Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Paul Gorilla glue is great stuff but expands while curing…this is fantastic for porus and uneven surfaces and great for Styrofoam, but not sure about veneer unless it was well clamped down?.

My surfaces are mostly flat, or at least, curved but flat of you see what I mean…no tricky shapes.

Contact adhesive has been mentioned by several people. I think I may try this with some "fake" veneer..or at least see how I get on.. I have the card prototype to "veneer" as a feasibility study.

Ashley

[Mark Jarvis 2Participant @markjarvis2]

HI Ash

You mention fake veneer, depending on the surface, in our size, fake veneer is far better to look at, the grain looks like the grand canyon.

You mention the taco didnt work on the u/j, try a white mark on the u/j, might not have been enough difference to trigger photo eye.

Mark

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

mark. We did not try very hard, so yes the next step will be some white lines.

You have a pint regarding the grain. i will have a look-see whats available, or choose a very fine grain veneer and if neccessaryu stain to get dark enough.

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ashley

The Gorilla that I have bought states No Foam and as yet I haven't seen any evidence of expanding even with un-clamped pieces.

Paul

[Mark Jarvis 2Participant @markjarvis2]

Ashley

Try the Fablon type stuff like Bob did with his Gentlemans cruiser, much more controlable, JUst dont strech it when you lay it out on your decks, It shrinks back when it gets warm. (guess how i know!!!!)

Mark

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Paul. I shall have to look and see what they do, gorilla, but I have a feeling that PVA will be the kiddy.

I will give contact adhesive a try, but the boat will have been built before veneering, and so cutouts and so on will have to be applied to get over the various pretuberances and I have a feeling that contact adhesive will be a bit difficult in this situation.

Unfortunately there are as usual a few variables to my build which will only become known upon water trails and may require extensive mods, thus veneering will have to take place AFTER the build, although that seems to be the wrong way round.

Mark. I did think about this but as above, may be a bit difficult. i am also worried about long term persistance with fablon??

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Charging batts now, Should be nice tomorrow. May bring Proj no2 for perusal and comments/suggestions (of the helpful kind).

Toyboata and Stalwart I think..and of course a "rescue" LCM..ferry probably.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sunday. 15 of us down, and 20 or so boats including a cutty sark square rigger and a Mississppi stern wheeler , most unusual. Wind a bit breezy for the two live steam paddlers though.very cold despite the sunshine. toyboata and Alvis going well.Unusually high waves, a bit larger than the normal high-frequency waves normally seen. Washboard on the Alvis had its work cut out!! Toyboata not faring quite so well due to the square front and i had to take it easy. Both "boats" dry inside afterwards though. The steam M1 sub perhaps wisely didnt venture into the water. . left a bit early to warm up despite the outbreak of fire on the Waverly.

Have ordered mahogany veneer for proj No2, seems to be fine grained enough and i like the colour. The original looks to be this colour, so….

I will probably go with PVA, as there is some shaping and coutouting to do to fit the various surfaces. I can also sponge any excess off around these holes and so on, so that I get an even varnished finish.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I have a nice roll of Mahog. veneer at home. I will have to bash on now so I can fit it. Looks to be a good match for the pictures so high hopes.

I have also had a sudden thought regarding building a Victorian paddle warship.

In a word….simplify. Wont be a mag quality build (possibly, see how it starts to look), just a simple hull and sprung loaded masts with quick disconnect rigging..nothing fancy. Solid backed paddles, as most of the wheel is hidden…and a few nice cannon on top.

I am expecting weed again this summer and would like to be prepared with a paddler to see if this is more weed proof than anything else.

Ashley

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

This Victorian warship paddler sounds interesting Ashley. Keep us posted with this one.

Your thoughts about using the paddler in in weed sound interesting, I was reading an American item (& plan) about a model side wheeler designed for shallow water and the designer states in the text – "it has such a light draught it could navigate through a heavy dew". Whenever my paddlers go through weed, it seems to get wrapped around the shaft – perhaps it's the 'wrong type of weed'.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tony. The design of paddles and clearances, depth of dipping and so on…perhaps this sort of thing needs some thought with regard to avoiding clagging up.

