Blog

Splitting The Hull.

I had a busy weekend planned. It was time to split the hull. It is fair to say that I had been looking forwards to having a go at this. I had made the special tools last week ready for the split. The first job was to try to fix down the hull to a board perfectly level and rigid enough to ensure that it did not move during the cutting phase. The first thing was to find a suitable flat board, 12mm marine ply, and stick a 1” strip of sandpaper right down the middle to help to reduce the risk of the hull sliding. This done, I placed the hull roughly central on the board and marked out the positions for the anchor points for the elastic bands and screwed them in. I used standard hooks for this. The bands, two at each end, were fitted. It was surprising just how rigid this was but the hull could still slide. To stop this, I had bought some angle brackets. They were to be screwed onto the board, one each side at the centre of the hull. These proved top be very weak and I could still move the hull. A search of the garage followed to find something suitable and I came across two Krick motor mounts which were left over from the Dusseldorf motors. I screwed these to the board and the hull was rigid. I fitted the Dremel to the special tool with four cable ties. These held it very well. I then set the height on the marker pen and tested it at each end of the weld line chosen as the split point. It was around 3mm out at one end so I placed two large at one end under the hull and this gave me level. I then checked to see if the hull was level across the width and twisted it until the pen made a mark at the same height on both sides using the weld line on the model as a point of reference. I them marked a cut line along both sides of the hull. Next up was to set the height of the slitting saw using the previously drawn line. This done, I then very carefully cut the side walls taking care to only taking shallow cuts as the Polystyrene melts very easily if heated. I did this in stages leaving the hull connected at each end, behind the bands and about ½” in the centre to ensure stability when cutting the other side. I completed the cuts on both sides and then remove the hull from the board. The remaining sections still joined were then carefully cut with a 12” hacksaw blade. Success!! I had two pieces. I then roughly cleaned up the cut joints and placed the two halves together. It was good. Finally, for today, I made and fitted a support brace at the stern end of the deck piece as cutting into two had left this area weak. Next time I will improve the cut surfaces, put locking devices on the deck half and location tabs to aid alignment. Thanks for reading. Peter.

4 years ago by MouldBuilder

Blog

Winch detail

As you can see this is made mostly with printer but am sure could be made with wood or plastic. The base has a slot 8mm wide by 5mm thick a hole 1.8mm goes through it and the sliding motor mount 1.5mm wire is used as guide and holds the mount in place the wire is also held in position with the small keeper block. The mount must be able to slide freely with no tight spots. Pictures show wire in base and on mount. Next chain drum and drive disc have 2.1mm hole all the way through for 2mm brass shaft the 3mm hole drill 10mm deep in drive drum at motor end. The motor then gets fitted on sliding platform. On drive drum face drill 2 holes 6mm Dia and 3mm deep, 180 degs apart for magnets. These are then glued in with a bed of epoxy adhesive as in photo, where the 2mm shaft goes through drill a recess 5mm Dia and 2mm deep for cable drum retaining ring. Also drill a hole 1.5mm Dia about 5mm from end of motor side of drum and tap for M2 grub screw for holding motor shaft. Now fix drum on to motor. At chain drum side cut a thin piece of tin and glue to face of drum this I used super glue and a mall brass nail fitted for a bit of extra security as in photo. Two 1mm holes drilled through the centre length of the drum very close to the outside diameter and clear of centre shaft. A piece of copper wire can be fed through one hole the chain link fed through the copper wire and the wire is fed through the other hole then the two twisted together or soldered to hold chain in centre of drum. Now 2mm brass rod is pushed through the drum ( I fitted 2 x 2mm flat at this point between mounting bracket and chain drum to ensure the drum did not rub on bracket) making sure sure the drum spins very freely the rod is pushed through the hole in the motor drum until it meets the motor shaft then push hard to slide the motor to end stop. Now slowly push motor forward towards the chain drum (fully open gap between drum 7-10mm) when fully home fit holding sleeve on brass rod at outside of bracket and tighten grub screw this should give the correct length for rod. Now push motor back to end and make sure shaft is still in motor drum. If not adjust until it is still in shaft Next push chain drum back against and shaft pushed towards motor make a saw cut in brass rod to mark drum position now remove shaft and make a brass ring to fit tightly on saw cut on shaft and solder then clean all solder from chain drum side of shaft refit and check drum still runs freely adjust as required when sure cut off brass rod as photo The base I made is 120 x 50mm x 5mm, chain drum 30mm x 25mm Dia, mountings were 28mm high x20mm wide. Will continue with linkage setup next. Any questions or ideas please feel free to let me know.

