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 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

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 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 covers (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

Forum

Turnigy Standard 9x transmitter

I have now connected the batteries and entered into the Aux channel mode on the TX. I have set gear to channel 5 and throttle hold to channel 6. Two of my circuits now work perfectly using the gear switch and the throttle cut switch on the Tx. I just need one more to enable the third circuit to light. there are still two or three two position switches available to use but are not supported in the Aux channel menu. I am told that they can be used by altering the mix menu but I am afraid this goes beyond me at this time. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Peter.😊

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 covered 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 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.🤓 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

Holy SMOKE !! Video, Tin Can Madness

Hi Joe, When you click on the Media File icon have you ever noticed the [Download] button in the top left corner of the media window!!?? 😲 Click on that and you are given the choice to Open or Download the file 😉 BTW: to answer your question above - No scale railway at all! I intend to use the loco smokers in RC conversions of 1/350 scale plastic navy ships, such as; HMSs Ark Royal, Colossus, King George Fifth, Prince of Wales, Exeter, and KMSs Bismarck and Graf Zeppelin. As well as RMS Titanic and my 1/128 HMS Belfast and Graf Spee. Two more perhaps for my Southampton tug. Have used them in the dim and distant past for my 1/72 scale RN destroyer. Built a little RC pulse decoder using CMOS chips followed by a transistor driver to switch a relay supplying the smoker coil. See pics of self etched decoder board. The other three outputs are for various effects and destroyer 'Whoop whoop' siren. 30 years old now and still going 😊 The smokers work pretty well just using the capillary action of the thin glass feeder tubes. So no wick to come into contact with a a hot wire coil 😊 They were mounted on a bridge across the cap of a large spray can which I used as the oil tank. Exhaust used the chimney effect of a 10mm alu tube running up the funnel. I'm also still pondering how to turn the usual white steam/smoke black! Cheers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Cracked Battery!

Hi Ed, NOT 40 bucks each I hope😲 I use the Yaesu SLAs, not expensive and last for years as they are designed for use in long term applications, such as emergency system, remote instrumentation systems etc. Cheers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

LED Nav.

Two days ago I put what I hope is the final paint on the hull, hatch and misc. parts. I like to let it sit for several days to cure, especially in cooler weather. I took the time to work out LED navigational for my Brooklyn Tug and got that installed. I will photograph that tug later. Back to the springer tug, I had difficulty finding a good mounting spot for the starboard and port so I decided to raise it on a light bar. Photos show the styrene structure in progress which will have the green and red side lights and a single white light on the top center post. Worked out the resistor values to reduce current and work off of my 6 volt supply, then soldered as shown. Fed the assembled LEDs through the plastic rectangular tunnel I created. The one photo I took with the red LED turned on is so bright that the camera just picked up a bright spot. I may have to reduce brightness but will test out in daylight first.... These LEDs are very bright and are 360 degree view! Ordered from "superbrigntleds.com" in order to get the full 360 as the ones at the local store were very limited to 18 to 60 degrees. Ordered red, green and white and they arrivedin about four days, great service. I have used this company several times and am happy with them, good to know. More to come, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Cabin detail part 3 (instrument panels)

After the Christmas break its back to the cabin to finish some of the instrument detail. You may recall I detailed the cockpit with some ply constructions to represent the general layout; I also intend to detail the compass, throttle controls, steering wheel, panel , and instrument panel. The instrument panel was copied and scaled from various drawing and pictures and I came up with a three-panel unit where panels 1 & 3 are identical as they are for the two-engine managements system the centre panel deals with electrical things. I intend to make the panel out of 1.5 mm aluminium cut to size on the guillotine I then attached this to a hardwood block with some strong double sided tape this will be more than strong enough to hold the piece for the drilling/light milling operation. I worked out the hole positions using an absolute datum (same as CNC work, if only I was still working) This does take some time using my rather old milling machine making sure any backlash is taken out during the 28 linear movements. I used various sizes of centre drills to produce the holes as they give not only accurate size but also perfectly round holes on thin material and the only ones that needed to be a particular size (6mm dial holes) the others are for switches and LEDs which can all be a 3 mm location hole. Each hole was drilled and then chamfered to simulate a bezel on the dials. Finally, I milled a shallow groove (2mm x 0.3 deep) to simulate the separate panels. I have copied a number of different marine dials from the internet and using PowerPoint I aligned in a complete group and then printed and laminated them, this will be placed behind the aluminium plate using double-sided tape. Having fixed the dials in place I drilled through the holes where LEDSs will fit. The LEDs will be shortened and polished so they are flat to the face; these are then stuck in place. Next, I made all the switches from brass bar with a fine brass pin glued across its face to simulate the lever. These were painted gloss black and the centre pin picked out in red, they were then glued into the 3 mm location hole. The black knobs/pull switches were turned out of black Perspex and polished; they were then glued into the location holes. The whole instrument panel is then pinned on to the wooden framework which has been left in natural wood finish (ply) as it looks like the original boat was just a varnished ply finish.

