Here's my "juliette' my 1st Graupner Carina from the old days !
|I bought her in a 'barely started condition' and took everything apart. Built her up step by step> (will post more pictures later)

This is a first try at a simpler quieter smoke unit. I used the smoker box/element off the Heng Long tank/car smoker unit with a 40x40 5v fan (the fan being voltage controlled by a 5v UBEC and the lot being run by a 2s Lipo (with a y splitter for the fan UBEC and the element using JST leads. Doesn't smoke that well as I had broken then repaired the element previously, but the other one I have smokes a lot better, and has a better type of element (possibly a newer version) Some photos etc on the smoker discussion. Unit is almost silent (the noise you hear is the camera and outside noise, as the window was open)

This ship was a lightship tender named "Coeur de Lion" that was armed and drafted into the Union during the civil war to counter blockade runners. This model is scratch built and is inspired by a paper model designed by Magnus Mörck. A sidewheel steamer equipped with the typical walking beam machinery, it was rebuilt to carry three guns. A line of iron plates along the gun wales added a measure of armoured protection. After the war it was returned to lightship service. On my model the paddles are independently driven, mainly because I have a Robbe Navy F14 transmitter with twin sticks. The walking beam is operated by a servo modified for continuous rotation. The original ship towed a barge that flew an observation balloon and could be described as the first 'aircraft carrier' the fifth picture shows the barge I have made - I hope one day to emulate the real thing by raising and lowering a suitable balloon. I have included some pictures of the rest of my paddle fleet.The 'Rachel Erin' is a freelance sternwheeler 'quarter wheeler' tug that uses a worm drive to the paddles. She does not steer well. The last ship is an enlarged version of Graham Goodchild's Santa Anna.

This is one of the limited edition Sirmar kits that was produce in the early 1990’s.this model was made by a friend of mine who’s a dockyard fitter and turner it was made about twenty eight years ago. Based on a tug that I worked on in and around Portsmouth harbour. This model has a working voith unit opening engine room skylights. Working lights, removable deck hatch to get at the unit like the real boat, the superstructure and gun whales are made from plasticard. The fender was made by a friend to the same type as used on the tug. The wheelhouse is copied like for like. The towing hook is copied from photos and slips like the real one. in all my years I haven’t seen another one like this . Sirmar made twenty numbered hulls as kits .

This time I want to show the process after removing the now sanded hull. You get a first view of having me removing the frames and starting to fill lead into the wooden hull. in the last photo, you can appreciate the benefits of removing all frames from within the hull. The surface inside the hull is ready for further processing.

I am continuing to try to learn the way this forum is properly used. I want to publish here my photos of the construction of my sailboat Carina from scratch that I am publishing here. I will limit myself to photos that are useful to get a general view of the topics I am publishing

Trying to learn to use this forum properly I am publishing a video that shows an experiment I did to find out how fast the stepper motor could turn. I am using in my model of the sailboat Carina 2 stepper motors like the one shown in the video to work as a winch to control the position of the sails in a system solution where I am realizing this my own way to implement the sheets as shown on the original sailboat Endeavour. This requires my sheet control system to control the length of the sheet of the mainsail i.e. over a range of 8.3 meters. This requires the drum which is turned by the stepper motor to make 21 full turns. Details will be published in my report from scratch of building my Carina.

no longer available from Harbor models given to me by Norm Rusinow
oar propelled East Coats Dory

Members might like to view my experimental solar powered "BOAT " More like an aircraft carrier !! No batteries carried even for the radio. Brushless motor running from 24 cells giving 12volts. Slightest shadow will stop it.The panel i made myself by buying individual solar cells from Ebay and soldering them up.The cells are sandwiched between glass which makes it quite heavy and next project will have no glass but the cells are VERY fragile.

British Power Boat 64 ft RNZAF HSL scratch built 36" R/C model with twin systems including sound. Brushless 2000kv w/cooled (pump) in-runners, 30A car ESCs, 2200mah 2s LiPos remote lights etc. Started off in 1940, new with the RNZAF and had many modifications over the years till decommissioned, including machinery reduced to twin 671 Greymarine GMs (from the original 3x 500hp Napier Sea Lions) which were finally removed around 7yrs ago and replaced with a single 650hp GM Detroit 8v92T1 (still does 20 knots in its latest configuration ! - see this on the photo gallery of this model) This boat is in far better condition than the ex Phil Clabburn restoration of HSL 102 (he didn't have much to start with) and the hull has never had any major rebuild apart from being glassed to the W/L. Even today there is no way most people would pick it for 80yrs old. Those hulls never age! (ie some of the beautiful 'Whale Back' conversions still around)

This is my scratch built 36" RNZAF British Power Boat 64' HSL (arrived in NZ 1940). I actually went on board this vessel in 1968 when it was still in original form (the RNZAF having disposed of it in the 50s) This vessel is still around and has been recently re modelled (2nd time since early 70s) and I was lucky last year to have met the present owner and go on board (2nd time in 49yrs!)and take a few photos. The vessel was modified a number of times by the RNZAF over the years (air intakes, removal of the fore deck machine guns, wheelhouse turret etc so I sort of went in the middle. I found a few drawings of the type in an old mag which had side and top views plus the bulkheads and their positions, so I took them along to a copying shop and kept enlarging them until I had the desired proportions. This worked out quite well and using a few methods from other models I had built, managed to frame (ply) the hull and then fully strip plank it in balsa. it was then fiber glassed. The deck is ply, lined and varnish stained. The wheelhouse is varnished balsa with the top removable for access. The wheelhouse interior has detail such as controls, instrument panels, skipper, steps to wardroom etc but is not too detailed as it is not seen. The boat has full lighting by remote switch, lights are all LED.
The propulsion side has dual everything (motors, ESCs, sound units), would have had 3x but ran out of space! Motors are 28mm 2200Kv water jacketed in-runners (cooled by remotely switched pump) using 30A Chinese ESCs (have 5A BEC, Fwd and Rev). Twin sound units are 'GT Power' car units which have around 40 different sound selections, from Cosworths to diesels and are computer programmable (as well as manually on the unit ) for various functions. I am using one of the v8 sounds (8 cyls short in my application) which I think is as near as you are going to get to 3 Napier Sea Lions (for which there is obviously no sound available) They 'start' 'Idle' and are fully proportional in fwd and rev and can sound quite realistic (will attempt to put up a vid later).
Batteries are 2x 2200mah 2s 20c LiPos which will last around 2hrs at least of sailing (they also run the sound units) Still have a few small things left to do (have just made wheelhouse air intakes) but don't want to get too fiddly. Just want to keep it a practical model.

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.