Todays Boating

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

That's a good point.

I had exactly that problem on a varnished railway carriage that I attempted to "enhance" with a cellulose matt sealer. It went into a gloopy mess and I had to start from scratch.

The transom was, once the veneer was peeled off, completely unsealed ply, so the sealer was going on just wood.

I might be down Sunday, so if you have some doll figures to try for size that would be very helpful!

Thanks!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

This Sunday will be wheeled boating; Toyboata, terrapin, Alvis (plus the usual lander of course). Dolls loaded in transmitter bag for size matching if reqd.

​Thursdays tinker time great success. 110 Gm of keel weight makes such a difference to project 5 or is it 6? without affecting performance such that you would notice.

​Motor mount on project 5 or is it 6? appears to be coming unstuck, probably due to flexing of the thin 0.8mm ply. I think I will add some stiffeners in this area.

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Blimey I was there and I'm confused which is which !

Sub checked out and working (at the moment), ready for a dunking on Sunday.

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

I had a nice hours motoring on Sunday morning. Thanks Ashley for trying out the figures in the wavemaster.

The Wavemaster transom showed a small amount of water staining in a couple of places, so I will rub down and add more varnish I think.

The ex-ToysRus speedboat continues to perform adequately – but the geared-down setup is, for me, rather noisy. I have got an MFA 380 motor that I think would make a nice powerplant direct drive. Just need to work out how to mount it.

I also seem to have won a small river tug boat off ebay Sunday night. Went for a bit more than I'd have liked but still under £50. Needs a receiver and speed controller. Hopefully this will amuse young William as he seems to prefer slower boats, ironically. Bet I'll have to put a water hose/pump on it……

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Judging by the action on (and under) the pond some bumpers would be a good idea too.

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

that's why I want something slower like a tug boat.

MInd you Toy-boatas chasing landing craft around just encourages them!!!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

It had to be done.

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

My boys were very impressed with the Submarine on Sunday BTW – the fact that it was actually a proper sub, and went underwater was of great interest.

Water is nice and clear at the moment – when does the weed usually appear at Bushey Park?

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

The submarine was reasonably easy to make and could be made even easier with a few deign tweaks. It also uses two channel 27meg radio. Build it with 4mm ply and you should not have to worry about young hands bumping it on the pond bottom.

Would make a nice childs Christmas present.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Yes Trevor's sub is very impressive. Even more impressive is the hatch seal, simply a bit of J-cloth and Vaseline¬!

​Weed. No set time for appearance. Possibly might not get very bad this year?? or worse than last year? or….?

​THEN you will need a weed-free boat, or some sort. Will bring Hovervan down this Sunday coming. Always good for a laugh.

​Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

I've had the plans since December '81 when it was in Model Boats magazine but had delayed because it needed 3 channel radio.

Since building it the front hydroplanes do not make any difference so two channels is enough as it just slides under the water on very little throttle then bobs up when stopped.

The BRIGHT orange just adds to the fun.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Todays task is to make clear acrylic (or may be Perspex) stands (3) for the flock of seabirds.

​We need a group photo by the pond. Unfortunately a group sail-past is just too difficult given the poor low-speed characteristics of the boats.

​I have a sheet of some clear plastic…its a bit grubby but will clean up ok, and I will polish the cut edges on the buffing wheel.

The shed, with its new insulated roof has actually been quite cool over these last few days…a pleasure to work in.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Todays boating will be Hovervan, Sunderland and ferry. Batts charged. Nice looking day out there.

​Acrylic abandoned as being too thin. Cylinders of drainpipe painted pale cream and covered in sand look good, and will blend in with the concrete jetty.

​Project seabird has had its motor mount and floor strengthened. The thin ply floor was flexing under the enormous load put on it by the 1000 BHP brushless motor and cracking the glue. More glue and ply strips added. Its all nice and still now ready to by upgraded to…..oooooh….at least 1500 BHP I reckon.

Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

1000BHP???!!!!! Surely some mistake…

DM

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Dave

I better check my motor box, I sounds like one of motors is missing!!!!

Harry the Lakarrin

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Check your garage, Harry – someone's taken the Veyron out for a spin.

…..and "Lakarrin"? Is there something in the air today?

DM

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

DM. Sorry… I meant 100 BHP

​Harry of course uses motors that develop MUCH more than 1000 BHP….

​Todays boating…..as it looked a bit windy and as threatening rain (when I looked out the window and typed earlier it DID look nice)….so changed to HMS`s Hasty and Midge, as these are both weatherly boats….and of course still took the ferry, which is fun in a bit of a breeze.

​Graced by the presence of Andy (no see for tooooo long) and Ian and Peter. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it was called "awesome" by a small boy) the croc propulsion unit was playing up (what a shame). Ian had his backup MINION down, which is always a crowd pleaser, at least, if you are under 8 yrs old.

​Peters beautiful big cabin cruiser saved the quality day, with a massive brushless in it, probably actually approaching 1000 BHP, a nicely done machine unfortunately featuring DOLLS….but you cant have everything. It is an effortless performer…big and quite silent, going from zero to warp 8 in about a millisecond, such is the grab in the water of the big prop. I hate him.

Hasty was good. Very fast….some would say over scale speed (is there such a thing???) and shipping only a very small amount of water. The turtle bow certainly earns its keep, and you can see just how it works when traversing the wake of large rude boats wot pollute the pond with waves of UNBELIEVABLY large (scale) proportions. Just as well as there are not many large waves to be seen on the pond normally.

