Blog

Command Boat 90

Scratch built at 12th scale from pictures and profiles of the internet. The boat was originally built in Sweden a class of fast military assault craft originally developed for the Swedish Navy by Dockstavarvet Speed: 40 knots (74 km/h) Draught: 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in) Length: 15.9 m (52 ft) Overall; 14.9 (48') Complement: 3 (two officers and one engineer); Up to 21 amphibious troops with full equipment Armament: 3 × Browning M2HB machine guns; 1 × Mk 19 grenade launcher; 4 naval mines or 6 depth charges . The Model I was attracted to this boat due to its great performance and maneuverability, this was mainly due to the use of twin water jets as the main propulsion, this is a trade off with efficiency. So my start point was to collect as much information as possible about the boat this involved collecting pictures and profiles of the craft from various sources. http://www.dockstavarvet.se/products/combat-and-patrol-boats/combat-boat-90-h/specification/ Eventually I found some plans of sort :- http://laurell.today/boats/combat/plans.html My Dad was a boat builder in the days of wooden yachts, and had showed me how to make plans and frames from a line drawing. I went about this first by creating a prototype about 24 in long out of light ply. I then created full size plans of the model to be made. Pictures of small prototype finally painted plain green. The Main model Used my computer to print out the frames onto paper, cut them out and used them as templates for the ply ribs. The construction was simple chine style, with 1.5 mm ply. I tried to build jet drives but failed to produce a effective unit. So reverted to propshafts which worked out well with better control and the boat can spin on it own axis by putting one engine in reverse the other in forward and adjusting the twin rudders. That it for now, hope it was of some interest

6 years ago by CB90

Forum

soldering

Ok, needs some advise. I've purchased cooper tubing (1/8 sq & rnd, 1/16 rnd for building my air boat shrouds. I've also purchased a digit solder iron so that I can get accurate heat ranges. I've searched for "how to solder" on the subject, but have only found plumbing references. Would prefer to not use propane! Joints are expected to be contact joints, not one piece inside another. Would appreciate some feed back, wanting to get started, but not to waste material learning!😉

5 years ago by retirement-hobby

Forum

Aziz, Westerriff, Assurance Envoy for sale

These three boats are still for sale, with no offers to date. I am inviting offers, and I really am not looking to retire on the proceeds, and I will give very serious consideration to any offers received. I do need to make space in the very near future, and I guess Ebay or public auctions may be the next move, however I would rather give a purchase opportunity to model boat enthusiasts prior to offering to the west of the world :-) . All three boats have been constructed to a very high standard, and are in exceptional order. The boats are located in Cheshire, South Manchester, close to the motorway network. Thank you, Dave

5 years ago by Davecounty

Forum

Rigging a model barge

Hull is a 30" generic Mastman hull. Will be RC. I have all but finished the hull, now making spars. Photos I have seen all look like rigging rope, available from various sources, Mastman etc. but I was wondering if it would be better if I used a wire. if so, what do I use. Cornwall model boats don't seem to list a wire. Bear in mind, difference in thickness for mainmast rigging to topmast. Any ideas?

5 years ago by Nerys

Response

Basic hull construction completed

very nice bit of shaping on the balsa there and filling. I purchased a Perkasa MTB hull off of a boot fair and that part they have done is awful. I have got to sort that out. As far as the motor size goes, I put a 10 cc Irvine engine in a model boat that should only have had a 7.5cc in it. it went like stink. But even then it would all depend on how you use your throttle control. I would myself still go larger than instructions say but that's because I'm a speed freak. Flat out on the straight and test to the extreme on turn's. Turned a couple upside down as well and still was able to carry on running once recovered. I always take a telescopic fishing rod with me with a weight and floating line for recovery.

5 years ago by BOATSHED

Response

Enclosing the controls.

From Boaty I am following your post with interest as I had been thinking about building a Police Launch in the near future. Models with aft cockpits can present issues when installing RC gear and I have experienced this when building an Aerokits Sea Scout and five years ago when restoring the Crash Tender. Simplest method is to install the servo horizontally and raise the cockpit floor but this can create problems in itself unless the floor is sealed around the edges to prevent water entering the compartment. The seat idea is a realistic method as it could be eliminate the problems that I mentioned above as well as providing easier access to the RC gear. Keep up the good work Boaty😁

