Here in Oz I have had my Fireboat some 40 plus years and worn out 3 or 4 I/C engines . I duo not have the luxury of fresh water and run it in the channel to Lake Illawarra in NSW in Australia. I had to replace the 1/8 inch steel shaft as it wore out .Can you believe it . I just rebuild the fire hoses etc as they and other BRASS fittings deteriorate over time. THE ESSENTIAL matter of performance to get on the plane is to make the hull chine strakes some 1/4 inch wide but not too thick , just to increase the"rise planing "of the hull design . And you only have to run it at nice trot not the halfway out the water , rev head style. Also my girl is very HEAVY and just nice. Regards Lyle.

Planking and more Planking. I live in OZ and I learnt from a heritage furniture specialist and have used this for years. THE plank is painted with Phenyll from the supermarket. I remember my Grandmother sterilised the toilet with stinky Phenyll. The furniture man said it came into use as early as the historical no supermarkets , then, Napolionic furniture makers for bending veneer and WOOD.Is is so good.The strips are painted both sides with phenyll , just a model paintbrush straight from the bottle. Then I apply simple Hardware wood white furniture glue PVAto the plank and the hull former ( poly vinyl acetate) " Selleys, etc " and after some moments the SUPPLE plank is pinned , braced , tied whatever in place. I do so gently and as it is "wet " no splits cracks etc . I recently did hull and back planking on the Louise Heloise with half inch planks 1/16 thick, 1/32 thick 1/8 thick of Cedar , teak, Mahogany and Huon Pine woods and NO DRYING STAINS. I have then always properly sealed my model hulls etc. I leave to dry 24 hours till the next day, very dried as normal to remove the fasteners. I have done this over 30 years now , power boats ply , sail wood boats ALL . IT is very easy over the years in salt water as I boat in the local sea lake channel. Regards Lyle.

Well , the hull strakes may be a tad too thin and adding another outer strip to the strips may help . And as I cannot see the bow do the strakes ( I should have called them spray rails ) run ALL the way up to the bow as in the full size . Just at the varying side hull factor to the bottom skin hull factor at the strakes they actually lift the hull as speed increases, we are operating on a planing hull design. I built my Aerokits Large Crash Boat 30/40 odd years ago and had this problem also it was much Toooooo heavy ( for me in those days ) and increased the kit spray rails form 1/8 square to vary 1/4 to 3/16 full length with a bit of the bottom angle of the strake at a shallow "V " to the bottom hull skin and on my sea queen and the old Veron Fast Patrol boat and the ( 48 inch ) scratch British Power Boat co Seaplane tender and the old Black Marauder Torpedo boat. All with worn out Donks , but all capable of Planing at scale ride. As newer motors from better funds came about I needed less revs for a nice ride . All hulls tended FLATTER in turns as well. Just that self engineered bit worked for me despite a fair bit of work to add the spray rails. I had to be careful to NOT spoil scale appearances. Also on my Range Safety Launch, same treatment. It rises as well as the full Size. I have to run my very OLD Models in the Salt Water Lake Channel with a lot of chop in Lake Illawarra in OZ, (what does a Mill Pond Look like?). Maybe the wave energy has a slight mechanical effect ? Anyway it works . Just some help Regards to all from the colony LYLE. PS ALL my Boats are I/C which has the grunt and revs in my "heavy" models. I am not clever with electrics, at all.

So easy , it took me months years to come to grips with the model . It was the SAME issue as I tried to work out to build the bedstead aerial . it was one of those 45 am dreams of model boats and I just made a BALSA plug and bent wire around it and then soft fuse wired the top prongs together and the bottom prongs together. I soldered the whole top thicket of wire twigs and the bottom twigs then with my dremel cutting disc cut each twiggy mess away and then shaped the top and bottom similarly and had a wire well shaped BASKET skinny and vertical and SCALE. I picked out the hard balsa plug and soldered the mast and mounting apparatus etc . Well the rest of the model was a dream with a super tiger 21/23 for years and now an OS 25 FSR and she is probably 20 years young now . Regards Lyle. I will try for pics

