Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Design of LCM coming on a treat, and Paul is designing a card Churchill tank for it. Small problem this Sunday as its harvest festival day and to the wife will have the car (again) so I forsee a chance to put some gear in the prototype LCM and give it a run about. Could take both LCM actually and see how they perform together. Berengar wants to take his TOG2 next year on d-day so as this is very heavy I will have to make a LCm-and-a-half for it.A sort of small LST perhaps. Not sure if I will will get a chance to check out the weed on the pond but should have abated somewhat by now….surely??? Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 26/09/2013 08:05:49

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Weed had receeded a bit last Sunday and clear near the dock.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tomorrow Sunday as stated it will be boating-in-a-bag and so I will be taking the prototype LCM wot I have fitted with the neccessary gear, although i am trying out an aircraft style forward only ESC, that I have purchased for something else. By bicycle.

I have also splashed out on a sheet of 3.6mm ply, to make the big LCT, and also make an LCT for Berengars TOG2 tank. By the looks of it this will be a mini-LCT, about 30 inches should do it.

I have rediscovered a book I bought ages ago in an antique shop, about D-Day. There are loads and loads of spiffing top-hole black and white pictures, most importantly…one shot of a bunch of landing craft ready to be loaded and off. There is an LCT4 in there..and this has provided some useful info as to the rear deck layout. ALSO I am going to have to make mine a bit wider, despite saying 12 inches was enough…all the later craft were quite fat…and so will mine have to be. I think 14 inches will be ok without getting un-storable. This will give a tank deck about 11 1/2 inches wide and so a more realistic width for two rows of tanks.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well the weed is still there and an on-shore wind didnt help! LCM performed as expected, floated dead level and needs at least 2009 to get to a more realistioc waterline, no bad thing as this leaves a margin for bigger motors and tanks or whatever. Speed was adequate for a lander but there is nothing in hand.Couldnt try reversing but I know the cheap 2mm shaft/40mm jobs to be poor going in reverse.BUT this setup is very cheap and perfect for a quick job to participate and then , well, really, throw away if you dont neccessarily want to keep it.,or save them for club events for kids to try in temp pools?? that sounds like a better idea.!Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ashley

I might be a little slow on the uptake these days but I have no idea what you are talking about.

Please imagine that I am a complete beginner and tell me what 2009 means and what are you throwing away or keeping for kids?

Paul

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Paul,

i've come to the conclusion that Ashley must have "weed on the brain". I too cannot follow what was in his last post, maybe 2009 is southern code for ballast? Maybe he'd been at that pub again (on his bike) just before posting……..

Kim

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Gosh. Typo, men. as you are NO DOUBT AWARE… 200 G GRAMs ballast required. It went ok on the cheap components. The weed affected the boat as the prop pitch is fine and it doesnt handle even a little bit of weed. As bods who build these may not want to keep them after the D-Day event next year…assuming anyone takes it up.. they could be used as “club” boats to provide kiddie entertainment on a temporary pool on event days.Ashley

[Dave_PParticipant @dave_p]

Was getting a bit suspicious of what type of "weed" is growing down at the lake.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Hydrocological Triffids by the sound of it!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

fellow boaters..and others.

Had the new LCM out, this time it managed a good hour on the water before suffering from weed, and was running nicely, and no leaks. The foam flyer was out as well, but despite an initial good showing, appeared to slow somewhat and ?? well I dont know..onbe wing was catching the water…I had trimmed the wing-end floats a bit, and I may now stick some more foam back on..

Lastly the carpet carrier had a well deserved run, having been taken to the pond at least twice now but staying in the car due to water based floral dangers.

Ecranoplans…I may just build a 50% larger foam flyer and use a brushless motor, a bit more powerful that the original A90 motor, and get some real performance going, using some decent capacity nimh batteries like wot I have and dispose of the others. See how we go after the current round of builds.

Of note at the pond was Barry, you sly pond-dog you,,,,with a sub !! Own design, and first outing. A few issues with controls both for vertical and sideways movement, not to mention ballast, or the lack of it. BUT after we applied approx 500g MORE lead to it, it did start to dive. A very creditable first sub effort and no leaks, [erhaps the most important part. The pond is very shallow and for a dynamic dive system, this is a bit of a challenge. My Oberon dives, and with some effort can be made to run a short distance underwater without scraping the bottom,and the…ah, well I cant say anything else..

