Hi y’all. So, the “Mystery” has maidened, and handled her sea trials with flying colors. My bench was busy the past couple of weeks with repair and minor restoration of our antique “Pom Pom” aluminum Christmas tree. We’ve had it since the 90s my wife found it at an antique store and brought it home. She still thought it was….errr…tacky, and that I was quite out of my mind, but once I had it up, trimmed, and the color wheel shining on it she changed her mind. It needed some sprucing up and minor repair to the branches, as the tape that holds the aluminum “leaves” was failing, so I used a little ca and almost as good as new!! Anyhow…I’ve been looking at the Aeronaut Pilot boat for a few years, finally pulled the trigger a few months ago. It’s a fairly well thought out kit. It’s a traditional built up hull, but all the frames, keels, etc are laser cut abs. It comes with that, hardware, metal etched parts, it’s nice. I was off today, so I started the hull. The kit comes with a precut cardboard jig for the hull, the frames have tabs and the jig is marked as to what frame goes where. Frame number 5 is also the motor mounts. The slots that are pre cut are a little too wide for a speed 400 or 28mm outrunner, but there were punch outs for the correct spacing, so I drilled those and marked them. You add the keel first, then the deck and chine stringers. The main “fun” was sheeting the hull with the precut abs sides and bottoms. The hardest part was getting the bow seam right. I tried to do it as the instructions stated, using tape to hol everything in place, but I finally had to do it by tacking the sides to the bow, bending and occasionally cursing till I got a good fit. The bottoms were just about as bad, but I got it done.The instructions do tell you to glue to the keel and stringers first, then the frames if they’re touching the sides, so I did that. There’s also use of copious amounts of Stabilit Express used to fill any gaps, etc. Thats next up. I plan to lay in some balsa for filler in places to sturdy up the hull, then I have to build the transom. Once that’s done I need to get a couple of 900 kv outrunners ordered, then I can start mounting the running gear. I plan to add lights, and this boat has provisions for a lot of lights. She’s going to take me a while to build…stay tuned!!

Never mind

Hi y’all. After building the Caldercraft Clyde Puffer, and taking a break from building for a few weeks, I decided it was time to crank up my bench again. I had originally started on a kit that I got in a trade, a Deans Wacht Am Rhein…this boat had been started some time ago, probably a good decade before I got my hands on it, and it’s been in my kit stash for a good 5 years or so now. The original builder got the rudder and tube installed and the aft and mid deck in place, and some bulwark detail. I was working on a motor mount when I decided I just didn’t want to deal with masts and rigging at this time. At some point I’m going to finish that boat…just not now. I’ve had a Graupner Krabbe Ton 12 in my kits stash for a bit. It’s the second version, when Graupner reorganized and sent the kit production to Asia, probably KYmodel. Same people who did the SAR rescue boat and the Taucher Wulf did this. It’s a nice little kit, well made, instructions are somewhat between the Tauchers “guidelines” and a Billings kit…better, but not quite there. Now, I know I said I didn’t want to fool around with a bunch of masts and booms and rigging, and the Krabbe has that in spades…so I decided to make something different. I thought about a slightly different take on a Kriegsfischkutter, or maybe a fishing boat to yacht conversion…but, I decided on a simple tug. Basically a 1930s or so diesel or converted steam tug, something smaller that you might see in the Great Lakes. With that decision out of the way I went to work. First thing I did was to make up a 4mm shaft and tube. I used a Caldercraft Fineline tube that I had stolen the shaft from. I have a small collection of tubes and shafts, and a very few that are complete. Anyway, the kit uses a 3mm unit, and that’s just an odd size. Nothing wrong with it, just most of the props and fittings I’ve seen are for 1/8th, 3/16th, 2mm and 4mm. The 3 mm props and such are just harder to get…so I made up the tube by cutting down the Caldercraft unit to the length I wanted, and using the bushing from the discarded end I built up the tube, and added an oiler. I then took on the task of choosing my power plant. The kit comes with a motor, a knock off of a Mabuchi RS380. My experience with these motors is that they make good model boat anchors. My first SAR that I built was completely stock, and I ran it on the recommended 6 cell nimh pack. After I had the boat completed and had about 6 good runs on it, she went dead in the water at Towne Lake. We retrieved it, and the motor had gotten hot, and the brush holders had softened from the heat and the brushes were not making contact….never again. I was thinking about my usual outrunner brushless, when I remembered I had a brand new MFA 2.5 to 1 380 sized geared motor in my possession. Went with that. After making up a mount and installing the shaft and tube I did a test run on the bench. At full chat, but no load it’spulling 0.07 amps on a 3 cell lipo. Once that was squared away I used part of the motor mount/radio tray combo to mount the rudder servo, got the rudder mounted, and started to make up the deck houses. One nice feature of this kit is that the deck slots into a groove in the hull. There are under deck stringers that are laser cut in the kit, once installed they give the deck a slight beam to beam curve. I used the kit parts to make up the aft coaming and house/hatch, and built up my fwd deckhouse and coming from plasticard. I then built up the wheelhouse using kit components..however, I built the deck and house “inside out”, i.e I’m not using the printed “decking” side as I’m probably going to paint the deck and house vs staining them. That’s where I’m at now. I think the wheelhouse, as built looks a little too tall. I might leave it as this is supposed to be a small, River or Great Lakes tug, not an ocean going boat, and in some of the pics I looked up to get an idea of how I wanted her to look, some of the real boats had tallish pilot houses. I might cut it down about a half inch, but haven’t made the choice yet. Once I make that decision I’ll finish up the house and start figuring out details and what job this boats going to have… Cash

