Tin Plate Clyde Puffer

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Len, I don’t disagree.  I’m afraid I haven’t come across any steam sound system since the old JJC unit sadly out of production for many years now.  If you find one on Ebay they are worth getting.

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Could a railway one be used?

Seem to remember one system where you used your mobile phone and another that uses an SD card. Wished I made a note now as I’d like to install one at some point.

I think they are more effective when you are just tootling around and having some engine noise just adds to the experience.

Chris

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Not having much luck finding a sound unit.  Action Electronics won’t have one in stock for months (if ever -their words) they can’t get the bits to make.  MTroniks haven’t replied.  No sign of a JJC unit and model rail kit is 12v, multi-cylinder and not very loud for out side pond work.  Something will turn up.

Meantime she’s ready to sail so thought I’d make a box to get her safely to the pond.  Just used cardboard from Sainsburys free issue vege boxes (3 ply corre @ 7mm thick), hot glue and some bits of wood.  Here’s the base.

The top is 2mm ply cut to fit the hull profile 20 mm above the keel and there are a couple of notches just visible to grab the keel itself.  It holds mi boat quite securely vertically and fore and aft.

There’s clearance around the prop and rudder so she can be switched on and tested in situ.  The top sits on like a sewing machine case.

Not finished yet but at least you can see the card structure.  It’ll probably just be painted but might end up covered in leatherette to look like a brief case.  I wouldn’t put it through any baggage handling system but it’ll do for getting to the pod in mi car without worrying about the the prop and rudder.

Len. 🙂

 

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Len.

Your method of trasport for the Puffer looks ideal. Sorry not have been commenting lately. I had a spell in hospital. but now home and determined to make progress on mine now,

Jim.

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Everybody,  hope you all had the Christmas you wished for.

Finished the carrying case and in the end did cover it in leatherette.  It was quite inexpensive and makes mi box quite weather proof.

Found myself some LED’s for the lights.  They are very small and a real fiddle to deal with but are just the job.

They are rated at 3 volts 20 mA which gives each one a resistance of 150 ohms.  So to run them off mi 6volt supply its 2 bulbs in series or one bulb with a 150 ohm resister in series.

They are very bright and might need dimming through a shade.  Here’s one in the deck house.

Also thought about smoke.  I’d noticed that E-cigarettes produce a lot of smoke so found an expired disposable one that just slid into the funnel and pulled it apart.

Very interesting.  The smoke unit, a 4.8 volt battery and a diaphragm switch with an LED to make the end glow.  Discarded the battery and switch, filled the smoke unit with distilled water and glycerine and made smoke!  Not sure where this is going yet but I think there might be some mileage in it for very low cost smoke production.  All for now.

Len. 🙂

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[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

There was an article in Model Boats Magazine not that long since from someone who had made a smoke generator from a vape unit.

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

That’s interesting Richard.  Do you have the reference?

Len

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Firstly my apologies, it wasn’t a vape unit , it was a medical nebuliser.  The article was in Vol 73, May 2023 edition.  You might also find an article I wrote interesting on the Denes Designs nebuliser unit in Vol 74, April 2024 edition.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Len, very smart case! I use 4mm ply which is inexpensive, and paint them with emulsion paint, which. For the purpose. Is as waterproof as you want. Generally I glue a strip of wood either side at the end and drill them for a bit of 6mm nylon rope to serve as a long strap end-end. Advantage of ply boxes is that they stack safely.</p>
Are the lights too bright? On a nice or even sunny day, generally it is difficult yo see led on a boat. I would sail it as it is for a few times before dimming them?

Boat looking fab and belying it’s tin build!

Ashley

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Everybody,

Been one handed again all month as the NHS had another dig around in mi left hand to try and fix the nerves.  I’ll know if it worked once I can waggle all the digi bits again.

Anyway, I’ve been playing with mi vape smoke unit and it really looks like it might work.  I chucked the battery, switch and LED away and soldered new wires to the heater.  The card tube was cut down to length (50mm) and it all put back together with the bottom sealed with hot glue.

The top was just left open.

When connected to the 6v battery it gave an excellent plume of smoke.

Run constantly it lasted for about 30 minutes and used about 1/2 cc of fluid and was easily refilled from a syringe straight into the top.  I just used 25% glycerin and distilled water.  The £5 I spent on supplies will last me a very long time.

When running constantly, it drew 3.5 amps which I think is too much.  However, when pulsed in one second intervals the current stayed below 1.5 amps which I think is a bit more acceptable and the smoke doesn’t have to be switched on all the time.  The pulsing also gave a pleasant puff effect which I found ideal.  I have a cunning plan for the pulse circuit, the next step.

All for now. Len.:)

 

 

 

 

 

[Fred Ellis 1Participant @fredellis1]

Nice one Len,

I just need to finish the 726 Pilot boat  then onto the 1.24 Puffer

Fred

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Clever stuff Len,

I don’t think my electrical knowledge would work out how to  work that system out, but it’s very effective.

Jim.

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi all,

I’m declaring mi Puffer finally finished!  She has a name ‘Victoria’ after my youngest daughter.  I going to call her ‘Maid of Essen’ (think about it) but didn’t have enough letters.  Lights and smoke work and the seagulls have arrived.

She also ‘puffs’.  The smoke unit is triggered once a second by a belt and braces cam driven switch using bits from an old CD player. The picture shows the bench test layout before it was refined and installed under the foredeck.