5 years ago by mturpin013

Blog

Pilot House Structure

Hello, I was not happy with the pilot house and substructure location toward the rear of the tug, that was when I was considering a tug ferry. Repositioned now to the more traditional tug front location. Cut up the old structure and am reworking it. Photos show the progress from last night and today, very time consuming, but I enjoy working with styrene. Lost some time fooling around with some LED nav , but I did not have all of the required sizes and colors, maybe later after sea-trials. Hopefully I will wrap up the details in the next week and get on to final paint. inside mechanical and electronics are complete. More tomorrow. Regards, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Deck, servo mount

Put together a pilot house based on some tugs I've seen. Just freelanced it as I went. I build a lot with styrene so I am used to just cutting and building. I use liquid styrene cement that fuses the materials together. See photo, will trim it out as I mount it, need to add some detail at roof and some Navigational . Put on on 3mm plywood deck, same as hull bottom. The deck is also curved (proper term is SHEAR) and I started to build up some wood edge at the opening. Will sand everything well, then start sealing and priming all surfaces. Made a bracket for the rudder servo mount and an adjacent platform for the ESC and RX. Ordered two 6v 5ah SLA batteries. I will wire in parallel to stay with 6v and get 10ah. I like to stay with 6 volts as I want the motor to run slow like a tug should. Will wire in an in-line fuse. Haven't decided where I will put switch, up high somewhere to avoid water. I will show the wiring once I get to it. This build is going fast because it's a simple design, just what I was looking for. I work on it late afternoons and into the evening while I watch basketball games. About 4 hrs a day. Looking forward to building the hatch and getting some primer started tomorrow. Regards, Joe 👍

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

All hooked up, nowt happens...

Hi Doug I’m using 2 x12v SLA wired through an action electronics parallel board to give 12v. I hope to feed the power through the existing action electronics fused power distribution board which will feed the two esc and all my on board , radar scanner etc. Cheers Selwyn

5 years ago by rapidair65

Directory

(Working Vessel) Leilah Marie

Fibreglass hull and top.deck is hand laid planking with black card in between to simulate caulking.props are prop shop three blades at 55mm each working radar and search lite. Mainmast lights consist of white over red, learned this very early in my career first thing you see when pilot comes aboard is his white hair, followed by his red nose..... full system. Plus nav lights (Motor: GHD) (ESC: Hobbyking) (8/10)

5 years ago by Purser1944

Forum

Equipment wire

Redundant computer ribbon cables are also a good source, providing many colours. Even the connectors are useful for non essential stuff like . 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Range Safety Launch?

The ‘Range Safety Launch’…………. Intro. I am now the owner of this boat. Wooden, good hull lines and hull paint work but needing to be finished. I am told that it looks like it started life as a kit, but has had considerable modification to at least the above deck layout and detail. Advice is that it could be a rather simplified Range Safety Launch, but maybe I can use a little ‘artistic licence’ and just make it look interesting and capable. There are two main reasons for sharing this project. 1. I will undoubtedly need guidance 2. Maybe some of the information will assist others The hull is 44 inches ( 112cm ) long and 14 inches (36cm ) wide, it has two brushed MFA Torpedo 800 motors………. and weighs in currently at 15 lbs 4ozs (6.91 kgs). It is large enough for me to be able to work on reasonably comfortably and apart from the cabin/upper deck areas to be ‘improved’, I aim to introduce sound, , active radar sweep, search light, together with maybe a deck hoist and water /fire monitor appliance. At my age it is difficult to tell the difference between wishful thinking and dementing…… However, the prime aim is to try and achieve at least some of this whilst having the boat usable during the current ‘season’. There is so much knowledge, good will and help available on this site that even before I touched a thing, information came pouring in. If anyone feels like making a contribution then please just ‘pile in’. Have ordered some parts so next time should have something to show. NPJ.

