Blog

The Vosper 46” 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 . 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

My hobby car group’s Toy Drive

Have a photo of the buggy on my phone - bit too small though - will try and get the original from my son in Seattle - its candy apple red and pinstriped. At the moment it has its canopy on because of the rain so not at its best. Bit faded after 40years of course and has many scratches and dings - but it still goes . Still used on back-roads/tracks where you would not want a pristine ........ Body was made locally - fibreglass of course - called a Badger. Heres the small photo - just after it got stuck in the dunes - Range Rover trying to pull it out got stuck too.........

4 years ago by redpmg

Forum

Night Watch

To- Fleet Admiral RNHQ Munchen Alice wishes to thank you and the First Sea Lord for her unexpected appointment and hopes that she can live up to the high standards of the service. She is developing an electrically propelled for general use around the dockyard at the moment. Lt. Nerys

5 years ago by Nerys

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build. mods and improvements.

Ahah a Vampire no less - have about 6 or 7 hours flight time in a DH Vampire T11 courtesy RRAF . First jolly as a raw recruit - was told by pilot - I'm the Captain and will leave the ship last - but if I say "Eject" and you say "What" you will be talking to yourself........... Love them Went up to 49,000ft - wallowing well - then vertical dive . Reading the dymo tape on the dash "Thou shalt not exceed 550 knots" as the ASI crept up to 600 with the canopy shaking like a leaf ....... Pulling out at 20,000 but only leveling out at about 10,000 but was too busy staring at the floor unable to move - don't know how many G - but sure it was in excess of limits....... Could not wait to go up again........... Have a plan for a ducted fan Vampire - but gave up flying years ago when distracted for a second by a stupid question - the newly built Bipe tried to demolish the wall of the ablution block (the only building on the field). Eyesight also deteriorated afterwards and now after a double cataract op see better than in my youth - but responses are no longer up to scratch........ As to Lipos - have a couple of hard celled ones like giant AA batteries , one soft cell 7.4v and two small Lifes 6.6V? Not used any one of them yet - electrics & myself do not get on - years ago trying to put courtesy lights in my Cortina Mk1 GT was called for lunch - and then promptly asked if the car should be smoking like that ...... The Cressida was very popular here , the one you have is a great version. Invited especially to the local launch of the Cressida as the company I worked for had a fleet of 600 odd s........ and I was responsible for the transport division........

5 years ago by redpmg

Forum

Night Watch

Thank you Ken, we'll slip our moorings here lateish morning Saturday and expect to arrive Thameside about 1800. Course is well known to me so unless the unexpected happens, anticipate an easy voyage. The M25S may decide otherwise. Will have our Bluewater sail Sunday. Have a further port to call at on Sunday PM in order to load part cargo of wheeled . Will then sail for home port. All the best, Nerys

5 years ago by Nerys

Forum

Night Watch

Hi Doug, We have been out all day and switching the computer on when we came in, could find no posts from you at all and knowing your normal behaviour wondered what had happened to you. Our journey today to the realms of Gracie Fields 'Rochdale Hunt' (that dates me) was to inspect a new(old) for use in the dockyards of the South Wales Flotilla, There was a requirement for a VSMV for conversion to mobile accomodation as I mentioned to you a while ago. If I tell you that VSMV stands for very slow moving you will understand that Alice has acquired her milk float. It will be delivered in a few days time. I too am following the parliamentary shenanigans with great interest. Don't forget that I have family ex pats in France who are worried to death as to what is going to happen. As an immediate thing which has been going on since the Brexit referendum their pensions have been cut in line with devaluation and that has hurt . No doubt you've noticed this too. Again, like you, they have the worry of all the other things that could hit them if Boris gets his way. I won't mention my feelings about the Boris/Trump tie up. Peas in a pod comes to mind., and rotten ones at that. I thought you would appreciate our weather conditions. Much of our rain is local to us, Drive to Swansea and it's dry. Go over the mountain to the Towe and Teifi valleys and there'll be bright sunshine Pleased to hear all the regular crew are on board ready to deal with whatever the sea and circumstances can throw at us. Calm seas and fair winds. Cheers, Nerys.

5 years ago by Nerys

Forum

Workshop

Kiwi of course ahem, cough cough. Alan Gibbs has a farm here on the Kaipara Harbour with fantastic huge sculptures all over it (he commissions artists from round the world) He also has the largest TESLA private lightening coil in the world outside his house there (check out Gibbs Tesla coil and Gibbs Farm NZ.) He also makes aqua quads, trucks and an aqua bike (many of the sales/ad demos are done on his huge private lake (created from a reshaped gully on the farm) Ex CEO of Air NZ and a million other companies, lots of $$$ Check out Gibbs s, could be some model possibilities amongst them (like the Aqua truck) Unfortunately another Kiwi co (like Hamilton Jets ) forced to produce O/S, but we still have Rocket Lab !! (so far)

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

46'' RAF Crash Tender

One of the difficulties of modelling small craft is that there were hardly two alike . Over 50 years ago I met Peter Danby who commanded a Fairmile C ML in WW2. He said at the time that his boat had as many weapons fitted as they could scrounge & "find"(liberate!). In the case of aircraft too there's a record of the leader of a Hurricane squadron having a RR Merlin from a Spitfire fitted to his personal aircraft. In times of war it seems people tend to use what they can find to help ensure their personal survival. Having seen first hand how RhodAF modified their aircraft and mine protected/oddly armed s developed can vouch for that personally. So it seems that "poetic licence" when building a boat might be not that far from reality.