Mate, I like your oscillating engine and your great video. I have been steaming for eons and am fascinated at the steam pressure gauge at the start registering pressure , though I cannot read the actual pressure gauge numbers and what seems a lot of condensate ( so what ) and after a short while the pressure gauge drops to near zero or thereabouts and stays there for the full run and yet your water gauge glass is so very FULL ( yippee) , such a good pump till it, the glass water gauge eventually shows it has not too much reservoiur water left for the run and the pressure gauge STILL shows near zero to indicate the end of the run , do you have a faulty pressure gauge ? Maybe the Mamoli tube should be inverted to the pressure gauge as you may have it filled with water? I do not know. On another matter, my club Webb identity picture shows my model 56 inch Cervia steam engined Tug which I replaced the Stuart 10 to the Stuart twin 5/8 bore and stroke same as yours ? I think, which may be their still selling 11mm or so bore and stroke (me, still imperial and not modern ). My little twin pushes the Cervia displacement 44lbs hull like a rocket , such power. In my latest model build I am struggling with a 46 inch long hull with a Stuart 10 twin AND it is the Kitchen rudder ( that is the struggle) which I have done several times. My mate who is "radio modern" says he will fix/train my transmitter 2.4 ghz on his computer my two rudder cup servos to do "mixing " like Ailerons to impart opposite throws so that the Kitchen cups will then turn such that "I have left and right rudder" in addition to normal opening and closing of the Kitchen rudder cups. I was not to impressed with the threaded screw tiller and the triangular wings mine is ALL brass to impart strength, as you have ALL on a base that imparts steering .I just found I lacked hull room for a swivelling base in my needing a beefy apparatus, as it weighs about 20 to 26 pounds at a guess, so far a lot of finishing still needed ,I love to build big, such is . Though I got off the track, your thoughts on the pressure gauge may be revealing to me ! Regards Lyle.

Mate, too many years in salt water . Tips? the secret? I really paint all my wood models so thoroughly and make internal wood coamings inside of the superstructures and actually hose down first thing at home with a soft hose stream to wash off salt. Most of my hulls and decks when the model is finished have been "painted" local hardware paint or sprayed with fibreglass resin thinned down about 50% or so on paint varnished wood ( even polyurethane 50% thinned ) of which BOTH are so clear and some models over 30/35 ( i/c and steam ) years are still impervious to attack and a bit bullet proof and every so often I do a clean down with say a household (any brand will do) kitchen bench type of cleaner, supermarket spray mist cleaner , you know the ones that smell so fresh and clean that they kill ONLY 99% of all germs and baddies ( what a crock ) and I then take the model/ bits onto the grass still smelling so fresh (UGH) and gently wash away the germs and baddies and just sun dry for a bit and put back in the shed for another day. I am so petty, I also save up the dry cleaning flimsy plastic sheets and cut the sides so I have a long sheet to drape over each model till the next run the sawdust of other shed jobs does NOT get on the model. I fold the sheets off with the dust side to the inner fold , hoping I do not forget which side is which ( I think I am getting OLDER )before I check out the model (radio test, fuel ok , just lightly SINGER oil carburettor shaft , rudder post prop shaft bits , check the glow plug works, inline fuel filter is clean , AND AND leave my engine settings alone year after year AND try to exactly mix the same fuel blend over and over by careful measure but you can slop a tad more oil in as *Oil is CHEAPER than steel , if a bit rich then one click on the needle yet my mates rib me as I leave it *ALONE ). I always check, ALWAYS on the day BEFORE next days run and avoid things that go wrong at the pond side , ( you know the guy who glitches and bleats it was going so well last time ) as I am in OPEN waters I do not chance fails. Regards and good boating Lyle from Oz.

I am not too sure the brooms actually come out in the multitude of photos just so much clutter on my Cervia, I have to run her in the salt water channel to the sea lake we live against . Wind and swell and chop , no luxury fresh water ponds in the colony of Australia.Lyle from Oz.

Mate , I had prostate surgery in Oz and with ALL my steam and I/C models, post surgery I knuckled down to do my Precedent kit ELECTRIC motored ( shudder, shudder). Anyway the pulpit rail actually hangs ahead / well forward of the forepeak decking. All the Fairey Marine Internet pics and the Old Model Boats article of so long ago demonstrate this fact . Not knocking , but the anchor cable chain is pulled up from the water the "deckie" has to ensure he does not hit the fore hull and he can lean a fair bit over the water to get purchase in the anchor /chain/rope pull and try to not slip in the drink. Not picky , just from experience of such wealthy type vessel handling. The Blue looks like Renault type blue and very nice. Lyle.