6 years ago by NPJ

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Hello, Doug! I’m happy to report that my eyes are finally healed & I’m ready to get cracking on my tug’s LED improvement project. Needless to say it’s so fantastic to be able to see again. The infection was so bad that I had to move around the house for weeks with at least one hand on the wall or I was in danger of falling or walking into the china cabinet. I lost what’s called “stereo vision” & had no depth perception. it was a nightmare to say the least, especially considering that the source of the infection remains unknown. But I just had a checkup at the ophthalmologist‘s office & I was given the happy news that all traces of the infection are completely gone. Hallelujah!🙏🏼👁👁 BTW, did you complete your tug’s mast LED project? I recall that you had finished up the mast itself & had its LEDs working. Were you able to reinstall the mast in the pilot house roof & get everything back together without any problems? At one point you had mentioned possibly making a plug & socket arrangement for the mast so that it could be removed for safer transport to the lake. Were you able to follow through with that plan or was it just is easy to simply re-install the mast? finished for your dog? if so, how did it come out? I hope all is well with you & that your many projects are all turning out successfully.

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

Forum

Where's our mate?...

Hi peter, 'Deck Blue' changed a few times over the years, there are lighter and darker shades depending on the theatre of operations and if detection from the air was paramount or not. Later in the war, when the axis air forces were largely destroyed and the allies had overwhelming air superiority the emphasis moved to the vertical surfaces to confuse subs and the few remaining surface ships the axis had. Then the emphasis switched back to the horizontal surfaces when the Kamikaze attacks developed. So probably the lighter Pacific variant is what you need for USS Kid at the end of the war. You are lucky that Kidd has been preserved as a museum ship in her 'end of war' state 👍 if you Google USS Kidd I'm sure you'll find the museum site with more colour pics. Also, the display on different web sites will depend on many variables, for instance:- How the sample was photographed; white balance, colour balance, ; intensity and type - Kelvin temperature etc. How the photos are digitally interpreted and integrated in the web site. The times of 'The camera never lies' are unfortunately long over! Added to that is how your PC or Dumbphone/tablet displays the web site, similar problems;- Type of display, colour / contrast / brilliance settings etc etc. Power saving settings can affect these! If I were you I would use the Measure 22 scheme as shown on the colour pic and described on the Wiki page. That's apparently what the USN went back to when the kamikaze attacks started. Your basic choice is enamel = Colour Coats, or Acrylic = LifeColor 😉 Personally, I would go for the 1944 dazzle scheme cos it's more interesting and unusual, but then I'm just NUTS! 😁 Cheers, Doug 😎 PS Hofbrauhaus is for the tourists! I've been there maybe three times in 38 years? Once on my very first visit to Munich in 1980, then, after I started working here in 1985, only with customers who insisted on going there. Too loud and expensive, there are many better, less touristic, ones in Munich. Prost allseits! PPS haven't been to the Oktoberfest for years for similar reasons! 30 years ago it was still fun, but not now 🤔

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Media

ASR 64ft R/C VID 2

Boat is Scratch built 36" British Power Boat 64ft High Speed ASR Launch which belonged to the RNZAF. The launch was one of the 22 built and was shipped to NZ in 1940. it was the only one of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. Model has twin motors, ESCs, sound units etc. Has remotely switched water pump for water cooled brushless 2000kv in runner motors and remotely switched . Uses 2x 2200mah 2s LiPos for drive and 1 1800mah LiPo for the pump (also a separate battery for the LED lights. Boat is built with strip planked balsa on ply frame and fiber glassed. Deck is ply, wheelhouse is varnished balsa. The colour is as it was for most of its time in the RNZAF . Took about 5 years on and off to build and finished it last year. (please ignore the time date - can't get rid of it .

6 years ago by jbkiwi

Directory

(Working Vessel) ''Maureen Lee''

The “Maureen Lee” started out as a Bristol Bay ready-to-run semi-scale model of a typical European fishing cutter. Many modifications were made to her to make her look like an old, worn-out fishing boat. Factory-installed switchable work and navigation means that she can even be operated at night. A 550-size electric motor and metal propeller allow for ample power. A Bristol Bay model is supplied practically fully assembled… you need only mount the two masts and install the batteries. Numerous robust details make this model look great at home or on the water! Technical specifications: Hull length: 850 mm Width: 220 mm Overall height: 737 mm Total weight: 3650 g (Motor: 550 type) (8/10)

6 years ago by Ishmael

Forum

Taycol Supemarine Resurrection

Shucks! An I was hopin' you'd build me a little 4 cylinder diesel for me to run a brushed motor as a Genny for all the on my ships! Or for the diesel electric propulsion on my Type 45. Now wouldn't that be cool!?😁 BTW Some of Nick Carters tips an tricks showed me how to convert one of my tools to something that'll do what I want! So, out with the Proxxon mini-grinder😉 Cheers, Doug PS it wasn't a wrong steer cos it led me to all sorts of useful 'stuff' and above all helpful info👍

