Blog

HMT Resolve by Caldercraft

Having already started the build, Martin555 suggested I do a build log. Never done one before so here goes. First impressions of the kit - very comprehensive and parts of good quality, as I would expect from the manufacturers, Jotika. However, I soon found that quite a few parts had been numbered incorrectly, so be careful! Two versions can be built, civilian and Royal Navy. Being a keen military modeller, there was no contest. My first decision was the power plant. Steam far too expensive and complicated, so I decided on electric. Recommended were 900 brushless which are very big lumps. Consultation with Jotika resulted in 540 2.5:1 geared which had the added advantage of lower shafts, making it easier to connect the prop shafts, which are parallel to the hull. 60mm 4 bladed props completed the drive train, which as you will see later from the sea trials proved very effective.

5 years ago by cormorant

Blog

40'' Seaplane Tender, new build

Just started a 40" model of a 41'6" seaplane tender. I have been wanting to do one for years and now that my 36" 100 series 64ft HSL is done I was getting itchy fingers. Started with drawings from the 1976 Model Boats mag (part of the series on ASRs they did back then) which show frame shapes and positions, and enlarged them to 40" (A-O paper after rearranging the images on the A4 primary enlargement used as printing 'pattern' to enable max size on A-O. ) I did the same with the HSL and with a bit of fiddling got all the frames to line up nicely to shape. You have to be a bit inventive building this way regarding framing material etc, but it's possible if you have previous building experience. I found with these particular drawings that the frames were not drawn with identical profiles (left and right sides) so I had to create 1 side and flip it for the opposite side. I also had to create an extra frame between 2+3 as there was no real support for the stringers without it. The front top deck frame is cut from 3mm ply, as are the frames,-(ply is from packaging of a big Toyota Landcruiser axle recall which was done during my time at Toyota, which is 3 ply, very light, and perfect for this type of job, and not to mention, free!) I borrowed this frame method from the old 60s Vic Smeed MTB plan and it makes a good strong bow section to work with (used it on the HSL also.) Ply longerons are run through from transom to F2 with hardwood stiffening between transom and F4. Chine, gunwale and mid stringers are 4mmx2mm Beech, bottom stringers are 3x3 beech with mid stringer doubled. I may have to put extra stringers in the sides but that will depend on how the planks lie in the flares. planking will be 1.5mm balsa as the flares are quite pronounced especially in the bow area, and you just can't get sheets to go round the compound curves. Hull will be glassed and faired when finished and sealed with thin resin inside once everything is ready. Cabin is reasonably easy but takes a bit of working out and fiddling with due to lack of any plan, but it seems to be working out reasonably with the use of photos etc. The model is going to be a representation of a tender which was imported privately in the 50s by a doctor in the Milford sounds area here in the South Island of NZ, to enable him to visit patients, due to there being water access only in many of the remote areas. I have modified the drawings to represent this boat, which included changing the mast and removing the rear oval port and replacing it with a small round port, (not sure why this was changed, maybe an interior modification made the large port unnecessary ?) The boat ended up in Auckland at some stage and was owned by a family not far from my place for a number of years (pic is on the hard at our local yacht club in the 70s, - colour pic is from a friends super 8 movie taken from his boat, on an outing together with Jaguars owner 60s/70s). It is now apparently back in the South Island being restored. The model will use brushed 540 with twin ESCs etc but still a way off yet. I have to work out a way to make the cabin removable either with or without the rear cockpit, but more likely it will be a 2 piece job. It's a bit of a make it up as you go project. Model Boats frames boat sheets Landcruiser ESCs 👍 Like 💬 Comment 🗣️ Share 5

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

Graupner Closing

Sad that their components will no longer be available - the geared sets - the outboard - propellers - shafts etc etc etc . All very useful items to say nothing of the kits they produced. Wonder how much the closure will affect the model aircraft fraternity?????????

4 years ago by redpmg

Forum

MFA 919D series geared electric

Pity the poor novice modeler who has NO model shops or club nearby - how do you get advice other than on forums like this........... The internet suppliers give specifications on their etc - but they don't give out information of the sort that it might suit a planing hull or a tug etc - and could not be expected to do so. Suppliers are also reluctant to stay on the phone too long understandably - and phone calls are expensive anyway......... And we are trying to encourage newcomers to our hobby - sad really. Plus in this country now there is very little in the way of model boat items - what there is is very expensive and beyond the reach of a lot of people........

4 years ago by redpmg

Response

Re: Fairey Spearfish

I keep adding to both my model boats and , no time to get onto building them or refurbishing them though, much to the horror of my wife😁. Too many other things to get sorted and a couple of health issues stopping me from doing certain things. Now starting much needed house decorating👎🙄, that's now well overdue. So I do not know when I will get around to model boats again. I have added 3 boats to my collection🚤🙊 in this year. Three as well. One brushless outboard and 2 vintage electric . Both Taycol , I will probably put one on Ebay and I am hoping to fit one into one of my old Aerokit refurb's🤞. It's frustrating not being able to get everything done as I want to. I think decorating and getting my old Rover P4 back on the road will come first. Health problems depending though🤔.

