Todays Boating

[peter ward 9Participant @peterward9]

i store and charge mine in the old anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden

surely you have one too???

ideal workshop as well literally bomb proof !!!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sadly I am lacking a shelter, but the wife`s Mum and Dad have one in the garden, under the shed…a concrete thing, never been down there.

May need an ammo box to store those explosive lipo batts..

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Excuses excuses. Been on hols, and yesterday had not only a late finish Gig Saturday night but a wedding to play at Sunday early afternoon, so spent morning re-sorting gear!

Proj No1 coming along very nicely. Spray painted , just one hit (only a couple of colours to start with) and not bad considering some very tricky masking. To this end I have left it as it is, one coat, and just 3 bits or retrospective masking and spraying for a couple of leaks and overspray. Spent ages in Halfords deciding colours to use elsewhere and came away with some sparkly metalflake colours which, having been applied, look quite appropriate. A whole tin purchased for about 30 sq inches!! however I needed a perfectly flat finish.

A box will have to be made next to keep it in, it is at a stage where there are sufficient bits sticking out to be damaged, and the bits of foam it has been sitting on keep on falling off the work-surface! Next step is some brass wire work, which I usually try to steal clear of but is needed on this..if only I could do what they did on the xxxxxxxxx…would be much easier.

Should be down `t pond next Sunday and will bring it along for perusal and comments/advice

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Whoa!! Charging batteries!!! Titanic (and I have just seen a crane is missing). foam flyer with shiny new red brushless motor and something else. ALSO Proj no1 for comment and ideas.

Speaking of which the rest of the hardware has arrived so things can move on apace.

Ashley

[peter ward 9Participant @peterward9]

have been for a peek at the pond on way home from work

unfortunately not looking good same as last week extensive floating weed and scum on surface

pluse various trapped detritus ie plastic bads logs etc etc

smallish area in front of landing stage but not really large enough for extensive sailing

may be black park slough for me tomorrow

rgds

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Pete, thanks for that. I have to fix me Dads old bike up now in any event for berengar to cycle to the station to go to college next week….so decided to blow out, especially as the boating it likely to be less than satisfactory. wILL MAKE extra effort next week with weed-free boats.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well.. not TOOOO weedy close by, but issues none the less.

Foam flyer not performing with new brushless motor, and only two props to try as i forgot to take the one off the A90, and it was a bit slow. Unfortunately there is no clearance for a larger prop than the current 5 inches, so i may conduct some surgery on the fin to suit.

The 480 spun a doubled up three blade Graupner prop ok (very fine pitch) but this had a particularly long adaptor so I was able to put two props on. the normal type only acomodates one prop.

Alternative craft taken….the BFB3…. was actually faster with its two speed 280 motors and 3 inch props,

Proj no1 taken down for perusal and critique looked good in the sun. Will have to fix certain parts in, charge Lipo batts (gulp) and try it out; we though that…… but that would be telling

lipo batts will of course transform the A90 Orlyonoc, and the foam flyer for that matter, and the Km may well leave the water as hoped for, eventually, once the weed clears, with a nice fat 11.1v Battery in it. I must get around to putting the tail flaps on , and same for the A90 to lift the back up more.

4 other intrepid boaters down to sample the delights of a nice sunny morning by the pond. I must remember to bring a tin of sardines down for the very tame Heron.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 07/09/2014 18:33:20

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Batts charged, prop taken off A90 to try on the foam flyer.

Think I have sorted out the equipment on the BFB3..this had an interference/range issue.. I fiddled in the garden after last Sunday and appear to have got the range back by moving STUFF around, but todays cunning plan is to try a 2.4Gig receiver and this will get rid of the aeriel wire issue.

BFB3, FF and Sunderland today with a slightly reworked Flak landing craft. I have cut the underside about to give a sthree-slope bottom to improve performance and make it look like the others out the water. Making the n=bottom flat wirh just a rear cutup was easier to do, but not so satisfactory from the aesthetic side and indeed on the water. Grey household undercoat is wonderfull stuff. I have painted over the surgery and by the time I had dabbed some paint over other minor blemishes you could still see the new paint (just) but this looks very authentic!! Landing craft were not finished to a very great standard.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

On me own today ! missed a turn there chaps.. water clear as anything and not an underwater weed at all detected by the LCM over several circuits of the unweeded bit. .No increase in performance noticed after the bottom end surgery.

