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    Blog
    Krick Police Launch
    I have just started to build the Police Launch that I have had for a while. Work commitments have left me with little time lately but hopefully I can get a good run on this one for a while. I hope to finish it by late July which just leaves me enough time to send it to Hungary so that I can test it. The kit is said to be good for a beginner. This would be good as many years ago I built a Patrol Torpedo Boat which took me five years. I am currently restoring this one as well but I think that will take most of this year to complete.๐Ÿ˜ I have started by buying the speed controller. The motor is a 400 brushed. Probably not going to be too difficult to keep up with this one. The kit itself is not too bad considering the price, but I do feel that the ABS vacuum formed hull could be of a slightly better quality. Also I am finding the ply wood to be rather brittle. Does anybody have an idea for a good filler to use to fill the chips which will take to acrylic paint. I have prepared the hull and added the propeller shaft and rudder holes. Care taken here to avoid splits in the plastic. Cellotape on both sides before drilling helps.๐Ÿค“ I have assembled the internal
    parts
    which hold the motor, battery and rudder and also fitted the prop shaft.๐Ÿ˜ฒ I will start on the deck and superstructure next. An additional note about the kit. The instructions are reasonable but they are in black and white which is not helpful considering they are photograph based with text. I found a PDF on the web which is in full colour. Why don`t Krick supply this. Surely not that expensive.๐Ÿค”
    6 years ago by MouldBuilder
    Blog
    The Vosper 46โ€ RAF Crash Tender Kit By Vintage Model Works
    Just a small introduction, I am a retired engineer, trained as a toolmaker and practiced this in various forms for 20 plus years before going into Lecturing in engineering for 13 years then finally working on development of NVQs and VRQs for an Engineering Awarding Body. As far as My model making experience I did a little as a youngster helping my dad to build the 36 inch Crash tender and then doing some model aircraft but that was 50 years ago. I then became hooked on building a kit car which has occupied me for many years changing things and maintaining it as a recreational vehicle. This brings me up to date and instead of restoring a classic car I decided to get back to model making and this is the start of the 46 Crash Tender. So here we go Out of the box and the contents checked off, a minor anomaly on the
    parts
    numbering but soon sorted by VMW. I have spent some time in kitting out a new work station in what used to be my office until I retired. I now have two workshops one upstairs and one in the basement. How good is that? One of the of the first things was to construct a substantial building board that would give a perfectly flat base and a grid that could ensure bulkheads are square to the keel an parallel with each other also the same aspects in the vertical axis. I lined out the base board with parallel lines spaced at 25 mm and then from the centre-line at 90 degrees I marked the bulkhead positions.
    6 years ago by mturpin013
    Forum
    Richardson/Southampton Smoke Generator
    Hello: My Hobby Engine Richardson tugboat is a โ€œpremiumโ€ 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, Iโ€™m working on upgrading the tugโ€™s lighting system & adding missing details. Unfortunately everything came to a halt last fall because of a fall & surgery to fix me up. So, for the time being Iโ€™m doing things that donโ€™t require much finesse for fine work. Iโ€™m working on plans for future work as well as disassembled the tugโ€™s deckhouse to access its circuit board. Once I had the deckhouse floor removed, I discovered that the smoke system isnโ€™t a single unit. Thereโ€™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 โ€œpremiumโ€ 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 itโ€™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. Iโ€™m not familiar with them at all & I need to learn. Thanks very much, Pete
    5 years ago by PittsfieldPete
    Blog
    Rescue Vessel - Springer Tug
    Hello all, Even though I am in the middle of several projects, including refitting two of my boats, I can't resist starting a new one. I am sure that I am not the only one with this affliction, I get bored quickly and jump from project to project. To keep them moving, I mostly work simultaneously. So here goes, my first ever Build Blog, bear with me.... Picked the Springer Tug as it is very simple and it will just be used ss a backup recovery vessel. I intend to build it a zero cost from my
    parts
    box and scrap wood pile. I put together my extra props, driveshaft, gearbox, motor, esc and RX. May have to buy a SLA Battery to get descent run time. Started last evening by making a template based on the plan in photo, credit goes to hull designer, see photo. Then I determined my motor location and Drive Line Angle so I could design the stuffing tube. Constructed that the same night using a 3/16" SS steel drive shaft. Bronze bushings from local hardware store and brass tubing from my supplies. See photos... Had the 500dc motor, Master Airscrew Gearbox, drive shaft, coupler and 2" brass prop. More to come..... Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Forum
    Veron Huntsman 28 riding the white horses!
    Difficult to see but look at the pic attached. Those vents, synonymous on the huntsman boats where vac formed in clear plastic card. Then painted from the inside using an American brand called alclad chrome, pretty much Impossible to get in the UK now but the finish looks just like mirror chrome. All the car stuff from halfords etc is just bright silver and has no mirror reflection, over the top really but it's what I wanted. Pretty much all model boat
    parts
    available are white metal or plastic, my first version had aluminium frames and too be honest looked better. The build log is on here somewhere from years ago!
