Concerning these smoker units- I have a couple of them and I like the concept of not developing unnecessary heat in my models, not to mention the water vapor is much more in keeping with a steam vessel as it reacts to atmospheric conditions and the only residue is water - topside and engine room.

Another perhaps even more important item about these units is the customer assistance provided by Denes Design. As I mentioned I have two of these units and both of them worked flawlessly when they arrived. Alas, after trying to operate them like I did the oil-type smoker I compromised both control modules.

At the risk of being too long winded, I'll explain my fault as it may save someone else the same fate:
I had the oil type smoker set up on an independent ESC so I could turn on/off the unit and increase or decrease the amount of smoke at will through a potentiometer in my transmitter. Obviously, the output of the ESC varied which the heating element didn't mind. The Denes Design units want a constant voltage to the control module and relies on a signal from the receiver to increase/decrease the volume of vapor consonant with the shaft RPM. The way I tried to hook up the unit (I used the ESC output as the power source to the DD control module,) allowed the voltage to fluctuate from 0 to 12V and if I wasn't careful the polarity could be changed (as the ESC thought the boat was backing up) which was also detrimental as voltage polarity is critical to the Denes Design.

I contacted DD via email, described what I had done and received a very civil and thorough trouble-shooting email within hours describing how to determine the severity of the failure and how to remedy the issue.
I suspect other providers would have been more than happy to just sell me another unit citing my failure to follow the instructions.

In short, the units work great and the help from DD is exceptional.👍

I lost a 17 year old son to a car accident in '87 and last Sept a 59 year old son to a brain tumor. I don't mention this for sympathy, but only to affirm that I understand.
There's not a day goes by that I don't think of both of them. There is certainly a period of grief that we endure, then it is up to us to decide how we move forward. How would the departed want us to continue?
I don't mean to come across trite, or to take these circumstances lightly because they are arguably the hardest things in life to deal with, but my thoughts are ~ as long as their memory and the good times are alive in my heart, my sons have only passed from view. They could be in another room or another town.
My faith tells me we will be reunited again.

Hi folks, sorry I'm late.
I had a piece of wooden closet rod that I cut to length, and drilled 1/4" holes in each end to accommodate some braided nylon clothesline. I put several more inches of line on the rods then I needed just to make them a little adjustable. In practice we're not going to have our hands much higher than chest level when we pick up the boats anyway, so too much line will just get in the way.
I took the metal hooks off of a couple of rubber bungee/tie-down straps and replaced them with the clothes line which is seized at the eyes. The standing part of the line is passed through the drilled hole in the rods and a simple overhand knot maintains the correct length of line.

Having had a couple of close calls myself I've resorted to straps. It seems the older one gets the higher the center of gravity becomes. I'm not particularly afraid of getting wet and incurring the mirth of the other captains in the area, but the potential damage to the boat concerns me.😊

All of my RC boats have been painted by brush with acrylic samples from Lowes or Home Depot. I like the water cleanup, no smell, and they're tough enough. If a boat gets scratched, I'd touch it up, but the paint is tough enough that so far I haven't had the need.
Another plus is any color can be made from the color cards in the rack. $6 (US) will paint a large tug (Fort Valley) three times with paint left over.
All of the colors can be mixed with each other with no worries.

Managed to get the cockpit decking completed as well as the benches on either side. The benches will have a couple of turned spindles each to support them on the inboard side. I'll make a couple of cushions for the benches a little later.
I need to turn to the mechanical side before much more topside work, but I have to shelve the project for a week or better and get some yard work done since the majority of the snow is gone.

Alice, I just learned of Newry's passing. I'm so sorry to hear this. I wish I had met her in person as reading her posts I'm sure she would have been one of my favorite people instantly.
Please know that we all share in your loss.

Thank you for the comments!

Just a very quick update before I begin the trying and fitting, trying and fitting, repeat, repeat, repeat.
These are the things that take such a long time and very little progress shows.

The first two photos show the general arrangement of the deck and coaming that will take some time to finesse.
I'm reluctant to hazard what the fellow in the third image is thinking. Most likely not appropriate for a family site such as this.

