Forum

Leaking Boat!

Seal off the gettable area with polythene put the hull in the domestic test tank then using a cycle pump put air into the sealed area watch for bubbles appearing (like looking for leaks in an inner tube) No bubbles no leak, move to the sealed area drill a small hole enough to get a valve adapter in and again apply pressure and look for bubbles if there are bubbles and this is where the leak is you could enlarge the hole that the adaptor was fitted through and pour in some sealer and swirl it around .or cover the whole of the exterior of the hull with a liberal coating of clear sealer . Cheers Marky

6 years ago by marky

Forum

Charging NiMhs, one for Doug?...

Evenin' Martin, Just back from 'nosh' with Gisela, my camera girl in the vid! She's mean like that too, keeps me hoppin' about like the proverbial cat on the proverbial hot stuff 😡 Can't wait to see the rotating teddy👍 Put a couple of mini Cam lenses in his eyeballs and you'll get a terrific 360° First Person View from the driving seat😁 Re Sea Scout, I took your advice and did the hull in Royal Blue (no navy knickers!😆) or what passes for that here. Anyway I'm pleased how she turned out. OK, I admit I accidentally turned her into a Sport Fishing Boat😁 She's 24" what scale do you think that makes her? I'm looking for crew figures and stuff to fit out the cockpit but I'm not sure what size to look for. I thought maybe 1/20 i.e. a 40 footer? Waddya think? Re Kako; while recently trying (fruitlessly🤔) to make space in the workshop (got two renovations on the go in parallel - saves getting the same tools, rattle cans an' stuff out twice!😁) I ran across the original Kakos and Mabuchis I used in my scratch 53" H class destroyer Hotspur in 1966. She ran off a 4.5V EverReady flat (form not volts😁) battery until Granny took pity and bought me some 6V Lantern batteries! I ran 'em up on a power supply and they turned but now sound like mini rattles! Think they need new big end shells 😁 Jeez, how many guys under pension age have ever been down to the bitza bazaar looking for 50 thou oversize bearing shells and compression and oil control rings?? Pics show her Sea trials in Radnor Park pond, Folkestone, Kent, summer 1966. Sorry about the quality, only had a Box Brownie 127 in those days and could only afford Gratispool free B/W films🤔 Pentax? Canon? Sony? Not to mention Digital? HD? Wassat? 50 years on I got all three😉 I like Lupins too, preferably the blue and purple ones. BTW, for your steering guy's arms you don't need a separate RC function or channel! You just need a coupling from the rudder control to turn a pulley and cord which turns a suitably scaled pulley attached to the wheel axis. The arms are fixed to the wheel and go with it! Dead simple (to write anyway😁) and no lecktrickery! 😊 OR you could just put one of his hands on the wheel and the other on the throttle. Then use a 'Y' cable to split the ESC cable into two. Connect the second output to a servo which moves the throttle lever via a push-me-pull-you-rod, pulleys and cord or gears or whatever. Sure you can figure out the mechanics better than I. Whatever, have fun and don't electrocute yourself, keep your socks dry😉 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

getting a bit slow?...

Oh Doug, I thought you would understand. I am not denegrating kit builders. I, too, build the occasional kit to save time. No,no, I was denegrating the old boys who don't EVEN kit build, then brag about it, about what it's all cost them. That is what is so bloody pointless to me. Obviously I am grateful for kit builders as that's how I made my living for years, making patterns for kits. But to pay over the odds for a kit and all its bits and then brag about how much it all cost seems to me utterly stupid. Building a kit is a perfectly good way to either save time or gather a collection quickly and just to make my point, I still get a kick out of opening the box on a new kit (Airfix 1/48th scale Lightning for instance) like I did as a kid. I am well aware of the skills of dealing with photoetch, although I doubt I could manage such tiny scales as you mention. I have always done the artwork for my own photo-etch, but now it's all done on computers, so I no longer have any dealings with it. For the kind of inshore craft I have always been a fan of, 1/48th is quite small. Small enough for me anyway. And a year after (is it) I am back with the boats as explained above. I do other things when the weather is not so great. I can't remember what went on a year ago and I have never been bored in my life except when forced to watch television, , modern pop music or money programmes. I ALWAYS have something to do, I just don't always know much about aspects of it, which is why I come on here and ask. I ain't proud. I was explaining why, for me, model railways is now a no-no and why my wall sign is very much a case of QED. I do wish I could help more people with constructional stuff, that I DO know about to in some way pay back for the help I have recieved from others on topics I find mystifying. If you don't like it, so be it. I'll go again and not return. it's a shame to be what seems to be willfully misunderstood, especially by someone I thought I had a good relationship with. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Response

off and running

Hi Doug, only problem is that Ricky's insisting i do the drawings myself so what took him 2 minutes to draw up takes me a tad longer ,he's going to put the drawing programme onto an old laptop so I can practice anytime ,anyplace ,anywhere (an old Martini advert for those longer in the tooth) Cheers Marky 👍 forgot to mention my brother was across at your neck of the woods for the last Wednesday

7 years ago by marky

Directory

(Yacht) Saudade

A real vintage yacht, this oldie dates back to the early seventies. Still in original configuration but will get modern hardware, 0.1mm x 19 stays and new wooden booms for head and mainsail. The rest will stay 'untouched'. (except for the railing which was way to big for being correct to scale; in fact they looked like goals on deck!) (5/10)