4 years ago by BOATSHED

Response

Re: SEAPLANE TENDER, CHANGE OF ESCs

Hi Peter, yes I cool the with brass tube coils and water pump. I'm not sure if they even get hot as I never tried without them. I work on the theory, 'put everything on you think you might need and if you don't need it you can take it off' I don't prop the too high,- rather let them rev higher with less pitch, thereby taking the load off the . The are 540 45 turns which is sort of 'low gearing, high torque' so they are not straining. I could put on much bigger props and make a speedboat out of it, but it wouldn't look right. Batteries are only 2s 2200 MAh and last for over an hour, so aren't sucking many amps. I use 2 12V 385 in the MTB with no cooling other than clip on heat sinks and a computer fan blowing air through the boat, and they've been running for years (get that hot you can't touch them) with no probs. Just keep the bushes oiled now and then. These are so cheap they are not worth worrying about. With fans and ready made water cooling plates available these days for ESCs etc there should be no overheating probs, and most ESCs have temp and low voltage sensors and cut out if they get too hot, or with low voltage, (if they cut for temp reasons you know to up your cooling or unload the ) The modern boat/car ESCs are pretty much plug and play, - auto cell count sensing( LiPos), auto throttle centering etc) Still using a 70's 20A Futaba marine ESC (in the Fairacre launch) which is as good as any similar unit today. Just plug any 12v battery in (no need for cell counting LiPos) and away you go. Was used on 27MhZ but now used on 2.4. Also used an Electronize unit,- nice but huge and makes an annoying fizzing sound going slow so I replaced it. JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: Arctic Convoy

As regards - have found lots in better halfs dead hairdryers - plenty of life left in the (usually 385 type)- old printers (not the modern types) . A trip to the local dump yields a surprising amount of useful items - you can always make a 2nd trip to discard the leftovers when you have extracted the etc. Old Fridges are a source of thin copper tube - no end to what you can find. Workers are usually friendly & helpful too I found when in the UK..........

5 years ago by redpmg

Response

Re: SEAPLANE TENDER, CHANGE OF ESCs

Do you water cool the JB? Used to have problems with my very old ESC's from Hi-Tec, with 400 they were running close to the limit of 10amps on 8.4v without blowing the fuses and causing intermittent glitches. Seeing as I can never seem to connect more than 2 wires without starting a fire went for the easy option and simply squeezed the silicon return tubes from the into the cooling fins . No more glitches........... Still have to learn about these fancy modern esc's............Hopefully will be doing so in the new year when some goodies should arrive.

5 years ago by redpmg

Directory

Oceanic

Latest acquisition !! A restoration and upgrade project. Approximately 40 year old plastic model of Oceanic. A German built and for many years operated Ocean Going Tug build 1969 Much to do as it needs a full mechanical refit, having just two 2mm shafts plus and a rudder but no other gear at all. On the cosmetic side the superstructure needs some serious work as it has transfers for much of the detail, like windows, portholes, doors and vents. Strangely she has no handrails or companionways between decks, plus many other bits. Have started a list of parts required to send off to Santa to see what may come at Christmas.

5 years ago by ikseno99

Forum

TRIAL FITTING SMOKE UNIT TO THE HSL

Re looks like a plumbers nightmare JB Does a bit Red but the piping is dictated by the outlets on the water jackets. The inlets are T'd from the pump,(now on the front side of the bulkhead,) go round the and cross from the outlets to opposite side exits. Was worse before with the large pump where the smoker is now. There are also twin inlets from the stern pickups (extra one for safety and bypassing the pump. Not a lot of room, as the hull is quite narrow, and I built it with close to original bulkhead positions (and dropped wheelhouse floor which takes up a lot of room). Also minimum number of hatches to keep the look as close as possible. Need to be a contortionist to get at things! JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: K & O Outboard

They are the best model outboard i have ever seen, I really like them. thanks for showing them. Martin555.