Hi y’all. I have been eyeing a few Caldercraft kits for some time….the Alte Liebe, Sir Kay, Crumbrae and Clyde puffer have been on my radar for some time…but unfortunately I’m cheap, and the Caldercraft kits aren’t. Anyway, I had sold a boat and a kit out of my stash to supplement my slice of the Christmas budget when a club mate offered to sell me his unbuilt Portgarth tug. I thought about it, but the expense and size of the boat was a little more than I wanted to deal with. That and that brass mast! Well, long story short, after I politely turned down the Portgarth, my buddy said he had a Caldercraft Clyde Puffer he’d part with. It’s and older kit, looks like it’s all there…and the price of entry was about half of a new one. Sold!! He was very honest about this kit. It’s an older kit, some wood parts machine cut with part numbers inked on, the upper decks are printwood. It’s missing a few nuts and bolts, and the molded hatch cover, but everything else is there , including about a half million white metal fittings, which came carded and shrink wrapped. The fittings are of pretty good quality, better than the last Deans kit I built. The hull had taken a “set” due to lying around for 20 years or so, but some tape in tension and slight heat from a heat gun and an overnight rest cured that. So, it’s time to build!! First thing I did was to build up my stuffing box. The one in the kit is fine, but I wanted one a little longer and unplated so I could solder on a lube tube. I wanted a good mechanical fit, so instead of soldering on a tube then drilling the stuffing box, I drilled the box first, and selected a brass tube that would just fit in the hole. I pressed it in, making sure I cleared the shaft, and silver soldered it in place. I use a mini grease gun from Pro Boat that will give enough pressure to have grease squeeze out between the ends of the tube and the shaft, so a good mechanical fit and silver solder are a must. I then cleaned the interior of the hull with a paper towel dampened with lacquer thinner, and gave it a quick sanding once dry. Caldercraft made sure the builder knew that the hull is a polyester resin hull, not epoxyglass, so I wanted to make sure the glues I use would work.Stabilit works well, and I read that epoxy will work with some prep. I made a very small batch of 5 minute and microballoons, and pick a place in the hull to experiment. Once my sample dried I tried to peel it off but it’s on there for good. Cool!! I have Stabilit, epoxy and ca, we’re good!! I installed the front and aft bulkheads next, I drilled a large hole for the stuffing box in the aft bulkhead before the install. Once I had the aft hole drilled ( and fixed), I was able to move the tube to its proper height. I then cut 2 thin ply scab patches and drilled them to fit the tube. I installed the tube with one patch aft and one forward of the bulkhead. Once I had the shaft where I wanted it, I packed up the tube with scrap, tacked it at the aft of the hull and the bulkhead with ca, and once satisfied with the fit installed the scab patches with a liberal dose of epoxy, sandwiching the tube and bulkhead together. I then filled the aft end with filled epoxy. I built up a motor mount from 3mm abs sheet and ply, and once everything was lined up, installed the mount and a Zippkits 650kv motor. I won’t go into too many specifics about the rudder, if you look at the pics you can see it’s a bit of work. The lower skeg is bolted to the hull by 3 screws, those were missing so I used socket headed servo mounting screws, 2 from one side and 1 from the other. I then added the rudder post and rudder, the post has a screw built in that goes thru the hull and is secured by a nut inside the hull, it’s supposed to be joined to the skeg with a small nut and bolt, but I used a brass pin glued in place. It works pretty good! Looks finicky but came out better than I expected. The last thing I did was to add the aft deck. Now, the plans show servo bearers installed and the servo is mounted to the bottom of the bearers, with the screws coming up from the bottom. Unfortunately once the assembly is glued in place…you’ll never be able to replace the servo without major surgery. What I did was I made spacers to drop the bearers, and once I had that assembly epoxied in place I installed the deck. I can now install the servo at the right height and can replace or service the servo if needed. That’s all for now. My next steps are the stringers for the hatch, main deck, and fwd deck. Cash

Hi y’all. I like to keep my bench busy, as building a few hours during the week and sometimes on the weekend helps relax me…at 62 I’m still pushing 45-50 hrs a week at the dealership I work at. Anyway, this is an…interesting build. This started with a kit that was gifted to me by Steve O’Connell , one of our model boat club members. It’s an odd little Chinese kit of a Danish Tug that was spotted transporting a large gun mount on its aft deck. The kit is set up to carry the gun, and there’s a promotional video of the gun swiveling and “firing”. Anyway…the kit is well made but rather odd. The proportions are off, the model looks as if it’s a little bit of a caricature of the real boat. Also, there’s no instructions. Zilch. It makes a Billings kits instructions look like War and Peace. Finally, the entire superstructure is comprised of cut brass sheet. Apparently the builder is supposed to fold it into shape and either ca it or solder it together. Well, she sat in my kit stash for a few months, and after I finished and maidened the Banckert I wanted something a little different, so I decided to customize this kit. I decided to make her into a mooring/push tug. The kit is nice, fiberglass hull, laser cut and 3D printed plastic, etc., however, I’m only using the hull, deck, bulwarks and few odds and ends from the supplied parts. The brass is put away, and the comically tiny 4 blade brass prop and Kort nozzle are put aside for another day. First thing I had to figure out was how much weight can this hull take before she’s sitting too low? I placed the hull in the sink, and proceeded to add weight till the water came up close to its upper edge, and we’re looking at around 38 ounces. I then proceeded to build up a custom stuffing box of brass tube and Traxxas 4 mm flanged oilite bushings. For power I went with a 36 mm 650kv Zippkits brushless motor, same unit that’s in my Taucher and Kalle…I know it’s overkill, but this boat is going to be useful, and I’m from Texas!! We have people who put V8 engines into riding lawnmowers, so there’s a precedent of sorts. Static test in the sink with an Astroflight Whattmeter hooked up shows a 2 amp draw at full chat. I like those Zippkits outrunners!! Once everything under decks was done I added the deck, cut down the bulwarks and made short coamings for the hatch. I then scratched up a simple 2 person cabin from plasticard, and am now working on the push bumper. That will be a shoal buster front upright, with horizontal beams making a “T” up front, and will have rubber strip inlaid. Once that’s all done she gets primered and paint, details and the rubber strip laid in. I’m in this for about 2 and a half weeks of off and on building so far. Cash

