for various motor shaft / prop shaft diameters, here the link to their English page- http://www.krickshop.de/?shop=krick_e Part number for the 3.17mm (1/8") to 4.0mm version I used is 63902. part number for the motor mount I used for my 28mm brushless is 42117. Advantages (to me at least!) they are not as long as the traditional UJ and Cardan types, they are resilient but don't flop about like the UJ types so are much easier to fit and align. Cos they are shorter you can use 'em for mountings in confined spaces. And they don't make no noise!! 😉 One final tip (may not be so useful on hard plywood built boats!). When I had this problem with my destroyer I sharpened the end of an 8mm alu tube (same as the shaft tube dia) and used it to bore back from the hull exit to the last bulkhead before the motor mounts. the bulkheads though were 1/4" balsa! Nice and soft man 😉 Hope this helps more than confuses, but it all worked for me! Cheers and happy fiddling, Doug 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Crash Tender Shaft Tube Poistion

Cheers for the photos guys I'll have a look when online with computer later on. Regarding the original hole in the hull do I just drill it or file it to achieve a more acute angle as now I've removed the old there's no way I can achieve alignment with the new motor position. I think I'll stay with my old motor as opposed to expense on a brushless as been looking and I don't think 'She that must be obeyed' would wear an 80quid spend lol, considering it's taken another year to get going again.

7 years ago by neilmc

Forum

Crash Tender Shaft Tube Poistion

Well after another pointer from DaveM to remove the old I actually managed it with some effort bit after bit was removed and the four screws shown obviously explain why previous attempt failed and it was so difficult to budge. 😤😤 With the mount removed I can now see the angle of the prop shaft is to great so some more work in this area. I'm presuming that the platform left behind would be OK to try mounting my 600 can motor? Any tips on the best angle needed and also how this would achieved? Also thinking the prop shaft A frame support needs to go as well or could I adapt it as surely these are needed??

7 years ago by neilmc

Forum

Crash Tender Shaft Tube Poistion

Hi Doug and Neil Fascinating details about full size props and distances. Our scaled models sail in water which is not scaled so I am not convinced the maths helps. There are many examples of Fireboats on this site and as has often been mentioned the original Aerokits were designed when IC engines were the fashion and as a result the prop shafts were at a very acute angle to accommodate the fitting of the engine. If you have an original kit model the easiest solution is to remove all the s and any oil soaked wood from the hull together with the prop shaft and tube. You can then buy a suitable motor and prop and work out the best alignment. Buy a prop shaft and tube to suit the distance and adjust the slot in the keel to allow fitment. I usually make the slot big enough to allow for alignment, you can repair any gaps later. I usually tack mine in place with small dabs of superglue to hold in place, not too much as you may need to reposition. Once all aligned you can fill the gaps as Doug says with balsa. I just use Plastic Padding car body filler, but either will work. Once all is set hard you can fettle to the keel / hull shape and make good inside the hull. Not sure which model size you have but am attaching pics of my 34" Crash tender which may help. Happy restoration Dave

7 years ago by Dave M

Forum

propshafts

Hi Roy, to dispel any possible confusion; by 'double jointed' I mean the true Cardan link. Which is in 3 parts connected by 2 UJs. invented by an italian mathematician and engineer several centuries ago to transfer rotation from one axial shaft line / level to a different (within reason) line without using gears. They inevitably create more friction by applying more side pressure to both input and output shafts, thus more wear on the motor output bearing and the tube input bearing 🤔 Plus friction and rattling/grinding generated in two 'out of line' UJs. If, as they should be, your motor and prop shaft are in (near) perfect alignment you don't need a Cardan! My maxim is 'less flexibility - more alignment' 😉 I like the coupling in the pic; called Stegkupplung in German, don't know the English for that😉 They are flexible but not floppy and totally silent👍 I once made the mistake (laziness🤔) of using a Graupner Cardan to couple up a geared Decaperm to the shaft in my Sea Scout. Never ever again 😡 After the first trials I took it apart and modded the motor mount properly. The original motor (perfectly fitted by my Dad) was a Taycol Target - the one I have recently modded for controllable forward and reverse. That will now be used in an ancient Billing Fish cutter inherited from an Aunt. Cheers Doug 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Fairy Huntsman

