Member's models - Doug's Harbor Star conversion

Member's models - Morley, Peter F. & Bill M.

Length:  38 ins; Beam 6 ins.

Powered by 7.2V 5000mAH battery, a "no-name" motor

Speed control is a WP-1040 brushed REDCAT waterproof controller

Radio:  Airtronics 2.4GHz 5 channel

Propeller: 4 blade plastic, 70mm diameter.

Garth used his plans of the Seguin to create the hull, although he acknowledges that the Seguin hull is single screw and the Cotter is twin screw. It has wooden frames planked with cedar strips ¼” wide and 1/8” thick.

One of the challenges was creating the five monitors that are fitted. Garth had two existing monitors that he used, and scratchbuilt the other three. He spent some time trying to find suitable bases, but eventually came upon some Lepage glue bottles which had caps that were entirely suitable. The handwheels are from the Graupner range.

He originally intended to use brass rod for the railings on the wheelhouse deck but when it proved difficult to find, Garth switched to 0.040” styrene rod.

          We have many members who can build models from kits, and others who can build from scratch where plans are available. Bill Morrison is likely the only member who both designs and builds models from scratch.
          One such vessel is his rescue boat, “Trident III”. It is equipped with several means of rescuing boats. It has a long wire hook at the stern for models which have a railing or similar that the hook can latch on to. If that can't be used, it has a boom that can be extended from one side to scoop up the model which is in difficulty. In addition, it is fitted with a remote-release tow hook which, as Bill points out, will be useful if the model being towed is likely to sink before it can be brought safely home.
          Bill designed this model to be sturdy. The hull is plank-on-rib construction, with 1/2” plywood ribs and 1/8” birch planks. It is 1:24 scale and measures 50” long, 12” beam, 8” draft, and weighs 44lb in sailing condition. Above deck are two deckhouses, constructed from 1/8” marine ply, which sit over openings in the deck, and which provide access to the hull internals.
          The model is powered by two Graupner 700 Turbo motors driving 2½” diameter propellers. Power is supplied by a 12V 7.2Ah gell cell. The ESC's and motors are kept cool by fans which draw fresh air in through vents in the forward deckhouse.
          There are several remotely-operated fittings. There are two water cannons mounted on the deckhouse supplied by a pump which can be turned on and off. Switches can turn the lights on or off and the siren on and off. Another switches off one propulsion motor to extend the battery life, or turns it on to have both motors powered for higher speed. A low voltage alarm is fitted, and has a warning light over the stern. All these auxiliaries are supplied from a 12V 5Ah gell cell. The radar and spotlights on the forward deckhouse are supplied from a separate set of AA batteries, through manually-operated switches. The anchor windlass is powered by a 3V battery.
          On the after deckhouse is mounted an RIB (rigid inflatable boat) which can be operated independently.
          The combined wheelhouse and chartroom in the forward deckhouse is fully equipped with chart table, wheel, radio and radar sets. Crewmen and women on deck and in the wheelhouse bring the model to life.
          Bill has a trailer to move the model around.

​           Finally, Bill won First Prize at the Wellesley Butter Festival in 2001.

Read the article in the February edition of Model Boats by Peter. Peter describes obtaining the plans of a suitable boat, the steam engine and boiler, and the construction of the model.

Reproduced here by kind permission of the Editor.

Morley's new model is of the Minnow ​of Gilligan's Island. Morley received the plans and hull from Andris. He did some modifications to it.The hull & decks are done in mahogany & also the anchor works.

Painted around 1900, this watercolour sketch by artist Georges Chavignaud depicts the Bronte fishing boat Lottie, owned by Tom Joyce.
Chavignaud, who lived from 1865 to 1944, was born in France. In 1889 he emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto, where he worked as a publishing company art director for many years. He painted mainly in watercolour and often depicted seashore scenes. This accurate painting displays his detailed knowledge of ships and boats.

The original model was a ready-to-run by Kyosho called Harbor Star  and was modelled after a 28 ft. sedan limousine built in 1929 by Chris Craft and of which only 3 where built. Doug has redesigned the model by removing the forward cabin and some trim, and also moved the rear cockpit forward. He has re-done the sides and stern with mahogany veneer, and the deck was recovered with mahogany strips 3/32 X 36 inch. The whole was treated with numerous coats of Spar varnish for finish.

He has kept the original 550 motor but will be upgrading the speed control from mechanical to electronic, and will be using a 7.4V Lipo battery. The bow light was drilled out to allow the use of LED lights and an LED on the rear flag shaft. All the original fittings were retained and cleaned up.

The model is 30 inches long. 

Garth's Buffalo fireboat Edward M Cotter

          Hans is "fully immersed" in completing this Model Slipways kit. This is his first build; all his other models have been bought complete, although one needed some remedial work.

         Hans has been impressed with the quality of the packaging, the parts and the instruction manual.

          The kit represents the first of the class, theRNLB Hayden Miller, ​which is stationed at Tenby in South Wales, UK.

          The Tamar class comprises 27 boats. Some of the class are launched down slipways, some are moored afloat. They are powered by two 1000hp Caterpillar C18 diesel engines, giving them a top speed of 25 knots. 

           For more information on the Tamar, see RNLI Tamar

​

Fred's fishing boat Lottie

On the same day, Bill M. sailed his container ship SS Atlantic Conveyor. Owned by Cunard, and completed in 1970, she could carry containers on deck and on trailers. She has been modelled in her Falklands War outfit, with Harrier jet fighters and helicopters on deck.