Several strandings due to weed an a particular funny moment when a lad`s RTR red speedboat got stuck and Andy`s croc went to push it back. It looked for all the world like a cheap "B" movie clip….large croc attacking boat. Very amusing, at least we though so..obviously we were sympathising with the RTR lad..

Construction of various projects continues apace. I am awash with landing craft and having just built a new one to test the plans out, dont know what to do with it. I have started (and almost finshed) an LCT1 for Berengars TOG2 tank, and will be pushing on with the BIG LCT4 soon, before it gets cold. The secret projects are at a fiddly stage and this can be done indoors somewhat.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Lander plans all done. Look very professional thanks Paul T. WIll post a new thread on Saturday once a few pics have been taken of various…stuff.

Should be good, I am hoping for a good takeup for this thread as it will not only be a fundraiser for a very worthy cause but something to possibly grab the public attention and launch a new generation of young boattzzzzz

Wake up at the rear !!!

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Rain stopped play today. This means I can do a bit more on project no4, and have stuck one large bit onto another and am now up for yet more painting. This is not good as its cold and so the paint takes forever to dry outside or I bring it in after a few hours (once most of the smell has gone!)

Next week perhaps.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Unfortunately I got up too late to go boating Sunday. We had a late finish gig on Sat night and I didnt get up until 9…the car was still full of gear which had to be sorted and put away and I had not decided what boats to use..it was all too much.

BUT as above I devoted a large portion of the day to No4. And what a success! There is a large …item…. that needs to be glued to another…large item… with contact adhesive for reasons best known to myself..and as you know, you only get one shot at this. Ii ummed and arred and came up with a jig using the hot glue gun and a few bits of wood and hey presto. I was dead chuffed..the bits went together fabbydozo. I applied a battery to one of the the motors and..not so impressive. The thing that I had hoped for did not materialize and so further work is required. BUT the paintwork is impressive, smooth and shiny.

Trevor is making or going to make a v large corvette for D-Day next year at the pond. I knew someone would go large. The temptation…too much. Crocodile Dundee is used to making large things..he is likely to trump us. I will keep an eye out.

I saw a canoe for sale the other day and thought….cruiser…hmmm..

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

I was down at our local dump last Saturday and someone was throwing away a canoe, I'll admit I was tempted !

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Last Sunday. Not a bad morning. Very windy and gusty. Took the Invincible and T22 along. The t22 is very small but handles the weather like a pro. That fantastic long sharp point bow, its what it was made for. The Invincible is of course just big, and heeled over nicely like one would expect a carrier to do..but not ever to the point of underware changing.

Steve had a wicked air boat out for the first time. A double action man sort and very qick with it. The wind proved too much though and flipped it over..caught the rear flaps.

I bought project no4 down for a quick "show" and actually placed it in the water (its first dunk) and was pleasantly suprised that it floated (yes really). I have been glueing bits on and suddenly realised that the weight was creeping up and all of a sudden I wondered if the waterline would. you know, be a bit…high..owing to the peculiarities of the design (what else eh?). It did not have batteries in, and this will weigh it down even more but we MAY JUST be ok. If not I may have to bulk up the bottom with Blue Styrofaom in layers. I have not mentioned it but a couple of other boats have had this treatment and it can be very effective. I did not chance the propulsion given the marginal waterline, and in any event have yet to sort out the radio and so on.

Still no propshaft from Cornwall. Hopefully by the ebd of the week so I can finish the LST1 and give it an outing, or at least a trial.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Its funny how things can change.

I have been looking foir some rubber..or other softish material..for trim on proj No4. The part in question, after some deliberation, I thought looked too plain and needed this trim. I had not seen anything until…

Today we went to Hobbycraft. A large hobby/craft shop in Old Woking. There I found some sheets of thinnish coloured closed cell foam, A4. In black I thought wow just the job for my trim. Eagerly we beetled home and I did some measuring, cut up the foam a bit and applied this as trim to the plain part (sellotape to see how it looked).