5 years ago by boaty

Media

Mowe 2

I hadn't built a model of any sort since I was 15 years old and that was a control line aeroplane with a glow worm engine. 45 years later and regressing nicely back to my teenage years, my wife bought me (reluctantly!) a Kit - Mowe 2. I had been wanting to build again for many years, but children and family and home situation did not allow. So, over the cold Autumn and Winter Months I carefully put my spare nights to good use, rather than watching night after night TV box sets and re-watching the entire James Bond movies, not once but 2 or 3 times.... Anyhow after 3 months...the finished product. I should have started a blog but didn't know of this site until a few weeks ago. Not a brilliant finished job, but a satisfying one, and it sails nicely on Bushy Park boating lake in Kingston-upon-Thames. Now o nto bigger and more complicated things...a Fairey Huntsman 31. This time I'll do a blog....👍

5 years ago by StuartE

Forum

J-502 progressing along

I have researched North Sea trawlers of several countries but have found that match the Billing Boat Progress Junior J-502 There are similarities from which I took to add more details, but if anyone could provide more please tell me. What fishing gear is needed for this boat set-up? Some photos are of other models, and some are actual fishing boats.

5 years ago by Ronald

Forum

Receiver aerial

You're talking about using one of these? https://www.rcworld.co.uk/acatalog/2-4Ghz-400mm-Extended-Aerial-Pair-P_RA2_4G_400.html or on ebay... https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Futaba-2-4ghz-400mm-Extended-RX-Aerial/1504309322 So long as these are the advised spec by the manufacturer, why worry about the impedance? You might be interested in this discussion I had a little while ago on the Single Channel site about replacing 2.4Ghz aerials - points Martin made include: "......I tested all my detachable 2.4 GHz antennas and found quite a wide range of frequencies they were best tuned for, ranging from about 2.1 to 2.6 GHz - but they all work fine and have pretty good SWRs at the 2.45 GHz point. What was more interesting was testing various antennae that I've received for various pieces of kit over the years that run at 433 MHz, 5.8 GHz and the GPS frequencies of 1.2 and 1.6 GHz. Many of these are just 2.4 GHz antennas - I even have one that is labelled 433 MHz, but is really a 2.4 GHz and quite useless at 433 MHz!......." ".....It is important to realize that all the coax cables we use (all relatively light and thin) are all quite lossy at 2.4 GHz, so you shouldn't make the non-transmitting (intact cable) part any longer than it needs to be. if you have a foot or two of coax feeding the active part of the antenna (the modified bit at the end) then you can easily lose half of the available signal....." http://mode-zero.uk/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=389 I would also add that polarisation may become important when you have an aerial close to a horizontal reflective plane like a lake. I suspect that you might get a lot of the signal coming at you horizontally polarised, which a vertically mounted aerial won't like. For video output from a boat I've been using the circular polarised aerials that the drone operators use in an attempt to maintain signal at distance - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-4GHz-Circular-Polarized-clover-leaf-Antenna-set-with-short-connector-RP-SMA/253889968333?hash=item3b1d0578cd:g:YkEAAOSw5LZcZF3Y:rk:3:pf:0

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

Time to let go !

For some time now, I've been addicted to purchasing beautiful things, particularly well made things, without much thought for my family, my job, or where the heck I'm going to put them ! On one such escapade I helped out with disposing of a small flotilla of very well made boats, with the intention of keeping one, and having made my decision on which one to keep, the rest must now sail away ! I must admit that I'm a sucker for 'plug N play' the easy way out possibly, but I really don't yet have the time to build a kit myself, which is my aim for the future . Ho Hum. Anyway, enough about me, what about the boats ? I hear. Well, the first is a very well constructed Model Slipway 1:43 scale Assurance Class WW2 armed tug. The model has sailed previously, but is presently only fitted with a motor, rudder servo and various wiring. It will of course need finishing in this respect. The build quality is excellent, and is as it should be, except for a little attention required to the rigging, as visible in the images. Also, the white I.D. decals are slightly flaking, on the port side ( now I am being picky, but that's about the extent of 'things to do'). I guess the initiated will know the spec. but if any further info is required, please do ask. I am open to very sensible offers for this, and the other boats that I will be releasing. I purchased a collection, to save them from a commercial brokerage, and to retain one for my own use, which is now the case. Please do ask any questions, or let me know if you need further images of any aspect of the craft. Of course, I will not post, and it will be advisable for a prospective buyer to view first. The boat is presently moored in South Manchester, with easy access from the motorway network. Best regards.

