Like me, so I fink dey're taking the Michael.
M

an' they ain't got no 'air neiver! 😁

Aw, it's Monty et famille!
When Chris and I were in our 10 foot caravan in the boatyard we backed onto a pond with Monty the Moorhen and his Mrs. and they raised 4 generations of tiddlers. in the end Chris used to sit with her hand out of the window and feed the little devils. Monty or Mum would take the new ones across the boatyard to the canal for a swim and to get them used to feeding themselves. At such times all traffic would be brought to a halt by Chris and me on pain of death. Those who made no fuss got a cuppa. Those who moaned were wise not to leave their vehicles in the yard overnight while they went boating.
When we left, the moron who leased the yard filled in the pond as well as trashed our "little home". Bastard croaked a while back. Karma.
Moorhens rule. Coots are 'orrible show-offs.

Martin

Hi Pete,
"Moorhens — sometimes called marsh hens — are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae)." Good ol' Wiki😉
When they are young they are much smaller, brown and fluffy. You often see up to six of 'em in 'convoy' behind Mum 😁 Maybe they have a different 'handle' in N America? 'Marsh Hens' perhaps?

I guess plastic / PTFE is OK, after all as you say, the Tugs are not exactly Sea Greyhounds so they ain't under much stress😉 I never guessed either😲
Re humble pie! Ask the Missus to top it with Lemon meringue, delicious 😜 Crow with Sage & Onion stuffing perhaps!?
Anyway we all had to start somewhere as well😉
More soon, am currently stripping the hull of my 28" Elco PTB, prior to repainting in Pacific camouflage as PT109😲
Cheers, Doug 😎
PS: YOOHOO! The new ESCs for the PTB just arrived 😊
HobbyKing HK-30A, 30A cont. complete with finned heat-sink and fan connection, $10.29 a chunk. Can't grumble at that Grimble😁

Thanks, Doug. I’m glad I posted my erroneous method for calculating scale speeds, otherwise I wouldn’t have learned the correct way to do it. Looks like I’ll be eating crow for dinner tonight with humble pie for dessert. it just shows how much I have to learn. I never would have guessed that the prop tubes in our HE tugs are plastic. At first it struck me as a poor material for the job, but from another perspective I guess it’s not so bad. At least the shafts themselves are metal & there’s a nice set of brass counter-rotating props on the business end. By the way...what’s a moorhen?

Hi Pete, glad my memory wasn't playing tricks on me 😊
Re Scale speed. 31fpm?? We'd be overtaken by any self respecting baby Moorhen!🤔
Scale speed isn't simply real speed divided by model scale.
More the square root of the scale (expressed as a fraction) multiplied by the real speed.
For our tugs this is thus √(1/36) x 11= 1/6 x 11 = 1.83kn or 2mph.
Giving a scale speed of around 176 fpm.

BTW: you made me curious about the prop tubes in my Southampton!
Thanks for the prompt👍
Careful scratching revealed that they are plastic! 😲
Possibly with PTFE ends, at least inboard.
I don't think they are made as or intended as sleeve bearings. That would introduce too much friction over the whole shaft length. Generally I believe there is at least 0.5mm clearance in small scale prop tubes. That's the way I make mine for 'Plastic Magic' projects anyway 😉
I also concluded that oilers in these tugs would be useless;
a) cos they're plastic, b) cos they are horizontal.
So just a non-mineral oil based light grease at the ends! 👍
Cheers, Doug 😎

You’re right, Doug. Lithium shouldn’t be in contact with pond or lake water, even in tiny amounts. I feel like a dope for considering lithium at all because for 20 years I designed & detailed water treatment equipment designed to remove that kind of thing! I took another look at my N scale maintenance supplies & it turns out that the grease I have is the PTFE/Teflon type as you mentioned. Another thing you mentioned about lithium grease that’s also true is that it does indeed tend to clump & become semi-solid over time. So obviously lithium grease gets crossed off the lube list. I don’t think the Hobby Engine prop shafts have bearings. it looks to me like the shafts just pass through tubes, essentially using the tubes as long sleeve bearings. When they’re greased they turn quite freely, plus the grease blocks water from entering the boat. There aren’t any oil tubes in my boat, either. Like you (& I assume just about every scale boater) I like to run at scale speeds. Anyone who has ever seen a real tug moving along knows that they can’t exactly reach planing speeds & they’re not likely to be seen towing water skiers. All things being equal, the WYEFORCE tug, which definitely appears to be the boat Hobby Engine designed their models from, has a top speed of 11 knots or 1114 feet per minute. The model’s scale is 1:36, so it’s top speed should be 0.306 knots or about 31 fpm. I don’t think the model can run that slowly, but again I say it’s about having fun. I won’t lose any sleep if the model has a faster scale top speed than the real boat as long as it looks good doing it.

