Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Today there will be a veritable plethora of boats.

Stingray, fishy, Seagull, Moana and Ferry in reserve.

Need snaps of Sting and fishy together. Seagull for a bit of whoosh. Moana to hopefully get a shot of all four rowers together, and Ferry as the rescue boat (not that it will be needed).

Might bring along the monitor top as it’s done now, just for a look, not sailing.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Lovely mornings boating. Sunny, a bit choppy on the water, park looks super.

Sting and fishy went really well. Virtually no water ingress on Sting despite the water regularly climbing up the nose, and not a lot on fishy, who was making heavy weather of the chop.

Seagull also went well although there was a bit more water inside than fishy due to the roundness of the bow.

Various other bids boats also no probs..Trevors Draganfly again amazing us all (that it goes as well as it does) with some foil borne antics.

Every body else’s boating was ok…eh..eh..??. I mean…..what else are Sunday mornings for,

Current saying by the public “ooh..it looks like,….”

A ferry (that’s the boat with a “Bushy park ferry” sticker on it )…

A flying saucer ( round, silver, dome top….alien inside…)

Titanic….my Devastation….!!!

An aircraft carrier….(big grey thing with model aircraft on it)

no….really?.?

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Not today's outing but the Dragonfly on a previous calmer day. It does come up another inch or so as the speed increases.

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Aaah the flying camper van! Ungainly looking but never ceases to amaze! Just goes to show you don’t need a plane to fly. 😉

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Snaps from Sunday not great, sun too low and bright.

Decided against Sting and Fishy snap together as fishy much too big compared to Asti g, however it was suggested I could do a “fishy in the background” shot so as to mask the scale. (Small cow near, big cow faraway)

M35 monitor top on show, as now finished. Snaps available if anyone is interested!

Hull design for Sandie Shaw tricky, as there needs to be considerable room inside for plumbing. I think realistically I will have to build the hull, get it waterproof and then float it in the test tank to see where various bits need to go, as pump work means making large holes in the hull bottom.

I need some sun now to dry the PVA quickly!

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 26/04/2022 09:11:09

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sun in abundance yesterday, and the hull is well on the way (bearing in mind it is mostly flat bits and not curved bits or planks etc). Next step is to vertically plank the ends for the curves. The hull is way too deep for the SS but the pump arrangement is quite tall so can’t be helped.

just because I can, I have identified another Victorian ship top to make with 5 turrets that can use the awesome pump power I will have at my disposal.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hull made…not finished…but made. Styrofoam under the cuts ups front and rear will give this hull a much better profile than the other GP hull.

loads of filling and sanding (outside) to do, but it’s dry and sunny so my Wlikinsons wood filler will go off quickly!

Titanic tomorrow…with an extra feature! Might Saucer as well, or even gunboat as pics needed.

Shiny boat to appear in the June issue!! Sunglasses ready.

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Might bring my new effort down for a quick float as it’s all varnished up now ( only on the outside) to check waterline etc.

went down there for a sail yesterday, nice breeze but froze me cods off! Roll on summer!!

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Great turnout today, 8 boaters I think plus some supporting staff.

Noisy thing in Titanic ok, but too muffled, as there are no openings to let the sound out! At home I have drilled some holes under overhangs and through the conning tower floor and hoping that will be enough as there’s not much else I can do.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Just been to car boot sale at Apps Court farm (not to sell some of my boats) and have purchased a….

……tub of Minions! £1 for about 30 of them, approx 2 ish inches tall. Couldn’t resist the volume for that price.

These are going to be combined with minions I already have to create the ultimate Bushy park boat, as discussed by the boaters. The ultimate boats is one which combines various traits deemed to be of great interest to sections of the public and steal the show as far as boats on the water go.

One figure in the tub caught my eye in particular and gave me the idea of a credible (!) layout, as hitherto I could not think of anything other than plonking minions on deck and saying “there we are”.

As far as scale goes it will be about 1:minion scale, and the top will sit on a GP hull. As for features…that will be top secret!!

Ashley So many boats, so little time.

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

An Iceberg works apparently !!!!

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hi Harry.

Sorry but an iceberg is too slippery for minions….