Hi y’all. I’ve temporarily put the Antje aside for reasons that I stated in the build blog and started on a Billings Banckert. I originally bought the kit for a very good price off EBay ( yes that still happens!!), then added it to my stash. I haven’t had it long when one of my “trading partners”, Fred, started eyeballing it. Long story short he had it about a year, decided to thin out his stash, and brought the Banckert along with 2 other kits I had traded him and made a trade back for a kit I had in my possession….so I decided to start her before she got traded again!! Now…it’s a Billings kit. Good quality parts, nice laser cutting, good brass, slightly confusing instructions with hardly any measurements or written details. It’s like my Taucher, you just have to think a few steps ahead. Unlike the Taucher, the kits parts are marked with drill holes and the like, so each step, from what I can tell, Billings wants you to dry fit the parts and see how they fit in relation to each other..which you should do anyway, but their kits seem to be engineered to encourage this. Now, there is no suggestions on power, battery, etc..there is a box fwd of the fwd bulkhead for the receiver. That’s it. Also, no useable tiller nor is there mention of one. So here goes The first thing I did was to cut out the hull and deck, making careful note of what to leave via the pics in the manual. I then added the floor, 2 bulkheads, and the stuffing box support. I then tackled the stuffing box and the rudder/ Kort nozzle setup. The Kort nozzle is suppose to be held in place with 1 screw and the bottom shoe. The rudders are May of ply halves that you’re supposed to grind away enough material to allow room for the rudder shaft. I did mine out of layered balsa, sanded and lightly glassed them. I then decided, fatefully, to build the whole assembly up and bond every thing in place..this necessitated having the prop installed, as it will be a real pain to replace with the whole works glued together…however, if I damage that prop it’ll probably mean the Kort nozzles toast too, so there that. I decided to use an old Hitec HS81mg for the helm, as it has enough torque for the job and has metal gears too. It’s also in a semi bad place, but where it sits I have a straight shot to the tiller, and works perfectly. Power is being handled by a HobbyWing 30 amp brushless esc and a 28 mm 880kv motor. I made a ply/plastic mount out of scrap. I’ll have good access to the motor, tiller, and electronics, the servo will likely be a little hard to get to but not impossible, and the prop/Kort/rudders have “no user serviceable parts” Thats where I’m at now. I have to make sure I get my battery setup just right as the fwd hatch is narrow, so my choice of battery might be a little limited, but I have options. After that’s all completed, and if I feel I have enough room to easily ballast the boat with the deck on, then my next step is to secure the deck to the hull. Cash

Hi y’all. Decided to take a few weeks away from my workbench to refocus, and get the corner forward of my workbench cleaned out to have more hobby storage space. It’s partially done, and will be finished and ready for shelving by end of month..but the bench calls. Anyway, my next victim, er project is an original Robbe Antje. This was gifted to me at a club meeting four years ago by my friend and trading partner Larry Buchwalter. He had had it in his possession for some time, and wanted to see it finished. Larry loves boats, but he likes to build airplanes, and rebuild/restore boats. This boat was barely started, and has a history.. The kit was ordered in November of 1987 by a woman who wanted to surprise her husband for Christmas. There is a typed letter to the Robbe division in New Jersey where she’s making the order, and having it shipped to a different address. She also asks for a 4 dollar discount, but does not want to send the coupon form her husbands catalog as he would realize what was going on. I even have the credit card receipts… Anyway, the gentleman never finished it, it was barely started. He did a good job on the rudder shoe and rudder tube, installed the stuffing box, rub rail and deck support, and had the motor installed. Nothing else was started. There was a servo installed, a brand new Futaba with a G connector. From what I can gather he either lost interest, or passed away before he could finish it…so I will. Now, I. Changing a few things under deck. I removed the geared brushed motor and mount, and made up a bulkhead mound for a 650kv Zippkits motor. This motor makes good power on 2 lipo cells, and is not too fast, perfect for tugs and workboats. The G connector servo has been removed. My intention is to get everything under deck done, wiring, etc and a ballast check done with the deck laid, but not glued in, and some ballast added, along with approximate weights laid on to simulate the wheelhouse and details. I am thinking about building her as a converted fishing boat, maybe a yacht or pleasure boat, or some other work boat. If I go that route I’m probably going to omit one mast and shorten the other. Anyway, here’s a few pics of her, I’ll post more as I go along. Cash