4 years ago by Elsrickle

Response

Re: SEAPLANE TENDER STAND ADDITION

RE- Yet another problem to sort jb, No problem really Peter, more just a slight nuisance. All of my boats weep oil slightly and it's a bit like the old British motorbikes (BSA, Triumph etc) saying, 'when they stop leaking oil it's time to put more in' (my BSA B31 and B40 were prime examples)😀 Thanks for the offer on the grease, appreciated, but we have all the different types available here. Probably not allowed to send it these days anyhow!) - nothing remotely flamable,-couldn't even buy a new empty, fluid type Zippo styled lighter on line for my son, had to buy an electronic one! The Lithium is quite good for most things and there is also a similar one which is Calcium Sulfonate, which has even better properties but a bit more expensive and not really warranted. Have included a pic of some SKF grease which looks good but the main problem I have with using grease is getting it into the shaft tube and through the bearings (with shields), and once you put it in you can no longer use oil and will have to try and clean it out before doing that again. A small problem with plain white lithium grease is that it can go hard and 'cake' with age, although if the shaft tube is full it would help stop water getting in as you said. Very little oil weeps out when running as the Teflon on the shafts push up and close off the bearings. Only an issue in the car or at home (hence the tray) JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: Chine strakes and hull painting

I like your exhaust treatment. I was trying to find a similar suitable surround for the pipes on my ST, but might have to substitute small drilled instead, (a when I can be bothered job) JB

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

looking for plans

Roves are like only slightly domed. Copper nails are square sectioned. They were knocked through the two planks (or whatever), the rove put over the nail on the inside, the nail trimmed to about 1/8 inch and then tapped with the ball of a small hammer until it was flattened onto the rove, tightening it up and holding it on. The apprentice would be underneath the boat holding a lump of metal with a round protrusion, called a dolly, against the head of the nail so that it would not be knocked out by the work going on inside. There would be a nail about every four inches along the length of the plank. Hope that's understandable. Nerys

5 years ago by Nerys

Forum

What connector to use?

Have tried many of these ideas, but have settled on a different approach. Since standardizing on LI-PO cells and been concerned about the reports of self immolation and fire have decided to always transport the cells separate from the vessel. This means my deck and wiring should be readily removable to install and remove the cell. Using two wire brush type connectors off a slot car fed the +ve and negative wire through the deck connecting to the brushes. On the underside of the superstructure soldered mating wires onto brass . Whenever the deck is screwed down a good connection is established.This feeds battery voltage into the superstructure which contains all the control circuitry for lights, scanners etc. Even I cannot forget to disconnect the connecting wires now!

5 years ago by Rowen

Forum

Transport System for model boats

Yes - you use . Just one needed at the rear, because a pop rivet already has a rim. This is a common technique. Pick a light rivet and it won't compress the plastic much. For the handle bolts I use a little 4mm spacer, as the web page shows. I use these for EeZeBilts, which are typically light - but the biggest one I have carries nearly 20kg, with spare batteries and radio and everything inside. A kid can sit on them - indeed, I have done so on occasions. You use the 4mm thickness, but if you really want to use them as seats you would probably be better off with 6mm. Of course, if you wish you can build a wooden frame inside if you want to carry something really heavy. What I like is the cost. You can get 5 sheets of 8ftx4ft on ebay for less than £50 - that's £10 per sheet with free delivery. If you go to your nearest stockist (look for 'twinflute') and carry them away they will probably be £5 per sheet. And you can typically get 4 boxes out of a sheet. The cost of a strap handle and some clasps is minimal (a few quid on ebay), so you are looking at a custom-sized box for a fiver or less. Means that you can box ALL your boats at low cost, and then stack them away under beds or out in the shed. I must have a dozen or so of these piled on top of each other... and they are very light, so you are not carrying any extra weight apart from the boat... Incidentally, I've standardised on these toggle clips - they seem to work the best... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Case-Box-Stainless-Steel-Spring-Loaded-Toggle-Latch-Catch-Clip-6pcs-Y6U9/323801617239?hash=item4b64149357:g:3S0AAOSwhMJc004r

