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36'' Thames River Police Launch by Robbob

After the successful build of the ‘Vintage Model Works’ RAF Crash Rescue Tender I was asked by Mike Cummings of VMW if I would undertake to build a prototype of their new model with the aim of checking the construction method and the assembly instructions for accuracy before the kit is put into production. The model is a ‘Thames River Police Launch’ and is based on the original design by Phil Smith for the Veron company, this was a very popular model kit in the late 50’s and 60’s and sold for the princely sum of 43 shillings and tuppence, approximately £2.15 in today’s money but an equivalent cost of £48.50 in 1960. This design has been updated to accommodate electric propulsion and radio control by Colin Smith, the son of the original designer and it has been re-scaled to be 36” in length where the original was 24” which gives much more scope for detailing and provides more ‘hiding room’ for the drive, control systems and all the associated . The kit produced by VMW uses the same construction techniques as the original and the materials are a combination of balsa and plywood both of which a laser and CNC cut for precision. The ply and balsa materials supplied are of very high quality as one would expect from VMW and all the stripwood for the chines, rubbing strakes and deck detailing is included, even the dowel required for the mast is in the box, very comprehensive! The kit also includes white metal fittings such as the fairleads and stanchions, and the searchlight and horns. The glazing for the windows comes in the kit too. The instruction sheet supplied is in need of revision as it is largely taken directly from the original as written by Phil Smith and some of the terminology needs updating, for instance the ply bottom and side skins are referred to as ‘strakes’ but I understand that a re-write of the instructions is in hand along with an updated plan showing the best positioning for the motor, prop-shaft, battery, ESC, receiver, rudder and servo. During construction I have added a few additional pieces of ply or balsa as reinforcement or supports and substituted some balsa parts for ply where I thought a stronger material would be better. I also added some hatches to give access to the at the bow and the rudder & servo at the stern but largely I have not gone ‘off plan’ to any extent. The pictures show the model in it’s present state (Nov 2018) and is ready for painting and finishing.

6 years ago by robbob

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

Hi all, a friend is building a submarine and wants to turn it on remotely with a proximity switch and magnet, he needs to know where to wire it in... I thought it should be into the positive wire from the battery - am I right? Thanks in advance, Eric

5 years ago by EricMB

Forum

Soldering

Guess unless your doing plumbing or , not much to learn from. Hehe, Learning to tin, get globs of solder, let the solder run, costly way to learn! Oh well, at least Im making progress. Thanks, again, to all who have commented.👍

5 years ago by retirement-hobby

Blog

Mast assembly

The supplied mast is of white metal and although OK it has a number of minus points for me. 1- The mast does not lend its self to being hinged. 2- It really needs navigation light on top and the supplied casting is not suitable for this. 3- needs to be hidden, not easy with the casting 4- it’s quite heavy Having said all that it’s ok if you don’t want my wish list. So on with the manufacture of a replica, I chose brass as the preferred material because it’s easy to silver and soft solder. The main legs are made from 6mm round tube, which I squeezed in my machine vice to an oval shape to look like the castings, each of the ends were then squeezed again at 90 degrees to allow then to join to the cross mid-section. I made some brass inserts for the hinged end from 2mm brass sheet, which are bent by 25 degrees to allow the hinge mechanism to sit at 90 degrees to the cabin roof, these are drilled and tapped 8BA. These pieces actually block the end of the oval tube and need to have a 2mm slot milled in them to allow the wires to exit the tube; these are soft soldered in place later. Two feet were made from two pieces of 2mm brass plate the base plate being slotted to accept the upright and finally silver soldered together. (A point here for silver soldering is to use as little solder as possible and allow it to flow with the heat around the joint this means that no filing is needed. I find it’s also good practice to quench the part when nearly cool to break the glass like residue of the flux then just steel wool is required to clean the parts). The feet upstands were then drilled 8BA clearance and the base fixing holes drilled the same size. The cross mid-section is made from 1mm brass sheet and is bent through 360 degrees whilst placing a 6mm round bar in the centre to create a hole for the top mast. A small wooden former was used as the piece was pressed together in the machine vice, this was then silver soldered to give stability and then filed to shape. This piece has to accommodate the wires passing through, so again a 2mm slot is milled from each leg location to the centre to create passage up to the top mast. The top mast is just stock tubing which then has a turned top with four 5mm holes machined at 90 degrees to accommodate the LED. This is a 5mm Flat top wide angle LED this will direct the light out of the four holes. Finally the cross piece, again stock tube with small ball finials at each end soft soldered in place and tapped 10 BA for the pulley blocks. All pieces now made, it’s time to assemble the parts using a combination of soft soldering and epoxy resin. The wire that I used was silicon sheaved, and when I soldered the legs to the mid-section and lower hinge piece I made sure there was enough wire to pull through to check if the process had damaged the wire, but it hadn’t. So having soldered the LED, the top was epoxied to the upper tube and the tube epoxied to the mid-section. Finally the mid-section was filled using Milliput but first putting some Vaseline on the wires to avoid them being stuck should I ever have to rewire the unit. Next the cross beam was added and epoxied in place. The bottom of the legs looked plain compared with the cast version so I have made some thin gauge brass covers with mock bolts as per the original. The whole assembly was cleaned up ready for a first coat of etch primer, and white primer, followed later with a final coat of appliance white