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Mornin' Pete (it is in Germany anyway!) I agree, there are lots of details and 'standard equipment' missing from the basic model. You can see the winch and Life Raft canister in one of the photos of the original I posted above. Re Mast wiring; don't fiddle about putting a divider in the mast. it'll just get in the way. Attached is a pic of my modified mast. I used a 0.5mm brass wire on the right-hand side for the earth return. Wire is better than rod cos it's flexible (can be pushed into the corner). I glued it in with gel Gluper Sue WHEN all connections were soldered and tested. The LEDs are standard domed lens types. I ground the tops flat and painted the tops with several coats of matt black until it was opaque. After testing I closed off the mast with some plasticard and fitted ladder rungs made of copper wire. I also added the missing antenna cables to the bottom of the VHF IMM antennas, 0.5mm brass wire. (Some time I'll also fit the missing GPS antenna and anemometer.) Then painted the mast matt black. I then turned my attention to the searchlight and red/green NAV lights. First I stripped the wheelhouse roof and painted it white as in the original. On my model it was grey🤔 Then I drilled out the searchlight to accept a 5mm Bright White LED. You won't have to do this cos you have a later version with lights, mine had none 😭 Then had to paint the searchlight with several coats of matt black. Otherwise it just glowed all round! Pics show construction stages and finished effect. All wires inside the wheelhouse roof I super glued to the ceiling and ran them down inside the funnels (stacks to you guys across the pond!😉) ready for connection to a switch board in the hull. While I was at it I rubbed the false Southampton name off the cabin using a 1000 grit Tamiya sponge and am preparing inkjet printed decals with the correct Wyeforce name and logo. Have fun getting all lit up Pete,😁 Cheers, Doug 😎 PS Attached some pics showing the original 'Southampton' 😉 and making obvious what's missing on the model 🤔

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

1.5v AA Li-Fe/Li-ion/Li-po batteries

OK, found some! https://www.ebay.com/itm/8pcs-JUGEE-3000mWh-1-5V-rechargeable-Lithium-li-ion-AA-battery-li-polymer/153101323059?hash=item23a58ccb33:g:hRwAAOSw44BYZ9Lo Interesting that they all quote mWh instead of mAh! I.e. energy instead of capacity! Power being V x I (Amps) divide the mWh rating by the nominal voltage to get an approximation of the capacity in mAh. Saves integrating across the varying voltage during a discharge cycle, i.e.'On Load' 😉 Thus these 3000mWh cells seem to have a capacity of around 1800mAh. Which is considerably less than the typical 2500mAh of an alkaline or NiMh AA cell. Also, to produce the output voltage of 1.5V from 3.7V Lithium chemistry the cells have an internal voltage regulator, which also must consume some power, albeit miniscule. Something else which can go wrong🤔 Summary; yer pays yer money and takes yer choice! Seem rather expensive to me for what they deliver. Depends what you want to use them for. Might be useful in my Sony camera but I wouldn't use them for any high current load in a model. OK perhaps for LED circuits which only need a few tens of mA. Here a list of battery types, sizes and chemistries for reference. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_battery_sizes#/overview Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Martin's Taycol Conversion Boards

Howdy Ed, Yep, will do. Have taken some pics along the way. Mast lights and searchlight are working. Red/Green Nav lights fitted (had to spray the roof the right colour first - white not grey!) but not wired up yet. About to do that now. After that the two aft facing Towing lights and deck flood lights. Also discovered that there should be two deck lights P&S of the main cabin😉 Will need the miniscule chip LEDs for those - Now, where did I put my microscope🤓🤔 In fact while researching I found there's a whole list of 'bits' missing. Not least the Life Raft, which should be behind the wheelhouse!!😲 (In God we trust - But just in case we want a Life Raft 😁) Have also started drafting new decals with the correct owner's logo and fonts. The wiring is only a lash up at the moment to check that everything works. As soon as I'm happy, with resistors an' all, I'll fit some mini connectors. More soon, (in a different thread cos this will bore the pants off Martin. A NO Lights Man!) That reminds me of a banner I once saw above the RAF Controllers at the London Air Traffic Control Centre. "RAF controllers do it in the dark" 😲😉 The civil side was brightly lit, other side of the wall the RAF guys had minimal desk only. Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Seat Trials and mods.

