My own design double acting twin oscillator. Running under steam for the first time. Steam pressure down to 5psi. By the bench on the floor a derelict fire boat, re build one day. installed in Duke of Devonshire.
This was the 1-35 scale plastic model kit and converted to RC 3 props 2 working port and the starboard the centre is non running. Due to weight I used a 11.7 lipoly battery so it's fast but the running time is only about 20 30 mins
It won best in show in the navy boat section at our club due to the detail and the figures so can't be bad
This was a very beat up and plain model when I bought it , but has cleaned up well . Original Power was from a Torpedo 850 and heavy 12v 7Ah lead acid battery giving run times of around 20 minutes of plod along performance . Now however Boat is powered by Thumper motor and 4 cell Lipo's giving over an hour of entertainment . Cut's a fairly mean wake too . Needham lake in Suffolk is it's home surf 👍
I'm lucky, I still have an MFA Piranha half finished, with a 540 motor in it.
Not quite finished. And an MFA Spearfish still untouched in the box.
I used to have a Spearfish with a Irvine 61 in and run great. Used it for many years on both Blackheath pond and Clapham Common long pond. Finally had to bin it 😭 after about 20 years due to quite a few run ins with the concrete pond sides 😯 . Still have the engine. But will hopefully put a brushless in the new one.
MFA Avenger / Spearfish. I'm running my Avenger on the Thumper type outrunner motor with a 45mm X prop (only because it was on from other motor useage). What's anyone else using on the thumper. Just put a 50X on, but the pond's frozen 😭 so haven't tested it. 😟
HI guys I've been luckily enough to of had the chance to buy this boat at the Heywood bring and buy.
It's in 1/16 scale and is four foot long. it's a complete scratch built hull using plastic sign bord.
The hull was built by Nick Rigby from our club in Bury.
All the rest of the detail has been done by his friend.
At the Monment she has the props installed but no motors.
I will be fitting her out with a couple of 900kv brushless motors and a couple of 90amp esc's all water cooled.plus two 11.1volt 5000ma lipo's in parallel to give a long run time. Hope you like the pictures!
HI Alan I have a Atlantic challenger. I burnt my speed controer it was 100 amp so I have a 120 amp now water cooled in it its the fastes thing on my lake and it looks the part. 😎 👍 malc. K. M. B. C.
Sometime around 1968 I found a small set of drawings, about A4 size, for Sct. Knud in (I think) Ships Monthly. So I enlarged to 1:32 scale and made my model plank-on-frame with GRP overcoat. She is powered by a 6V Pittman motor driving a self-made scale prop and 2:1 gearbox. Steering is effected via chain and quadrant as per prototype! Everything bar the anchor, anchor chains and steering chains is self-made using a variety of materials (brass, plastics, 'Perspex', and copper electro-deposited cowl vents). Recently I fitted her out with LED lights: interior, navigation and working. One might notice that I abhor a working boat looking like "Daddy's yacht" and so I apply custom dings, stains, oil spills, scratches, wear and tear to my tugboats 😀 My Knud runs as well today as she did 45 years ago and in all that time has only needed one repair to her gearbox!
HMAS Fremantle (my first build and is still a work in progress) is a semI kit, hull and some fittings were supplied, most parts have been scratched built. She is powered by two MFA RE-385 5-Pole DC Motors, each controlled by a Mtroniks MicroViper Marine 10 ESC, supplied by one 6V 3.4 Ah lead acid battery, she has a running time of approx 90 minutes on the lake.
Sorry I can't answer that, I've never used lipo's so I can't give you a comparison. I've never had any problems with the sealed lead acid batteries, and use them on all my boats, they also double as ballast, as I would rather use batteries that dead weight.
Hey there, nevermind thanks for getting back to me though, I am beginning to move away from lipo's now myself, its only because I use em on my planes & cars so I just put 1 & 1 together & came up with 11
Cheers matey
Damon 😎
The fitted motors expired so had to open her up and have now fitted some more standard motors 400's I think but they work and run time is reasonable. The motors are coupled through 3:1 gearboxes and positioned more to the front so as to allow for a larger battery.