5 years ago by Davecounty

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 😜using 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.🤓

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, it’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 ‘test fit’ 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 ‘dry’ 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

Forum

Sea Queen - strakes

The principle is simple. Fluid flowing over a surface tends to stick to it (Google Coanda Effect). it's worse at the low Reynolds numbers that models work at. The result is that water displaced by the boat at speed tends to flow up the sides of the hull, sticking to them, and can even pour onto the deck. This slows the boat down and can swamp it. If you have a sharp chine, you can force the water to move away from the hull at the discontinuity, because it can't easily flow around a sharp angle. ideally, you can deflect it downwards and get some lift, helping the boat onto the plane. So a lot of models have small rails along the chine, shaped to deflect the water downwards a bit. This is what many of the Aerokits models have. Deep Vee design relies on these a lot - the bottom of the hull has a series of parallel spray rails so that as the boat rises in the water the spray is deflected downwards by each rail in turn and an ever-smaller part of the hull bottom is wetted - reducing drag a lot. But the Sea Queen is not a Deep Vee, and doesn't need more that the one set of rails along the chine. Deep Vee spray rails can also help to cushion the shock when a boat drops back into the water after leaving it - but that's more useful in full-size practice rather than models....

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

I'm thinking about interchanging boat plans as CNC files - so I'm thinking about the sort of machines people are going to have at home. There are a lot of 'cheap Chinese' machines on EBay for £200 up to about £500 - but these will be used for engraving, and will have cutting tables of about 8" square. Boat modellers really need a long axis. The Shapeoko is an 'open source' hardware design - much like the Rep-Rap, and the great thing about it is that you can specify the axis sizes - so you can have a machine which is a foot by six feet if you wish. I have just bought a UK kit for one called the eShapeoko - 1m x 500mm - cost about £500. But there is so much to consider - calibrating the machine, choosing a spindle drive, picking a software set....

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.

".......If you have a computer, they usually come with some basic drawing tools like "Paint" or use paint.net.... Take the image and open with Paint, then just use the rectangular select tool to pick what you want to enlarge. Then just crop it and you have a nice separate image to save........" The fully-featured Open Source image processing package is called 'The Gimp'. You can download it for free, and it enables you to perform any image manipulation process you like - matching professional packages like Photoshop. I use it to create full drawings of vintage model boat plans which are often sent to me as a set of partial A4-sized scans. These can easily be re-sized, rotated, matched up and stitched together to make a full-sized drawing. For example, look at any of the Stirling plans on my Old Boats website: http://oldboats.tk/Sterling1.html

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

What scale

Do a search and see if you can find the length oh the original boat was. Then I can show you the math. Example: 90' boat / 45" model 45 divided by 90 equals .5 or 1/2" So 1/2" = 1'-0" or 1/24th scale You get scale ... 12" divided by 1/2" equals 24 Good luck, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Determine Scale / Ribs / HELP with building board ideas?

To clarify this build, it will be a RC Sailing Boat with full functioning rudder and sails. I say this as I am using the PEARL for its design overall, but as to detailed historical details it will have some, but be simplified. Boat's Dimnsions were shown in Imperial, 21' width x 85'-6" length. The bowsprit adds about another 25% in length. To determine what scale I wanted to build in I thought most about storage, weight to lift and how to transport to the pond. I like to keep things simple, I prefer to rig it and transport while assembled, with the topsail mast dropping and the bowsprit retracted. Have done this before and it has worked well for me. Looking at potential scales and finished sizes. * 3/4" or 1/18 scale would be 16" x 64" * 1/2" or 1/24 scale equals 10.5" x 42.75" * 3/8" equals 8" x 32" I prefer a larger bout in length as it is easier to get to sail correctly, at least in my experience. Anything under 32" get tricky. I like the 64" size, but with bowsprit will be about 88" LOA. This will be a little too large for my vehicle. I decided to go with 1/2" scale as it will still be a good length hull. Ribs - I took the hull line drawings from the book, which were very small, just about an inch wide. I scanned the image and using the app "paint" on my laptop. I cropped it close around the hull rib drawing, I then enlarged it to 1/2" scale. Then I printed on standard letter sized paper, then mirrored the image cut them in two, pasted up as seen in the photos to show the completed rib sections. Next I will put together a building board / hull jig. I want to build bottom up for planking. DO any of you have any good ideas for the best one to build? I have never done this except for tiny boats. Ideas, Help would be appreciated. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

Aeronaut Pilot Boat

Hi Ron. I have a reasonable knowledge of electronics and wiring but my difficulty lies in the circuit board designs, especially when IC`s are involved. Fortunately this site has some very good people willing to help. I have been helped a lot by Doug, (RNinMunich) who is always happy to advise. Due to only requiring a small quantity of electronic items such as LED`s at a time, I buy most of them through ebay. I would recommend bright_components for LEDs and resistors. They sell most things needed for the boat builder where electronics are concerned. 😊

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Motor Anti-Submarine Boat MA/SB

I have established that the decks on these vessels were planked and usually painted RN Dark Grey Blue B15. Whilst I can source this paint in small amounts, typically 17ml, I am unable to find it in larger amounts. The boat is 82cm long x 22cm beam. Can anyone help please? Thank you Steve

5 years ago by cormorant

Media

Moorcock

I bought the Moorcock from a fellow boater and decided to rebuild her as the Moorcock. The hull was stripped bare and the prop-shaft tube removed and completely remade with a new prop. The hull was then repainted and the life boat and davits added The superstructure was cleaned up and remade with a Robbe spring loaded grappling iron added to the rear deck.She is powered by a 24v scooted motor salvaged from a garbage bin and has 4 x 12v 7amh SLA's to provide power. She is a good strong vesel to sail and is often used as a recovery tug.

