|||
Not Registered
Go AD FREE & get your membership medal
BRONZE
Less Ads
SILVER
GOLD
Ad Free
Cancel
Anytime
ยฃ2.50
ยฃ4.50
ยฃ6.50
Subscribe
Go AD FREE & get your membership medal
BRONZE
Less Ads
SILVER
GOLD
Ad Free
For A Whole Year!
ยฃ25
ยฃ45
ยฃ65
Donate
You Will Be Helping Towards:

  • Domain Fees
  • Security Certificates
  • iOS & Android App Fees
  • Website Hosting
  • Fast Servers
  • Data Backups
  • Upkeep & Maintenance
  • Administration Costs

    Without your support the website wouldn't be what it is today.

    Please consider donating towards these fees to help keep us afloat.

    Read more

    All donations are securely managed through PayPal.

    Many thanks for your kind support
  • Join Us On Social Media!
    Download The App!

    Login To
    Remove Ads
    Login To
    Remove Ads

    Model Boats Website
    Model Boats Website
    Home
    Forum
    Build Blogs
    Media Gallery
    Boat Clubs & Lakes
    Events
    Boat Harbour
    How-To Articles
    Plans & Docs
    Useful Links
    The Games Chest
    Registered
    4th Nov 2022
    Last Online
    30th Apr 2025
    neilw
    Member Stats
    Stats
    Member No.#7509
    Registered๐Ÿ“…4th Nov 2022
    Last Online๐Ÿ“…30th Apr 2025
    City๐Ÿ“Plymouth
    Country๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งUnited Kingdom
    Genderโ™‚๏ธMale
    Age๐Ÿ‘ถ58
    Posts๐Ÿ’ฌ322
    Followers๐Ÿ“ฃ7
    Likes Received๐Ÿ‘1391

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Send Private Message
    ๐Ÿ’ต Gift a Membership
    Members Following
    Follow neilw
    ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง Peewit83 ( Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class)
    ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Dumaspittman ( Petty Officer 1st Class)
    ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง Doogle ( Vice Admiral)
    ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilmc ( Warrant Officer)
    ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง Scratchbuilder ( Vice Admiral)
    ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช hermank ( Commodore)
    ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Rowen ( Captain)
    7 Followers
    Recent Activity
    Liked RNLI Lifeguards inspired jet ski 12 days ago
    Lieutenant Commander
    Ranks Points
    Fleet Admiral 10,000
    Admiral 8,000
    Vice Admiral 6,000
    Rear Admiral 5,000
    Commodore 4,000
    Captain 3,000
    Commander 2,500
    Lieutenant Commander 2,000
    Lieutenant 1,600
    Sub-Lieutenant 1,200
    Midshipman 900
    Warrant Officer 600
    Chief Petty Officer 1st Class 450
    Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class 300
    Petty Officer 1st Class 200
    Petty Officer 2nd Class 150
    Master Seaman 100
    Leading Seaman 50
    Able Seaman 20
    Recruit 0
    253 Points Away From Commander!
    Points
    ActivityWorthAwarded
    ๐Ÿ‘ Likes (rcv'd)11,391
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Forum2356
    โœ๏ธ Comments2150
    โœ๏ธ Blog4212
    ๐Ÿ“ท Photos40
    ๐ŸŽฅ Videos100
    ๐Ÿ“ Place816
    ๐Ÿšค Harbour8112
    ๐Ÿ“ Guestbook100
    ๐Ÿ˜Š Avatar1010
    2,247 Total Points
    United Kingdom
    Signature
    This user has not added a signature
    Members Harbour
    Members Blogs
    Recent Posts
    ๐Ÿ“ 1:6 RNLI Jet ski
    1 day ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 2 Views ยท 7 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    1:6 scale Jet Ski, loosely based on the RNLI Lifeguards, ready for testing tomorrow. Another 3D print, the water jet is in Polycarbonate Carbon Fibre with a 3D printed drive screw - printed in aluminium (not by me).

    Still have some cosmetic tweaks to make and more work required on the helm.

    This is a slightly modified Valkyrie jet ski model fitted with a M-Jet 35 unit.