    5 years ago by pmdevlin
    Blog
    36'' Thames River Police Launch by Robbob
    After the successful build of the โ€˜Vintage Model Worksโ€™ RAF Crash Rescue Tender I was asked by Mike Cummings of VMW if I would undertake to build a prototype of their new model with the aim of checking the construction method and the assembly instructions for accuracy before the kit is put into production. The model is a โ€˜Thames River Police Launchโ€™ and is based on the original design by Phil Smith for the Veron company, this was a very popular model kit in the late 50โ€™s and 60โ€™s and sold for the princely sum of 43 shillings and tuppence, approximately ยฃ2.15 in todayโ€™s money but an equivalent cost of ยฃ48.50 in 1960. This design has been updated to accommodate electric propulsion and radio control by Colin Smith, the son of the original designer and it has been re-scaled to be 36โ€ in length where the original was 24โ€ which gives much more scope for detailing and provides more โ€˜hiding roomโ€™ for the drive, control systems and all the associated wiring. The kit produced by VMW uses the same construction techniques as the original and the materials are a combination of balsa and plywood both of which a laser and CNC cut for precision. The ply and balsa materials supplied are of very high quality as one would expect from VMW and all the stripwood for the chines, rubbing strakes and deck detailing is included, even the dowel required for the mast is in the box, very comprehensive! The kit also includes white metal fittings such as the fairleads and stanchions, and the searchlight and horns. The glazing for the windows comes in the kit too. The instruction sheet supplied is in need of revision as it is largely taken directly from the original as written by Phil Smith and some of the terminology needs updating, for instance the ply bottom and side skins are referred to as โ€˜strakesโ€™ but I understand that a re-write of the instructions is in hand along with an updated plan showing the best positioning for the motor, prop-shaft, battery, ESC, receiver, rudder and servo. During construction I have added a few additional pieces of ply or balsa as reinforcement or supports and substituted some balsa
    parts
    for ply where I thought a stronger material would be better. I also added some hatches to give access to the wiring at the bow and the rudder & servo at the stern but largely I have not gone โ€˜off planโ€™ to any extent. The pictures show the model in itโ€™s present state (Nov 2018) and is ready for painting and finishing.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Pilot Boat
    Winter approaches again so what better than a new project,.......to go along with the other two yet to be completed. I have excuses. Honest!! This new one is a bit different again. No wood at all this time. It is the Aero-naut Pilot Boat. I thought it didn`t look too much of a task but I think I will have to re-assess as it is tricky in
    parts
    . I have assembled the hull frame, which although the
    parts
    are rather loose fitting until glued went ok. I have, however, stumbled slightly on the next stage, to fit the hull skins. The instructions suggest to cellotape them in place prior to glueing. Not as easy as it sounds as considerable bending of the
    parts
    is required to get them to fit, too much for the tape. Does anybody know of an easier approach please. The ABS is extremely difficult to hold in position when trying to tape it, which incidently, does not hold anyway. Should I warm up the skins or will this distort them and give a rippled finish. Any help here would be appreciated.๐Ÿค“ I will continue with the refurbishment of the Patrol Torpedo Boat for now as I have been trying to manipulate the sides of the Pilot boat into place for hours, no, days!!.๐Ÿ˜ก๐Ÿ˜ค
    6 years ago by MouldBuilder
    Forum
    Model Boat crew....
    I think I understood that - it looks as if using computers is getting very close to being a general option for people instead of being an approach that only specialists would consider. I have successfully made up a CNC cutter and am starting to use it to cut model boat
    parts
    . I had no prior skill in that field and it cost me about the same as a Billing Boats Absalon kit. If people will put their work up on the web for free download then we can create a very useful resource for the modelling community. All someone who wanted a 1:8 scale winch would need to do would be to download the file and take it to the local library or MakerSpace for a cheap replica. I think that this is the way things are going, although the model
    parts
    companies are going to be very unhappy about it...
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    AZIZ KIT
    I have just become the new owner of an AZIZ kit (model slipway). It is unstarted and I am told by it's previous owner, that it may have
    parts
    missing, hmmmm. However, I believe I am up to the challenge, so, as soon as we get settled into our new abode and her indoors can't think of anything else that requires my immediate attention I shall make a start.๐Ÿ˜† Watch this space!
