Blog

Enclosing the controls.

The original boat had a wide and deep seat at the back of the well deck and this is an ideal place to conceal the fuse, ESC and receiver. I started by setting out the components and marking an area sufficiently big enough to accommodate them all with room for the associated wiring and plumbing (water cooling for the ESC). A framework of obeche strip was formed on the floor and sides in such a way that the top and front panels of the cover would be flush with the frame, the side frames were also built out so that the cover would be narrow enough to clear the coamings on the sides of the well deck. The rear panels and floor of the enclosure are 1.5mm obeche panels, the rear one with cut-outs for the wiring to come through, both were given a coat of Teak stain before being glued in place. The cover ‘seat’ was made from a framework of obeche strip and panels with bracing pieces at each end to add rigidity and it fits neatly into the frame, some finishing detail was also added to this. This was also given a first coat of Teak stain. The cover will be held in place with small s.

5 years ago by robbob

Blog

The motor cover.

I want to keep the motor cover as compact and in proportion as much as possible so I drew up a design to visualise it and get some practical working dimensions, it also needs to enclose the prop shaft and coupling, and the MT60 connection for the motor so there will not be very much free air space inside. Because of this the motor cover will need some ventilation as the brushless outrunner motor can’t be water cooled and I don’t want to fit a fan, so the side panels of the box will need some gauze covered slots so that any heat generated can escape, assisted (perhaps) by the rotation of the motors outer ‘rotor’ creating some air movement. I don’t intend to run this boat very fast so I’m hoping that the motor will not get too hot anyway🤞. I transferred the dimensions of the side panels from my drawings to some 1.5mm obeche panels and cut the side pieces to size and cut out the ventilation slots, some framing pieces and cross braces were fitted internally and the whole assembly glued and clamped together. Additional framing was added to support the part that covers the shaft and coupling and obeche panels applied to these. Some finishing details were applied around the base and the top to improve the appearance. The internal framing will later incorporate some small cylindrical s that will hold the motor enclosure down on the deck, I’ll fit these later when the deck floor has been fitted. The mesh is some of the stainless steel mesh that I had used in the water pickup tube on my RAF Crash Rescue Tender hoses, and this was cut to size and epoxied in place. The completed enclosure was finished with the same Teak stain as the rest of the boat. Next up will be an enclosure at the rear to conceal the control electronics.

5 years ago by robbob

Blog

Roof magnets

I had from the beginning I had intended to hold all the hatches down with s however as you work on, these things seem to get forgotten, so now it’s time to do some of the not so exiting tasks. I had bought some 10 x 5x 1.5 magnets so I need to machine the slots into the roof cabin quadrants. These needed to be mirrored by a quadrant that can be epoxied into the corners of each cabin area. Using the trusty Lidl disc sander I produced 12 quadrants and then after making a simple jig to hold them in place I machined the corresponding slot in each one taking note of left and right hand variants. The next job is to glue all the magnets into the roof spaces and then when they are set glue the magnets into the quadrants making sure the orientation is correct. To make sure the magnets are set into the cabin sides at the correct depth I made a temporary balsa wood frame around each cabin to rest the quadrants on while they set. Another small job complete

5 years ago by mturpin013

Forum

VOSPER 46'' Crash Tender

Actually 4 pole , "Graupner HPD 2920-4000 High-end brushless motor Particularly suitable for: MiniMono, MiniHydro, MiniCats, MiniHydroplanes, aircraft with wingspan up to 1 m, off-road and on-road 1:12 Features ?Special CNC-machined housing for maximum heat dissipation ?High-efficiency 4-pole 12-slot brushless motor ?High-performance rotor with Kevlar reinforcement ?High-purity copper coils for optimised conductivity ?Extremely strong sintered s ?Intense torque at low weight Specification Operating voltage range : 4,2-16,8 V No-load speed: 29600 U/min All-up weight, approx. : 90 g Free shaft length: 10 mm Recommended controller: Navy V75 G7257 Output : 650 W Number of poles: 4 Permissible motor direction : R und L Nominal voltage: 7,4 V Case length: 30 mm Shaft diameter: 4 mm Case diameter: 29 mm Revolutions/Volt: 4000 " Taken from one Google, first response at Cornwall Models Boats!😉 Note. 650W, Nominal voltage 7.4V. No wonder it's a bit quick on 11.1V 😲 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Cabin roofs

