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The Fairey Fleet
I got interested in the hobby getting on for 5 years ago as something to keep me occupied during the winter months.
Soon after I bought a 47" Fairey Huntsman 31 off Ebay. It was a lovely model but I found it a bit cumbersome and so eventually sold it to a fellow club member. Before I sold it though I bought one of Dave Milbourn's prototypes off him that he'd used for producing the plans for his 1:12 scale Huntress. I found this to be a nice scale for the Fairey range of boats and set off on a mission to build a number of them all to the same scale. As well as scratch building them I produced my own drawings because they either weren't available at that scale or I wanted to modify them. A case in point being the Huntsman 28 where I wanted the whole superstructure to be removeable.
As well as the classic Faireys; Huntsman 28, Huntsman 31 and Swordsman 33 I wanted to build the more unusual ones and those, as far as I'm aware have never been built. These are the River Cruiser 23 (using a modified Huntress hull) from a black and white photograph, a Huntress Long Cabin fitted with a stern-drive, a Fisherman 27 motor sailer and a 17 foot Faun lake and river cruiser. The first five are being built and the last two I've produced drawings for. Instead of concentrating on the first builds I kept starting others!
ChrisF
11 months ago
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Fairey Faun
Not quite ready to start building yet as I must progress my other builds a bit more first but I'm chomping on the bit to get going on it so thought I'd kick off anyway.
Not the most exciting of boats but it is one that I've been planning to add to my Fairey fleet after seeing a small photo of it in a book I have which also provided the inspiration for some of my other builds.
Anyway, it is a small river and lake cruiser, 16' 6" long and is based on the hull of the Falcon daysailer which is of hot moulded construction, like many other Faireys.
Like my other builds I'm building at 1:12. The only drawings I could find were from a brochure showing the top and side views and it is those that I've used to start my drawings. The hull lines have been arrived at by trial and error and I hope they work out!
Most Fauns were fitted with an outboard, which was my original intention, but I've decided to do an inboard version first. Maybe an outboard later?
Because of the hull shape I've decided to do plank on frame which will be a first for me, so fingers crossed!
Hopefully it won't be too long before I can post progress of the actual build.
Chris
ChrisF
2 years ago
Recent Posts
๐ Fairly huntsman restoration
6 days ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Looking like a Huntsman 31 now!
Chris
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๐ Twin motors
10 days ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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obtain a new matching prop of opposite thrust not rotation( this can stay the same, it just different blade angles.
You'll have to patent that! ๐ค
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๐ Twin motors
10 days ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Many full-size boats have them turn in the same direction as it's not worth the expense of having handed gearboxes. Also the power of the engines and weight of the boat rarely mean there is a problem.
For a faster model with powerful motors the model can roll to one side in a straight line and have been known to flip over due to the prop walk and torque reaction if power is applied too suddenly.
When reversing the direction of a brushed motor you may find it runs faster in the original direction due to the design of the brushes.
Chris
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๐ speed controller
24 days ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Need to be wary of the 320amp capacity. Some so called high capacity ESC from you know where have been found to be very optimistic with their ratings!
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๐ Fairey huntsman grab rails
30 days ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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I buy most of my nuts and bolts etc. from Westfield Fasteners. They do a good range and good quality including M2 and deliver quickly.
Do you have enough timber to drill, cut the heads off the bolts, resin in place and secure with washers and nuts?
Chris
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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I can see what you mean though Bill! ๐
Here's another view. You often get a group of them at the surface looking to be fed!
Chris
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Hi Rod
That's a right pain.
It's just a dye to reduce the amount of light travelling through the water, it does a good job, though they do have to remove/cut the weed now and then.
It doesn't affect wildlife as there are some big fish, tadpoles and other creatures.
Chris
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Yes, it's the dye they put in the water to control weed.
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Went down to the lake at the club yesterday to try out the River Cruiser. Really pleased with how it performed, makes a change to have a slow Fairey!
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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The full Fairey fleet! They're busy at the local yard!
