Todays Boating

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Hello Ashley,

Thank you for reply , thank you for hints shall use hard board deck photo mount deck works and a little Ikea blind some ware ….and acrilic paints ……..Larry…

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Larry. My eureka moment was the ramp. Simply slit the deck along the side edge of the ramp and square at the top and jack up with bits underneath until the required slope is acheived, the box in at the sides. Flawless (made ramp seperate on the carpet carrier, as it was made from 1/4 ply and didnt want to bend so easily) BUT if using hardboard for the carpet version, cut, and wet/soak and poss apply some heat and bend/hold curved overnight… should then take the slope.

I would use solid wood for the carpet superstructure.. much more rugged, and easier to make..you have a bandsaw or circular saw?? small bandsaw a must.. not expensive from machine mart..

I would have a go if I was starting again, at making all the superstructure from fine Blue foam for a floating one..very light, very easy to sand.. takes a reasonable finish once sealed with acrylic varnish..cuts like a dream on a small bandsaw..glues with Gorilla glue, PVA or Araldite.

Sattelite domes made from hard expanded polystyrene balls, from craft shops… http://www.hobby has them, along with dinky little geared motors for helicopters and radar.

Ashley

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Hi Ashley,

I have a good suply of power tools and hand tools , dont for get i am a retired ,

joiner and ex building prodject manager, have all those tools you spoke of plus a good suply of timber ……….cheers Larry…

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Larry, OOps!! I will say no more, I have obviously have not read you profile..apols.

I am speaking to a hardened pro ! It is difficult keeping a track of who has what skills and/or tools.

Ashley (crams boat building in amongst a host of other stuff)

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Hello Ashley ,

I am still learing at 76 never to old to pick up advice ,….

at least you reply to and very nice to, ……..to posts and comments not like some other well know sites who seem to not to reply ……..it does not take much to say thank you………..Larry…

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Gahhhh!!! bombed out today.. a full quarter of the pond, and it was gathering around the conrete jetty.. was covered on that horrid bright green weed. There were clumps of it floating about and I judged it odds on that anyone out for any length of time would suffer a fouled prop.. followed by a boat driftingin the breeze to rest offshore on a weed bank. Sailed the carpet carrier for a few turns and retired.

Speaking of which, the carrier went ok, looked quite good and was more stable (although not a GOOD test today) than I thought. The stern (see snaps) is sverely cut up to allow the rudder and prop to be on a level with the bottom of the hull (so allowing it to be carpeted even with the hull on) and the rear flat is only just below the water. This, as I surmised has allowed a modicum of air to slosh underneath and so cavitate a little bit, but not too much, and as a by-product gave a good prop wake. BUT I put the thottle on a bit and the 10A fuse blew. I have an S45 prop on there to keep the current down, it being a 10-12A sort of motor, and MFA always specified an X50 on these…SO..I need to find one of my 25A ESc`s.. the one on there is 15A, which may do the job but might be on the limit.

It is a shame that I didnt make the under deck edge stiffeners thinner, say 1/2" square or even 3/8"..rather than 3/4", as the pronounced overhang that rather gives the game away now would be not so noiticeable..but then I didnt make it to be sailed, did I??

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

If the top view of the hull makes it look a bit bananery, it is..the top wasnt made for accuracy and I built the hull upside down to fit the top!! Other than that, I was quite pleased..unfortunately unable to sail with the invicible also in the car..and I was looking forward to getting the Fantome out to match against the Virgin Atlantic Challenger boat (at least for size).Next week??

Ashley

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Goog morning Ashley.

Looks good, pity about the weed , went out with my CHARLOCK tug to local park in

Bath had clear out coke cans plastic bottles poly bags before i put the boat in .

no respect for public places , what a advert for a park , Larry….

[wayne quigleyParticipant @waynequigley28540]

Ashley how do you seal agains water geting between the hull and the deck.on my boats I have always had the hull toped with a raised skirt around the access so any water that does go between the hull and deck has to go up over skirt

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

There is no seal, the hull has about 80mm of height above water. The deck has a 20mm overhang and the fit of this overhang on the hull is resonably good. I would not sail this one in very bad conditions, however a bit of water ingress would be quite ok, I could probably have a few pints in there before things got a bit iffy. the hull is large and the gear is off the bottom of the hull.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Fellow boaters. What a day., no weed and fabulous sun. AND a visit from our very own Colin! I knew who it was as soon as I saw the Rolls pull up. I only wish i could have a couple of good looking cheuferesses to carry my boats to the pond.

Colin bought down a trio of quite amazing Deans boats, one of which at least has been in the mag and one of which WILL be in the mag as a review, and for which I had the honour of twiddling the stick while pictures were being taken. I think that we may have got away with the swamping and bashing by taking pictures only on the starboard side…I hope the mud in the hull washes out ok.

Had rather a full car today, so that Colin could see and judge the merit of such craft as I witter on about.. Namely, The Illustious (carpet carrier), Invincible, Titanic. Nelson, Hasty and the A90 Ecranoplan.

The carpet carrier`s first full sailing was a success. Stability possibly better that the "proper" carrier, to the amazement of all, and adequate speed. Good bow wave, but I did end up with about a pint of water in the front two compartments due to the obvious lack of seal between the loose fitting deck and hull. Not a problem on a boat this size, anything electrical is situated at the rear and well above the bottom of the boat, rear end remained dry. I could counter this by keeping the speed down but you know how it is.

The Invincible now has the correct X50 props fitted and wow what a difference! The chuckability of the thing just has to be seen. It responds really well to the helm, has a bow wave you wouldnt believe and stops on an old 2 1/2 p coin. Fabulous performance (not sure what Colin thought of that, but..). However the important thing is it now stops very quickly, which it didnt do on the 3-blade plastic props. We had both of them out together at the end, something of a first, TWO carriers on the pond at once.