Hi y’all. I’ve been wanting a smallish WWII ship for some time. I wanted a Whitehall, but they went out of production and all of a sudden a kit that ranged in price from 95-120 dollars were being priced at over 500 dollars!! Now, I know there are some Graupner, Robbe, Sterling and Midwest kits that go for good money, but this is a bit extreme. Anyway, one came up for bid on EBay for 100 dollars, and I won the auction at a very little over that. I had sold my Paula to have some “boat funds”, so it was perfect timing. The Whitehall is a PCE, Patrol Craft Escort. At 1/96 scale it’s still small, around 23 inches long with a beam of 4 inches. This is the first kit I’ve built where the hull is in 2 longitudinal halves….anyway, let’s get started!! The first thing the builder does is to build a temporary stand, which is provided in the kit. It’s made of expanded pvc. Then you get to assemble the hull. This is not abs, but a form of styrene, but not stiff like a static model. You basically get the 2 halves lined up then use thin ca and glass tape to reinforce the joint. There was extra tape in the kit so I reinforced the bow and stern areas as well. It took a little fiddling to get the hull to line up. You then add the 2 bulkheads and fwd deck. The kit, in usual Dumas fashion, does not come with running gear. I sourced a Caldercraft 4mm fineline shaft and tube from my stock, an old Graupner rudder and a Robbe steering arm. Ca works best on this plastic, epoxy’s ok, Stabilit Express seems to work well, but you have to scuff the mating parts in any case. Anyway, once the stuffing box is lined up and then ca’d in place, you then build up the skeg out of plastic, then fill and sand. Once I was done I caoated the inside joint of the tube and rudder tube with Stabilit. Now, this boat is designed to use the Dumas 4.8 volt motor, basically a Speed 300, and a 4.8 volt pack…..nope. On the Dumas website this motor is rated at 4.8-6 volts, with 7200 rpm being it’s upper limit. Now, the question is, it’s that rpm measured at 4.8 or 6 volts? I emailed Dumas with that query and got an answer same day..measured at 6 volts. That gives the motor an effective kv of 1200 rpm per volt, roughly 5600 rpm on a 4.8 volt pack. I was going to use a geared Speed 400 but the gearbox is offset, putting the motor higher in the hull than I liked. So…I went with my latest fave, the Zippkits 650kv 36mm outrunner, and a 2 cell lipo. Fully charged I’ll be down maybe 300 rpm, and the boat needs ballast anyway, so the weight of the motor is negligible. I’ll have decent speed, and that motor will never, ever get hot. I use that motor in my Taucher, and it comes back a touch over ambient, so we’re good. The back deck, as well as the mid deck are supposed to be removable. I don’t like that many big holes in my boat. I decided to mount my rudder servo just aft and to the side of the motor, instead of aft of the rear bulkhead. I then cut a hatch in the aft deck for rudder linkage access, and glued the aft deck in place. The superstructure is built up of balsa, expanded pvc and styrene. Nothing new here, but as the boats so small it can get fiddly, but I got it done. I have the rub and spray rails to install, and then the hull is ready for paint. The superstructure is built in 3 levels, then assembled and painted. Then it’s off to guns, gun directors, hatches, rails…and the fittings for this kit are no longer available. Some of the NTWS club members are offering to print what I need, I’ll just have to source and scratch the rest. Anyway, that’s it for tonight,, Cash

Hi y’all. I was lucky enough to sell a few kits I decided not to build, I got them over the past couple of years doing trades with my local club members. This allowed me to buy a few things for myself for Christmas without touching the family budget, and we could splurge a bit more on family and friends. Of course, there’s no surprise, but then again its easier on my wife…she jumped thru hoops one year to get me a PAW diesel when I was still flying. She said it was an “adventure”.. Anyway, once everything was said and done I had an Aeronaut Kalle under the tree. I resisted the temptation to look at the kit before Christmas morning, and told myself I’d start on it later in the new year. Yep, 3 days after Christmas I had her on the bench. I’m an addict… The Kalle is a nice kit. There’s some decent fittings, the wood is good, the hull, deck, part of the superstructure and deck are molded well from abs. It really and truly looks like a beginners kit, but there’s more to meet the eye with the Kalle. First thing I did was to cut the superstructure and bulwarks away from the molding. They are molded as one u it, and Aeronaut has very specific instructions on this procedure so the builder doesn’t cut off what looks like scrap. I rough trimmed the plastic parts for the time being. The next step was to laminate and glue up the keel…and this is where I start to deviate from the instructions. You see, this kit is an original Kalle, which has been superseded by the Kalle II. The plans on my kit show a captured rudder, where the KalleII has a removable shoe. I decided to mod my keel to the later variant. I made that decision AFTER gluing the keel to the hull. It would have been easier to effect this change if the keel want glued on, but I have a Dremel…..I turned out better than I had hoped. With the shoe cut out I built up the rudder and did a kind of hybrid install between my kit and the new variant. I also countersunk the screw holes I drilled for the shoe attach screws. Once I had everything jigged up I went ahead and installed the rudder tube. The rudder is wood, I think I’m going to glass it for a better, sturdier finish. I then turned my attention to the tube and motor mount. This is where it get interesting, the plans show a box frame installed in the hull, and a geared brushed motor bolted down to a lower plate. The newer kit includes a bulkhead mount for mounting either a brushed motor or brushless outrunner. The wood parts in my kit included that mount. There’s no mention of this part in either th instructions or plans, and in the call out illustration that part is not shown in the frame sheet…but it’s there. So..I went that route. The motor I’m using is the same one I used in my Taucher, a Zippkits 650KV 36 mm outrunner. This is a good motor, pleanty of power without the usual higher RPM one usually sees in motors this size.I built up the frame with the bulkhead mount, and used the motor to jig up the stuffing box. Once I was satisfied with the alignment I epoxied everything down, then built a servo mount on the side of the frame for the rudder servo. The receiver and esc will be Velcro mounted to opposite sides. I then uninstalled the electronics so I could give the wood parts a coat of waterproof finish. That’s where I’m at now, next go-around I’ll reinstall my electrics then start the deck install, then I have to plank the deck. Cash