    5 years ago by Lordgord
    Response
    Air Boats
    So far so good!๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ˜‰ Ya see, it ain't so hard after all ๐Ÿ˜‰ Hard part is jigging all the
    parts
    together so they can't move. Or stopping the last joint melting apart when you make the next.๐Ÿ˜ก To solve that I use crock clips as heat shunts between the last and the next joint. Keep it up r-h, Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Blog
    Mast assembly
    The supplied mast is of white metal and although OK it has a number of minus points for me. 1- The mast does not lend its self to being hinged. 2- It really needs navigation light on top and the supplied casting is not suitable for this. 3- wiring needs to be hidden, not easy with the casting 4- itโ€™s quite heavy Having said all that itโ€™s ok if you donโ€™t want my wish list. So on with the manufacture of a replica, I chose brass as the preferred material because itโ€™s easy to silver and soft solder. The main legs are made from 6mm round tube, which I squeezed in my machine vice to an oval shape to look like the castings, each of the ends were then squeezed again at 90 degrees to allow then to join to the cross mid-section. I made some brass inserts for the hinged end from 2mm brass sheet, which are bent by 25 degrees to allow the hinge mechanism to sit at 90 degrees to the cabin roof, these are drilled and tapped 8BA. These pieces actually block the end of the oval tube and need to have a 2mm slot milled in them to allow the wires to exit the tube; these are soft soldered in place later. Two feet were made from two pieces of 2mm brass plate the base plate being slotted to accept the upright and finally silver soldered together. (A point here for silver soldering is to use as little solder as possible and allow it to flow with the heat around the joint this means that no filing is needed. I find itโ€™s also good practice to quench the part when nearly cool to break the glass like residue of the flux then just steel wool is required to clean the
    parts
    ). The feet upstands were then drilled 8BA clearance and the base fixing holes drilled the same size. The cross mid-section is made from 1mm brass sheet and is bent through 360 degrees whilst placing a 6mm round bar in the centre to create a hole for the top mast. A small wooden former was used as the piece was pressed together in the machine vice, this was then silver soldered to give stability and then filed to shape. This piece has to accommodate the wires passing through, so again a 2mm slot is milled from each leg location to the centre to create passage up to the top mast. The top mast is just stock tubing which then has a turned top with four 5mm holes machined at 90 degrees to accommodate the LED. This is a 5mm Flat top wide angle LED this will direct the light out of the four holes. Finally the cross piece, again stock tube with small ball finials at each end soft soldered in place and tapped 10 BA for the pulley blocks. All pieces now made, itโ€™s time to assemble the
    parts
    using a combination of soft soldering and epoxy resin. The wire that I used was silicon sheaved, and when I soldered the legs to the mid-section and lower hinge piece I made sure there was enough wire to pull through to check if the process had damaged the wire, but it hadnโ€™t. So having soldered the LED, the top was epoxied to the upper tube and the tube epoxied to the mid-section. Finally the mid-section was filled using Milliput but first putting some Vaseline on the wires to avoid them being stuck should I ever have to rewire the unit. Next the cross beam was added and epoxied in place. The bottom of the legs looked plain compared with the cast version so I have made some thin gauge brass covers with mock bolts as per the original. The whole assembly was cleaned up ready for a first coat of etch primer, and white primer, followed later with a final coat of appliance white
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Forum
    Soldering
    if your not used to using a torch please make sure whatever your resting the work on will not burn!! Oh and please remember things stay hot for longer than you might think cooling a soft soldered joint with water is not a good idea allow it to cool slowly. Get a couple of cheap pairs of pliers and some rubber bands to use for clamps if the
    parts
    are small and light enough a 3rd hand is useful https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC0.A0.H0.Xthird+hand.TRS0&_nkw=third+hand&_sacat=0 some examples there.
    5 years ago by Haverlock
    Response
    Servo Mount
    Two reasons for a double linkage, firstly with a single linkage the pressure exerted on the servo from the rudder during a L/H turn will put the linkage in tension, and when doing a R/H turn then the linkage will be in compression. is it possible this could have an effect on the electronic mechanism in the servo, not that I have any expertise in this area, however with two linkages this is equalled out. Secondly, and the main reason, is that it may not be necessary, it may be overkill, but I like symmetry, and the servo arm has two arms maybe for a reason? At the end of the day its personal preference and itโ€™s good to foster debate and you may find a lot of the
    parts
    I make may not be necessary to most people but I enjoy engineering, wait while you see the mast!
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Media
    Neptun
    Was given this as a hull which had been started 25 yrs ago, along with some superstructure
    parts
    . Without other materials to finish it off, I gave it what I could find and here is where it is today. Motor is 340 Graupner geared 3:1 & 7.2v 2400 NiMH Can not provide any specific sailing details until it has been in the pond which could be awhile...se my front and back yard!
    5 years ago by Ronald
    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 lighting 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
    Response
    Servo Mount
    Two reasons for a double linkage, firstly with a single linkage the pressure exerted on the servo from the rudder during a L/H turn will put the linkage in tension, and when doing a R/H turn then the linkage will be in compression. is it possible this could have an effect on the electronic mechanism in the servo?, not that I have any expertise in this area, however with two linkages this is equalled out. Secondly, and the main reason, is that it may not be necessary, it may be overkill, but I like symmetry, and the servo arm has two arms maybe for a reason? At the end of the day it's personal preference and itโ€™s good to foster debate and you may find a lot of the
    parts
    I make may not be necessary to most people but I enjoy engineering, wait while you see the mast!