Right busy it was, Ray ,pete, Spencer, Tom and a couple more down. The grassy knoll was full of boats (mostly mine!). Colin stayed untill mid-day and said he had to go back for his roast dinner. We said it was very generous of him, but we were not sure we could do a full roast justice in this heat.

Ashley ############# this post contains adult humour #### pm me if unsure #####

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Yes, a very enjoyable morning and it was good to meet Ashley and his fellow modellers. When I arrived, Ashley was sailing his Titanic which I thought went down really well and I was grateful that he didn't throw me straight in th pond when I enquired which kit it was made from, it really did look that good.

Ashley is indeed the 'parfait modeller' being able to turn his hand to all sorts of different projects and is the only person I have ever met who has made a successful boat from hardboard. 'Less is more' is indeed his motto and he backs it up with some very practical lateral thinking. I enjoyed seeing all his boats but was particularly fascinated with his Caspian Sea Horror – sorry, Monster – which is really something out of the ordinary and performs most impressively.

In such Illustrious(!) company I felt that my little models did not disgrace themselves although the smallest one could have benefitted from a lift on one of Ashley's carriers to prolong the running time. I'm afraid that the latest one is still top secret until it appears in the Model Boats Winter Special but I was quite pleased with the performance on its first outing.

Bushy Park is a great venue and I will certaimly return!

Some more photos can be found here: **LINK**

Colin

 

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 19/08/2012 20:37:50

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Good morning Ashley

What a honour to get a visit from a bishop on a sunday , to leave his flck to to homage to your

merry band of boaters , i think he is called Colin..

i have started on the upper decks of carrier , using card see pics……cheers Larry…

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ah, Colin is too kind regarding the Titanic, he should have added "at a distance", but it does show what a bit of time spent doing the windows and portholes can achieve!

Perfect weather for the Ecranoplan, mirror flat on the water. I still cant get over the performance difference on the Invincible. Anyone with any doubts on the effaciousness of the humble MFA 800 and and X50 prop would do well to try one.Stonking pull.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Larry. Good start. IF you want to fit lights along the side , like mine, you will need a 10mm walkway on the left of the superstructure to stick them under.

I have shortened the superstructure by 1 1/2 inches to give the aircraft more room and make the deck appear longer, I may have said that already. E-bay for the sticky strip LEd lights, or Maplins just for a short strip. they run on 12v.

The green harriers with the orange canopies purchased from Toymaster the other week for HMS Carpet, are slightly LARGER than the Sea harriers, unfortunately, so take up a bit more room, or use less aircraft..Another thing to think of when laying out such heavy die casts on a deck is the balance. i think i had the completed ship in the bath and toyed around with various aircraft dispositions to maintain an even keel.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 20/08/2012 09:47:53

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

Thank you Ashley.

upper sub deck as all ready 15 mm over hang ,

my planes will be scracht built in basa and card ..

i used to build model air craft a long tlme ago in the midlands flew in a dispay team for JIM DAVIS MODELS , know as chippy in those days thanks again for info …….Larry..

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Larry, I have just noticed that you have a similar taste in building boards….a bit of kitchen worktop….almost the same as mine.

Although I just happened to have a bit left over from fitting our kitchen out, they do make a fantastic building surface..flat and, er, flat,,,, and ….flat…..

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Just possibly an instant build will be in attendance at the pond on Sunday..namely the sharks fin top for my sub. This is nothing more that a bit of 1/2 inch balsa cut to match the sub hull, a layer of Styrofoam on top (20mm) consisting of bits left over and cut artistically to cover, and the crowning glory..a shark fin.

Just glueing up now with Gorilla glue. Fin about..ooo…8 inches or so tall.Got a bit sticky as I had forgotten to cut a channel in the fin to fix a straw into (so poke the ariel up) and had to unstick, cut and refix..with a straw this time.

The top will be plain Grey primer, and I might be a bit artistic and "dry brush" a bit of black in the fin.

I plan to get there early, sail the boat into the middle of the pond and just cruise around in circles in the middle and see who notices. Will moor a boat near the jetty so it is not obvious what I am about. It was suggested I sail into the main pond and frighten the fishermen, but I dont know…..

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Just as long as it frightens those Canada geese away Ashley…. Incontinent avians!

Colin

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Jaws at Hoylake?……..Not the one standing up

Edited By Bob Abell on 22/08/2012 09:58:03

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bob. Like that. Very nice modelling. have knocked up the fin now. Toying with the idea of having a trailing shaft or flat bit of plastic or something with a small fin on the top at the end, to simulate the tail. This would give the illusion of size..BUT not so sure it would be convincing without a bit of side to side movement. Could have the trailing arm pivoted..but still would not get the gently waving bit.. Anyone any ideas?? (without adding servos of course, just some easy mechanical method)

Must be a way to get a gently oscillating movement?

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

HI Ashley,

I can see its not safe to into the water, so here are few pics of carrier . and a few photos of where i work on models , its old outside coal house ,5ft by 6/6 with 3 sided work bench space ,

also when the weather gets cold move indoors to converted back bebroom work shop come office .

Larry''''

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

I'm impressed by your bottomless pit of enthusiasm, Larry

Keep up the good work

Bob

[LARRY WHETTONParticipant @larrywhetton68737]

 

 

Hello Bob,

Thank you, if …i no you giving me a visit i would have tidy up a bit,……but as my old boss used to say

a tidy shop means no work out put…..….

Ashley a few more pictures, starting hull soon , will asking some silly questions,about bukk heads,

and drive chain cheers both Larry…..

 

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 26/08/2012 17:05:32

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I was there dead early and unleashed the fin in the pond. Rather fun, and I should have taken photos of people wondering if…

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