5 years ago by GeoffA

Forum

AIR FOR STEAM

Hello All Thinking out loud when I research steam engines it seams after they are built or after repair they are tested on an air compressor is it possible to set up a model to run a steam engine with air if so would it be by compressor or a compressed air bottle . If by compressor is there a small enough unit to go into a boat and be battery operated any ideas . Rick

5 years ago by Newby7

Forum

fuse holder

Hi all , can any one recommend a fuse holder type for , I have tested the schenllboot in the testing tank got all three working but intermittently , motor 1 fuse blown motor 3 smoking ,its a 15 amp 7.2v system.my aim is to replace Halfords fuse holders with ones more suited to model boat cant find any on internet which are specific for model boats , also planning to change wire for mtroniks wire for the fuse holder, programing the ESC works better doing one at a time

6 years ago by teejay

Forum

Bournville Illuminated Regatta

Hoping to get there with Worcester Model Boat Club this year. Too late a finish put paid to last year. But, fingers crossed for this year Rob 😀

5 years ago by rolfman2000

Event

Bournville Illuminated Regatta

Bournville MBC Invite all RC model boaters to show off their models lights, if it floats and has lights on it we want to see it. Free to enter Light Refreshments Free Parking Disabled Access Contact Rob Fowler 07714517445

5 years ago by Aquaflite

Forum

Fairmile D 1/24 Scale Build

Hi John, You seem to have missed the point entirely, as you also did with your first post on this thread, in which instead of trying to help Andy and answer his question you attempt to dissuade him from his goal. Unfortunately I missed Andy's question back in March as I was embroiled with family matters. BUT, if he hasn't in the meantime been 'scared off' by the lack of constructive response I will do my best to help, having several times been down the road of multiple screws, as have many other better constructors than me on this site. Nearly all my ships have two, three or even four screws. Only the Sea Scout and ancient Billing Boats fish cutter (a restoration and conversion from static to RC project) have single screws - as per originals. About a year ago I acquired a model of a US Elco PTB fitted with two shafts. I am restoring it, rebuilding as Kennedy's PT109, and will fit the third shaft to complete it to scale as per original. Why? Because that's what scale modelling is about and because it's a challenge - pushing limits. Far be it from me to decry or put down anyone (as you now seem to be trying with me). We all have the enthusiasm (or we wouldn't be here) and do the best we can with the skills nature gave us and what the budget and state of health allows. I have often been astounded and appropriately applauded, and supported where I can, what fellow members have achieved with very limited resources and under very different circumstances from those we in the so called 'Western World' enjoy. That guy in Bangladesh blows my mind with what he manages in the back of beyond! Look for his post about his March '71 boats. WHEN I pitch in here I try to do so with constructive assistance, drawn from my own modelling experience and a lifetime spent working with navies and shipyards, to help a guy achieve his aims and dreams. NOT to immediately deflate him by saying 'Why do that? I did mine this way, it's not what you want but it works for me'. So far the Likes, PMs and mail feedback, request for assisitance I have tell me I'm doing something right. if I do boob (we're all human) I'm prepared to admit it and make amends / corrections. I have no idea what this 'Hooben' is that you yatter on about BUT - if "every little detail (is) reproduced with superb accuracy" why then ruin the overall effect by not continuing this attention to detail on the underwater ship and fitting shafts and screws appropriately? Whatever you do have fun with it, but don't dissuade others from pursuing their dreams. True there are "many roads to travel before one reaches there (!sic) destination" BUT as Confucius said "Every journey begins with the first step." if at the first step someone says 'Your destination is the wrong one' instead of offering a roadmap ..... ! Regards, Doug 😎 BTW: still waiting for the pics / videos of your 'Hooben' (?) and the Perkasa.