5 years ago by mturpin013

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Continuing the saga - assembling the mechanics is one thing - getting it to be accurate requires a lot of set-up work! Here is the machine bolted to a thick chunk of ply, having all the axes checked out for runout. They are all adjustable, so occasionally some shimming needs to be done. Note that though a start has been made on some of the , this is just the mechanics. No motors or control systems have been added yet...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Response

Enclosing the controls.

Hi Rob, unless I am mistaken, one of the receiver antennas appears to be sited in amongst the ESC . if so this is not a good idea, ideally at least 2.5cm should separate the antenna from anything conductive. Alan

5 years ago by ukengineman

Blog

Enclosing the controls.

The original boat had a wide and deep seat at the back of the well deck and this is an ideal place to conceal the fuse, ESC and receiver. I started by setting out the components and marking an area sufficiently big enough to accommodate them all with room for the associated and plumbing (water cooling for the ESC). A framework of obeche strip was formed on the floor and sides in such a way that the top and front panels of the cover would be flush with the frame, the side frames were also built out so that the cover would be narrow enough to clear the coamings on the sides of the well deck. The rear panels and floor of the enclosure are 1.5mm obeche panels, the rear one with cut-outs for the to come through, both were given a coat of Teak stain before being glued in place. The cover ‘seat’ was made from a framework of obeche strip and panels with bracing pieces at each end to add rigidity and it fits neatly into the frame, some finishing detail was also added to this. This was also given a first coat of Teak stain. The cover will be held in place with small neodymium magnets.

5 years ago by robbob

Forum

Turnigy Standard 9x transmitter

Hi, As I see, there is a problem. The basic question is - what you need to control, and the other - whether this type of RC kit will allow this. Especially .. this type is mainly designed for aircraft control. You need to choose compromises to control the ship model. This type does not allow simple switching of functions - only by means of another switching module, or by means of end switches on the modified servo. in the base allows only proportional control of servos or ESC. There are RC sets, that have switching functions, such as Graupner - e.g. Graupner mc-20 12-Channel HoTT but these are far more expensive... The basic is the 3rd throttle for engine control (ESC), channel 4 for control of the rudder. there is a possibility to use channels 1 and 2 for switching the added end switches but it is not possible to switch them permanently (perhaps with the help of the added relay)-. channel 5 can be used - setting> AUX> GYR> PIT TRIM - (rotary potentiometer control.) similarly channel # 7. AUX settings> HOV THRO Channel No 8 - AUX Settings> HOV PIT Operate again using rotary potentiometers - see function descriptions. These channels again allow only proportional control. Switching can be done (maybe) using channel # 6 settings >AUX>FLP> Gear ON/OFF (I did not try this) It is good to get familiar with the setting of the individual elements and check this on the display for the test (without the connection of the receiver !!) before you all plug in the model. I hope it helped you a little bit.. Tom

5 years ago by tomarack

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Well, I've got my eShapeoko. I bought all the electronics and motors as well as the mechanical kit from the same source, which meant that I didn't have to do all the work to check compatibility. Total cost, including VAT and postage, was £563 - which is remarkably cheap for a machine with this size cutting bed. if I had wanted to save money and use the free LinuxCNC with a Chinese breakout board I could have dropped the price to around £400 - probably below £350 if I had gone for Chinese Ebay steppers as well. There are more things to get, of course. Tooling and workholding are the standard extras for any big workshop machine. The eShapeoko is designed to hold a Dremel clone, but I will probably be using a more delicate tool to cut out thin balsa shapes for EeZeBilts. The eShapeoko is quite capable of milling metals, but I don't expect to do that very often. So I can't see the total price rising by a lot - perhaps another £20 or so before I can be cutting my first parts. The first thing I did when I got the parts was assemble them roughly to check that it all went together properly. Here is a shot - minus the and controls, of course - to give an idea of the size of the thing. With it I can cut keel lengths up to about 36". The maximum cutting width is about 14". I can easily expand it in length by adding longer rails, but this represents a balance between what would be useful and what would fit easily in the shed! Assembling it is just like making a Meccano kit. Which should present no difficulty to someone of a certain age...! For anyone interested this is the site I got it from: https://amberspyglass.co.uk

