Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tested the Griffon on Tuesday and both motors were fairly well balanced. It went ok and got up on the plane however this is something i DONT want…it needs to stay flat as speed. I have cut some channels in the base to stop the water bunching up prior to planing, also made much bigger rudders.

I need to change an esc in the bus I think to even out the starting issue. It still goes alright though….its dead fast.

Also, a boat which I only thought needed ballasting still has a flooding issue and needs some mods….ho hum.

The longtail however is now finished and has not only a driver but a passenger as well! Thanks Trev, another charity shop find. Tropical leaves adorn the Battery cover and I now need a couple of polystyrene balls…thought I had some but they may have been thrown.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

and I now need a couple of polystyrene balls…thought I had some but they may have been thrown

Ashley, are those the things which help you to float on your back if you fall into the pond?….

Colin

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hi Colin. Yes…and it will be interesting to see if Lindsey feels brave enough to include the quite innocent  sentence that has both melons and moana in it, in the article as and when.

Griffon slowly getting there. I am in the creative painting stage now and it’s slow going.

I have only a few minor details to make, rear fins being the largest but will probably be the last. I have been carving up the base in an effort to get the thing to stay on an even keel at speed (not that it actually has a keel) but am away on the iow fir a wook cone Sunday so two sunday sailing sessions will be missed along with the weekdays. Bright side is I get to see the real thing!

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Egham Royal show last weekend.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I featured a quintet of passenger craft, of varying sorts. Good crowd of boaters, several clubs. Indoor pool fun. Mega dusty. Will be spending a few hours this morning washing boats…its that bad.

One of my new boats on display..with hidden novel features.

Still working on Griffon. Longtail finished, photographed.

Skidboat modified for hopefully last time.

American civil war GP toppers finished barring work on Monitor…awaiting bits.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Longtail.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ashley,

I like the longtail 🙂  I thought the boat in Sly Stallone’s film Rambo would make a good model with the engine on the transom, another on for the list !!

Regards Ray

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Cheers Ray. It will not steer at full throttle no matter how much helm is on. Probably the very long length of the boat has something to do with it.

Weed gone from pond. Good boating Sunday despite one conking out ( with smoke) and one rudder servo malfunction.

Pic…guess what this is..

Unfinished of course…

Ashley

 

 

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Popped to the pond yesterday Tuesday with Peter and Trevor, as we didn’t boat Sunday as the car park was full due to a park run….

Trevors Shovelnose transformed by the addition of a fixed skeg, becoming controllable at last and allowing it to demonstrate its full potential, while the addition of a long spray rail has finally kept the inside of my Skidboat dry!

Theres more spray emanating from the right side of the Skidboat so possibly I need a bit of permanent counter-ballast to correct this.

Furthermore, the “special feature” on the boat is working really well and lasting better than anticipated.

Back at Trevors we played with his brother ( dymotape printer) and it’s producing more than acceptable lettering for the Griffon 1200 TD.. …approximately the right style and size. I will buy three rolls of tape for it now..clear background with black or red or blue writing. This will actually be beneficial for all our boats…enabling things like “fire exit” ” no smoking” and so on to be produced at minimal cost, small details that enhance any model but are expensive (becc or custom labelling) to produce, providing of course you are happy with the possibly less than authentic appearance.

Windows have now been stuck on the Griffon 1200 TD. An easy job after lots of prevarication using self adhesive vinyl sheet in ‘anthracite’. A guide strip of masking tape suitably annotated with pencil was stuck on and it was easy to position the sticky windows on the ridge of the edge of the tape. What i had been fretting over for weeks was accomplished in about 15 minutes!

Onwards and upwards.

Ashley

[ashley needham]

On ashley needham Said:

Cheers Ray. It will not steer at full throttle no matter how much helm is on. Probably the very long length of the boat has something to do with it.

Weed gone from pond. Good boating Sunday despite one conking out ( with smoke) and one rudder servo malfunction.

Pic…guess what this is..

Unfinished of course…

Ashley

 

 

 

You need a Flymo, its a lot less bovver!

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

You need a Flymo, its a lot less bovver!

He’s already got a Strimmer boat!

