You have to want to be cured. You sound like you do not want to be found out!
Some of us have managed to live with this affliction (I don't like the word addiction) for many years. It is treatable but cold turkey (not sarnies) is unpleasant for all concerned.

It has become easier to continue in a clandestine way with fewer model shops around but some still operate from backrooms, the supply is there. Best accessed via the untraceable Private Window then funding a Paypal account with innocent transfers. This stops it appearing in your bank accounts.
An untraceable mobile 'a burner' can also be used.
I think there is an organization that can appear at your house and remove all incriminating evidence, I believe operated by fellow sufferers, it is on the black web!

If you want a cure you are on the wrong forum!
Roy

She looks absolutely glorious under sail. Well done!
Roy

Hi I agree a nice brass prop sets off a model. You have to make sure the sort the prototype model has as there are so many. Prop Shop now taken over by Protean say they have 1000 designs and sizes.
I went and did a count up of my spare props a third of them are brass and more than a few paired contra rotating ones. I categorize at or below 40mm as small of which there were 85 and large up to 60mm 60 odd then there are about 20 boats so rarely short of a prop.

I do use them for testing the right prop to motor configuration for a new model. So not just sitting there.
regards
Roy

Hi Martin I know that the plastic and nylon props were labelled P for I think 1.3 pitch to prop diameter and the X ones at 1.7.
Maybe S stands for surface piercing? They tend to be very angular props and perhaps a bit bigger diameter. Just surmise on the S.
Roy

I seem to recall Spike Milligan using it in the Goon Show circa 1953.
Roy

Hi Nerys, I had a barge for a short time donated to the club I tried her but passed her on to another. Too heavy for me and maybe I had a dodgy (sailing) model. I thought I saw a Celia Jane sailing nicely but I must have missed the good ones!
I do have a fishing boat (the green hull in My Harbour) she is shaped like a barge, fine with the wind but with a permanently down dagger board and internally ballasted is a bit of a handful.

Thanks for all the information

regards
Roy

I think I have a boat stand looking for a boat!
Roy😁😁

The sails make or mar the barge they are quite tough to feel although I would not go down the horse manure and blood route for colour. Often the topsail was a different colour and many had the company name or logo on them.
They look crinkly even when in use but check with Nerys, he was the professional.

You should find one of the old Sanwa winches will more than pull in the sails even with a good wind blowing. Make sure it is screwed down solidly to the hull. You won't get an arm winch as these are long gone but the rotating winch will work fine. More than one way of doing it and info is on the Internet.
regards
Roy

Hi Robert I think you may make things difficult fo yourself if you go for plank on frame. These vessels in full size had long straight sides it really is a box with a sharp end. The same works for model size as well.

I would suggest a construction of a box with a bulkhead at each end and a stern with a finishing bulkhead and a bow section similar and glue them all together.

Many were fitted with engines and a propellor and it helps if the boat is out there and lunch is calling!
They had to get maybe 150 to 200 tons of cargo on board, we found downstairs they had converted this area into a kitchen a small servery and there were 24 x 4 seat tables for guests.
The bangers and mash was very good! It was a chilly day and my daughter found the part of the hatchcover over the kitchen which we shared and it was most comforting.
regards
Roy

Hi Robert, at 1 : 24 scale the barges work well without altering them so not sure why you are doing a generic one. They could be sailing with water up to the deck line or empty so the water level of the hull in the water is incidental.

I know the designer of Celia Jane and he is very precise and you could do a lot worse than following his plan. I have seen one sailing and they sail very well.
Most of the models sail with a weighted keel underneath maybe 6 to 8 pounds in weight and about 8 inches in depth.

You need the surface area of the keel to stop drifting sideways. The barge boards work at full size but do not have much effect at this scale.

The sails will have been balanced for Celia Jane so if you change the dimensions you are on your own with a sail plan.

Generally the jib and the main sail go out in parallel. The mizzen sail less so but you may need to experiment here.

Locate the hull exit points for the sheets beneath the point at which you attach the sheet to the boom. The topsail you might want to make removable depending on wind strength, but otherwise it follows the mainsail.

The weight is going to come out at up to 20 pounds so you can build 'heavy'. In simple terms you need a bow and a stern section and these are joined together by side planks and the bottom plank.

The difficult part is making the rudder look right, if you look on the Internet you will see it was a very complex piece of equipment using left and right hand threaded traversers to work the rudder.

There is loads of detail about the deck detail and winch on the net. Simulating canvas can be done with covering a wood shape with ladies stockings material using varnish to keep it in place and then trimming it off.

I was on a Thames Barge for the day 7 months ago it was the once famous Will Everard, the family did not allow the name Everard to be sold with the barge so she is just known as Will. I have some full size sailing experience and was allowed to pilot the barge under power for half an hour or so. There was very little wind that day.
Picture is of my daughter driving and the other is they opened Tower Bridge for us to go through.

Good luck and to be honest it is just as easy to make a scale model as to make a 'generic' one.