Hi y’all. A few years ago I built a Graupner Taucher Wulf from their “Easy Build Up” kit. If any of y’all followed the build you’ll note that A: I was in over my head at that time and B: I was not happy with the results. It ran well, but I did not have the experience to finish it right, and the horrid instructions didn’t help. That was my 2nd attempt at scale boat modeling, the first was a Krick Felix, which turned out nicely. Now, several years later…I traded for another, NIB Graupner Wulf. I want another shot at it! Knowing now the pitfalls of this kit, and the experience I’ve had building over the past 4 years, have led me to take the instructions as loose guidelines. The cabin gave me the most trouble, so I started with that. I took my time building the main structure. It’s supposed to fold together then glued, in reality the fold lines are very fragile. I took my time, sanded to fit and it came out better. I’m using my Tamiya paints and primer, and I’m pleased so far with the results. I’ve added a working radar, but instead of using a mini servo to drive the antenna, I decided to go with an old Robbe geared motor that was designed to be used for special functions, and an Apex rc switch. This allows me to turn the radar on and off from the transmitter, and the geared motor drives it at a nice scale speed. Now, the Tauchers radar is mounted on a tube. To make this work I had to cut the antenna off the resin fitting, drill it down the centerline, and install a brass tube. The motor is mounted low in the center of the cabin, and a brass rod goes up thru the tube to which the antenna is fitted. I used a piece of Sullivan pushrod as a coupler from the rod to the motor. Works like a champ!! I also set the cabin up with working nav lights. The pictures I have now show the radar with a slightly too long radar antenna, I shortened the side aerial to clear it, but I trimmed the radar today to clear and fitted a longer aerial as per the plans. I’ll have pics of that when I’m done making up and fitting the railings. Cash https://youtu.be/OqyfUg08T1U

Hi y’all. I decided to get to work on a kit I received last Christmas, a Deans Marine herring drifter. This will be the second Deans kit I’ve built, the first being the PBR from a much older kit. First things first. Many people tend to badmouth the Deans line, but this kit is markedly improved from the PBR I built a couple of years ago. The hull is gel coated fiberglass, the plans are readable and in color. The instructions while not great, are much improved from what I’ve seen before. Most of the plastic sheet parts are machine or laser cut. The fittings are..okay. And….it comes with a picture dvd that show a lot of details not in the written instructions. What I don’t like, I won’t use. The prop supplied is a rough casting, I’m using a Graupner prop and I’ll set the kit prop to practice on later. It’s designed for a five pole brushed 385 and 5 nimh cells….who uses 5 cell packs these days? I. Using a 1000 kv 28 mm outrunner and a 2 cell lipo for power. From my calculations I’ll be a little overpowered, but not much. Some of the fittings I’ll use, some I won’t. Anyway, it’s a pretty straightforward kit. I’ll just go over a few things for now. After the hull gets cleaned up and the edges sanded, the next step is to sand the inside, as it’s a little rough. I sanded the upper side where the bulwarks rise above the deck. Once the rudder tube and stuffing box is in place, you glue the deck on….and build a stand. I had some thickish basswood I wanted to use up, so I built the stand from that, and glued hardwood strip across the grain for strength. The deck is another place I veered away from the instructions. The kit uses layered 2mm thick plastic strip for the deck supports, I used 1/4 triangle balsa stock for all but the aft end, there I used 2mm plastic rod. The rod bends around the stern curve easily, and once glued in place and blended with the triangle stock the deck set down nicely. The mas supports were made up on the bottom of the deck then the assembly was epoxied in place. The aft edge of the deck is just a bit shy of the hull, the instructions call for filler, I used filled epoxy. After that it’s time for the bulwark rail and supports. That’s where I’m at as of now. I have to have a cornea transplant in my left eye (Fuch’s Dystrophy) but the consultation isn’t till late September, so my goal is to have her ready by then, before the surgery. I’ll do more this week and post the progress. Cash

