Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

A while ago I found the Hydroglisseur being discussed on a n other forum, )not mayhem) and have decided to join this group to post a few words of wisdom concerning the model and my findings (they were wondering about this and that).

​The site covers cars, boats, aircraft and you name it. It is so big it seems easy to get lost, and browsing for anything either specific and/or interesting could be a days work.

Which is one of the reasons I like this website, it is user friendly and easy to use.

​Be interesting to see how long it is before someone notices my post, as the last comment on the thread was April 2017 when they saw the small snap of the Farnham that PF put at the end of the Pontoon boat article…and on this subject they didn't say how AWESOME the pontoon boat was ??? or perhaps they didn't like it.

​Ashley.

Edited By ashley needham on 16/02/2018 22:07:30

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

American-based, is it?

DM

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

DM. Yes. Quite a discussion on Farman airboats, as the company made several different models. No series production as far as I can see, just one offs I assume for advertising. It is possible that the colours chosen for the Hydro (red and cream) were the Farman company livery colours, as suggested by one chap, but this is uncertain.

​I wish I had used a slightly darker cream for the boat, but all the other spray colours were just a bit too dark, or a murky light-brown. It IS off-white/pale cream, when viewed against a sheet of white paper.

ALSO…. plinth ready for worship when we see the item at the pond ……..!!

Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

ALSO…. plinth ready for worship when we see the item at the pond ……..!!*

(* I have sold my original 1/16 scale Huntsman 31 to a chap who works in Merton and lives in Ickenham, hence Bushey Park is the ideal place for him to sail it).

I should hope so, too! Polish your shoes, press your trousers and clean your teeth. Having done all of that he'll probably never show up!
Vincent told me that he has one of the very first Modav H31 46" kits which was part built by his father, and he wanted a decent reference to be able to complete it. Apparently his Dad was a precision engineer and had all but finished work on a 4-cylinder 4-stroke motor to power it. If it ever gets finished then that will be worth an article on its own.

DM

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I should say so. It would be a shame that he will have to travel miles to sail it somewhere, I/c not being allowed at Bushy.

As a young(er) person, I used to see loads of I/c boats on the big lake, and we used to enjoy watching them trying to start them with long bits of string and getting all hot and sweaty, only for them to conk out when placed in the water!!

​Batts charging. Will be Sunderland and carpet carrier (plus an LCM of course). The port No1 engine is weak….it goes round but you can feel it is not as feisty as the others. I would like to change them for something with a bit more grunt, but small high power dc motors are rare nowadays.Possibly a Graupner speed 320, as they are of the flat cased style and should fit in the cowls without to much trouble. I do have some spare motors so could change the duff one.

Trevor, I will bring the flock tomorrow as the possible photo opportunity was missed. We will get some better snaps this summer.

​Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

OK will bring the bird cages.

Dragonfly and tug ready.

Hampton Court half marathon tomorrow may clog up the car park though.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bit parky today. Our pond at home is frozen, second day in a row so I am expecting ice at Bushy? or not you never know,. I will be there 9.30 ish for those wanting to bash some ice (or not).

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Def a bit parky, and no takers for a bit of sailing. SO had a pleasant hour bashing up some ice (there was not much of it really and it was thin) using the jolly old large LCM.

​ A consideration for ice breaking is having brass props, as there was a disconcerting amount of crunching noises coming from the thing when in the ice. both to ensure you had some blades left intact and to give a good reverse thrust… Rudder protection is also something to be worried about, esp in reverse .

​I need to re-finish the hull, there are some possibly small splits ion the side, grain opening or something, which probably just need sanding and re-painting, and I might paint under the waterline with resin to forestall any other issues. All the other landers, including the big one are ok?? so I don't know why this one is different. It is not bad, mind you.

​Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

Would the blades from old electric blenders work as ice breaking blades ?????

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Harry. Probably, but what would the park police say when they saw a duck mincer spinning on the front of a boat!!!

The issue is the ice, it is not scale. When it is thin almost any boat will break it, but when it gets thicker, no model is heavy enough to do the job. I tried some years ago and made a quick hull, with a big geared prop on it and a steel thin ice breaking prow, but despite neing RTEALLY heavy, STILL didn't do the job.

​Its too much effort for the few weeks we get when there is ice about.

​Ashley

[Mark Jarvis 2Participant @markjarvis2]

Don't know about your end of the country, but, there are 3 brass monkeys on the corner singing soprano !!

Regards

Mark

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

Nice double cooked duck burgers in bread would de-cop the park police.

THE WAY TO A MAN'S HEART IS HIS STOMACH !!!

If the mincer was under the boat, you can say it's a new drive system you have design !!!

Snowball them with a shipload of technical bull and they would be so confused they would believe anything !!!!

HARRY

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Was away at the week-end so missed the ice – hopefully next Sunday.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Trevor. Someone on the other forum is encroaching on your build….. see mail!!

​This is an example of why my secret projects are secret….not that Trevor's is such a secret, but its nice to pip the post first. I am not sure the others have achieved success yet although I have not fully read the thread.

​The other forum also had a thread on the Farman, Hydro`s made by Farman in general, and one of them (last year) was thinking of making one, but as far as I know he has not continued, in any event he was going to use a gas motor and with the stability issues, I think he may have had a problem, Although a larger version would be easier.

​Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Pond frozen today still, between 1 inch and 3 inches of ice, unbroken across the pond and streams.

