whilst being off work with cancer have spent three months building my polar trawler which I had to remake a lot of superstructure with plasticard due to the old ply delaminated. it has twin screws powered by two 400 motors and 40 amp esc and 6v sla. I think she looks quite good

Built from light ply and balsa from a plan available on the Model Hovercraft Association website (under resources) www.modelhover.org it is powered by two 540 brushed motors with dedicated speed controllers.
This model has now been sold and replaced with a newly built Canadian Coastguard Griffon 2000TD built off a Mark Porter plan but using two Graupner Speed 600 motors, one powered by a 3000 Li-Po battery for thrust and the other on a 7.2v Ni-Cad for lift.

The police hovercraft is from a Griffin 600 kit by Palaform Limited. 600mm long, hence the name. it is run on a single brushless motor for both lift and thrust. it is built from depron so is very light. I use 11.1v Li-Po to save weight. Great on land too, in fact very fast on tarmac. Fantastic fun.

HI to all you Fire Boaters,
I have decided to finally bring my Fireboat out of the closet and up for inspection.
This is the first of my many boats I am showing, I will probably show others in the future.
I started to build her back in 2006 after being off work and having a shoulder operation. She was not going to be a R/C boat, just a bit of something to do whilst on recovery.

I have a 34" still in the box unmade, purchased back in 1994 from Aerokits.
I drew round all the parts and then shrunk them on my scanner. She is 27" long I think that's
just fraction over 1/20th scale . She is almost all balsa except the 2 under skins that are balsa laminated with 1/64th ply. The hand rails are 1/4" balsa blocks I cut from a strip and the rail is ally tubing.
The mast is made from plastic strip from packets from the model shop.

When I returned to work she was put into the shed and left unfinished.
I stumbled across the Fireboat website and registered in 2009 when I was off work once again. This then made me think more about working on her again and I decide to turn her into an R/C model. So out she came and I fitted an Electomax Delta 480bb motor and a M3sonik esc.
I also purchased a couple of Robbe fire monitors, put them together shortening the nozzles and cutting the bottom of the base of to try to look a bit moreto scale. I know they are not the correct type but if I want to go down the road of getting them working then these ones will.

Then off I went to Wilkinson's and bought some paint. Then set out to paint her, as I brushed on the paint it seemed to be drying almost as quick as I was painting her. Dragging the paint I had just put on with next brush stroke. What a TOTAL DISASTER !!. I gave up on her and back into the shed she went.

2010 arrived I started again rubbed the paint down a bit and bought some Tamiya spray acrylic and started spraying, underside red, it seemed look all right. I used a nice new roll of low tack masking tape, taped up the underside and the decking and sprayed on the black on the sides. I thought that look all right. Took off the masking tape, which also took off the red paint and the dope from the decks. Another DISASTER. Back in the shed she went once again.

A couple of months went by and I was up in Norfolk on my own boat and watching the workers in the boatyard, ideas came to me and when we returned home, out she came and I repainted the sides
and then with red oxide paint I painted her undersides to make it look like antI foul paint. I used some white stripe to cover the join of the two different paint colours.
I had bought some roundels in Anglia Model Shop in Gorleston and some lettering in a shop in Norwich and after painting put these on.
Not looking fantastic but passable I was a little happier with her, but still not satisfied, back in the shed she went again.

Now after so much nagging from my brother out she has come, I've started again. He talked me into changing and trying a brushless motor and a smaller esc he had in his tool box from his helicopter he was shelving as its rota head was damaged beyond repair.
I have now fitted them and if they work I will change the esc to a forward/ reverse esc in the future at some point.

Sea trials are still away off more than likely in the spring, because the decking has yet to be painted. That will be the next job.

I think that's all for now, as I have probably bored you all to tears. I hope update as I progress further.
Just to let you know I'm Tom (alias BOATSHED).

ON THE CLUB WATER

Built from Aerokits kit originally but rebuilt/modified many times since then!
Twin 540's (geared) 6V Pb Gel battery for drive. 3 Blade 50mm props (contra rotating) lights (cabin, running Ights and searchlight) on 4.5V Deacs. radar scanner and winch on same supply, radar display screen on a single AA 1.5V.

Fleet Systems radio and speed controllers, Futaba rudders servo, RCME servo driving cam/micro switch unit for lights etc.