It’s been a while since the boat had it’s maiden voyage on the lake at St. Albans and I’m pleased to report that it looks really good in the water and goes like stink if you open up the throttle. Sadly I still don’t have any decent video of the boat yet as I can’t film and drive the thing at the same time, but I do have some static wide shots from my GoPro. When I do the video I’ll ask a cameraman mate to do the honours, maybe I’ll put the GoPro on the bow and then the stern to get some low action shots…the storyboard is already building in my head!! These early runs were great as they showed up some minor problems that needed attending to. I found that it needed ballasting slightly as it was not sitting on the waterline evenly from side to side so I flattened out some old lead water pipe and cut it into small sections so that I could add ballast incrementally. I did this in the ‘domestic test tank’ and once I was happy the lead pieces were fixed in place inside the hull with some super strong double sided tape. The ESC needed a little programming adjustment because I had forgotten to set the low battery level point to ‘off’ as I am using NiMh batteries and not LiPo’s , that was the cause of the short initial run time on the first outing…..DOH !! The batteries are now held in place by Velcro straps on some bearers that I added, otherwise a battery change involved cutting cable ties and replacing them at the lakeside…not very practical. The volt/amp/watt meter is also now on a proper bracket so that the display is more readable. I have also changed the charging connection from the nasty Tamiya connector to a nice little panel mount XT 60 connector that HobbyKing sell, it comes with a handy blanking plug that I have drilled for a retaining cord. I have also finally got around to upgrading the firmware on my Turnigy i6 radio to the 10 channel version so that I can assign the to the switches properly and have the rotation of the searchlight on one of the two rotary knobs. I can use the old 6 channel RX in the new boat….blog coming soon.

6 years ago by robbob

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Strange that you should mention the Movie/book 'The Cruel Sea', have just bought the DVD from Ebay, looking forward to watching it once again. I have an old Revell corvette kit, and last month bought the NEW corvette kit from Revell which has most of the in kit form, plus revolving radar, but very annoyed 😆to find out that there is no p/e parts or wooden decking as in the platinum edition, but it only cost me £100 + vat trade deal, sssh🤐 Cheers Peter😊

6 years ago by Rookysailor

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Hey, Doug: Thanks again. I’ll take your suggestions & mark up your drawing accordingly. I still need to finish clearing away the molded-on plastic details inside the mast, then order the parts for this project. I generally don’t like starting any kind of project until everything needed is on hand (everything I think I’ll need, that is). You’ll probably have your tug’s finished long before I do. I’m looking forward to being able to use my desktop PC comfortably again. Every word & photo I’ve posted on this fantastic site so far has been typed on or photographed with my trusty iPhone 6. it’s very convenient but it’s awfully hard on my eyes. The little touch keyboard is a challenge for my beat up old dinner plate-size mitts, too. Anyway, when my tug’s new & modified controls are all built, tested & buttoned up I’d like to combine your drawing, spreadsheets & various notes with my own hen scratches, notes & miscellaneous observations into a CAD drawing. Naturally you’ll be cited as the project EE/electronics designer on the drawing’s title block. I’m confident in saying that your tug’s will use factory colored LEDs, not hand-colored white ones. it would be a shame if I didn’t follow suit & use your design for colored LEDs as originally intended. I’ll much more satisfied knowing that the new navigation lights & other changes were done the right way. The glass paint is coming off my list! Thanks, Pete

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

Directory

(Tug Boat) Richardson (to be renamed)

LED navigation will be added soon. RNinMunich (Doug) has been extremely generous with his time & talent with helping me with this project. With Doug's help all of the lights on the boat, including navigation, spotlight, aft deck lights & cabin interior, will all be controllable from the boat's existing 2.4gHz unmodified transmitter! (9/10)