I will only be building simple paddles, so there will not be so much to snag on but you know how it is wih weed.

I will also be making the hull fairly deep to ensure stability as I hate putting keels on things. I think something of about 3 to 4 feet sounds good..perhaps larger rather than smaller. Carbon fibre may be a mast choice, and the sails will be furled in a "cleared for action" setting. I shall no doubt be turning some nice RML guns on the wood lathe.

BUT I have two craft to finish yet so wont be for a while. It may be that I work piecemeal on the boat between the SERIOUS projects, work on design and so on.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I am almost at the finishing stages of construction for proj no2, and may soon start veneering and varnishing (assuming it works ok !!!). I will have to make a lot of card templates first, as there are a lot of obstructions and stuff to clear.

Now. Whats best…sealing the veneer with sanding sealer and rubbing down, or using thinned varnish and snadpaper, before varnishing proper ??

Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Ashley
I've always just used the varnish (Rustins Clear Satin Polyurethane; Solvent-based), thinning all coats about 10% and rubbing down with progressively finer paper. I have a morbid fear of the filler in sanding sealer one day drying white under the varnish!
Dave M

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ashley

No short cuts when varnishing.

Its coat, rub down, coat, rub down, coat, rub down, coat rub down, coat, rub down, coat……………this goes on twenty four times.

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

DM and Paul. Thanks for that.

Thinned varnish sounds indeed the safe bet.

Paul, I will try but may have to tell porkies regarding number of coats. Unfortunately the boat does not have very large flat area to show off a surface like wot the barrel back does. I promise it will have a good fin ish. Scouts `oner guv

Sunday will be the day, sink or swim. if all goes well then the veneering will commence.

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Darn, I will miss the maiden voyage, a full vague report – with censored out photos, will be required.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I have a cunning plan . I am going to run the motor etc in a bucket of water just to test it out for a few mins of running with a load and bed a few items in so I can readjust anything that needs readjusting (dont forget this is an Ashley special, there is nothing ordinary about the propulsion systems !!!), and if it is not too bad weather wise MAY nip out Saturday early to try it out.

Boat is sitting a bit low in the water ,  and some rectification work is being carried out for this tonight, something I dont really want to have to do , as once in motion… nbx ncjfb sjs dgdfc  nbjbvj vhjb  and the lowness wont matter, but at rest the appearance would be enhanced by a higher position. I mean, no one will know what it is SUPPOSED to look like anyway, but thats the perfectionist in me .

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 30/04/2015 15:49:25

Edited By ashley needham on 30/04/2015 15:55:30

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

I mean, no one will know what it is SUPPOSED to look like anyway,

I do, Ashley…….I do. Could you use a smaller/lighter battery pack, perhaps? Good luck for Saturday, mate. It has to be your most offbeat model yet!

Dave M

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Me too, I live nearer the pond than Ashley and unfortunately will miss the maiden voyage.

No doubt there will be some tinkering to be done before dfiofhfo ndhdjd djhdjkd & sshsdjd though.

Looks like the "Ashley auto censoring" is working even if the ffkutna does not.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Unfortunately first test will be Sunday as today spent making/finishing the boats transport/storage box…at some stage you have to do it, and the boat now has all manner of sticky-out bits on it that need protecting.

I think eventually I am going to have to use a Lipoly battery for this one due to weight considerations. I will try it with a Nimh first of course. I will be using an ordinary 7.2V stick, and a 7.4 Lipo will fit handily, I will have some from Proj No1 in any case later on, and the motor and ESC will handle 3s ok. No secret, its a brushless motor..not giving much away there really, and used for weight and compactness considerations. If the drive had been more ORDINARY I probably would have used a brushed motor, but as it is…

Mention has been made on other posts regarding using hard or silver soldering for soldering mechanical parts together…rudders in this instance. I would agree with this in principle..obviously it is safer than soft solder and I would not disagree on this, but on the other hand, soft solder does the job and to be honest if you hit something hard enough that you needed hard soldering then all would be lost. As a thought, it may be better that the solder gave way and so there was not so much damage done to the rudder post and so on ???? I have never had an issue with soft solder, I make my own rudders using 5mm brass rod slit with the small bandsaw (makes this easy..its the devils job with a junior hacksaw). So saying I dont have any hard solder..but I do have plumbers solder which is a bit harder.

