Plastic Magic – HMS Illustrious

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Plastic Magic – HMS Illustrious

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14 April 2012 at 23:32 #33978
david hindmarsh
Participant
@davidhindmarsh24857
Hello all,

The last couple of issues of Model Boats seem to have lovely articles about the simplicity and joy of coverting plastic static models into remote control beauties! The joy partially being the simplicity and lack of space required – perfect as my current abode is a flat!

The choice of ship was simplicity itself – my wife has just joined as the 'ship's doc' onboard HMS Illustrious. We managed to find a rather nice model at Dartmouth – shame it was behind glass!

Airfix have just released a 1:350 kit which suited the bill. The hull is not solid and so to start I glued the base to the sides to try and get a rough idea of how everything will fit:

Due to the space available the motor will be mounted above the battery and with a scrap of wood I created this motor mount:

Very rough and ready. The kit comes with a 'hanger deck' so that the lifts can be placed in 'mid lift' if you want to. What it does mean is that with a couple of holes cut it creates a perfect mount for all of the electronics and also adds structural support without too much need for cross bracing – well hopefully….

Will keep uploading and updating as my A&E rota allows!

Hope you enjoy the thread

See you soon!

Dave
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14 April 2012 at 23:32 #6071
david hindmarsh
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@davidhindmarsh24857
15 April 2012 at 10:20 #33979
Colin Bishop
Moderator
@colinbishop34627
Hello David,

Thanks for posting on this project, I'm sure a lot of people will find it very interesting. 'Plastic magic is a good option for those only limited space for their modelling and you avoid most of the mess!

I was interested to see the photo of your Wife with the Illustrious model at Darmouth. My Brother is on the teaching staff there and a while back he arranged for the curator, Dr Richard Porter, to give me a conducted tour of the many models held by the college. This resulted in an article for Model Boats which you may have seen http://www.modelboats.co.uk/news/article.asp?a=4501 and includes a photo of the Illustrious model.

I have been aboard the ship myself a couple of times during Navy days.

I look forward to seeing further progress on your model.

Colin
15 April 2012 at 17:17 #33989
ashley needham
Participant
@ashleyneedham69188
Dave, a very worthy project. I might caution the stability aspect here, as these plastic kits can be very tender from what i have seen.

I would be tempted to make everything watertight , even just temporarily, and stick it in the bath ASAP, with batteries, ESC etc etc in roughly the place you envisage to see where the waterline is and how stable it is likely to be.

Ashley
17 April 2012 at 22:45 #34009
david hindmarsh
Participant
@davidhindmarsh24857
Colin – thank you for the article, I must say Sophie was always slightly nervous bringing me to Dartmouth incase I got 'distracted' cracking set of models!

Ashley – thank you for the heads up – I will upload a photo in the bath (hopefully not full of water!)

Until next time….
20 April 2012 at 19:27 #34057
david hindmarsh
Participant
@davidhindmarsh24857
Bath trials…….

The main problem – apart from a small leak around the shaft, was that it sat dangerously low in the water line!

Can anyone suggest a small battery? Currently got a 7.2V NiMH which is a bit heavy. 6V would be suitable.

Thanks

Dave
20 April 2012 at 20:18 #34058
Colin Bishop
Moderator
@colinbishop34627
That looks a pretty big motor for the model. I think you could get away with a smaller one and a 4.8v battery which would reduce weight considerably.

Colin
21 April 2012 at 11:47 #34067
Gary Dyson
Participant
@garydyson81492
Morning David I'm converting an Italeri 1:35 LCVP (Higgins boat) . For that I'm using a Grauper 195 motor, 5amp forward only aircraft Esc, 6V 400 mAh Nimh battery pack and a Planet 2.4ghz system (small and light weight), This is my second attempt at converting one of these boats , my first attempt got destroyed mid build whilst on show at an open day. One lesson lernt from that was have a good look at what you've done and what would you do differently next time.

Gary
21 April 2012 at 17:42 #34075
ashley needham
Participant
@ashleyneedham69188
David, I would use, myself, personally (if I was doing this) an MFA 380 <or similar> and stick it to the base with silicone sealant. Lower the Cof G this way and also lose the weight of a mount.

A 6V NiMh pack of AA cells is small and light.

Ashley
30 August 2012 at 17:26 #36210
david hindmarsh
Participant
@davidhindmarsh24857
Dear all,

Sorry for radio silence – but life unfortunately gets in the way at times!

Due to the rather unsuccessful bath trials she has been lightened and thanks for all of your suggestions – the battery has been chanced to a AA pack and the motor was replaced to something that was a little more suitable.

The model itself has been very useful in the fact that the hanger area has formed it's own waterproof box, and with a bit of work I have managed to fit everything in!

The switch on the side is a DPDT that connects the power source to a charge lead. This is wired so that when it is in the "bow" position it connects the battery directly to the ship's electronics and in the "stern" position it can be used to charge the battery via the connector as shown. The connector I am planning to hide underneath one of the hanger lift hatches as I don't want to butcher the ships asthetic any further!

Next step is to finish the superstructure and get her all balanced and good to go!

Thanks again for all of your input – it is greatly appreciated

David
30 August 2012 at 21:44 #36212
wayne quigley
Participant
@waynequigley28540
david I have just Saturday looked at the very same model with the thoughts of adapting it ,Ilook forward to learning from your labours.looks great so far
25 January 2015 at 08:49 #55408
Steven Holland 1
Participant
@stevenholland1
Hi David,

I was trawling the internet and noticed this old forum. I have just bought the exact same model of Lusty to convert to RC with my son. Did you get yours finished and do you have any tips? I have never made an RC before and was probably going to cannibalize the parts from a cheap Chinese RC warship we bought last year (twin motor, no rudder). Did you need to convert/modify the flight deck so you could get into the mechanisms in the hull? Did you need to add ballast or was there enough weight with just the motor etc?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

regards

Dutch
25 January 2015 at 17:13 #55421
david hindmarsh
Participant
@davidhindmarsh24857
Dutch,

Glad you found it! I am sorry to say that as you can probably see from some of the pictures that I have grossly overestimated the motor size and so the water line is way too high!! Sorry, it's my first attempt at a plastic magic. So as with all of these things it has taken a back seat in my workshop.

The model itself required little alteration in itself, with the hull being intact fresh out of the box with only a hole for the rudder and prop-shaft. You will see also that the 'hanger' deck itself only required a hole cut in it to accommodate the servo.

If I had it from fresh – I would work it backwards and mark the desired waterline, in a sink then weight it down until it floats to that level. Using that weight then you will see if your RC toy parts are too heavy. (I am in no way the originator of this idea – I read it in one of the articles on converting plastic kits!). Next is probably going to have to use the smallest motor/ receiver possible. This article is really good for low weight model: http://www.modelboats.co.uk/news/article/diana/10035

And to be honest – when I stopped being grumpy at the project not working this was the way that I was going to go.

Thank you for the post – you have inspired me to try again! Best of luck in your ventures.

Dave
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