Todays Boating

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Morning Ole, Ashley and all,

 

what with a damp and dismal start, the morning ended fine and bright with a good attendance of boaters. Couple of tugs, two fishing boats, a Shell oil tanker and a high speed catarmaran ferry plus the ol’ Bounty, complete with figurehead.

 

She’s now ready to rig. Just waiting whilst I collect another period ship “Ark Royal 1685” from a previous post in this forum. I can then do both at the same time. Picking it up on my way to Chatham Dockyard for a 3 day stay, and hope to get amongst the thames barges too.

 

Ashley, we always manage to have at least one member get a full dunking per season!

 

Do you have an “ice breaking” party on the 30th Ole, if its still present?

 

Cheers all, Kimosubby.

 

 

[Ole VaugerParticipant @olevauger]

She is majestic to watch Kimosubby. How could anyone leave such a ship. There will be volunteer work and great joy. 30.04. It’s Christmas Eve and New Year‘s Eve at the same time. Ole

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Hi chaps,

 

Had the big one out today in this glorious sunshine.

 

and then we had this one out to play, with a paraffin budgie too!!

 

Kimosubby

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Great selection of posts and pictures!! Kimo…a helicopter on the pond…. must get one!!

 

Sob sob. Only me on the pond today! must be something I said, or was it that the clocks went forward??

 

Took HMS Glorious out today, as I thought we may go round the big lake (which I did) and it has a fair turn of speed and so makes short work of long transits.

 

Changed the battery half way through (6v 4.5Ahr gell cell) not because it was getting too low but its always best not to discharge them too much and I had a couple in my pocket spare. Is 48″ long by 4.5″ wide and has 2x 380 motors and 25mm props.

 

Ashley

[Ole VaugerParticipant @olevauger]

Hi chaps.
Another great ship kimosubby. Reminds me of a roll on roll off ships in the Fred Olsen Lines. Could it be an idea to have several sets of batteries in the boat when the boats are so large. And then just a switch to switch over when the time comes. The batteries will then serve as the balast too. Thinking of your pockets Ashley. Ole

Edited By Ole Vauger

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ole, good point. those ships that are large enough DO have several batteries in.

 

But the boat in question became very tender with two batteries as the centre of gravity was raised too high, The lads ARGUS aircraft carrier is the same, I did put an extra battery in and took the lead out but it rolled horribly.

 

HMS Nelson has THREE batteries init !! one dead one for weight and two for go. I made the hull very deep in this case, for stability and to keep it steady on the water, cant have battleships bobbing up and down.

 

Ashley

[Ole VaugerParticipant @olevauger]

Understand the problem Ashley. I used a form of concrete. In a boat before the motor, batteries and electronics were in place. It was a bit stupid because I made ​​it a bit too heavy. Got a tough job to remove some of the concrete. But the boat ended up being very stable. ole

[Peter FitnessParticipant @peterfitness34857]

I use 2 batteries in my Norfolk Broads cruiser, even though is is not a large model – about 80cm. Because of the design, with a cockpit amidships, it was necessary to mount the drive battery forward, which meant I needed ballast at the stern. I realised that the amount of ballast necessary was the same weight as the 6v 4Ah SLA battery I was using, so I decided to use a second battery instead. The 2 batteries are connected in parallel, giving the same voltage, but twice the capacity.

 

Peter.

[Ole VaugerParticipant @olevauger]

A good way to resolve weight problems Peter. Here in Norway, the lead has become a very expensive commodity. Can still be bought from shops that sell tires. It is used to stabilize the tires. When replacing tires on wheels, you can buy them and melt them into the correct size. Ole

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Beautiful day today. Quick play with the PROJECT, more mods, and then.. HMS Nelson in company with a fishing boat and a sailing yacht voyaged around both the boating pond and lake.