There hasn't been a lot of progress that shows, but some of the mundane items have been tended to. The forward and main bulkheads are epoxied in permanently after attaching the hatches closer hardware.
Patterns for the deck and cabin roof have been made and the false deck/roof laid out and roughed to shape. Still a lot of finesse is needed for a good fit.
I've also made up five sets of frames and marked the hull where they're to be installed. These frames are not required for this hull, but will be installed to facilitate attaching the floor stringers, fuel tank brackets, and seat stringer.

Photos:
1.thru 4. making up patterns and fitting the false deck and cabin roof, plus the rudder and wheel arrangement.

5. & 6. Laying out and marking the frame stations.

7. thru 9. The forward bulkhead and cabin hatches fastening method. these are just a small hook at the bottom of the hatch to retain the bottoms in place and a small magnet glued to the top corners which engage tin flashing shaped around and glued to the strip jams.

10. As with other builds I have found "fenders" in some most unlikely places. I have also "trained" my adult daughter (who frequents antique stores and flea markets ,) to keep an eye out for crochet tassels as found on some home made ladies purses and hand bags. She sent me this find recently which will produce nine excellent fenders for this build. With what she paid for the purse, the fenders come out to less than a dollar (US) a piece. I couldn't make them for that.

Here's one of those side trips that I alluded to in an earlier post.

In the drawings there were two 10"X36" fuel tanks one each port and starboard under the benches. No particular fittings were called out, so I suppose it was "builder's discretion" as to how they were plumbed. If my calcs are remotely in the ball park, a 10"X36" tank doesn't hold very much fuel. (Surely you didn't think I was going to hazard my volume guess amongst you wizards?) however, I can with some authority proclaim that two of these tanks will double the volume of just one!😊
Short of a sounding stick, I don't know how one would determine the remaining fuel in either tank unless they were fitted with electric gauges. Running a wire from a sealed and painted closet dowel to simulate an electric gauge would be the sensible thing to do.
OR, find a short length of 1 1/4" copper pipe, cut it to represent 36" in scale (4 1/2") cut some discs of copper flashing, solder these to the pipe, and polish the whole thing. Now, to determine the fuel level...sight glasses. In 1:1 context the sight glasses probably wouldn't satisfy the authorities, but I'm reasonably certain in 1:8 scale no one is going to inadvertently kick out the glass.
Although these are not complete, here's where we are. I think they'll work.

The photo's:

1. using a 1/16" acrylic rod for the "glass", and drilling out a cabin-top grab rail stanchion to 1/16" provided the upper and lower valves. (The valve wheels are yet to be installed.)

2. Work in progress.

3. If the authorities find out we're using off-road fuel they may take a dim view of the operation.

4. I contemplated installing a couple of safety rods down both sides of the glass as would be done in the full sized installation to protect the glass, (and may still,) but here's where this little excursion is as of this update.

Chapter II

I am not a very fast builder, and as a result tend to have a build well along before I post anything so I don't give the impression that a project has been abandoned
The launch is farther along than it appears, so I'll bring it up to speed quickly with just a couple of entry's then if you'll bear with me I'll keep the progress current with subsequent posts although they may be a few days apart.

Several months ago a neighbor brought over some cherry cut-offs that he came across asking could I use any of it. Like this launch hull I had put it in the "stash" to be used at a later date. It would seem with this hull, the cherry, and some other bits and pieces the later date has arrived.😊

The images below are pretty much self explanatory with just a few exceptions.

Photo 1
I like the black hull's contrast with the cherry better than the white.

2. If you don't use all your clamps you didn't use enough...if you did use them all you don't have enough.

3, 4, & 5. It would have been easier to fabricate a brass support for the bottom of the rudder so the gudgeons and pintles didn't take all the strain, but my masochistic nature decided an oak skeg extension would be much more trouble. Cutting the required amount out of the molded skeg and fitting the oak while allowing the wheel radius was an exercise. Filling the inside area with epoxy then drilling and tapping the filler allowed two flathead machine screws to hold the skeg in place without any potential for water seeping into the hull.

6 &7. There will be a narrow side deck running along the open cockpit so some small screw eyes were threaded into blocks which were glued to the clamp strake. These eyelets will carry the wires from the forward battery back to the "engine room".