5 years ago by Martin555

Blog

Fitting sub decks and Sea Trials

The fore sub-deck is glued onto the bulkhead assembly, prior to fixing it into the hull. This is a straightforward operation, but some sanding of the sub deck is needed, particularly around the bow. With short strips of square balsa glued onto the hull sides between the deck beams, to support the edges of the foredeck, the whole unit was again dry fitted. Happy with the dry fit and armed with various clamps and clothes pegs, I glued the assembly into place. (Once again, apologies for the lack of photos as I did this before deciding on doing the blog). Before fitting the aft sub-deck, I cut out an opening to get to the tiller if necessary. The opening will be disguised later in the build. Sea Trials. I decided on lead acid batteries, as the weight would go a long way towards ballasting - she sits very low in the water. Jotika advised 60mm 4 bladed props, which were duly fitted. As I have already said, I use a Taranis radio and this has the advantage of being able to set up a differential drive between the and rudder in the transmitter. As you can see on the video, she turns in her own length. You will also see from the video the 'deck cargo', or cardboard box full of the white metal fittings. This gave me a better idea of how much more ballast I would require for the finished model. I did have a scary moment when the 'deck cargo' shifted and she took on an alarming list to port! I thought I would be a contender for the 'Titanic Award', presented annually by our club for the best sinking. However, with nerves of steel, I navigated her safely back to the slipway. I was most pleased with the way she handled and moved through the water. The and props supply more than enough power and she will require very little more ballasting.

5 years ago by cormorant

Blog

Bulkheads and motor fit.

And it was all going so well! If all else fails, read the instructions and look carefully at the drawings. Having removed deck camber beams, mid deck bulkheads and longitudinal stringers from the CNC sheets, I glued the assembly together and taped it to a flat surface to dry, as per the instructions. However, as you can see from the two magnified sections in picture 1, the deck camber beams and stringers are not flush. I only became aware of this after glueing the assembly into the hull and trying to dry fit the aft deck. Once again, the trusty Dremel with cutting disc attached came into its own and I managed to rectify the problem - not without difficulty. Before glueing the bulkhead assembly into place I fitted the . As I have already mentioned, with the propshafts parallel to the hull, there is very little clearance for the . However, with the offset shafts on the 2.5:1 540 geared , this was not a problem. I used vac formed plastic 'cradle' motor mounts and standard universal couplings. I am now a great believer in using proprietary silicone sealant to fix the onto the mounts. This not only cushions vibration but allows tweaking of the final line up, which I do by eye. Before the sealant sets, I run the and further tweak to get as little vibration as possible. See pic 4. With in place it was time to fix the bulkhead assembly into the hull. Instructions suggest using slow cure epoxy, but I used Gorilla glue, which does the job just as well, without the trouble of mixing. Included in the bulkhead assembly is the servo tray for the rudder and with that connected and the power plant -two 12v 7ah lead acid batteries - in place, sea trials were fast approaching.

5 years ago by cormorant

Response

Re: Maiden!!!!

Runs real nice, you put that together pretty quickly! How about a 2s 2200MAh (or even 1800 MAh) as that would give you a good run time and far less weight. I use them on my twin 540 45T with 30mm props, and I can get over an hour of mucking about with the Seaplane tender, which weighs about 6LBs. You could maybe go up to a 55T motor? - what wind is your motor, seems pretty rapid? To reduce your torque roll you could always reduce your pitch or use a smaller prop to avoid adding more weight. JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

HMT Resolve by Caldercraft

I am using five small 6volt geared to drive the features. 100, 400 and 1000:1 gear ratios. The are only around £5 each.

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Directory

(Working Vessel) Eppleton Hall

Still in the process of building a 32nd scale model of the paddle tug "Eppleton Hall" from scratch, for the most part. (Motor: 540 MFA 919D) (ESC: VIPER Marine 25) (10/10). All electronics have now been installed including 2 , 2 ESC's, a small smoke generator, a sound module and speaker, a rudder servo, a distribution panel, all running off a 12V gel cell.

6 years ago by Ishmael

Forum

Fast attack craft

Very nice job Martin - looking really good - glad you finished the project even as a static model. Should not have to be much bigger for RC - if anything - a pair of 280's or speed 300s on 6v 2/3 AA Nimh would push her well at the current size . Using one lightweight ESC driving both and small receiver/servo would not add much weight. How does she float at present? (of course Dodgy would be using brushless and Lipo's which I'm totally unfamiliar with)

5 years ago by redpmg

Response

Re: row row row your boat

How about a geared 6 volt motor running a cam. These can go down to as little as 14rpm and are very small.