Both the lights and smoke are switched from separate receiver channels by P115 units from Action Electronics.  They worked very well and were available.  Unfortunately they are out of stock on all their sound units.  Sound remains elusive despite no end of searching.  If anybody has a spare P64 /P64A unit I’d happily buy it!

All for now.

Len. 🙂

 

[Fred Ellis 1Participant @fredellis1]

Hi Len

Likening the Carrey case and the Puffer.

I have used a smoke unit from a 1/16 tank on my Puffer, you can get them off eBay for about £12 – 14

For the lights I used a small voltage converter from Component shop, this did away with the resister

Fred

[Fred Ellis 1Participant @fredellis1]

Len

I have found this, it looks like the one I have in one of my tugs.

MRW120 Steam Engine Sound Generator with speed adjust

Also https://modelradioworkshop.co.uk/shop/specialised-items/model-boat-sound-generator-steam

Forge Electronics do one https://www.forge-electronics.co.uk/index.php/boats/combo-mk3.html

Hope that this may be of some help

Fred

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Fred,

Many thanks for that.  Well done!  They were completely off my radar and never appeared in any of my searches.  I’ll get one and if successful give the Model Radio Workshop a good plug in All Things Floating.

I know about the tank smoke units.  They’d be ideal but they are to big for my boat.  Apparently the latest version is 6.0 which gives continuous smoke.  The older 5.3 versions puff but are no longer available!   The Tanks themselves look brilliant and I’m very tempted to get one for playing in the garden!

Len. 🙂

[Fred Ellis 1Participant @fredellis1]

Hi Len

It wa no problem as I had them in my file, from when I was also looking for a sound unit.

I know what you mean about the smoke unit, one thing I liked about it was you could have the smoke outlet under the smoke stack and the pump somewhere else, as for the tank I have a T72 and I think my grandson has played with it more than I have.

Fred

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Len,

A very nice job you’ve made of your build. It’s been interesting following the progress as you’ve gone along. What’s next on the horizon?

Slow build Jim.

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Everybody,

Finally got her back on the pond yesterday and she sailed a treat.  Here’s a couple of pics.

and here’s a bit of a close up

The rudder and speed control worked flawlessly.  Ashley was right about the lights, they didn’t need any dimming.  Just visible in the direct sun and plainly visible in the tree shadows.  Mi vape smoke unit also worked well but ran out of fluid after about 15 minutes so I need to conserve its use.

At the moment she floats with about 20mm freeboard below the white rubbing strip.  At scale speeds all is well but at full throttle and ‘fast duck’ speed, the bow wave ripple along the hull just covers the stern freeports and I can flood the deck.  She’s totally sealed up to the hatch cover and drains quickly again when throttled back so It’s not a problem but I think I should have made a bigger hull!  Certainly if she has to carry any more weight, and I’m thinking about a sound system, the lead acid battery will have to go for a lighter LiPo unit.

The other thing that was becoming more apparent is that I need to work out some sort of portable slipway to get mi models into the water.  I can’t squat down very well any more and when I do I loose mi balance.  Fell over three weeks ago in the garden and cracked a rib.  Pain free now but I nearly went in the pond with mi boat!

Len. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Len, Most members of my club use lifting straps of varying designs.  You can get various types of webbing from such places as camping suppliers and even clips for them.  Handles made from cut down broom handles etc and the straps weighted with something so it sinks beneath the boat.  You can use an adjuster to vary the length of the straps but I’ve never bothered and used the same pretty crude set for years now.  They are weighted down with some domestic copper cable simply wrapped around the strap.  I’ve seen a good few mechanical contraptions as well but a couple of lifting straps will save you having to bend over and make life so much easier for very little effort.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Len, as Richard says.this come to all of us. My device is as pictured below. Usually I just rely on Ashley! Either is a viable alternative to following your boat into the water.

Colin

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Colin and Richard.  Thanks for your comments on launching.  I think the trolley wins as the pond I use has gently sloping sides.  Also I have all the bits on hand, even the utility hooks.  I think mine came from Aldi.

It’s important as the next project is much larger at 39 inches.

She’s the Empress of Britain straight out of the attic.  She was started by mi Dad back in the 1960’s when I was about 12.  The bread and butter hull always ended up being put to one side as GRP hulls became popular and we made other boats.  Time to finish the job.

Much research to be done and I need to find a new set of plans.  The ones I have are like the dead sea scrolls.  Faded and with the top corner missing.  The are from Model Maker and priced at 7’6 pence.

I know we had a Model Maker magazine that featured the Empress but it was put in a ‘safe place’ and is now somewhere in hyperspace!  I’ll start a new thread soon with some more history and the progress.

Len. 🙂

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

The plans are still available from Sarik Len:

https://www.sarikhobbies.com/product/empress-of-britain/

I started this model as a lad and got as far as the hull but I used parana pine and it was clearly going to be unstable so it never got finished. I did make the funnel and had a go at the bridge front with all those rows of windows but could never get it right. It eventually ended up on the garden bonfire…

(my launching device will be repurposed as a Zimmer Frame I think)

Colin

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

More info on Empress of Britain from a topic on here 10 years ago:

Vic Smeed’s Model Boat Designs

There is an image of the plan somewhere on the topic.

Useful link to the ship:

http://www.liverpoolships.org/empress_of_britain_canadian_pacific.html

Colin

 

 

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