Hi everyone, I hope today finds you all well.

If you don't mind, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself and then draw upon your wealth of experience to answer a few questions for me.

I'm Ross, living in beautiful " tho very rainy " Perthshire, Scotland. And I first got into modeling about five years ago when a motorcycle accident left me ….. ((lets just say …. left me with plenty of time on my hands to indulge in a new hobby!))

I purchased my first A.R.T.Run, 1/10 nitro touring/rally car and then I guess you could say I was kinda hooked. As time went on…. And several similar kit builds later, I found myself moving away from nitro to electric power. With the change of power base, I found a new range of vehicles open to me such as the tamiya high lifts, axial scx10, etc, The scalers / crawlers, Which I find myself far more suited to, And which also got me into scratch building with styrene / metal alloys.

So, why am I posting in a model boat forum?…….

Well, After a few years of wanting to…. I finally purchased a set of plans ….. ( Am I allowed to say where from? …. That place in Cornwall, That sells model boat stuff ) The plans arrived and although they are in very good detail, And all measurements can be taken from the plans, I guess I was expecting a little more by way of instruction to build. "Begginers mistake No.1" ……. Oh!…. The boat!…. She is "The Orca" (from The film, Jaws) In 1/12 (MAR2463) Yes, I am a 70's child. The lack of instructions however, is not the problem….. as I said, the plans are very well detailed and easy to take measurements from.

But before I start this build, I have many, many….. ….. many questions. …… But do not worry, I wont post them all in one go….. I hope to pick your brains on numerouse occasions throughout the build.

I have already done a little research into the basics of building, And i don't see myself having any major issues with the tools/methods used to build….( I am the king of trial and error. )

So…… To start with……

It is my intention to build The Orca as a fully functional R/C and a working fishing boat …"enter cheesy clishe here" ….. Although, what better way to combine two pastimes! With this in mind, I'm looking at the 1/12 scale plans in 2D …. once fully built, She will be much larger in 3D form, Than my trusty tape measure and imagination initially suggested.

Length = 900mm

Beam = 200mm

Height = 645mm (keel to top of mast)

Which makes me wonder…Firstly…. About materials…….

It was stated on purchase of plans, That the build could be completed in ply and balsa …. However, my thinking ahead, As I will be using her to fish with, she will be grounded as often as she can catch, And from what I know about timber, Ply and balsa are soft woods And considering the completed build size / weight…. Not wanting to damage her with grounding, Should I maybe consider a harder, more durable timber for the construction of the keel / hull Or could this particular problem be easily solved by say … A brass strip running the length of the keel? ( on a ply/balsa build. )

Secondly, Power & Propulsion.

Again, I would like to stick with a power source I am familiar with, this being the case, I would opt for 7.2v nicad stick pack powering a 540 brushed motor, I already have several of these varying from 15-55 turns. I don't expect speed boat performance,…. But a little bit of " whoosh " would be nice. And again, With the size / weight, Would this power set up give me some mild performance, Or should I consider a twin screw, twin motor setup ….. I can say for sure I wouldn't want to go lipo-brushless, …. Quite frankly, the prices scare me…. And people put these things in water…..CRAZY! With regards to the size of fish…. I rarely catch anything more than 2 pounds…. so I don't need masses of power there.

I would very much appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

Thankyou.

Thankyou gentlemen for your warm welcome and prompt responses.

Your advice has already got the wheels turning…… Now I'm thinking to myself…… I fear I may have already made quite a mistake…… When Paul made his recommendation for timber…… I noticed something…… He used the word "skin" (Please forgive my ignorance) …… I think back to the small amount of research I have done….. mainly … (youtube-model boat building) And now I glance at my plans….. I cant belive this escaped my attention!!

All my research up until now has been based upon the method of planking to the bulkheads…… Thinking this would be the method I would use to construct the hull. Thinking back to the youtube vids….. All of them had a nice, shapely curve to the bulkheads…. On my plans however, My bulkheads are practically vertical, with an angle cutting in to meet the keel. ….. So, When Paul mentions " A skin " Is his meaning …. A layer of planking, or larger sections of ply to form a skin??

I had a wee lookie at your fleet Bob, and others ….. Kudos to you all for some truly fantastic builds.

I'm sorry to say Ralph, But I'm not the first genius to think of combining a fishing pole with an rc boat, search youtube for "rc fishing" and you will find many different examples……. Some just tie some line to the back of there boat…. Quite crude, But if it works for them! Others attach a spinning reel to there boat, and a motor to reel in and out line. ….. This would be my intended method, And I would conceal the spinning reel and motor below deck, Then have the line exit through the rear deck "where the fishing chair would be", Through an end section of fishing rod,…… Well…… thats my theory anyhow …. Though, I am aware that with this method, That there would have to be a tiny 1mm hole in the deck for the line to pass through. But we will cross the bridge when it comes! It is certainly worth checking out anyway, I was actually very surprised to see… that a small boat can bring in a surprisingly large fish.

And thankyou Ashley, you have just confirmed what I suspected, In this instance, I will go for the twin screw, twin motor,twin prop set up, I will stick with the 540 motors for the moment, As I mentioned, I have several of these laying around, So, I could always experiment with different turns / 2/3 blade props once I'm at that stage, And if needs be, I could always upscale to larger motors.

Once again, Thankyou,

Ross

Firstly and most importantly Bob……(Forget about the whole fishing thing for the moment).

I am building a model r/c boat, Since this is my first boat build, She will not be built as a direct replica, but more of a resemblance….. Tho I will try to keep her as scale and original as possible,

Ultimately, Build quality is foremost to me. I would love to finish this build, And to end up with a model I can be proud of, A model I could take to a pond, And have someone like yourself say…. " You made a good job of that…well done"

The fact that I wish to add some fishing gear to the build, This is a secondary requirement, And is not an essential part of the build, I just thought it would be easier to integrate the fishing equipment during construction, Other than it being an after thought.

Thankyou

Ross