BFB3 ..good radio range now thankfully. Wind making turning slow, but as the rudder is in the propwash from both props this is not normally a big issue, just makes the turning circle a bit larger.

Foam Flyer..performance with the A90 prop back almost to what it was with the speed 480 motor…so, no actual improvement as such but the thing is certainly lighter at the back, Had to cut a v small clearance notch in the fin to suit new prop. Only managed to carry out right hand turns due to the wind..had to be a bit careful in case I got stuck going further out without managing to turn out of the weeded up patch.

Sunderland. Good as ever, unaffected by the wind unlike the other two planes. Oiled motors when I got home as props picking up water..bit windy, wished I had taken the Herald actually considering the lack of weed!

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Popped over the park whilst returning form Kingston on me bike. Much the same as last week.. no room for FAST, however the portion of pond this side and past the log is clean of weed, and looks quite clear..not to say there may be some under water, but didnt see anything.

Will be aircrafting again and perhaps hovervanning.

Trip to Kingston was to get materials for the display at the MEX in December. A couple of flourescent blue transparent sheets of acrylic have arrived at home for same and I am about to cut some 1/2" ply into swoopy shapes.

I need some GU10 spotlight bulb holders now to light up the water. I also need birds for the stand. I have seen some and they are very cheap, just as I like them.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sundaerland, LC(F) and Herald today!!! just as I was loading STUFF in the car I thought that it looked a bit breezy and so loaded the Herald, and good thing, and it started to blow up a treat and James was performing really well. Not much water in the boat, not bad considering the waves.

Clear area on pond just that…clear of weed entirely..nothing on top and nothing hidden underneath. A weed free sail for all concerned. Sunderland props catching a lot of wave tops, and then I went too close to the bank and caught a twig on no2 prop and broke a blade off (another 22p down the drain).

LC(F) going nicely as usual.

3 others there. Ian had a nice plastic-magic kit (Revell???) Post war Japanese torpedo boat, 1/72 scale which JUST about handled the waves, however Johns new Footie sailboat was not performing. Mayhave been a bit gusty for it? however the foresail winch thread was catching on something and the rudder we thought could perhaps have had a bit more area, so work to do on that one.

Popped into Homebase to look for light blue paint (small pot) and lighting things and really pulled a blinder! How lucky..you will see the photos later on.

So..work needed on Sunderland (covered in leeches when I pulled it out) and a play with the new purchases!

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Have fixed a new prop on the Sunderland (ten seconds) and may tackle the issue of the engine cowls. They are card, and looked ok at first, but water splashing up from the props catching the sort of waves that a REAL Sunderland would not venture off the slipway for, has taken its toll over the years. I have spotted though, a thin see through plastic tube hiding in my overhead plank/tube/longthinstuff store that is only just very slightly larger than the car cowls, and four slices of this would go very nicely on the wings and be a permanent fix, besides staying round when wet.

The cabin sides are cracked and need supergluing and repainting. I have the Humbrol number for the green but do not have the grey one…

Spent most of tuesdays day off preparing display items for the forthcoming MEX show. Acrylic buffs up nicely on my buffer for the xxxxx to sit on, and the xxxxx to sit IN, and the xxxx to sit in between. New Blue paint fabbydozo.

Purchased more MDF and hardboard for more boats boxes to box up the newer crafty (Alvis) and Topgear ones.

May need some photos from the pond chaps later on, chat at the pond.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Saturday. All day making boxes for Hovervan, Toyboata, Herald and Alvis. Spent some time deciding how to fix spotlight stands on the show table when my eye caught a few bits of Dexion, which were the very thing, and once cut to length and welded crossways, look to be just the job. I need about 6 metres of three core flex now and lights are sorted. Display for Toyboata sorted and rather funny it is. Alvis last thing to sort display for and not sure yet on what to do. It will involve mud, but of what sort??