I didnt like it!! I thought it looked better as it was. So. Weeks of hunting all turned over in a second.

My new batteries have turned up (standard 6-cell NiMh types) and it looks like only one will be used in this craft instead of two judging by the balance and this is good news for the floating bit, if not the endurance on the water. There are going to be two speed controllers and so I fiddled about in the afternoon making wiring runs long enough to feed the ESC`s and fitting same into craft.

If I have not mentioned it, I have finally decided the only way to make project no1 watertight is to use clear waterproof tape to hold the hatches in place. Not perfect, but in common use for the racing fraternity, and very effective and unseen when out on the water, if not so good alongside. Sealing the hull will enable me to borrow a 3s Lipo and see just what halving the battery weight and increasing voltage by a third does to the performance. Answers on a post-it plse.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Todays boating. Windy, on and off…weed free (ish). Bit nippy, took gloves and glad of it.

Had the Argus and devastation out. I know the Devaststaion is 100% watertight, and looks very realistic with a permantly wet front end (as they were, these breastwok monitor jobs), howver the sealed rear end on the Argus, although doen a few years ago has not been tested properly, untul today..when I can report thatr the back end was full of water and it did not get into the main body of the ship. Job done.

5 other boaters, all keep chaps. Varying success especially with Andy (the croc) and his small fast boats which do not like the rough water and wind.

Barry had his sub out again and managed to impale the pointy bit at the front end in the bottom mud to much amusement cheers of encouragement from the pondside as he tried to free it.

More work today on Proj no4. Having discovered that it floated last week (on its first dunk) I tried it this afternoon in the household test tank now fully equipped with gear and battery and .. IT STILL FLOATS!!! sucess. I then powered up my advanced 27M radio control and not only does it float but appears to work jolly well..however on past form for this sort of thing I will reserve judgement untill a full pond test takes place. The last one I built of a similar configuration ALSO appeared to work well, until I tried it in the pond. Come to think of it, this sentence applies to more than one project..

As to the foam sheet experience, I had forgotten or overlooked the fact that there were a couple of other items to be stuck on, and with these in place (held on, not permanently fixed) the area under consideration does look ok and the extra trim will not be needed. Similar trim items stuck on the stern look rather trick and are exactly the right colour for "the look".

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Having had a day off today I tested out proj no4 on the pond. It was to say the least very rubbish and deserving of the reservation regarding pond testinga s per last post. I shall be needing some serious suggestions on Sunday as to what can be done about it. I do not want to abandon ship just yet !! At slow speeds we are ok but not when travelling faster. Basically it is too heavy and a lot of weight is high up AND I have not yet finished with the superstructure!! wow. I may have to cheat (a bit more) and add additional bouyancy in the shape of artfully sculpted Styrofoam sheet.

Unfortunately EMA model supplies, where I used to buy my sheet material, and who were only a couple of miles away in Shepperton..have moved to SE London now and a jolly difficult place to get to. SO. I will have to find an alternative supplier. It is a nuisance as obviously its the postage on bulky stuff that bumps the cost up, and collecting in person was a godsend.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Fellow boaters and boateresses (are there?).

Today, pond like a millpond and todays test of proj no4 could in some ways be regarded as a success. Saturdays mod appears to have had a benificial effect. I say no more.

Otherwise, the BHA had an outing, running very well, the LCT1 also had an eventless outing and finally the Hornet, also running very well. BUt I do need to get a longer proshaft, it nees to be about 20mm longer and I think that should do it. Surface piercing jobs have to be JUST right or they dont perform. This is running ok, but there was not much difference in performance from the "cooking" 540 I had in it, to the speed 600 with a slightly shorter shaft…which I tried and has been found wanting.

There was a very small boy looking at the tank in the army boat and he was clutching two homasthetankengine trains. I said "do you think the trains would like a ride in my boat?" and said trains were duly deposited on the tank deck. You should have seen the look on his little face as his trains were floated round the pond!! Ahh

Pete, Ray, BArry and Andy down with a varied selection of boats and other things but I am afraid the badge for this sundays entertainment oscar goes to……

…………………Barry.

Picture….Barry`s sub. Dont ask.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Its a shame. A post comes in regarding boiler selection and within 3 hours there have been 3000 looks.

