Todays Boating

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ashley

Project 6 is fabulous and takes me back to the fun filled summer holidays of the late 1960s. You are to be commended for keeping alive the excitement of unusual builds.

Well done and thank you.

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Thanks for that Paul. Proj no6 went like a dream today, much better than I thought it would in all departments, but I nearly lost it in the middle of the pond whilst trying a 3s Lipo out to improve performance. Almost had another sub.
There are some things that u just cant use a 3s battery for, I can tell you.

Painting now it all that's left. will take a while, always does.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well I suppose it didn't take THAT long. Almost done, another coat on the bottom and that will be that. I have also made the box for it and the boat (as that's what this one is, unusually) fits extraordinarily well in it without the usual chocks and foam bits.

​I will be re-trying this out tomorrow despite the likely cold, as long as it don't rain, camera at the ready, Snaps from last week were oddly a bit fuzzy, not v bad but not crisp. Didn't matter as it was not painted then. Probably also an LCM as usual. Andy C…how are u getting along with yours???

​I have also struggled with windows and glazing. Windows is something I shy away from as it usually involves the scroll saw, which is heavy to retrieve from the end of the bench and bounces up and down in use, but when you need it, it is the tool for the job.

​Oddly enough it was used only yesterday as I have made a stylised art-deco ocean liner…a copy of a ceramic ornament, to be moulded on styrene. There were several "waves" and smoke from the funnels to cut and I could not get the tight curves in the MDF without using the scroll.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Today a bit nippy but very bright and sunny.

​I am afraid to report that a young swan has viscously attacked Iain`s Matchbox (I don't think its a Matchbox but cant remember what it was) corvette breaking several bits off it, not bad, but the crew were shaken up, and a bit slow on the Bofors. Iain says he will have his Hippo out next week….

Trevor had an exciting creation down but alas despite being ok in the bath yesterday it failed to fire up today. The eSC sat there bleeping merrily doing nowt. The tank was excellent though, just too late for the swan assault.

​Proj No6 down and going well, lasted ages on the one batt. Is safe from swans as there is very little to break off it, and for another reason wot shall remain secret for now. It also performed creditably with a bit of breeze on the water which is always good.​Have just finished the final coat of paint on the hull.

Devastation also in for a repaint, namely re-varnishing the deck with a satin finish and painting the hull sides in matt black and turrets as well.

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ash

Could project 6 and its novel method of propulsion be considered as a hazard to swans?

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Absolutely not. I am a responsible boater and always keep an eye out for the wildlife. The loud noise and incredible thrust produced by this novel propulsion method ensures the wildlife keeps its distance , or is thrust into the next pond.

No wildlife was harmed n the making of this vessel. My finger hurts though…..

Ashley.

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Disappointment at the pond – the throttle channel needed reversing !

Simple case of RTFM, although no manual at the pond.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

It is a nuisance that, those aircraft esc only want the throttle the right way round. shame…

Next week?? or indeed sometime during the week!!! (not weds).

​It is getting to the time of year when you simply need to get to the pond, turn the boat on and play, all this experimental stuff gets too cold on the old digits.

​Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

PM'd

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

First test of Trevor's jet cat promising. It is the first example I have seen when adding weight makes the boat faster!! It appeared that the high nose up angle initially was affecting the jet performance, and adding weight to the front helped matters in that the jet exit was then mostly above water and more efficient. Learn something every day!

​I have a couple of high-speed ferry models, powered by those little single aa battery torpedo units, likely advertising things…about 8 or 9 inches long, and they would make really great small jet unit craft if made a bit bigger of course. I would like to see if you could get a good "look" on the pond by having flat sides and no physical detail at all, just having essentially stickers on the boat…printed windows/logos and so on. Certainly these small boats just have stickers and look ok….?

​Tried Devastation (as this was the rescue boat, not needed) with the props reversed to turn outwards, but this had little effect (the boat goes nose down with throttle) other than a decrease in rudder effect. The rudder has little effect anyway being between the props, its one of those things to do, make a larger rudder.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I didn't go boating last week as of course it was Remembrance Day and I was attending a service, playing as it happens this year in Redial !