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

RC circuit

Am considering changing my Dumas pushboat San Pedro from single motor control to twin control to improve manueverability. I also plan on installing flanking rudders at the same time. I am going for a 6 channel transceiver setup. Have not been able to find any diagrams for what is needed or involved. Any assistance would be gratefully appreciated!

5 years ago by Mariner85

Forum

Robbe Westerriff lotse pilot vessel

This boat is understood to be a Robbe 1:25 kit, constructed to a very high standard, and is the pilot vessel Westerriff. The craft is finished to the most exacting of standards and, whilst fitted with a motor, bow thruster and lots of , will need additions and finishing to perform, with, battery, radio gear etc required. ( I also note there is no servo for the rudder ). It has sailed previously, and is provided with many attractive features, including operating water cannon, rotating radar, operating mast lights ( numerous ). The length is 106 cms, or a tad under 42 inches in old money.( The craft is supplied without the stand that is shown in the images. I am presently looking for a suitable stand, so if there is one out there to be had, please do let me ( or the new purchaser ) know. If further info or images is/are required, please do let me know. Again, I am looking for a reasonable and realistic offer for the boat, and all offers will be considered. The craft is presently moored alongside the previously mentioned Assurance class armed tug in South Manchester. ( also, the least I can do is to ensure that a suitable donation is made to the site following the sale of any of the craft that I am offering for sale ).

5 years ago by Davecounty

Forum

Slightly confused newbie

Whilst I am not new to boat modelling, I am new to r/c and I’m confused about an issue I have. You can see the setup in the images. Everything works fine, and testing the boat on the pond; I was very pleased how she ran. The issue is this: if I set the trim switch (bottom right on transmitter image) to reverse, the rudder works normally. If I set it to Normal, it is reversed. If I set the throttle trim switch to normal, the throttle is reversed, and if I switch it reverse, the motor runs a full throttle, with the joystick in the neutral position! All the other trim controls are in the neutral position, as in the image. I have double checked all the , and would really appreciate some help on what I am doing wrong.

5 years ago by J Barry

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 . 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

Painting

I must admit that the painting process is not my favourite. it takes so long and time is always at a premium due to work commitments. I rush it a bit so that the build can continue. I fitted all of the windows into the deck structure and covered them with the low tack film. I then primed, two coats, painted, two coats followed by two coats of lacquer. I am quite pleased with the results even though it is not perfect. I decided not to fit the deck until all of the electronics, including the ESC, battery and receiver had been installed. This is because one of the big problems with this model is the lack of room to work in once the deck is in place. Another problem I encountered was the fitting of the tiller cranks onto the rudders. if the instructions are followed, it is almost impossible the adjust or remove them once the deck has been fitted. I solved the problem by reversing the cranks and bending the connecting wire to miss a bulkhead support. The screws can now be reached from the deck opening. I have now completed the majority of the painting and have started to assemble the remaining parts. Currently I am doing the of the lighting and making a couple of circuit boards. There are a lot of wires involved so to reduce the amount I have decided to us e a common negative. (Cannot remember what this is called right now). There are still a lot of wires and they are mostly coming out from the cabin structure. I have decided to introduce some nine pin connectors to make cabin removal a lot easier. This is quite a big job and will take a little while. I really enjoy this bit. The results add that little bit of extra satisfaction when it all works as it should.🤓 The top search light assembly came as a bit of a surprise. it is manufactured from nickel silver plate and requires soldering together. Even though I am a precision engineer, I have not soldered a box since I was at school. Once I stopped burning my fingers with the heat, I quite enjoyed the assembly even though it would have been useful to have an extra hand and took the best part of today to complete.😤 I can honestly say that I have enjoyed most of this build and even though earlier on I was thinking to avoid Aero-naut models in the future, I have changed my mind. They are very cleverly designed. I expect to complete this model some time in March. That would be the first for me to complete in recent times even though I have two others on the go and one new one in its box ready for a Summer start.😊

5 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Mtronics W-tail marine mixer connections.

