Todays Boating

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

Never too early to splice the main brace  ??  🙂

Regards Ray

[Chris Fellows]

On Chris Fellows Said:

One of our neighbours has already been putting the lights up!

….and there have been TV channels on Sky showing almost nothing but Xmas stuff for at least a month now. Some of them actually had a Xmas week (or two) in the middle of the summer.

PS The Land Rover is great

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Yes to the landy!

Only one Sunday left before December  so I can hang on before christmassing up.

Show n tell at Trevors yesterday, and the next two projects sorted, courtesy one of my branded ferry line plastic boxed advertising toys, and a die cast ferry.

The first we have discussed before and dismissed as too simplistic, but upon actually looking up the craft concerned, the real thing is a brutally stark as the advertising toy! As usual, it won’t be simply about the build of a replica, but the incorporation of novel featured.

Speaking of which, the second. A die cast p&o ferry, is going to fulfill my long dreamt of goal of maximum apparent detail with actually NO detail whatsoever! I HAD thought previously of doing a much larger ship,  but the realisation of detail-less detail was a  bit ambitious on such a thing, however the already simplified toy shows the way. It will also incorporate a novel drive train..maximum effect..minimum parts.

For a ferry or even a tug, those bilge pumps would be perfect if it was not for the outlet being to one side of the centreline. If the outlet was concentric, then it would be an easy-ish matter to pivot the units for all-round propulsion. But the offset nozzle makes this difficult, or at least, You get offset thrust depending on the angle. In both the Valiant and Saucer. The pum is offset so the outlet is on the centreline. However the pump does not swivel .

Corr…fighting the predictive txt this morning!

Ashley

 

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

Hi Ashley, I have sent you a PM.

Regards

Larry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Not seeing it Larry?</p>

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

Strange, have resent.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Pm noted!

• V cold today. Ice on pond. Although very light. No wind. Sailed the train ferry…still very tender despite a bit more lead underneath. Trevor sailed Jesse with Christmas tree etc.
• Next week it will be the Christmas ferry top! Lights, music, beer ( ok, no beer really). Dropped the other ferry top getting out the car, just a few people dislodged so no great damage.
• Ashley. (Like the bullet points…no idea where they came from?)

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Repainted the white bits on the ferry as they were looking…aged…compared to the stark white acrylic. It now matches nicely (hull and new cabin).

More design work on the first of the new builds, centering around the propulsion, waterjets (home made, in this case) and how deep the props need to be to avoid cavitation…or is that an issue if the only inlet to the ducting is underwater?

Spent some time today perusing YouTube watching the real thing to get a feel for “the look”, and marvelling at how stark it is. Its like a starship.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I have a feeling that the pond will be quite thick with ice for Sunday unless the weather breaks on Saturday. If possible I might try to get over beforehand to suss it out.

Ferry has been christmatised.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

sniff sniff…suspect I have a cold coming. Thankfully playing carols outside were cancelled this morning, but i am unlikely to boat tomorrow. I suspect the pond will have significant ice on it…..

I can work on plans for the new boat! inside in the warm. A construction method suddenly occurred to me the other day, but with the weather being so cold I dont think I will be in the shed much grappling with plywood and sharp saws…

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Certain design features have emerged for the new boat so some tinkering with the original sketch has taken place.

As model boats do not behave the same as real ones, I have left quite a decent gap above the twin hulls so the fuselage keeps clear of the water and this has made the hulls unrealistically deep. Initial calculations show anything between about 750 and 1000g of buoyancy,which is ok, depending on projected depth of immersion, however it cant sit too high otherwise the waterjets might not work. I should be able to ballast if required, and speed wise it only needs to be “nippy”…as its not a speedboat. In fact going too fast might actually look silly. It’s all to play for. The plastic model, from being seen as ‘useful’, is now hindering my understanding of the geometry at the bow!

Although keen to order, it’s a bit close to Christmas to place orders for….stuff….

I will just make a list, ready to explode into action in the new year. I have loads of hardboard to be getting on with (a nod to the late DM, who wouldn’t let that one go!)

Ashley

Ps..look up Stena HSS.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Interesting! As I have already told Ashley, I have travelled on the original HSS a couple of times on the North Sea (Harwich/Hook of Holland) and it was indeed an extraordinary craft, just huge inside. Not altogether comfortable to travel on as it had a rather jerky and unsettling motion plus they served sandwiches which severely upset Mr B’s stomach which was a bit of a downer on her 50th birthday. I will be interested to see Ashley’s interpretation of the craft.