Theoretically this should be a very straight forward process and a change from rubbing down the hull so let’s look at the instructions – what instructions! First of all fit some thin card to the sides of the cabin walls to allow for a clearance fit (cornflakes packet) then some minor trimming of the spars to give an exact ,(not tight) fit across the side supports, I decided to pin each of the parts together as well as epoxy in the joints. I always find the best approach is to use a jig to drill pilot holes for the pins ensuring that the pins do not split the wood and the construction is accurate. The frame is then glued up and placed back in the boat and left to dry next job is to fit the corner strengthening pieces, the easiest way I found was to put a card support for the corners to rest on whilst they set still in the cabin structure. Looking forward I had decided to retain the cabin lids with s so I machined a slot in the corner pieces underside to house the magnets, to be fitted at a later date. Next job is to fit the roof skins which again will be pinned using the 0.7mm brass pins. The roof skins are now epoxied in place so I need to mark out the position of the secondary panels. Looking at the pieces and the instructions the spacer frames seem to be the same size but I was sure I’d read somewhere that these overhung by 2-3mm, reading Robs blog conformed this to be the case. So some trimming required before fitting and marking out the appropriate position then being glued into position. The mid cabin was assembled in exactly the same way

6 years ago by mturpin013

Forum

Windows, stoopid question.

PS to 'windows'. The roof on my Sea Scout ain't stuck down cos I need access to the 'engine room'. it's held on with 5mm diameter s. Hasn't 'gone independent' while underway yet 😊 Ciao, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

What do you do when...

I've been pondering a on a derrick on the stern of my Southampton tug and steel plates set into the foredecks of my boat and ships! Still pondering, reeling in with a winch is easy, running out the cable to drop the magnet down onto the boat is causing me mechanical headaches though. 😡 Maybe just raising and lowering a suitable boom would be easier!? Any ideas folks, especially amongst you winch using sailors? First time my destroyer conked out I swam out 'in me knickers' to rescue it cos the wind was pushing it towards the lake fountains. it's NOT a flying boat! Got a round of applause and some interesting suggestions from some of the er 'ladies' present 😲😉 Second time we had flat calm on a balmy summer evening and she started very slowly drifting home. So as it was early evening we went to the lakeside restaurant terrace where I could enjoy a steak and a glass or two while keeping an eye on her progress. Hard life ain't it 😉 Whatever, I'm sure there's a more elegant solution than more plumbing than there is in my bathroom! I even once used my sharp pointed destroyer to push a failed plastic RTR so called speed boat home. Took a lot of manoeuvring with a long thin destroyer but we made it. Once I managed to get it lined up and close enough to shore a good shove with all ahead flank then full astern let it run up the shore. Was good helmsmanship practise. A simple shaped rubber block I could hang over the bow would have made it much easier! Cheers all, don't get stuck! Doug 😎 PS One other 'Schnapps idea' as they might call it here in Bavaria, I've been playing with for a while is a model of the 'Big Lifter'. It's a conveyor ship like a big powered dry dock. To take on the load she floods huge tanks and sinks herself😲 slides under the load, pumps the water out again and up she comes load an' all! Would be fun wouldn't it?😉 All the bridge and accommodation superstructure and engine rooms are in the stern. At the bow there are only two tall towers for guidance when taking on the load. The rest is just flat loading deck. Sounds simple don' it 😁 an' a lot more fun than half the plumbing dept. of B&Q. 👍 PPS: I also tried the grab claw idea of Martin's. A sort of 4 prong grappling hook. As he rightly said the first snag is to get the line aboard the stricken vessel in the first place. I tried it with one of the depth charge derricks on the stern of my destroyer. Reeling in - fine. Getting the line out ? Another kettle of fish. I considered a spring-loaded system to fire the line out IF I could make the winch free run to pay out! Got no further than considering (the spring launcher I still have) before I completely stripped out the destroyer for a total refit. Thinks, thinks, thinks ......