 

No misdemeanors other than with the wildlife. We approached a very small island, with a swan on nest in the middle of it..and there was a solitary young deer grazing on one end. The male swan was cruising back and forth, wings in aggressive posture…and then a young male deer came along,stepped into the pond obviously heading for the island,.. and the swan put himself in between the deer and island!! Mexican standoff….I almost had to load armour piercing!! (actually I kept well away) boat just in the background of the shot.

 

Arty photo at long range, of sun glinting off the water and boat (boat being covered in water from the larger waves at one end of the lake and thus glintable. Fair amount of water IN the boat from the propshafts as well, sucked out with syringe. Interior coated with resin so no probs, Bob.

 

An hour or so`s voyage on the two batteries installed, easy.

 

Ashley

[Ole VaugerParticipant @olevauger]

Hi Ashley sounds like a great day. In recent years I‘ve seen a lot of shall we say alternative boats, which have come from your hobby den. So when I see pictures of swans and deer. I can not help but think that Ashley has done it again. Ole

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

A first for me yesterday, as the wife had the car to do a scout-y hike thing… i had to cycle !

 

Boat of choice, and there was only a choice of two craft able to fit in a bag and not suffer massive damage, was the little landing craft. (the other boat would be the converted RtR Severn lifeboat)

 

The wind was well up on the pond, so just as well I didnt take the Severn as its horribly top heavy. I had rechargeables in the LCM, and actually wish I had taken my normal gel lead acid`s along, as the weight would have been handy to stabilise it a bit. Its a shame as the battleship and battlecruiser both look very good ploughing through the waves taking it green but needs must..Its a bit difficult carrying four foot of boat on the handlebars.

 

I dont think i have been to the pond with less gear than Sunday… bag with boat, bag with controller & wellies and a spare battery in me pocket.

 

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Lovely day today, bit blustery so ideal to have the maiden voyage of HMS Hasty, a decidedly non scale 1890`s TBD. Always wanted one so this is three months work on and off. Designed to be faster than my 1890`s torpedo boat, and is handsomly. Bottom is almost flat to stop the rear sinking at speed. Speed 400 motor 7.2v batt.

 

I have seen several of these on the water and they are just soooo tender, so I have a large steel strip glued to the bottom, to give me some stability, works a treat, and I know now I can go out in weather that lesser TBD`s would shrink, or is it sink? at.

Also out for an outing, and I think the first for at least a year is my HMS Manchester, something I started 25 years ago and for 20 of them sat in the shed as a sirmar hull, deck and superstructure with running gear. I almost binned it, but made an effort and simply bought a few fitings, painted it and them and there we have it. Looks lovely in the sun and what a handsome hull. Goes well and shrugs off bad weather on the pond like its not there. Radars rotate but thats it for gimmicks. 57″ long, my largest boat.

And finally, as , sniff, I was on me own mostly….a plastic convert,,, a toy battleship, uss new jersey supposedly but more like a Washington, Great detail for a toy and loads of room for the gear, goes well, the whole deck simply lifts off and is nice and stiff. If only it was a bit bigger..its about 28 inches long I think.

A few more pictures on my album.

Ashley

[Ole VaugerParticipant @olevauger]

Hi Ashley.
Great pictures. And great boats. I’ve had a boat left untouched for two years now. In the winter I thought now I have to continue with the boat that just sits there. But other boats won the toss. Now I read about your Manchester which has been virtually untouched for 25 years. Thank you

Ole

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Today it was well windy, and there was a right chop on the…sea.

 

First boat was the HMS Jersey, and this looked quite good speeding through the waves, with lots of throw-off from the bows….closely followed by the new TBD,

 

This was zoomed out into the centre of the pond before wondering if I should have seen what the stability was like in this wind..but no probs, and vindicating the glueing on underneath the hull of steel strip for ballast. I thought the seakeeping was excellent, even if the deck was almost permanently awash. The only bugbear with the boat is the really noisy propshaft, which seems to have too much play in the rear bearing and perhaps something I should have paid more attention to when installing..but it was brand new so i didn`t give it much thought at the time..what to do?? I fear I may have to cut it out and put another one in, but at least the repairs will not show.