Chris
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๐ Lesro Pilot Boat - bow finishing
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Curve along the bow is only very slight, so you should be Ok. Better if you can do it in ply.
I find large areas of balsa quite hard to sand even after attacking it with a saw!
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๐ Lesro Pilot Boat - bow finishing
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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I was going to say you could probably do the skins adjacent the deck Ok but see that there is a bit of a curve to the bow itself which might make fitting the skin difficult as it's a compound curve.
If you can you could just use balsa at the bottom then, like on my Huntsman 28.
I did use balsa (block in my case) top and bottom on the Swordsman but afterwards thought I may have been able to do that by the deck in ply. Though looking at it there is flare and again a compound curve, so probably not.
I then used Eze-Kote and lightweight cloth over the whole of the hulls to strengthen the balsa and tie it to the ply and provide a good basis for painting.
Chris
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๐ Fairey huntsman cabin
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Wez, if you have a razor saw it will be easier to cut out the roof than using a craft knife.
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๐ Fairey huntsman cabin
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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The windows are a reference also, as the cabin bulkheads sit just beyond them.
If you take out that central one which has been added and then cut the roof out flush with the other two it will be right.
Here's mine, but ignore the bulkhead to the rear cabin as it was modified and repositioned as it was going to be a Sport.
Obviously you will need a cockpit floor as well.
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๐ Fairey huntsman cabin
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Morning Wez, have you printed the plan out to your scale as that should give you the sizes you want. The drawing was based on the original Fairey drawing so they will be the same.
I think it's safe to assume, being a kit, that the bulkheads are in the correct positions and therefore the cockpit will be between the front cabin bulkhead and the rear cabin bulkhead.
Can you post a photo of the underside of the supetstructure and the inside of the hull.
Chris
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๐ Fairey huntsman cabin
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Just noticed Wez, looking at the photos again, that the rear deck is longer than it should be!
You could go the whole hog and convert it to a full open cockpit Sport version as used for racing!
I think they look great and my build started off as one but as I sold my big one I changed it to the more usual aft cabin version. Also I have a number of big cockpit Faireys - two Huntresses and a Huntsman 28.
You might think it is too similar to your previous Huntress though?
My drawing of the Sport.
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Been making some progress due to the poor weather. Been painting the cabin/cockpit sides on the Fairey River Cruiser, but more importantly I've completed the RC installation so that I can try it at the lake!
Not shown, but I've finished painting the cabin sides and coamings on the Huntress ready for fixing the windows.
Chris
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๐ Precedent fairey huntsman
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Yeah, but I don't know what the original builder was thinking with that cockpit and no access to the cabins! ๐
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๐ Precedent fairey huntsman ,Hatches
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Had to be done Wez. Thunderbird 1 could have launched through that rear hatch! ๐
Here's my baby one (it's only 31") gracing the top of a unit in the lounge. It's ready for painting but got delayed whilst working on my other Faireys.
Chris
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๐ Fairey huntsman windscreen
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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I've PM'd you so that you can give me your email.
This was mine when bought. Not very fast with the 850 motor and heavy battery. Much better when a fellow club member bought it and fitted it with a brushless motor and Lipo which I'd planned to do.
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๐ Fairey huntsman windscreen
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Morning Wez. I had one of the 47" but found it a bit big for moving around so sold it and I'm building one at 1:12 now.
That cockpit has definitely got to go and the two oversize and wrongly positioned hatches! ๐ฎ
I've yet to tackle the windscreens for any of my builds but I know some folks make a former and gently heat the plastic round it.
The drawings that Cornwall Model Boats sells plans for is the simplified 1:16 version though probably fine for the cockpit and hatches. Anyway, I'll have a look through my Fairey drawings and see what I've got.
Online photos are really good for sorting out the details though.
Chris
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๐ You tube boat collection
1 month ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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The offloading of those models was sometime ago and I think was discussed on Mayhem and I don't think all the models were for them to do as they wished with, as some were owned by others I understand. A real shame and some appear to have been neglected.