5 years ago by redpmg

Wiki

LiPo Battery Charging

NOT from me (RNinMunich)! I just edited it to delete a previous comment of mine! LiPo Battery Charging - Use specific Lithium Polymer charger only! Non-compliance may cause a fire, which may result in personal injury and property damage. - Do not let the voltage on the cells drop more than 2.75v / Cell. it is recommended to unplug the battery after use which would stop any further discharge of the pack! - Never charge batteries unattended. Whenever charging Li-Poly batteries you should always remain in constant observation to monitor the charging process and react to potential problems that may occur. - if at any time you witness a battery starting to balloon or swell up, discontinue charging process immediately, disconnect the battery and observe it in a safe place for approximately 15 minutes. This may cause the battery to leak, and the reaction with air may cause the chemicals to ignite, resulting in fire. Since delayed chemical reaction can occur, it is best to observe the battery as a safety precaution. Battery observation should occur in a safe area outside of any building or and away from any combustible material. - Use caution to avoid puncture of the cell. Puncture of cells may cause a fire. - Wire lead shorts can cause fire! if you accidentally short the wires, the battery must be placed in a safe area for observation for approximately 15 minutes. Additionally, if a short occurs and contact is made with metal (such as rings on your hand), severe injuries may occur due to the conductibility of electric current. - in the event of a crash, you must remove battery for observation and place in a safe open area away from any combustible material for approximately 15 minutes. - if for any reason you need to cut the terminal wires, it will be necessary to cut each wire separately, ensuring the wires to not touch each other or a short may occur, potentially causing a fire. if you accidentally cause the battery to short, place it in a safe open space and observe the battery for approximately 15 minutes. A battery may swell or even possibly catch fire after a short time. - Never store or charge battery pack inside your car or building in extreme temperatures, since extreme temperature could ignite fire. Charging Process - Never charge batteries unattended; Charge in an isolated area, away from other flammable materials; Let battery cool down to ambient temperature before charging. - Do not charge batteries packs in series. Charge each battery pack individually. Failure to do so may result in incorrect battery recognition and charging functions. Overcharging may occur and fire may be the result. - When selecting the cell count or voltage for charging purposes, select the cell count and voltage as it appears on the battery label. As a safety precaution, please confirm the information printed on the battery is correct. - Selecting a cell count other than the one printed on the battery (always confirm label is correct), can cause fire. - You must check the pack voltage before charging. Do not attempt to charge any pack if open voltage per cell is less than 3.3v Example Do not charge a 2 cell pack if below 6.6v; 3 cell pack if below 9.9v. - You must select the charge rate current that does not to exceed 1C (one times he capacity of the battery). A higher setting may cause fire. The below chart is calculated at 1 x capacity of pack. Example: 1800mAh: charge below 1.8Amps; 2200mAh: charge below 2.2Amps; 3600mAh: charge below 3.6Amps First Discharge: Keep the run time to 6-minute sessions with 15-minute breaks. Storage & Transportation Store battery at room temperature between 40F and 80F for best results; do not expose battery pack to direct sunlight (heat) for extended periods.

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Model Boat crew....

A model - car, boat or plane - looks a little odd if it seems to be operating with no driver. Aircraft have quite a selection of different scale 'head and shoulders' figures - road s seem to be made to standard scales so that driver figures are readily available - but boats are often made to a wide variety of scales and then need scale figures which are not readily available, and can be very pricey when they are! I was asked recently about figures on the boats I make, which are continuations of the Keil Kraft EeZeBilt line. These were originally 'pocket-money' starter kits for young children, so they were very cheap, and the fittings were not bought, but made from available household items like paper-clips. I have continued that tradition, so making an EeZebilt remains cheap and encourages manual dexterity rather than a large wallet! Figures can be made cheaply by adding filler to a wire armature, but this does require a bit of carving skill. It is easier to start with a basic shape and alter it a bit, and the obvious place to start is with a model railway figure. Cheap Chinese copies of products like the Preiser range are available on Ebay for around 10p per figure - see the link below for example. These figures are available in many scales from 1:200 up to about 1:24. The first point to make is that choosing a suitable scale to build your boat to will make it a lot easier to populate it with figures! I typically look to make boats at 1:24 or 1:48, two common scales for railways. Now the only problem is that the typical figures for sale are not sailors or naval personnel. Instead they are usually civilians, railway staff or workmen. But that is easily solved by using a modelling knife. I have illustrated this below with a set of drawings for a 1:48 figure - see the PDF link below: 1 - a typical figure. Note the jacket and tie lines embossed on the body. I wanted to make an Indian Naval Officer, so my first step was to look up the colouring and shape of their uniform. I find that they wear white, with either a plain-front tunic or shirt and shorts. 2 - To make a plain-front, simply scrape away the clothes lines embossed on the figure's trunk. You may also need to cut any hanging parts of a jacket away, or fill a hole with some modelling putty. 3 - To adjust arms, slice them off and then re-attach with Plastic Weld. The plastic will melt and conform to the new shape. 3 - To make shorts, just trim the long trousers in a bit at the shorts hem, then carve the lower leg to show the bulge of a calf. 4 - An officers cap is easy to make. Stamp out two tiny paper disks using a sharpened brass tube, and cut one disk in half. Cut a slot across the figure's forehead, and superglue the half-disk in there to be the cap peak. The full disk goes on top of the figures head, and the excess glue is drawn by surface tension to make a brim. The glue will soak through the paper and make it hard. See the PDF below for details...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

