Response

Re: Model boat's push tug

Thanks Marky👍 I have a digital subscription and have received the December issue but not the Special 🤔 Cheers, Doug 😎 BTW: In the December issue there's an excellent article about a , and 'puffing' mechanism, for simulating gun fire from the main battery of the battleship HMS Iron Duke. An impressive 48" model. Worth a read👍

4 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Exhaust Smoker

Following several weeks experimenting, and lots of discussion with jbkiwi, the exhaust smoker is now installed in the Crash Tender. The heart of the device is an e-cig tank and coil. This was adapted with an acrylic end piece to allow connection of power and air. The 2ml capacity of the e-cig is a bit limiting so an expansion tank made from acrylic tube was added to give a fluid capacity of around 10ml. The smoker fluid is 75% vegetable glycerine. The coil in the e-cig is designed to work from a single cell LiPo battery. A power converter drops the voltage from the boat's 2S battery down to 3.5V with a claimed efficiency of 98%. This voltage is adjustable which allows control of the amount of smoke produced. Forced air is provided by a small diaphragm pump salvaged from a defunct blood pressure monitor. This pushes air through the e-cig. The resulting smoke is fed into the cooling water line between the ESC and the exhaust ports. As the smoker is most effective simulating the engine 'ticking over' a water pump is used to create some water flow when the main propulsion motor isn't running. This adds more realism to the effect. An electronic controller based on PIC microchips connects to the throttle channel and pulses the air pump at a rate determined by the throttle setting. It also runs the water pump at a slow speed, and controls the power to the coil. If the throttle is held at maximum for a couple of seconds, the smoker pumps and coil are switched off to save on battery consumption. With the throttle at idle, a quick blip forward on the throttle will start the smoker again. Power consumption is around 0.7A on a 2S LiPo. The two pumps are mounted below the footwell floor and the is fixed to the bulkhead at the rear of the engine room. My thanks go to jbkiwi for his encouragement and suggestions during the development of this feature. Graham93

5 years ago by Graham93

Blog

Deck Fittings

Have decided rather than the follow the instruction to build each section. I am going to build most of the deck fittings before going further in the build. Some of the instruction are a bit vague and the drawing is not to scale, it will be easier to place items if already assembled. Have also made the small steps for access to superstructure from the deck as the drawing does not show any. Made with some old railing wire and plastic card chequered plate. Saw them on an old photo of the Sir Lancelot which was of the same class. Have fitted in funnel and also fitted 2mm studs on base of funnel for better fixing to superstructure. The funnel is made from plastic drain pipe same diameter as the styrene pieces. The loudspeaker box will be fitted in the stern below the wooden slats where the ships boat sits this one is for the steam sound generator. As I didn’t like the printed sheets for fish pond and hatches have made them from strips of walnut and lime wood the same with the trawl boards. Fishpond will also be used as battery cover and front hatch will be the removable cover for the power on/off switch, the superstructure hatch is the cover over the steam whistle loudspeaker which will be fitted in the superstructure.

5 years ago by Elsrickle

Media

Another Exhaust Smoker

Inspired by jbkiwi's experiments on a smoker, and interested in developing one for my Crash Tender I have built an experimental rig based on using an e-cig for the and an air pump. The air pump is driven by an electronic lash-up which pulses the pump at a rate depending on the throttle setting. The video shows two tests, first with the water off, then with it on.

5 years ago by Graham93

Forum

Construction of a smoker

Click on (see all discussions) in the topic forum then go to page 16 and look for . I hope this is the one. Or type in the search field () Martin555.

5 years ago by Martin555

Directory

(Working Vessel) Eppleton Hall

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

6 years ago by Ishmael

Forum

T.I.D. tug

She is a great model but could do with a too

5 years ago by Bryan-the-pirate

Forum

Direction finder aerials /water pumps

Have got some small geared motors spare and can work through my 6 volt reducer in use with the . Switched in conjunction with my esc so it runs when the prop runs. Also the same switches to run pump for engine cooling.

5 years ago by Elsrickle