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Blog

quite a while since last update

it been quite a while since the last update, holidays, work, sun shine etc all got in the way we have done some amount of work on the model in past few months mostly around the running gear and some electrics Made up a platform on which all of the main electric components will sit on, these include the 2 batteries (6 volt for the steam and lighting) 7.2v for the motor. also on the platform will be the smoke/steam generator, motor, ESC, receiver and at the back the Servo for the rudder. platform made out of MDF and sealed up and then re-enforced with wood strips before fixing the platform inside the huil (permanent fixing) did a "Bath" test to add ballast to the hull as you would imagine that it rides high without anything expect for the platform/batteries and paddles. used Car wheel weights as ballast as you can go done to the nearest gram with those as well as stick on on where needed. once ballasted (not fully as need to put superstructure and deck fittings on before the final a ballast glues (epoxy) the platform, into place (with the ballast under it) we can still put extra to the sides and bow/stern worked out where the Servo is going to go, fitted that to the rear of the platform and used 2 rods to goto the rudder arm added 3 switches to a small shelf on the platform, these will be the main ESC/Motor Power switch, one switch for the steam and 1 for the lights. Also ensured we can get to the 2 battery leads fore charging Added the Navigation lights (and wiring) to the wheel boxes as well as wiring up the small set of lights we have in the engine cover. as we are looking at a removable deck (so the whole thing comes off rather then just sections of the deck)on it if we need to get to the stuff like battery/motor etc we can. looking for a solution pointed me to look at the metal clips that are used to hold car speakers into place in car doors etc, basically a slide on spring clip with a hole one side and a grooved hole the other to screw into. drilled the hole in the deck where needed (8 holes in the main deck and 2 in the stern for the rudder area.) drilled holes in the GRP platform on which the deck rests, clipped the metal clips to the hull/desk rest, i have glued some small metal to the top of the deck to protect it then we can basically screw the deck to the hull (and remove) without damaging the deck or hull and we are screwing into metal clips and and pulling the deck to the metal clips next thing to do is look at fixing the wheel boxes to the deck, the a way of fixing (but being ale to remove) the house house if needed. then lights and wiring of as we are looking at getting lights to the wheel house as well as a few other places at the same time putting other the deck fittings (Mast, work/life boats) etc once all that done a final ballast, tighten all of the various bolts/screens, charge battery and test sailing (could take a while as working on this slowly)

5 years ago by barryskeates

Blog

New drive Train and Oiler

Most of this actually took place last August / July! Regular readers may have seen that when Dad built this boat in the 60s he put a Taycol Target field motor in it. About 25 years ago I put a Decaperm and 'modern' transistor ESC in her to provide forward and reverse. Performance was sedate to say the least. I have since modified the Taycol (see below) so it can be run forward and reverse and decided to put it in an ancient Billings Boats Danish fish cutter (Gina) that I inherited from an Aunt. The cutter is badly in need of renovation (see pic 1) and the Taycol will be more suited to her performance requirement! On advice from Canabus in Hobart I obtained a Propdrive 2830 1000kV brushless motor, appropriate ESC and a 35mm 3 blade prop from Raboesch. Pic 2 shows the old and new motors. Next step was to trial fit new motor mount, coupling and prop. Pics 3 &4. While doing this it became obvious that a new shaft was in order, as mentioned in last update. Soooo, - appropriate stainless steel rod, thrust and set ring were acquired and back to the workshop. After cutting to length to accommodate the new coupling type a 3mm thread was cut a the prop end. At the inboard end I milled recesses for the grub screws in the set ring and the coupling, pics 5 - 7. I don't like to just file(or even mill) flats for the screws cos they have a tendency to slip and work loose😡 Trial fitted the new shaft and found I'd boobed a bit with the measurements and need extra thrust to make up the difference. 😲 Pic 8. No sweat, they came in a pack of 50 anyway😊 You can also see in this pic that I decided to fit an oiler pipe while everything was in bits anyway.😉 To solder it on in a cramped space without setting the boat on fire 😡 I packed a wet rag underneath and used a gas Kitchen Torch! Known as a 'Gas Gourmet Burner'. Yep, those handy little gas torches like your Missus uses to melt the brown sugar on her Crème Brûlée!! So do I, delicious 😜😉 The torches are not expensive, small, very handy, refillable with lighter gas and can be adjusted to a very small hot flame. ideal for this job. See pics 9 & 10. Pic 11 shows the new motor & mount, shaft and coupling all trial fitted after using a brass alignment tool I quickly made up on the lathe. Pic also shows the trial electrical installation after cleaning up the 'machinery compartment' a little and painting with silver Hammerite. A Quickrun BL ESC is sitting in the bottom in one of the trays my Dad originally fitted for the 2 wet cell (very wet!) 6V lead acid batteries. The home made board on the left carries the battery and ESC connectors, main ON/OFF switch with LED, blade fuse holder with a 20A fuse and a green LED which tells me if the fuse is blown! Stuck on the walls (OK Bulkheads!) with so called Servo Tape are a 6 ch Turnigy iA6 2.4Gig RX and the arming switch for the ESC. Battery compartment is sized to fit 2S and 3S hard case LiPos. For trials I can fit my Wattmeter forward of the switchboard and splice it into the battery supply using Tamiya connectors. Might change these to XT60s later if current drain is more than 12 to 15A. All for now, all this was pulled out again preparatory to cosmetics on the hull, decks, cabin roof and walls inside and out. But that's another chapter so, 'Tune in next week, same time same channel when once again it's time for 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN BUCK RODGERS IS APPROACHING!? 😁 Or 'The Saga of the Cabin Roof' 😉 Cheers Doug 😎 BTW: After drilling the shaft tube for the oiler pipe I flushed it out with light machine oil (pumped in from a big syringe) and shoved a few pipe cleaners through (rotating them on the way) to remove any remaining drill swarf!!