This week it is dark, windy and currently spitting with rain, so will give it a miss, cant see things improving any.

​This weeks boatbuilding is concentrated on the Titanic`s box. This is far too heavy and solid, and was designed for show as much as simply storage. It is 2 inches taller than it needs to be, so I have scrapped it and am making a new one….18mm ply base, hardboard sides/top.

​This will accomplish two things: one, it will fit on different shelves easier and two, will make carrying the thing much easier, leading to improved sailing rates, hopefully.

​On the last outing of the Midge, she cut out three times, cause not apparent at the pond. I have had a better look and there is nowt to see! I re-seated the various connections and pulled the ends but all is well. I think I will change the Tamiya connector on the ESC to a Deans….this will match all my batts and will not need a converter lead, another source of unreliability.

​I have very few craft will complicated wiring. The Alvis is probably the worse for spaghetti, as there is barely room under the rear cargo deck for the stuff and everything is jumbled up, made worse by having a P94 Action mixer ESC and a power board which requires more wiring than simply using one ESC with BEC. Unavoidable here as the thing has no rudder and so has to have prop steering. One other craft has differential control but uses aircraft ESC for lightness and a V-tail mixer, and on this one there is plenty of room.

​I should really finiosh something I started years ago, the Turbinia. The hull is done, propshafts in……the big decision is on the motor front…brushless nowadays due to all the props, and weight of course, but will mean 3 ESC….can I gang that many together on a split lead on one channel?? I suppose so….?

Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

The hull is done, propshafts in……the big decision is on the motor front…brushless nowadays due to all the props, and weight of course, but will mean 3 ESC….can I gang that many together on a split lead on one channel?? I suppose so….?

No reason why not, Ashley. These modern gizmos take very little current to run themselves, but you MUST remember that you'll then have three ESCs all wanting to feed power to the receiver via BEC, so you MUST disconnect the thin red wires on two of them. **LINK**

18mm plywood base for a model case?? That is heavy, dude. I use nothing thicker than 6mm MDF on a 19 x 19 PSE softwood frame. Works a treat, but then again my models are never more than 36" long!

DM

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Dave. I only had hardboard and 18mm ply in a four foot size. Running short on my wood stock. The base is only 7 inches wide, so not quite so heavy. All my other boxes are generally 4mm ply or poss 6 on the base.

​Point taken on the BEC issue, know about that, have your very nice clear diagram in the electricals box to remind me. It is so easy to take the red pin out using a scalpel to push the tang.

Ashley

[Dodgy Geezer 1Participant @dodgygeezer1]

I tried to persuade him to use Correx TwinFlute, which is self-coloured, waterproof and pretty much weightless – but to no avail…**LINK**  

Edited By Dodgy Geezer on 20/11/2016 17:46:38

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

DG. Nice one. BUT I think the MinTanic may be a bit heavy. Good tip on joining that funny stiff foam stuff.

​Its Christmas soon and also soon will be arriving all those nice stiff AMAZON boxes…perfect for making small-boat boxes (I like the triple row corrugated personally).

​You can`t have that much foresight, but a full 10 or so of my boats/things could have had all their boxes made a similar size or at least height, for ease of stacking

I have seen big-band music desks made from Correx though, and not only that but they print your logo on the front as well….a band I have seen had these, and they packed them up in a jiffy (that's a short time not in a jiffy bag) and the whole bands worth in special bags took up little room and was demonstrably light.

​I have had my twin-sided wooden (3/8" ply) front row sax stands for 30 years now, and they have only had one repaint (besides the odd touch-up), and at 10 paces look like new. The other thing about the Correx ones is their stability with a pad of music and lights on top, with little weight underneath?

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Regarding the Turbinia…there are three 30mm props on each shaft….anyone like to hazard a likely speed to turn these at?? will they "get in each others way"? I would be looking for fast, not VERY fast, just a good speed… boat 4 foot by 5 inches, light. 35mm outrunners??? I don't want to but more batteries, would like to use existing 7.2 packs, doubled up.