Now i have the boxes underway there is no way all the stuff will fit in the car for one trip, but Sandown is only 10 mins away so not an issue really.

Todays boating. LCT, the big one, and BFB3, with the BHA and LC(F) as spares. Blanket free area was ok if not quite so clear on top, but no actual weed issues. 5 fellow boaters down to enjoy the very warm sunny pond, and also a chap with a very large 1/12 scale narrowboat. His father made this, sadly no longer with us, and this worthy chap was a boater, his boats having been distributed to family members, no doubt one imagines to gather dust in a loft somewhere. BUt this chap (forgot to get name) was making the effort, and the narrowboat was afloat.

It had a geared MFA 540 in it, 2.5;1 as it looked to me, and a little 4 blade 40mm prop. This was no where near big enough, so I put on an X50 prop from my box and what a difference! The motor appeared to turn this with ease, and the turning circle diminished to become v reasonable. As a bonus, and on our pond, indispensible, the reverse worked a treat with the big prop. I bit of extra ballast at the rear cured the mild cavitation on turning..even with the new X50 on. Sorted.

Kris had a runaway fast`n`pointless which buried itself under the bridge…it COULD have gone into the bank, or it COULD have gone under the bridge through to the stream, but no, stuck under the bridge. We waited for the troll to chuck it out, but in the end yours truly had to get down and dirty on the deck to reach under. I have long arms. Salvage undecided yet, our normal forms do not cover this situation.

Next week Trevor has visitors who want to see his boats and he MAY break out the corvette again. I will have to go large…perhaps the Manchester.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 28/09/2014 19:07:39

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

The narrow boat has been spotted by Trevor on E-bay, which is a shame but there again someone who wants a canal boat will be well pleased with it. Only a new larger prop reqd and the rudder post had come loose/undone, but a simple fix.

Weather does not look good for tomorrow. I will be Invincible-ing and towing the t22 if not actually raining.

Have Blue emulsion and am spending quality time in the shed splashing everything but mostly MEX show boat boxes with said paint.

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Whats up with the narrowboat?

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

The narrowboat was part of the deceased fathers estate, boats were parcelled out to relatives. The chap we met with the canal boat is unable to keep it. There is nothing wrong with it, looked very nice, fibreglass hull. Everything finished off ok.

The person who purchases it will have a very nice boat to play with (just needs a bigger prop)

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Where to start on todays boating. I think it was a classic day.

The weather was fantastic…a bit nippy when I set of from darkest West Molesey, but very agreeable at the pond side. Good collection of boaters…7 of us I think. BUT not including the chap would lived locally and has purchsed that narrow boat…good man…and he should be down next week.

I had the Invincible and Devastation down…but not a lander..which I have been bringing down for small boys to use…and what was there there today?? yes, a small boy itching to smash something up..I mean..have a go.. and I had nothing safe to let him loose on. Bother.

The day started with Andy`s new small fast purchase. This has a self-righting feature (handy in Andy`s case) which ..er..needed more work, and having thrashed it good and proper before putting it in the water to make sure it worked…put it in the water whereupon it went (rather smartly, we agreed) up on the concrete jetty ignoring all and any commands from the hi-tech 2.4Gig set….mashed prop and tube.

NEXT. Peter brought down his large boat project, and very nice it is. Large…fast cabin cruiser sort of design.. a mere 4 1/2 feet long and .oooo..about a foot wide. We spent some time admiring the fantastic white gloss of the hull, the superb satin finish of the deck and wonderful Mahogany veneer on the cabin (boat unfinished as yet) and we oohed and arred over the large outrunner motor, and marvelled (and winced at the price of) the 65mm three bladed brass prop (from the Propshop) and

>>>>to be continued…

have to nip to the Chinese for a takeaway…the MRS has been to cub camp/weekend and as usual is exhausted and DEMANDING a takeaway. I said there were loads of fish fingers and oven chips in the freezer but this does not seem to cut the mustard.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

..at high speed going in reverse crunched into the concrete jetty (oooh that hurt)…no response to transmitter?? 2.4 T5 set. Trevor did not fare much better with a runaway Corvette (coupling shredded under the mighty power of his geared 850) , slipped rubber coupling on the LCM AND THEN, and not happened for a long time….his tug sank !! It seemed upon later closer inspection to have split a seam,,possibly having walloped the submerged log over by the "bay".

