Members Harbour
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Occre Static Display Model - Pilot Boat
This is my model of a 1850s New York pilot boat static display model. It is of simple construction with the hull being double planked using the traditional method of plank on frame. The model also has an authentic United States flag for the time period. The model is uncomplicated and displays nicely.
Greg
firefighter
2 days ago
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15 Photos
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Aeronaut - Cabin Cruiser Diva
I recently posted the above model and then decided to remove it from My Harbour so I could make some changes to the yacht varnish finish and then re-photograph and post again. But looking at the finish I am completely happy with what I first produced. I now posting the model again with the original text and photographs.
There is a saying - I used to be undecided but now I'm not sure!
Being a beginner to RC model boats I choose Aeronaut's cabin cruiser Diva because I liked the style of a boat from around the 1960s and because I felt it would be easier to build as an entry the RC boat modelling. Although I have skills in building static display model ships I thought for me it would a safe option. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of building the model. I believe that the build is all part of the enjoyment of the hobby.
Greg
firefighter
2 days ago
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Members Blogs
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Building The Police Launch From The Wooden Model Boat Company
I decided as an interesting subject to purchase the MOD Police Launch kit which measures only 400mm long. The kit was inexpensive and I thought as a beginner it would be a nice motor driven model to add to the Aeronaut cabin cruiser Diva I had finished building. Like the Bob-About that I have today started a build blog on I started this kit just prior to having surgery on my right hand.
When I kit was delivered I was pleased at the contents of the box. Everything was there and the parts were nicely cut ready to be removed from the ply sheets. One thing I have to say is that the instruction booklet although well laid out with stage completion tick boxes I did not think that the drawings were very clear and helpful. So unfortunately I made a mistake when constructing the hull putting the transom at the wrong angle. I realized that I had a problem when I came to fit the radio tray. The part appeared to be too small and would not fit correctly. My added problem was that I did not know what I had done wrong. I contacted WMBC by email and explained my problem. I backed that up with photographs of the hull frames that I had so far put together. The person who replied said that they did not think they could help but said that they would send me another part so I could make a larger part from the one I had and the being sent that would fit. When the part arrived I made the part and fitted it and moved on only to find that the next part was also too small and would not fit. I contact WMBC again but they were not helpful. Now all this time this was going on I did not know that I had made a mistake. I believed the kit parts to be at fault. Following the lack of help I posted my problem on the forum with the photographs I had sent to WMBC. Fortunately dave976 came to my rescue pointing out that he could see from the same pictures I had sent to WMBC that I had fitted the transom incorrectly. Having found out my mistake I was able to order another part to replace the one I had altered on advice from WMBC.
I am now waiting for the part to be delivered, and like the Footy, when my hand is useable again I can continue with the build so there will be more to follow in the future.
Greg
firefighter
8 days ago
7 Posts
5 Followers
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Building The Footy Bob-About Sailboat Supplied By SLEC UK
As I can't build at the moment due to the recent surgery I have had on my right hand but as I can type with two fingers. One on the left hand and one on my right hand I thought I would start a new blog on the Bob-About and show what I had achieved just prior to my surgery.
As a beginner to RC boats, apart from boats with motors I wanted to try my hand (if you pardon the pun) at RC sailing. Not in competition but as a leisure pursuit. It was recommended to me that I might like to build the Footy and/or the Wee Nip so I purchased both.
I decided to start with the Footy because being small I thought that it would be easy to build as a first sailboat for a person who, although had experience of building static display ships and had just finished building Aeronaut's cabin cruiser Diva, had no knowledge of sailboats and the sailing terminology. I was wrong. On receiving the kit I found the instructions which were on both sides of an A4 size piece of paper very limited for the novice and also poorly written. The plans that also came with the kit were comprehensive but not aimed at the beginner. I did point this out to SLEC and asked if they had other details and perhaps more photographs than were printed on the instruction sheet that they could email. Their reply was that the plans and written details were all they had been given when they took on the selling rights. The copyright of the plans were given in 2002 some 20 odd years ago. So I felt that an update was long overdue.
When I commenced the build the first problem I encountered was building the hull which I eventually overcame with the help of forum members but as I progressed I could see that with my lack of understanding and the very poor instructions added to my frustrations and I was in danger of giving up and throwing the thing out the window! Well, with further discussions with SLEC they answered my queries and sent me some photographs that they had taken to help me which I was very grateful.
I was now able to complete the building of the hull. Install the rudder tube and the tube to take the mast. Once the adhesive had cured I gave the hull three coats of sander sealer. When that was dry I installed the angled tube at the stern to take the cable and cord to control the sails and the servos were fitted in place.
The boat now sits waiting for me to start fitting the rigging and sails when I can use my right hand. That in turn will be the next challenge as I have no clue what to do!
Hopefully, in the first couple of weeks of April my hand will be healed enough for me to start again.
Greg
firefighter
7 days ago
Recent Posts
π Slec Ltd - Bob-A-Bout Footy Class Yacht Build
10 hours ago by
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Hello Bill,
Thank you very much. Why did I not think of that! I don't know, have your hand operated on and your brain goes south!!! π
I'm with you on the sailing front. I'm not interested in competitions.