Hello All from the colony of Oz. For my Cervia 56inch steam tug , I needed a push broom or two of the type used to push ahead typically used in roadworks. I saved up my old toothbrushes and you the stem. A bit of corner rounding followed by a wooden bamboo stick pushed into a drilled hole at the plastic bed which holds the bristles at a suitable ANGLE . Then glued with zap and a bit of crappy pain t to the handle and the brush head and a bit of crud to the bristles. It was as good as my heavy duty broom /brush that I use when sweeping up the concrete paths after savage gardening by by spouse who tolerates and still says, "I remember you were only going to have one boat , the Aerobats Crash Boat I built some 30 plus years ago and has its third I/C motor after wearing the others out! Lyle.

I suggest you go to one of my old reports on my 48 inch Crash boat by Lyle G. The issue is most likely t5hat asn it is a MODEL it needs some extra support in full size water . A model thus NEEDS the advantage of planing strakes at the vertical hull and lower hull joint as it is a "Hard Chine design " and you may need to widen with an extra strake WIDTH though it can be thinned in its vertical configuration as it is blend into the forward hull skin. The wider chine is the secret of the MGB's Torpedo Boats the Elco's and the Higgins and the BPBoat design . Though I live in the colony of Oz I have the British Power boat 41 foot 6 inch model at 48 inches , the Vosper Fast patrol boat , the Range Safety Launch , The BPB co Whaleback at 36 inches and the Black Maurader and even the Sea Queen and ALL I/Combustion powered and all over 15 to 20 years young and ALL as well as the Keilcraft 48 inch Cras Boat all all all have this trick and all get up on the plane as the "Brave class" with its Proteus engineer was still a planing Hard Chine hull and as such it is the hull chine strakes that are so essential to the design originated by was it Georga Selman ? and Hubert Scott Payne ?. Oldies are goodies and the masters of old need to be never forgotten for their skills. Regards Lyle and best construction wishes for modifications.

Dear Modellers and builders of the Vintage Model Works kit series. You will find my earlier pictures and various writings on the original earlier postings by me in OZ of my still some 30/plus years Crash Boat in which I wore out several I/C motors and my girl still runs in Salt Water at the local LAKE ILLAWARRA in New South Wales and you are somewhat fortunate with ready made fittings. I did not ever know of the "page" ( wish I had a copy ) on your wall of the rear well of fire hose details and fittings , wow what a bonus, as a colonial had several years till Peter Dimberline and I had contact and he helped me to authenticate my vessel. The ESSENTIAL secret of the Crash Boat is the spray rails. So many look toy in the videos and TOOOOOOO fast . The spray rails are doubled at width protruding from the hull and lesser at the point of "rise of the wood " towards the upper bow point. The depth is not too critical at a bit of about an eighth of an inch thickness or a bit thinner for the whole length as you do not want to see a "thick log ", rather again it is the width rather than depth. I know I have written on this before on this webb site in the past. The turns thus on the go become when starting on and STAY more on the go are more flatter rather like a full sized hull which has a planing/ flatter hull turn to the flatness of the water than a typical poorly behaving model boat hull which invariably heels TOOOO much and somewhat digging in , (in turns). The HARD CHINE hull design was meant to not only rise to a comfortable plane attitude but ALSO to turn without that annoying behaviour of "digging in" when it should still perform and exhibit that hard chine design attitude when in a turn . "Digging in" equals water resistance AGAINST the hull and loss of performance and loss of plane attitude and against wave resistance when the hull designers team is trying to maintain hard chine performance in the forward turning direction. I harp on this point that this hull design is one to respect . The older I get the more I expect of all my model machines that I am lucky to see on computers, as we certainly have more need to respect the masters, the likes of Peter Du Cane and T E Lawrence and Hubert Scott Payne of Vospers and Thornycroft and The British Power Boat Company and ELCO and Higgins, all of whom I have researched so much over my life and I have been to the memorial of Lawrence in the desert in Wadi Rum. I try to do it right. Regards to all builders Lyle. My mates and I have to run in 2 to 3 inch chop at times, such is the Lake Channel ! My wife has reminded me that some of my fleet do seem to have BLACK hulls and I only would build one model boat, when I bought the Aerobats Crash Boat home, the pictures are of some of my scratch built fleet.

