This is my tug Alte Liebe. it is a Caldercraft kit and is almost 1 metre in length. I have installed an MFA 540 motor with a 2.5:1 reduction gear and operate her on 6 volt SLA's. With ballast she is fairly heavy coming in at about 15 kg.
I have just added a photo of my tug breaking the Ice on our lake a couple of weeks ago.(December 2012)
Believed to be scratch built, evidence of old 1 gallon REDEX oil container forming main deck, bits of Mecano used as stiffening and support.
It has a Basset Lowke model 1461/u (motor, stern tube, prop shaft and prop) Set.This dates from the mid 1930's and would have cost 7/- Shillings for those old enough to remember, that would have been abut a day and a half's wages. The photo's show what the motor looked like as it came out and then after cleaning and testing, and yes it runs very smoothly in forward and reverse, from 3 volts up to 12 volts, seems to be quite good at 6, so will probably use when rebuild complete.
As you will see from photo's there is a lot of restoration to do before sailing again.
Now you've stopped laughing, can you identify the type of ship it's meant to be, I thought a Coaster.
Just got back from lake and had some fun with my son. His Veron Swordsman that I bought from a second hand shop £30.00. Flew the Canadair again against a stunning sunset, and a shot of my Veron Fast Patrol Boat with its new motors (555's) running on 10v A123's, very scale speed but could do with a few more volts to really bring it on the plane.
HI Ian, yes Phil did start from a very young age. I've seen photos of him at the Great West Aerodrome (now Heathrow) with free flight petrol in the 1920's.
If your going to I of W it's worth calling into Westbourne Models on the way that's if your going along the coast.
If your going brushless be warned that the ESC's are a lot of money. I would recommend the Graupner one. I have one and cannot fault it. its a bit strange to program at first but once I got use to it no probs. You can have it for planes, cars, helicopters or boats, it changes the start up differently, I had nothing but trouble with some cheap ones until I went to Westbourne emptied my wallet and put it in my Huntsman by Precedent, the slow speed is fantastic you have so much control and when you open it up it is smooth. I put a water jacket on it and it is always cool no matter how I drive the boat. if you do go to Westbourne let me know, if you like, and you could come in for a drink (tea!) would like to meet you,
speak to you soon, Brian
1959 kit built, restored two years ago,removed the ganette 15cc 4 stroke and replaced it with a bruhless motor which is a EMP 5065 410kv with a 100amp ESC and 4cell 5000 lipo turning a x70 two bladed prop, runs times up to 20 minutes, and a very good but over scale speed, will take a video of her next time a I take her out.
Second decent run with this boat- rather sedate I think. At the moment it's drawing 33amps (stationary, 16.5 amps each motor) with both motors running from a 12v Nimh pack. I want to get each motor running off a separate LiPo and then I could probably increase the prop size- still well within the esc rating and the motors are very cool after a run at the moment. it seems a bit back heavy and I'd like to get it running flatter- so will try moving the batteries more amidships.
HI Ian
See you are making good use of the wattmeter 😀
Like the video and agree the balance could benefit with a bit more weight amidships.
Listening to the video sound suggests your motors are not developing full power so I suspect the NiMh's are not capable of delivering the amps required.
You could try smaller props with the NiMh's to see if the performance Improves, could be your motors are working just below the optimum.
Dave, I found that the Nimh batteries were dropping off to around 9v at full power when measured with the wattmeter and this is why I want to go for Lipos, one on each motor. At the moment I'm taking everything from one pack and I think this is the limiting factor.
When I get my Lipos I will stick them in the middle and try larger props, probably 40mmS types to begin with, having measured what's going on with the wattmeter first. it may be that the existing props will do better if the batteries are delivering up what the motors want. You're right, there is still plenty of headroom with this setup.
Just got to rake up the cash for two largish capacity Lipos!
The wattmeter is a splendid purchase- I'd say essential for this type of thing.
Anyway, glad you liked the video- she still looks quite good toodling around at that speed.
First trial run after purchase off good old Ebay. Running 26kv motor and 11.1v lipo. its a little bit "skippy", but after returning to shore, it looks like it may simply be the height of the prop shaft, so now adjusted, ready for a second trial shortly....more to follow.
They can be very stable and get a higher level of speed over a mono hull. BUT ...... yep, there always has to be one............ I find that a mono hull can sail in any type of water condition, twin hulls, or tunnel hulls are better suited for calmer water. the main risk is for the hull to flip over backwards if thits the crest of a wave and the wind gets under the bows, the centre section then acts as a sail , wind catches it and lifts the hull nose up........... and over !
If you get the chance to sail one.......try it, they are good fun to sail, take a bit of concentration to get the best speed out of them, especially on turns.