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Holy SMOKE !! Video, Tin Can Madness

BTW: I grew up with valves (or bottles as we Brits also call 'em) as well. I still have a box of several vintage 'bottles' in the cellar, many of them new still in the original boxes. if you ever run out of triodes, pentodes or tetrodes give me a buzz! Think I still have some pristine EL80s - collectors items these days - lots of Oomph 😁 My next non-model boat electronic project is a pair of digital clocks in 'Art Deco' cases, using bottle decade counters. The forerunners of the fluorescent tubes and then the LED clocks, but much more fun😉. About forty years ago I spent a year or so servicing and calibrating the radiation monitors around UK nuke power plants using these decade counters. One cosmic radiation click = one jump in the base counter and so on. Never ever saw anything above the basic cosmic radiation background count which is always there. A remnant of the 'Big Bang'. 😲 Funny where an interest in electronics and radio can getcha 😁 Look forward to your chimney experiment report👍 My destroyer has two funnels but I found that the little railway smokers were not man enough to feed two funnels via a branched tube. But two working in parallel off the one RC channel did the trick. Regarding the chimney effect; Works well at rest or at low speeds, but I also found that instead of a fan some traditional air vent scoops mounted forward of the smoker augmented the effect well at higher speeds. And my long thin destroyer with 2 x 540s on 12V made a lot of 'speed boats' look silly 😁 Have fun, ciao, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Fairmile D 1/24 Scale Build

The E-boat was built and belongs to a friend of mine - Graham Smithwick. it is a fibreglass hull and he has had it for a long time. There are plenty of resources on E-boats. This is a very good one. http://www.pt-boat.com/ I have also included some photos of his E-boat before the newer camouflage.

5 years ago by reilly4

Blog

Slow going ...

After building the mine laying rails I then purchased scale German mines , only to find out that they are 4mm wider than the rails on the boat, ...what to do , cut the mines (8) down and rework the base and wheels to fit the boats rails or move the rails wider ..... moving the rails ... slow going , found that the motors I have are more aircraft/drone use per the esc, , no reverse .... Hobbyking does have esc that will work , still need a couple of servos and a radio , just not sure if a 6 Chanel land/ boat radio or get a large channel stick radio would be better ... as always $$$$ is an issue . Work on the messy table as I fit cut and replace fittings and supports ... Smooth sailing to all... Bill G

5 years ago by BW3

Forum

Rx-tx confusion

Lordgord, I understand the confusion as there is almost too much infor nation on the web, much of it is mis-leading. I have been using this technology for 12 years now and have owned and used at least 8 Spektrum receivers. Here's my take: 1. You need a DSM2 or DSMX Transmitter, that simple. 2. My first photo shows a Spektrum AR7000 RX in my tugboat. it's a nice RX, IS 7 channel with an addition satellite received. it's overkill for a boat that just needs a couple of channels and doesn't fall to earth in a failure. Originally purchased for an RC Airplane, it's pricey at $90 to $100 USD. OUCH. 3. Ti try the less expensive RX's available no, first I tried OrangeRX and bought 3, none of which ever worked, a problem with China's lack of quality control. 4. Recently p, I needed two more RXs for boat builds and read that LemonRX was doing pretty good. Last two photos are of the Lemon, model LM0034. They work great and bind very easy, best of all they are $16 USD ! www.lemon-rx.com 5. One caveat with the lemon, they come just as shown in photo....no documentation. You need to look up on the internet which port is which and how to bind. Took me about 10 minute, bu is something to consider if this is your first hookup. Knowing which set of prongs go to what channel is critical. Personally, in the future, I am going to buy more Lemons... Hope this helps, Ask any question that you may have, we are all hear to help each other. Cheers, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

