Weather was perfect tonight for a test, so I did the 15km trip out to the Gulf harbour pond (most weed free pond) to throw the boat in. After a thorough under water hull inspection from the marine department, she was off. Everything worked ok except the silicone drive tube which had become enlarged due to soaking in the grease coming out the front of the jet shaft. It was slipping badly and probably losing about 60% of its' thrust. Manoeuvrability is excellent but reverse leaves a bit to be be desired. Steering in reverse is perfect but the thrust is not going forwards enough from the bucket. Might have to build in some nozzles to direct it better.

Smoke air and water are working as well as can be expected, (smoke is a bit wafty, but with too much air introduced it will disappear as it gets thinned out too much to see) I was not expecting miracles as this was a bit of an experiment (modified cheap jet unit with unknown abilities) but at least it shows promise😁. If I can find a coupling which is concentric it will solve the drive problem.

Trouble is, the Chinese insist on making a 4mm shaft, 4.95 (or whatever) which is useless for balance in a 4mm ID bearing for example. Fine for cars, but no good for boats or planes due to balance requirements (it's a mission trying to balance plane props due to this thinking,- they do it with everything) shafts for electric motors are a nightmare at times as the play they build in, can ruin an otherwise good motor. I might have to buy a flexible rubber/nylon universal or a collet style( preferable as these take up any undersize on shafts) to fix it. They included a spiral alloy one with the jet unit which is as loose as a rooster in a sock, and only good for slower things like 3D printers etc. One of these days they will learn how to machine things to fit.😐

Some details of Thor. - by Dean Ratcliffe.

Thor is a freelance design of a multicat vessel. These rather unusual ships are real workhorses, designed as a work platform, often with a hiab crane. The square hull gives a large flat deck, with plenty of open space for a work area or for deck cargo. The design also enables the vessel to be used as a tugboat, either pushing or towing and are often equipped with large deck winches and strong points for this purpose. A true Swiss army knife of the sea, able to adapt to most roles, some even have additional internal fuel tanks for refuelling other vessels.
More info found on -
Model Boats Website - BoatClubs & Lakes - Buxton Model Boat Club

https://model-boats.com/places/60518

Seen here at Buxton is - 'Ellipsis' an International One Metre Class yacht .
Built from lines drawings purchased from the designer Frank Russell.
Neville hand laminated the hull in epoxy glass, and the fin and rudder in epoxy carbon. Hull finished in cellulose paint.
Information provided by Neville Black.

Wicksteed Park Model Boat Club - Night Sail 15th Dec '14

"JukeBox" mode on sound card playing carols on request from the shore

Model Slipway Model - "Maggie M" is a Fishing Trawler
Scale 1:32 L. 850 mm B. 255 mm Approx. 10 kg.
Built in 1990 by Campbelltown Shipbuilders Ltd (Scotland) MAGGIE M operates out of Scarborough harbour in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The vessel is designed for twin-rig trawling and the aluminium shelter-deck is a cover over the fish processing room.

Piper2 is another free lance design from Buxton Model Club Member Dean Ratcliffe. Piper2 is a Car Ferry /Landing Craft.
Audio commentary from Dean.

More photos in Model Boats Website - https://model-boats.com/
- "Boat Clubs & Lakes" - "Buxton Model Boat Club"

A pilot boat and a Tugboat. What type of tug is it?

Finally, had a decent day (if you can call calm but fully overcast decent) and managed a try-out of the ST. Unfortunately had the pleasure of some yappy kid asking a thousand stupid questions, then his grandfather started, while I was trying to set it up. Got so distracted I ended up breaking the mast while trying to grab the boat and answer rapid fire questions. Trying to do a video and the kid's yelling behind me, and the grandfather just let him carry on.??😠 Don't mind kids being interested at all, but some are just a pain in the 'transom'
Anyhow, enough grumpy old man stuff, -boat went pretty much perfectly and is plenty fast enough, and also very economical on the batteries, (Vid was twice as long before editing) and when I stopped they were still at 3.9v/ cell (they are only 2200MAh 2s ) and were only 4.1 at the start. All in all, distractions and a bit of mast damage aside, I'm quite happy with it, (did hit the jetty at a 20deg angle at 2/3 throttle while taking photos, - going for that last shot -😀 bounced off without a mark, - lucky the jetty piles are slimy and I build tanks !)

Finally managed to get this to come out the right way up on You Tube (didn't like MP4,- came out upside down). Running the 2 boats from an HK 6ch 2.4 radio (slight crash and jostling by the Maiami at the start) . You'll get sick of it in a few minutes and fall asleep but I've put it up anyhow😁 If this doesn't make you seasick, nothing will!😊 Hit a Koi carp (Chinese sub) at 3.01!

Hope this posting works. It's a short video.

Too hot to go out today

Rotating beacon is R/C car accessory.

Radar is modified servo.

Water monitor is scratch built with cheap pump from ebay. Draws water from outside boat . Turns with servo.

Searchlight scratch built with ultra bright led.

Well, what a lovely day it is today and here is a pic or two of my Boston which I built several years ago - I had to rebuild her recently that was due to the plasticard I used for the bulwarks had perished and when I picked the model up the plasticard bulwarks cracked and fell apart, so I have rebuilt with wood. Plastic was from the 1980s when I built the model.

I hadn't built a model of any sort since I was 15 years old and that was a control line aeroplane with a glow worm engine. 45 years later and regressing nicely back to my teenage years, my wife bought me (reluctantly!) a RC Boat Kit - Mowe 2. I had been wanting to build again for many years, but children and family and home situation did not allow.
So, over the cold Autumn and Winter Months I carefully put my spare nights to good use, rather than watching night after night TV box sets and re-watching the entire James Bond movies, not once but 2 or 3 times....
Anyhow after 3 months...the finished product. I should have started a blog but didn't know of this site until a few weeks ago.
Not a brilliant finished job, but a satisfying one, and it sails nicely on Bushy Park boating lake in Kingston-upon-Thames.
Now o nto bigger and more complicated things...a Fairey Huntsman 31.
This time I'll do a blog....👍