Cruise Liners

About ten years ago, I went on a cruise- and I loved it, BUT, it wasn't on one of the massive floating Las Vegas hotel things that claim to be ships. I went on the Norwegian Coastal Voyage, the ship, the Polarlys, carried about two hundred passengers and acted as a ferry between Bergen and Kirknes, right up near the Russian border calling at about twenty ports in each direction. The cruise lasting eleven days. We called at ports big and small, some we would just pull in, a ramp in the side of the ship would go down, a couple of people would walk off, a forklift would drive on, extract a few parcels, then maybe a car would drive on, then off we'd go. Others we would stay a few hours so that we could visit the town. This ship was regarded as a general ferry carrying goods, s and people up and down the Norwegian coast. I had breakfast with somebody one morning who told me had had come on board during the night and was going home on leave. He was captain of a ferry belonging to a rival company which did not call at his home. As far as entertainment, yes there was a singing duo in the bar at night after dinner, but that was it. The food was good but quite normal, none of the gourmet offerings of the big ships. The dining room was shared with the crew. One was often sitting at the next table to the captain and other officers. This was a cruise for the person who wanted to see the magnificent scenery at quite close quarters, we sailed just safely offshore the whole time except when crossing the entrances to the bigger fjords. This was a cruise I would recommend to anyone who wanted a wonderful experience, without the nonsense of the popular conception of a cruise.

5 years ago by Nerys

Forum

Brushed to Brushless upgrade

"....that is why I was looking at this thread with interest. As I hoped to learn something!." My thoughts about brushless motors... - they are a different kind of motor, so they have different characteristics. In particular they need different ESCs. - Their ESCs come with three cables. You can connect them to the three inputs to the motor in any order. If you want the motor to go backwards, simply reverse any of the two connections. - you can get In-runners, which are high-speed ones. Out-runners are higher torque ones. There is a special type called 'Sensored' which can go very slow and are used for rock-crawling s, but they need special Sensor ESCs and are expensive. - they are much more efficient without a sparking commutator to pass electricity through. - they don't have tight limits on the voltage they must be run at. More volts = more speed, and hence power. - they are happiest running at high speed. They don't much like trying to run slowly, and tend to start with a jerk. - the main limitation on them is thermal. You can run them until the coils get too hot for the magnets to work (upon which they are fatally damaged!). - you can get astonishing amounts of power out of quite small sized motors if you give them enough electricity and keep them cool. They suck up power from batteries given the chance, and high-output batteries like Lipos are ideal for them. If you use other batteries, check that the battery can output a lot of power - if it can't, the brushless performance may be disappointing... - I find it is best to run them at low voltages (12V or less) at which point they don't heat up at all. The motors are often capable of running from 6v to about 20v... - Rather than power, the motors are measured on size of can and KV. KV is the speed in RPM that each volt will produce. So a 1000 KV motor will do 12,000 RPM on 12V. If it is specced as a 2824, that means it is 28mm wide and 24mm long. - Cooling is important, and hard to specify precisely. Depends on the power being used, and the cooling technology you provide. Most brushless are designed to run in aircraft where there is lots of cooling air. For boats, you can get cooling jackets for in-runners and cooling mounts for outrunners. Having some air throughput is a good idea - but hard to arrange on a boat... Unless you are sure that you are running well below the power limits, you should use a Watt-Meter to track the power usage rather than try to calculate things. This discussion may provide an idea of how to worry about brushless motor limits: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1329612-Brushless-motor-rated-voltage