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Blog
    Deck
    parts
    good weekend Made up, painted and planked up the engine cover and the 2 funnel stands. Funnel stands need to have the Cowl vents, funnels, hatches and tow mounts fitted to them. Need top make up, create, paint all of those first of course๐Ÿ˜ also looking at a steam generator to go into the front Funnel so a hole will be drilled into the mount for that as well
    5 years ago by barryskeates
    Forum
    What size brushless motor?
    I'm building a new Fairey Hunstman 31 from a kit bought through SLEC. It has provision for a single prop shaft and I've bought a 2 bladed plastic x-shape prop, 25mm based on a recommendation from SLEC. What is the best/most efficient/most powerful brushless electric motor/ battery combination I can fit? I'm a novice at this and my previous boat kit had all
    parts
    supplied. Thank you in anticipation....๐Ÿ‘
    5 years ago by StuartE
    Blog
    First problem.......
    OK..... so after the first week and the excitement of getting the skeleton of the hull and keel in place I hit the first problem.....this is not a kit where everything is cut to the exact size, length, dimensions of the model. You have to do some cutting, sanding and getting out a modelling plane to get the
    parts
    supplied fitted. This now requires some skill and careful fitting of the stringers. Basically they are 2 pieces of hardwood 1/8" x 1/4" cut to length and glued together and need to be shaped and held in place while the glue sets overnight...โ€ฆ.not a simple task. Next, to start fitting the hull skins, the stringers need to be shaped to 2 angles. One for the bottom skins and a different angle for the side skins. Taking too much of the stringers off by using a plane will mean the skins don't lie at the correct angles for gluingโ€ฆ.gently does it!! I take my time and check angles after each pass of the plane over the stringers...WOW stressful, but all's well with the first 2 bottom skins! In addition the Keel needs to be trimmed to the exact angles of the bottom skins so they overlap or butt up against each other. My advice here is to follow the instructions to the letter or you'll probably be using far more P38 in the later stages filling holes and gaps!! NOTE: The bottom and side skins are cut oversize, so they don't fit exactly to the stringers.
    5 years ago by StuartE
    Forum
    soldering
    First rule of soldering is clean it all then clean it again ohh and then clean. Seriously use an abrasive to make sure joint areas are clear of oxides. Presuming your using soft solder get some rosin flux https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soft-Solder-Paste-Soldering-Flux-Grease-Soldering-Accessories-D01850/111141455814?hash=item19e08c07c6:g:-cYAAOSwnFZXUiS8:rk:13:pf:0 one example. Try and make your joints really good fits. Solder will wick into a close fitting joint. if possible " Tin" the individual
    parts
    first that is getting a layer of solder onto the area to be soldered before final assembly. Then try to fix your
    parts
    together in some kind of clamp they need to be held still until the solder cools. NEVER cool the joint quickly! Allow it to cool naturally that way the joint will be at its strongest. Make sure your heat source is strong enough the solder should melt and run freely. if your soldering brass tube honestly I would use a small butane torch but also I would if possible use hard ( silver) solder since if you chose the right one it is a match to brass and makes the joint look like one piece. Hope this is of some help.
    5 years ago by Haverlock
    Forum
    Newbie
    Hi all , yes Iโ€™m new here too. Iโ€™m trying to make a elke 408 kit form, itโ€™s untouched as far as I can tell, some
    parts
    are warped tho, just putting myself out there. I will not put the boat in water at all, if anyone needs a motor 2 wire, for free ,let me know!! Pat
    5 years ago by Pat
    Forum
    Newbie
    "..some
    parts
    are warped tho.." Soaking in water and then bending in reverse can help. in extreme cases you may wish to cut a new piece from better stock. Getting the keel straight, for instance, is important....
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    CNC boat kits...?