It seemed that some were experiencing issues with the safety cutout on 2,4G sets, Peter tested his magnificent (if slightly damaged) cabin cruiser by setting a slow idle on the motor, turned off the tx and it was a good 4 sec before the ESC cut out????

I had no issues on my 10 year old Futaba 27Meg set, I will tell you…

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I`ll put in my excuses now, but me and the lad are going to Amberley Chalk pits museum tomorrow so no boating 4 me !

Need a bit of astroturf or a fake lawn type doormat, for reasons not unconnected to the MEX.

Work coming on apace to civilianise one of my thee LC(M); Have made a new rear deck and conning tower, doing the re-paint and now need the civilians to be delivered from China before doing `owt else.

MEX stuff now mostly done apart from the Astroturf thing. Display boards for posters looking nice and tidy in their Blue paint job.

Cant think of anything else.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Amberley museum is great, I have visited several times. They have some fascinating stuff on display. Lovely part of the world too with the River Arun nearby. It is also a great walk from Arundel along the river and you can take the train back!

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I now have a gaggle of civilians for th "civilian" LCM ferry. They are a bit slim, however a proper 54mm tall, and theres a good amount of them. i have sat them down and/or propped them up on the main deck and quarterdeck (if LCM`s have such a thing) and it looks well populated. I need to get a couple of 1/32 cars now, Airfix models likely..A herald and an E-type or something.

Amberley very good. Only one stand with boats on, stuck one end of a big barn in the relative gloom. Lights on three of the boats, looked good.. standard selection of boats.. fishing, cargo, PT and something else.

Ashley.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sunday and what a nice day. I had HMS Hasty, MIdge and the lc(f). There was even a small boy who had a go on the lander!

5 of us down. Iain Had his hippo head down (and it makes us LARF), Andy something small and very quick Kris the usual yellow fast`n`pointless and foam hovercraft, and going very well it was.

Weed all gone! one very small patch in the middle, but apart from that a lovely clean pond! where does it all go eh?

Landing craft (ferry) almost done, passengers glued to benches, hull painted, tank deck reversed and painted "deck" brown. Oversize brass portholes glued on. Its a cracker! I think the people are just a bit small, but that doesnt detract from the look. It will will be a sure fire hit with kiddies and nice young mums!

Ordered a few lifebelts as they are a good interest/detail item and also need some tyres for the sides, or something.. I may spot something else in the garage, whatever.

off down the shed now to make a diorama base for the Alvis, as you do. Had a display idea at work, also as you do. Involves plaster of paris, chipboard, brown paint and some dark brown railway type scatter material.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

The lcm FERRY will make its debut tomorrow..if just lacking lifebelts and a drivers wheel. My instant signs have run a bit, some of them, but that will be next week`s task to correct.

It will be the Bushy Park Ferry Co, in case you were wondering. I am so full of inspiration and original thought sometimes it frightens me.

To accompany this wonder will be the HORNET and the LFM.. this was present at D-Day but obviously didnt get a sail..

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well. a bit brisk, but nice nonetheless. Ferry looked good. Shame about the signs. All need re-doing. Have not had an issue like this before, perhaps because I have sealed them first with a quick swipe of acrylic varnish..but on this occaision used eze-cote? LFM also going well.

6 of use down. Petes yacht caught on something which eventually mysteriously freed itself and then his fishing boat suffered a mysterious loss of motion later traced to a dodgy ESC battery supply issue. This lead to the surreal sight of a fishing boat being attacked by a large hippo and a croc. I may use the footage to make a B movie!.

Ashley

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

See!

Nice little ferry Ashley, just about right for your lake – but is that sign on the port superstructure really stating "no jumping"? I thought this was Bushey Park where flower power had it's day etc.

And my return/enter keystroke still jumps up to the beginning of the post, most annoying. (hit return here and)

Kimmo

PS think i've got the correct racecourse now! See you there

[Author]

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