Out here in the colony I have the Veron FPB ( 56inches?)S C40?/45 now from OS 55? and big heavy, a SC 45 and my Aerobats Crash Tender 46 inches which has over the years had an OS 35 , a 40 of some sort and now a SC 46 and a VERY heavy model and a Seaplane tender at 49 inches a SC 40 all running in Salt water at Lake Illawarra with my mates NSW Australia. Your hull at 72 inches ONLY needs a 40 or so/45 for power , We overpower our models too much, I just wore out my earlier motors over the many years and only 4:1 methanol and castor never was a nitro fan , but now my pestering mates nagged me to 3-5 % nitro as an oxygenator in my many motor boats ( incl steam and a sneaky small electric which in early trying to learn to sail to manoeuvre in my 50" thames Barge, now it is ballast). Hope this all help or I suffer your wrath. Yes we all run additional mufflers/resonators ( equal to quiet running of electrics ) and share the pond .Cheers Lyle.

Mate , lovely to hear , I felt a bit poorly somewhat going at you as over the top, which was unwarranted. I ran my vessel the last two weekends with my mates at the Lake Illawarra channel ( see google maps?) South of Wollongong New South Wales Australia. Well we are just a bunch of old boaties , sick of clubs and fights and restrictions/ rules/ flat earthers. We have a lot of public look at us and the Council Ranger and staff lookeee see at times , but AS we are in zone of the Lake Channel HiGH/ LOW tidal mark any authorities do not want to know us. Here in OZ you can still boat as we have a lack of ponds in the land (not like your WW2 type ponds built in villages for water for vehicle fire tenders from FIRE and bombing raids). We have extensions on household insurance in OZ to cover liability and we tell any noisy race/race boat types to ".... off". We sail 1 meters etc thames barge, steam and electric and i/c and all big stuff we ALL run together on the water on the "pond", old sets 27 40 and 2.4 gig. And I spelt Peter Dimberline incorrectly with a T , so he will find out and knuckle me!! I do clean the engine bay with motor car degreaser spray and the decks cabin etc with household Kitchen cleaner and paper wipes. Such is good old Dulux house paint over the years. Fold down f'wrd mast , crane sits in a brass tube at the port engine bay ,rear mast sits on a peg at stern, rear stbd hatch opens, ALL to avoid knocks breakages of bits and over the years I have actually cast alloy bits in plaster-moulds and screwed down with brass. Just a standard red plastic graupner 40 mm prop (4mm thread?) this motor is a SC china copy ? of a OS40 I think , I just run her at the first plane to look nice, no rev head stuff as not necessary, wide turns, but goes so well in 2 inch to 4 inch chop no pounding/ bone shaking during winter runs as it HAS to perform SCALE on the pond rather than toy boat behaviour such as dig in and flick turns and she is heavy to handle waves! Just standard home made fuel 4 to 1 and my mates talked me out of Castor, so now I use synthetic lube . We share all things. Too much talkie . All the best and just fly out to join us good weather too .

Hope the searchlight now has a white ( painted body) as red is not scale. I think my early Fire Tender photos are somewhere in the picture gallery as some of the first/early photo's when Peter Timberline was out here in Australia and staying with us. regards Lyle. Nice model of yours. I opted for a lighter shade of Decking colour rather than the Blue water Navy blends. My girl now has its 4th Glow-plug engine after wearing the others out and is still running after some 40 or so years now and only the second prop shaft. Also, my vessel only has the luxury of Salt Water to operate in and I take a garden pressure sprayer with bi carb soda added to the flushing water at the shore. All the best runs.

Hello from an Ossie, I am gob smacked at your detail, it is so good I bet you have messed up and the shoe laces on the boots of the crew are done incorrectly? ( well, I know they are wearing wellies, so it can only be that the buttons on the weather jacket are on the wrong side?) What a delight, a superb model of building and engineering. Very, very well done . See ya Lyle.