You take care.
Greg π
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π Slec Ltd - Bob-A-Bout Footy Class Yacht Build
11 hours ago by
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I need some help. Today I decided to take a look at making the sails from the plastic material supplied with the kit. Before looking at the instruction sheet and the plans I had a look at the links previously sent to me about making sails for the Footy. I have to be completely honest and say that what I saw in the way of plans, diagrams and instructions might as well have been written in Swahili π as they unfortunately made no sense to me. So I returned to the instructions and plans provided with the kit. As I have said before the instruction sheet is very limited in detail and explanation.
The help I need is from someone who has made sails before for the Footy from plastic sheeting or who has made the sails using the plastic from the kit.
I know that I have to cut the sails out from the sheeting but reading the instructions I don't see how that is done. The plastic material provided is a flat tube with Luff pockets welded down either side. The length of the plastic is just over 500mm long and just over 250mm wide. Each Luff pocket is about 25mm wide. So what I have got is a flat tube with a pocket welded on each side. With the plastic in front of me rigging instructions 7 and 8 do not make sense and this is were I need the help. I have to cut two sails from the plastic tube but I just can't see how it is done.
I have attached the instructions sheet and the plans so please could someone take a look and hopefully point me in the right direction.
Greg π
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π I Found Another Lockdown Video I'd Like To Share
13 hours ago by
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During the first Lockdown I made the video about my N gauge railway layout which I put on the forum this morning. Whilst searching through my hard disc I found some others I had made at the same time. This is one of them.
Having previously been a fireman I have a great interest in the history of the service from it's beginnings and particularly the men and woman from the NFS and AFS who fought fires and completed rescues throughout the Blitz of World War II from the 7th September 1940 to the 11th May 1941 and beyond. When there was an air raid these men and women stayed above ground to fight the subsequent fires and make rescues from collapsed buildings when many other people took cover below.
This short video apart from being an exercise for me in making YouTube videos is also my tribute to those men and women.
NFS - National Fire Service
AFS - Auxiliary Fire Service
Greg π
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π¬ Re: A Short Video of My N Gauge Model Railway Layout That I Recently Posted
15 hours ago by
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I now see that the video is showing in the media post. I now what I did wrong.
Greg π
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π¬ Re: A Short Video of My N Gauge Model Railway Layout That I Recently Posted
15 hours ago by
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Hello Ron,
With regards to the YouTube link, I am obviously doing something wrong when adding the link to the video but for the life of me I don't know where I have made a mistake. So I have copied below the YouTube link that can be copied and pasted into a browser.
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π¬ Re: Occre Static Display Model - Pilot Boat
16 hours ago by
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When I posted this model I forgot to add the details of the finished ship. Please see below for the scale and dimensions.
Scale: 1:50
Length: 580mm
Height: 446mm
Width: 120mm
Greg π
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π¬ Re: Aeronaut - Cabin Cruiser Diva
16 hours ago by
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Thank you all for your generous comments.
Greg π
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π A Short Video of My N Gauge Model Railway Layout That I Recently Posted
1 day ago by
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Having completed my layout depicting the preparations for D-Day in 1944 along came the pandemic. So as a Lockdown project I decided to make some short videos to put on YouTube. As I had not produced any videos before I wanted to see how easy or not it was to make and upload on YouTube.
As I recently posted a collection of photographs of my N gauge shelf layout I decided to add the video.
Greg π
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π Occre Static Display Model - Pilot Boat
2 days ago by
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π Aeronaut - Cabin Cruiser Diva
2 days ago by
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π Written a Book
2 days ago by
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I totally agree. We worked hard enough to get here!
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π Written a Book
2 days ago by
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Yes you are correct. Yes it does. I can't take any credit for an original idea as the theme I borrowed is from a TV programme a good few years back about a police officer who was transported back to the 1970s. The TV show was called "Life on Mars". There was also a spin-off from that about a female police offer who got shot and was also transported back to the past.
The only connection with my idea is that a catastrophic incident caused a return to the past like the TV shows.
Anyway, I did say that I would be writing for my own pleasure and not necessarily to publish.
Greg π
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π The Pleasure of Building Models
2 days ago by
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Hello flaxbybuck,
Very interesting. I am sure that the dolls house looked magnificent when finished. Although my daughter has not asked me, according to my wife she has put in her order for a house π.
Greg π
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π Uploading Videos to the Website
2 days ago by
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Hello Dave,
I followed your guidance on being able to post videos on the forum and converted my videos to YouTube files but when I tried to post a video using the YouTube link as requested on this site I received a message saying that I needed to post a valid link although I was using the link address provided by YT. I hope that makes sense. Any ideas?
Greg π
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π Written a Book
2 days ago by
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Hello Brian,
Thank you for your reply. I am sure your book is going to be an interesting read when complete.
The reason I posted this question was because I was interested to know if people were interested in writing. I am an avid reader of both fiction and history and over the years I have often thought about writing a fictional book, not necessarily to publish, although that would be nice, but for my own pleasure in creating something. The same pleasure I get when building models.
Because, following my recent surgery on my right hand for Arthritis which is restricting my model building I thought about resurrecting the idea of starting a book.
