Scratch building a barge for my tugboat Miss Doris to push. May deck it over to become a tank barge I used to push on the Delaware River. if
i do deck it over, I'll hinge the deck to make use of the space for my RC gear.

refurbished by me and the other half hope you enjoy. I am able to sail with the braine gear or as single R/C

Well this started off brushless but it had no soul or character, I bought an Os 40 fourstroke and converted it to be water cooled, I then made my own reverse gearbox and clutch assembly and fitted a water pump so the engine will keep cool while stationary. it has nav lights and a working searchlight that I can move while running.

This is a restoration of a launch I was given that was found in a rubbish bin on a farm here in Auckland it is an old RCM ? plan built 'Fairacre' and was pretty rotten when I received it as it is made in balsa and had been wet for quite a while. I stripped it down, re 'planked' large portions of the hull and fiber glassed it, re- built the cabin, re- marked the deck planks, fitted lights, curtains (ex Graupner Commodore bits from the 70s I had kept), stern ladder, cleats etc. it is fitted with a 540 brushed motor (originally had an old Graupner monoperm) and 70s Graupner ESC and Using 2.4 Radio gear. I still have a few things I'd like to do such as a re-wire, fitting chine spray rails, better motor and maybe some safety rails, but for now it does the job.

My dad built this over a long period of time, starting in the '80s. The hull is fibreglass and the rest is scratch built from plastic card, balsa, ply, wire and anything else he could adapt.
Although he installed the motors, props and rudders he never completed the RC installation or tested it. I inherited his boat models a few years ago and wanted to "finish the job", getting the model on the water. After installing the RC gear and batteries over the last few months, this weekend was the first sailing outside the bath at the Valley Gardens boating lake.
Happy to report that it sailed really nicely, seems to be reasonably stable although I did restrict it to calmer times when the MTBs and faster boats weren't running !
HMS Cadiz was a battle class destroyer, laid down and launched during WW2 although she didn't receive her commission until 1946 so didn't see combat with the Royal Navy, serving with the home fleet. Due to the changeover in pennant numbering she was originally allocated R09 and later, when the admiralty decided to revert to the D for Destroyer pennant numbering she was assigned D79. To reflect this my model has D79 on the starboard side and R09 on the port side.
She was sold to Pakistan in the late '50s, and renamed PNS Khaibar. She was sunk with the loss of nearly all hands in 1971 in the indo-Pakistan war.

I built this 1/125th scale Amati kit of the Titanic over two years from 2016. it has enhanced etched brass details from Minibrass. Conversion for radio control involved making the hull waterproof with multiple layers of fibreglass cloth bonded with epoxy resin as well as the installation of a drive train and RC gear. With only a tiny rudder, steering is dependent on a mixer unit controlling the differential speed of the propellors.

Landing craft (Tank) 548 a world war 2 Landing craft with Sherman tank and truck carrying British markings of the divisions landing at Normandy. Landing craft is running 2.4 ghz radio gear with 3 channels in use. I brought this second hand and am steadily improving it. Getting the ramp to work properly was the first struggle. See photo gallery for more information.

Brought this vintage Aero Kits RAF Crash Tender for £50 from Newcastle area, it is the 34in version.
To my surprise at home I found that it had a Bullet 30 motor installed these motors were the top drawer motor of early fast electrics in the early 1980's and its the only one I've ever seen, it can run on 24v and pull around 15A giving 300w not bad for a brushed motor.
due to the power of this motor I have modified the hull under the water line with turn fins and trim tabs to reduce torque roll and improve turning stability, the underside is incorrect already as it only has one propshaft, where the original had two and I believe that both props turned in the same direction.

The Pictures here show some of the work in progress I have remounted the motor and added a speed controller rated at 24v
I have remade the stern compartment and rudder gear under it.
I have blocked windows and foamed the front half of the boat.
made missing parts and repaired delaminating ply.

Note old ply is not as good as modern, the glue is not as water resistant.

Have painted the hull and have just ordered the decals from Cornwall model Boats :-https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=hose%20fire&PN=becc_fire_tender%2ehtml#aB_2dFTS1_2e32

The 34in is 1/16 scale

Fitting can be brought but many are cast white metal and can add weight to the boat, I have made two water cannons and plan to buy plastic fittings from this site.

This has turned out to be a task that is difficult to assess how much effort and money to spend on a hull that has been built by someone else (say no more).
Have just finished the steps for the stern compartment.
Painted and now for the test run.
the Bullet 30 motor ran well between 14 and 18v,

PT 109 was one of the hundreds of motor torpedo boats (PT) of the PT 103 class completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco Naval Division of Electric Boat Company at Bayonne, New Jersey. The Elco boats were the largest in size of the three types of PT boats built for U.S. use during World War II. Wooden-hulled, 80 feet long with a 20-foot, 8-inch beam, the Elco PT boats had three 12-cylinder Packard gasoline engines generating a total of 4,500 horsepower for a designed speed of 41 knots. With accommodations for 3 officers and 14 men, the crew varied from 12 to 14. its full-load displacement was 56 tons. Early Elco boats had two 20mm guns, four .50-caliber machine guns, and two or four 21-inch torpedo tubes. Some of them carried depth charges or mine racks. Later boats mounted one 40mm gun and four torpedo launching racks. Many boats received ad-hoc refits at advanced bases, mounting such light guns as Army Air Forces 37mm aircraft guns and even Japanese 23mm guns. Some PTs later received rocket launchers.

This Proboat PT 109 model was brought in 2013 for £100 these boats are rare now, This one had a few faults with the propshafts they were bent and noisy both were replaced, with quality 4mm shafts, motors twin 600s were also replaced by Graupner versions along with mounts and couplings, basically all the running gear, also two ESCs by Aquapower were added and a 2.4G RC system.

SPECIFICATION:RG65
Total lenght:650mm
Beam:150mm
Mast height :915mm
Overal height: 1338mm
RTR total weigh:1290g (without 4pcs AA batteries)
Hull material Plastic
Sail material : Mylar

INCLUDED:
*Completed hull with pre applied graphics.
*Two milar film sail sets
*Carbon fiber masts and booms ]2Rigs]
*Zinc alloy ballast and aluminium alloy fin
*Powerful sail winch
*Metal gear rudder servo
*Battery box an On/Off switch for receiver
*AA Nimh batteries 2200mAh for transmitter and
*rc/radio FrskyTaranis 2.4Ghz

Westbourne is a Port of London Authority steam Tug from the Caldercraft Mini-Fleet Range - it is 1:48 scale. This model was discontinued a few years ago but I did manage to purchase a brand new boxed one via ebay a couple of years ago.

During her time Westbourne was hired by the Royal Navy as a rescue tug. She saw service with them between October 1916 and July 1919 in the HM Dockyard. Prior to that she was on general towing service duties on the Thames.
She can be found mentioned in “SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - by TYPE & CLASS
Section 3. SUPPORT and HARBOUR VESSELS”

Following the first world war ‘Westbourne’ was one of three tugs attached to the Port of London Authority (PLA) Dredging Service, they were the "Westbourne", "Thorney" and "Brent", they were all fitted with a drag and under running gear.In 1940 during the Battle of Britain. ‘Westbourne’ and many other tugs were used in assisting the berthing of these large ships that entered the Thames.
The photos show from box to construction plus her on the water.

these are the motors and gearboxes in the boat .They look in rough condition but after cleaning ,greasing etc run ok .The sapce that has been used for the battery seems to havebeen divided int o4 for some reason.I am trying decide what battery I need for this