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Warped wood

Evenin' All, I had the same problem with the cabin roof of Dad's 1962/3 built Sea Scout. First I thought I could just remove the ply tops and flatten them, hot water and then under a car battery overnight. But the ply was cracked and curled just at the overhang so even after gluing, soaking and straightening it was still cracked and useless. So finally I soaked the frame alone in hot water and left it under the battery for a day and a night, with suitable wedges to get the right shape . In the meantime I made new roof skins from 1.5mm mahogany. Worked out quite nice in the end. Took a while though to get it right, especially along the centre line seam. Then I set 5mm round s in the corners, with counter parts set on wooden brackets inside the cabin walls to hold it on at speed on the wet stuff. Before assembling and varnishing with Lord Nelson spray gloss varnish I sealed all parts with two coats of Lord Nelson spray wood seal. Survived it's sea trials quite well. https://youtu.be/zPgYicA0yGw Penultimate pic shows the before 🤔, last pic shows the after 😉(while fitting new tinted windows) Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Evenin' Both, Pete, you're right about the hatch, in the instructions (or mine at least with the old 40MHz version) they warn you to leave the hatch loose when not using the boat. Otherwise it sticks to the foam gasket. Just like yours did 😉 During the upgrade of my 40MHz Southampton I will remove that over-engineered catch and use s in the corners instead. That gives more 'headroom' to fit a decent sized NiMh battery underneath 😊 And yes there are 3 different versions of this boat, whereby Richardson and Southampton are identical apart from name and 'paint job'. 27 and 40 MHz with no frills and the modern 2.4GHz version with bells and whistles. Well, lights and smoke anyway 😊 Makes a change from Smoke and Mirrors eh? 😁 So between the 3 of us we represent all 3 generations!!! According to my manual the foam is there to absorb moisture that might ingress through stuffing tubes or hatches so full marks to Pete 👍 Re different RC frequencies, as a ex Radio and naval COMMS engineer: 27MHz and 40MHz have inherently longer range and better water penetration, which is why I still have such sets for my submarines. 2.4GHz is strictly Line of Sight only, which is one reason why they first gained popularity with the 'Fly Boys'. 2.4Gig waves also bounce off water or are absorbed by it, so it's useless for subs😭 The other reason is that they use a frequency hopping (FH) technique which makes them virtually immune to interference 😊 Although I have yet to find a set that hops over the full 85 frequencies available. Most seem to only use 16 or so🤔 Limited bandwidth at the RX !? As with all FH radio systems 2.4Gig RC sets also use a binding technique so that the RX recognises the 'signature', i.e- hop sequence, of it's own TX and ignores others. Mostly anyway 😉 Here endeth the 99th Epistle of Admiral Doug 😁 Main thing is, enjoy the 'fiddlin aboot' and even more so the sailing, as my German colleagues say; "I wish you always a hand's breadth of water under your keel". Cheers Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Bits n pieces arrived / Aft Deck Mk 2 built ;-)

6mm lime wood planks from Krick and 4mm tap from Conrad arrived on Wednesday so Full Speed Ahead. This time formers were made from the 6mm lime so no bending or slitting required, new piece of mahogany cut so that this time no inserts left an right were needed. 😊 Formers attached using Rocket cyano and a bag of clamps and left overnight. The 'Riva' tank filler caps were tapped 4mm and appropriate holes bored in the deck piece. s attached to forward edge. Deck fitted and trimmed in situ for flush fit all round. Transom got scratched during this process so will need a respray🤔 Underside sealed with two coats of EzeKote and sealing / varnishing / lacquering process started on the topside. Last two pics show current status; So Far So Good.😉 Next step; fit windows made of 3mm green tinted acrylic 'glass', which also arrived Wednesday. Will now have to start thinking about what to do in the cockpit 😲 All I have so far is a 25mm ship's wheel. Furniture building is not exactly my Forte! First time for everything I suppose! Suggestions gratefully received!! Ciao for now, Doug 😎 Almost forgot! While waiting for varnish to dry I tackled an old problem with the rudder. Namely; asymmetric rudder throw caused by the rather bulky connecting rod binding on the rudder arm! Suddenly remembered I still had some E-Z Connectors from old aircraft days. Been hanging around for 35 years or so waiting for something to do! So replaced the old plastic linkage with 1mm spring steel rod and two E-Z connectors. Works a treat 😊