Evenin' Colin, Understand. But; Not sooooo expensive when you consider that you are effectively getting 2 ESCs in one compact board, plus the rudder mixer. With the Mtronics gizmo you still need the separate ESCs, which also makes the messier!🤔 Taycol and converter board are packed up and will be on it's way to you per DHL this week. Ought to be with you before April!!😉 Look forward to the pics of the Commander renovation. The paddler looks neat as well👍 Cheers, Doug 😎 PS there are also outputs for controlling Smokers or Sound Modules on the AC board.

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Mtronics W-tail marine mixer connections.

Hi Mtronix provide excellent after sales service on their products 01943 461482 They will provide a diagram But why not control each esc from 2 separate channels on your transmitter and forget complex mixers Just a thought or it might be the wine talking again Cheers Ian

5 years ago by TOWN3810

Forum

Help with vintage rc.

hi there I am in agreement with DodgyGeezer about the reliability of vintage radio gear. I believe the Digi4 servos were Linear movement, rather than rotary as in modern day servos and yes some of the old versions were 4 wire; with male plugs at the end. One of the main downfalls of these old sets was thing called 'black wire' its where the negative side wire in the electrical system actually turns black and corrodes. The only way to repair it is to actually renew the and once you have it in one part of your radio system, it inevitably works its way through the whole of your radio system. The transmitters do turn up on that popular auction site. I have often fancied purchasing one just to play around with it - but I wouldn't trust one operating a precious model on the lake, because I can remember the 27 mghz radio gear being very prone to interference from the slightest thing.👍 john

5 years ago by JOHN

Forum

Aeronaut Pilot Boat

Hi Ron. I have a reasonable knowledge of electronics and 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

Aeronaut Pilot Boat

Hi Peter, Thanks for idea for making easier access to Rudder Connections. I have modified mine to similar to yours and all seems well so far. I have not continued with "above" Deck Building but that will be next on the plan. How "Electrical Minded" are you regarding LED etc.? I am looking for a good Website, both for getting advice on along with suitable supplies for UK source. Any ideas? Thanks again. Ron

5 years ago by RonW

Blog

Cabin detail part 6 panel light

Cabin detail part 6 panel light The panel light presented a difficult challenge in that I assume the real one has a tubular light fitting in it, difficult in 1/12 scale. However, creating the tube assembly was not difficult using some annealed 1/8” brass tube and making a bending jig, (simply a 1/8 grove milled using a ball ended slot drill into a piece of hardwood I formed the tube into the required shape. I used the back of the jig to hold the piece while I filled the tube half way through along it top inside edge @ 45 degrees this is where the LED tube will fit. The LED tube is from one of the new type LED garden light bulb that use a small solar panel to illuminate it during the during dark hours. Smashing the bulb leaves 4 filaments which can be used independently, these are very delicate and need the wires attaching very carefully finally feeding it into the brass tube and then after all this fiddling, if it still lights, epoxy it in place. The next job is to make some brackets to fix it to the instrument panel. The bracket was made from 1/8” bore tube and some 0.010” brass shim I drilled some holes in the sheet prior to cutting to size, this was done using only a 1/8” dia centre drill and then enlarged with a clock makers reamer until the tube fitted snugly through this was then soft soldered in place. The whole unit was then epoxied in place on the instrument panel. All the for the panel LEDs can now be completed ready for connection to the random flashing circuit board. (this came as a kit for just £3:90) The circuit board is fastened to the panel with a sub-board made from a scrap piece of ply with PCB supporting pillars in the corners, when this is completed I will post a video of it working. The LEDs on the circuit board are only for testing and will be replaced with the panel LEDs.

5 years ago by mturpin013

Blog

Sketches finally....

The horizontal tin can design worked well, so I decided to do another and describe the build. First photo shows the original smoker, it uses a vertical mount squirrel cage type CPU fan. The majority of CPU fans are horizontal so I will build a new smoker with the more common horizontal fan. See sketches attached which are a cut section thru the tin can to show the interior. This explains my design with a stopper that holds the wires and wick. Shows the heating element so that it is above the fluid level. The stopper design makes it easy to remove and allow for any maintenance necessary. Fill fluid can be through the stack tube or through the stopper opening. I have been using the stack tube on my first smoker so as to disturb the wick and element less. Please review the drawing and let me know what questions you have. Next I will take photos as I punch opening in the cans and solder the brass tubes. Cheers Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

Fairmile D 1/24 Scale Build

"........Regards, Doug 😎 BTW: still waiting for the pics / videos of your 'Hooben' (?) and the Perkasa...." That reminds me - how are you coming along with the Taycol Board tests? And the modified circuit? I remain interested to see what you have done. Have I missed the post? ".........Do those boards follow the circuit diagrams on the Taycol web site? I seem to remember that you said you had 'refined them slightly'? Hi Dodgy, The board for Colin's Supermarine yes. After I modified my original version when I discovered excessive heating effects during initial trials. The 'little ones' I made for my Taycol Target no, not quite! Will publish details, with diagrams and test results, in the relevant blogs shortly. Cheers, Doug 😎..........."