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Upgrade to 2.4

This is a plastic boat which used to be sold in large numbers for the RNLI. It is now rather rare and is collectable. Here is one on Ebay for £127! Note - that does not mean that they will get a sale at that price - but they will still sell for quite a lot! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IMPACT-RNLI-SEVERN-RADIO-CONTROL-LIFEBOAT-RNLB-VOLUNTEER-SPIRIT-GREAT-CONDITION/264428640626?hash=item3d912cd972:g:8OYAAOSwrdRdUWr8 These were often converted to 'proper' 2.4GHz by modellers. I've never examined one, but I think they are 27Mhz, driving two which provide steering and power. If that is so, a conversion would mean buying a 2.4Ghz radio set, a single motor and propshaft and a servo and rudder, taking out the entire inside of the boat and re-installing the new equipment. You would need some modelling skill to do this. It is unlikely that the other 2.4Ghz sets interfered with your signal. The 27Mhz set installed in your boat will have limited range compared with the 2.4Ghz systems, but it should work adequately close to you. Perhaps your batteries are weak, the aerial is badly positioned, or there was some 27Mhz interference close to you? If someone else was using a 27Mhz radio close to you then it may interfere if they and you were on the same 'spot frequency'. The 27Mhz band is divided up into sections, and only one boat can use one of those sections at a time. These sections are given colours, and you fly a coloured flag on your aerial to tell everyone that you are using that section - called a 'spot'. Do you know what spot your boat is on, and was there anyone flying a coloured flag on their aerial near you? I think you have a difficult decision. Either keep it as it is and make it work as well as it can, or get some help and spend some money converting it. I would try to get it working as well as I could first. Have you tried a range check? Get someone to hold the boat while you walk away with the controller and see how far it will work... and the next time you take it to the pond, ask one of the experienced modellers if they can help a bit...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build Z8.1

Re Are those the V16 Detroit Diesels ? I wish Red! then she'd be faster than 22knots!! (but sitting up to the gunwales!!) The day someone makes square is the day we will be able to make a reasonable facsimile of an engine. Tried to find a plastic model of the Detroit 453 (thought of making a couple and running the driveshafts from the through them for a scale look) but there are very few even close model (especially to scale) around. Mostly V8s (had the boat had Detroit 6vs or 8vs I might have been able to bodgey something up) but 4cyl diesel (or petrol for that matter) models are like lips on a chicken. An Aussie crowd does a reasonable 1/20 scale Falcon motor but that's a petrol 6 and the rocker cover's all wrong. If I had used the same 28mm brushless as in my HSL I could have made a case around them and built something on that, but the 540 are a bit big. There is a scalish looking Engine shell with a 320? motor inside it on Banggood for around $30 but not sure how big they are, (no size description) - probably look good in a large slowish model. Never mind, can't see them, just a bit of fun😊.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Blog

large smit tug duel esc

hi just finished putting new , torpedo 800's in my tug had it running off one 12 volt batt with two 20amp viper speed controllers removed one esc red wire so each prop was individually controlled as no rudder, tank turn all was well in test so today tidyed the wires and fixed them in place and tested it again one of my esc kept blowing fuses and smelt of burning this is the one that powers the receiver took it out of the boat tested it on a battery and puff of smoke phoned howes were i bought them they said send it back and we will look at it never had any issues with vipers so hoping its just a dodgy esc will let you know how i get on and but some picks of my boats up cheers Mark

5 years ago by 0151rogers

Response

Re: Fleetline Marlin & K&O outboards

Love the outboard . Martin555.

5 years ago by Martin555

Directory

Pair of Fleet Line boats

Fleetline boats with electric and running lights Have original boxes as well

5 years ago by Brightwork

Forum

Electronic Speed Controllers

Hello all. I am currently designing the WTC for my Gato submarine project and would like a little help with the ESC`s. I have to keep things as small as possible and as light as possible. Can I wire two brushed 360 into one ESC. This would save a lot of space. I am happy to run them in tandem. I have decided to do the ballast by pumping water into the container and out again using a reversible pump run by a second 30A ESC. I would like to run the main twin from the first ESC using channel 3 as usual. Can I run the smaller pump on, say, channel 5 using one of the 3 position switches or maybe the normal aileron stick. Is this possible? Thanks.

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Response

Re: Futaba F14 Dual Throttles!

Hi Ed, I have Cottesmore set up so that I can use independent and Bow thrust and rudder for manoeuvre in port, then flick a switch to group the together for normal control with rudder. Martin555.

5 years ago by Martin555

Forum

Electronic Speed Controllers

"Can I wire two brushed 360 into one ESC" Yes you can Peter, That's what I did with my U25. My are 385s. The blue thing stuck to the starboard hull side, with two little white trim pots on it, is the ESC. The board bolted to the engine room forward bulkhead is the power distribution board to the and includes the spark suppressors. Cheers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Are there fairies.

After carful consideration I think this model deserves a better motor as the one it has won't align to the prop shafts as the motor is much too big. As I have a collection of marx I'm thinking of going with a either a decaperm or hectoperm, unless my spare Tarcol supermarine will line up. I will post again once I find a motor that will align with the propshaft. Cheers Colin.