Two or three years ago an older modeler passed on and left his tools, parts and pieces behind. As is often the case, the son had little interest in the hobby so advertised the items for sale. I don't remember where I even saw the ad, but responded more out of curiosity than anything else. The son and I corresponded via email a few times with him sending images of box-lots of what was available, Towards the end of our correspondence he mentioned there was a boat hull that he knew nothing about, but apparently had not generated any interest and I could have it for a few dollars and shipping. I didn't need another hull and particularly didn't need a 'glass lapstrake boat, but thought it might be worth something down-stream as trading material, or someone may want it. The alternative was it would end up in a New Jersey landfill. ☹️
I received it about a week later, checked it out, and shelved it in the "stash" group.
A while ago I was idly thumbing through a book with page after page of study plans and blew by a launch-type hull that was carvel planked. A couple of days later the plan resurfaced in my mind's eye and I looked it up again and thought the 'glass hull in a 1:8 scale would be close enough to loosely emulate these lines. The inspiration drawings were drawn by a fellow named Nelson Zimmer out of the greater Detroit MI area. My apologies to Mr. Zimmer as I've taken some subtle liberties with his drawing, all the while keeping the basic profile of his design. His title for the boat was "Utility Launch" at 23'3" and the hull I have is 35". Close enough for my purposes.
In this opening "chapter' I have drilled the shaft log hole, determined the log angle, and built a platform for the motor and drive pulley. Given enough room I like the timing belt method of propulsion as they're not real particular about alignment, (that's not to say some care isn't necessary to set up the drive,) they just seem to be quieter, plus one can experiment with different pulleys to come to a good efficient RPM for the propeller.

Photos:

1. A cursory general beginning.
2. determining that everything is "on the level." (This of course starts with the bench the build is on)
3. The propulsion will be a six volt system. One larger battery didn't fit well anywhere in the hull given the open midships area, so I tried two smaller batts in the ends which will be hooked up in parallel. There was some ballast required anyway, so doing a tub test proved this a viable solution.
4, 5, & 6. The forward and main bulkheads. After the time invested in these, I decided both need some modifications. Once the forward deck is in place retrieving the forward battery can be done through the hatch, but it would have been tight with the middle open cockpit benches, flooring, and "stuff". Keeping in mind this was only a 23' launch the 1:1 main bulkhead was originally designed with the bi-fold doors as shown which was a help to access the engine. I'm thinking of reconfiguring this arrangement as well.

I'd name this "Knot Likely", but it's knot a speed likely boat... 😊

Katie gives "maiden" voyage a whole new perspective.😊

Well done!

Unless it's a particularly unusual motor, given the relatively low cost of these, I might be inclined to replace it with a fresh unit. The cost, time, and materials used to clean out and service the compromised unit may not be worth the effort.
It would be annoying to have a "cleaned" motor fail underway several outings later.

Sad to hear this. When I was new to the site Martin made me feel part of the community immediately.

He indeed will be missed....

Looks good Ron!

It might be worth saving the pieces that your "good parts" came from and use them as templates to trace out for another dory.

Hi Stan,

Welcome aboard!
I just happened onto your build of Sam Richmond. This is a subject close to my heart. In the late '60's I was stationed in CGC Lantana out of Owensboro. One of our regular stops was Paducah. After Lantana it was Kanawha out of Memphis on the Mississippi. Good duty.

It always amazed me how many acres of barges these boats could push.
The only problem I've come across with these subjects is if one built a set of scale barges to replicate a full tow, they'd cover an awful lot of model pond😊.

I'll be following your build with interest!

I haven't learned much in my dotage, but have developed a system to divide "wants" from "needs".
When I see something I really, really "want", I tell myself I can have it in three days. After two days I revisit the item and if it's gone I didn't need it. If it's still available and now I only "really" want it, some of the pressure is off, and if I wait one more day and still "want" it, the item becomes a "need". Then I rationalize that since I can't take the $$ with me when I go, I may as well do my civic duty and spread it around while I'm here.

Good looking tug!👍

Very nice profile photo! I too am looking forward to your trials....