    Well, I've got my eShapeoko. I bought all the electronics and motors as well as the mechanical kit from the same source, which meant that I didn't have to do all the work to check compatibility. Total cost, including VAT and postage, was ยฃ563 - which is remarkably cheap for a machine with this size cutting bed. if I had wanted to save money and use the free LinuxCNC with a Chinese breakout board I could have dropped the price to around ยฃ400 - probably below ยฃ350 if I had gone for Chinese Ebay steppers as well. There are more things to get, of course. Tooling and workholding are the standard extras for any big workshop machine. The eShapeoko is designed to hold a Dremel clone, but I will probably be using a more delicate tool to cut out thin balsa shapes for EeZeBilts. The eShapeoko is quite capable of milling metals, but I don't expect to do that very often. So I can't see the total price rising by a lot - perhaps another ยฃ20 or so before I can be cutting my first
    parts
    . The first thing I did when I got the
    parts
    was assemble them roughly to check that it all went together properly. Here is a shot - minus the wiring and controls, of course - to give an idea of the size of the thing. With it I can cut keel lengths up to about 36". The maximum cutting width is about 14". I can easily expand it in length by adding longer rails, but this represents a balance between what would be useful and what would fit easily in the shed! Assembling it is just like making a Meccano kit. Which should present no difficulty to someone of a certain age...! For anyone interested this is the site I got it from: https://amberspyglass.co.uk
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Response
    Cabin detail part 3 (instrument panels)
    I have all the machines and more but I cannot do that. You have a real skill. I love your fixture ideas. One day I will try to machine some similar
    parts
    when I start my 46" RAF Crash Tender. I intend to use this build blog as my guide. Thanks for all of the in depth explanations of how you achieve such detail using every trick in the book and many that are yet to be written. I love reading this build. Really clever. ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘
    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 lighting 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.๐Ÿค“ 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.๐Ÿ˜ค 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.๐Ÿ˜Š
    5 years ago by MouldBuilder
    Blog
    Building the Cabin. Part 2
    Before the front window panels can be added to the cabin structure they need to be shaped to follow the curvature of the front deck as much as possible and then glued together with a reinforcing strip on the back of the joint. Unfortunately I made an error ๐Ÿ˜ก when shaping and jointing the
    parts
    and had to make some new panels from some thin ply that I had to hand using the old panels as a template, hence the roughly cut window apertures in the โ€˜photos. This was unfortunate but I feel better for the confession ๐Ÿ™. The new window panel was then glued and pinned to the front of the cabin assembly and left to dry while in the meantime I used my hot air gun to heat and bend the roof panel to the correct curvature. The roof panel was then pinned and glued in place on the cabin framework and when dry was trimmed with a small plane and the front window panel trimmed down to the roof profile. I added some additional framing and bracing pieces at the base of the front window panels and a โ€˜shelfโ€™ which will form part of the dashboard inside the cabin. I also added some extra framing and an end panel at the rear of the roof and a thin square bead was fitted around the base of the cabin sides and front to improve the appearance where the cabin meets the deck. Before adding further detail to the cabin I used some Z-Poxy finishing resin on the roof panel to strengthen it and provide a better surface for the paint finish which comprised of one coat of white primer, two coats of gloss โ€˜Appliance Whiteโ€™ and two coats of gloss lacquer, all with a thorough rub down between. When all the paint had dried and hardened I gave the exterior of the cabin a first coat of โ€˜Antique Pineโ€™ stain. Next I will add some detail to the deck.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Forum
    RC steam lever
    Hi Gary I looked at your harbour post pictures your boats look great. Yes after I ordered the
    parts
    I thought of a lever oiler combo will order that in the future when I can figure out the piping I will need and yes I can silver solder. Rick
    5 years ago by Newby7
    Directory
    (Other) PS Iona
    It has paddles not propellors! Scratch-built from plan. 2 paddle motors provide independent operation, hence can turn 360 degrees on the spot. Built from wood, brass, 3D printed
    parts
    . (Motor: Heng Long) (ESC: Viper 15) (7/10)
    5 years ago by Harvey Kitten
    Blog
    Paddle Tug Iona - the hull
    So... here is a compressed build blog of my paddle tug Iona... and I'm playing catch-up as the vessel is 95% complete and has been sailed already, but there may be some interest in what I've done. Iona was scratch-built off plan and has turned out to be the cheapest build so far out of 3 I've made, mainly because I was able to source materials from the leftovers box! it's a 'mixed-media' boat ๐Ÿ˜œusing traditional methods of plank on frame hull, with paddles made on my 3D printer, and other
    parts
    turned on the lathe. So starting with the hull, frames were drawn out, transferred to some scrap 9mm ply and cut out on my bandsaw, along with the keel. These were assembled on a build board with some right angle brackets / measuring tools and test fitted before being stuck in place with epoxy. This was quite difficult as the shape of the hull is critical and comes right at the start of the build. I did remake 1 frame to correct alignment. The deck stringers need to bend in 2 directions, so some steaming with a carpet steam cleaner attached to some tubes worked and the wood clamped in place to dry. Outboard sponsons (?) were fitted to make a frame for the paddle boxes to fit on. Then a large sheet of ply forms the bottom of the hull, and the only job left to complete was the (tedious) planking. This was my 1st plank on frame ship... and it took ages. I think it came out reasonably OK but I'm not a perfectionist and I know if I'd spent more time it could be better... but I didn't! Next blog will feature building the paddle boxes and superstructure.๐Ÿค“
    5 years ago by Harvey Kitten
    Blog
    Paddle Tug Iona- paddle boxes & superstructure
    Building the paddle boxes was remarkably easy, once the 1mm ply had been steamed for bending. I decided to build the boxes first and make sure the paddles fitted inside later, the idea being that all this would come apart for maintenance should it be necessary. (it usually is!). There are few models to be found on the internet to use as reference and hardly any images of the original tug. And to confuse matters, PS Iona also existed as a passenger ship, as well as tug, and looked a bit different. The superstructure is really simple and quick to build, with some more planking! Am liking planking small areas now. The funnels came from some scrap plastic tubing in the garage... just the right diameter too, a lucky find. These will screwed in place from below once I have the other funnel
    parts
    made. I plan to run the tug on batteries rather than steam, as I am a relative novice to model boat building. The whole deck will be fitted with 1mm ply as a base before... more planking! Before all this is glued in place, I thought it best to water test the ship first and see how much ballast I am likely to need.