As this is a refurbishment chances are it was fitted with an IC engine in which case you need to remove all the gunge and heavy mounting blocks from inside the hull as well as checking the propshaft and bearings. If you can get the weight reduced then I would expect a speed 600 motor with a 30 to 40 mm prop should suffice. A 20/25 watt ESC powered by a NiMh would also be suitable and keep the weight down. if you use racing props the current will be greater than if you use brass 3 blade props, and the bigger the prop the greater the current. As a general rule the prop should have a diameter of no greater than that of the motor. The voltage of the NiMh must not exceed the max voltage the ESC can handle. A higher voltage will reduce the current draw so a 9.6v may be better than a 7.2v and give a longer run time. if you already have batteries for other models I would use those but SLA's are heavy and may hinder planing. if you already use LiPos then make sure your ESC can stand the voltage and has a built in cut off to protect the battery.

7 years ago by Dave M

Response

Jet Sprint Boat

Thanks Dave,no the dinghy had no torque reaction on a steady throttle just when the engine was "blipped".I started with a butterfly flap in the nozzle which worked ok,replaced that with a steerable tube beyond the nozzle which also worked ok and finally with the nozzle itself steerable mounted on a flexible pipe which did not work (the flexible pipe was far from flexible when full of water at pressure!).The question was because I have built a three point hydro with a strimmer engine which becomes two point due to torque,lifting one sponson as the throttle is opened.

7 years ago by philpjuk

Blog

The window glazing & frames.

A full set of laser cut perspex windows is supplied in the VMW kit along with corresponding frames for all and they are all a pretty good fit in the window apertures of the engine room, forward cabin and wheel house rear walls, only requiring a light easing with a file for a secure fit. I left the protective film on the screens whilst gluing them in place with a very small amount of canopy glue applied to the window edges with a dressmaking pin and pressed into place so that they were flush with the outside of the cabin walls. The wheelhouse windows were a bit trickier as they are glued to the inside face of the panels and I had to remove the protective film around the edges of the outer face of the windows by running a fine sharp blade around the window aperture with the perspex held in place by hand. Canopy glue was then used very sparingly on the face of the perspex and the windows clamped in place. The central screen of the wheelhouse has the Kent Clearview in it and this needed to be carefully centred before fixing in place. When all had dried and set the protective films were peeled off to reveal nice clear ‘panes’ without any unsightly glue smudges. The CNC cut window frames are made from a flexible plastic material with accurate and well defined edges. They were all given a light sanding with abrasive paper as a key for the paint and were then laid out on a large piece of card paying particular attention to getting them the correct side up, in particular the wheelhouse frames which are ‘handed’ for either port or starboard. They were all held to the board with small pads of double sided foam tape and sprayed with two coats of Halfords metallic silver paint followed by two light coats of Halfords gloss lacquer. After a couple of days to dry they were removed from the board and fixed in place with canopy glue applied with a pin as very small dots around the inside face, aligned with masking tape ‘guides’ and a straight edge and then held in place with small tabs of masking tape. The installation of the glazing in the wheelhouse was made a lot easier because I had previously cut away some of the bulkhead and rear wall to give better access to the wheelhouse interior for detailing. This is not mentioned in the building instructions but is well worth doing for all the above reasons 😁

7 years ago by robbob

Response

Pics of running gear and skins

I found two pics of my Sea Hornet . The second pic shows the cutout of the keel and the simple home made L bracket for the . The one in the Hobbyking drive line kit I did not like, but, the engine bolting to the motor is great. No top bearing, but, I have not had a problem with it. Added tap silicon grease on installation.