Smoke generator

Have just made a prototype of a fan forced smoker which seems to be working well (despite breaking the heater coil by moving it while hot, - had it apart, broke wire, screw and washer repair, not quite as hot) I bought a couple of Heng Long smokers (for R/C tanks or cars) to play with, for $10 NZ each(or 5.3 Euros to you Northerners give or take a yen) from Bangood and just bought another from Ebay. There seem to be 2 different models, as one has a long coil with a lamp wick draped over it, which is sitting in the oil reservoir, the other has a small coil inside a piece of heat resistant woven tubing (as you might find insulating toaster/heater wiring etc) which acts as a wick and that also sits in cotton wool in the reservoir, (this seems to be the better of the two) Tip - don't fill the tank right up, only enough to soak the cotton, element should be just out of the oil. The wick loads the element. The better model seems to have a black top to the tank (also maybe either brown or black tank) and the other has a brown top and dirty brown tank. As with most of this stuff you won't know till you get it what it's going to be. What I did was remove the tank and cut off the pump tube just in front of the screw lugs (see black line in photo) then fitted the tank, and a 40x40x10 5v ESC fan (voltage controlled by a UBEC set to 5v on the jumpers) into a plastic electronics utility box from Jaycar (our local electronics and hobby store). I made up a double JST lead for the 2s 1800Mah Lipo and fired it up (using baby oil). it's pretty much silent and smokes well once it gets warmed up, ( starts smoking in about 5 seconds) You could control it (on/off volume) by either a remote on/off switch or perhaps a small cheap 10A brushed ESC. I would leave the fan running and control the element to avoid burning the element. The original pump tank inlet hole seems ok as is (approx 1.5mm) but you could enlarge it very slightly to get a better flow if you could find a better oil. At the electronics store they have proper smoke machine oil for $20 NZ per litre so I may have a look at that. The reason I went for the fan idea was that I found in std pump form, if I immersed a tube from the tank in water, it sucked water back into the tank. I was hoping it would pump smoke out of my HSL exhausts at water level alongside the cooling water but it would need a very light non return valve to do this. The fan seems to pump the smoke through 2mm ID silicone tube ok, so tubing of similar ID to the OD of the tank outlets should work well. These pumps in original form work pretty well for the price, and are cheap enough to keep a few for spare elements, the only thing is they are a bit noisy but in an 'engine sounding' way, (might add to the effect on a tug or work-boat though) What you have left after this mod is a very handy little geared motor with an eccentric output wheel which could be used for winches, radar and whirly bits of any description (see pic of motor leftover and original) To avoid burnout, these should be run on no more than a 2s (around 7.5v-(suggest 8v max with fan running) The other tank is going to work a lot better than this one but I'm not making a tug, just want a bit of exhaust smoke on start-up etc to go with the 2 sound units. Very cheap to make (around $25 NZ with pump, box, fan and UBEC all through Ebay, Aliexpress and Bangood (and local electronics store) if you wanted to run an ESC to control the smoke and you have no channels left to control it proportionally, you can always try using a second receiver bound to your TX, (if your TX will allow it,) power it and a brushed ESC (wired to the element) as normal and use the throttle channel to plug in your smoke control. This should work if you want more smoke as you accelerate or if you are using only 1 stick on a 2 stick TX you could use your 'elevator' stick pushed up (or a toggle switch if available) to start/stop the smoke (through the brushed ESC setup) . This setup weighs 100g (10g more than std) The quest for lots of smoke continues Will try to upload vid later and update progress.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

Artesania Samson RC Tugboat Build + Navigation

Has anyone built this model? Can you please comment on it. Thanks

5 years ago by juskiddin

Event

Military Boat Day

Bournville MBC Military Boat Day. Bournville MBC invite all RC Military Boat Skippers to join in their annual Military Boat day. Informal sailing and general chit chat about everything RC Military Boat, from Submarines , Battleships to fleet Tankers. If it has a Military connection we want to see it. Free to enter Light Refreshments Free Parking Disabled Access Contact Rob Fowler 07714517445

5 years ago by Aquaflite

Forum

Paint for Thames River Police Boat.

Hi Haverlock. I think I'll use a bit of 'modeller's license' and maybe a bit of 'the force' to choose a suitable deep blue. I need to finish this boat quite soon. Thanks for your diligence. Rob.

5 years ago by robbob

Forum

Book on Sailing Barges

Hello Joe We seem to be of a similar mindset, my interest is mainly in sail although I have several tugs etc. I found a really useful reference book is 'Spritsail Barges Of Thames and Medway' which was published around 1948 and written and researched by Edgar J March. As well as being interesting and a good read has many illustrations and drawings of old gaffer rigs. May not be easy to find but well worth the effort. Another avenue for information is the Society for Sailing Boat Research I have contact details if required, it is possible to join and contribute to this organisation for £15 p.a. Best regards Chris G

5 years ago by ChrisG

Forum

Book on Sailing Barges

Chris, Thank for the information, I will look into that book. I started in ing but building and racing several classes of sailboats, including several US1Meter class. Being a much better builder than skipper, I was drawn to schooners that many club members had. Got interested in working sailcraft due to the history and the slower, power of these craft. The Gaff Rigged Handbook by Jihn Leather is one of my favorite build guides. Yes, I really like Gaff Rigging. This book was great for lots of rigging details and sails... See photo example. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Plumbing the water-cooling for the ESC

The HobbyKing ESC I’m using has the facility for water cooling and as it will be in an enclosed location without any free ventilation it seems sensible to utilise this feature. To keep the water circuit as short as possible I will put the pickup just behind the propeller and the exhaust on the stern but as the boat has a bulkhead just in front of the stern skin I need to make an access hole through it to allow me to secure the nut on the stern skin. I made a hole through the bulkhead large enough to get a socket on the nut and reinforced the hole with a ply plate, similarly I reinforced the inside of the stern skin where the outlet passes through it. When I was happy that the arrangement worked and I could attach the hoses and securing clips easily I glued and pinned the stern skin to the hull. The water pickup is a standard one that is readily available but it’s supplied with overly large and ugly fixing nuts, the inside one is of no consequence but I thought that the outer one needed smartening up so I put it on a threaded rod and locked it in place with another nut and put that into the chuck of a drill and used a file to re-shape the nut to a pleasing taper….who needs a lathe......😜 I had to reduce the height of the inner keel former as the pickup tube is not long enough to get a good fixing with the internal nut, as the inner keel is balsa I fitted a ply reinforcing plate to spread the load. The last ‘photo shows the location of the ESC, main battery fuse and receiver. The hoses will be secured to the ESC with spring clips throughout. I found that the silicone tube I use tends to kink rather easily if the radius of a bend is too small and I found it necessary to form a tight spring coil around the piece that loops the water back through the ESC to prevent this happening.