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Wiki

LiPo Battery Charging

DRAFT: TO BE REVISED AND UPDATED SHORTLY!! (RN) LiPo Battery Charging - Use specific Lithium Polymer charger only! Non-compliance may cause a fire, which may result in personal injury and property damage. - Do not let the voltage on the cells drop more than 2.75v / Cell. it is recommended to unplug the battery after use which would stop any further discharge of the pack! - Never charge batteries unattended. Whenever charging Li-Poly batteries you should always remain in constant observation to monitor the charging process and react to potential problems that may occur. - if at any time you witness a battery starting to balloon or swell up, discontinue charging process immediately, disconnect the battery and observe it in a safe place for approximately 15 minutes. This may cause the battery to leak, and the reaction with air may cause the chemicals to ignite, resulting in fire. Since delayed chemical reaction can occur, it is best to observe the battery as a safety precaution. Battery observation should occur in a safe area outside of any building or and away from any combustible material. - Use caution to avoid puncture of the cell. Puncture of cells may cause a fire. - Wire lead shorts can cause fire! if you accidentally short the wires, the battery must be placed in a safe area for observation for approximately 15 minutes. Additionally, if a short occurs and contact is made with metal (such as rings on your hand), severe injuries may occur due to the conductibility of electric current. - in the event of a crash, you must remove battery for observation and place in a safe open area away from any combustible material for approximately 15 minutes. - if for any reason you need to cut the terminal wires, it will be necessary to cut each wire separately, ensuring the wires to not touch each other or a short may occur, potentially causing a fire. if you accidentally cause the battery to short, place it in a safe open space and observe the battery for approximately 15 minutes. A battery may swell or even possibly catch fire after a short time. - Never store or charge battery pack inside your car or building in extreme temperatures, since extreme temperature could ignite fire. Charging Process - Never charge batteries unattended; Charge in an isolated area, away from other flammable materials; Let battery cool down to ambient temperature before charging. - Do not charge batteries packs in series. Charge each battery pack individually. Failure to do so may result in incorrect battery recognition and charging functions. Overcharging may occur and fire may be the result. - When selecting the cell count or voltage for charging purposes, select the cell count and voltage as it appears on the battery label. As a safety precaution, please confirm the information printed on the battery is correct. - Selecting a cell count other than the one printed on the battery (always confirm label is correct), can cause fire. - You must check the pack voltage before charging. Do not attempt to charge any pack if open voltage per cell is less than 3.3v Example Do not charge a 2 cell pack if below 6.6v; 3 cell pack if below 9.9v. - You must select the charge rate current that does not to exceed 1C (one times he capacity of the battery). A higher setting may cause fire. The below chart is calculated at 1 x capacity of pack. Example: 1800mAh: charge below 1.8Amps; 2200mAh: charge below 2.2Amps; 3600mAh: charge below 3.6Amps First Discharge: Keep the run time to 6-minute sessions with 15-minute breaks. Storage & Transportation Store battery at room temperature between 40F and 80F for best results; do not expose battery pack to direct sunlight (heat) for extended periods.

5 years ago by RNinMunich

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 . 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

fuse holder

I agree with using the ones from component shop. They do single and two gang and as well as using auto fuses (Halfords) the holder has an led that shows red or green depending on motor rotation direction.

5 years ago by Manofkent

Forum

Landing Ship Tanks (WW2)

I have a hankering to build an LST and although I could probably build a reasonable representation from photos, I would like to get hold of some plans. There seem to be plans available for the smaller landing craft like LCTs and LCMs but nothing for LSTs, the only ocean going landing craft of WW2. Over a thousand were built, all in the USA, despite being a British conception, only 113 were actually built for the Royal Navy. They were 328 ft long with 50 ft beam and were fitted with ballast tanks, similar to submarine types to enable them to run well up onto a beach to unload their cargo of tanks and other s. They only needed 3ft6ins water under the bow to beach. Doors opened and a ramp came down. Really they were the forerunners of the RoRo ferry. My interest in building one is because my late father, a Lieutenant Commander, RNR, captained LST 368. all through the North Africa, Sicily and Italian campaigns. Would be pleased to hear if anyone can help me locate plans. Cheers, Nerys.

6 years ago by Nerys

Forum

Mahogany in Scale

If I do get it, I don't know if it will be possible to use the diesel engine as no safe water near me that allows IC engines, so may just get used as a display model for the vintage shows I go to. Although I have only managed 1 show this season as ill health and then lack of a has hampered my year. Which I think is about to get better when my replacement car arrives on Monday. Cheers Colin.

6 years ago by Colin H

Forum

Spektrum, new, useless...

Hi doug I'm glad you sorted that Tx problem. Easy when etc. . I was about to suggest a "dry" soldered joint at the switch which would have had the same effect. My No2 son got pulled by the smokeys for driving with his fog lamps blazing in fine weather. As he had just bought the he just got verballed and a notice to repair etc. I went through it with a meter from front to rear. No dice so I suggested finding the fuse and pulling it until I had more time to go through it again. Rob opened the fuse box and found that two wires were 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍trapped under it with the insulation split giving a permanent live to the fog lights when the headlights were turned on. Again someone had been careless. Often the case unfortunately rather like the store man who put the wrong bolts in the bin and the engineer using them to put in an aircraft windscreen that blew out in flight. The blast carried the pilot half way out where he hung until the plane landed. A few thous made all the difference. Imagine if the fault in the tranny was in a mains powered item just what might have happened. I shudder to think. sorry mods for hi-jacking the thread. John O/T

6 years ago by onetenor

Response

Live and learn!

What's a 'Skew number'? I've heard of 'Skewe's numbers' and the skew binary number system! If you mean the bar code I believe the batch number is buried in that, so check the human readable numbers underneath it. Some manufacturers actually print 'Batch # xxxx' or maybe a date code (year / month) on the cans. I've only run across this problem before with cellulose paint for s. Bad luck 🤔 Back to hull sanding for me 😡

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Fittings & Detail Parts

Aw, it's Monty et famille! When Chris and I were in our 10 foot caravan in the boatyard we backed onto a pond with Monty the Moorhen and his Mrs. and they raised 4 generations of tiddlers. in the end Chris used to sit with her hand out of the window and feed the little devils. Monty or Mum would take the new ones across the boatyard to the canal for a swim and to get them used to feeding themselves. At such times all traffic would be brought to a halt by Chris and me on pain of death. Those who made no fuss got a cuppa. Those who moaned were wise not to leave their s in the yard overnight while they went boating. When we left, the moron who leased the yard filled in the pond as well as trashed our "little home". Bastard croaked a while back. Karma. Moorhens rule. Coots are 'orrible show-offs. Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Forum

displaying at vintage and steam rallies.

