Dave W
I hope this helps if not let me know & I will take more pictures
i was able to put a high deck in because of the size of the hull
it might be difficult to do this with the smaller hull take a look on SLEC they do the River Police Launch (last picture)it appears to to be risen at the front to take the motor etc
The Vintage Model Boat range are now being produced by SLEC Ltd. All our kits come with all parts cut by CNC router or laser, plus all the necesary strip wood is included, along with building instructions and plan.
The River Police Launch has been based on the old Veron Kit from the 1960's that we all loved at that time. The model is not a scale model but embraces the boat design of that era. The kit is now fully laser cut so all parts are pre-cut and most of the parts are now made out of high quality ply, so obtaining a good finish is easier to achieve. The model can be powered by a 7.2 volts standard buggy battery pack or ic power of .5-1.5 cc engines which is not in the kit, also we have not included any running fittings as we feel a lot of modellers will have or would like to choose for themselves, but we can supply these fittings if required.
Now has name and "port of origin" plus flag and is performing well. Still has a leak and I think the engine tends to run hot. I'm considering changing the original 3-bladed prop for 2-bladed one as I'm told that will cause the engine to draw less power from the battery. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of mod?
Hi Ian
It's a racing prop and will use lots of power hence the heat.
As you have a cabin cruiser it does not need such a coarse pitch prop and changing to a prop with a lesser pitch will improve your running time and produce less heat. Performance will depend on the chosen prop but should not be much different from what you already experience.
As you already have a water cooler inlet and outlet you could just wrap some copper tube round the motor and connect with silicon tubing to keep the heat down
Dave
She is a 50" 26 cc petrol engine boat. She runs very well and sits on the water on the turns as if she is stuck to it. Like an idiot I run her up the side of the pond and she now needs both a new propshaft and prop.
Video shows two African Queen boats produced by Modeen of Manchester in the 1980's. Ron Needham took over my boat business and developed his own lovely range of boats and this African Queen was one of them. He supplied kits only so you can expect variations in them. These two i have rebuilt from derelicts .One has the LEE engine and the other is older with the Stuart Turner one. Les Breame
One of my Old Trafford paddle steamers enhanced by my mate Duncan Laurimer and sailing on the put up pond at Tilford Rural Life Centre yesterday. Good fun was had by all !! The boiler is tablet fired [3 halves ] and is half filled with 65ml of water. Engine is single oscillator with 16:1 spur gearbox. Les Breame
This Aerokits "Sea Commander" was built C.1961 by my father with ED Mk4 diesel engine and his own scratch designed and built radio/receiver ( I have all his design documents). He raced it successfully in the early '60s but hadn't used it in years when I inherited it. Have now replaced the IC motor (mothballed carefully) with MFA Torpedo 500 but it runs a bit slowly ("river cruising" scale speed). Looking to obtain semi-planing but not racing speed.
Thanks Johnlikessailing. However, I have now replaced MFA 500 with Mtroniks 600 and got much better performance, although I'm not sure how much of this was due to the change of motor and how much was due to rectifying the slippage due to a loose grub-screw on the connection between the motor drive shaft and the universal joint that I found when I removed it! (Lesson - beware of alternative causes of problems!) Now I just need to sort out a leak - hardly a surprise on a 50 yr old model! Hey-ho!
Video of the first start-up and test of "Sweet Sue" in dry dock. All went well ! Had two sails on water since.I built this vessel from scratch using a pre made clinker fibreglass hull purchased from Mini Steam Australia. The engine is an oscillating twin cylinder and the boiler is a 3" Centre Flue Gas Fired Vertical Boiler from "Miniature Steam". The gas tank is a 1-1/2" vertical refillable GasTank also from Miniature Steam Pty. Australia. The vessel is radio controlled with the skipper appearing to control the rudder. it has a smoke generator and a rc controlled steam whistle.
This boiler runs at around 60psi ! do you think that is a little high ? I was a little concerned by the amount of steam that is being generated as you may have noticed in the video. I can adjust the intensity of the flame inside the boiler so that a lower head of steam is generated, what do you think ?
Kevin
Hi Kevin
Yes that's what I do. I am always amazed at the power the oscillator generates and once rotating very little steam is required to maintain speed. Then again it's not for windy or rough conditions. I would try gradually reducing the pressure until the engine show signs of stopping and then increase by a couple of psi to ensure safe running. You do not need to run the boiler at its max rated pressure when the escape valve will be opening just at a level that replaces what the engine uses. Can we have another video with the steam whistle sounding?
Dave
Looking for a new project i decided to try to make an outboard steam launch. The engine and drive took a while to work out but in the end it all came together well. The boat travels at a nice speed fueled by tablets for lightness as the boiler and engine are quite heavy for the boat size which is about 22"long. There is a brief glimpse of my paddle steamer that i also made. Pictures taken at TILFORD rural life museum Farnham. Next show is Easter Saturday Les Breame
The tablets are the same ones used in all MAMOD toys after they stopped using meths.Get them from DREAM STEAM under name MSS Mamod Solid Fuel Tablets. They are not liked by many as they are quite toxic in confined spaces so dont use them indoors!!! For small boats they are great as they weigh nothing and give good heat. Les Breame
Coal fired Clyde Puffer project. GRP hull with vertical boiler and oscillating engine both of which i made from scratch. Goes very nicely . pictures taken at ilfracombe boating pond. Les Breame
Hull is about 36" long and from ORION Mouldings[i think !!] its quite nice and shows all the rivets in good detail. We are at present making a Puffer 54" long and i am going to make the hull from soldered tinplate[ i hope !!! ] Les Breame
Scratch built model of New Zealand Frigate completed 17 years ago
Sailed well but now ready for refit with new engines and more modern RC fittings
Will complete a Build Blog when I commence the refit
These little corvettes were the backbone of the Atlantic defence of the supply convoys from Halifax Canada to Britain from 1942 to 45
Here she is with steam engine engaged for checking before recent sailing complete with Asdic sound
This was used to echo signal of enemy submarines to pinpoint their position