    5 years ago by Harvey Kitten
    Blog
    Building the Cabin. Part 1
    The superstructure of the launch is very simple, and from a practical point it was designed to give the crew a large field of view across the river and fast access in and out to deal with emergency situations. Consequently the construction is quite basic and would be quite straightforward if permanently fixed to the boat but this cabin needs to be removable to give access to the battery location and motor. Because of this the cabin needs to be a strong and rigid structure of its own and yet fit invisibly to the rest of the model, itโ€™s also only a three sided structure because of the open access at the rear and that alone will be a point of weakness to the structure. I started by glueing the internal bracing strips to the insides of the deck sides as described in the instruction sheet and some strips that form the base for the sides that sit on the deck, these also needs to be sanded to an angle to sit flush on the deck and also create a vertical face that some further strips are fixed to which meet the inside walls of the deck well. Although all the
    parts
    for the cabin are accurately laser cut I chose to do a dry โ€˜test fitโ€™ using pins and elastic bands to hold the side panels and roof braces together. This 'dry fit' was neccessary because I had previously decided to fit false obeche panels over the balsa sides and floor of the well to get a better surface to finish in the way I intend, balsa does not have any pleasing grain and does not look good even when stained, so I pinned all these panels in place to account for their addition to the internal dimensions of the well deck. When I was happy that the geometry of the side panels and front window panels was correct I glued all the roof braces in place and added some reinforcing fillets to make it more rigid, temporary braces were glued across the front and rear of the assembly to keep the whole thing rigid and square during further assembly. The pins and rubber bands were used to pull in the side panels while the aliphatic glue set. All of this was done with the cabin on the boat so that the correct โ€˜dryโ€™ fit converted to a permanent fit. Part 2 will continue with the addition of the front window panels and roof.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Build Finalized
    Hello, Finally put some finishing touches on my Rescue Vessel BUILD. Added rubber bumpers to assist in rescuing at bow and stern. Removed the smoker unit as these was complicating the build and was against one of my original objectives....Keep it Simple! Overal all I am pleased with is build, it was fun, quick and built mostly with scraps and
    parts
    on hand. The Springer Tug design is a great starter design and can be easily modified to personal tastes. I recommend this to those out there to get some initial or just more experience at building. it's fun! Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Forum
    CNC boat kits...?
    Not much point uploading a .pdf, unless it has some unusual conversion software. CNC machines work off G Code. The work area is critical for model boat work. Typical
    parts
    are long and thin. The eShapeoko I am building is a nominal 1m x 500mm, which lets me do a 36" keel piece. I would like to put out G Code for cutting the EeZebilt boats, but am not sure how to standardise it so that many CNC machines will be able to use it. Different CNC controllers seem to use subtly different G Code commands...
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    1950s sea commander refurb.
    ".....Thanks for all your comments and input. What i really need now is a copy of the templates sheet so that i can cut some new
    parts
    to replace some of the missing ones ....." There was never a 'templates sheet', of course. There were just the original kit
    parts
    . This is a fundamental problem with trying to 'save' old model boat plans. The aircraft plans usually have all
    parts
    described precisely. Many - possibly most - boat kits are essentially sets of
    parts
    with assembly instructions. So, if you need to reproduce an old kit, you need to include part templates as well. Which means a lot of work for someone. Not only do you have to obtain an example of the original kit, measure it up and draw it using a CAD package, but you also have to allow for the fact that wood changes, and that die-cut
    parts
    may be cut badly, and so what you have measured may need correcting - sometimes quite extensively. Here's a classic example - the old Yeoman MINX, with templates drawn up...
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    1950s sea commander refurb.
    Thanks for all your comments and input. What i really need now is a copy of the templates sheet so that i can cut some new
    parts
    to replace some of the missing ones . I have ordered a new rudder, and new plexi glass for the windows. Already in hand is an Mtronics Viper marine 25 amp ESC. 12 volt 7ah battery, Futaba 27 or 40 Mhz RX. Futaba servo. Just awaiting the motor from Doug (RN in Munich). We are going to repaint the Hull in White, Cabin sides in Dark Blue, Cabin roofs in White. The decks will be left as my dad made them, just cleaned and a fresh coat of varnish. the inside of the hull is well sealed already with bitumen (original) which is still allright. Next stage start rubbing down the hull ready for the glass cloth and Ezekote resin. at least i can do this indoors in the warm, workshop too d*** cold. Thats all for today shipmates, more to come, Cheers Colin.