7 years ago by canabus

Response

Pics of running gear and skins

The pic posted by inkoust says it all really. The original Aerokits and many other models from the 1960s all had steep angled propshafts. This was necessary to allow for the large IC engines fitted. Modern electric motors do not require the same depth inside the hull so the prop shaft can be mounted at a much lesser angle, producing a faster and more controllable model. It would be relatively easy to alter your set-up before you add the rest of the skins. Even with a 50mm prop there is still about an inch to lose. I appreciate this may not be your first choice but believe the end result will justify the effort Dave

7 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Couplings

Boatshed Use whatever you want as a coupling with the Taycol. its so inefficient it will make little difference. They are major sources of interference but capacitors and careful screening will allow them to work with modern RC and ESC's. if you use metal to metal couplings they can cause interference. Your brushless will require a good well engineered modern type coupling with the motor and shaft in alignment and solidly mounted. I use a 42xx brushless in my Sea Queen and it is fast. Has your Crash Tender two props? if not the Super Marine should be OK. I would use a nice 3 cell LiPo to make up for the lump of lead that is the Taycol. A brushed 800 would be suitable for either model. If you want reverse you need to modify and add a bridge rectifier. Doug (RNin Munich) is converting his Taycol so perhaps he will post a blog. Good luck with the build Dave

7 years ago by Dave M

Blog

The servo mount.

I had originally made a platform and a servo mount out of ply to go in the stern compartment but I found that there was very little clearance left between the top of the servo and the underside of the cockpit deck and the arm and push-rod could foul on something, so I decided to scrap what I had made and invest in something a bit better engineered. I found quite a neat CNC machined aluminium mount on eBay that looked ideal and so I ordered one at a cost of just under £5 including delivery from China. I have not previously bought anything directly from a Chinese seller as I’d heard bad things about long delivery times and getting clobbered for import duty and such but I thought I’d risk it anyway. Surprisingly it arrived about 10 days later without extra costs and is quite well engineered. I decided to fix the servo mount to the bulkhead on some 15mm nylon PCB spacers with an internal 3mm tapped thread that I had in my electronics bits box. This was to allow the servo arm to move unrestricted over it’s travel arc. I used a servo tester to check the operation and it works a treat and looks a million times better that my original mount. I’ll probably replace the clevis attachments for a ball & socket type at a later stage.

7 years ago by robbob

Forum

Li-Poly batteries

I do not know much about the detail design of Li Po batteries but in the past have spent quite a lot of time and tax payers money looking at the performance of lead acid and nickle cad batteries when starting petrol engines over a large ambient temperature range and have the following observations, my interest in model boats is restricted to modest speed versions and I have enough trouble there with Li Po's. It is a pity that to impress those who have a limited knowledge that the capacity of these batteries is quoted in ma. hours rather than amp hours, I know it is easy to convert if you have a bit of a mathmatical background but not eveyone does. it took me many years before I understood the difference between energy and power and I think a lot of people still do. Basically the ma. hr. rating is the amount of "energy" that the battery can store but how much of it that you can get out is very much dependant on the rate of discharge ( i.e. the "c" value with its multiplier ) in general the higher the rate of discharge ( i.e. the "power" ) the less of it you can get out. in addition batteries have an internal resistance so the higher the " amperage " the lower the " voltage " applied to the motor terminals, so as "Watts" ( Power ) equals volts times amps the actual power available to drive the boat is reduced. Also the loss due to the battery internal resistance ends up as heat in the battery which does not improve its life. It must be almost impossible with the information available to be able to select the best battery available for the high rate discharge uses, I wonder if ayone has done any comparative tests?

7 years ago by nasraf

Directory

(Naval Ship) MTB743

This is a Failmile 'D' MTB. This version and number were operated by the 65th Canadian MTB flotilla in the English Channel. I made the model as this version as my Uncle was one of the crew. This model hull is built from scratch in the in the same was the real boats were using double diagonal planking. The propulsion is with 4 props paired using a dual ESC by Action Electronics and 2 11.1v LIPO batteries. These MTB were powered with 4 Packard 4M-2500 Engines with a hull speed of 34.5kts. Armament:- 4 x 18" torpedo's, 2 x 6pdr Mkv11 guns, Twin 20mm Oerlikon gun, 2 x twin Vickers Machine guns on powered mounts, as well as other smaller machine guns on the bridge. For more info goto the Manitoba Maritime Museum (Motor: COMBO 380) (ESC: ACTION ELECTRONICS) (8/10)