I really was stoked on your selection and as I recall the Model Boats did an article in many many days past from a Mr John Pritchard as I recall. I wrote him from OZ for some years till he moved on and he helped me with all my BPBCo Model research and `ASR 'model types. I just never got to build a large scale Thornycroft type ( RY12 engines?) , so well done for a not too popular type and a real credit to your skills, maybe the ropes need to be painted with cold black coffee for that used dirty look as although the ASR types kept their boats pristine ( hence one could be built shiney and well kept and used , the rails and floors and ropes were a bit tatty and the steps downstairs and paint around the water exhausts and motor exhausts which damaged surrounding paint and the fore under hull was a area of damage . See the b/w movie For 'Those in Peril' and 'The Sea Shall not Have Them' , yes as an `Ossie I still love the old TRUE action movies which I still watch and watch . All the best Lyle..

Mate , Peter Dimberline wrote to me to offer some help from a colonial in suggestions for you , has somebody taken the backplate off and re bolted it back without the crank pin engaging in the rotor hole in the fuel induction pin hole ? maybe the fuel needle has been replaced without a taper in the end of the needle and the pin being manufactured in the motor is a non genuine needle replacement ? is there any ether in the fuel mix as the ether may have been evaporated off in storage ? maybe the needle hole in the needle air carby throat valve outer tube is glugged up over storage time and the engine seems to run on the prime only , ( soak motor in ether or acetone or methylated spirits overnight to de glug old castor residue then drain shake dry remove partly the backplate just enough for solvent to dribble all out then retighten backplate screws , then put some light type oil sewing machine type light oil drops in holes of motor and finger turn over to get oil in the innards etc , the old racers tended to have the needle open from about 2 turns out to near 2 !/2 turns out to be at the sort of general running setting , maybe the needle was tooooooo far open ? maybe the induction hole in the carby is not in line to the throat into the rear crankcase induction so that fuel air is drawn horizontally into the chamber ( hard to describe but easy to mis assemble if someone previously has readjusted and misaligned the induction flow) ? sorry for so many ideas to you but as regards fuel level, I have had engines suck up fuel from the bottom pipe inlet easily an inch below the needle level , but even a half inch uphill suck up is ok even if the tank is say 2 inches thick as you get a sort of pressure head effect which is rich to lean in run . A better idea is to fit/build in a "chicken hopper effect" in the main tank to give an EVEN fuel flow rate of delivery to the carby. Old Team racers did this successfully and it is good for diesels. All the best Lyle.

Yes mate, diesels forever , they were the go in Oz and still in current use for an event called a F/F scramble event , still using the old Deacon and Cardinal and Gaucho designs and the old aero modeller Flying carpet design and Merlins, Mills's PAW's and hand made .75 diesels. it was just a matter that I just migrated to the 46 inch Crash Boat for the non f/f calm days (actually boating was at any day time when my F/F was only early dawn time in dewy fields) using my old worn out stunt engines in boats and thus my free flight days ended. Peter Dimberline has been out here twice now and can recommend my local boating sites to you in Lake Illawarra , just a bit far for weekend travel. Seems as though when you had a cut with diesel fuel it did not sting ( thanks to the ether) as for glow fuel I had at times a control line model catch alight in my learning glow motors from my fumbling days so that when I moved to I/c boats I never had one catch alight and they were so easy to start in the hull , even NEW out the box just bolted in and run in on the pond very rich ( also due to the better 'squish band 'piston machining and fitting in the early ABC type engines) that came on the market so that made for my replacing my crash boat 'donk' with a new motor and very quiet additional double exhaust systems and just plain ( non nitrated ) fuel. Ahhh , it is so good to just turn up throw a I/c model in the pond and with reliable radios of today , when I look back, I admire our tenacity and stick with it of yesteryear to enjoy the luxuries of todays modelling. Oz has a lot of space for modelling. regards Lyle.