Some trailer Colin. My caravan was 1250kg and that had to have reinforced tyres. My local independent supplier usually managed to source part used as I was not using frequently. in fact the tyres were often out of date before the tread went and I believe that is often the cause of a failure. I took my tyres off every year and had them checked including the spare. Best to be sure as a burst tyre on a towed can be costly as well as a danger to other users.

6 years ago by Dave M

Response

Palaform Griffon 600 RNLI

If that is a kit, any idea where we can get it from. I have a hankering for a air cushion , after making a real one in my secondary school. Any help would be appreciated. Kindest wishes, Dave W 😊

7 years ago by rolfman2000

Forum

Help! What's this?

Another thought! You could call her "Unbekannte Flitze" Flitze is a German generic term for any fast ; sports cars (esp. cabrios), boats, etc. Sometimes even 'Fast Ladies'! 😉 Cheers Doug 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Event

Worcester Model Boat Club Open Day

Our recently established, but rapidly expanding club, https://www.worcestermodelboatclub.co.uk/ is holding its first open day at Cob House Country Park, Worcester Road, Wichenford, Worcester WR6 6YE. Our stand will be part of a Vintage Day, organised by our hosts http://www.cobhouse.org/event/vintage--day As well as a static display, there will also be the opportunity to sail on the lake, which adjoins all the amenities of the Mayfly Cafe. Parking is free and the cafe overlooks the lake. http://www.cobhouse.org/mayfly-cafe/ For more information please visit our website or contact us at www.worcestermodelboatclubuk@gmail.com

7 years ago by cormorant

Forum

Huge liner model from 1929

RC boats go further back than the twenties!! Nicola Tesla was at it in 1898 ! 😉 "In 1898, Tesla demonstrated a radio-controlled boat (U.S. Patent 613,809 —Method of an Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving or s)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-controlled_boat Interesting set of links at the bottom of this article. 👍 Cheers Doug 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

VS-8 by 32nd Parallel

Hello to all; I've just tested the link and it works from my end. if you can't get it to work go to ebay, toys and hobbys, radio control s and kits and then boats and ships. Should be able to locate it that way. I did reference with someone with interest in Germany and the shipping would work out to @ $70 U.S. I think this is the only one I've seen up for around 5+ years, and while it will take some dedicated work, definately will be a one of a kind RC model at yor local site.... Thanks for all the replys spunky52

7 years ago by kiss it

Response

Spraying the ‘anti fouling’

😎Hi I used the Halfords red primer on my 34 inch Crash Tender, built it up over three coats and when dry rubbed it down lightly with Meguiars Ultimate Compound. it gave it a nice shine. The Meguiars Compound is also sold in Halfords. its not cheap but it has a lot of other uses like removing fine scratches not only on s as I had used it a couple of times on model boats. Boaty

7 years ago by boaty

Forum

The next time you have radio problems

Your in good company A £1m British Army Watchkeeper drone had to be scrapped after crashing at an airfield in Wales when the ex-RAF officer piloting it disabled the unmanned aerial 's anti-crash systems. Although the official main cause of the accident was given as the automated Management System Computer functioning 'as designed but not as intended', the drone's crew had agreed to select the Watchkeeper's Master Override function. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/08/12/watchkeeper_drone_wk031_crash_report_1m_uav_destroyed/

8 years ago by Haverlock

Response

Stickers are on!

Hi Rex3644, yeh I posted the colour thing way back in time at the start of this site, again as there was quite a dispute going on way back then about the colours, I took the info off the Vosper Thornycroft drawing that I have and at the time working in the motor repair trade we had well over 7000 colours on list including the BS charts. Regards, Pete D.

8 years ago by Pete D

Forum

Sailing a straight line

~grins~ I never said was easy!! Seriously the weight up front needs to be enough to move CofG a significant amount ( please note it may make things worse) its a test to see what effect it does have and to try to figure out what's going on. if your CofG is to far aft then the forces you would expect to keep a boat ( or any other ) following a path have too little leverage to compensate for the wayward behaviour of a real world wind/wave/passing bumble bee etc. The pixhawk is capable of fully autonomous control of a . it can follow waypoints and depending upon how its configured control many other functions as well. if you ever saw the BBC tv James May and his glider he used an 8 bit precursor of the pixhawk to control the glider on its 20 mile flight and landing. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw66wd_new-james-may-s-toy-stories-flight-club_shortfilms

8 years ago by Haverlock

Forum

Sailing a straight line

If your looking to go the HiTEC route get a pixhawk! https://pixhawk.org/modules/pixhawk it is your choice as to which one you buy BUT clones are available from ebay. I offer one of these as a solution because it is possibly the most capable of all the autopilot systems. it is the core of autonomous s in many hobby spheres. You can set it to hold a heading. it has GPS and magnetic compass capability. Youtube has many many videos on this beast. Having had time to think ( always a dangerous situation) Try adding a weight to front of the boat and see effect pls. I am thinking the problem has to be a combination of thrust lines, CofG, and centre of buoyancy. A radical change of the CofG should change the behaviour of the boat ( for better or worse ) seeing the effect of such a change could indicate way to go .