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

Forum

Martin's Taycol Conversion Boards

My Boob. I was thinking you choose ESCs on watts and of course, it's amps. Our old school caretaker used to say it's the amps what kills ya, boy, as he wrestled with very dodgy wiring on the school's stage ! From what you say above, I wouldn't bother, but then the machine does all the other stuff too, so worth the 8 quid, I'm sure. Jeez, I'll be going about with a boot full of test gear! And there's me hates electrics. Thanks again, mate. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Hi Pete, JFF I built a little 'breadboard' (now where's my peanut butter!?😁) to test your LED configurations. Theory and calculation is fine but there's nowt like an acid test😉 Pics attached of the results (Christmas tree😊). Difficult to capture the colours due to the very bright white LEDs🤔 Will play with the resistors to bring up the yellows and dampen the whites a bit. The 3 yellows at the bottom are the deck and cabin lights. The 4 rows at the top are the mast lights, red and green self explanatory! Applied (battery) voltage is shown on the meter top left, current drawn in mA on the meter to the right. The circuits work fine from 6.0V upwards. Current drain is approx- 110mA @ 7.8V (fully charged 6 cell NiMh) 103mA @ 7.5V (probable voltage after running a little while) 90mA @ 7.2V (nominal NiMh battery voltage. it will flatten out at approx this voltage after running a while - until it suddenly collapses at the end!) 75mA @ 6.6V (voltage of FLAT 6 cell NiMh battery) 60mA @ 6.0V curiosity! Below this some LEDs switch off. Brightness is noticeably reduced. I think we can increase some resistors to reduce the current drawn without reducing the effect😊 More info soon, I'm still experimenting, then I'll start modding my own tug😊 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Mornin' Pete, Mon plaisir 😉 Yeah, those surface-mounted-devices are a bit fiddly. First thing is to clamp the board somehow so it can't slip. Second: PLENTY OF LIGHT!! Third: a small low power soldering iron, about 20W with a 1mm flat bit (chisel type). Temperature controlled if possible, set to about 200 - 250°C. Fourth: a solder sucker is very useful to suck the solder off the joints, and probably the little resistor as well 😉 Fifth: a pair of flat ended tweezers. The cross-over self-gripping type are very good for this task, also to put the wire link on afterwards. Finally: a large magnifying glass with stand, some have an area of extra strong magnification. Make sure it is very clean and the does not cause shadows, reflections or refractions. Alternative: heat the resistor with a standard 25W iron until the joints melt and flick it off with a scalpel! 😲 Just make sure no solder lands anywhere else on the board and shorts something out!! Good luck👍 Cheers, Doug 😎 PS: my only concern with the mod is the current capacity of the switching chip / SMD transistors on the cct board. I hope they can cope with the increased current 😉 That's why I tried to optimise the resistors and layout to keep the total current on each output as low as possible while still turning the LEDs on! If something goes 'PoP' Don't call me - I'll call you! 😁

6 years ago by RNinMunich

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Inspiration for beautiful boat builders ;-)

Yes Martin I agree we are a dying breed in this Virtual Reality Throw Away Rush rush world. But also please don't forget that you are a professional model builder with decades of experience. BTW: my 1/72 HMS Hotspur was absolutely scratch built. My first ever ship model, I was about 13/14 when I started it, with extremely basic hand tools. Kits out of the question and there weren't nuffink like her around anyway. Built to plans drawn up by me on foolscap paper from measurements taken from an Airfix 1/600 kit with a plastic micrometer and scaled up with a slide rule!! Remember them!? Had just started technical drawing at school, very handy. My Type IA submarine, built 30 odd years ago, was a Krick 'kit'! Ha Ha! 4 20mm planks of wood for the hull, a big lump of steel bar for the keel, crude half shell vac-formed tower, and a bag of assorted brass rod and tubing for various fittings. Some brass sheet for the dive planes. 'Thanks for the cash the rest is up to you' sort of deal! A visit to the Deutsches Museum showed up many 'simplifications' in the Krick plan so all the corrections were 'scratch' as well. Notably- Correct hull shape, correct rudder assemblies with skegs, railings, net cutters, flooding slots, wintergarden etc etc. Looks like Gina 2 is going to be a scratch rebuild from the gunn'l up as well. Actually I just thought my post might create a little wonderment and some Oohs and Aaahs, not loose off such a debate. I'll know better next time. Now back to Pete's . Ciao, Doug

6 years ago by RNinMunich

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LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Doug: You’re right about halogen lights. They’re mentioned as halogen in one article but as mercury vapor in a few others. Over here mercury vapor lamps are used for highway & parking lot lights & they do have a soft, yellowish glow. Halogen would be quite harsh & hard on drivers’ eyes. Maybe a tug or similar boats would prefer mercury vapor in deck areas because they’re quite effective at cutting through fog? MVs are a good choice for highways & parking areas for the same reasons, I guess. By the way, in your spreadsheet’s Notes column I noticed that you wrote “Clear” for the two deck light LEDs when in fact they’re yellow when operating. it shouldn’t make any difference to your calculations because you used the actual measured voltage in your calculations. Here’s a question. Suppose you were given a box containing dozens of clear & different colored LEDs, both the cheap tinted epoxy kind & the ones that have clear domes with different innards to give various colors. How do you tell what voltage they require? From what I’ve seen LEDs aren’t marked in any way with a tiny numbers or letters so how do you know their power requirements if they’re not in their original packaging? Are LED supply voltage requirements standardized? Thanks, The Eternal Questioner (AKA Pete)