Out here in the colony we run in salt and I think it is a PAW diesel ,I used still mix my own fuel of 20 % castor 40 % kero and 40% ether . To start your diesel it is necessary to back off the compression head screw also called vernier? over and over as they are so hard to start with the "comp on", everyone has a "secret ", I always start with such low compression ( summer and winter) out in the colony to get her 'run right setting' and slowly add a 1/8 or 1/4 turn as a a bit at a time when engaging the pull cord even if she pops I back off and re engage the cord etc rock it back and forth till a distinct bump , back off the comp a teeny bit again and give a good yank and usually it goes and just carefully adjust the needle from about 2 and a half turns in or out till a good run sound then do the comp off or on a bit then needle in or out a bit and comp on or back till a good run sound BUT at all times I am not too hard on the comp to over compress, rather less comp for me than a flat out runner which could go to lean and start to cook the engine etc. I found a good runner is better than a race horse. The preceding details is my trying to help with an engine for which ONE HAS to FIND and ESTABLISH the settings then for future runs I leave the needle alone and back off the comp each time say half a turn to three quarters just for an easy start in the model . Unlike other modellers I always start with less comp ( seems to encourage reliable starts ) with diesels over the years and wind on a bit to the running setting as it is easier for me rather than start at full run settings. Well that is my offer to help. Harder to say than see an actual demonstration. regards Lyle.

Hello from the colony, I have the ASR whaleback from the old model boats plan and did the turrets from what were full glass type egg cup shaped domes which luckily had a glass moulded "o ring "base , I epoxied a brass plate to the glass side which had brass machine gun barrels already soft soldered and with gun flash muzzels etc . The skeletal framework of the glass domes were hand painted with humbrol or tamiya paints of gun metal with black streaks etc and the whole lot epoxied to a circular inner base which had a pre fitted centre bolt so that the turrets are able to traverse etc. The 15 to 18 years now vessel has a second ( first wore out) os 10 FSR marine glo engine ) standard fuel Ie no nitro) and in OZ we have to run in salt water ,so flushing is Important and the exhaust goes into a stern muffler so the exhaust actually exits the transom as per original in six exhausts. She weighs about 3 lbs or so and very quiet and good in rough water as a flush decker water over the deck sometimes enters the hull in very rough water, so she is well painted all inside , about 4 to 6 coats or more as I forget. I have seen salt and pepper glass shakers in antique shops as well, as old radio valves which would do . The "small coastal forces" webb site is great research. All the best Lyle.

It helps if I spell BREADTH correctly . My 30 year old 46 inch crash boat is pretty heavy at 25 pounds or so and with the widened ( not thickened) hull chines gets up on the plane very quickly at low power and stops that ugly "model boat spray effect" that shows a gigantic wash wave at the fore hull oversized to the proportions of the model. it works on my; I/C 49 inch scale BPBCo Type II Seaplane Tender, I/C Sea Queen,Electric Sea Rover, I/C Veron Fast Patrol boat, Model Boats plan I/C British Power BoatType II 'Whaleboat', Vic Smeed I/C Range Safety Launch and the Model Boats 'Black Marauder'I/C, which are all over 18/20 years young and as we do not have mill ponds in the Colony of Oz. I boat in the Channel to Lake ILLawarra ( look it up on Google Earth) which is ALL SALT WATER my models have to be designed tough to avoid corrosion, which is easy.I flush the cooling pipes at the site with fresh water mixed with BI carb Soda and dishwashing detergent. At home my models are cleaned with a typical plastic kitchen spray puff of fresh water mixed with plain vinegar (this vinegar and water recipe is promoted by non allergy/non chemical cleaning TV shows) and just wiped down with paper serviettes used at parties in 500 packs. The vinegar mix also CLEANS the engine bays of fuel oil (and on my STEAM boats) of all residue as well. Regards Lyle.

Hello,in the very early days I did a article on my 46 inch crash boat on this webb site.A very good idea for this model is to double the chine spray rails to 1/8 inch thickness and doubled in braedth to 3/16 or 1/4 inch at least.They are not noticeable in the black painted hull area nor the red/copperoid under hull etc, but as my model is some very heavy in weight, the strakes just get her up so easily on the plane and are excellent 'stability rails in heavy chop hard rudder turns' and keep her up,flair/sand/taper the thickness of rails on the fore hull sides to blend in.A great design and hard working hull style in the rough. regards Lyle.

