And rather conveniently in January 2016 MB is an article by Ron Rees on 3D printing. Personally, I am very much into hand-making a master (a bollard perhaps) and then replicating it in resin from a mould, but for those familiar with the computer processes, then the 3D printer has a role. The only problem is that this technology is developing so quickly, your new machine today may well be out of date or need upgrading this time next year. In the article, a friend of Ron has successfully 3D produced a functioning miniature Voith Schneider unit.

Generally, the vast majority of model boaters tend to buy, plug together and then operate the r/c technology rather than actually self-make equipment nowadays, not least because if it doesn't work they can take it back to the supplier. Mind you, some don't /never read the instructions, and then wonder why it doesn't work, but that is another story.

Paul Freshney

Editor.

When conditions are right, and the lake is all mine, sailing my yacht can become an almost Zen like experience, good for body and soul.

Terry I couldn't have put it any better…..Well said.

Paul

Hi, here are my likes (and dislikes) about the hobby.

Very much enjoy building all parts of the model, whether it is fitting out the electrics, making the hull, making the fittings or painting, I just like to get on with it and enjoy the task. OK my models won't win the gold medal at the ME, but that isn't the objective.

I like to research the designs of yesteryear, Aerokits, Veron, Vic Smeed & others.

As for sailing the models, I prefer to go on my own, not really a keen club member nowadays. Years ago, I used to really enjoy going to the club and sailing, whereas nowadays I tend to sail when the club aren't at the lake.

I would like to find time to go to exhibitions, but a work commitment at weekends makes this difficult, therefore the exhibition reports in the magazine are very much of interest.

OK with computers, haven't got around to 3D printing, not sure it could ever replace making my own fittings. Learning CAD, the last time I was working in a drawing office, Rotring pens were the norm..

Hey Colin

Thanks for opening this up, and I am very interested to see what people have to say. I think my arduino stuff is a bit out of right field so I don’t imagine people will jump at it at first, and I do think that the target group who may be interested may not be so easy to tap into. But this is a welcome start!

I love to scratch build. I like to use unusual methods of building and get an enormous kick out of it. I am not keen on 3D either. When a boat is finished I tend to get a bit bored. I like boats to move to scale and I think slow is better than fast. For that reason I do not do brushless, yet.. I would love to have some courses and challenges, but they don’t seem to exist anywhere.

I have scratch built a sub and the depth keeping device died. There were no others around on the market and then I discovered arduino. This became quite a project but within 3 months from the start I had it working on the bench. I realised as I was doing this I could get it to do many other things, such as routines triggered by pressure and all sorts of things. Mind you when I applied it a healthy dose of reality caused some of it to be re written. I am, in arduino terms, a newbie. Needless to say, I am excited about what can be done with it!

I also like taking movies of boats, which led to me adapting a boat into being a camera boat, and this led to me wanting to automate control so that it holds a course so I can concentrate on turning the cameras and sailing the ‘objects’ of the film if I am on my own. Now that I had an introduction into arduino I found this an interesting project. As such ‘holding a course’ is something I have put up in the forum as an example of what can be done. It is certainly not intended to be an end in itself. I do have a very practical role for it though.

In the club I am a part of most have no clue about what I am doing. The very few young people who come are attracted to the sub and I tell them about arduino and they are interested. These are the ones who are the challenge to reach.

I sound like an evangelist here.

I have always made "things", or mended motorcycles and so on, I originally made some model boats because it was something to make that actually WORKED as per like wot it was made to resemble.

I just dabbled back then without any guidance or indeed without going too much into the nitty gritty of it all. It`s all so much easier now with information via google at your fingertips.

When the lad came along and was eventually old enough to be given a cheap RTR by GRANDMA , I got back into the boating thing, making a few simple items to start with and also a few simple items for him to use, and also to keep his interest up. There is no rhyme or reason to what small boys like and so I started to make different…items…as per his fancy, and mine, and now I find myself making different things just because they ARE different and not run-of-the-mill.

So, to get to the point of the thread; Its the challenge of translating an idea or grainy photo (just wait and see) into a working living boat that does it for me now, and thinking outside the box a bit (and using new materials like superior man-made board products). None of my models are works of art or highly detailed, they try to capture the look or feel of whatever they are supposed to be and no more, because then it`s on to the next one ¬
And now I have retired I have nothing better to do!

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 06/12/2015 17:48:18

Sorry , That should have been "and there is nothing better to do".

So much superior man-made board, and so little time.

Ashley

PS, I am also a mind-reader….

For my part, there are several aspects to why I so much enjoy building model boats.

One is a deep fascination held since a rather tender age with all things maritime. Although for various reasons (distance from the sea, lack of time, money and/or opportunity being a few) this has been more of an armchair than a practical pursuit, it has nevertheless always been there. When in my mid-teens, I was quite set on joining the merchant navy, but gave those plans up when further research into how this might be achieved turned up the unfortunate fact that at least back then in Sweden, you could not get a discharge book unless you had (neigh on) perfect vision without correcting aids in at least one eye — and I am rather short-sighted on both sides …

As I could not go to sea, I instead decided to go down the academic trail, and eventually ended up reading history, archeaology and archival science at university. History was and remains another of my passions, not least maritime history, and so there is another reason why I like model boats: they allow (and require) me to find about about the history of ships and sailing them: how things were, what they looked like, how they worked and why in order to be able to reproduce them as accurately as I can.

