Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Yes you are all very norty and will get detention.

​I have ordered some steel u/j couplings off a well known on-line retailer and am going to re-engineer my wossisname red boat, the MFA one…minds gone blank as to make. It has a Graupner out-drive so its not quite straightforward to replace the bits.

I have glued in the motor from the ex Km Ecranoplan (as I have already said) and would sooner leave it there rather than break everything trying to remove.

​To this end, a double steel u/j will be fitted to the motor end, a single one outboard and I will get a 9 inch propshaft hopefully this will all measure up ok. It will mean that I will have better performance on 7.2V…or a 2s Lipo or even 3s Lipo, rather than my one and only 12v Nimh pack and 850 motor. It will enable me to take is for a spin, at a reasonable speed using any of the 6 cell bats that most of the other boats use.

​HMS Manchester uses 555 brushed motors on a 12v SLA, and again I may swap these for a pair of 35mm motors of suitable Kv to suit a 6 cell batt, ensuring commonality.

​Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Went to Farnham today with Trevor to a very nice model shop, full of…stuff.. Old stuff, second hand stuff and kits, big lumps of balsa and wotnot. A great trad model shop. UNFORTUNATELY 50 mins drive away, so not close. Some boats in the shop but did not detect any great maritime presence otherwise.

​Purchased a box of 1/72 scale A9 cruiser tanks, 3 in the box, easy assembly (the wheels and tracks are one moulding).. Great. Go nicely with the Vickers Independent, Matilda 1 and TOG2 I bought Berengar for Christmas….
(as you do)

Ashley nb. I may not need to go to the pond for boating, my garden looks wet enough to float anything in.

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Looking at the weather forecast it seems we may need to get the ice breakers dusted off !

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Bit of a blizzard here in Cranleigh tonight.

Colin

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Nice and mild up here Colin

Isn't the Latin for duck Quackum

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Last night some wet snow, no settling as wet underfoot. Cycled to dancing in a lull (handy). This morning….dry, 10 degrees…. small flurry just half hour ago.

Ice breakers…now theres a thing, apt did you ever get Brutus running….good icebreaker (that was the tuggy thing wasn't it??)

​Tried an icebreaker years ago, didn't have the right sort of ice….

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Ashley

The tuggy thing was Thor and it probably would make an ice breaker… it was certainly heavy enough, Brutus was the grey experimental axe bow that Bob built a few years ago.

Nice and bright up here int northwest the sun is glinting off the cobbles and the smog has lifted from over the mill.

Paul

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Paul. Ah yes, I remember now. Such a long time ago.

Coldish here, no more snow, dry. Shame. I was looking forward to deep snow and not having to struggle to `t workhouse !!

​Reading through Vic`s book. He says all model boats should be sealed inside, varnish, several coats. So that's that then, all my years of varnishing boats inside vindicated.
Ashley
 

Edited By ashley needham on 13/01/2017 18:59:26

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Horrid weather, rain rain and more rain. At least the shed is 100% dry now, and I have been beavering away on the DIY Ecranoplan.

Reminded once again how horribly soft Styrofoam is. Sanding just seems to put more dents in to be filled and these need more sanding and then filling….it gets to a point where the finish is reasonable and that's how you have to leave it, before you sand it all away to nothing. One thing that does help is putting Eze-Kote on after you have a good shape and then fill, so you stand a better chance of rubbing just the filler away ! Unfortunately as the DIY kit needs glueing together and then filleting and sanding, I am leaving the surfaces "slightly" unfinished as there is no point aiming for perfection when there will still be MORE sanding to do.

​Unfortunately the nose, the tricky bit, will be mostly shaped, but needs to be stuck on first in order to "blend" it into the body before optimising the final shape.

​The question of motor selection will be another tricky one,

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well well the next project has just suggested itself to me. It will be a sailboat of unusual design…and NOT the funnel-sail arrangement as featured in February`s issue. In actual fact the most unusual design feature may be the home-made hull, as I am not a sail person normally and the only other sailing vessel I have is the Herald which really doesn't qualify too much.

​It has been a bit cold lately as you will have noticed and I cant see much boating being done for a few weeks. Our garden pond is frozen so the park pond is bound to be solid.

​I have finished the Ecranoplan kit and sent it off, thus ending a short burst of a week or so`s activity in the shed department which was very enjoyable. Amazing what you can do as a retired person fiddling over a whole day, and not just at week-ends or an hour in the evening! I was reminded of the time difference for constructing a foam flyer rather than my original A90 Ecranoplan which was all balsa and thin ply and took a fair few months.

​Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

To warm you up!!

We zip up the local mountain the other day.

Shorts and T-shirt, 26 degrees with a view of Hobart with the Derwent river, including Prince of Wales Bay.

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Harry. Very nice. I feel warmer already.

You sure have some range on your transmitter boating at that distance!

Shorts?? Tee shirt??? what are they??

Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

The transmitter is OK (TGY-IA6), but, it is the dam eye sight is the problem!!!

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well as we all know the weather still does not rival Harry's.

​Actually went to the pond last week more in hope than expectation and despite the few days of relatively not-freezing weather the pond was mostly still frozen. HOWEVER, Trevor popped down with the DDR for a test (wot didn't happen) and his next project, and a good start to this one.

​Decided to test out the cheap polystyrene boat on the side stream and pleasantly surprised by the performance. ALSO test floated the test hull for the next project, which floated above expectation, but there was insufficient wind for even a short test.