​Next week the…probably the hovervan and a selection of flying boats. I may try these craft out with a Lipo and see if there are any gains to be had.

Larry… check you spelling please.

Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

I think it's time for a large JD and a lie-down in a darkened room…………….you lot can please yourselves.

DM

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Dave

Sorry, traded the Veyron today and ordered the new Ford GT40 2017 in red of course!!!

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Harry…no…not the Veyron!!!

Any time is JD time!!

​Pulled out the battery location strips on the Hasty, as these were specifically for a compact 6 cell Nimh, and put in longer ones so any battery will fit. Have gradually been modifying all the boats similarly where possible. Some, like the Terrapin, can only use a compact type, others only the standard stick…pontoon boat, say. Why did I make some of them battery specific in the first place???? A good question.

​Most of the batteries have Velcro wrapped round them, so physical restraints are not so important, however a few craft are very sensitive to battery location (unstable!!) and need a proper little box affair.

I must try the flying boats out with Lipo`s, or at least the BHA and BFB3 which have speed 400 and speed 280 motors in respectively and should be ok on 8V. The Sunderland motors I have no idea what they are rated for, and as there's 4 of them and the wiring is buried in the wing I think I will stick to Nimh's.

​As an aside, welded up Berengar`s "office" chair as the back was in a state of collapse. I cut the plastic away but there was no hope of a mechanical fix, hence the welder. The bits were of a substantial thickness and the welds look really good…its nice to have something with a bit of meat to weld together rather than tagging together really thin stuff.

Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

Other battery sizes, Turnigy 1000mah 3s (75X33X19)89GRAMS, TURNIGY 1500MAH3s(80x34x25) 113grams and zippy compact 1300mah 4s (77x34x31)150GRAMS.

We also used these in our old portable drills to replace dead Nicads(last for ever before a recharge).

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Todays boating…ie, what I did today, the whole essence of this thread.

​I went to the park to play with my boats. Specifically…The Sunderland, the mighty HOVERVAN, the Devastation and the big LCT.

​It was windy and the Devastation was chucked in the car boot in case it was TOO windy. As it happens it wasn't TOO windy for shorty or Hovervan.

​Chris was there with HMS Daring, 1/96, with much improved paintwork…IE, most of it is now painted!! Deck a dark blue, apparently right for a period of its service and it looks nice, different. Also his anchor handler, which was going well on its geared windscreen wiper motor (and even better after the starboard side propshaft was reconnected….

​THE MAN Noel was down for a fleeting visit with boys and the captain of his ship. He had a new e-bay purchase, a tug, of the river variety I think. Cavitating horribly even after 600gm of lead was added, and cured by the swapping of the 40mm 3 blade brass prop for a twin blade 35mm plastic prop. Almost doubled the speed and almost got rid of the cavitation.

​The NELSON battleship, or at least its sister Roddas also sported a funny deck colour for a period, in that the cammo pattern was extended to cover the deck. I must say that I was tempted to do this but decided it would look tooo funny despite being correct.

​I may have a go at making another Devastation, this time a bit bigger and of a better scale shape. I love those Victorian black battlefleet ships.

Well, a nice cool bottle of beer awaits, as reward for my exertions cycling to Sunbury walled garden to play wi` `t bass band this afternoon. Hovervan STILL on the lawn drying (it gets so wet)

Ashley

[Ian JopsonParticipant @ianjopson21383]

Instead of another 'Devastation' why not try the very similar HMAS Cyclops? I have a beautiful set of plans, including interior detail, and a book about her – and she's still around – though not in good condition, apparently!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ian. Thank you for that and a very valid comment I must say. I believe Cyclops exists as a deteriorating wreck in a harbour somewhere in Oz. Yes, I should make something else and there are loads of others to model, however my Devastation really ISNT a Devastation at all, I just call her that. Cyclops would be a good subject, and was a forerunner of the coastal defence ships I believe.

​There is a lot to choose from. The Peruvian HUSCAR might even be a better subject as she still exists as a museum ship. A survivor of a really bygone age.

​D K Brown`s series of books on British battleships sail-to-Vanguard makes fabulous reading, and adequately shows that the Admiralty of the day just did not know what to do. Technology was advancing at such a pace that NO ONE knew what sort of ships to build, what they should be armed with and what sort of battle they might fight. The few ironclad engagements were studied and pored over and in a lot of cases, had the wrong conclusions drawn (i.e ramming as a tactic). From warrior in 1860 to Dreadnought in 1906….what a pace naval architecture and technology matured. Gosh.

Ashley

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

Thank you Ashley for the loan of the prop for the tug! It's a funny little tug that just needs a few bits of detail to finish it off, and a bit of ballast too. When you have these secondhand models you always wonder their history, I mean did I it always have that prop and always run badly, maybe that's why it ended up on eBay….

The wavemaster ran well, especially with its helmsman in place….. but the plywood keel/prop holder bit has absorbed some water and de-laminated on one side so that looks quite a big job to fix. When I finished this old kit off there was lots of dried out old plywood that had blown apart, I thought I had sorted all of it with copious PVA usage but clearly not. At least the varnish on the transom hasn't stained so I've got that bit sorted.

Wife very impressed to be recognised as the captain!

 

Noel

 

Edited By Noel on 02/07/2017 20:33:06

[Author]

Posts