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Re: Fitting shafts and motors

I agree Peter, I get a lot of stuff from Krick as well. Prices are acceptable and delivery prompt. I have a few of those pumps (also used in car windscreen ). Found that they do tend to clog in murky waters but otherwise no problem. Funny, I'd forgotten the 'acrylate' part of Cyanoacrylate!! Got too used to calling it CA or Gluper Sue 😁 Cheers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Re: Capping

The main hatch is held down currently by the weight of the winch, it seems to be ding the job mainly due the the steel being used as brake drums! I intend to put a raised hatch in the large hatch for access to the switches. Previously I have put a screw through the deck into a cross beam and then hidden by painting the same colour as the deck and covering with fish boxes as an example...

5 years ago by GrahamP74

Blog

Trawl winch

I have scratch built the trawl winch using a mix of metal , bolts, cut Allen keys, wood and plasticard. Sprayed with a Spencer Carter / North Sea winch blue. Further detail will be added in the shape of hydraulic pipes and branding.

5 years ago by GrahamP74

Blog

Bollards!

The fittings supplied with the kit include some bollards for the deck but I’m less than impressed with them and decided to make my own by adapting some brass handrail fittings intended for locomotives. As readers of my blogs will know, I don’t have a lathe but there’s a lot that can be achieved using a horizontal bench drill and files. The first job was to reduce the diameter of the base to fit inside a couple of steel that were superglued together and then to the reduced base to form a large flange for the bollard. This was then spun in the drill and files used to radius the edges and blend them into the base. Some brass rod was then used to form the cross piece of the bollard, some tape the same width of the ‘ball’ was used to protect the centre section and the outer end reduced to a taper with a file, finally the pieces were reduced to the correct length and the ends rounded off. The cross piece was then superglued into the bollard base and then all four were given a coat of etch primer and then two brushed coats of Tamiya gunmetal grey. There is another bollard on the foredeck and this is just a simple wooden post with a brass cross piece, it’s fixed through the deck into the underlying structure by a brass pin.

5 years ago by robbob

Blog

Lifeboat and Davits

I looked at various options on how to construct a life boat using paper, balsa wood, etc. However through google I found a kit from China that would fit the bill. Duly ordered and delivered the kit consisted of thin mahogany parts pre cut with a laser. Instructions were basic however after a very fiddly construction the result was very effective. The davits were manufactured using brass sheet, tube, wire and . Parts soft soldered together. Pulley blocks out of boxwood. More research showed that the boat while hanging under the davits were also secured to the tug using straps. I made these out of knicker elastic with wire eyes on each end.

5 years ago by Hillro

Blog

Fore deck , Etc.

The fore deck is made from 1.5mm Birch plywood. A template was made out of card. This was then transferred to plywood and cut out a little proud. The plywood was filed, sanded to give a good fit. Deck was then planked using 0.5 x 5mm mahogany strips left over from another project. Holes were drilled as require for anchor chains and lockers. The chain lockers are made from brass tube and brass . The under deck was reinforced, between frame for the mast, etc. Deck then glued and pinned into position. When secure the winch was fitted in position including the chain locks (Don't know the nautical term)

5 years ago by Hillro