5 years ago by robbob

Forum

Scale?

I have purchased a ROBBE 1:25 Working Fire Monitor to fit on my rebuild of a Keilcraft RAF Vosper Crash Tender. The plans for the boat state 3/4 to 1inch (1:16 scale). The ROBBE Fire Monitor was the closest size I could find, but when it arrived it appears to be grossly out of scale and looks far to big and out proportion to fit on my boat. Is it me or have ROBBE got the scale wrong. As an aside I am very disappointed with the poor quality of the monitor which does not match its £25 cost.

5 years ago by RobbieMcKennan

Blog

1-35 Scale Schenllboot By TeeJay

Hi all for the second blog report on the schnellboot I am going to go over the rudder a propeller shaft assembly in more detail. The first stage was to make the rudders which were made of brass ,and having taken note of what has been said about the increase in size needed for the kit by other members I have increased the size of the rudders by 50% so that they have more effect and hopefully the boat will be more agile .I fitted 3mm treaded rod on to the rudder and in a 4mm flanged tube to reinforce the brass rod. The second stage was to make and fit 5mm flanged tube in the location for the rudders in the boat, these were made to be above the water line and will be sealed in place to reduce the possibility of leaks. These were fitted to a rudder platform inside the boat which was fitted to the kit moulding for the rubbing strip that runs the length on the boat and secured by making resin blocks which were fitted with computer extension nuts. which were then superglue in place to secure the rudder platform. The rudders were then fitted in place and held in position with the tiller collars which were made from 8mm rod and fitted the tiller arms and locked in place with 3mm computer screws and ni-lock nuts, a connecting plate was then fitted to connect the three tillers together, I also fitted rubberised washers to seal the rudder tubes. The third stage was to make the propeller supports. The centre support was a direct copy of the kit part made of brass and fitted to the kit with a plate and screws (this plate and the rudder plate were made from galvanised steel) and will sealed with resin after the I test the boat for leaks. The port and starboard supports were made by taking the kit parts and cutting them in have along the joint line or mould seam this gave me a template ,which I used to make cross-section segments but I did alter the template by increasing the boss diameter to 10mm and extending the support legs so that the finished support could be fitted through the hull (the picture of these show the mk1 version where I forgot to allow for the 4mm prop shaft which has a 6mm tube) any way the boss of these segments were drilled out with a 7mm drill and a length of 7mm brass tube fitted through the boss to assemble the segments, all of which were coated in soldering flux at this stage of the assembly which were riveted at both ends to hold it all together during soldering, after soldering the supports were then filed to the size and shape to resemble the kit parts as close as possible and fitted to the hull using a superglue and talcum powder mix and then I cast resin around the extensions to secure the prop supports in place. The fourth stage is the propeller shaft housing for the centre propeller housing I place a brass rod in a plastic straw and place in position in hull and using resin I sealed the hull with the rod in place this gave me a pilot hole for the centre prop shaft after I removed the brass rod. For the port and starboard shafts I used the kit parts which had hole place when assembled, this when I reinforced the housings ,the centre housing I glue 2mm of plasticard on each side and for the port and starboard I made a brass tube shroud which covered the housings which left gaps between the kit part and the brass which was filled by casting resin in the gap this increased the diameter to 10 mm so that there were little chance of breaking throw with the drill and finished these off by fill-in the outside with body filler and sanded to shape and finish . I then drilled through the pilot hole in the housings using very long extended drills and a wheel brace ( if I had use a power drill the heat would have melted the plastic of the kit and may have caused problems) I drill the shaft housings out 6mm them filed them out with 6mm file so that I could insert a length of 6mm brass tube. After all this was done I fitted a flanged bush made from 7mm tube and 2mm brass plate turned to 11mm to the ends or the propeller shaft housings. And now it is time I must ask for some help could anyone advise me on the length of propeller shafts, I know I can use a 300mm shaft for the centre shaft, but port and starboard will have to be longer. and I also need advice on selecting the motors, I want to use 4mm prop shaft with 35mm propellers. Any opinions welcome.

6 years ago by teejay

Forum

How to RC small boats?

