Members Harbour
4 Photos
2 Likes
Wee Nip, Ruf Red
Wee Nip, Ruf Red.
Donated to me by a friend.
Radio; frsky telemetry, battery voltage, Hitec sail winch.
She sails well and is quite enjoyable, even I my unskilled hands.
stevedownunder
4 years ago
0 Attributes
3 Photos
7 Likes
Formidable, LT100.
Wooden Drifter Trawler, Formidable, LT100. Scale 1:24th.
Long term build. Work boat built first
stevedownunder
5 years ago
0 Attributes
6 Photos
2 Likes
(Pleasure Craft) Piranha (Rosa)
Hull built to Vic Smeed free plan from 1960s,cabin design inspired from Fairey Huntsman, constructed of ply wood, fully scratch built, up graded several times from AM radio to 2.4 GHz with telemetry and brushed motor to brushless motor and LiPo batterys (6/10)
stevedownunder
7 years ago
9 Attributes
3 Photos
13 Likes
(Working Vessel) Inter Island Ferry
Built of Balsa, in 1970s, by my father to a Vic Smeed plan, scale aprox HO or 1/72 nd, converted to RC in 2013, battery LiFe Po4, 2 cell 400 Ma capacity. (5/10)
stevedownunder
7 years ago
8 Attributes
2 Photos
3 Likes
(Naval Ship) Fletcher
Old Lindberg Plastic kit approx scale 1:125 (5/10)
2018 refit, Brushed motor + gearbox removed, 2 Brushless motors + 2 controllers fitted, Transmitter setup to enable tank steering.
stevedownunder
8 years ago
0 Attributes
Members Blogs
73 Posts
31 Followers
519 Likes
Scratch built, Working Steam powered Drifter trawler LT100, to 1:24th scale.
LT100 My Way.
With this build log there is a lot of ground to catch up on I have been building this model for more than 20 years. I do not profess to be an expert builder, nor that this is an exceptional model, especially considering that this is only my second scratch built model.
However my intention is to build the best model I can (this is true most of the time). My first reasonable scratch build being a simple hard chine cabin cruiser. Most of the models I have built have been plastic kits.
My intention with this project was to build a working model without many compromises, that is to say when out of the water you would not be able to tell it is a working model.
I welcome constructive comment.
I hope people enjoy the journey with me.
Looking around for a scratch build project, something that wouldnโt take too long (ha-ha) or be too complex or too large, I found that I really liked the look of steam drifter trawlers.
A wooden prototype being preferred as I could build a model hull out of wood then build a steam plant to power it; therefore the model would have some similarity to the original even if internally it wasnโt a replica.
So the decision was made to build myself one, I started searching for suitable plans, this was in a time before the internet when things werenโt just a click away, therefore I relied on the couple of plans catalogues that I had in my possession.
Plans were found in the MAP Plans catalogue, then this project got off to something of a false start in 1990 with the purchase of a set of plans drawn by R. A. Neville to a scale of 1/24, from the Plan Shop in New South Wales Australia these are for a typical Wooden Steam Drifter.
I am not sure when these plans were first printed, however I have inherited a copy of Model Engineer published in September 1959 which is the first of 4 articles titled, How to build a Wooden Steam Drifter, written by R. A. Neville (I didnโt find this article until many years after starting work on this project!) I wasnโt quite happy with these plans, being more interested in building something that represented an actual vessel.
So I sat on them for quite a while umming and arr-ing, thinking they are not quite what I wanted.
Then to my amazement and elation, on the cover of Model Boats in April 1993 was a beautifully made model, that had been entered into Class C9 kit class at the 1993 Model Engineer Exhibition, of LT100 built by Robin Butler, winning a Silver medal, and guess what next month there were to be plans for this trawler, wow just what I wanted!
Life got in the way of hobby as it usually does and it wasnโt until a few years later in 1996 that I purchased the plans drawn of Formidable LT 100 by James Pottinger to a scale of 1/33, along with the book From Tree to Sea by Ted Frost, this is a wonderful book about the construction of LT 100 drawing from Ted Frosts memories as an apprentice ship wright.
The plans arrived, then I had them enlarged to what I thought was 1:24 scale, as mentioned earlier I intended to power the model by steam, I went off and measured the opening for the wheel house and I found I could comfortably fit the 3 ยฝin diameter boiler I was thinking of building through the opening.
Having no experience with steam at all, I imagined that steam plants would require quite a bit of servicing, with this in mind I thought it was important to be able to remove the entire steam plant easily for routine maintenance. Next step was to get some plans for an engine.
Probably in 1996, my dad and I went to Kilsyth (an outer suburb of Melbourne, Australia), where Live Steam Supplies of Victoria were, they specialised in miniature steam in all its aspects. Whilst there I purchased plans for a ยฝ in bore ยฝ in stroke, twin cylinder double acting oscillating steam engine designed by Basil Harley, published by Model Maker plans service.
Probably first printed in July 1983, I have the August 1983 Model Boats with part two in a series of articles to build the engine and boiler along with a 42in long steam launch, once again I didnโt find this article until much later after purchasing the plans even though this was a magazine I had bought!
I had already decided to make the centre flue boiler designed by Peter Arnot. Peter ran an excellent series of articles in Model Boats for a Vee 4 steam engine, boiler and associated equipment throughout the year of 1993, I intended to purchase some 3 ยฝin copper pipe as illustrated in the plan.
Unfortunately Live Steam Supplies of Victoria didnโt have any 3 ยฝin copper pipe, turns out this isnโt a size commonly used in Australia, what to do, luckily I had bought along the trawler plans and after a few quick measurements were taken, a rash on the spot decision was made, (this would latter cause problems).
I purchased two pieces of 4in diameter copper pipe that were cut to length, along with flat sheet copper for the end plates, smaller diameter tubing, a few packs of solder on nuts and tails along with other various items including a Cheddar ceramic gas burner.
The steam engine and boiler were started along with the work boat, work proceeding roughly in parallel.
Most people start with the hull, however I decided to start making the work boat first, my thinking being if I can make a small clinker built boat to the standard I wanted then the rest should be achievable, also I wouldnโt be in such a rush to finish what is really โjust a fittingโ for the project, therefore possibly doing a better job.
After reading the clinker-built boat section of โPLANK-ON-FRAME MODELS and SCALE MASTING & RIGGING Volume 2โ by Harold A Underhill a start could be made.
I wanted to use Huon pine, for most of this little boat, this is a very slow growing timber unique to Tasmania in Australia, which was used to build real ships and boats from, due to its ability to not rot even when submerged, it also has a straight, fine grain and generally pale in colour.
I made a start by spending a day at dadโs using his table saw to cut up some blocks of Huon pine into strips to make up a โkitโ of material.
This material I had bought back from Tasmania on my honeymoon, packed into our suitcases to my wifeโs bewilderment.
Then making a building board and formers from MDF (not the best material to use as the dust is very bad for you, I was unaware of this at the time). The keel was fabricated from several pieces of an unknown hard wood all pinned together with homemade bamboo pins, a Huon pine transom being pinned to the stern post also keel doublers attached for planks to rest on.
I would like to say that I could not have made the work boat without Harold Underhillโs book, there was a lot of reading then rereading combined with head scratching going on during the build. The main difficulty was to generate the shape of planks.
At one point I nearly scrapped the whole thing as I couldnโt seem to get the planking just right, however after some consideration I pressed on with the attitude it doesnโt really matter if this one is not perfect I will learn lesions in building it and I can always build another if it isnโt up to scratch.
Once templates were made the plank would be cut and steamed then clamped into position, left there for a few days then glued on with Cyanoacrylate and pinned to the previous plank, making sure not to pin it to the building frame.
After planking the hull was removed from its jig then ribs, benches, floor boards, rubbing strake and knees were added, some artistic licence was taken, I didnโt follow the plans completely choosing to not add grab lines like you would see on a life boat and a device that I was unable to determine its purpose mounted on the transom.
Next oars were made, these are not shown on the plans, I didnโt want to make paddleโs, so I looked through books that I have trying to determine proportions and came up with something that looks like an oar to me, I made these from Huon pine in two parts.
Next came the crutches and sockets, Brass tube was used for the sockets being fitted into holes drilled. Next the crutches, these were fabricated from brass wire and fine chain silver soldered together, when I am silver soldering small parts I use a technique my dad taught me.
That is to cut off the required amount of solder and once you have heated the flux a little to boil most of the moisture away, then place the solder using tweezers where it is required, the solder will stay in place because most of the moisture has gone from the flux, gently apply heat and you should have a very neat job.
While on the subject of soldering a low-cost alternative to fire bricks is to use what is called Hebel in Australia this is a lightweight product used in buildings and landscaping it is an aerated concrete sold in blocks.
Once the flux was cleaned up, they were painted black using Humbrol enamel.
Using a Teak coloured wood stain, I masked then stained the top strake down to the rubbing strake.
The inside and top strake now received a couple of coats of satin varnish. The rest of it received a few coats of Humbrol satin white airbrushed on.
In the end after it was finished, I hadnโt quite achieved what I set out to do however, I was quite happy with my little work boat even with its short comings.
Cheers,
Stephen.
stevedownunder
8 months ago
5 Posts
3 Followers
17 Likes
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stevedownunder
4 years ago
Recent Posts
๐ฌ Re: Ship of the desert new project (sand yacht)
29 days ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Great resalt all round JB.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Deck fittings
1 month ago by
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Beautiful looking fittings Mike,
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Ship of the desert ? new project (land yacht)
3 months ago by
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Hi JB,
Great work, love the second roller for the sheet, brilliant.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: (Working Vessel) Inter Island Ferry
3 months ago by
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Thanks for all the likes.
Roy is quite right the plan was a free one drawn by Vic Smeed back in 1961 in what was then Model Maker magazine.
I would guess the plan is still available through the Model Boats plans service or what ever it is call now.
I don't know about the jellied eels. ๐
Cheers,
stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Highlander Clyde Puffer, (Episode 4 )
3 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Gary,
I am sorry to say there has been no real progress on LT100 this year, mainly due to my wife's ongoing ill health.
I have shelved the Drifter just last week, for the time being, although I have started a small side project a Revell deep sea trawler, Ross Jackal kit to a scale of 1/142 so the box says, being a plastic kit I don't need all that much time in each sitting to make some progress. I am converting it to RC and will make changes to some details as well.
I probably have enough stuff to do an update on the Drifter, but at the moment I would rather do some building with my very limited hobby time.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Highlander Clyde Puffer, (Episode 4 )
3 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Gary,
She looks fantastic all freshly painted up.
Pity about the attenuator valve.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: 20 Cabin Front continued
4 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Mike,
Beautiful work as is normal for you.
You may already know this, I believe that painting a gloss black before the chrome improves the chrome finish, might be worth a try on some scrap.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: VINTAGE RUNABOUT,- NEW ACCESSORY
4 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi JB,
Fantastic work love the details, even a spare pair of planks on the truck.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Good Reoccurring Videos list
4 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Great little video canabus. ๐
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: FINISHED AT LAST!!
4 months ago by
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Hi Duncan,
Your boat looks fantastic, well worth the effort.
Looking forward to some on the water shots at some point.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: AMPHITRUCK at the beach.
5 months ago by
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Hi JB,
Great videos.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Rc boat trailer/stand
5 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi RR,
I agree with JB, clean the Aluminum with thinner and I would add a bit of steel wool with some elbow grease.
I would use an automotive/industrial lacquer etch primer which to work as an etch MUST be applied quite lightly.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Electric boiler feed pump...
5 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Nick,
I wouldn't call it a cop out, why not use a commercial unit that has the bugs ironed out.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Electric boiler feed pump...
5 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Nick,
Looks like the right bit of gear, well done.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Electric boiler feed pump...
5 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Nick,
If you can get the auto system working reliably that would be the best in my opinion, looking forward to seeing your setup. ๐
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: VINTAGE RUNABOUT,- NEW ACCESSORY
5 months ago by
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Hi JB,
Fantastic work. ๐
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ YMBC York Model Boat Club Regatta 11:00 - 16:00
5 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Mike,
Enjoy the regatta, this is on over the weekend?
It's a bit far for me so I will pass this time.๐ Are you going to post some photos after the event?
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Launch
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Beautiful work Black Shoe,
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Train and Hobbies show 2023
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Thanks MouldBuilder,
The wait was due to my lack of preparedness, I didn't even have video editing software a few weeks ago.
Yes all being well I will attend next years show. ๐
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Train and Hobbies show 2023
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Thanks flaxbyuck,
I am glad you liked the video, it was a good show.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Train and Hobbies show 2023
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi JB,
Thanks, yeah it was a good show.
That is quite an amazing setup that you have mentioned pity it is no longer, would have been great to see up close.
I don't belong to a club we are an informal group, there are however still several clubs probably the biggest I would guess is TF72 which is Australia wide and more focused on naval subjects all at a scale of 1/72nd which makes battleships and the like over 12 feet long.
Lovely boats in the last series of pics at the Kauri museum.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Train and Hobbies show 2023
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Trev,
Thanks for your glowing report. ๐
I think the show has potential and will hopefully grow at least back to pre-covid levels.
The P51 Mustang running was incredible, all home made including the engine, but bloody noisy when running and it ran quite often.
The train setups were amazing, I didn't even film all of them, got to a point in filming where I thought that's enough, I should have taken a couple of overall shots of the hall, maybe next time.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Train and Hobbies show 2023
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Colin,
Wow that is a herculean effort it's people like you that are the backbone of shows and engaging with others. ๐๐
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Buck converters
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi ToraDog,
Not sure who coined the down under thing, probably a Northerner. ๐
Yeah the sun down here is a bit on the hot side in summer, I am happy to hear you and your wife enjoyed your stay in AU.
I am further south than Sydney.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Train and Hobbies show 2023
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi Hermmank,
Thanks for your earlier comments, yes smoking is quite taboo these days.
I am glad you enjoyed the video, it is similar over here I expect as far a getting people to show there models, I am in a group of around 30 members and there was only 2 of us that attended as exhibitors, both of us on separate days. It is quite a commitment to show the only benefit is you get into the show for free.
All being well I will be there in 2024.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Painting complete - I hope!
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Great resalt Duncan,
Worth the effort I would say.
What sort of masking tape did you use?
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Buck converters
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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I haven't heard of a buck converter before, probably my lack of general knowledge.
Down here we call them a voltage multiplier for increasing voltage and a voltage divider for reducing voltage.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Function test
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Nice video Peter,
That is a lot of functions...
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ฌ Re: Function test
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Great that you have sorted out all the issues Peter,
I couldn't find the video, will try later.
Cheers,
Stephen.
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๐ Train and Hobbies show 2023
6 months ago by
๐ฆ๐บ stevedownunder (

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Hi All,
As promised earlier I have done a video of the show here is the link,
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