    Login To
    Remove Ads

    ๐Ÿ“ Question of the Day?
    8 days ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 28 Views ยท 4 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ“ Reply
    The answer should have been a Westerly Cardinal Mark. I went for the only Cardinal option.

    Isolated Danger is Red and Black, with 2 spheres on top.

    I did like it that the quiz shows the dangers of Generative AI.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: RNLI Lifeguards inspired jet ski
    12 days ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 31 Views ยท 5 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Thatโ€™s great, Iโ€™m working on a 1:6 version by making a few tweaks to a Valkyrie 3D model that will be powered by an M-Jet 35.

    Have an action man that will be the driver.

    Still painting mine as it took a few attempts to find the right yellow, hopefully will be done in the next couple of weeks.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: SHG Shadow
    2 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 41 Views ยท 1 Like
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    I just used what I had in the spares box, the boat cost me ยฃ30 and everything to get in running was already in the workshop so no time was spent thinking about it - just fitted what I had and as luck had it, it all worked.

    Despite load of cleaning the boat still smells of fuel - an aroma of patina!

    ๐Ÿ“ Green Hornet - 3D printed Footy
    2 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 6 Views ยท 9 Likes ยท 1 Comment
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    This is a modified version of the Green Hornet, a Footy designed for 3D printing.

    Have made a few changes to it as it now has holes/tubes printed in the hull for the mast stub, keel rods and rudder shaft.

    The hull is split into two pieces just behind the mast and printed on the bulkheads then these are glued together.

    The rudder and keel fin are printed with tubes/holes for the rudder shaft and keel reinforcing carbon keel rods. The keel bulb is printed in two hollow parts, filled with lead shot and glued together.

    The rig and sail are homemade, mine currently has the Big Rig ๐Ÿ˜Š There will be a swing rig in the future.

    Thereโ€™s a large recess printed into the deck to take a battery and the servo cassette. The cassette is a printed lid with printed cut outs for the two servos and a switch.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: SHG Shadow
    2 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 41 Views ยท 1 Like
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    My motor is 3650 2300kV from Howes. ESC is a watercooled Flycolor 70A.

    Was running on 3S, but want to try it on 4S. The 3S gets it planing nicely, will be interesting to see if the 4S makes any difference.

    Is running on the 37mm prop that came with the boat




    https://howesmodels.co.uk/product/3650-3900kv-500-600-size-brushless-motor-upgra
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: SHG Shadow
    2 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 60 Views ยท 1 Like
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Excellent, I picked one up last year when on holiday. Stripped all the i/c motor out, raided the spares box and found a brushless motor and spare ESC.

    Had to replace the windscreen and gave it a tidy up and good clean.

    This is now loads of fun. Gets up on the plane and behaves lovely.

    ๐Ÿ“ Question of the Day?
    2 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 42 Views ยท 1 Like
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ“ Reply
    EdW - that was the Northwest passage not the Northeast passage that the question was about.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Port Area
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 50 Views ยท 6 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Down here in darkest Devon, the Exeter and District Model Boat Club put our 1:24 model port in place last year. Different members built the buildings - I did the water mill and my dad, Peewit83, produced the control tower.

    We are currently refurbishing the buildings and pontoons after they had been out for a year and are currently producing a ferry port extension.

    ๐Ÿ“ Shapeways
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 77 Views ยท 3 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ“ Reply
    Have a look at Battlecrafts



    https://www.battlecrafts.com/armaments/1-32nd-scale
    ๐Ÿ“ Time for Epoxy
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 29 Views ยท 5 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Once the hull was fully planked it was time to make it fair and to give it some strength.

    With a hull thickness of 1.5mm the hull needs some reinforcement. The first task was to get a base coat of epoxy onto the hull. I used West with 206 hardener, with a workshop temperature of 14-15 degrees this gave a working time of 25-30 minutes.

    The base coat had West 410 fairing microfibres added so that the sanding to a fair hull was pretty straightforward and the addition of the 410 allows a good feather edge.

    With the hull reasonably fair it was time to do the job I'd been putting off, cutting the aperture for the bow rudder. I doubt this will have a major impact on turning the HMS Medway Queen as it is to scale, but it's an interesting challenge to get it to work.