Hi, I was so surprised at your having some printed pictures and two reference pages of the Fire Boat ? is a set of emailed copies of the two reference pages displayed on the right hand side of your picture available to be sent my email if your are inclined, please ? (I can forward my address for email) Certainly very nice to have . Regards Lyle.

Your message stated the ply layers were coming apart . Epoxy etc is only the solution AFTER stopping the ply de-laminating. invert the hull and watch all the fiddly bits fall out even when you have probably thought you removed most of them. Anyway dry the delaminating ply etc and paint removal on the uppermost edge then the true fix is to squirt cyno type glue/zap instant glue whatever it is called in the UK. I have aoso used thinned resin to soak but find the zap method most satisfactor .It is: waterproof, soaks into the ply, and strengthens and stops delaminating which will continue to ruin the model etc (as the ply bonding/glue? has broken down over the years) then follow the other suggestions to repair remedy etc. My Pt/ ASR/ Aerokits / patrol boats are wood and well over 32 minimum years young and I/c and the modern trick glues are now available to do "preservation" tasks with unlike days past.I went boating today with my "Black Marauder" from the Model Boats plan ( Taipan 19 glow) in the 5 to 6 inch chop today at the sea channel as in Australia we cannot be too choosey All the best from Lyle.

Hello all you Fire Boat restorers, I carefully noted the rather belled style of the vents as less streamlined as compared to the bought ones and when the vent front edge is carefully sanded flush, I found suitably thickened in section, silicone "O rings" from my big box of multiple o rings pack as sold by car part and engineering shops. A small piece of plasticine was used to hold the rings in place and super glued to affix.With care the small dab of holding plasticine was uppermost to not stick as the glue ran around down due to gravity. When a few hours later the usual re paint of the modified vent was done,the paint adhered. I Oz I have to run in salt water at the lake entrance and no effects at all ( obviously). I love my I/c Fire boat ( some 34 /39 years or so) with its third engine now and I still cannot help myself as I did hinges for the rear hatch roof to now open. All the best for detailers. When Peter Dimberline stayed with us some years back he ran it at ballistic speed, which shocked me as I run it just up un the plane. (Secret) you can cheat and add an extra wide strip along the chine up to almost an additional 1/8 inch extra wide without visual loss to the lines of the vessel to help her get up and stay in a hard chop as mine is the 46 inch version and some 18 to 20 pounds in weight, so perhaps the smaller 34 inch version and electric may benefit from this idea as the smaller versions tend not to sit too well and seem too far out of the water exposing too much of the f'd keel for some reason? I really enjoy all the Fire Boat resurgence of you guys. Lyle.

HI Chris , well slacko Lyle is again alive and well . I am at *email removed - PM only* and home address at *address removed - PM only*. I have desperately searched the web and so little exists as to internal cabin and aft well pics. I have done the asr site and the coastal forces etc and the original John Pritchard moved so many years ago to the north of the UK and ceased to write, perhaps his health was going down . OI joined the returned asr club as a non serviceman and they have a good newsletter of the coastal forces of the still surviving returned servicemen of such a fine bunch who did so much for their nation. My surname is Gadsden , I have the 43 foot seaplane tender , the whaleback, the broad beamed seaplane tender and a part built 68 foot Hants and Dorset to finish one day . I am not too computer literate, sorry > See ya Lyle.

HI harleydreaml, still looking at your Aerokits Torpedo boat and it is a very nice model from a colonials perspective. if I live long enough I may be lucky to obtain a set of copies of the hull formers and keel for a build . I have the Hebert Adams book of his model boats which he later led to his model boat kit company 'Adamcraft' and he did a set of drawings of a/the Elco type Torpedo Boat in his book. I always wondered whether the Aerokits EVER BORROWED the drawings to make the commercial model? Whatever happened, it is nice to see such a stunner model which was not too populace as the Crash Boat/Sea Queen sales etc. A now passed away mate had one 20 /30 years ago with a I/c 25/30? and it planed and turned flat and nicely. in OZ we still CAN operate I/c easy and do not need to trail out an electric cable for power to get more than 5 minutes on the pond? Keep building good craft. See ya Lyle.