​Made the mistake of going back to Trevor's for a cuppa. He has purchased some items from Bang good wot are simply must haves. Lights, servo reversing leads….and the more we looked, the more items mounted in the basket. I had to leave.

​Some items to be fitted retrospectively to the Toyboata, and some items to be fitted to (not yet started) projects HH and DK, and some items like the servo reverser very handy so all boats can be left-right and not r-l or l-r!

The stuff on offer is truly amazing.

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Ashley – order has been placed, should be like Christmas in a few weeks !

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Trevor

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

l, yesterday I spend a few hours drawing the plans for the second build to be running alongside project V, which is going to take a while, This new one will not take so long and is designed to show how easy something different (its not THAT different, in fact quite common but not as common as a tug or woteva) can be.

​This particular thing was not on the list but a recent refurb incident and finding a cast model of the item showed me how absurdly easy it would be to build, but still look good.

​I have sufficient bits to equip the craft, including a propshaft..no idea how long it is, but there is so much room available anything from 4 inches to a foot would do!! The key to this is going to be In the paintwork, and for illustrative purposes I will not be detailing it so I can show how much paintwork can disguise the simplicity of a model. NOT that the paintwork will be intricate or tricky in itself, but more like "striking".

​ Ashley

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Ashley

Want happens after Project X !!!!!

Retirement !!!!

Or just go to numbers !!!!!

B1 + B2 = B0

Harry

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Harry, we will just go on to multiple letters.

​The proj to run as a filler beside PROJECT V……. will be PROJECT DW.

​Nothing should be read into these letters!! they are deliberately chosen to mislead…..

Ashley ps still cold over there is it????

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

As it has warmed up considerably and has been raining, the ice will have cleared from the pond allowing unfettered boating tomorrow.

Undecided as to what to take yet.

​Work has actually started on Project DW. Wood has been cut and the ply has been found to be a bit less than straight (yes its bent) but the design of the carcase means that this does not matter as sufficient bracing is in place to hold everything square and parallel etc. The Mrs is away this week end so gluing can take place on the kitchen worktop where it is nice and warm and the glue will set. The kitchen worktop is also wonderfully flat and smooth, and indeed my work bench IS a bit of kitchen worktop perched on a workmate.

​Before a build I scrape it clean with an old plane blade and then wet`n`dry it so it is flat again with no glue, paint or filler on it. The kitchen top only needs cleaning to remove butter, jam or Marmite of course. sponge and not wet`n`dry!!

​I have as stated sufficient bits to equip the craft and how refreshing, I have OOOOOOOdles of space, and the propshaft I happen to have is OK for length and puts the motor roughly central (although this is not a consideration), and a 7.2V speed 600 ECO Graupner will do for the go, but I have various other 540`s, a 12V 600 and some 555`s which of course will be straight swaps if the 600 proves to be not suitable.. I have given NO THOUGHT at all to the rudder access or servo location, or indeed where to put the battery, as this will fit almost anywhere and the thing will need ballast above the weight of the battery in any case.

Heresy?? I should think so!! The NEXT one will be space challenged and I will be getting the micrometer out and all the bits will have to have a set place, but that's likely for the summer.

​Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Mothers Day to morrow so altered priorities – out for lunch and no boating.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Only Richard with his pirate ship there today. I anticipated outpourings of maternal affection (saw my mum later on)…

​Played with jet boat, Battlecruiser and LCM. In fact, several kiddies had a go on the LCM, and for one of them it went much better than his small horrid RTR "speedboat" in inverted comers, as it wasn't that fast,,,,in fact the LCM was MUCH faster.

​Still hacking wood about for Proj DW. Have had to make some adjustments to get stuff to line up as although the bracing is doing the job, some slight twist remains which will eventually be tamed by fitting the deck and so on (trust me). Cut three times and glue twice is my motto. Several voids may be filled up with foam…or do I leave them free, with ventilation holes to provide air and let any water vapour out?? Yes, probably.

​This particular craft differs in the detail depending on the mark and indeed equipment fit and theatre of operation. My Model is not the same as the print I am using and I had planned to alter mine to be like the model but I can see certain advantages in the existing plan which I like.

Ashley.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

The hacking of big bits of wood has stopped now, just the main deck to go, and we are on to a bit of Styrofoam for the curved bits.

​Despite my earlier statement of space, although there IS still loads of space, in order to have components in some logical order, and allow the battery to be slid forward (mostly because this looks neat) the room soon gets eaten up. My original propshaft has therefore been spare-boxed again and a new 6 inch shaft purchased. The hull is virtually twist free…a 2mm or so out, but considering the size of it, that's not a lot and unless on a table with loads of references to check against, in undetectable "in the hand".

​The craft will need ballast and the several side pockets will be used to sit lead sheet in, so I will not be filling the vacant spaces with foam. There are or will be, several sealed areas which will be the emergency buoyancy, not that I usually bother with such things. Craft that turn upside down of course will have an air pocket that the hull will create, and thus float.

​I have only ever had one boat come to the point of almost sinking due to water ingress (atrocious seas) and that was the Argus aircraft carrier. Water got in via the stern deck and we only just got it out in time. This was solved by sealing up the rear portion with a watertight bulkhead and running the tiller wire through a plastic tube. Water can still flood the stern but not enter the main hull. I have said all that before of course.

​It is snowing as I drone on, very lightly…but??

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Ashley, you will have to be patient a little longer for some of the components, I await a sneak preview.

Looks like we may in for a bit of ice breaking tomorrow.

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