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

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LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Hi Pete, Decided to change the 120Ohm resistors to 150s for safety at 8V fully charged! Keeps the total current down to about 200mA 😉 New tables attached. Last calc was with diode forward voltage drop (Vf) of 2.5V. From your measurements the existing ones appear to be approx Vf 2.0V. And I suggest you buy the same for your additional lights; Vf 2.0V, forward current (If) ~20mA. Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

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LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Muchas gracias Ed 👍 Gen straight from the 'horse's mouth', so to speak 😉 How's your 'Brooklyn' coming on? Cheers, Doug

6 years ago by RNinMunich

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LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Hi Pete, Hope the eyeballs are better 👍 Think I've now got the ultimate configuration 😊 (or the possible, tentative, subject to committee approval and board resolution, potential penultimate configuration 😲) See attached pdf. All new stuff is in red. Thinking is as follows, according to the mast diagram you sent me- L3; NAV & Towing in parallel 2 ccts; one for the port & stbd in the cabin roof, one for the white rear NAV & Towing, yellow, on the mast pointing aft. L4; 2 white deck working lights plus new LED for the cabin light - white or yellow/amber. Your choice. I might be inclined to go for yellow as bridge tends to be not too bright so it doesn't impair the night vision of the watch. Could be why it was a bulb in the first place - softer light ? R2; Anchor light at mast top only. Makes no sense to combine with running (NAV) lights etc. R3; The three new white running lights on the mast pointing forward. L2 and R4 remain as they are for searchlight and horn. Now working on the corresponding wiring sketch. More tomorrow. Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

90% Completed!

Brooklyn is now 90% completed! There's a few more thing's to do. Still have to work on her system! Maiden Voyage set for Aug' 4th!👍 Will make a video, if I don't forget!

6 years ago by figtree7nts

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LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Evenin' Pete, Not AWOL at all, haven't noticed that you were AWOL before either!) The connectors are an excellent idea, as already briefly discussed. Don't use the wrapping wire for the Smoker though. That wire is only good for about 500mA and the smoker probably takes more. The mods you want are possible, so hang on with the connectors until I've got the 'How' finished! Cos some of the wires will be diverted through a new distribution board with the appropriate resistors, as we also discussed. Will do my best to get the instructions finished tomorrow. Cheers, Doug

6 years ago by RNinMunich

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Forum Topic Search?

Hi Pete, look in the list of Links on the left side of the screen. One grey button is labelled 'Site Search'. Cheers, Doug 😎 BTW: any progress on the sketch for your connections?

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Krick Police Launch

Hi The Blacksmith. I am enjoying the build. There is a lot more work in this one than I was expecting. I do not expect a great deal of speed from this model with only a 400 motor, but I will just have to wait for the first trial to find out. I have two other projects on the go but I am putting all of my spare time into this one as I would like to complete before the end of July. I am modifying the on the model to make the blue light flash, add proper navigation lights and deck . Thanks for looking and commenting on the build.😉

6 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Hello, Doug: I had everything ready to take the voltage readings this morning except for one minor detail: the 7.2v battery pack was dead so I had to plug it in to charge. it should be ready by mid-afternoon today. in the meantime I’ve got a few questions about connectors. As I said earlier I want to install connectors in the existing wiring that runs up into the deck house & pilot house. I’ll do the same with the new wiring that’ll go to the mast LEDs, too. I’d like to use miniature multi-conductor plugs & sockets with male & female conductors that solder onto the cut & stripped wires. Presently there are (10) wires for LED , (2) for the pilot house lamp, (2) for the smoke generator & (2) for the smoke “blower” - (16) wires all together. At this point I don’t know how many wires there’ll be all together. Do you think a single connector for all of the wires is a good idea or would it be better to use several small connectors? Last of all, do you know of a source for small or miniature connectors? Radio Shack’s site lists connectors but they look too bulky. The conductor pins & sockets used with them appear to be designed for much larger gauge wires than the skinny wires in the tug. I’ve looked at several other sites but the technical nomenclature used for something as simple as connectors give me a headache. Help, please?

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

Response

Wheels

David thanks for reply. On the wheels I used this small blow torch. Small flame but very hot at point. Temperamental to light. My technique is to listen to the gas escaping, when strong. I also have three soldering irons of different strengths which I used on the dull plating.

6 years ago by hammer

Forum

Fire Boat (crash tender) colours...