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

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 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

Response

Electronics,

Ed, Very true, it's actually very orderly as I am meticulous when it comes to electronics, it does look like spaghetti now! I really enjoy it and this is a piece of cake compared to the vacuum tube / valve amplifiers that I design and build to challenge myself. Thanks for the comment. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Response

Electronics,

Spaghetti, Isn't it interesting how one knows where all the wires go. Except someone else looking in!😉 Regards, Ed

5 years ago by figtree7nts

Blog

Decks & hatches.

Because I need access to the at both ends of the boat I formed the framework of an opening at the bow to make the dummy hatch into a real hatch. In a similar way a hatch was formed in the rear deck which will give me access to the , rudder servo and the ESC cooling. It’s going to be quite tight to get all that into the cavity under the rear deck but I’ve done a test fit and it will all go in but will involve some ‘keyhole surgery’ through the rear hatch opening when I get to the stage of installing all of the running gear…🤓. Both of these decks were glued and pinned in place and some packing tape used to pull the decks firmly onto the frames. The side decks were also trimmed for best fit and secured in the same way and when all was dry and set a small hand plane was used to trim them flush to the hull sides. The next stage will be to fit the balsawood blocks at the bow and shape them to the hull…..it’s the tricky bit I’ve not been looking forward to…😟

5 years ago by robbob

Blog

Electronics,

My batteries arrived, could not find locally so ordered through Walmart online. Two - 6volt 4.5AH, wired in parallel to give me 6v @ 9AH. Used inline fuse, prior to switch, then on to the esc, a Dynamite Tazar 15 T marine type. On/off switch will operate from outside so hatch will not have to be removed. Had some real nightmares trying to program this esc! Setup lights would not come on, went through all procedures, slept on it tried ecpvery website, tried again today, nothing. I was about to look into a new purchase, THEN LIKE MAGIC.... I mistakenly switched it to my zBrooklyn Tug mod on th TX which uses the same esc, and it startled me with the motor running and rudder moving. Everything worked great. So I just copied all of the settings into this build on the TX. HAPPY NOW Photo shows the mass of wires that allows me to shift the batteries for final ballasting, they will be tucked away neatly as build is finalized. Regards, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Deck, servo mount

Put together a pilot house based on some tugs I've seen. Just freelanced it as I went. I build a lot with styrene so I am used to just cutting and building. I use liquid styrene cement that fuses the materials together. See photo, will trim it out as I mount it, need to add some detail at roof and some Navigational lighting. Put on on 3mm plywood deck, same as hull bottom. The deck is also curved (proper term is SHEAR) and I started to build up some wood edge at the opening. Will sand everything well, then start sealing and priming all surfaces. Made a bracket for the rudder servo mount and an adjacent platform for the ESC and RX. Ordered two 6v 5ah SLA batteries. I will wire in parallel to stay with 6v and get 10ah. I like to stay with 6 volts as I want the motor to run slow like a tug should. Will wire in an in-line fuse. Haven't decided where I will put switch, up high somewhere to avoid water. I will show the once I get to it. This build is going fast because it's a simple design, just what I was looking for. I work on it late afternoons and into the evening while I watch basketball games. About 4 hrs a day. Looking forward to building the hatch and getting some primer started tomorrow. Regards, Joe 👍

5 years ago by Joe727

Response

BRAVE BORDERER

Hi I think the sensored brushless motors have an additional harness which plugs into the esc. this senses the position of the rotor and two motors are therefore sincronised. Just thinking and thinking can be dangerous especially with me Cheers Ian

5 years ago by TOWN3810

Response

Internal & bottom skins

Rob, if all is OK maybe you have proved different to the current thinking, I hope so, because as you know electrics is complicated enough without having to consider the length of the wire, I'm happy if the bulb lights up, that's an achievement!!

5 years ago by mturpin013

Response

Internal & bottom skins

Hi Mike. All the is in place, it's not too late to alter it and the placements but it just creates more problems than it solves, I respect Alan's opinion and words of caution but I hope that his concerns are unfounded. I'll take the risk.😉 Rob.