This boat was built from Vic Smeed's Silver Mist design, from the fifties I think. The boat is 36'' long by 9''. it is planked in obeche on 6mm birch ply frames with solid blocks for the bow and lower stern sections, epoxied on the inside. it is powered by an MFA geared 500 motor- 2.5:1 I think with a 7.2v NIMH battery. There were one or two details to complete when these photos were taken at Crealy in Exeter- there still are to be honest! I thought I'd add this in as I'm so Impressed with the look of this new site.

Hi" I thought I would put my new rebuild on for all to see ! I found this old Marblehead yacht as a wreck. She was gathering dust in an old reclaim ferniture wherehouse whilst we were on holiday last summer. Been told the yacht had been originaly scratch built in 1950s from a plan. She took me about half a year to rebuild. New parts as follow hiteck sail arm winch with 18lbs of torque. New futaba servo for the rudder. New sails & booms rigs & fittings. New deck made from plank strip wood & varnished. Also finished in painted Ivery white. She sail well in lite to strong winds At my local boating lake at Sheringham Norfolk .
works well on a Spekrum DX5E But can work on any other 2 channal transmitter .
Hope you enjoy the photos .

A quick ( 3 weeks) rough 35" balsa MaiamI powered by Turrnigy 28/30 outrunner , 3cell LiPo and 30A ESC made for my son who wasn't that interested so I am adding a bit more to it and 'playing' with it myself .
Vic Smeed plan Thornycroft took about 20yrs (on and off) to complete and has an Electronize 43HX 24v 15A controller, 2x 400 sized 6-12v brushed motors 4cell 3000MAh LiPo for main power with seperate 3 cell LiPo running a computer fan for cooling (fan is linear and sucks air through the boat from the front hatches and blows it out through the rear hatches) There are also seperate 3 and 4 cell AA NmH packs for nav and interior lighting.
Boat runs 28mm 3 blade props and runs at a realistic scale speed and attitude. Radio gear is 2.4 and I have modified one TX for twin throttles and at present am running both these boats simultaniously on the one TX.
Have bought twin car ESCs, batts, RXs and BECs for the PT and the (36") British Power Boat 64ft HSL I am building (modelled on the RNZAFs 64ft HSL- the only one sold in the southern hemisphere - in 1940) Went on board as a teenager before she was ruined by being turned into a pleasure launch so it was a help with the building. Still remember the wonderful alloy 'Power Boat' stair treads down to the ward room. Will get some pics up of the HSL as well.

Another boat the same as mine seen on a local auction site. Anybody have any ideas as to the manufacturer ?. The dimensions are L 31", W 71/2", H 7" and by the looks of it were Ic powered (or at least mine was and was later changed to electric). Hulls are balsa and planked to 1st 1/4 then finished to the stern with with longer angle cut 'planks'. Cabin top is ply sides with balsa roof and deck is ply and has printed ? planking.
Someone will know but I haven't been able to pin it down to any kit even after going through all my 60s and 70s Model Boat mags.

HI " I thought I would put my biggest model from my collection for all to look at ! HMS Avenger took approx 3 years to build . " She is a type 21 frigate at 1/64 scale . At 6 feet long . Scratch built on a fibreglass hull from plywood plastic card & metal parts . Works on a six channel futaba skysport .
Full working red & white leds on deck and cabin , lynxs helicopter with working rotor blades with landing lights. Working radars, bofor gun , A ships whooping sound . Runs on two speed 700 motors off a 12volt gel sell battery which give a good 1hr sailling time . Controlled by a 50 amp speed controller with two brass propshafts behind good size rudders which give a excellant turn .
My model HMS Avenger is a copy from the real ship in which took part in the Falklands war in 1982. Painted in the same grey with a green deck . She looks great on display or on the water . Avenger gets a lot of interest from the general public . please enjoy looking at the photos shown at Sheringham & Eaton park Norwich Norfolk .
" thank you .. A Prestney

I built this boat was built as a tribute to my dad who built an original Sea Commander for my brother and myself in the 1960s, and is called Lady Kathryn after my other half.
The pleasure I had building and sailing this model has inspired me to to look for my next aerokit project.
Hopefully that will be the Sea nymph this was my first attempt at building.