Member's Models - Bill Morrison's Trident III

Peter's "Dampfschiff" steamer in "Model Boats Magazine", Febuary 2020.

Rowen's

HMS Beagle

On a recent very calm day at Spencer's, Peter F brought out his sternwheeler Thomas A. Edison ​for one of its very few sailings. Almost any amount of wind makes it uncontrollable so these calm conditions were ideal.

Member's models - Hans V.'s Tamar class RNLI lifeboat

RC SCALE BOATS - anything, neither tug nor military, that sails at scale speeds, from fishing dories to giant container ships

There have been 8 ships named Beagle in the Royal Navy, the second was the one made famous in the voyage of Charles Darwin.
The one modelled by Rowen is the eighth, a hydrographic survey ship of the Bulldog class, commissioned in 1968 and sold in 2002. These vessels were unique in the RN in having been painted white.
The glassfibre hull for the model was purchased from "Models by Design" and brought back to Canada from the UK. The hull moulding required minor rework, but nothing unexpected. After checking dimensions and hull form, Rowen made up a framework which was glued into the hull to stiffen it and provide a structure for mounting components. It later became clear that, although the port bulwarks were the correct height and shape, the starboard were cut slightly too low at the stern ends. These were built up to correct height with plywood and reinforced with glass fibre.
An alloy template was made to the size of the deck wash port slots which were then drilled and filed to the templte dimensions.  The fairleads were made out of sections of a plastic syringe body, cut to length and hot swaged over a leather hole punch to give a tapered appearance. The same technique was used on the bull lead, but with styrene tubing as the hole is bigger. It was sleeved with more styrene tube and filed to produce the profile.
HUCO-style double universal joints were temporarily replaced with styrene rod cut to the same length. The brass couplings ends were inserted into the ends of the rod so the alignment is maintained.
The motors were mounted on a short bulkhead which was initially tacked into the hull. Once the alignment was established the bulkhead was epoxied in place and the dummy sleeves removed. A small rubber block was inserted lightly into the gap between the motor casing and hull to relieve the weight on the bulkhead.
Porthole frames were made from 5/16" o.d. styrene tube for the outer frame and a ¼” acrylic rod inserted to resemble the glass. They were cut from the lengths of rod using a pipe cutter. The outer frame was epoxied into holes drilled into the hull and any gaps filled up with epoxy. The glasses were left out until the painting was complete. The cut acrylic rod surfaces required polishing to remove the cutting marks.
The rudders were made from 0.045” styrene sheet, heated and bent double around a brass rod. The rudder shaft was inserted in the correct location and then CA glued into place. The open halves of the sheet were glued together and trimmed to final dimensions, and the cavity surrounding the shaft filled with epoxy adhesive. The rudder shaft tubes had previously been installed into a wooden block glued in the hull to provide a rigid mounting.
To retain as much accss to the hull interior as possible, the deck was made from two pieces, a "skirt" about 1" wide that contained the bulwark stanchions and waterways. On top of this was added a detachable deck, which was planked. The planking is laser cut basswood with an uncut portion at the end of each sheet to aid installation. The uncut portion holds the strips in alignment and helps in gluing them down straight. It saves time also except when it becomes necessary to joggle them into the margin plank.
Rowen purchased a slow speed 12v motor to make the radar scanner operable. The motor was mounted upside down to the wheelhouse internal roof with its extended driveshaft poking through and pointing upwards. The internal mast tube slipped snugly onto the gearbox output shaft sleeve. The output shaft was extended up to the mast radar platform level using a length of brass tube with a small pinion gear fitted into the end. The radar scanner sits on a platform extending forwards from the mast. Two idler gears from an old clock (which also provided the input shaft and radar shaft pinions), formed a geartrain which provided the correct offset for the scanner mounting shaft. The platform was made from styrene with brass bushes fitted to act as bearings for the pinions and idler gears. Unfortunately the platform is deeper than shown on the drawings, but it does not look out of place and is an appropriate place to use "modeller’s licence". This approach avoided having the scanner motor slung under the platform and visible.
Most of the fittings are either scratch built, with some from a couple of specialist epoxy cast item suppliers. One of the challenges was the survey boat, which resembled an Admiral’s barge. Information from a variety of sources enabled Rowen to make a fair facsimile from a solid piece of basswood.
The only approach that could be considered out of the ordinary was the Land Rover installation. He first made up a mounting plate as no self-respecting RN crew could live with the oil pools on the decking! The vehicle itself is attached to a ¼” coaxial plug, which fits into a mating socket which is also used for charging the batteries.
Sailing trials confirmed a recommendation by another modeller of this vessel that the whole of the rudders should be underwater, and the handling improved enormously when ballasted to do this. Rowen initially ran using 6V batteries, and while he was satisfied with the 6V performance, it left little “Emergency” reserve. After receiving a higher capacity voltage reducer, he decided to temporarily wire it in and, running from 12V, see what the effect of gradually increasing voltage would be. In his opinion 7 volts is ideal, there is an adequate reserve and she has a realistic bow-wave and wave pattern. He also tried 8 and then 9 volts. 8 is fine with a more pronounced bow wave, but she starts to get unrealistically fast at 9. After this testing he decided to install the reducer permanently, set at 8 volts, so can throttle back and enjoy the ship with plenty of reserve.