5 years ago by Colin H

Forum

Work with Balsa wood

Hi Red, Now that you have explained what a "sticky" is, no the subject of this thread was working with Balsa and as I have not used Balsa wood for so many years I was just sharing my thoughts and experiences, as I might help the newer members that have not used this wood before. As more experienced modellers I think that we tend to lose sight and forget the new guys to the hobby. There is nothing worse than trying to understand some of the more complex stuff when you can't understand the simple stuff first. Anyway enough woffel , the servo has it own built in speed controller. When you strip off the gears and remove the rest you are left with this (see photo) Motor and speed controller. The pot you can use to zero then any movement from the TX stick will dive you forward and reverse. You can replace the pot with two equal resisters ( I think it's 2k2 not sure at the moment. I don't know what other you can use it on that is to technical for me. Also if you remove the motor you can then connect led lighting circuits to it. You can see this on utube. Martin555.

5 years ago by Martin555

Blog

40'' Seaplane Tender, new build Z-5

First swim in the 'indoor test tank'. Floats spot on and has truckloads of power. may have to fit the 80T yet as it may have a bit much thrust with the 45T 540s, have to wait for 'sea trials' to see what if anything needs changing. Excess power is a waste I think, and it's better to motor and prop the model so full power is scale like, and not race boat capable. Not exactly quiet, but have not oil filled the shafts yet and they are spinning at 12000 RPM( the 80Ts should be a lot quieter). Speed controllers 'chirp' a bit but there's probably only me to care about that anyway. Looking ok so far. JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build. Quest for the correct engine sound

True Martin, the whistle is from the turbo but the originals in the ST are non turbo. It would be great if someone would make a cheap sound unit, where you could record a sound and upload it to the unit and it would convert it to a usable proportional sound. The sound units I have work like this and have an SD card in the system where an original sound is split into small WAV ? bytes and each one loops if stopped in a particular position, or steps up the folders in sinc with the TX (bit like going up the scale on a piano. Problem is to find a genius who can hack this system and find a way to copy a sound into the SD card we could all use. Only way at the moment is to use an installed sound, or find a smooth continuous 0-full power sound and make a WAV file and send it to the manufacturer (GT Power-China) and get them to convert it, and send you a download an hope it will install, -super complicated! Got to be an easy way!? The sound on this vid is (this is a bit like your cryptic stuff Martin) made by an inkjet printer carriage motor on 4v run through one of those adjustable voltage regs we discussed recently, and just sitting on the deck (as a sound board). I've been trying things like this for years, on and off, and you can get some quite good sounds from electric attached to resonator boxes, - even found the lid of a jam jar sounds like a hot bulb engine when clicked in and out over a small box (like the old clickers we had as kids), Thought of making one with a cam on a geared electric motor on an ESC. Always on the lookout for a cheaper alternative. JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

Are there fairies.

".....That motor is a puzzle, if its a dc motor why would it have 3 brushes. I have only seen 2 or 4 on dc ......" From the excellent Workshop Practice series No.16 - Electric - Jim Cox: "...More modern types (of automobile wiper ) are permanent magnet which use a three brush system. A pair of brushes in the normal position 180 deg apart is used for low-speed operation. One of the low speed brushes and a third brush set at about 120deg are used for the high-speed wipe. Because the brush at 120 deg only sees a fraction of the normal motor back EMF more current flows and the motor runs proportionately faster...."

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Blog

HMS Cottesmore in 1/48 scale.

Hi Guys, Well buildwise that is as far as I have got, lots more detail work to be done. I was a bit stuck as to how to switch on and off the lighting until I came across Arduino. So I purchased an Arduino PCB and then I looked on utube to see how to program it. I just picked up enough programming knowledge to be able to switch the lighting on and off in a loop sequence. There's a lot of really good tutorials about programming the Arduino on utube. My plan is as I have to fit suppression capacitors to the I will remove all of the removable trays and at the same time wire it all differently as when the superstructure is complete it will be very easy to break something off just to switch Cottesmore on and off. I will also learn a bit more programming so that lighting is more controllable. So that is about it at the moment I hope that this log has not been to boring. I will update this log from time to time when I get back to working on her. Martin.

5 years ago by Martin555

Response

Re: Deck/hatch built, motor selected

Hi Lads After crawling the web, I finally found specs on crawler 540 on 7.2 volts unloaded. 20 turn 13000 rpm 27 turn 15000 rpm 35 turn 12500 rpm 45 turn 9500 rpm 55 turn 7700 rpm 65 turn 7000 rpm 80 turn 5500 rpm The last three easily run 14-20 pound weight boats with 3-4 blade 50 to 60 mm props. I am using the 55 and 65 turn in Helen fishing boats and the 80 turn in a tug boat. No cooling on the !! Canabus