Good luck with the build
Roy

I am getting a weird message on posting sorry about duplication
Roy

Hi Nerys I usually check a recommended site before mentioning it but I assumed! and we all know what that means.
regards
Roy

Hi Nerys I usually check a recommended site before mentioning it but I assumed! nd we all know what that means.
regards
Roy

Hello Nerys thanks for the update I used to see Richard at the various exhibitions and he used to exhibit at our own one in St. Albans. I first met him at the old ME exhibition where we queued together to collect our Bronze Medals.

I have one of his folders a collection of info on building model barges excellent document.
Regards
Roy

Hi if you google AMBO Association of Model Barge Owners, they are active and have lots of plans and can advise on the various types of barge as they evolved. You may be aware there were coastal barges as well which were a little bigger.

Mostly AMBO sail half inch to the foot scale 1 : 24 which gives a model about 4 feet long.

Regards

Roy

Hello Andy Mods! Best done one at a time as otherwise the effect can be lost or clash with others.

The loose sheet line can be helped if you put a couple of turns of solder wire to act as a weight around the string as it comes off the winch, so the slack stays in the hull and any moderate wind will easily overcome the couple of loops of lead solder.

Having just increased the depth of the rudder (made a new one) on my topsail schooner My first thoughts on looking at your sail boat was that the rudder is not going to have enough effect to turn the boat through the eye of the wind.
My Topsail schooner behaves a lot better now.

On another point if you want a quick turning hull you have to know where the pivot point is and keep the weight in the centre of the boat.
If you spread the weight to the bow and the stern there is more mass to turn round at the ends and it takes its time. But it does reduce pitching and gives stability on a set course.

Joshua Slocomb set sail and commented on his first arrival on land that he had had a very rough trip, he was told to spread his provisions at the ends of the hull and that sorted out the rough ride.
I have been given a smaller version of your BPC and the maker told me it will sail without external ballast and the rudder is much the same as yours, so in 3 boats time I will see how she goes!
Carry on the good work, love the enthusiasm and energy and if you have any to spare let me know!
Roy

Hi Andy how quickly does she turn in a tack? Looks great!

Roy

Hi I am sure others can contribute so part answer is, M4 is the screw size. That is, there is a thread on a 4mm diameter shaft. The 35 looks like the diameter of the prop in mms.. Most times you will get a prop that revolves clockwise when viewed from the back.

The prop when it is giving forward motion will be screwing itself onto the shaft. We also put a locking nut on the shaft before the prop and using a M4 spanner they are locked against each other which prevents the prop from un-doing when going in reverse. I would place a washer up against the bearing at each end as well.

Make sure when the prop is screwed in place that the shaft has plain shaft where it is positioned in the bearing of the prop tube. The other end usually has a U/J or universal joint. Try and keep these as in line as possible also the part attached to the other end of the prop shaft should be as squarely fitted as possible. Sometimes this is a screw thread and sometimes a plain end. You need a U/J to suit.

If you get vibration when running go to the U/J first and make sure it is not canted slightly when it was either screwed or lock-nutted in place. Sometimes a washer placed between the nut and the U/J can help.

I connect it all together with a single battery running the motor and find the sweet spot and screw or glue things in place then leaving the motor running to ensure there are no changes as it is finally attached.
Good luck
Roy

Hi that is a good question! I use plastic props to find out how the boat performs, I mean in a realistic fashion not how fast. Plastic props are relatively cheap and a good way to work out what you want from the model and then if brass is your choice a similar brass one can be obtained.

The standard 2 blade plastic props are designed with a certain ratio of prop diameter to pitch. I think the coarse pitch ones are 1.7 : 1 and the less so 1.3 : 1, don't quote me!

You will find that Prop shop and also Deans supply brass props and you should get an equivalent without any problem.

Depending on what type of boat you have fast boats have small fast turning ones and the more sedate liners and cargo boats have bigger but slower turning ones. The slow turning props are a little more efficient but this is not very noticeable in models. I have a couple of slow boats and you can watch the large prop turn and propel the ship as well.

My criteria for models is can I stop it quickly as you will find you are surrounded by idiot drivers! Radio assisted collisions happen more often than they should and operators of boats can be distracted by watchers, many of whom will try and stand between the model and yourself!

So be prepared, the more experienced modeller will await your return to the bank before telling you what a wonderful creation you are driving.

Good luck, survival is the watchword.
Roy

Hi the separate black item is a heat sink for a 2N.... series power transistor. These were typically rated 30 -50 watts. If anyone wants any I have lots of as new NPN power transistors similar to this one.
However the heat sink is there because there is a 0.7 volts drop between the emitter to base junction of the transistor.

May not seem much but with lets say 5 amps shared current between the 2 off Monoperm super electric motors, this gives a 3.5 watts 'wasted' heat which has to be dissipated by the black heat sink. When I say wasted this is battery power that will not get to the motor.

Modern electronics have very little losses through heat and some esc's have no heat sinks on at all now. A few powerful ones have water cooling to get rid of heat.