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

So will Ashley!  The plan will be a one piece side (excluding the removable top) and this requires some planning. The jet drive not so much, however, if the prop in its tube are very close to the waterline…does this matter, as the only stuff that will be sucked up is water from well below the waterline? Will cavitation be an issue? I think not, but…

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bit nippy. Sailed Hydro and Xmas ferry before rain stopped play. Trevor had Jessie but struggling in the wind wot blew up.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ferry…

[Peter WardParticipant @peterward23105]

Thought there was a sant run at the park today so bowed out of coming down

Any case as you said rain stopped play

Hope to do better next week  !!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Was a santa run but parking was OK. A bit tighter later on but Trevor arrived as the dog walkers were starting to go.

We left at about 1015 so not much of a boat. Lowering light showed up the ferry leds though! Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

…did order stuff and half of it has arrived already.

There are several options for what to do with the props at the rear, and I decided that at the earliest opportunity, a test is required to see about such things as cavitation, or not, before fitting tunnel shrouds and so on.

I pre drilled holes for the slimline shafts and these have worked out really well. As they have been fixed in before the motors I will have to be a bit careful lining the motor mounts up.

Whether it steers just using differential thrust is another can of worms, but the W-mixer will allow rudders to be fitted if this proves necessary.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Propshafts in but they have both gone tight?? I had the props chocked in the tubes they might run in, however nothing appeared to be tight.

I will try the hot air gun and see it the glue will go soft in order to adjust the shafts(they loosen with light finger pressure).

These are the 6mm  thin shafts and not as bend resistant as the fat 8mm ones. A pain….they seemed to go in so easy!!!

Ashley

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Always difficult to know just where the shafts are binding.  As you should have a reasonable clearance in the tube it is usually down to alignement at the supporting points, i.e. stern tube bushes or ‘A’ and ‘P’ brackets.  Maybe just a gentle rub with some very fine wet and dry on the shaft at the supporting points might just be enough to free it up?  Very light as you don’t want to increase the clearance too much.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I took the shaft out and it’s not super free running on its own. I have replaced it and now the two shafts feel the same. Bit of friction but not tight.

I did think of wet’n’dry Richard, but we may be ok..perhaps a bit of “running in” is all they need. A look at the wattmeter will show how they loosen up.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Commercial shafts are not always dead straight Im have found.

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

A bit nippy boating today! 4 of us. Two ferries, Jessie rower and a pirate ship….Arrrr!

Front of HSS panelled up with 0.8 ply under sponsons and 0.5mm for the pointy bits at the front of the sponsons. Over all not bad, and I am banking on clever painting to disguise the simple shape.

Tomorrow I hope to sand everything flat and apply some ezekote to have a very quick float to allay my fears about the waterline. I might use clingfilm actually to waterproof everything and stop water seeping in joints that have not been fully sealed.(top tip)

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well well. It floats, which is good, and there were no leaks (I didn’t use clingfilm) which was very good as I have not closely inspected it yet.

There is 200g of leeway, so the top has to come in under this weight, however that was with 2x 3s batteries. They weigh 200g each, so I could save by using one…or 2x 2s batts are only 235g. Probably the thing will go along OK on a 2s…as I have said, it only needs to be nippy, not speedboat fast.

I used deluxe materials sand’n’seal acrylic (paint?), and it’s a bit like ezekote with a filler/thickener. This may have sealed any hairline gaps.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

…along with the hardware I also received the W tail and V tail mixers I ordered.

impressed by the labelling on the units’s plugs and the little diagram included (mtronicsj.

i will be fitting W-mixer on the flying bus, as the mixer provides a rudder output (and the bus has a rudder) and this should greatly increase low speed manouverability using differential prop control, and a V-mixer on the HSS.

I don’t anticipate having a big steering issue on the HSS (famous last words) but there might be scope for fitting rudders if necessary and I have a spare W-mixer for that. Don’t really want to fit rudders as the boat is going to be commendably flat…about 5 inches tall overall and will sit on the sponsons. I will end up with a box about 23x8x5….which could actually sit sideways on the shelf as long as I pad the inside well!

Ashley

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