5 years ago by canabus

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build W

Hi Red, if you get onto AliExpress (Alibaba) and just google Goolrc 540 and you should come up with a heap of them with different brands and manufacturers. They will all be made by the same manufacturer in China but re branded by on line hobby sellers (Gool RC being only one) You can get various winds in these which is good (fewer turns higher revs less torque, more winds slower but more torque) Some of the sellers have the turn Nos and RPM figures for them which is handy. You will have to look at a lot to find the best price as prices range from $11 up for the same thing. If you want to buy something, check sellers rating, sales Nos and reviews as well (good if it's up around 98-99%, - probably selling snow to Inuits, but been buying from them since 2010,-very few problems ) Ali Express is pretty reliable (based in US) and will sort refunds if product is dud (even if the seller doesn't want to sort it, Al Ex will make them) If you get a free acct with them, it makes buying stuff easy. It's surprising how many people have not heard of Ali Express,+ Banggood and RC Echo (another similiar sites I buy stuff from,-not just model bits, although RC Echo (HK) is mainly models. Hobby King (Hong Kong) is just a rip off (was good 10yrs ago but too dear now ) and their freight prices are ridiculous, (most times more than the item which can be bought cheaper from AliEx or EBay etc with Free shipping) Bloody Australian bullshitter,-re-brands everything as theirs or made by them (don't know why, because we would buy stuff anyway if it was a good brand, (eg- they re-brand Castle Creations -USA, one of the largest electronics companies ESCs) If you look at the site - Made in China.com - you will find every manufacturer/ re seller in China and you will be surprised what you find there, which is claimed to be made by others. Happy hunting. John B

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build W

Very good work as Martin says - amazing how much time one will spend on a subject one is passionate about . looking forward to seeing it on the water....... See I have been asking dumb questions - are 540's - what brand ? And the GT sound units self explanatory- googled them but no luck - sometimes Google SA a bit iffy

5 years ago by redpmg

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build U

Hi MT, sound units are actually for cars but have a choice of 58 sounds from V8s to diesels and are the only ones I've seen which seem to sound ok. You have to go through all the sounds and try them through the throttle range but there are a number which sound ok for boats. You can also plug them into your computer and make a few changes such as throttle sensitivity, turbo sound and volume etc. The sounds are proportional, from starting to full throttle and are all WAV sounds which seem to be split up into small 'samples' and as such, some are not quite linear but are useable. There are 2 different models, One is the 'GT Power' sound and lights model - version 2 (the better I think) which comes with all the pre wired and plugged LEDs needed for a car, (h/l, t/l, indicators etc) and comes as a module and separate speaker, (you can plug 2 speakers into this module for better sound). The other model is the 'GT Power' Car Engine Sound 'mini' which is just the sound module and speaker in one box. This works the same as the version 2 model but at present I'm having a problem with the Mini, which has the wrong model for USB adjustment installed, (sounds can be selected manually on the module but when you plug the module into the comp and open the module control panel, it's for the wrong model, - sound files are still viewable though) I'll have to contact GT Power for a fix (going by their on line help page, they seem quite ready to sort problems out and give solutions) Cost is around $56 NZ for the version 2, and around $ 51 for the 'Mini' version which is comparable to most other sound units available, but with more features than some. Apparently, if you send the GT Power tech/help guy a complete WAV sound file (ie, start, idle, and steady slow acceleration to full and back they will make a sound file for your unit and email it back to you,(yet to try but would be brilliant if true) Units are sold on Ebay, Ali Express and Banggood (and many other model shops) and it's worth shopping around all of them, as there are big price differences. These are also sold as GOOL RC sound units but are made by GT Power. ( http://www.gt-rc.com/en/msgBoard.jsp ) You will see the home page on there. I use a number of their products such as battery chargers, rev counters, battery checkers etc and all seem very reliable and work well. I don't think they sell direct, but they are sold everywhere. For Rooky Sailors benefit, the are Gool RC 540-45T 7.4V brushed car which have ball bearings and replaceable brushes (motor is rebuildable). Haven't tried them on the water yet, but the 45T (12000rpm) should be tourqy enough (different turn Nos are available) John B

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Wiki

Easy reversing switch for single ESC twin motor set-up

An easy way to reverse a motor (or ) in a twin set-up using only one ESC (such as Electronize) is to use a polarity reversing toggle switch. I used this method in my MTB until I replaced everything with twin car ESCs. The switch is operated by a servo using a spare channel on your TX, and is just a rod through a hole drilled in the toggle with a stop each end (at the appropriate distance apart) and silicone tube buffers each side of the toggle. Power goes in the center 2 terminals and the motor wires are arranged in an 'X' across the 4 outer terminals with the opposite pairs joined and hooked to the motor + and -. You could make a double action set-up with 2 switches (reversing both to opposite directions) if required (I was only reversing one motor) To operate, you stop the , switch toggle to reverse and go either forward or reverse on the throttle (one motor will be working as normal, the other opposite). I only used 1 on my model and it was sufficient to give good independent maneuvering. Check wiring polarity carefully 1 pair at a time to make sure they are switching properly before you solder the pairs. You may need to adjust to suit your desired motor direction when you move the throttle so it's best to set it up out of the boat. The unit can be made much more compact, as mine was a prototype using bits I had lying around.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