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

After Deck / Hatch - If at first you don't succeed ...

give up and go home! Oh! I am home 😁 Since I need access to the rudder the after deck has to be made as a removable hatch. Would you believe at the last refit (25 years ago) I actually managed to shoehorn the RX and RX NiMH battery in there as well!? Pic 1 shows what it looked like when I started this refit, after 20 odd years in the cellar 😲 Anyway, I wanted the deck to be mahogany to match the cabin roof and as a hatch it was obvious that it would need a subframe. Pic 2 to 5, had to open a new bag of chomp chomp clamps 😉 Trial fit Pic 6. SFSG! Under side was sealed with two coats of EzeKote and fixings added; s at the forward edge, domed captive nyloc nuts glued into the under frame at the aft edge. Pics 7 & 8. These will then accept 4mm studs screwed into Riva style fuel filler caps to hold it down and (hopefully) keep it watertight. Mahog was then finished in the same laborious and patience testing process described above (or is it below😲) for the cabin roof and decks. Pic 9 shows it screwed down with normal 4mm 'Camembert' head screws - Why? see below 😆 Finish was OK.. BUT After leaving screwed down overnight a hairline crack had developed 😡 Pic 10. Also, I didn't like the 3mm fillets between the hatch deck and the main deck, and was wondering what to do about the lip on the bulkhead at the rear of the cockpit. There was a chunk cut out in the middle. This was where in the old days we had a tiller bar to set the rudder for Free Running on a great circle (Radnor Park Lake in Folkestone - side note for Graham P74, probably before he was born😉) Sooo .... machined the lip away, removed the 3mm fillets, made a cardboard template for the new deck-piece and tomorrow is another day. Wonder what I can muck up then !!?? 😊 G'night all, ciao Doug 😎 Oh yes the Filler caps - drilled them on the lathe for 4mm thread clearance, dug out the tap set, selected 4mm 0.7mm pitch ..... Oh S..t, only a tapered tap which starts cutting at 5mm. Hole in the cap is only 5mm deep.😡 Immediately ordered 4mm parallel machine tap, should be here on Wednesday. No sweat, should have deck hatch Mk. 2 finished by then 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

The Lone Ranger Rides Again or Hull Finishing ;-))

Many thanks MT😊 You're sooo right! I may be slow but I want to end up with something worth looking at on the shelf as well as on the water😉 Have to admit that every time I walk past her on the bench I can't resist running my finger tips along the glassy deck and smiling 😁 Thanks to you too Krampus,👍 Temperatures should be back into double figures next week so maybe I can do some trials end of the week. Now cogitating how to fix the after deck, probably with s as I did on the cabin roof. BTW: where did you get the crew for your Triton Springer? Look about the right scale for my Sea Scout? Cheers All, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Hobby Engine Richardson Upgrade

Hi Mark, many thanks, good tips 👍 Think I'll remove the rear hatch lock completely and hold the hatch down with s. Re Plastic Trays; Don't even want to think about how you found out! 😡Thanks for the warning👍 I'll go careful and maybe add a semi-bulkhead stiffener!? Cheers Doug 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Secure the hatches and raise the flags !