8 years ago by Haverlock

Response

R.A.F Vosper Fire Boat

Mate , lovely to hear , I felt a bit poorly somewhat going at you as over the top, which was unwarranted. I ran my vessel the last two weekends with my mates at the Lake Illawarra channel ( see google maps?) South of Wollongong New South Wales Australia. Well we are just a bunch of old boaties , sick of clubs and fights and restrictions/ rules/ flat earthers. We have a lot of public look at us and the Council Ranger and staff lookeee see at times , but AS we are in zone of the Lake Channel HiGH/ LOW tidal mark any authorities do not want to know us. Here in OZ you can still boat as we have a lack of ponds in the land (not like your WW2 type ponds built in villages for water for fire tenders from FIRE and bombing raids). We have extensions on household insurance in OZ to cover liability and we tell any noisy race/race boat types to ".... off". We sail 1 meters etc thames barge, steam and electric and i/c and all big stuff we ALL run together on the water on the "pond", old sets 27 40 and 2.4 gig. And I spelt Peter Dimberline incorrectly with a T , so he will find out and knuckle me!! I do clean the engine bay with motor car degreaser spray and the decks cabin etc with household Kitchen cleaner and paper wipes. Such is good old Dulux house paint over the years. Fold down f'wrd mast , crane sits in a brass tube at the port engine bay ,rear mast sits on a peg at stern, rear stbd hatch opens, ALL to avoid knocks breakages of bits and over the years I have actually cast alloy bits in plaster-moulds and screwed down with brass. Just a standard red plastic graupner 40 mm prop (4mm thread?) this motor is a SC china copy ? of a OS40 I think , I just run her at the first plane to look nice, no rev head stuff as not necessary, wide turns, but goes so well in 2 inch to 4 inch chop no pounding/ bone shaking during winter runs as it HAS to perform SCALE on the pond rather than toy boat behaviour such as dig in and flick turns and she is heavy to handle waves! Just standard home made fuel 4 to 1 and my mates talked me out of Castor, so now I use synthetic lube . We share all things. Too much talkie . All the best and just fly out to join us good weather too .

8 years ago by Lyle

Forum

hull paint

I've never used the glass cloth, but I do know epoxy, from models to full size wooden narrow boat cabins. I applied epoxy (WEST) to the new cabins I built with an old credit card. 2 coats. Then red oxide primer followed by 3 coats of enamel top coat gloss. By the time I sold the boat those cabins had gone through 3 winters and still the water ran off like a duck's back. I can't see how the glass can be safely or invisibly rubbed down with out seeing the overlaps in the finish. But I guess if you CAN rub it down invisibly it can't hurt, it just seems unecessary to me. Plus my work on a full sized boat kind of proves you don't need it. I have just epoxied the skin of my pre-War Marbehead yacht too, that'll be gently rubbed down and re-coated, then it'll be sprayed with enamel paint, using a touch-up gun and HMG enamel paint. I will not use acrylic for anything. On a new build, I have used cellulose sanding sealer to fill grain thoroughly (up to 10 coats, but they go on one after another it dries so quickly), followed by either self etch primer (because I have a load of it) and finally enamels. I do NOT mean Humbrols! The enamels I use are made by HMG and are intended for industrial/commercial s. That's plenty good enough for me! I should also point out that I have 2 models which are now well over 50 years old and still bear their original enamel paint. No water ingress has ever occurred. Martin

8 years ago by Westquay

Blog

HMS BULLDOG / BEAGLE

Finished the fore and stern decks. Most of the fittings are either scratch built, with some from a couple of specialist epoxy cast item suppliers. The plans and ship pictures enabled the fore deck to be made quite accurately. That is not the case with the stern as the plans, pictures of other models and actual vessels show several differences. Ended up using Modelers license to arrive at a layout which seems representative of the class. The only approach that could be considered out of the ordinary was the Land Rover installation. Made up a mounting plate as no self respecting RN crew could live with the oil pools on the decking! This is held down with a female jack-plug socket which can be used to charge the batteries. The corresponding male jack-plug is fitted to the underside of the Land Rover so the can be fitted onto the plate and held in place. The picture also shows a screw fitting where one of the deck derricks, which are held down with magnets, is located. This screw also holds down the removable deck. Now moving onto the centre superstructure. One of the opportunities presented is the 28'6" survey boat, which is similar to an Admirals barge. Does anybody know where I can get plans for this? 1:48 scale would be ideal, although can scale if necessary.