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Yes indeed Colin…very apt!
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Finishing touches (rear fins) being applied to griffon hovercraft today. These are slightly cruder than I anticipated, but making better ones with different size fins was just too tricky. A jig to hold all the fins in place made the task much easier. No one will know exactly what is supposed to be at the back in any event. Most pictures online are of the front or sides!</p>

1. I have the cartridges to do the lettering, just awaiting trev to return so we can play with his Brother.( see previous)
2. I have made a Plywood box and the craft fits nice and snug inside.
3. I almost dropped the top and have had to replace a but of drinking straw that is doing service as the external shaft to the fan.
4. Flying saucer out Sunday, and neither of my 9.6v nimhs lasted for more than 15 mins. Must get more nimhs…the ones I have are quite old now and don’t hold nearly as much charge as they should
5. I need to get some lipos as well. Thinking about perhaps a larger 3s to.power the things that I currently use a 9.6 for…having got rid of the 12v nimhs which died and were cut about to form 6 cell lumps.
6. That’s it.  Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Have taken the plunge and finally broken up the Top Gear 007 sub car lotus woteva. Used 3 times in 10? 12? Years. I need the room.

Also for the chop is the John Cobb Crusader.  Can’t get it to work without major surgery and a 4s. Could convert to submerged drive but even then it’s horribly wet until going fast. A project for someone perhaps if anyone wants it..complete with a nice box.

While I am at it, the hovervan has to go. No one recognises it any more and it’s in a huge box. I could probably make a much smaller one now, if I was bothered. It also does not get much use.

Ashley

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

Please don’t break up the Hovervan, I know someone who could use it!

PM sent

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Pm answered!

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

It’s a deal.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Griffon now finished and the Dymotape lettering is just the job and looks the business. It would probably be just as expensive to use BECC lettering and far more difficult to.place all those very small letters individually…plus…i have about 31.5 metres of tape left over in the four colours for another…oooh…50 boats!

In hindsight, it would have been nice to have bought a Brother printer years ago. It would have paid for itself many times over.

AND so it’s on to the next project. This is another of those “out of the blue” choices and hinges around thinking what else would sit on the Griffon style base, actually something I had planned to.make years ago but decided it was too much work…and SRN4. But different.

I did show Colin a picture but he has not replied yet…probably because words have failed him…

It will split opinion, but i love it…and this is a build just for me ( trevor quite likes it as well).

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I did reply Ashley, you couldn’t fit a brushless motor in that… Very ingenious though.

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sorry Colin must have missed it

Hover can disposed of after a short demo to begin a new life. Not breaking cobb up just yet as I might find a use for the box , and if I am keeping the box then the boat might as well stay inside, however if anyone wants it for free plse shout.

Cut ply for the next one. Having decided on the inspiration for this, the drawing is looking rather more “scale” than anticipated so the result is more likely going to be a Simplified semi-scale craft. It can’t be too “almost scale” as there will be too many inaccuracies but I reckon a reasonable resemblance might be achieved. It’s the propulsion that worries me….at this size and using brushed…will it have enough oomph?

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Construction continues apace. Unfortunately construction continues at a RAPID pace as 0.8mm ply, 5 min epoxy and styrofoam makes for rapid construction. The bottom half, hull i suppose, weighs almost nothing and the top is similarly light so it stands a good chance of moving reasonably quickly even with minimal power ( despite there being four motors…clue) compared to the brushless creations preceding this.

I am hoping to be able to get this “hovering” on carpet or a hard floor and have purchased two types of enablers to see either…. which one is best, or find the idea doesn’t work at all. If it does work it will be really novel.

Initially I planned to have fixed propulsion, however having almost made the top it occurs to me that a more full- on system of fully functioning swivelling pods may be do-able even at this small size without too much difficulty.

Ashley

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

HoverVan had Sunday morning swim at its new home.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Nice one Dave! Working a treat. Ashley</p>

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

With the shape at the front you could add some new livery to the van and use it as a rescue craft!

[Richard SimpsonModerator @richardsimpson88330]

It would make a good surface running Thunderbird 4.

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

Hi Chris, Ideas for a custom rescue craft have been rattling about in my head for some time now. It’d have to be a bright colour (yellow?) and have a big black logo on the side for Aquatic Assistance.

It’ll have to wait a while, too many other things need completing first.

[Author]

Posts