Beyond the historical aspects, I also just simply love learning new stuff, or more about stuff I already have a certain familarity with. To give but a small example: when Bob Abell suggested for my recent Puffer build that I should have a packet of Woodbines and a box of Swan Vestas on the wheelhouse table, I thoroughly emjoyed the ensuing search for information about these. I knew about them in a very general way, from having seen them referred to in books, but exactly how did they look around 1950? It was great fun trying to find out — and of course so much easier these days than it would have been pre-Internet and Google … and adding that small piece of, in the general scheme of things, completely useless knowledge to my stock I also found most pleasing.

There is also an aspect of estethic pleasure that helps float my boat. I find it wonderful that, perhaps not all but so very many boats and ships are such a lovely combination of the practical and the beautiful. Things look they way they do, have the lines they have, for very sound, practical reasons, but are so often also esthetically appealing. In other words, I get a kick from trying my best to reproduce the harmonious marriage of form and function that I see in many boats.

I also possess a reasonable practical bent, and have for as long as I can remember loved doing things with my hands, but also understanding technical (not least of which mechanical) stuff. Again, I also like to know more about why things are the way they are, how they solve problems and also to solve problems myself to at least my own satisfaction. In other words: to translate intellectual knowledge and reflection into practical execution. Again, building model boats comes with an almost endless number of challenges to be met and practical problems to be solved, while the reduced size of models makes the pursuit feasible within the limitations of available space, time and resources.

I am drawn more towards scale than generic, and in general am more interested in slower boats than in trying to go as fast as possible. I am not very competitive either for that matter. As for methods of propulsion, I am particlualrly drawn to steam and sail, but am quite happy, too, with electrically drive models.

The only aspect of building that I can think of that I really do not enjoy is sanding. I will do as I'm told, and sand away under my own strict  orders, but I find it no fun at all. All the rest I like in pretty much equal measure, including taking a model out on the pond.

Finally, I tend to find non-naval vessels more interesting subjects. Partially this is, I suspect, because I find it difficult to get past the ultimate function of a warship, namely to kill and destroy. I'm not saying that this is not needed or necessary — but too often au contraire! — but on a personal level I find it more difficult to take pleasure from such a ship than from one designed for peaceful purposes. However, I strongly suspect that the main reason is down to taste — I find at least more modern (say, post-dreadnought era) warships less pretty, just as I am not really drawn to modern merchant ships either; perhaps there is some kind of tipping point for me where there is too much function and too little form. This is of course not meant to be in any way disrespectful to those who build model warships, but rather an exploration of what floats my particular boat — and what doesn't.

All in all, the above means that I very much enjoy reading about most aspects of the hobby, but take a particular interest in articles that go into much detail about how things work or how practical problems of function or fabrication were or could be solved.

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 07/12/2015 12:38:45

Edited By Banjoman on 07/12/2015 12:39:09

Edited By Banjoman on 07/12/2015 12:39:29

Edited By Banjoman on 07/12/2015 12:40:35

Edited By Banjoman on 07/12/2015 12:41:05

Edited By Banjoman on 07/12/2015 12:43:16

DG. With you on that one.

63ft yacht, that's some mo​del…

Ashley

Wow, she moves at a fair old clip. Not sure they were designed to plane like that though. Great looking model though, huge amount of detail.

Andy

To pick up on Andy's comments, although I'm not sure that this qualifies for 'what floats your boat'.

The look on a persons face when they ask for a quote for designing or building a model boat….'HOW MUCH'……I honestly believe that these people think we live on fresh air and that they are doing you a favour by asking. 'Bloody hell I only want a model not a real one'

Thankfully I seem to have left such CHAVS (is this the right word) behind as my last few enquiries and commissions have been from people who expect to pay realistic sums of money for a properly researched, designed and built model.

Paul

I have just made models of what I fancy cars, trucks, boats and model railways (now in three scales) from whatever including plastic kits since I was a boy, the first serious boat was a wooden Leander frigate in 1/148 scale by PBM in the 1970's, the last was the proposed stealth frigate Sea wraith ii again in balsa in 1/148 using plans expanded from a card kit to 1/400, its in the albums on this site. Recently I have had pleasure and some satisfaction from acquiring unfinished kits from fleebay and other sales getting them finished off and working, these include a Deans Liberty ship as the SS Richard Montgomery, Billing Bent, Smit London, Smit Nederland and a Grupner Paddle tug, usually sold off when interest in them and storage has faded. The last full boat kit completed was the Caldercraft Ryhope tug, and I would like the Volcano again by Caldercraft to add to my collection. As can be seen i tend to go from one thing to another and then there's my MGF Trophy 160se, Oh yes.

Steve.