Fishtailing

"In all the years that I have been model making I have never done this or know of anyone who has." You do now Martin😉 I've been doing it for years, still do when I use brushed . Also on brushed pump and auxiliary ; radar etc. Oh! But connect to the prop tube (aka stuffing box) NOT the shaft 😮 Also note his comment about a single earth point. This prevents so called ground loops (no- not pranging a plane on the runway!) These loops in the earthing wiring can act as radiators and are often the cause of humming in audio amplifiers, hi-fis for instance. Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Magnetic

I have been thinking with the idea of magnetic and trying to get away from normal propellers. At the moment I am unable to spend much time in my little workshop (health reason) So I have had these crazy ideas buzzing around in my head. Normal this leads to me making something different. Martin.

5 years ago by Martin555

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build Q

Hi Martin, I've filled it up to the top with a syringe but the small bubbles are good for an indicator as you can't see any movement otherwise. I could just make a small header tank, (or even a bit of the large silicon tube mounted vertically on a T and it would bleed itself. I'll see if it gets hot, and if so I'll probably make a small tank for expansion so it doesn't pop the hoses off. There is good circulation all round so hopefully it won't be an issue, I certainly won't be racing it, (it's getting heavier by the minute - coming up on 6lbs and with paint and batteries probably a shade over.) It will need the weight to make it sit properly as the hull was only about 1 3/4 lbs . It will be interesting to see how these perform, these are 6v 45T but I can always go to 60T or 12v for more grunt. The combinations are endless!

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: 36'' Maiami Crash boat used for camera boat.

"Trying to replace a bush/bearing in a fragile strut (unless removable) without damaging something, would be a tricky operation I would imagine." You are so right John. I'm faced with such problem on my Graupner premium Line Graf Spee. Not that the bearing was clapped though. When I tested the I discovered that the starboard shaft was misaligned and binding. It had been built that way in the factory.☹️ I now have an endoscope camera with display so I can see what's happening inside whilst I fiddle with the strut on the outside! I will make new threaded shafts and tubes and fit brass props to replace the cheapo plastic ones help on with grub screws. Same on my Belfast; but only new shafts and props. No hull surgery thank goodness! Appreciate the fast boat problems you describe, but that was never my game. Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Batteries in a DX5e

Hi Doug, I was meaning more here in NZ, as I know you have some nice shops in the UK and Germany etc ( I have bought quite a bit from Cornwall Model Boats who give really good service) and a few years ago was buying IC engines and parts from Just Engines in Shaftsbury who were a great bunch with spot on service and advice. A list of good shops would be great Doug as if you are not in the country you quite often don't get to know good local shops. When I was working on Norfolk Island (SP) in the 70s there was a shop called the 'Mini Golf shop' owned by a lady named Agnes who was incredibly knowledgeable on all aspects of modeling ( it's where I bought all my models, and radios at the time as they were tax and duty free, - bought an OS FS 60 motor when they first came out for around $160 Aust for eg, in NZ a year later they were about 6-$700 NZ). The shop was tiny (about the size of a double garage and was packed to the roof with model stuff from all around the world,- a real modelers paradise and it was known worldwide . Sadly it has been gone for many years as the tax system changed due to Australian interference, (they have now taken over completely) and is now just Lego and other crap (although at one time they sold more Lego than any shop in the world from the new -1980s shop) . I doubt whether there would be many shops in the world as exciting to enter as that old one these days.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Blog

40'' Seaplane Tender, new build M

Prop shafts positions are set up and shafts ready to epoxy in. Have made the brass coil motor cooling tubes and just for fun (and a bit of an experiment) closed circuit heat exchanger so I can use it in salt water, Probably not really necessary but why not,? real boats have them!. The body is part of an alloy bicycle pump and the core is copper tube soldered into 1/2" copper water pipe, crushed down in the vice onto 4"nails to make spaces for the small copper tube to solder into. End piece is a blanking plug for Buteline polybutene house water pipe ground down to a tight press fit in the open end of the pump tube. Exchanger internals look a bit rough but you don't see them. All sealed in with auto gasket silicone. Motor coils are made of brass tube (can't buy 1m lengths of copper tube from the hobby shop any more, as I found out while doing my 60km round trip) so went with brass. Annealed the brass and wound it tightly round a vacuum cleaner tube which was 10mm smaller in diam than the motor. Once wound they were unwound slightly as they were fitted/screwed onto the , giving a good tight fit. Also made the oiler tubes for the shafts which will have a reservoir tank connected. The heat exchanger will have its own pump and the main raw water feed will as well. Might have to fit a small header tank above the exchanger if it's needed, but it will never get hot enough to need one .

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

Motor identification.

Hi Doug and fellow modellers, One of my pet hates is the lack of/no information on the that we use. Are there identification charts available? I know there are many different manufacturers but with the lack of information on them I would not know were to start to find the information. Martin.