5 years ago by robbob

Response

Internal & bottom skins

Hi Rob, I'm really pleased to see construction detail, I suppose in preference to a finished boat, you may ask why? well looking at your pictures, the last two in particular they show the precision of your woodworking skills with a distinct absence of any filler, really nice. Looking at the first picture (top view) is there any reason why the battery and ECS can't go in front and behind the motor addressing the issue of short runs (not that I have a clue about and electronics) PS. however it looks like its too late as some is already installed and by now the skins are probably on now Keep up the good work

5 years ago by mturpin013

Response

Internal & bottom skins

Hi Alan. Thanks for the cautionary comments. Placing the battery up front is the only practical location and I'm using 12 SWG wire so current handling won't be a problem but inductance could be a factor. I could fit a ferrite ring but that would only help to suppress any RF noise so there's not much more I can really do other than put the ESC up front too but that would mean re-plumbing the water cooling and the motor wires too. I'm gonna have to trust my luck on that score 🤞. Best Wishes. Rob.

5 years ago by robbob

Response

Internal & bottom skins

Hi Rob, the Police Launch is coming along nicely. I see that you have long leads from the battery to the ESC. The general rule is that these leads should be kept as short as possible to minimize voltage spikes caused by the fast switching currents and the inductance of the leads. Brushless ESC's have large capacitors, often visible at the end to absorb the transients. You may well get away with it but the life of the ESC could be reduced. Hope your Xmas goes well, Alan

5 years ago by ukengineman

Response

Internal & bottom skins

Thanks for that mate. I was just a bit worried about access space, and didn't realise how big the rear compartment is on this BIGGER police launch. Cheers, Dave W 😊

5 years ago by rolfman2000

Response

Internal & bottom skins

There's plenty of access to fit the rudder tube at this stage because the deck skins have not gone on yet, and I still have fairly nimble fingers 🖖 😜 I'm generally following the kit instructions but I have sufficient experience to 'plot my own course' and deviate from them to achieve the same or better result. A great deal of thought and forward planning goes on when I build anything so I don't usually 'paint myself into a corner' so to speak. Here's a 'sneaky peek' (see pics) at the rudder and servo location that I'll cover in detail in the blog shortly. Happy Crimbo to you and yours 🎄 🎅 ⛄️ Robbob.

5 years ago by robbob

Response

Internal & bottom skins

Hi Robbob, it's great to watch this coming along space, and the hull seems nearly there. But I notice no mention of the rudder post being fitted, and now the bottom skins are in place, the access has just gotten a whole lot harder. is this "as per the instructions" ? Or your own decision made from experience ? I'm afraid I would have at least fitted the rudder tube, as my rather large hands will have a hard time getting in later on. Kindest wishes to you and yours for the Christmas season, and a prosperous New Year, from UK family Weaver 😊

5 years ago by rolfman2000

Blog

Internal & bottom skins

Because I am keen to conceal as much of the as possible I have decided to place the battery at the bow and the operational equipment at the stern, the engine on the original boat was central and covered with a soundproof box and this is convenient as the motor can be positioned and concealed in the same way. This means that some of the wires will have to run the full length of the boat and the easiest way to conceal them is to run them beneath the ‘box’ around which the hull is formed, and this needs to be done before the bottom skins are fitted. Holes were bored through the bulkhead formers under the port side of the hull and battery cables were run to the stern where the ESC will be and three motor wires from the ESC run to the centre, emerging near the motor position. For good measure I put in a servo cable and a separate draw wire just in case I needed to put more cabling in for any additional features, perhaps working navigation lights? Satisfied that I had all the cabling in place I was able to fit the bottom skins starting with the starboard side first. Before doing so I put a very slight 'hollow' in former F1 which should help blend the shape of the the hull where the ply skins meet the balsa blocks that will to be carved and shaped to form the bow. This can be seen in the last picture. The process of forming and fixing the skins is the same as for the side skins but in addition to the pins holding the skins in place I used some brown polythene ‘packing tape’ to pull the skins tightly against the bulkhead formers and strakes. The packing tape has a very high tensile strength and is ideal for this, and of course cheap and easy to remove. Once the aliphatic glue had set thoroughly overnight I removed the excess from the skins with a small block plane and finished them with my sanding plate. Before I fit the skin at the stern I will have to arrange the water cooling for the ESC, with the pickup just behind the prop and the outlet on the stern. I’ll cover that aspect in the next update.

5 years ago by robbob

Blog

Fitting the side skins.