Thanks Doug. I'll check those settings.

If my CCD's become OCD, I'll be SOL. 👍😁

(Sorry for the hijack Len.)

Thank you.

Dang! Doug beat me to the draw again!😊

Evans is indeed the source. Very cool stuff available through them. A worthwhile address to have.

The 3mm LED's would fit in the printed globes, but may prove to be too bright unless you lowered your voltage. I used the "nano chips" rated at 12V, but run them on 6V. The chips are on one side of the leads and if you install them facing the bulkhead that the light fixture is mounted against it seems to diffuse the light a little more. I'm not a photographer so don't know all the proper settings, but my point-and-shoot seems to make the lights in the photos brighter than they really are.

That's the one. Thank you Doug.

Here's the link provided by ToraDog:

(Sorry, the site won't let me post the link. The information in my previous post is the work-around. It'll get you to the same place.)

Hi Len,
ToraDog gave me a head's up that you were looking for deck lights.
I haven't seen any of the Graupner fittings you've requested, but maybe an acceptable alternative would be some printed globes. I got mine from a Jan De Witte through Shapeways. I forget the actual size, but I asked Jan about a specific height in mm because I'm working in 1:18 scale. If you go to Shapeways and search for "Caged Deck Lights" they should be on the first page listed as 1:25. I used nano LED chips to light them for a couple of reasons. They don't get hot, they're not super bright, and as the name implies are very small. As for the cage I went to a craft store and bought a super fine paint pen. These come in colors and I found them to be the easiest to paint the "cage" part. The gold color looks enough like bronze to work well I think.

Thank you.

"Fort' does look a lot like Chippewa, but I don't think it's near as clean!😊

After installing and proving the running gear and electricals, work could begin topside. To this point the ship didn't have a name and wouldn't until it started to develop a personality.
Creating a couple of hatches 'midships allows access the internals. I moved the deckhouse aft and added a table and awning on the 01 deck for the crew. The bos'n has a lounge chair, book, and bottle of wine on the 02 deck.
Down and forward of the house there's a crewman doing some hot work on the main boom. The gas bottles are just turned dowels and the "hose" is a piece of wire. The mast was reconfigured as was the fore deck. The winch that the main power switch is under is located forward of the mast, and just aft of the fo'csle deck.
A printed wooden deck, metal stanchions, and some non stock details were added forward.
The mounting/cradle has a little activity under the stern repairing a wheel that has apparently come up against hard times.
Although this build was ten years ago, it still runs.
It's a little faster than scale, but that's fine, using the kit wheel has proven more than adequate. It will heel a little at full speed and a crash turn, but recovers very quickly with the ballast installed.
The "rust" is simply rusty water brushed on from a jar full of salt water and nails that is left on the shelf then shaken up when needed. The paints are all acrylic water based.

Tug "Fort Valley" was the recent subject of a build blog. She's scratch built plank on bulkhead/frame and sheathed from the deck down in 2oz fiberglass cloth.
She's not of any particular tug, but rather representative of a class of harbor tug found in the early 1900's.

The electrical system is very basic. The main switch is under the forward winch. Sliding the winch port turns everything on, to stbd turns the main power off.
Although it looks pretty grim in the photo, the ballast used was buckshot spooned in to strategic places, then a lit candle held over the area allowing the wax drippings to encase the shot and prevent it from moving. Should the need arise, it'll be easy to remove the ballast with the same spoon.
The lighting is rather crude as I hadn't been introduced to LED's at this point and was using grain of wheat bulbs. Running them at a much lower voltage provided the visual effect even though they didn't project any significant amount of light and didn't get warm.
One switch is running lights, the other was deck lights.
The ESC is an early "Action" unit (Now "Component Shop".) The motor was something rescued from the junk drawer. A standard rx, and mini servo for steering.
The rudder was enhanced a little from the kit size, but the propeller from the kit proved adequate and actually provided more than scale speed without causing any issues with the rest of the system.

I'll explore some of the external details in the next post. Thank you...

No worries. I use one radio capable of several different models, but only attempt operating one at a time. I do OK with right and left when the model is going away from me, but have to think when it's coming towards me. I can't imagine two at a time.