8 years ago by Rowen

Forum

Joysway Force2 60 catamaran

It is not a good idea to charge batteries in hulls where there is no chance of air circulation and condensation can occur. I have seen the after effects of an exploding battery and now always remove my batteries to a safe place to charge. The Rx will also benefit from fresh air to prevent condensation and electrolysis from the residual charges on capacitors. I have a friend who uses a plug socket on his deck with a shorted plug sealed with heat shrink that works well at the lake but he removes the batteries to charge after sailing. I use sign makers sticky tape (available in all colours) to seal my yachts and have no problems. Hope you find a solution that works for you. Dave

8 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Aerokits Crash Tender

HI Colin Good old Google provided a sort of answer: Paint Colours Following moves made in the paint industry in the early years of the 20th century the first range of standardised paint colours was published in 1930. BS381, which (with additions in 1931) became BS381C: 1931 provided the limited palette of paint colours available from most paint manufacturers throughout the next 25 years. Reduced versions were subsequently issued by the British Standards institution in 1943 and 1944 (see above). These amended ranges that appeared during the Second World War specified the particular uses that various colours were to be employed. Three categories were given: a) General Purposes; b) Special Purpose Colours; c) Colours Used on Public Service s. So from a commercial viewpoint 1956 was possibly the year when the BS standard became adopted for the domestic market, but the War Office was almost certainly using them for many earlier years. I believe Paul's paint codes are as good as we will get for the original paint schemes, but any repairs and repaints would more than likely have been in the nearest colour match available! With all this glorious sunshine about we had best keep our models in the shade or our chosen colour will fade! Oh happy days 😀

10 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Boat Transport

Fellow in Olympia 3-4 years ago placed his 40 inch tug model in a small trailer - solid axle - on the way to a show, over a small bump in the road - trailer went up, boat went up/down and he ended up with more pieces than he had in the original kit. Might be prudent to seat the models on foam and strapped so they can't do that. Different than suspension in our s. Wise to give it some thought. Regards, mike

10 years ago by mike_victoriabc

Event

TOYS for BOYS

August Saturday 31st and Sunday 1st September For the 4th Year "TOYS for BOYS" Event at Old Christ Church Waterloo Merseyside. Boats, Planes, Cars, Vintage s, Fire service dispay, portable pond to sail, etc, etc. 10am to 4pm on both days.

11 years ago by fireboat

Event

Midhurst Model Engineering Show

Midhurst Model Engineering Show Excerpt from the Grange Leisure Centre Website:- Exhibition Come to The Grange on Sunday 17th February for the annual modellers exhibition - fun for all the family. Opening times - 10:00am to 5:30pm The annual Modellers Exhibition at the Grange In Midhurst Is one of the biggest displays of models to be In the South. From relatively small beginnings In 1983, It has grown steadily In size, and this year there will be around 74 stands. The 31st Annual Modellers Exhibition The main hall Is devoted to model railways, Including numerous layouts, together with trade and society stands and demonstrations, featuring: Alton Model Rialway Group "Alton 2000" showing the link between commuter trains and the watercress line Dave & Iris Guscot "Numchen" N Gauge model Inspired by Munich Liphook & District MRC have 5 displays showing this year "South River Terminal", Lumpy Barmcake & Salted Cracker", "Erhwad", "Kanjiyama" and "Warehouse DIstrict" Frank Walters "Hornby 0 Gauge" Eric and Andrew King "Gatcombe" Peter Hardy " Bridlington Quay" Astolat M.R.C 'Proirsfeild" Bognor Regis Model railway Club "Trout Beck" Paul Hopkins "Bigbury" N Guage society variuos layouts. Chichester Model Eng " Blackberry Lane" Chris Cheney " Doublo Deisel Delight" Other halls will house a wide variety of further exhibits Including cars and other s, dolls houses, engines, helicopters, planes, Meccano, military models and boats of all shapes and sizes The thousands of models on show, together with a wide selection of trade stands, will provide something for everyone - young or old - serious modellers or not. Entrance Fees Adults - £5.00 Seniors - £4.00 Under 14's - £2.00 Family (2 adults & 2 children) - £12.00 The Grange Leisure Centre, Bepton Road, Midhurst, West Sussex. GU29 9HD

11 years ago by ads90

Forum

Midhurst Model Engineering Show

HI Paul This is an annual event and in its 31st year. Many model boat clubs attend and have stands there - static exhibition for the boat halls so no 'pond' or sailing going on but an excellent day out for all types of modelling. Excerpt from the Grange Leisure Centre Website:- Exhibition Come to The Grange on Sunday 17th February for the annual modellers exhibition - fun for all the family. Opening times - 10:00am to 5:30pm The annual Modellers Exhibition at the Grange in Midhurst is one of the biggest displays of models to be in the South. From relatively small beginnings in 1983, it has grown steadily in size, and this year there will be around 74 stands. The 31st Annual Modellers Exhibition The main hall is devoted to model railways, including numerous layouts, together with trade and society stands and demonstrations, featuring: Alton Model Rialway Group "Alton 2000" showing the link between commuter trains and the watercress line Dave & Iris Guscot "Numchen" N Gauge model inspired by Munich Liphook & District MRC have 5 displays showing this year "South River Terminal", Lumpy Barmcake & Salted Cracker", "Erhwad", "Kanjiyama" and "Warehouse DIstrict" Frank Walters "Hornby 0 Gauge" Eric and Andrew King "Gatcombe" Peter Hardy " Bridlington Quay" Astolat M.R.C 'Proirsfeild" Bognor Regis Model railway Club "Trout Beck" Paul Hopkins "Bigbury" N Guage society variuos layouts. Chichester Model Eng " Blackberry Lane" Chris Cheney " Doublo Deisel Delight" Other halls will house a wide variety of further exhibits including cars and other s, dolls houses, engines, helicopters, planes, Meccano, military models and boats of all shapes and sizes The thousands of models on show, together with a wide selection of trade stands, will provide something for everyone - young or old - serious modellers or not. Entrance Fees Adults - £5.00 Seniors - £4.00 Under 14's - £2.00 Family (2 adults & 2 children) - £12.00 The Grange Leisure Centre, Bepton Road, Midhurst, West Sussex. GU29 9HD Alan