    5 years ago by Colin H
    Forum
    aeronaut
    hi can anyone help me out there i am building johnny tug boat, the instruction that came with it was in german, i managed to d/load english version, ony problem is the instructions are shocking there is no measurments or dimensions, i have
    parts
    i dont know where they go, if anyone can help me id appreciate it, ive even tried to contact aeronaut to no avail, cheers colin๐Ÿ‘
    5 years ago by jaffy012
    Blog
    Model Smoker Build
    Hello, Yesterday, I showed a Model Smoker that I built, I have had requests to share details. This blog will walk you through what I did. Please note that this was built from ideas gathered from the web, I did not invent this. Also, anything that has voltage and anything that creates heat can be a hazard, I am not responsible for any damage caused. Again, just sharing information. First, I researched the web and saw how others made a smoker, then I just wanted to cobble together one mainly from
    parts
    I have. You can see this on a variety of searches and videos. First, Collected
    parts
    required. 1. Thrift store hair dryer 2. Wick lamp or Tiki torch, or similar wick 3. Wire crimps 4. 18 GA wire 5. Box, enclosure, container 6. 5v -12v fan, direction pushes air into box. 7. Foil, had copper sheet of aluminum foil 8. Adhesive, used CA 9. Mint tin or other Since I did not photograph the original, I will put together some build steps and sketches. More to come, see photos for
    parts
    used. Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Blog
    Rubbing fenders, more epoxy & hatch coamings.
    With all of the deck planking fitted I can now fix the rubbing fenders to the hull where the deck meets the hull sides. These are made from 6.5mm x 5mm obeche strip steamed and bent to shape and fixed with 30 minute epoxy, unfortunately the strips are not quite long enough to do this in one piece even with the rear rubbing fender in place at the stern so a join has to be made which I hope wonโ€™t be too conspicuous. The fender tapers in height from bow to stern and the piece that runs across the stern was made from 5mm x 5mm obeche. All the fenders were โ€˜pilot drilledโ€™ for the pins that held them in place while the glue set. The complete hull was then given a further two coats of epoxy resin with a rub down between coats and a final โ€˜polishโ€™ with 240 grit paper used wet. The resulting finish is perfectly smooth and ready for paint. The front and rear hatches were fitted with the coamings that will hold the hatches in place. The rotary disk sander that I bought from Lidl is certainly proving to be very useful in shaping small
    parts
    at this stage of the construction. I note that itโ€™s back on sale now (Feb 2019) so if you have the opportunity and ยฃ30 โ€ฆ.go buy yourself one! The next stage will be to assemble the cabin.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    Motor, mount & prop-shaft.
    Hi robbob and mturpin013, I emailed Mike Cummings and have just received a reply. He said how sorry he was to hear there were these
    parts
    missing, and if I send my address he would get them sent to me. Thank you both for your advice. I didn't think that after having the kit for so long I would not have got anywhere by contacting him. I have just sent him my details. Thanks again for your help.
    5 years ago by BOATSHED
    Blog
    Weight Too Much!
    Captain's Log: After careful consideration. I have decided to use only one battery at a time! This being 6.5 lbs. is way too much weight. Her bow is too low to the waterline. She get's thrown off by the weight. So, one battery at a time will be used! Now, having lowered the volts. From 12 volts to 6 volts is a problem. See her main motor and smoker. Are 12 volts each! So, now I have to replace. The main motor and the smoker. To a 6 volt system! This is not so easy. If any of you are familiar. With Dumas and Harbor model products. You know this ain't cheap!๐Ÿ˜ญ Luckily, I will be selling both
    parts
    . Together next month! As both
    parts
    are in new condition! I will then order a 6 volt main motor and Smoker! Oh, each battery will give me about 1.5 hours of run time! And that's not bad at all..... NOTE: I'm only losing $10.00 on the resale of her Motor and Smoker!
    5 years ago by figtree7nts
    Blog
    LED Nav. Lighting
    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 lighting 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 lighting 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
    Response
    Sea Trials and mods.
    Wow Robbob, I have just seen the video of your Crash Tender. She is amazing. Looks great on the water. I just love the way these hulls sit on the water. Virtually no roll at all, it's as if they are glued to the waters surface. The Aerokits Crash Tender was my very first boat back int 1959, it was my 9th birthday present and my father and I started to a build. But he wasn't happy about building the original kit straight outright. As our first ever build, he brought home broken down tea chests and orange boxes and he got me to draw round all the
    parts
    and he went on to cut each piece out with a nice new fretsaw. So as the first one went together and it seemed to go well then the Aerokits one followed on. He then bought me a ED Hunter 3.46cc Diesel engine for my Christmas present that year. I say he I should say my parents both bought them for me. Sadly I never got to have radio control in it. I was weird as we went on to build another five in all. One was given to my younger brother, his had a Taycol Standard in it, and I had the job of taking the accumulator to the local model shop to have it charged up as we never had a charger for it. I think they used to charge something like a shilling each time it was done. The other five that we built he actually gave away to friends and one even went to the milkman. I still have a 34 and a 46 inch still new in boxes. The 34" is an original that Was Released in 1994 by Aerokits on the 50th Anniversary and the 46" is a VMW kit. I have a 46" to refurbish and have scaled one down and built a 28" in Balsa wood. As well as a 46" PT 109 with a 26cc in her that also sits on the water the same way. Sorry to waffle on it just brings back old memories. I'll leave it there. I just love your Build such detail.