I read another thread on this posting about sorting out the electronics but this is 4 pin operation and if memory serves this was a centre tapped voltage system and just not worth converting. Best advice is to pass on the item as a bit of history and get new controllers.
I see that the motors have Kardan couplings to the prop shaft, these are interesting as they expand to fit the gap, I do not think they are on sale anymore so take care with them. Boat looks in excellent order though.

Nice to see the old kit! I do have some old stuff but I go out to sail my boats not exercise the electronics, we are in a fit and forget era now, so we can get on and enjoy the boaty bits!
Regards
Roy

Sorry for the abreviaton I was thinking of one transmitter (tx) per model.
I recently tried 1 Tx 4 channel to run 2 models at the same time. You would need therapy after doing that!
I put a 4 ch receiver (rx) in each and had the left stick for one model and the right stack for the other.

Channels 1 and 2 for one boat and 3 and 4 for the other.
I found I need to practice my left hand operation of one model before I attempt to do it again. The reactions are not what you expect!
regards
Roy

Hi I like your style! However the sailing of the boats has to have some very calm seas. Will you have a lot of Tx's as well?
Roy

Wow Photo 6 is really nice. May I suggest that the tapered plank be not so wide at the thick end and again not so narrow at the bow. Aesthetically a wide centre plank could look a bit OTT at the bow.
Great that you are doing it properly though.
regards
Roy

Some years ago I rigged the inside of an RC yacht and it was always going wrong and because it was hidden under the deck it was a problem. The lines were always getting tangled.
I put it all to one side for a year or so.

Then I decided I must work out why. I released the unit and brought it out into the open and it seemed to work OK. Then I realised my error!

I had attached the jib line to the elasticated return line, it should have been on the winched in side of the lines.
All works fine now and an easy error to make.
Regards
Roy

Hi again, judging from your building comments I presume this is the wooden hull?

Later kits had a plastic hull but the dimensions of the hulls are different. The plastic hull is a few inches longer. I think at 1:90 scale instead of 1:100 scale for the wood hull. I expect other s/s sizes are adjusted to suit but the fittings kit is the same.

The stanchions are from flat bar and probably easier to make from scratch, maybe using the right section in brass strip? I recommend the stanchions are created on a jig. I tried soldering first and then super glue, I think the latter works best. The winch might be the most difficult item to construct.

If going for RC then you only need a 9 gram servo for the rudder as there is not much work for it to do. This is a difficult area, I am working on a couple of fine lines to the tiller at deck level. Also hiding the tiller, so it came to a halt a little while ago while I thought about it!

I have fitted a 6 volt Monoperm with a 1:2 reduction planet gearbox with a good size propeller. I would now use high capacity AA cells for the drive as there is not much room left inside.
Good luck
Roy

You really need the fittings kit so hope that was included as so much is needed to complete the model.
Roy

Hi the mixture as specified (coutesy Deans Marine) can be ignored once in place. Just a little thin oil on the outer part of the bearings including the motor.

I personally have phased out SLA's as they need charging every month regardless of use or they deteriorate. NiMh batteries you can just leave them until you require them again.
regards
Roy

Hi if my memory serves the brushes on these motors are simple metal ones. I would think they would act as a fuse on their own with that current flowing. I would not worry too much when using these small motors as they are little work horses.
As has been suggested a small prop but do make sure there is not too much drag from the grease in the prop tube.

I use a mixture of 1 part vaseline, 1 part 3 in 1 oil and 1 part WD40 spray. Mix it up together and suck it into the tube. Then cover the end of the tube as you push in the prop shaft. It has virtually no friction and keeps the water out.

regards
Roy

Hi good luck with the restoration. I restored my one maybe 15 years ago, it was a gift, and it took a while. I made sure the stanchions had a firm base to sit in with reinforcing the wood under the deck. I could not work out how to get inside the hull without taking the rear mast out, so left it as designed.
I have since by shear good fortune obtained an unused set of sails and these were installed 3 years ago. Sails as you say with very little help from the bank.

Lovely boat the full size boat was up for sale maybe 2 years ago and the photos of the original are still there to see.

https://www.facebook.com/Inga-IV-Classic-Yacht-for-sale-2567...

regards
Roy

https://www.facebook.com/Inga-IV-Classic-Yacht-for-sale-256791811498028/photos/256808338163042

🔗

Hi I like to make my boat stands work for a living. I fit a tray underneath, very useful when down by the water. I also fit stick on plastic feet so that the stand cannot scratch tables etc.

Lately I have extended the boat stands lower so that the transmitter had a place to sit. I have been using old 'mouse mat', cut to size, to line crutch part. It is good to avoid hard points that over time can cause pressure marks in the paint finish.
When using wood dowel for the stand it can be made a little neater where it exits at the support ends by fitting brass screws with cup washers.

They look neat but also they expand the end of the dowel a little and effectively clamp the dowel in place, you will not need glue. This does make it easier for some adjustments.

The stand is a 3D thing and has to be flat and not wobble but also to hild the hull squarely in position.

regards

Roy