Looking online I see that there is writers' software that you can sign up to to help you with the necessary construction of a book. Some of this software is free and others charge.
Having retired from the fire service the idea I had for a book is about a London firefighter who goes to work for his normal shift and is called out to a fire in an old warehouse in East London down by the docks on the river Thames. Having survived a floor collapse whilst in the warehouse he discovers that for some unknown reason he has been transported back to Second World War wartime London and the Blitz. Badly injured he recovers in hospital and on his release starts his search to find out why he was sent back in time.........
Greg π
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π The Pleasure of Building Models
2 days ago by
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Hello Colin,
My granddaughter Mia's mother used to play with Sylvanians. As I remember she had just about all you could get from the range.
As I said, I have seen some nice kits. If I get one I can build it along with all my other projects so by the time I have finished Mia will be 16 and not want it π.
I'm also supposed to be building two Dovecots for both of my daughters gardens π.
I have never had so much to do. I think I will return to work. It was nowhere near as busy π.
Greg π
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π Dumas Ace Racing Sloop Kit Conversion
2 days ago by
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Hello Ron,
That's good to know. Thank you for the link. Just had a look. Very interesting
Greg π
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π The Pleasure of Building Models
2 days ago by
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Hello Colin,
Your dolls house and layout are amazing. I am considering building a dolls house for our new granddaughter who is just a few months old. I have seen online some kits that look interesting.
Greg π
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π Dumas Ace Racing Sloop Kit Conversion
2 days ago by
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Hello jacko,
Thanks for the post. The reason I added my original post was because looking at the size of the boat I was not at all sure if it could be converted to RC. I asked the question of a well known model shop and was told by them that as RC items were so much smaller now days the kit could be converted. Having been told that I was still not sure if the email I received was a salesman eager to sell the kit so I thought I might get what I wanted to know first hand from someone who has built the kit. If you are planning to convert your boat perhaps you could keep me posted?
Greg π
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π Slec Ltd - Bob-A-Bout Footy Class Yacht Build
2 days ago by
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Hello Ron,
Having read what you have said, your comments make a lot of sense so I will stick with plan A π.
Greg π
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π Slec Ltd - Bob-A-Bout Footy Class Yacht Build
2 days ago by
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Now I am about to continue with the building of the Footy I have decided that I don't like the plastic sails that came with the kit. Does anyone know of ready made material sails available to purchase? I have had a search online but came up with nothing
Greg π
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π Dumas Ace Racing Sloop Kit Conversion
2 days ago by
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As a future project I was considering getting the Dumas Ace Racing Sloop which I see is a free sailing model. Having said that, I have been told that it can be converted to RC. Has anyone converted one of these to RC? I would be interested in any comments.
Greg π
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π Best Place To Get Assorted Packs of Balsa Wood?
3 days ago by
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Thank you Dave.
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π Uploading Videos to the Website
3 days ago by
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Hello Dave,
Thank you for the information. I see now I was in the wrong place. My files are MP4 so they should load. I'll give it a try later.
Greg π
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π Best Place To Get Assorted Packs of Balsa Wood?
3 days ago by
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Hello Bill, I did not think about Amazon. I'll take a look.
Greg π
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π Uploading Videos to the Website
3 days ago by
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As far as I know you click the box with the + sign in it as you would for photos and files which is what I did. I selected the video I had made and clicked open. The video started to load the same as when you load pictures but when it got to the end of loading a window opened telling me that the video file was the wrong format and stopped. If I can find out what format the video should be in I could possibly convert a copy of the file to the correct format for the purposes of this site.
Greg π
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π Slec Ltd - Bob-A-Bout Footy Class Yacht Build
3 days ago by
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Hello Colin,
Thank you for your comments. I seems that there is a new school of thought on how persons should recover from surgery and accidents. So within reason and being sensible I am going to recommence building some of the smaller boats and aircraft kits I have.
Greg π
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π Uploading Videos to the Website
3 days ago by
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I know how to add pictures, files and videos to a new post but can anyone tell me what the video file format should be? I have some videos I made a while back. When I tried to load one to this site I was told that it was in the wrong format and the video failed to load.
Greg π
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π Best Place To Get Assorted Packs of Balsa Wood?
3 days ago by
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I want to purchase some assorted size packs of Balsa wood to have on the shelf. Please can anyone recommend a good supplier here in the UK.
Greg π
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π Slec Ltd - Bob-A-Bout Footy Class Yacht Build
3 days ago by
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Hello Ron,
Thank you. I managed to get done what you see in the pictures before my surgery. The good news is that my occupational therapist told me last Friday that I can start to use the hand again for simple tasks. It seems that they and the surgeons now have a new way of thinking when it comes to post operation care and rehabilitation. They now want patients to start using their hands as soon as possible after surgery. When I had the same surgery done on my left hand I was not allowed to use the hand for a long time. So, having said that I am now starting to continue with my projects albeit still a bit painfully. As long as I don't do too much at a time I'll be okay.
So, on with the Footy. I think I now have a better understanding of the construct but if I need help I will certainly contact Peter Shepherd.
Greg
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