Hi Pete,
Afraid you've found the chink in my armour😲
I enjoy solving problems and building and renovating things immensely, but I'm afraid I'm probably somewhat neglectful on the maintenance side, until it's almost too late and I'm faced with a complete rebuild😲
Anyway, unless anything happens which makes me dismantle the shafts I leave 'em alone until the end of the season and they go into storage. Then I remove and clean and inspect them check bearing wear etc.
Then apply some PTFE/TEFLON grease to the bearings, refit the shafts in the tube and put a few drops of light machine oil into the oiler pipes that I'm in the process of adding to my ships and boats as they go through my 'yard' in various refit projects. Pics show the oiler pipe I added to my 1960s Sea Scout during her recent refit. The silicon tube simplifies the 'topping up' 😉 Last pic shows the completed 'Machinery Flat' 😉
I dimly remember Lithium grease. Doesn't it have a tendency to coagulate and clump over time, especially at low temperatures? Dim memory cos I was an electronics engineer not mechanical😉 Anyway not sure that Lithium is too environmentally acceptable to the 'jobsworths' in local authorities governing the use of municipal ponds these days.
PTFE/TEFLON should not be a problem in this respect and it still works at lo and hi temps. if it's good enough for NASA ..... ?
Stuff I use is called 'Gear-Flon', Check out
http://www.gear-flon.de/Produkte/
I also use this grease in the rudder stocks, and anywhere else there is a moving joint. Keeps things moving and prevents rusting😊

There are other guys on this site who swear by various curious mixtures, but since I (and I suspect also you!) am not interested in maximum revs
ultra fast racing electrics I don't think that's worth the bother. Many don't like grease of any type, claiming that it hardens or adds drag on the shaft.
The jury is still out on that!
A smear of PTFE/TEFLON on the tube bearings, a few drops of light machine oil after every run, including the motor bearings (if your running brushed motors KEEP IT OFF THE CARBON BRUSHES!!!), and I'm happy. So are my boats so far, Cheers Doug 😎

It just occurred to me that prop shafts should probably be greased, not oiled. A light lithium grease is best because it’s a good lubricant as well as a barrier to keep water out of the boat. is that right?

Thanks, Doug

I’ll defer to an expert & ask you. How often would you recommend lubing the prop shaft(s) in a typical R/C boat? As far as the type of oil, about 50 years ago when I built a veritable fleet of Lindberg’s motorized boat & ship kits I think the instructions mentioned “3-in-1” or “sewing machine” oil. I’m not experienced enough with larger-scale R/C boats to be sure, but is a general purpose light oil OK or should it be something that’s higher quality, such as Labelle’s products? I’ve used Labelle’s products on my N scale locomotives & they make a tremendous difference. I’m probably overthinking it but better safe than sorry.

Thanks.

Hi Pete, ther's not a lot more in my Southampton (40MHz) either.
Inside the front cover it tells me to charge the 7.2V battery (an 800mAh NiMh in my boat) for 5.5 hours. inside the back cover is the note about the rear hatch and the sponge.
The rest is just a PhD course in the "bleedin' obvious" 😉 But then I suppose the boats were primarily intended as 'toys for boys'!
Ciao, Doug

Mornin' Ed, I just wondered about the "weDsite" 😁😁

Hi, Doug:

Either of the two file formats you mentioned (.docx or .pdf) is fine, whichever one is easiest for you. Speaking of .pdf files, do you (or anyone else reading this) know of a website where I can download a user manual for the 27mhz or 40mhz versions of Hobby Engine’s tugs? From the details you mentioned in your manual it seems like it has useful information that’s not even mentioned in my 2.4ghz version booklet. My manual doesn’t mention anything about the rear hatch, for example. I don’t know if there’s anything about maintenance in your manual but mine has nothing at all. it seems odd that there’s nothing written at all about prop shaft lubrication or other basic maintenance. My six page booklet tells about installing AA batteries in the transmitter & how to place the 7.2v battery pack in the boat. There’s nothing about how long the 7.2v battery should be charged or how to charge it properly. Very strange.

Good night Doug,
It's to my advantage having harbor models so close!
Huh, Who's getting Married? I'm already there!

Agreed Ed 👍 I've looked at their stuff too, but always been put off by shipping rates and potential import duties 😡 Would only be worth it for US products not available in Europe, which don't leave much🤔
Pete, haven't forgotten your 'little' project😁 got bogged down in some family issue but have already got some illustrated ideas in a Word file. When I'm finished do you want it as a Word docx or a pdf file?
Comin' up to the 'witching hour' here so G'night both, Doug 😎
BTW; just noticed Ed, Who's getting married?😁

Hi Pittsfieldpete,

I'm glad you found the wedsite useful!
They have quite a sellection as you can see.

Ed

Wow! Harbor Models is amazing! Their selection of kits & detail parts is outstanding. Thanks for letting me know about it.

There are only a few hobby shops in my area. They all have at least a few R/C boats in stock but they’re mostly the racing type. There was an excellent store called Bliss Marine over a hundred miles away in Dedham, MA (near Boston) that stocked kits & parts in addition to parts & accessories for full-size fishing boats & yachts. They stocked the whole line of Billing Boats kits & fittings as well as several other brands. I used to buy from Bliss via mail order or by phone back in the pre-Internet era but their service was super fast. Every time we’d go down to the family cottage near Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA I always stopped at Bliss. I’d tell my wife I’d only be in the store for “a few minutes” but she knew my “few minutes” would almost always be at least an hour. Sadly, not only is Bliss Marine long gone but so is the Hull cottage. it was damaged beyond repair during hurricane Bob in 1991. The decision was made not to rebuild it & the lot it stood on was sold to a neighbor. Sigh.

But I digress. Fortunately I found this fantastic website! Although I signed up just a short time ago I’ve read dozens of interesting posts & have received quick answers to my questions from other friendly Model Boats members. This site is a goldmine!

Thanks for your fast, helpful reply!

Pete

Hi Pete,

Why don't you try Harbor Models in California!
They have a wide arrangement of model parts.
I purchase from them all the time.
If memory serves me right. The guys name is Nick!
Who run the place! And they have a great turn around also!👍

http://www.harbormodels.com/