    Once the bow rudder aperture was cut I could start to cover the hull in epoxy and e-glass. To try and make life easy with the minimum of fairing to do at the end of the epoxying process I added a daily laminate, starting with 86g biaxial cloth, then a 48g cloth followed by a 25g cloth and finally a layer of surface tissue.

    The West Epoxy has colour granules added so ends up grey, hopefully meaning I don't have to apply lots of paint just to cover the hull colour.

    Just need to let the final coat cure then hopefully a thin layer fairing epoxy before cutting the holes for portholes then paint before releasing from the build board.

    Login To
    Remove Ads

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Big Chill Pontoon Boat 1:8 - 3D Printed
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 47 Views ยท 0 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Hi Ian

    I ordered the parts from Aliexpress, cheap but took a week or so to arrive.

    Full details of the motor are on Printables.



    https://www.printables.com/model/825674-18-scale-outboard-boat-motor-big-chill
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Big Chill Pontoon Boat 1:8 - 3D Printed
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 69 Views ยท 2 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Found a short video of early trials with the old blue canopy, now changed to a more harmonious green.



    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WZHWCNj2Ndw
    ๐Ÿ“ Big Chill Pontoon Boat 1:8 - 3D Printed
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 10 Views ยท 11 Likes ยท 7 Comments
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    This one comes from the same designer as the air boat, Jeep and trailer.

    I wanted to print this one as the outboard motor looked an interesting project. As with the air boat there are lots of printed items and sections that are then bolted together, the photos show how it was assembled

    I also printed the trailer for it

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Plankety Plank
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 43 Views ยท 4 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Hi Doug

    It will be painted as the skin thickness is only 1.5mm so does need reinforcing with epoxy and glass, trying to keep the hull light but strong.

    There will be some nice varnished timber on display and deck will be done the same as my BYMS with 3mm x 1mm mahogany planks with 0.25mm black styrene as caulking, all varnished. The varnished deck is a step away from authenticity but breaks up a sea of grey.

    Have enough proper varnish to keep me busy with the larger boat in the workshop that still needs a last few coats of varnish when it gets a bit warmer.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Plankety Plank
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 47 Views ยท 3 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Hi Doug

    The timber is mainly 5mm x 1.5mm mahogany with a mix of 2mm x 1.5mm and 3mm x 1.5.mm on the turn of the bilge. As it is only available in 1000mm lengths I had to scarf joint many planks as the hull is 1.2m.

    Glad this part is finished.

    ๐Ÿ“ Plankety Plank
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 50 Views ยท 6 Likes ยท 6 Comments
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    After a break while more timber was delivered the hull is finally planked. 60 planks in all, has the expected lumps, bumps and hollows so after some longboarding and fairing will be ready for epoxy & e-glass.

    ๐Ÿ“ Airfix kits reissued
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 73 Views ยท 5 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ“ Reply
    Might be of interest, Airfix have reissued MTB, RAF Rescue and the E Boat.



    https://uk.airfix.com/new?langPath=airfix-uk&filters%5Bmin_price%5D=0&filters%5B
    ๐Ÿ“ On my bench...
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 59 Views ยท 5 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ“ Reply
    Your bench is a temple of tidyness compared to mine!

    It was immaculate a couple of days ago, then I bought more timber.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Tri65 3D printed trimaran, converted to foils
    3 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 27 Views ยท 0 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Hi Ian

    Iโ€™ll email you with details on how to get the STL files and Iโ€™ll send you the build instructions and a table Iโ€™ve produced for the non printable parts you need in order finish the boat.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: HMS Medway Queen
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 67 Views ยท 3 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    USS Wolverine looks great, though at 1:48 might be a bit too big at over 10โ€™.

    Login To
    Remove Ads

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Glade Runner - 3D printed Airboat
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 41 Views ยท 0 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    This as all printed on a Bambu Lab A1 printer, not the cheapest option but is very good and requires minimal fiddling to get to print correctly. Mines done 1,200 hours over the last 6 months and the only failures have been due to operator error. I have the combo version with automatic material selection so can print up to 4 colours at any time.

    Iโ€™ve replaced the build plate a couple of times (for ยฃ10) as they lose their ability to adhere over time.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: HMS Medway Queen
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 72 Views ยท 5 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    All the paddle wheel components are 3D printed using Carbon Fibre PLA, the float shafts are 2mm stainless threaded bar, everything else is fixed with M1.7 screws.