The side skins are made from 1.5mm ply and require a slight curve towards the bow and I found that this is best achieved by gently warming with a heat gun, which seems to relax the glue between the laminations, so that when bent to a gentle curve and allowed to cool will set the shape very easily. The skins are supplied are slightly oversize and when the skins have been bent they can be roughly clamped to the hull and then marked for trimming, also while the skin is clamped in place the positions of the bulkhead formers can be marked on the skin. Back on the bench the skins were trimmed with a craft knife (with a fresh blade) and then drilled with a 1mm bit to allow pinning through into the formers and strakes. Aliphatic glue was applied to the hull formers and strakes and the skin positioned so that the drilled holes were in correct alignment with the formers and then clamped and pinned in place. Because the skin was pre-formed to the hull shape the clamps and pins are not under much tension and the hull was set aside while the glue set. When the port skin had fully set overnight, the pins and clamps were removed and the skin was finished with a plane to remove the excess down to the strakes and the F1 former at the bow and the sanding ‘plate’ used to finish it all off. Where the side skins meet at the prow there needs to be a wide flat area for the external keel to butt to and so the trimming and sanding there will be done at a later stage before the bow blocks are fitted and carved. The process was repeated for the starboard side skin and while the glue was setting I gave some thought to a means of concealing some of the that needs to run the length of the hull 🤔.

5 years ago by robbob

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

Hi, what sub are you building as i'm making magnetic power on/off switch if there space in the WTC. cheers Tim

5 years ago by timgarrod

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

Fair comment.😉 Ciao, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

While I accept you had that in mind not everyone would realise the situation. Stating the obvious needs to be done on occasions.

5 years ago by Haverlock

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

Hi Haverlock, Quite correct. Nobody said it did! We took it as read that for operation main power drive would be connected and disconnected at the end of the run. Preferably by removing a fuse in the positive lead. Batteries should not be left connected in models anyway.😉 Cheers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

switching off and on via the ESC switch does NOT disconnect the battery from the ESC just stops the ESC passing current. Power is still being used. The only way to end all current flow is to disconnect the batter by either opening the pos or neg lead from the battery. Mounting the magnet on the end of a screw and having that fit into a threaded hole should deal with the problem of keeping it in place while running.

5 years ago by Haverlock

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

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

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

If the intention is to switch on with the magnet then remove it then you will need the reed switch already mentioned plus a latching relay. In use you would apply the magnet which will switch the relay which in turn will switch the ESC. A second application of the magnet will unlatch the relay. Possible choice of relay. Relay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5v-12v-24V-Coil-Bistable-Latching-Relay-DPDT-2A-30VDC-High-Quality/113232919274?hash=item1a5d353aea:m:mH8OjtWO_5VZ843iolIqa6A:rk:3:pf:0 He would need to consider carefully that he still has power to the safety backup which will blow ballast a certain time after loss of signal. Steve

5 years ago by steve-d

Forum

Proximity (Hall effect) sensor

I do not know how much knowledge of electronics your friend has but I need to point out that a hall effect sensor is not like a relay. While they do act like a switch ( sort of) they need to be powered and have a hall effect voltage to switch. This would mean in the use intended there would be a current drain on the sensor and if the power supply ( battery?) voltage fell to far it would not function. The effect you want could be replaced by a reed relay cheap and simple to use. However reed relays can only pass low currents so would need to be cascaded with a higher rated relay before switching the main battery supply on and off. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Pcs-2-5X14mm-3-Pin-4W-Glass-Reed-Relay-Magnetic-Switches-N-O-N-C-SPDT/372165424048?hash=item56a6c9b3b0:g:vgAAAOSwJtdaL2~p:rk:53:pf:0 these reed relays have both normally open and normally closed contacts and at a couple of quid for 10 worth buying so he can experiment.

5 years ago by Haverlock

Forum

Ship rudders

Mornin' Toby, I'm back😁 Pardon the delay, just finished tidying up the and final running tests on Colin's Taycol Supermarine motor and converter board - to make it run off a standard brushed ESC! The rivets look great👍 and the last pic was much better as well😊 Soooo many rivets 😲 guess you have to do them in batches, and then go pull up a tree or something, or you'd go doolally 😡 And I thought I was patient doing all the portholes and stanchions on my 4' 6" 1936 destroyer - that was ONLY hundreds! Rivets? Didn't even contemplate that!! I think you should continue this in a proper Build Blog - there's lotsa good stuff you're doing here👍 And at the end you can make a pdf file of the whole story with just a few clicks😉 Be a nice memento👍 Look forward to the Launch Report. During my career I attended the launches of several naval ships I had worked on,designing the COMMS systems. The funniest one was a glass fibre minehunter at the intermarine yard in italy near La Spezia. The ship was still in dry dock, like a huge bath. They turned on the 'taps' and slowly up came the ship! Keep up the good work, cheers, Doug 😎 BTW; were you sitting on the saw to help keep awake? 😁😁