 

Lastly the Manchester was unleashed, and this of course shrugs off such piffling pond action as if it did not exist. Doesn`t mean to say the wind wasn`t a bit difficult of course.

 

This was followed by a nice man busy constructing an HMS Belfast, now mostly complete and resplendent in a bright camo finish. Its a whopper, should say 5`6″ or thereabouts, and was a joy to behold planted on the surface. less affected by the wind being that much lower than the Manchester and much heavier.

 

Another boat much improved was a north sea supply sort of craft, the improvement being the raising of the rear hold hatch now sitting on a combing. Last time there was a serious water ingress problem, but now sorted. Nice high bows and again a good looking boat for rough weather.

 

Ashley blast, didnt take my camera.

 

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Well Ashley and others,

 

have finished the main rigging on the “Del Prado Bounty” and using Ashley’s spring tensioning suggestion, all the masts can be easily removed or added enabling simple transport of a “static” motorised period ship!!!

 

Bare hull and masts in block behind.

 

Bow sprit slotted home, see the mast carriage block in background.

 

 

Fore mast in! two to go.

 

Now the main is in.

 

Mizzen home too – 4 minutes according to the camera!

 

Different angle, shows mast carriage block and transmitter.

 

Now, how should I set-up the yards? I am thinking of brass eye loops on yards hanging on brass hooks in the mast, with sheets and guys on hooks and eyes to appropriate points.

 

 

Intend to only set three sails, fore top, main top and a topgallant, with fore and main course brailed up, and spanker half brailed, bowsprit course furled. If Ashley or anyone else has a suggestion?

 

Sailing today in light to moderate winds indicated that only a few sails need setting, and the prop size needs increasing to drive her through head winds! The current plastic prop is not up to the job, needs a 4 blade 30mm!

 

Ta, Kimosubby.

 

PS built for the kids to “have-a-go” as a pirate ship – and who says period static ships can only go on the shelf – I’ll take her to Birchwood (Haydock) for all visitors to see in August!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Kimo. Nice one, and glad to be of assistance.

 

Need some cannons and a “jolie rouge” to make it a REAL pirate ship!!

 

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Nipped over the pond on a day off, had to experiment with “the project” with mixed success. Two changes tried and to no enhancement of performance.

 

HMS Jersey has been refitted with a 12v 7Ahr gel battery and 555 motor driving a 40mm brass prop which went ok, if a tad slower than the 540 (of some sort) and 35mm prop, however it has released a good amount of lead ballast for other projects and of course should now run for ages on the one battery.

 

The TBD is too noisy, despite a skeg for support and minor adjustments to the end play. Result…home to rip it out and put in a “new” cut down tube with nylon bearings. Straight away, on a single 1.5v battery the noise reduction was clearly evident, so it has been glued in properly and filled, now awaiting smoothing on Saturday and painting. I didnt even break anything on deck despite bashing the end of the tube with a hammer to loosen it !! Obviously once a degree of cutting had taken place…

 

Suprisingly for a weekday a chap turned up with a Scottish or other island ferry,very nice., very shiny and with a good amount of detail including period vehicles on deck..45 inches or more . Had a false keel on..for stability.. the man said and he was dead right although I only saw it going very slowly. I know its a point of contention, the speed thing, but the ferry man was of the scale speed camp, and possibly he wasn`t impressed with me running up and down the pond at speeds far in excess of that which could be reasonable expected of a warship from 1893.The ferry was fairly fat and I wouldn`t have though that a false keel was warranted, however as he says, whats below the waterline is not seen, something I subscribe to myself, to a point, as per the steel strips under the TBD for that very same reason. HOWEVER, on our pond it would be likely to catch very large carp, rocks twigs and weed when sailing near to shore. Would have been good to see it in a bit of WEATHER although I gather that calm was the preferred sea state.

 

Ashley

[old maldonianParticipant @oldmaldonian]

kimo please may i borrow your missus mate i need to rearrange my sheds in the garden lol

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Today… HMS Hasty and Nelson. fellow boaters… sailing vessel, not of anything in particular and a coater/puffery sort of boat, and very nice.