    It took a couple of goes to get the right diameter holes printed to get floats to rotate without friction.

    The paddle wheels are based on Graupner ones, I scaled it to 1:48, increased the float width to be correct for the Medway Queen then increased the thickness and the width of the eccentric rods to be as large as possible without jamming the rotation.

    They have been tested in my test tank and run at higher speeds than they will encounter when in use on the boat. If they fail I have a backup plan of printing a set of non-feathering paddle wheels.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Zambezi River Gunboat - Stern Wheeler
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 28 Views ยท 2 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Quick update on this one. After a fair bit of research I've found that this boat is actually a Zambezi River Gunboat and is based on HMS Mosquito from 1895.

    ๐Ÿ“ Glade Runner - 3D printed Airboat
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 14 Views ยท 7 Likes ยท 4 Comments
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    Another one from the printer. This one was printed after the Tri 65 and was something I'd been after for some time.

    The same designer also released the files for a trailer for the airboat and if you have a boat of a trailer you need something to tow it with.

    The Airboat and the JeepCJ7 all work with a brushless motors in both. All printed at a scale of 1:8.

    Everything is printed in multiple sections and fixed with nuts and bolts.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Re: Tri65 3D printed trimaran, converted to foils
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 63 Views ยท 4 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    3D printing gets a bit addictive. Initially bought mine as I wanted scale figures for various boats but have ended up printed a number of boats that I'll get around to adding to My Harbour. Also printing boats for other people that helps pay for the running costs and filament collection.

    The pics shows the collection of filaments and the printer sits in what was my guitar/dressing room that was hastily converted into office space when COVID hit

    ๐Ÿ“ Bob's Boards
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 66 Views ยท 3 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ“ Reply
    Hi Dave

    The whole setup was pretty sketchy as I needed 240V on board for the expansion box that ran the A/D - D/A conversion, the biggest issue I has was developing the software to break into the servos so my control system could utilise the servos for steering and speed. Can remember many late nights getting the millisecond pulses to work correctly.

    ๐Ÿ“ Bob's Boards
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 67 Views ยท 5 Likes
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ“ Reply
    That brings back memories, in 1992/93 I built a 1:10 scale hull of the Royal Navy Picket Boat No.9 as a test bed for my PhD research. Built a plug, mould and had several mouldings out of the mould. Chose 1:10 as it gave me the largest hull I could fit in to the back of a Ford Sierra.

    We had access to the full sized vessel as a research platform until she was dropped a crane so a scale model was the next best option for testing the AI Control System I was developing.

    This had a Bob's Board fitted as well as an A-D/D-A conversion box, GPS, fluxgate compass, various 12V batteries, 12-240V inverter, log and a Tosh Laptop running my own software for data collection, Kalman filters to apply to the GPS signals and a neural network for training the control system.

    I have some photos somewhere of the setup, will try and dig them out.

    ๐Ÿ“ finishing BYMS 2079
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 27 Views ยท 1 Like ยท 1 Comment
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    The last major item to construct was the bridge.

    With so much deck equipment, mast, davits and other fittings being susceptible to being knocked or broken I built a travelling/storage box for BYMS2079.

    In the end the build took 7 months, though I was working on other projects at the same time. This is the most complex and detailed build that I've done to date, have found that I'm comfortable working at 1:48.

    The next build will be the HMS Medway Queen, also in 1:48 so it will be great to have the two minesweepers on the water together.

    ๐Ÿ“ Tri65 3D printed trimaran, converted to foils
    4 months ago by ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง neilw ( Lieutenant Commander)
    โœง 17 Views ยท 8 Likes ยท 7 Comments
    Flag
    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Add Comment
    This was one of the first 3D printed boats I produced. Since printing this one I've produced two for members of my model yacht club and are about to print two more for other members.

    The Tri65 uses the rig from a DragonForce 65. I originally printed this one for conventional sailing with a centreboard and t-foil rudder. After building the MOD20 trimaran my original green Tri65 has had the centreboard removed and is now fitted with a pair of hydrofoils



    About This Website
    Terms of Service
    Privacy Policy