Hi y’all. After my last couple of builds I was looking for something interesting and different to add to my fleet. My buddy Fred (BLKFT1) and I both like unusual subjects. We discussed the Russian monitor Popov, a Siebel Ferrry, and several odd working boats. I looked up the Siebel Ferry, and in my research came across a boat class, the Kriegsfischkutter. This was a class of fishing boats that were converted and built from the keel up as patrol boats for the Kreigsmarin in WWII. This hull had good seakeeping qualities, and many of the boats that survived were sold back to be used as fishing boats. I think some survive to this day. Apparently this was a fairly common practice, the Royal Navy used a trawler hull known as the Admiralty Trawler which was used for minesweeping and ASW duties. The US tended to use specially built warships, but early in WWII we used tuna boats as picket, patrol and errand boats, the venerable Tuna Fleet. I was about to convert a Graupner Krabbe Ton kit, but the Elke came up for sale on RCGroups, and since it’s the same hull the Germans used for the Fischkutter, I bought it and prepared to get started. Before I go on, let me add that this is an OLD kit, looking at the radio install plans dates it from the late 60s to the early 70s. I know I’m modifying a bona file unbuilt kit, but in my defense the kit wasn’t perfect, so my conscience is somewhat clear Anyway, the first thing I had to do was trim the hull, and then I had to cut a slot at the stern where the stuffing box and aft support keels slid into.I tacked everything in place, then I made up my motor mount/bulkhead and once everything lined up to my expectations I epoxied everything down solid. I then turned my attention to the rudder. I was going to use a Robbe non scale rudder for ease of building, but the Robbe unit has some of the leading edge of the rudder ahead of the rudder shaft, while the stock rudder rotates right at the leading edge. Since the prop is captured between the keel pieces top and bottom, I would have had to really carve up the Robbe unit to make it work. I decided to use the kit rudder. The rudder is assembled from 2 abs halves, trimmed, sanded and glued together. The rudder shaft and tiller arm were missing from the kit, so I had to do it my way. I filled the insides of both rudder halves with sheet balsa. Once sanded to a good fit I made up a 3 mm shaft with a 45ish degree bend at one end. I then cut a slot to fit the shaft into the rudder halves. The bend will guarantee that, if for some reason my glue joints fail, the rudder will not just rotate about the shaft. Once done I jigged up and bonded the rudder tube in place, and added the tiller. The motor I’m using is an old AYK 480 mated to a planetary 3/1 gearbox, which on 2 lipos or a 6 cell nimh should give adequate power and a good run time. I’m building the deck now, it sits nicely in a molded in slot in the hull which alleviates the need for a separate bulwarks. However, I need to cut the bulwark down just aft of the cabin down flush with the deck so I can have a place to mount the depth charges. I am also trying to decide whether to purchase the guns or make my own. That’s where I’m at now. Some of the kit superstructure will be used, but I have to scratch build the gun decks, depth charges and such. This is going to be fun!! Cash

Hi y’all. I’ve been off the board for a few weeks. My daughter, Grace, came down with Covid, she’s fine, just felt rough for a few days. However, it’s company policy that if a family member comes down with Covid, the employee has to be away from work for 5 days, then take a test. If negative, back to work. So, I tested negative, back to work on Monday..Tuesday, my coworker had it, we lost him for a week. I’ve been a bit busy… Anyway, I couldn’t leave the house for a few days as it was possible that I had Covid, which means I couldn’t go out and get the ballast and tubes I need for the Grimmershorn. So I decided to build something else for the time being…an Italeri Vosper!! Now, I have been wanting to do an RC conversion on an Italeri 1/35 scale kit for some time, but they aren’t cheap, and I don’t have a lot of experience with plastic models. Built a few as a kid, then found balsa and tissue and that was that. But…Amazon had the Vosper on sale for less than 100 dollars, and then a coupon for 20 percent off THAT!! Plus, I had the stock in my parts bin to fit it out, so I ordered it as part of my Christmas gifts and told my wife. She was quite pleased that I got something I liked and it was on sale! Yay! I won’t bore y’all with too many details, the Italeri kit is nice and builds well. If I do another static conversion I have to learn to cut Styrene cleaner. I had a time cutting a hatch, used a frame, with a thin, fine cutoff wheel but I still melted the edges, which meant I had to clean up the edges and also use filer strips to get the hatch to look and fit properly. There’s a build log from about 6 years ago where a member built one up, I folles his log, but I put my hatch further aft, omitted the water calling and used a higher kv motor and a 2 cell lipo vs a 3 cell. It’s single shaft, I had a 3mm shaft and tube from a kit where I had used a 4mm in its place, a small, older Graupner rudder, and a metal motor mount bonded to the hull. The hull is one piece save the transom, I used 1/8th reinforcements and plenty of epoxy at the joints..don’t wanna lose that I made one glaring error, I cut the stuffing tube slot too far aft, so I applied a scab patch of plasticard inside, heated up a scrap plastic spruce with a heat gun, stuffed that in the slot, sandis it down and filled it. I think it’s going to be a nice boat, I did a test run with the portholes taped up and the deck screwed down but not bonded. At high speed she can be a bit squirrelly, and I got a bit of water in the hull. Second run I used full throttle only in a straight line, limited maneuvers to 3/4 throttle, she handles well and much less water inside. I’m almost done, I have about 2-3 hours of painting and installation of a few more details, she’ll maiden this Sunday. After that, it’s time to ballast the Grimmershorn. Cash https://youtu.be/IHCb0Op30dw