HI Jelly Baby
Regarding crew figures, I used SIKU which are 1/32 they are German and good quality. SIKU do farming toys and the ones I use are the Tractor drivers. I have fitted them on the seats in the rear of the bridge. They are available from the UK via
SIKUDIRECT.COM on the sites Page 3 4. Part No 7071 for a 6pcs @ £5.90 all inc or 0887 (2pcs) @£2.40 inc. I use them for other 1/32 boats as well.
Hope this info will help. Regards Doug.
RAF High Speed Launch, speed 400 motor,Mtroniks Viper 10,ESC. 7.2v 3300Mah, model is 22".Scratch built, from photos and my own drawings scaled down and modified from my aerokits fire boat, I get about 15 minutes on the water running time on full speed.
What great photos.I've just logged on here this morning and find all these treats! Excellent stuff-and you must know yours to work up your own drawings- thanks for posting these pictures.
This model was scratch built from US Coast Guard plans. The boat is constructed of balsa wood and the hull coated with fiberglass resin. All the deck gear is scratchbuilt from brass, the propellers, led's and figures are the only commercial parts. Scaled at 3/4=1 foot the model measures 42 inches in length.
It's powered by a Pittman 12 volt motor and controlled by a 4 channel radio. Working features are running and spot light, siren with flashing blue light, sweeping radar antenna and deck lights. Built in 1985 the model the lifeboat is accurate in appearence for that time period.(The prototype has been modified since).
The actual lifeboat is attached the the Coast Guard's Motor Lifeboat School at Cape Disappointment and is one of four boats of this class.
this video clip is of the main engine of the tug Cervia running on steam for the first time in nearly 30 years for steam lovers just turn up the sound and enjoy. 👍 if it does not run just click on the you tube Icon at thr bottom of the screen
Well, it took 24 years of "on again-off again" building but now its finished. I started the model the day we put the CAMPBELL in commission(I'm a plankowner) in 1988.The model measures 6 feet in length and is scaled at 1:48. The entire model is scratchbuilt from wood (hull, superstructure, deck) and few commercial parts were used. it's powered by two Dumas 12 volt motors as a direct drive system. I had hopes of adding working features such as lights, rotating radar antennas, articulating gun, working anchor but I was just happy to get it finished! it will probably make at least one run at the lake come springtime but the models ultimate "homeport" will be a museum, at 6 feet in length(and 40 pounds of ballast) it's a bear to handle just to get it into the car for transport. Still, I'm happy with the results, it was a model of a lifetime(but I'd never build another one like it)! 😉
Time well spent and the end result justifies the time taken. Please let us see some pics or even a video on the water before you berth in the museum 😀
I know the feeling re large heavy models but on the water they look so magnificent. 😀
Looks fantastic and what an achievement. I agree with Dave, it would be great to see some action shots before you 'retire' her to a museum. My heaviest boat is 25lb and I don't like carrying that any distance! She doesn't bounce about though.
This is a 40" long model of a gas powered Berkley Company kit of a US Air Force crash boat from 1955. The plank on frame kit was in production for about 10 years and was meant to be powered by a model airplane gas motor with a single shaft. it depicts an experimental 50 knot rescue boat (painted in a peace time color scheme) during service with the USAF. if successfull it would have been put into production designed to be a replacement rescue craft for all Air Force 65' crash boats. Unfortunately for the crash boat program the Air Force lost interest as helicopters were become a reliable way of rescueing downed pilots along the coast. The prototype and a sister boat were scrapped, as was the entire program.
The model was given to me to be restored(top picture) for the son of a retired USAF veteran that was a crash boat crewman. The model was built in 1957 and had been run a few times on a tether line, R/C was pretty expensive back in the day. I stripped the hull, filled in all the cracks and rebuilt the mast. I added a small boat, davit, liferaft, coxswain station, spray shield and deck hardware among other things. Actually all the owner wanted was a paint job, he was very happy with it's new appearencep! Although I fiberglassed the wooden hull and made it watertight, the owner doesn't plan to run it, just a memorial to his dad's service. I really enjoyed working on this "rare bird".