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Mornin' JB, Guess I'll have to remain 'agnostic' on this issue for now - I'm still to be convinced. This might explain a phenomenon I've noticed during testing of the Taycol Supermarine I've just renovated for Colin. More on that later in the 'Supermarine resurrection' blog. I'll do some experiments using my digital scope and see if I can trap and measure these elusive spikes for various wire lengths😉 Can't comment on the guy from Castle, don't know them, except to say that I found his comments a bit vague and without explanation. There are also contradictory posts on that link; some say before the ESC some after. Can't really see the point of putting the caps in front of the ESC, switching spikes SHOULD only appear on the output side I'll look at that on the scope, and after all a fuse to protect against fouled prop and jammed motor is standard fit between battery and ESC, or should be! So some extension for that is essential. Also I would expect the battery to flatten any spikes that do appear at the ESC supply side. As you say the internals of several 'manufacturers' ESCs are often the same. Nothing new, branding and badge engineering has been going on for decades for all sorts of things and no RC kit manufacturer / distributor produces his own components. Important factors are; quality of his own assembly and where does he buy his components - originals or cheap copies? 28 ESCs! Wow 😲 and I thought I had a lot! As reported I have so far had good results with the Quicrun series, both brushed and brushless. Next one to test is their Dual Brushed version. Prior to going brushless I used a lot of Graupner ESCs - made in Korea., never managed to blow one of them either, not even the little micro and pico jobs. Thanks for raising this issue - I like a good debate and we can all learn something from it I hope👍 Plus; piquing my curiosity is always dangerous 😁 Greetings to Down Under from 'Up Over', cheers, 😎Doug PS Further thought just struck me (Ouch😡); if this is really a dramatic problem why have I never seen any warnings about it in any ESC instructions? Yes, I'm THAT guy who actually reads the instructions!!

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

HMS BRAVE BORDERER

Hi Rowen, You don't need capacitors at all, and certainly not in series with the . Whereas I can heartily endorse all that jbkiwi says about the possibilities of modern TXs, I've only scratched the surface of what my Spectrum and Turnigy sets can do, I can see no justification for the extra capacitors on ESC leads. The length of the wires inside a typical model can not have a significant effect on the total resistance. Given a typical resistance of 1m of copper wire with ca 1mm² cross sectional area of 0.02Ω (less for larger gauges) it ain't gonna make a happorth of difference whether you have 4" (10cm) or 40". Maybe a little more warmth but the capacitor can't change that. I also can't see where the spikes he mentions should come from. Also bear in mind that the ESC does not apply pure DC to the motor but a pulse train with a pulse repetition rate of around 8 to 10kHz. That's why the motors whistle and scream. Adding capacitors to this could distort the pulses or reduce their peak value. If the ESC is so bad that it produces big spikes when the pulses are switched on or off (which I doubt theses days) then junk it and buy a decent one. On no account fit a capacitor in series with the , unless it is a special Coaxial Capacitor, which are very big and relatively expensive. See pic. I've only seen them on large electric motors on board ships where the much higher currents and longer cable runs involved than in models may play a role. A very small value capacitor, in the picofarad range might help to short out any potential high frequency RF interference but I've never experienced the need to fit them. in this respect it could be more important that the length of the cable is not close to the wavelengths typically used by RC sets (12.5cm at 2.4GHz) so that it does not act like an antenna. Cheers, Doug 😎 jbkiwi have looked at the link you posted but I'm not convinced considering the small lengths we use in our boats. Yes there will be some overshoot spikes in the pulse train but so severe as to damage anything is in my opinion highly unlikely, given a decent quality ESC in the first place. Something else on that link just occurred to me. There is a pic of what looks like electrolytic (polarised) capacitors between the wires. This is fine for aircraft ESCs which only run forwards, and thus produce positive going pulses. in our boats with reverse the pulse will switch over to negative going. Which after a while could have an explosive effect on the electrolytics. it blows the cans off and produces an interesting snowstorm effect. Good party trick😁 but maybe not so super inside a model boat😡 IF you do fit them to a reversible ESC be sure to use tantalum capacitors which aren't so fussy.

6 years ago by RNinMunich