Its like any boat, there are good things and bad in all of them to a degree.
Built from a Veron plan, had to do the lofting myself!! Got two brushed motors in it at the moment, hope to maiden it tomorrow(2/9/12). Hash up of the Trinidad and Tobago boats. Not real scale but enjoyed making it.
Brian,
Ouch! Sounds a bit expensive.On the advice of Dave M on this forum I bought myself a wattmeter and it certainly takes the guesswork out. I went through three esc's on my Lesro Sportsman before I got it right- hopefully! Also spent a good deal of time anxiously waiting for my Rapier to drift back to shore after it popped a fuse- twice. Now I know what the limits are and I just didn't have a big enough fuse in.
I'm having just what you describe with batteries being too far astern- I'm going out Monday to try them in the middle of the boat. Also hoping to get some LiPos when I have decided on a make.
Hope the new motors and fans work out and that you get some good shots on the water eventually.
HI Ian, well the original motors came from a discount store, £2.00 each from memory, they work Ok in my USS Crokett, but I have no glazing and the hot air can escape! I think the sequence went like got hot, melted fan, fan fell off, jammed Motor, fuse blew. I couldn't get any water cooling pre bent from Westbourne so will make my own tomorrow. I have opened up the funnel a bit more on the side and place louvres over the hole, I will get a photo. I did use LIPOs (turnigy 3cell 3500) but now have gone over to A123's much better I have 3 in series X 3 in parellel Giving 6600 MAmps @ 10.4volts.These are very safe batteries, almost unbreakable, I use them in my planes they weigh a little more than LIPOs but a lot less than Gel cells about a quarter and can be forces charged but you would have to sail all day to flatten them. Thanks for your interest, speak to you soon, Brian
A Lesro Rapier built from a new kit undertaking its maiden voyage. Two 700 9.6v motors with two Mtroniks 40 amp esc's run on 12v with two 37.5mm props. The performance was somewhat disappointing. When the photo was taken I had a 14.4v pack in, forgetting the 12v limit on the esc's -but I got away with it!
I would try and leave the cooling slots fully open, to allow air to circulate through the motor internals. Same goes for any air slots in the front face of the motor, always try and make a hole on the motor mount [if none in], to aid airflow through the motor.
if you cover the slots up, you are only adding to the internal temperature of the motor you are trying to cool.
First trials after upgrading the hull to brushless motor, instead of original 550 size motor. this test was on a 2 cell 7.4v lipo, I did try a 3 cell, but the stretch of water we use isn't long enough, I run out of water too quickly, so for now, 2 cells power it is. its still a handfull on turns, as the turn fins will take some setting up to get the best out of them to maintain a degree of speed, rather than drag factor off the turn fins.
Mmmm.... turn fins? Perhaps he means a 'dagger plate' a vertical fin that should help prevent the boat from rolling and filpping on turns. Just theorizing I'm not sure though if two would be the answer, I wonder if they might actually hinder. With a single plate of the right size placed centrally the boat would be still be restrained from too much sideways roll yet not lose any directional control being able to pivot on the single plate, where as two plates would tend to act like two fixed rudders and be hinder to turning. I also fly planes and I agree with Dave M about fine control, if using a computerized radio dialing in both rates and expotential helps compensate for over enthusiastic waggling of the sticks and is nearly always required for fast craft particularly first time out. Anyway that sure looks like fun, that's a serious handful and on just 7 volts, well done!
Dagger boards are onl;y used on sail boats, turn fins are a fine edges plate, fitted to the transom, and adjustable in height/depth to the water, so it gives less "bite" when running straight, but digs in on turns to get the hull to bite in to the water.
A rudder is fitted, so there is no way of fitting one of these centrally my freind, they have to fit either side/one side of the transom.
"trimming the radio" does not cater for the movement on a fast boat, thats purely down to the person behind the sticks at the time!
The "end game" on the video was when the rudder dug in too deeply and the boat just spun around due to an "over steer" moment........... thast just what can happen when playing around setting up brushless systems.
Almuazzar is type 42 destroyer built by Vosper. The model is powered by two smiths motors and a 50 amp scooter battery, she is 83 inc long 15 inc beam.
Purchased secondhand, upgraded to a proper motor esc rather than the original/factory on/off micro switch for the motor power. Running a graupner 600 race motor and 7.4 lipo, basically just to run the brushes in on the motor before raising the battery voltage,
bit of a shaky video but try holding the transmitter and filming at same time on your own [ha ha].
it does have the capacity to move a ot faster, but would sooner work the motor in fully first
Hope my photos are of use and let us know how your build is getting on.
Alan
hope you had a good new year, the pictures are a great help, I'm still working on it when I get any spare time.
Patrick