​Fridge freezer has bust, and the floor underneath the thing is rotten so Thursday was spent replacing about 6 sq. foot of kitchen floor! Not difficult (as I built the extension in the first place, but had to use some valuable man-made board to cover the chipboard.

Ashley.

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

As it has warmed up here a bit (though not as much as Hobart) both watercraft will be back at the Bushy Park pond for another outing on Sunday – hopefully without ice.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

C U there. will have the HH and Terry. Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bit cold at the pond, sunny, no ice.

Project 5 performing well and stable even in the rising breeze. Terrapin totally unaffected by any sort of wind. It is a bit like an iceberg….90% of it is underwater.

​Trevor's project not performing as hoped after some re-profiling. It may be the loss of buoyancy at the front has offset the improved shape?? who knows. I believe additional Styrofoam under the hull will be tried now. His NEW project looking nice and just like the article/plan. Propulsion is to be altered from that on the plan due to a more modern alternative being available.

​A chap (sorry name has gone) wot has been down before turned up with a sailing (German it was thought) fishing boat, very nice, and a JUNK.
​The junk had been built from a MB plan…..mid 70`s I think he said, and there are two masts, which turn on servo control, and turn together, the sails are fixed with the masts. It was a smallish thing, not much more that perhaps mmm….14 inches, and sailed backwards very well. Occasionally it even went forwards!l. More work needed. Wonder how the original sailed? It was fun though, and has great clear blue film sails with white battens, very pretty.

One other chap there showing us how it sould be done with a brand new sailing yacht, out the box.

​Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well. I have just discovered an anniversary this month. It is 10 years ago to the month that I had a picture/article/something else in MB magazine!!

​At the time the editor was John Cundel, and I wrote in (as a readers letter with 3 snaps), regarding the first landing craft I made for Berengar (who was 7 then) and it was actually published in the Mail Boat section !

​Cheekily I followed this in july 2007 with an actual article on the rubber band boat I made, and then in 2008 an article on the Sunderland. Thus, the June 2008 issue also saw a change of editor when a new geezer, Paul……Frenzy, Fresher…or someone….. took the helm.

​I have since swamped the editor with the BHA, Toyboata, Ecranoplan A90, Herald, Lotus sub, KM Ecranoplan, Hovervan, Stalwart, Terrapin and in the pipeline the p************. BESIDES having Colin taking a couple of odd articles. In between this lot has been the Titanic, HMS`s Glorious, Nelson, Invincible, Midge, Hasty, Loads of landing craft, a couple of big fibreglass MFA boats, a hydro cat, the BFB3 and several other things that don't readily spring to mind.

​Where will it all end?? Will I finally run out of interesting things to make and have to make a tug fishing boat cabin cruiser something boring?

​NOT LIKELY! 4 more devastatingly different craft have already been made and waiting better pictures (its difficult taking good pictures of some of them at these speeds) and on the back of MB this month something a bit slower is planned. They come along these things, out of the Blue.

Will I be here in another 10 years????

​Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Oh yes….and the HMS Argus, Oberon, Devastation, Foam flyer, German lander….

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Carpet carrier, converted toy USS New Jersey….converted LCM into a ferry….

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

and that was while you had a full time job !

I could also mention a few more but won't.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Not sure I will be boating tomorrow, its a bit freezing cold.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well of course you cant keep a good man down, and today was project no5 and the big landing ship. Lovely day at the pond, several others there so that was nice.

​News from our esteemed editor gratefully received Friday, and wow! yes indeed. Fantastic. Thanks very much.

​had hoped to take some photos today but the light was not quite right. Bright but the pond was not a good colour (reflection from sky). I really must think of these things during the week, Project No5 is bike-able:, compact and very light.

​The project mentioned in the last few posts is going to be a very long job, not so much in the building department, but the "getting it to work" department. I shall have to build something else to keep myself occupied.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Have fitted a 2200Kv motor to project no1. It fairly whizzes the prop round on a 3s batt. Tip: do not get your thumb near a spinning prop as it hurts (and there is blood everywhere). Nuff said. Dolly bandage on, full recovery expected in a week.

On the plus side, the thing now works a treat, work still needs to be done on the motor prop combination as the meter says 24A current draw, for about 250 watts…motor spec says max power is 324 watts…seems like a very large draw from a 28mm motor? The issue is of course battery life and run-time. I cannot accommodate a decent size battery due to the design and am a bit stuffed. 250 watts is more than sufficient, and I am wondering if a 1740kv Turnigy aerodrive motor would do, it is rated at 300watts and may just fit the bill. Previous motor of 1500Kv was less than half this power…I wonder if it was spinning the prop fast enough? its a challenge…only been making this one for 18 months.

​Boating on a bike this Sunday as the Mrs has the car for a cub event. Several boats to choose from, all baggable and in protective boxes. A lander is of course the favourite choice being light, compact and virtually detail free for robustness. Will see.

​Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

LC(F) today, in long builders bag, transmitter in bike pannier, easy. No friends to play with, BUT

a chat with the chap who gave me the Vic Smead boats book. He had fished up a go-fast boat washed up at the side of the pond a while ago, upon inspection it was clear why it was at the bottom of the lake….the water cooling outlet was inside the boat. The hole it was supposed to poke out of was not evident…it was an RTR so a manufacturing fault….image the day. Plop! New boat in water…shove the throttle forward….and it get lower and lower in the water…before you know it,,,it sinks.

​Did I want it he says (as he doesn't.)..of course why not…motor and esc likely ok, sundry other bits useful and if the hull is of a decent size it may be worth reviving!

Ashley

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