7 years ago by solo1274

Directory

(Racing Boat) Sea Hound

Built from GRP bits supplied by Willen Lake Mbc Member in 2005 The Irvine engine, an eBay purchase unused and in its original box, is easy to start as it has a ringed piston and never a problem to get it onto the water. Radio gear is now 2.4ghz Futaba FS607. This one has been to the bottom of the lake after mounting a buoy. And back thanks to a friendly customer who did scuba diving for his retrieval efforts and twenty minutes below the surface. (Motor: Irvine 21) (7/10)

8 years ago by Rex3644

Blog

Wilesco D52 Marine Steam Engine

From Boaty I bought a Wilesco D52 marine engine and set it up statically for a test run. I followed all instructions but when it started up it ran for about 30 seconds at a reasonable speed which was okay for the size of boat I had in mind. After the 30 seconds it slowed down considerably and it appeared that the way the burner was designed it was struggling through lack of air thus it did not have sufficient heat to maintain steam pressure. I took the burner out and also removed the mounting bracket for the burner. I drilled extra air holes in both and also some corresponding holes in burner tray and base of the holder. I chopped the fuel tablets into smaller portions and when the boiler was fully fired up the performance of the engine increased slightly and it was more consistent over a longer time period. In relation to the physical size of the engine and boiler, it appears to under perform . Has anyone else had same problems with this model of engine and if so how did they overcome them. Boaty

8 years ago by boaty

Forum

electric v drive

HI Guys, I have seen pictures of a v drive system,motor under shaft and reduction gearing mounted on ing bracket with NAVY in the title. Can anyone enlighten me as to who makes it and where I can get one, I am also looking for 2 schottel drives , Thanks for reading. Steve.

8 years ago by Stour-boy

Response

Issues

Neil, The wattage of a model plane heat gun ranges between 300 - 1800w, most model shops have these but if in difficulty try http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=41001 Jim

9 years ago by Aeronut1

Response

Issues

HI Neil If this is an original Aerokits model from the early 1960's it's probable that the glue used was a hot melt glue that I used to use. I believe it was af animal origin and I used to have a glue pot that was heated over the paraffin stove. It was very good for wood joints and relatively quick setting compared to what was available. As the glue will now be rock hard I suspect you will need to have lots of heat available. The secret will be to get the block of wood up to heat and then work round the edges where it joins the hull. To prevent burning the hull make sure you keep the heat moving to avoid any hot spots. I have an adjustable heat gun with a quite low setting and believe careful adjustment would achieve the desired amount of heat. Be prepared for a slow process as the original glue used to take a while (1/2 hour) to melt. I wish I had tried this on my model. Good de gluing Dave 😀

9 years ago by Dave M

Response

Issues

HI Jim Good job you pointed that out as may have burnt through the hull as was going to borrow a Raychem Heat Gun used for making waterproof joints. What sort if wattage hot air gun should I be looking for and any sites you know of as never built a model plane.

9 years ago by neilmc

Response

Issues

HI Neil, A domestic hair drier is unlikely to provide enough heat, a DIY hot air gun will most likely give too much heat.... Best job is a hot air gun for use on model aircraft for shrinking coverings, they're not too expensive and will last for years, in fact it was one of my best buys. NB The 34" FB is just a bit too small for dolls house sized furniture whereas the 46" job being 1" to the foot is just right size. Press on, you're doing a great job. Jim

9 years ago by Aeronut1

Response

Issues

HI Jim Thats an excellent tip and may just have to borrow one from work as I don't think the wives hairdryer will be man enough 😊 I must admit I didn't fancy attacking it with a chisel again especially since having issues with plywood falling apart. At least this will give me a potential solution as Ive been looking at it for a couple of weeks now and not really achieving much as unsure what to attack next - but you have provided the answer Thanks 😀

9 years ago by neilmc