I started this post yonks ago asking the question… what did you do today?? and it looks like everyone simply surfed and didnt go out boating. never mind.

I know the Bushy park pond chaps look at my ramblings, and hard on the heels of Barry`s sub I am going bring the mighty OBERON down tomorrow, and also…as I have have been down to look at the pond today and seenn that it is crystal clear, just like it was on a certain other occaision…taking project no1.

I am charging the batteries now. Be warned!

I will also take the Titanic along, for a bit moe conventional boating if all else fails.

Colin, if you want a treat, tomorrow is the time to visit. The performance of project no1 is uncanny, especially considering the conditions that prevail at the jetty side. I have video proof, and that was taken by me and with someone else at the transmitter controls. For such an unusual beast, I had expected to be spending a lot of time fiddling and modifying this one, but no, once a few leaks and radio failures had been sorted, it perfoms..just mesmerising. (hopefully, I have not used it for a bit!!!!)

Barry`s sub demontrates the difficulty with these things. Trim is everything. Every time you go to the pond,20 mins at least is spent re-trimming the boat to perform properly. I have a set of small lead strips bent to fit the top rib and so I can sail and add or subtract weight until the sub performs (as well as it is able) and then I can put the weight in the body to hide it. It is noticeable that when sailing out to the middle of the pond the sub dives more readily due to the differing temperature and hence water density.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Sorry Ashley, just got too much on at the moment but I will make the effort to get to Bushy sometime soon!

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Todays boating. A bit nippy and only Barry, Ian, ray and chris besides myself braved the wintry weather.

I misled everyone last post, it was project no 2 that I had down and it was performing in cracking style! I am given to understand that Paul F may have outed this little secret and it will appear in the January issue so be warned. It means that I can stop being obscure and just say the word, always refreshing.

To go with and compliment No2 (you will see what I mean) I had the Oberon down and this went exeptionally well, possibly because I had it trimmed a bit aft-heavy (refrains from writing jokes about the mrs), and diving was to order and available in the turn, something tricky as I have no front dive-plane actuation. Barry said was I going to build a bigger one but the answer is no, the water is about a foot deep (and makes the performance of No2 all the more remarkable as will be seen on youtube eventually) and by the time a larger one was underwater it would be on the bottom. On the list,mind, is a floating only K class/M1 monitor (different tops) on the same hull, twin props, and this will be the usual 4 feet.

The Titanic was in the boot but only had a short run as me hands were jolly cold with all that freezing pond water business.

There is a small lad who gets taken to see the boats at the pond for a treat if he has been good all week, They stay at least 30 or 40 mins if not more, so he is very keen. I am going to take the simplified LCM3 for him to have a go on next Sunday, will make his week I should think and will actually be very useful to see how it behaves in the hands of a complete novice, and small boy to boot. It should be very damage proof so i will just let them get on with it. No doubt his Daddy will ALSO want a go. It has a cheap 2mm shaft 30mm prop on, as I pinched the 40mm one to replace that lsot on the LCT1 so will be even less fast than it was and so perfect for a beginner, but you nver know, the incresed revs due to the smaller p[rop may actually lead to an INCREASE in speed!!  (unlikely)

Next week I think, apart from the LCM3 I will be all conventional. Project no3 needs more waterproofing and painting before another dunking, and my little stok of 6V SLA batteries needs a work out. I may take the Glorious and the Fantome, along with something else yet to be decided. Nelson possibly, this is set up for two SLA batteries.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 24/11/2013 16:59:35

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Have discovered I am helping out on a cub trip to the Hendon RAF museum on sat.

This means i will be FORCED to look in the shop section and MAY find some small f35 aircraft similar to the die cast sea harriers on the invincible.

I would then be FORCED to build a Queen Elizabeth carrier to put them on. At some stage i MAY need a drawing to fiddle with, current projects pending of course.

I shall need to charge some batts up on Friday for Sundays boating.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Ashley, face up to it – you simply have no choice!

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Colin, too true. Fate accompli (or woteva)

But how big will a carrier have to be to put 3" aircraft on it (to scale) ????

Ashley

[Author]

Posts