Actually, you could easily build the worlds biggest radio control boat by making an iceberg floater, about 2 foot round…after all 90% of an iceberg is under water?.?

Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

A R/C Iceberg!!!

I think I know a model boater that builds very different floating objects !!!

Next would be an R/C island with a lighthouse on top.

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well, the shiny one is in next months mag, so off the top secret list.

As it happens it had a quick blast last Sunday, just to aerate the water a bit and provide a bit of noise.

The figures I had to put on the next top are a bit small when placed on the bare superstructure. Not only that there’s too few of them and some are not in useful poses. BUT…next Saturday is the Plastoc Warrior show in Whitton and I should be able to find something suitable from the thousands of figures that will be there.

Likely I will try to find figures from the WW2 British army support group set, as there’s are in fabulously useable poses as already seen on the landers and so on. It will sort of mean setting the top in wartime but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I have not found any pictures of fireboat firemen on anything other than normal peaked caps but I bet they may have had tin hats in during wartime? My smaller figures had “proper” brass style hats.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 07/05/2022 10:55:42

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

Just pick up a 46" Crash tender unstarted kit with white metal fittings!!!

We down south are into Autumn, so not a lot happening.

84mm of rain and 100kmh winds the last 24 hours.

Harry

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Harry, shame your having pants weather at the moment, glorious here and set to get better!

sorry got to rub it in while we can 😂

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Richard

Back to English summer today cold and sunny with 14C !!!

I thought Ashley would bite, but he is getting a bit old now.

Senior In Retirement Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hi Harry. I deliberately didn’t reply as I know that’s why you posted!!

it is WARM ad SUNNY over here! (For a change) and we had a great mornings boating, although I spent most of the time taking pictures (will send you a few).

Simon (where can I sail a speedboat) has dipped his toe in the water and is making a boat from plans, in wood, for the first time. All power to his elbow. He is deviating from the plans to customise it, good lad, and has thus come across a few issues. This is good as he will learn from this, as we all have, and will apply this knowledge to the NEXT project!

I took one boat and sailed in total 5, and got some really great pictures despite that it was probably much too bright and there were loads of leaves floating on the water that necessitated a much longer shot so they didn’t show.

Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

Do like the Dragonfly.

May get the plan off you as I have a motor and prop waiting for a home.

It was one I was going to put on my Hobbyking Swamp boat, but, sold the dam thing.

Autumn and Winter are knot good times for model boating.

We wife said I will be 73 this year !!!

Well she is six weeks older, so she should know !!!

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Harry. Trevor did the Dragonfly and has the plan but I have no doubt we can scan it and email it to you.

Married to an older woman eh?? Only 73…lots of time for a few more barbies.

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Harry,

The original was in Popular Science magazine May 1969 and is available free via Google books ( a quick search will pop it up) from page 140.

I had to modify it to lengthen the cabin to get the centre of gravity somewhere close and work out some steering.

Check it out and let me know if you want some more information or pictures.

It perform well on its first outing to the amazement of the fellow Bushy Boaters.

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Harry, the Dragonfly works really well, it always goes down well at the pond ——— and then I have to put my waders on and rescue it😂 Sorry Trev, only joking.

The only downside is it is susceptible to picking up weed on the hydrofoils which nobles the lift quite dramatically as it’s so light.

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Richard

We have the same problem with prop and rudders at our canal (salt water).

Hitting plastic bags with a K and B IC motor at speed is more fast sub dive than any submarine.

Harry

[Simon Anderson 1Participant @simonanderson1]

I’m finding very quickly how difficult building the first boat totally from scratch really is – seems to require a wide range of problem solving skills, creativity and experience in wood work, good with glue(!), physics, electronics, painting and much more (for example what do I have lying about that could do x, y, z on the boat).

so far I have made every mistake in the book including frying multiple electronic components, drilling the prop shaft hole 5 times (1 boat!), not leaving enough prop shaft out of the boat, prop too high up (the “blender” as it was termed of Sunday!) and more but .. it did go forward and turn and it didn’t sink on the first outing which was a bonus!. Will work on some updates before the next outing.

thanks for all the advice by the pond – helps a lot.

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Simon, we’ve all built disasters over the years, it’s all one big learning curve and it keeps the grey matter working!

Ricky ye pirate 🏴‍☠️

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