    5 years ago by BOATSHED
    Forum
    Smoke generator
    Dogergeezer and Captaindoug, what did you gentlemen use for the fluid? Did you buy some or did you try different homemade recipes like mineral oil or glycerin? I am about to try building one soon as I can easily get all of the
    parts
    from things I already have. Thanks, Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Forum
    CNC boat kits...?
    I'll probably go for a laser cutter in the end. A big CO2 one - but these are powerful tools, and i'd like to have a reliable cutting bed before experimenting with something that might cut the shed in half! The obvious answer is to use some driver software that does handle tool radius compensation - I understand that the Tiny board firmware is now open source with a new name - G2Core. I think it needs a bit more poke than an Arduino Uno, though. I intend to simply slot sheets of balsa into it and crank out kit
    parts
    - which means a single pass cut. One issue is how to hold the sheet of balsa down without interfering with the cut. I was wondering about a vacuum base. If you want to observe a laser cutter safely, I hear that the Yank modellers are sealing them in enclosures, and viewing progress through a webcam, which is one answer....
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    CNC boat kits...?
    Which is where laser cutting leaps to the fore with a tool diameter around 0.1 mm. The Cyclone is a pcb cutter which uses a taper-point tool so there is no offset. The goal is to mount a laser rather than a Dremel. Point taken on the smaller
    parts
    . My initial thought was that, with a larger platform, you could cut multiple
    parts
    from a larger piece of material in one pass. Unfortunately, you can't walk away from a laser cutter to let it get on with things as you can with a 3D printer. You are looking at a potential bonfire and the bigger the job, the longer you have to stand and watch it.
    5 years ago by Delboy
    Forum
    CNC boat kits...?
    I'm doing the eShapeoko - I wanted a more rigid machine for general purposes, and I liked the fact that you could specify the X and Y axis lengths. For cutting model boat
    parts
    you rarely want something as wide as 1 foot - but you often want items of length greater than 1 yard. The eShapeoko has standard sizes as extreme as 15 inches by 60 inches, and can easily be extended. I've gone for 18 x 36 inches - should be fine for EeZebilts... One of the things that's a bit annoying with GRBL is that it doesn't currently do tool radius compensation. I'm using an arduino with grbl as well, and if I cut my plans as drawn they will all be a tool radius out. I am currently looking to use a 0.5mm tool so the effect will be small - but if you know of a better driver interpreter...?
    5 years ago by DodgyGeezer
    Forum
    CNC boat kits...?
    Having built (well, assembled really) i am currently building a small CNC router with 3D printed
    parts
    . See https://reprap.org/wiki/Cyclone_PCB_Factory. Currently redesigning to be driven by GT2 belts and pulleys as I have some reservations about using 3D printed gears from the point of view of back-lash and wear. The stepper motors are driven from an Arduino Mega running the GRBL g-code interpreter. There are a host of free g-code generator tools to be found on the internet. Some of them are a bit "knife and fork" but there are some useful ones out there and there is lots of helpful information too.
    5 years ago by Delboy
    Response
    Railings
    I have made just a couple of bits for different models. As well as used it to make something for my granddaughters dolls house. But I keep a supply just in case I need it for the model boats and cars. This is the mast I first made from it on my 28" RAF Crash Tender. I shrunk the plan
    parts
    on a scanner and made it from 90% balsa. The water trial was a bit of a failure as the brass prop was too large and 4 bladed. I have since invested in 3 smaller ones 30, 25, and 20mm 3 bladed brass but not got around to another sea trial yet. Also as you can see she still needs to be finished with painting. I will get round to it one day.
    5 years ago by BOATSHED
    Blog
    Railings
    Last night I had done a quick railing mockup as seen in the first three photos. Decided to go with styrene and use a rectangular stanchions (verticals) and top handrail along with horizontal round intermediates. Drilled holes through the verticals and inserted the round rods, then glued. Worked pretty well. Next few shots show how I typically sketch up to scale and determine proper spacers, dividers come in handy for this. Then drew some guide lines for assembly, taped it to my tack surface, covered in wax paper and pinned the assemble in place. Pins do not penetrate anything,just uses pressure to secure. Some drops of styrene cement and the
    parts
    are welded together. Then on to all the railings needed. Will let dry overnight and trim ends in place. FYI -- Tack surface is just a piece of acoutical ceiling tile, I cut down the 2'x4' size to make smaller ones for my tiny workbench use. I learned this pinning method from building balsa airplanes, comes in handy a lot...... Joe
    5 years ago by Joe727
    Response
    Classic sports boat
    It looks like an Aeronaut Classic, I am half way through building one and am not happy with it as I have built it as per instructions and the bottom skins are a good eight of an in too short. it seems tome that a lot of the
    parts
    like the side stringers are way too thin. I saw a picture of one that was being built that some one was doing a couple of years back and now the
    parts
    have been dramatically skimped now. I am very dissapointed with the model generally.
    5 years ago by BOATSHED


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