There's no great need to dismantle a servo to get motive power - nowadays you can buy model motors that are not much thicker than a typical boat propshaft, and speed controllers the size of a thumbnail. Usually for about a pound. These small drones have really helped in this regard. This one, for instance, is 0.6cm diameter by 1.5cm long - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-JJRC-H20-RC-Drone-H20-08-CW-Motor-Spare-Part-For-JJRC-H20-08-RC-He-M4S2/332826605276?hash=item4d7e02f6dc:g:7AIAAOSw989bsxkP:rk:39:pf:0 Your biggest problem will usually be rudder control - there will be little room for a servo and tiller right at the stern of small boats. For an EeZeBilt I recommend a closed loop system which lets you relocate the servo anywhere convenient - see http://eezebilt.tk/radio.html The EeZeBilt Terrier below is 10.75 inches long...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

How to RC small boats?

http://www.mhsd.org/model/howto/servo.htm Anyone done this? Please send me some pictures of your work and anything I should be cautious about when putting this in a small craft? I want to put a small motor in the Comet sailboat and run it with the sails furrowed.

5 years ago by Ronald

Forum

Modern electrics

Hi all, Not been araound for awhile as I have been playing with aircraft as well, I have however found time to scratch build a Fairy Huntsman which I now want to upgrade to modern electrics, a brushless motor and esc etc, should I avoid lipo's due to the heat issues or can I use them ok. The hull is 42 inches long any suggestions on motor size would be appreciated, also esc size, the boat seems a bi on the heavy side. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

5 years ago by deltaman

Forum

My apparent absence...

Hi all, in case anyone bothered to wonder where I wuz, you may know I was making a master for a 1/6th scale model kit of a Vincent Black Shadow 'bike. I sent the engine casings to Griffin Moulds in the Midlands and they utterly destroyed the masters, sending me back a back of fragments! No phone call, no e-mail, no note in the late-delivered (DPD) parcel. Now they have the cheek to invoice me! So I have been busy catching up with other stuff kept waiting for a while, sucvh as a 1/43rd scale brass master of a Triumph Model H 1915 'bike and a 1/32nd scale Vanwall Transporter. So I haven't even looked a t a model boat since the weather turned. And likely shan't much before May. Everyone have a nice Christmas. Cheers, Martin

5 years ago by Westquay

Forum

Sea Queen Frames

Hi Ebay a chap offers nearly all of the Aerokits plans and templates for all the kit parts search under model boat . reasonable price too Cheers Ian T

5 years ago by TOWN3810

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor wiring

Absolutely Steve 👍 Alternative is to make a holder for the magnet to prevent it getting knocked off by weeds etc. Also agree that any Failsafe' circuits must have an independent power supply. Place to put the switch, or latching relay, is definitely in place of the little slide switch usually supplied on the ESC. Just checked on some of my ESCs, Graupner and mTroniks, the red lead to the switch is NOT connected to the red lead supplying the RX and servos via the built in BEC. Guess the switch just triggers an FET switch inside the ESC. So the normal 500mA limit of reed switches will be enough. if a latching relay is used make sure the pull-in current is less than 500mA. Have fun All, cheers, Doug 😎 Eric; which sub is your mate building? I have a Type 1A U-Boat dynamic diver, speed and planes only, and a kit for an Akula 2 which will be a static diver, with tank etc.

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Directory

(Naval Ship) HMS Cadiz

Scratch built other than a fibreglass hull, built by my father over about 5 years using a mix of balsa, plasticard, ply and wire. He never sailed it but when I inherited it I was determined to complete it ready for it's first "sea trials". I've completed the RC installation and adjusted the ballast and it's now had two successful outings at the local boating lake. (10/10)

5 years ago by landie

Forum

Help! identifying a small ferry

Well have done some research and discovered this a representation of Mv Fairmile but without any of the forward superstructure forward of the aft passenger cabin. The livery seems to be inspired from the local life boat. So rather nice boat I will restore and use but no pattern to follow.

5 years ago by Bryan-the-pirate

Forum

gas shot off

In my research I'm looking for a gas shot off for my steam project wanting to stop the flow of gas if my boat runs out of steam are there shops that have kit for this. Rick

5 years ago by Newby7

Forum

Nordea research

Hi All I am buying a boat the vender calls the Nordea Research I have looked on line for the boat but have not found a reference for it. Has any one heard of this boat .I don't have a picture to show yet as the boat is on it's way to me. Any help please. Rick

6 years ago by Newby7

Forum

new to steam

Hello All I'm researching a steam plant to put into a new build and looking at a scratch build Clyde Puffer to put the steam plant in build would this boat be good for live steam if not any suggestions on what might be a better build. Rick

5 years ago by Newby7