Vintage Gentleman's Cruiser

The next model off the production line will be a Vintage Gentleman's Cruiser based upon an existing boat called Sea Dog which is a Stephens Bros 55 ft Bridge Deck Motor Yacht built in 1932.

I intend to build at 1:12 scale and will be taking a few liberties with the original shapes and timber sections as I change them to suit metric sizes.

For this project and as a change to the usual format I will post the design process as well as the build and explain the whys & wherefores of how I work.

Following the course of action established by my mentor Captain Bob I intend to follow a 'warts and all' procedure and promise to include all of the pitfalls and cockups that tend to happen to all of my builds.

At this juncture I have to say that Jane has just commented on this and pointed out that I am not as brave as Bob and so some of the more disastrous errors might not make it onto the thread. So she has promised/threatened to make her own comments if I don't follow the rules

There will be the jovial banter between the usual suspects but I hope that everybody who follows this thread will enjoy it and add their own comments as we progress.

Paul

Edited By Paul T on 22/05/2014 16:28:03

That's a nice looking subject Paul. How was the original vessel powered - some form of motor obviously?

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Forum Moderator on 22/05/2014 17:48:58

Ah, a proper cabin cruiser!

Has a lovely Thorneycroftian look about it.

And in the King of scales, but why metric?

Martin

Yes, keep it imperial, after all, there will only be old `uns building it...

Ashley

I think you mean, Paul, Colin? (Yes I did -corrected! - Colin)

Paul

I am slightly saddened by you having to build the latest batch of your boat designs, yourself, but at the moment, my workshop is still slowly finishing off your last three wonderful creations, Brutus, Ellie and SloMo

I look forward to your next build with great interest

Just wondering at the moment, what motor or motors will be suitable?

I don't recco the Brushless option as they are not noisy and angry enough!

Capt Bob

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Forum Moderator on 22/05/2014 17:49:58

Paul

That looks an absolute beauty ! If plans become available, will it be possible to rescale them to make a slightly smaller version ? I think she would make an excellent next model for me but 5 ft. is a bit too big. I need to get down to around 4 ft. as my Lorraine is just a little too large for me to handle. Age and infirmity is a bugger !!

Mike

Hi Paul

Thinking about a suitable motor for your VGC......Mmmmmmmm?

How about two big motors, 750's or 900's.......Mounted in a vee configuration with a nice chunky timing belt connecting both motor shafts to a common drive shaft down below?....Ball bearing pillow blocks included

It would look very impressive, especially if the wiring went to a nice junction box and the whole lot mounted on a sturdy Ali chassis!

Like the idea?

Bob with his Engineers hat on

Paul (and all readers )

Ignore that last question !! I can of course print them out at any scale I want having done the appropriate maths. I did say something about age and infirmity, now I need to add senility !

Mike

Its great to see so many questions:

Colin: It is currently fitted with twin 312 HP Yanmar 6 cylinder diesels

I don't know what she was fitted with when built but looking at the engine room space I would presume that she sported a pair of large petrol units.

Martin: I wanted to use 1:12 scale so that I could reproduce some of the more intricate details and of course I can get lots of scale interior fittings from dolls house suppliers. The change to metric is simply so that I can specify off the shelf timber sections which will make the process easier for those who build using my plans.

Ashley: Imperial is to complicated for the young uns to follow whereas most of us more mature chaps are fluent in both types of measurement.

Bob: You don't have to be sad as you are welcome to jump in at any time but I would be worried about you manhandling such a large and heavy model down those stairs. As for motors I expect to fit a nice pair of 600 > 700s that can run slowly but be powerful enough to provide headway against a stiff current but I do like your twin V arrangement idea.

Mike: Your sanity isn't in question as Its not that easy to rescale plans, whilst the overall sizes might reduce nicely the rescaling process produces some very odd sizes for frame and ribbing. To make things easier I might produce the plans in two sizes i.e. one at 5ft and one at 3ft (but I am open to suggestions about the smaller size)

**LINK**
I'm assured that more of these are on their way. Two of them with 50-60mm 4-blade props would be about perfect on 12v. And "yes please" to the three footer, Paul. 1/16 scale would make it just over 41" which is fine for me. Two 555 motors will do nicely for that size.
As for Imperial vs Metric, I tend to think in Imperial but work in Metric.
Dave M