 

The new prop shaft in Hasty is much quieter despite there being, on the face of it, as much play at the rear end as the other one..however the slightly larger diameter tube and water lubricated nylon bearings obviously are doing the job.

 

At low speed and up to 1/2 throttle its acceptable quiet, and at full throttle it is ok, but there is an annoying buzz between, which is obviously something or other vibrating. Perhaps having changed the shaft the motor is not QUITE as much in alignment as initially installed, and I may change the mount from the bent tin jobbie and on to my “normal” twin post and clamp arrangement, via a bit of rubber to damp down these vibes.

 

The motor still gets hot despite having drilled through the top “engine room covers” to admit air, the so prop is obviously too big and I will have to send off for a 30mm “s” pitch 2-blader to replace the 35mm job. Oddly enough. the brass 30mm 3 blade prop as pinched from my torpedo boat doesn’t appear to perform as well on this boat as it does on said torpedo boat..?

 

It is still well fast though. I turned on the LED spotlight and that was not as bright as the same lights in the Herald car , ho hum. I may need 3x rechargeable s rather than 2x Duracells to power it.

 

Berengars “HM Armed forces micro-figures sailors in Blue uniforms” look quite cute on the boat despite being a bit big…may try blu-tac-ing some on next time as a talking point and to annoy any one remotely interested in scale models…

Ashley

 

 

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Fantastic morning yesterday (Sunday ) great weather, calm, a few other boaters.

 

Hasty ..tried an X pitch 30 mm prop and performance not as good as the S35mm prop, also the motor was getting REALLY hot as I suspected it might and the vibration period had opened up. I found a brass 25mm prop but this simply vibrated horribly and stirred the water without providing much thrust

 

I really need an S 30mm prop.

 

Shorty has developed some cracking at the wing roots..will need to keep an eye on this, as although it will be an easy fix, I will then need to repaint and I know the paint will not be a match and so his overall good looks will be comproimised unles I do the entire top.As the ends of the wings are supported on the floats and it doesnt actually fly it is not so much of a disaster.

 

I had a race with a supply boat that appears to be quite nippy for this type of model and Shorty was holding its own quite well, its odd, the impression of speed. Shorty is actually a bit faster than it APPEARS to be, and this may be due to the lack of wake, it being very light..? Spent most of the time manoucvering out of the way of the water squirters on the supply boat. Shorty is quite good at that, stops and starts very quickly and has a very small turning circle. Lacks offensive armament as yet.

 

Other boats.. small puffer, “Island Maid” Scottish islands ferry. Small boy with cheap RTR unaffected by the other r/c sets, unusually. .

 

Ashley Next week if the weather is like this I feel a voyage on the Titanic may be in order

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Present for Ashley

 

Since your model is from the olden days, it deserves the sepia touch?

 

Like it?………Bob

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

We need a low waterline shot now, Ashley

Any more olde worlde stuff?

 

Bob

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bob…what a good egg you are. The TBD in particular looks very period! all you need to do now is apply some scratches and blemishes!!

 

i do have a number of “old” boats.. from 1880 The devastation, 1890 HMS Midge torpedo boat, 1916 The Argus and Glorious and from 193o ish the Nelson.

AND the two WW1″flying boats” or even the Sunderland come to that..in b/w rather than sepia .

I will try to take some arty waterline shots of them. I seem to find that once I have taken a picture, it loads on the site ok off the SD card, but once I have saved it to an album on the computer, it just dont want to appear??

 

Not TOO low a waterline shot of the Titanic, I suppose !!

 

Ashley

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Ashley

 

When you load pix into the albums, it is essential that you give the picture a title at the pp stage.

Loading straight from a card could be problemmatical……..The pix will probably be just numbers? The titles shown on your album pix are not necessarily the original picture titles

 

So you need a PP program

 

Here`s your Sunderland…..

 

Bob

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