Depends a lot on the / weather conditions but they seem to have been a variety of shades at different times! 😲

6 years ago by RNinMunich

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LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

When I had another try at the big hatch it came right off easily. I think it was a bit stuck on the gasket. The push-to-release latch is really something; a 50/50 blend of wow & ridiculous. it’s an impressive mechanism but it’s also seriously over-designed. The battery hatch under the pilot house has a simple quarter-turn catch to hold it shut while the aft hatch has a fancy spring-loaded push button release assembly. Doesn’t make much sense, really. My boat has a piece of foam in the bilge, too, but I’m reluctant to remove it. Although it’s no use for flotation my theory is that it may serve two purposes. First, it might be there for sound dampening. Those two big motors & their reduction gears make a lot of noise in that large void surrounded by stiff plastic. Second, any seepage through the stuffing boxes would be absorbed by the foam & keep bilge water away from the motors. Those are my thoughts but I could be way off. The Richardson does indeed have different electronics compared to some of the other Hobby Engine tugs. it’s got working interior & exterior , horn & smoke units, plus it has a 2.4ghz transmitter & receiver, which is a nice feature in that it does away with a mast-style antenna. That’s the main reason I chose my boat; I don’t know enough about R/C models to be able to say if 2.4ghz actually performs any better than 27mhz. Anyway, thanks again for the excellent advice. I learned more about my boat without breaking it. Outstanding!

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

Blog

Aft mast

The aft mast was made out of a teak curtain rod turned down on my metal lathe (what a mess it made, wood dust all over the place 😱) it was made in two pieces with a hole drilled up each piece to take the wires. The bit to take the boom, never sure if it is a swan neck or a goose neck was made out of bits of tubing and plasticard. All the other bits and pieces came out of the scrap box. The boom was just made from a piece of dowel and stained.

6 years ago by AlanP

Media

Pride of Hythe

Built from a Linkspan Model boat kit, with deck and passengers and crew, sailed at St Georges Park, Kingswinford, West Midlands by Kingswinford Model Boat Club

6 years ago by jfstoker

Forum

Graupner ranzow refitting

I originally built this about 6 years ago when I was still a novice builder and some mistakes were made and it ended up partially sinking , it was left in the workshop for about a year before I decided to refit it out. The deck just lifted of the framing without any problems because it was rotten as well as some of the framing , the motors and prop shafts had seized and most of the electrics and the battery had shorterd and corroded due to the sinking. I had been doing the odd bits of the refit over the past couple of years not really in any rush to complete it. After replacing the rotten framing I started to replace the electrics with all new gear Battery 12v 7mah Motors Mtronic 560 Working crane using 3 mini motors with Mr RC world micro speed controllers Working anchor winch (krick I think) Full kit and working radar Main speed controllers electronize The pictures shows as it is now ready for the new decking to be fitted

6 years ago by kmbcsecretary

Media

Smit Rotterdam

Billing boats, which took me 3 years to build.Hull was planked and theh fibre glass. Boat has full functional remote with seperate port starboard control,rudder and bow thruster. full inside and mast .

6 years ago by Neville1

Directory

(Tug Boat) Smit Amsterdam

This is a Graupner Premium Line.I wasn't happy with the universals and plastic 3 bladed props.Replaced the universals and changed props to 4 bladed brass.Also changed the prop shaft to a threaded 4mm shaft which I happened to have in my spares.She runs a lot better now with these changes.Still to come is and sound. (Motor: 2-550 motors) (ESC: 50amp) (8/10)

6 years ago by Donnieboy

Response

Cabin roof mechanism

That's a very clever design and we'll executed. Two concerns, the finished roof might be a little fragile and easily knocked, trust me, it happens 😱, particularly with the mast in place and the 'pantagraph' motion knocked out of alignment. Also, if you are doing working for the mast, front and side nav lights and searchlight, how will you articulate the wiring to them neatly? Perhaps a self locating, on closure, multi pin connector? I'm sure you have already considered these points so I'll be interested to see how you engineer them. Keep up the great work 👍. Robbob.

6 years ago by robbob

Blog

Cabin detail Pt 2

The next piece is what I can only describe as the dash board (what’s the nautical term?) Bridge? Anyway it’s the bit with all the knobs and levers that make it go. I chose to stick with ply construction throughout the build so will be using 1mm 3 ply. I copied all the dimensions from a cross section detail of the cabin instruments and controls and then made card models first to ensure everything fitted. I made spaces for the speed control and compass and drawn up detailed drgs of the instruments which I hope to make from 0.5mm stainless steel with back of the dials and general from LEDs. The cabin area will finish at the door to the galley kitchen.

6 years ago by mturpin013

Response

Celtic Ambassador

Hi Jugge, all you need to do is fit a ' board' like these- http://www.model-dockyard.com/acatalog/aeronaut-Port_Starboard_Lamps_with__Boards.html to block the light going aft 👍 All the best, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich