Thats the benefit of joining your local Model Boat Club my friend, I  only have to pick up the phone or go to the club waters to have all my problems solved!!. Having a club friend such as Bob Abell helps as well!. We have a member who works in a model shop a couple of days a week and he is a wealth of information, I’ve only been model boating for about 18 months and did’nt know anything and I would’nt have done as much as I have without help from club members (see my album of kits built and preowned boats refurbished).

Hi Hugh,

Have a look at my ‘LeCaux’ album, I’ve just loaded up a sheet showing 4 different wiring diragrams (may take a short while before it goes ‘live’ though) have a nosey for the one that suits your layout and check yours against it

I can’t take the credit for the drawing though, found it on the web ages ago and stuck it in my Odds-N-Sods folder.

Cheers – Ken

Hi Hugh

Have you had any luck in sorting out your electrical problem?

Paul

Nice one

So your going to have a great christmas then. Looking forward to seeing some photos of both boats on the gallery.

Paul

i am intending to build my first model boat the maggie m fom slipway ,i previouslt built and flew planes . i wish to encorprate as much working equipment as possible as i enjoy this element of the building , can anyone give me info on a working crane and lighing etc for this model . i am trying to obtain all neccsary parts before commencing . thanks in anticipation . bluenose brian

sounds good paul ,would appreciate the info ,regards brian

Hi Brian,

Sorry, can’t help with a crane kit/plans, but can give a little info on your lights if you have the ‘Hobby’ catalogue have a look at page 95.   They do a set of 10 x 3v grain of wheat bulbs pre-wired to a battery box for just £5.40 (code 002W)

The battery box is a bit naff – cut it off – and your left with 10 clear bulbs on 20" wire tails! – long enough to go inside any mast without joins – most lamps will have just 4"- 8" tails.

They also do a cheap fibre optic set with 50 points of light for just £8.99 – (code FOP2) again 3v, ideal if you want to illuminate instruments inside a wheelhouse.

http://www.hobby.uk.com/

Their web site is not very user friendly – you need to know the product codes and there are no pictures,  but you can pickup their catalogue at Smiths or any good newsagents.

Cheers – Kenny

ps – forgot to mention – there is another site/catalogue with a similar name "Hobbies" not sure if these also sell the light sets.

Hi Brian I hope this helps. 

The boat/crane combination that I built was a model of the Mersey Mammoth which is a floating dock yard crane but it does qualify as a boat because it makes trips across the Irish Sea (I came across it once 10 years ago on the Isle of Man)

This crane is a fixed jib type, as opposed to a telescopic jib, and is very similar to large land based crawler cranes as used in the open cast mines and therefore fairly easy to construct as a working model.  

The construction of the hull / motors / deck was straightforward and something that we need not discuss now as we are looking at the crane itself. I constructed the body of the crane out of ply around a central slew ring, all cranes have a slew ring it is the part that allows the crane to swing around.The slew ring is important as all the weight of the crane and its payload are supported by it so the slew ring has to be well constructed and securely mounted on bearings.

Another thing to consider is to have a hollow central core for the slew ring, such as a tube of some kind, to allow the control / power wires into the crane body from the boat hull, the hollow tube being the centre of the swing there is less chance of the wires becoming twisted and pulling out of their sockets.My slew ring was made from 18mm ply and the central tube / pivot was made from 15mm copper tube that was supported on brass bushes which were supported securely by the boat deck.

The drive for the slew action is a meccano geared motor set to its slowest setting, the motor is mounted vertically in the boat hull with the drive shaft adjacent to the slew ring, I placed a rubber rimmed wheel on the drive shaft and fixed it tight against the slew ring, The slew ring is bounded in rubber, like a tyre, so there is plenty of grip when the crane slews around. 

I constructed the jib from small dia brass tube that I cut to size and then soldered together, the pulley wheels were more difficult as I could not find any commercial items that would suit, not even meccano. I solved this by making my own from ½ in brass rod, I first cut a 6in length of rod then using the pillar drill sent a 4mm dia hole through the centre of the rod so I ended up with a long brass polo mint.

I then cut the rod into10mm pieces so then I had a lot of brass polo mints, then mounting one at a time on a 4mm bolt that I then put into the drill (which I use as a vertical lathe) and cut the V for the pulleys with a triangular file, at this point I would remind people to wear safety glasses and don’t have the drill set at to high a speed.

More to follow..

Hi Brian

Whilst I was writing about the mammoth I did some research into the Maggie M and the first thing that springs out at you is that there are 2 cranes,

The first is a fixed jib that piviots from the foremast and the second is a hiab type located in the stern.

The fixed jib would be difficult to make slew as it piviots from the foremast itself so to use a traditional slew ring would only succeed in turning the entire mast, the main problem here is that the winches for the jib are mounted on the jib and so at scale size they will be very difficult to replicate, however I will give it some thought. I have already solved how to make the jib rise and fall and how to make the hoist winch work.

The hiab is a different kettle of fish and in the absence of a working comercial item I would suggest duplicating the hydraulic rams with lego technic pnumatic rams, it might sound daft but the lego rams are scale size and look just like hydraulic items. working with air you should be able to make a hiab that will work for perhaps 6 cycles. I used the same system on my Trent lifeboat (trim tabs) and have listed a photo on the gallery. Making the hiab slew is quite simple with a below deck motor.

Give me some more time and I should be able to solve all the problems in making both cranes work.

Hope this helps

Paul

Hi Tom

Thanks for the info.

Cheers

Paul