I am not poo-pooing the hard solder issue, just offering another viewpoint (usual disclaimer)

I have certainly whacked something underwater with a soft soldered rudder and the shaft bent. The small rudders mentioned in the post of course are a different matter. I have seen plans in MB that use epoxied rudders, that I am not sure of, but perhaps the same collison consideration applies there too…good enough unless subjected to extreme punishment.

No giveaways, but I was going to use some carbon fibre rod for proj No2, but this needed sleeving internally to glue something in, and its an odd internal diameter so I have used yer normal thinwall brass tube intead. As it will be painted it maked little difference and 4mm ally tube fits nicely inside the 4.97mm brass tube. Job done.

We (the lad and I) are going to the Bluebell railway next Saturday for their "southern at war" event. The lad has a set of (just post war) Khaki gear , tin hat and webbing etc. A couple of years ago we went and felt a bit out of it, as we were not dressed up in 40`s gear. This year the lad will be there with the uniform, and cunningly I have purchased a grey trilby (as they all wore hats then) and an LDV (local defence volunteer) arm-band! Instant 40`s gear..worn with my casual blazer, sleeveless jumper , shirt and tie…will look the business.

The LDV was the organisation thet became the home guard. Churchill wanted the LDV renamed the "home guard" as it sounded much better….defence of the home and all that. This met official opposition as several hundred thousand LDV armbands had been printed, and they didnt want to waste that money, but Churchy had his way and so it was. Much better eh ??

Ashley

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Ashley,

Further research shows your use of soft solder is perfectly good for scale rudders in a fresh water lake. If anyone sails their models on sea water then silver soldering or brazing would be required. For high powered multi race boats the rudders (such as the ones sold by Prestwich Models), are made from stainless steel with brazed or silver soldered joints.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Tony. Interesting stuff. I have only sailed my boats once on the sea and was amazed at how quickly the salt attacked the various parts, despite having taken a fresh-water spray along to deal with this.

Ashley

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

Posted by Tony Hadley on 01/05/2015 22:35:09:

Ashley,

Further research shows your use of soft solder is perfectly good for scale rudders in a fresh water lake. If anyone sails their models on sea water then silver soldering or brazing would be required. For high powered multi race boats the rudders (such as the ones sold by Prestwich Models), are made from stainless steel with brazed or silver soldered joints.

I do wish somebody had told me this twenty five years ago when I soft soldered my bit of brass sheet to the brass rod that I used for the rudder in my Lindberg trawler and went sailing it on Fleetwood and Fairhaven lakes (both salt).

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Posted by Malcolm Frary on 02/05/2015 10:58:3

sailing it on Fleetwood and Fairhaven lakes (both salt).

Malcolm,

The lake at Fairhaven brings back happy memories. Does the club still exist? I can remember sailing (as a guest) back in the 1980's. The sailing times I went to were on Saturday evenings in the summer months. From what I remember, the lake was a very large with model boats being allocated the top corner near the sea, this area was indicated by two marker buoys. Once one of my models sailed in error outside of the buoys, and a club official advised this area was out of bounds to model boats. He was quite ok about it and later said the club was a breakaway from the Fleetwood Club.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

You learn something every day!!

Not today though. After battling heroically with sundry items on Proj No2 that were being a bit wayward, and not having made as good a job (or at least, it wasnt as easy as anticipated) of hull mods (and it hasnt even been in the water yet!) rain scuppers play. The top has not been made yet so I dont want to sail it in the wet. B#m.

Possibly tomorrow if it is ok…a quick morning test, probably a power run and confidence check of the propulsion system

Ashley

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