Having spent so much time adding fittings and detail to the removable cabin roofs and hatches the last thing I want is for them to be dislodged and see them sink without trace 😱! Having used some amazingly strong s to hold the foam tanks securely in the rear well I was confident that they would be more than powerful enough to hold the various roofs and hatches in place so I scoured eBay for some suitable sizes and shapes. I settled on two sizes, 25x6x3mm and 12x6x3mm and ordered 10 of each, more than I need but so useful to have in the bits box. A word of caution with these magnets, always slide them apart and avoid letting them crash together as the impact can easily break them into pieces, as I discovered. Thankfully I have some spares ! For the engine roof magnets I made a couple of small plywood brackets into which the larger magnets are fixed with epoxy and these were in turn epoxied onto the inside faces of the engine room walls. The mating magnets were let into the underside of the roof frame and firmly glued in place after double checking the mating polarity and orientation. An identical method was used for the forward cabin roof but using the smaller magnets. For the removable panel in the centre section over the motor I used a single pair of small magnets on the rear edge only as the front of this panel is held under the cabin door in a rebated part of the floor that forms the threshold of the door. I had to fit a small brass handle in the rear of this panel so that I could pull the panel up and away as there is no other means of doing so without, I made a ‘hook tool’ from some brass wire for this purpose. The floor panel in the rear cockpit is secured on it’s rear edge by a pair of the larger magnets, the forward edge being held down by the towing hook bracing stays. The removable hatch in the rear cockpit floor was also fitted with two pairs of the smaller magnets let into the underside of the hatch and the hatch framing of the floor. One of the brass handles that I that had previously set into the hatch was bent up slightly so that I could use my brass ‘hook tool’ to release it from the magnets hold. So now all the roofs and hatches are firmly secured by the concealed magnets and are easily removable without any fiddly catches or fixings and now there’s now very little chance of them coming adrift and disappearing! The final finishing detail are the two RAF ensigns, one on the mast and one on the stern flagstaff. The ensigns were made by Mike Allsop Scale Flags & Ensigns who was very helpful and advised me on the most suitable sizes for the 1:12 scale of my boat. His flags are extremely well made, excellent value for money and look very realistic when flying and fluttering !! Mike can be contacted at: scaleflags@outlook.com or by telephone on 01476 573331 They are hand made from a fine and flexible silk cloth that behaves like a real flag even in a slight breeze and are easy to fix with diluted PVA glue. The smaller flag was fitted to the lanyard on the mast as described in the supplied instruction sheet. The ensign on the stern flagstaff was very carefully formed and glued so that the flag was not fixed in one place and could rotate around the shaft of the flagstaff as this piece screws into a brass fitting on the rear deck and this will ensure that it will always find it’s own position. A small brass ring was formed and glued to the flagstaff below the ensign so it would always stay at the top and not slip down. So, all hatches battened down, flags raised and ready for action. That’s just about everything finished now barring any trimming and ballasting required and is ready for it’s maiden voyage. I hope that all of you that have been following my blog have had as much enjoyment reading about my build as I have had in the building and finishing process 😁 And a big thank you to all that have contributed so much with encouraging comments, suggestions and advice 👏 😍

7 years ago by robbob

Blog

The foam tanks – part 2.

I needed to find a method to hold the foam tanks in place in the rear cockpit that would enable them to be removed, without tools, to allow easy removal of the cockpit floor to access the rudder servo. The solution was to hold them down with some of the amazingly powerful s that are cheap and readily available. I chose to use a 10mm x 2mm circular type and inset them into the cockpit floor and foam tank bases by clamping the two components together and using a ‘step drill’ to bore the holes simultaneously for accuracy. Some short timber bridging pieces were glued into the holes inside the foam tanks and some circular packing pieces glued to them to support the magnets and bring them flush to the tank bases. Similarly the holes in the cockpit floor were fitted with spacers and all the magnets glued in place after checking their correct polarity and orientation. The tanks now self-locate very accurately on the cockpit floor and are very firmly retained by the magnets.

7 years ago by robbob

Blog

Bluebird K7

I bought a load of s for another project last year, they are really good. I want to use a mechanical catch to keep the lid on but I want to use the magnets to keep pressure on an o-ring to keep things nice & water tight. it's only early days yet, if I can get out of work early one day I'll pop to a local locksmith to see what he has on the catch front, nothing small enough at B&Q. I'd like to operate it remotely, there is an area at the bottom of the tail that could be used to open the catch. Cheers Wayne

7 years ago by Midlife306

Forum

Aerokits Fast Patrol Launch stern cover

if all else fails you could use some Neodymium magnets they will hold it in place.

7 years ago by Haverlock