This is the second time I’ve built a Graupner Hertha Jeep. I built one a few years ago, and after a few runs converted it to brushless. She was my “go-to” boat for almost 2 years until an altercation between her and JPs Kitty II caused the loss of her superstructure. Well, JP had a brand new SAR kit in the box, untouched. We made a trade that involved, among other things, my Acapulco plus my old SAR boat for his kit and a couple of other items..it also involved me building a new, scratch built simplified superstructure for the old SAR. I’ve got that done, and am now in the process of building my new Hertha Jeep. Now, I’m not going to do a step by step on this boat, as I covered a lot of that in the last build. I will, however, detail what I’m doing different because of what I learned from the last build. My old boat was built pretty box stock, with the exception of a hotter wind 400 sized long can motor. Unfortunately, if you drove the boat at full chat for a bit that motor would get pretty warm, and the stock motor was worse, so I swapped in a 1450 kv 28 mm outrunner. That motor on 6 cells gave the boat a good turn of speed, and never got much over ambient temperature…the boat was a reliable as anything I’d built after that. However, the radio tray/motor mount was designed for a can motor and strap down mount, and with all that in the way made it very difficult to install an outrunner..,.soooo….. The first thing I did was to check the bottom keel for straightness. In my first boat the keel was tweaked near the aft edge, I had to cut out the offending piece and reglue it in place, with subsequent filling and sanding. The new keel was tweaked, not as dramatically as the first but more subtly, but the bend was longer. I had to cut, break, tweak and fill this one too. This, except for the instructions, was the only real flaw I found in the kit. I decided to forgo most of the radio tray except for a couple of bottom former halves, I used those to make a base for my rudder servo mount. I also made up a bulkhead mount for the outrunner. Once everything was epoxied in, I did a test run. I got my alignment about spot on as this setup is much quieter than my old boat. I did the cabin a little different too. The cabin pieces have “fold” lines molded in so you can crease the part and make it fit properly, like the front cabin windscreen. Now, the first time I built this boat I had a heck of a time getting the front screen assembled properly, and had to use a lot of filler. This time around I just changed up the assembly sequence and things went much better. That’s where I’m at now, the cabin is mostly assembled and the rudder tube and propulsion parts are in place.I need to build the aft well deck and start getting ready for primer and paint. Cash

Hi y’all. If you remember I built a Robbe Paula III from an original Robbe kit last year as my “furlough” project. I ran it one time, was quite happy with the way she looked and handled. Then, as luck would have it my buddy Larry came over with an armload of kits and accessories and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Anyway, my buddy Fred had an unbuilt Paula IV in his stash, so I traded him my Billings Samson II for the Paula, some older brushed motors and a set of plans for a “kneeler” hydro. I was having issues with the windows in my Grimmershorn, so I put her aside to finish later and started on the Paula. Now, the new Paula is a Krick/Robbe kit. There are several changes to the kit. Firstly the crane, if used and winch are setup different than the system in the Paula III, which I incorporated into my III with some success. The cabin of the IV is built up of machine cut plastic sheet, the windows are precut and framed. The original Paula used a tinted molded upper and lower cabin, the upper was then masked with the included masking and painted, leaving the windows clear once unmasked. The accessories and fittings are of good quality, but maybe just a little off compared to the original Robbe parts. Don’t think the hull is plura, standard, ( but well made and molded) abs. I decided early on that I was NOT fitting the crane, nor would I use the standard 600 brushed motor. Instead, I opted for a 1700 kv brushless outrunner. I am adding lights, a working radar and another surprise that I will discuss later. I did the radar same as I did my first Paula, using a continuous rotation servo in an enlarged radar housing. This works a treat!! It’s a fairly simple boat, I basically did the shaft, rudder and motor mount work in the hull, added the deck then started on the cabin. I’m doing paint now, once that’s complete it’s on to details and electronics. Cash

Hi y’all. I thought it about time that I started on my 60th birthday present, a Krick Grimmershorn. This will be the largest boat, both in size and displacement I’ve built to date. I plan to add a MrRcSound sound board, lights, and radar...maybe another function too. I started on her last week, so far I have the keel, stuffing box and rudder made up. The keel is built up from several pieces of ply, and it sandwiches the stuffing tube. I had to trim it and almost took too much off, but in the end it came out okay, although I had a gap on either side of the tube. I filled that with epoxy and balsa. The rudder is also made up of a ply sandwich then carved and sanded to shape. I’m using an old 3.8 to 1 planetary gearbox for the drive. I should be okay for power, and it’s a real smooth box, very quiet. I tacked the motor mount in and then adjusted the alignment using a 4mm I’d brass tube. I added braces to the mount, and built a little seat for the motor to support weight being that the motor mount is ply. The seat just contacts the bottom of the motor. I then installed the radio plate and assembled and epoxied the deck in place. That’s where I’m at now, hopefully I’ll have the bulwarks installed, and everything from the bulwarks down sanded smoothed and painted by this weekend.

Hi y’all. I’ve decided to go ahead and start on my Christmas present, a Dumas Higgins PT boat. This kit has an abs hull, a plastic deck, vac formed cabin, and numerous wood and metal fittings. Like most Dumas kits it does NOT come with running gear, nor shaft tube or rudder. However, I have those things in my “stock”, plus I’ve decided on a 1700 kv 36mm o.d outrunner. I’ve used this particular size and power motor on several other boats of roughly the same size, so it should serve me well here. The hull needs to be trimmed, then the deck is assembled and installed. The deck is in 2 halves, split right down the middle. I glued it together, then added the reinforcements. The hull “droops” a few degrees from level around 1/3 baxk from, and to the bow, and the deck follows that. The reinforcements have that designed in, and when they are glued to the deck it builds that curve right in, and once trimmed, it fits almost perfectly. The deck was bonded to the hull with medium ca, and what little gaps I had were filled with ca and then top filled with putty. I used a rudder assembly and stuffing box from Cornwall models. The rudder is from Radioactive, the stuffing tube a Caldercraft Fineline unit. I used the kits pine rudder support block and drilled it for the rudder tube, once I had it all sorted out I installed the rudder tube and block, run the nut down on the tube till just snug, and once I had it all lined up I snugged the nut another quarter turn and epoxied it all in place. I cut the slot for the tube just a wee bit oversized, but no problem there. I used the kits skew to get the angle right, tacked it in place, checked alignment then ca’d it all in place. I then made a scab plate to help cover the slot inside, and epoxied the plate and tube. I made a bulkhead motor mount from scrap plastic sheet. I put the coupling on the shaft, and “painted” the motor end with a red marker, and used that to mark my center on the bulkhead. I then drilled that out, and used that to line up my motor mount holes. I went ahead and installed the motor, added a reinforcement to the bulkhead, and tacked it in place to check my alignment with the shaft. Once I was satisfied I ca’d it in place then coated the joints with filled epoxy. It lined up true, and when I test ran the motor it was very quiet, no vibrations nor binding. I also built up the hatch, and added the chine strakes. Next up is a final sanding of the hull, then I’ll start building the above deck details and cabin. Cash