7 years ago by Radiosailor

Response

M.V. TEAKWOOD

Really nice ships and stands , saw the Roker park plaque has it anything to do with Sunderland F.Cs old ground ,Played there in the early 70s at an invitation boys club tournament. Cheers Marky

7 years ago by marky

Forum

USS Hanley -

Hi Doug ,thanks for that as you know im new to this and have become addicted ,as the wie said it stops me watching .cheers Mark

7 years ago by marky

Forum

Li-Ion Batteries

Hi Allen I use these batteries and apart from the cheap Chinese imports they can give a high current. The drawback is that they are protected internally against overheating and as a result they can (and do) sometimes just stop working until they cool down. In a heavy current setting such as a tug for tug or a fast electric this is what happens. if you are using in a more sedate model with low current draw they are fine. Also excellent for rx batteries with a switch mode psu. They are Lithium technology so do need to be balanced charged with the correct charger, but are more resilient than LiPos but still need to be respected. Common usage is in a rechargeable electric drill etc. You can buy battery holders for the cells which will avoid having to solder and makes charging easier I remember Torchy, just Dave

7 years ago by Dave M

Response

Miss Geico 29''

Hi Martin (Westquay),I have seen the yacht's on Clapham Common Long Pond But sadly I don't seem to find them at all interesting. The same with thing's like Tugs and barges. I started when my dad and mum bought me an Areokits RAF Crash Tender for my ninth birthday. Rather than ruin the kit, my dad got me to draw round all the parts on old tea chests that he had got hold of and broke up. in all we built seven of them. For my Christmas present that year they got me a ED Hunter 3.46 cc diesel engine. They couldn't afford r/c so when my real one was finished it was fun as a kid to watch it go round and round until it arrived on the other side of Blackheath Pond. Or send it in a straight line and catch it on the other side. I have just seemed to progress from there and it just seem's to be addictive to try to get more speed. I do have some that are not as fast but still quite quick. I don't go for scale speed just speed. I have put 10cc engines in things that were meant for 7.5cc. With great success. The way I look at things is if we were all to think the same it would be a boring old world. I'm not into sports other than fishing and shooting,where as I have one 43 year old son that is mad, and one 45 year old son that is into fishing and R/C quadcopters. I don't knock anyone's likes and dislikes as that's the way of he world. I know you are NOT putting my boat down, you probably don't see power boats in the same way. I have tried to get more speed from a brand new Webra 61 by adding too much extra nitro into the fuel and bending the conrod and having it break into pieces. Stupid I suppose but that's just me. I now love these brushless motors as they are so fast. I am just a speed junkie. Who know's when I get a bit older I might just try out a yacht, but I'm only 66 and still wan't more speed. I have Just got myself a Graupner Rhode island F1 tunnel hull with a brushless outboard and I'm hoping it goes even faster than this Miss Geico. that's just me for you. To each his own. Sorry to have gone on too long. any way have you posted any video of your yachts on here.

7 years ago by BOATSHED

Forum

And now it is ESC time

Doug, my Dad was a radio and TV man. Used to make his own tape recorders and PA gear, but I couldn't ever get my head round it all as it doesn't move. if it goes round or connects in any way I'm there, but any wires and I glaze over like it was or something (I detest all sport). I don't even know how to wire up the microswitches on my sail winch. I might be on here for some help there from you! Cheers, Martin

7 years ago by Westquay

Event

Model Boat Convention 2015

I attended the show with Crewe & District MBC where we had two stands, one for our club models and another for Joe Sydlowski's super 1:72 scale model of the USS Arizona, which was voted Best in Show by the Exhibitors, receiving the Robin Woodall Memorial Trophy, sponsored by the Woodall Family. We participated in the Tug with the Ribble MBC and whilst not winning we managed to give a very credible stand against their greater numbers and more experienced tug ers. We had a really great time and the matches seemed popular with the public, probably because there are no rules and many sinkings on both sides. We look forward to next year and as many asked where we sourced our tugs, which are a suitable replacement for the now discontinued Pollux tugs used by Ribble, I sourced from Amera Plastic Mouldings in Northumberland (www.amera.co.uk). The show was well up to its usual standard with masses of models on display and lots of traders in attendance. As usual the event was in the safe hands of Jean Barlow and her committee plus a raft of helpers who made the event so pleasing to attend. On behalf of all who attended I offer our gratitude and thanks and look forward to attending next year on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th August 2016 at Haydock Park.

9 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Model Boat Convention At Haydock

great show as always really enjoyed the tug the tugs are available from amera plastics I asked one of the players. great for use in fresh water , in salt they may not survive being sunk a lot. 👍

9 years ago by dennisw

Blog

HMS Diamond Build update four

Just a little more work on the deck structure today and that's nearly all the parts cut from plan. Sanding, filling and adding the last few sides prior to a coat of primer will be the next step. I have made up some temp aligning aids for the motors to prop shafts today and these will be fixed in place soon. I use car filling past which can be easily manipulated and sanded once dry. The bow now has the correct shape too (concave) and I hope to put a coat of primer on the hull this weekend. Not that I'm going to get much opportunity due to some ex Army buddies visiting NE for the Sunderland vs Southampton match which they have kindly purchased a ticket for me.... Might be nice to see another team other than the Toon. Roy 😊

9 years ago by McCluskey

Media

CHINESE JUNK

My latest scratch build a junk cedar plank on frame /draft film mast cranked controlled, crew ex ers , wearing masking tape clothes , false keel fitted when sailed , cheers Larry..

11 years ago by larrywhetton