Hello Chris , We are back from interstate. My email in the colony is for the post card pics , please? I will sort out how to attach picture details of my big Seaplane tender. Lyle

Chris , may I ask for you to send off the p/card and photos , 366 655. I built a scratch 41 foot (5/6? inch), what does 1 inch matter. it was from the scale 4 sheet set (very expensive to Import all those years ago were the plans and bank fees unlike electronic money) of the broad beamed seaplane tender from the John Pritchard plans at 1 and 1/7 scale to give about 50 inches or so scale? and with a s/c china .40 I/c donk and my super quiet miuffler system which is as noisy as a noisy electric. I did the roof top carley float as per the model boats picture when at Lyme Regis bay? or base? Being a colonial I am not too sure of the town or port. Mine is about 26/28 years now , but I did the mast white painted and rigging wires of stainless steel wire with crimped loops to brass hooks for the standing rigging which comes off for transport ande the mast is pushed down into a deck fitting against a spring in the deck fitting to tension.Inside cabin fitted out with all gear and flooring and sreering wheel for the tiller. The aft cabin is a varnished wood wall as per the earlier 200 class seaplane tenders were with a varnished ( am I wrong?) at the aft deck floor area and the engine boxes light grey (must be wrong) and the aft fuel tank also light grey (also wrong?), which I use for r/c gear as the boxes have removable tops.I did the clip on safety ladder yellow as I had no idea of its colour and made brackets to hang it on the aft cabin wall. Any comments criticism would be welcomed, I like fine details in running models. She is a rough water craft as all my BPBCo models . We are interstate in OZ at daughters house doing minding for a few weeks and no model boats to run.I also have early site details of my Crash boat when Peter D came out to stay with us as we have been mates 30 + years See ya Lyle.

Hello from the colony. Well sparkie engines were my delight 1. The sparkie donks , need good cooling and very much so as they are hotter fueled petrol, but you need to have good large water pipes to enable a high rate of 'heat transfer ' in the water rate flow from the head or a large sized water cooling pipe diameter (say 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch pipe dia) from the pick up and through the model to exit . The principle is actually not to cool off the combustion running temperature of the cylinder but rather to allow for the departure of 'excess heat' from the combustion temperature. So many 'over cool' the engines rather than allow for normal operating temperature ' to continue. Hence engines are fiddled with in the Winter cold having so called poor performance when if allowed to operate at normal temperature they are then so reliable. Similar when in warmer water they need the excess above operating temperature heat to be dispelled. As best Illustrated in air cooled motor mower engines which rely upon the effective excess heat dissipation above that of normal combustion operation. 2. A good quality motor oil is essential and we used basic 'standard '/ 'neat' petrol in those days , probably low octane car unleaded is the equivalent today, however do not go for the ethanol additive fuel sold these days for motor cars as I think it is not suitable as it is a cocktail blend when the old motor pump fuels were more straight petrols without the chemical additives of todays engined fuels.3.Using nicads or nickel hydrides (?) not sure on actual chemical name for Ignition is great these days as they have more kick and do use a auxillairy pair of batteries for booster when starting as to not drain onboard battery supply to the coil. 4. Keep spark plug very clean and try to have a small paper type pad to insert between the points to 'dry" away excess oil to help spark jump across points. As it is the spark which is the only excuse for not too ready starts. 5.Sparkies should be easy to start these days with transistorised Ignition circuits and better current/ oomphah batteries and are easy on fuel gulping as very economical.6. But sometimes they can be a bit noisy but generally a good big 2''/3" daimeter muffler box/pipe say 3 to 4 inches long helps with noise dissipation. The exhaust energy is best dissipated with large rates of expansion in a large chamber then the following contraction into the exhaust pipe say 1/2 inch outlet to air and noise energy is thus lessened, good for all stable running boats but not too much approved by the high speed types who want Mach 1 performance horses and tuned exhausts etc. 7. Also the large capacity Sparkies ( not sure about the smaller capacity sparkies) can throw a heavy flywheel as low down power / grunt on less revs , hence can take a very large daI prop with a big pitch as steam boat props tend to do. 8. Remember it is not a high revving glo at 14,000 to 23,000 and more revs, but a nice high power for its day of latter day design and machining tollerances and mettalurgy. See ya from the colony. Lyle.