Hi y’all. I like to keep my bench busy, and I’m pretty well done with the Mini Jupiter, so I felt like doing one more somewhat simple boat before I start on a “winter project”. I have a couple of kits that I have bought or traded for that fit the bill, but I kept coming back to a fairly rare kit by Wedico-the Christina. The Christina is a..well let’s be frank, she’s ugly..at least to me. Her lines are all wrong, she’s powered by a stock 280 type motor, has a 2mm unthreaded shaft with a push on or glue on prop. I think the reason she’s rare is that the kit wasn’t a big seller. Now, the hull has decent lines, and the bottom of the hull looks a lot like the contours of the Robbe Paula III I built, and the deck fits pretty good already, before trimming. Thats most of what I’m going to use from the box. The manual states for more performance the builder can use a 540 class motor and a suitable shaft and tube. Well..I got those. The rudder is too small, the hardware is..meh, so there’s that. Anyway, a few week ago I was looking at the hull, and thought that this might make a good pilot/RAF rescue/USCG/whatever boat...so that’s what I’ve been doing the past 2 days. At first I was building up the cabin and superstructure to look somewhat like a USCG utility boat, but then I moved the bridge forward, and she looks like a rescue boat, maybe a caricature of an older RAF rescue boat or police boat, so that’s where the bridge is now. I had to make filler pieces to allow the bridge to set on the upper deck properly because of the angle I had originally built in, but it works. It’s built of 3/32 and 1/16 sheet balsa. I think I made the windows too big, and I have to figure out some sort of control panel, but I’m on my way. We’ll see where she goes..

Well, my bench has been clear for a couple of weeks. I did some tidying up, then thought about what my next project should be. I did a trade with my buddy Larry, came out with a few kits and some fittings and such. One of the kits is a little all wood boat named the Mini Jupiter from KNK models out of Japan. From the looks of the box, and the young lady modelling the boats on the back of the box, I’d say this kit is from the early eighties. A quick web search shows the kit being listed from a website in Japan, I’m worndering if they’re re-kitting it. No other mention of the kit except for the odd older build log, one guy says his kit dated from the late seventies. KNK mad 3 or 4 different sizes of this boat, this one, at around 17 inches long, is the smallest. It sits right between my Graupner SAR and my little Deans Pibber in length. I intend to run a 28mm outrunner of around 1300-1500 kv and a 2 cell lipo for power. So far, I’m building it pretty stock, with a few exceptions. The stuffing box and shaft will be replaced, as the shaft is simply a piece of what looks to be 2.3 or 2.5 mm wire, and the prop is glued on. I’m using a Fineline 4mm shaft and tube, which is coming in my semi monthly care packet from Cornwall. The kit is pretty straightforward, you builds up a keel, add bulkheads, stringers, and supports then sheet it.the bottom sheeting gets a little tough near the bow, due to the pinched(?) bow then as you go further aft the bottom flattens out to a shallow v. On mistake I’ve made so far is I glued the front chine support in upside down, had to cut the glue joints and fix it, but I got it handled. The bottom of the hull is planked with 3 narrow thin plywood sheets that overlap each other, giving the hull bottom strakes all the way aft. The side sheeting is one piece of the same thin plywood. I’m almost ready for the decking, before I do that I need to trim the excess sheeting at the gunwale, then I’m going to paint the inside with some epoxy finishing resin befor I sheet the deck. What you see in the pics is about 7 hours of work. Cash

Hi y’all. I thought I would start an actual build log on the Graupner Tina. I did the gunwales, added some supports for the floor and assembled the floor today. The gunwales are made up of extruded plastic channel that is cut to size, then a pieces of balsa stock is glued in place. This assembly slips over the edge of the hull with the thicker part of the gunwale inboard. This is not as easy as it sounds, as the hull is made of a plastic that seems to be part abs, part styrene. It’s pretty tough, but the hull is flimsy in tortion until bracing is installed, and the gunwales help it keep its shape. Slow and easy is the word. Once I had the gunwales made up I tacked them in place, and when I made sure the hull wasn’t twisted I ran thin ca on the mating surfaces. The transom gunwale was a bit of a pain, but I got her in. Needed a spot of filler on the diagonal joints at stem and stern, but it looks the part. I then added the floor supports and built up the floor, which is made up of 4 parts of die cut ply, doubled up for strength. I sanded a bevel to almost kind of match the hull sides angle, and did a test fit. Needs a touch of the sanding block in a couple of spots but she’ll fit. That’s all I did this morning, will try to get some more done this week and I’ll post it here.