Why is it that the likes of Drew Pritchard always get first dibs at knock down prices rather than enthusiasts via say auctions?
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๐ Wordle and Daily Quiz
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Or maybe not as I just answered a question and replies remained turned off unlike when I reply to a post.
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๐ Wordle and Daily Quiz
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Going into My Account and turning off replies to Topics Following/Forums at the bottom should do it?
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๐ Printers
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Yes, printers can be frustrating. Had an HP A3 printer for many years which provided stirling service until it became very difficult to get cartridges so I reluctantly took it to the tip.
So bought an A4 Canon printer with scanner which for some reason won't print my Microsoft Visio documents, most of which are my boat drawings. Went for A4 to save space and because I have an A3 Canon photographic printer in another room which prints from Visio fine and at least it is getting more use now as it was quite expensive.
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๐ Fairey renovation
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Thanks Gary, I tend to be apprehensive about tackling some of the more tricky jobs, like when I was planking the decks on some of my builds, but when it came to it, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, hopefully will be the case with the screen!
Another job in that apprehensive category is making the bow rails. All part of the learning process though.
Chris
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๐ Fairey renovation
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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The screen is one of those tricky jobs I don't fancy doing, along with others along the way that I overcame, but at least it will be one of the last jobs that I have to do!
Your deck is interesting in that it is a bit different to the usual Huntsman 31 ones.
Chris
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Thanks Flaxbybuck. Doing multiple builds has meant that it's taken a long time to get something on the water but as I keep saying I will have a number completed around the same time.
I do have other boats to use though, as well as Dave's Huntress I have RTR plastic race boats and a couple of 650mm yachts.
Your "big Huntress" sounds like it will look like a Huntsman 31 Sport. Only a small number were built, primarily for racing, and have a big open cockpit and no rear cabin. They look great as that hull is the sleekest of the Faireys. I started building one but then changed it to the more common aft cabin version after I sold my big one.
Look forward to seeing your build. Picture of side view of the one I drew up.
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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๐ When I first got interested about 6 years ago I bought a 47" Huntsman 31. And was then lucky enough to buy one of the Huntress prototypes off Dave Milbourn. Found the Huntsman a bit big and heavy so sold it to a fellow club member.
The Huntress is at a scale of 1:12 which I think is a good scale for this type of boat and makes my biggest build of the Swordsman at 33" still a nice manageable size. I really got into the histrory of Fairey Marine and decided to build all the well known boats at the same scale. Some drawings were available but I decided to draw my own so that I could modify them for lift-off superstructures etc. These boats were the Huntsman 28 and 31and the Swordsman 33, the latter with the raised rear cabin roof. Being new to the hobby I'd reach a tricky point with a build and then start another one!
Also, as well as these classic builds I wanted to do something different but still Fairey and hence the two builds in this thread. The Huntress Long Cabin as it was called, with the stern-drive, was drawn up by Fairey Marine but never went into production. As mentioned before, the other build is the River Cruiser based on a modified Huntress hull with greater freeboard. Only a prototype was built and all trace of it disappeared.
I've produced drawings for the other two builds ( not yet started), one being a small 17 foot river/lake cruiser called Faun based on one of their sailing dinghies and the other the Fisherman 27 motor sailer which will be my first build with sails.
Could be called a bit of an obsession ๐ but I think it will be nice to have a collection all at the same scale with both the well known and lesser known boats.
Some of them are similar in some respects but still worthwhile building for completeness. With DM's Huntress I will have eight!
So there you are!
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๐ Fairey Huntress With Stern-Drive
2 months ago by
๐ฌ๐ง ChrisF (

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Flaxybuck - that photo was taken during the installation and the receiver is now fixed to one of the frames at high level.
The motor in the River Cruiser is a bit OTT being a 3530 1100kv! Could have used a brushed motor but I'm using Overlander brushless in all of my Fairey builds. I'm only going to use 2S LiPo or maybe NiMh and a 30mm prop and the model is fairly heavy so it shouldn't be too manic! Can always restrict the throttle.
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