5 years ago by Martin555

Forum

Motor identification.

Wow - that's a bit of a wide requirement! I assume you are having difficulty finding some data? Are we talking I/C or electric here? Brushed or brushless? .... If the item has ANY markings you can usually look it up on the Web - though you may need to translate from Chinese. The big companies are easy enough to get English data from, but smaller ones may pose a problem. Recently I had to photograph the characters on a box of hydrometers, get that automatically translated from, I assume, Simplified Chinese, look up the company name in Latin characters, download instruction sheets with likely pictures attached and then translate those.... A lot of things, including electric , are now made in China as 'clones' - that is, as copies of an original design, often sourced from the West, perhaps with a few modifications. Such items often come with very little info from the manufacturer, and may be made as a short run with a 'one-off' badge on them. Under these circumstances the only way you will get information is to have enough experience in the field to be able to recognise the item as being a copy of a known item and work from there. Often specialist forums have people who can help you here...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Response

Re: Joining the fuselage.

"That is one of the things that I hate about some of these , the lack of information on them." Seek and ye shall find Martin😉

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Re: Joining the fuselage.

Hi Doug, That is one of the things that I hate about some of these , the lack of information on them. Martin.

5 years ago by Martin555

Blog

40'' Seaplane Tender, new build J

Glued deck on today (sun was out for a change) using 3 pre aligned/drilled dowels to locate it, as I had trimmed the deck fairly close to finished size and wanted it to go back in the right place for gluing. Just about set tonight so will give it a final trim and sand tomorrow. Drive shafts turned up and don't seem too bad, not sure about the quality of the bearings but might knock them out and replace them with stainless from MBA if available. Don't want to have to do it once shafts are fitted. Tested the again with universals on the shafts (in a word, rubbish. Thought I'd try them as they looked ok on line (and they are not too badly made) but they are only made for cars and not for high speed running. The small amount of play means that they vibrate due to not being concentric at speed, caused by centripetal force throwing the 'play' to one side. If anyone is contemplating them for boat shafts, don't bother. Perfect for slow angled or straight use (driving winches etc) as they run smoothly at angles. The black Gool + other names) run at 800mA with no load whereas the silver cooled (spare for Felun boats) run at 2.3 A with no load. The Gool are 45T and will run down to a crawl (no load as do the Feluns) but are not as fast as the Felun which are bigger and probably have fewer turns. I tested them with the car ESCs (32A cheapies and they worked fine (apart from the small center stop/reverse problem discussed previously). The ESCs were run on a near flat 2s LiPo and auto cut off at 3.55/6 volts / cell which is quite reasonable (3.3 being a safe min) they will re-start after a few secs then auto-cut again as soon as the voltage drops. Will cut out center top 'spine' on hull when deck is set tomorrow and start making some floors and a motor mounting base plate. When it warms up a bit I'll spray the hull undercoat.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: Joining the fuselage.

Hi Peter, My U25 at 107cm is about 8/10 the size of your Gato, but probably heavier as it's hull is made of four planks of carved wood!😮 Anyway she goes just fine using two 385 on 6 or 12V driving 3 blade 30mm props. On 12V way too fast of course but it's fun to show up the speed merchants once in a while😁 Re dive plane retraction- Here's two possibilities! This one from the German model Sub tech expert Engel where I got my Akula 2 kit. It comes with a controller. https://engel-modellbau.eu/shop/en/Submarine-Kits/GATO/Retract-Mechanism-for-front-diving-planes-GATO-with-RMR.html This one from your rc sub guys https://www.ebay.com/itm/RC-Sub-Mechanism-retraction-and-operation-of-front-planes-1-90-1-144-Scale/272217983093?hash=item3f6174c875:g:pGIAAOSwBLlVA~jN Neither particularly cheap 🤔 but maybe the pics on these sites can provide some inspiration. Good luck and welcome to the 'Pig Boat' club! Cheers, Doug 😎 BTW, having put the 'fuselage' together when are you going to stick the wings on!?😮😉

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

40'' Seaplane Tender, new build I

Deck cut-outs done. Deck will go on once I've checked I have everything in that's not going to be a problem to get at later. There's tons of room to get the hands in so shouldn't be a worry. Once deck is on I can remove the top center brace from the 2 front openings to open the space up. Waiting for the shafts to turn up so I can get the holes cut in the hull (will be making a template) ready for lining up with the mounts / etc. Making the rudders later once shafts are done to avoid any clashing with the props, and making sure they are easy to remove for shaft removal etc (unlike my HSL which has no access to the rudders, and the shafts have to come out frontwards through the 'engine room' bulkhead, - better than cutting holes in the rear deck where there weren't supposed to be any) Something to remember on the future maintenance side!

5 years ago by jbkiwi