Finally reached the end of my 'back to wood' restoration which started in November last year! She was a rather sorry ebay purchase but did have some of the original fittings - sadly not all, I used as many as possible and found new equivalents to try and match. The mast, davit and cleats were all home made in plasticard, brass and other sundry bits and pieces. it has working lights and spotlight and the davit rotates. First outing today was pretty good, it does plane but at nearly full throttle so the next trip will be with an 8.4v stick to give it a little more edge. Roger :-)
HI Peep31, I made the mast from brass, plasticard and some small pices of timber. I have posted some pictures on the site, if I can find them I'll send a link. Roger
HI fellow model boat people,just a couple of photos showing a rescued aerokits sea queen circa late 50s.
This was in poor condition, work was started mid January to strip down the various parts that required to be remade, deck/superstructure/roof panels/windows etc.
The hull needed stripping back to give a good surface for the finished paint work.
Completion of the basic boat is now getting near, and ready for fitting out with motor radio etc.
Hope to give more details later.
Cheers for now.
the sea rover was bought locally as a wreck with much of the forward section of the cabin missing , however it has been rebuilt in a matter of weeks to sailing condition , its now running a single vision 600 motor on 7.2 volts , & has a reasonable turn of speed and very good rudder response ! the fpl was a double purchase as I bought a pair of hulls , one had a better finish than its sister although this didnt matter as they were both stripped back to bare timber and resprayed with wilkinsons enamel spray . as the cabins were not remaining Ive made both boats into vospers mk2 range safety launches , neither models are fully finished but Ive started to use 1640 , I know 1646 wasnt a number issued by the raf , but as the model is to be operated by my neice it was the number she has chosen !
Bit of fun with a video camera on my restored 1960's fireboat at my home club St. Helens MBC. had to be really carefull with the throttle and rudder sticks so the whole lot didnt end up upside down due to the camera position...
34" fireboat built 1965 restored late 2009 by me
running graupner 8.4v speed 600 on 8 cells (9.6v).
love the way the boat is in and out of shadow and sunlight throughout the video
I had always admired the lines of 1950s American wooden runabouts and built this Aerokits model when I was an apprentice at Jaguar Cars and it had stayed in my loft since completion nearly 40 years ago. Recently dusted off and upgraded with a Graupner Speed 500 and Mtroniks 40Amp controller and P35 prop. Seen here at Knightcote Boat Club on 25 October
Original 1960s boat aquired this summer from the family a deceased former club member in scruffy, non running but basically sound condition. Was petrol powered at some stage and still had original vintage mechanical speed controller from a later electric power set up. Restored with two (secondhand) MFA850 motors in tandem driving a new single 20 in M5 shaft. . Using a 50 Amp Tornado speed control and plastic X55 Graupner prop.
Sprayed (Volvo) Flash Green Metallic with orginal decks stripped back and restained (using tea bags!) and relaquered
Planing gently on our club sailing water at Knightcote, Warwickshire on 25 October
The weather on Sunday was great here in Peterborough and the perfect opportunity for the first trip out since restoration work was finished. The boat with ballast is very heavy so help from a few friends at the boat club was much appreciated! Performance from a pair of original Decaperms isn't earth shattering but good enough to give a nice scale performance, I might decide to upgrade them over the winter but haven't worked out what the best option might be so any suggestions based on your own experience would be appreciated. Thanks for looking, Roger
Hi,I run my solent at about 3rd power most of the time,normaly just the trim on the hand set is enough ,the mfa 800s with the props I said will give you plenty of power if needed,,at the Cwmbran show I used the solent to tow my Arun around for best part of a hour and still had loads of power let in the battery,and thats running a 12v 12amp lead acid battery,Both motors are run through a single 60amp controller with 15 amp fuses feed each motor...did try plastic props in the 35 and 45 size but found I got reversing problems,,my solent weighs in at 23.3 kg all up and afloat
cheers
Owen
HI again Roger ,good tip for getting boats to the water,I now use my carp fishing trolly,its great for it,can get a 54" Arun and a 48" solent on it with there bits and bobs and just wheel it all to the lake,bought mine off ebay for around ÂA£30 mark
HI Everybody,
Went to an autojumble looking for car bits an ended up with these instead.
Sea urchin in need of total refit,sea nymph has 380 motor and prop already in it minor refurb required.
Will keep you posted on progress.
Just finished Sea urchin,yet to do sea trials.
Hi Harleydream1, I like what you have done with the Sea Urchin, its hard to see in the image but are you operating the tiller steering with lines run forward to a servo?