​50mm motors all look very powerful and ampy. I was considering 35mm 900Kv motors. Not a great shaft speed but there's 9 props to push it along !!!

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ashley

The EDF jet boat in your album looks like my design Wetjet, which was my attempt at airpower for thrust ! It looked fast but needed more horse power, I used a brushed 480 motor and a Womotec fan + Nicads, I hope your clubmate gets better performance with brushless & Lipo's ? Also a careful balance between wetted area & weight & thrust.

Regards Ray

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Ashley

For what it's worth I'd go for the smaller motors, too.

Dave M

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Someone has drawn my notice to several unconventional designs just lately, two of which have caught my eye, and with modern technology should be eminently do-able.

​Before this however. I shall have to build , over the cold winter months, the Mantua Victory kit wot the chaps at work bought me for a retirement gift. This has a lot of unfeasibly small pieces in it, loads of planks (what for??) and a bunch of BBQ skewers (also what for??). Oh dear. Any hints and tips appreciated!

Boating Sunday hopefully . last two projects and a lander. 3rd project if feeling brave and theres no wind.

​Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Any hints and tips appreciated!

E-Bay it and buy something you really want with the proceeds. Planks are generally for the planking and BBQ skewers are for ritually burning the thing when it's finally driven you mad. You are not a maker of static models, Ashley. 'Nuff said.

DM

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Today is a bit grey but I shall be out there with No5 for a blast (hopefully not an ACTUAL blast!).

DM, yes that's what I should fo but the chaps will want to see it built…

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Buy an old built one off Ebay then – they won't notice the difference.

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 27/11/2016 11:26:15

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

We will see.

​However, today… a bit cold, a strong breeze, but No5 going ok, until the very end when it was blown over. I had thought it was going ok up till then, appeared to be handling the wind ok, but. Ballast springs to mind, but the ballast may be better found in a bigger, heavier battery, of more volts, so that the increase in weight is offset by the increase in power. There is a bit of a keel on it, perhaps I will extend this to resist the odd strong gust. There is some torque reaction due to the power plant and I may/should counter-ballast this first and see how it goes. The problem may be that I simply built the thing too lightly!

​Proj No3 or is it 4? went well and showed no signs of instability at all, in fact, it corners at top speed dead flat. It is affected by the strong wind inasmuch as it goes better with it or across it rather than against it, but don't they all, AND not for the usual reasons!

​Trevor had the jet cat out, and with the amended ballast at the nose was performing really well considering the cost of the two cheapo jet units was about £16. Look very nice when painted up. His tug appears to be leaking at the stern, and we think it may be a joint. The boat was constructed from sheet styrene and I am not overly sure of the longevity of such stuff regarding all the glued bits. I know in theory that the solvent glue "welds" the plastic to become one homogenous whole, but…..

​Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I did have another thought about No5: The battery sits side to side, as the frames make a perfect battery holder, BUT I think the battery would be better lengthways, as I had originally intended, to keep the weight more central. I have put a centre run in, Velcro`d on top to hold the battery in place. I will try it out Sunday with three different Nimh's (7.2, 8.4 and 9.6V) to see how we go.

I don t want to add a larger keel or add ballast if I can help it.

​Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Sundays boating will have to be a bit brief as have to escort the lad up to Euston to get a train to Rugby, where he is off to a Jaguar Landrover course, part of his apprenticeship training. Its a bit of a step travelling that far north of Watford on yer own for the first time.

​Unless there is ice about I shall be trailing some stability mods on Proj No5, namely the larger battery located lengthways and will have some lead strip to tape to the keel as an alternative experiment, although I would prefer not to add bits externally.

​As the keel is 5.5mm thick there is the possibility of adding an extension which would be invisible after a repaint, or even adding a small thin ply/lead sandwich to the bottom, which would also be invisible after.

​Its funny really. I was worried that the boat would be too heavy for the aim of the project, but to find it is too light !!

Ashley

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