11 years ago by ads90

Forum

Hull Materials

Hi, Dave, Thanks for the reply! Here is the project outline that was given to us, hopefully this will give you a better perspective: "This project will design, build and demonstrate a rudderless boat where directional control will be enabled through a twin-screw system. Conventional boats use a rudder to control the heading, in this project the speed of each screw will be controlled independently to alter the heading. The boat should be entirely self-contained and able to handle scaled WMO Sea State 4 conditions. WMO Sea State 4 is a moderate swell with wave heights of 1.25 to 2.5 metres, thus if the boat is a 10th scale model it should be able to handle a swell of 12.5 ' 25 cm (this detail is open to negotiation). The boat should also be able to manoeuvre around a slalom course." When concerning restrictions, the test tank at the University is approx 25-30m in length and approx 1.5m in width. However, it would be nice to be able to achieve a design whereby testing could take place at a bigger location (preferably the River Clyde!). As Electrical and Mechanical students, we do not know much about the construction or the design of boats as such, so it's a challenging project but a very interesting one at that! I'm glad that I was allocated this project ahead of others such as a motorcycle, hovercraft, and helicopter. Thanks again!

12 years ago by SandyDola92

Event

2012 Mayors Cup Regatta

Colwyn Bay Model Boat Club are holding their Annual Mayors cup Regatta on Sunday 22nd July 2012. It Is being held at their clubs sailing lake, Behind Colwyn Bay Civic office. LL29 8AR. Jct 22 of A55, "Old Colwyn", turn left and climb hill, turn right at the roundabout and then first right. The sailing lake Is behind the white office block facing you, go through gateway marked "no access". ALL model boat enthusiasts are welcome to come along. Space for club stands and gazeebos available, by speaking to the club secretary Alan Woodward. [(Email Removed - PM Only)]. FREE parking within yards of the lake. Trade stands are expected to attend too.

12 years ago by Gregg

Forum

Hitec Live View Full Telemetry Package

I just got off the Hitec Tech Support line and chatted with someone in the know. This how the HTS-NavI Telemetry System components operate and assemble : The Hitec HTS-SS Blue Basic 50A Pack is installed inside your RC with all of the sensors connected to the HTS-SS Sensor Station module, the module is connected to your 2.4GHz RX for power voltage. The 2.4GHz HTS-SS Sensor Station sends wire-less live-view data logging to the Hitec HTS-NavI USB memory card dongle that is plugged into any PC running Windows software. You will not need a Hitec Transmitter since the telemetry system sends the data directly to the dongle. End of story other than Tower Hobbies is stating on their website that the products will not start trickling onto stocking shelves until late November, but the Hitec Technician is telling me the components will not be stocking until January. Regards, John

14 years ago by sunworksco

Forum

Brushless Motors

Hello, I am just a newbie here but have been into rc for lifetime. I am building a 1/12th scale all-metal #260 brass USS Holland submarine with an in-runner brush-less motor used for rock-crawler s.These BL motors are very slow running and controllable with Hall sensors and proper esc.They run very silent,cool and efficient.Depending on the size of your model you may or may not need a prop drive reduction system.I'm running mine direct.The motor has a number of windings that make 1600kv (RPMs per volt).This is much lower than outrunner motors.The motor can be very low slow scale running because of the Hall sensors signalling back to the esc where the motor rotor is positioned.I am using 2-A123 battery cells with a total of 6.6volts.This pack will run everything and if you want more volts in the main battery pack , the esc has a bec built in but I doubt that it is needed.I'm using a Novak Ballistic motor and a Crawler esc.Some of the latest and greatest A123 chemistry batteries are made by Hyperion G3 Life packs and Life Source batteries. Regards, John

14 years ago by sunworksco

Media

More Crash boating In OZ and OFFICIAL TRANSPORTER

Of all the data files on the Crash Boat I have not ever seen any details/ drwgs for the specifically used to transport the Crash Boat types ( Ie the British Power Boat co ) had transporters for their craft. Anyway I enclose a picture of the OFFICIAL English designed TRANSPORTER for the Crash Boat and a photo of verification as modelled by Peter Dimberline. I have kept my model stock standard, still have the original plastic red Graupener prop of old I think it is a 30 with a nick or two. Soft copper brake tubing pipe (1/8 I/d) is only around the head and one of the inline exhaust resonators has a water tube outer casing to cool the exhaust piping and inner tube gas temperature which takes out the energy/heat of the exhaust gas and dramatically reduces noise. Hope my hints help .All the best Lyle.

16 years ago by Lyle