💡Scratch built from plans. Plank on frame. Large brushless motor,150 amp esc,length is54 inches custom made propshaft ballraced at each end and middle. Has running lights,and large very bright searchlight. Flack Mats were made by better Half. Everything else was scratch built by myself.
" Elsa ", is a steam dredge barge built by Buxton Model Boat Club member Dean Ratcliffe.
She is roughly 1.24 scale, approximately 43 inches by 8 inches and is made from recycled and up cycled materials wherever possible. She has a single rudder and propeller, powered by a single motor from a drill, and two 6v lead acid batteries. She is a totally freelance design.
As a follow-on to Grahams' comment on our latest collaboration on a smoke pulsing 'capacitor driven' device, we thought it was time to 'chuck it out there' and see what you think. I saw the vid on the guys warship with the very fancy gun smoke system a while ago and thought there must be a simpler way than the sophisticated and technical way he did it.
Having done press setting in my early days, I remembered that a big press we used to set had a hydraulic capacitor which helped get the ram moving (pretty much what electrical capacitors do for motors etc) I started with a common party balloon with no container and knew Graham would be interested, and it progressed from there. As usual, Graham has done a fancy bit of electronic control on his, with solenoid and timing and has it working nicely.
(just received my new solenoid which I will be adding in due course)
Balloon is stopped from filling by a micro switch to the air pump and air is released by solenoid at whatever timing you need (depending on how well your smoker can keep up). If the system has no leaks, the 'capacitor' can hold air indefinitely, ready for use, and will re-fill automatically, (pump only runs to re-fill) This idea can be modified to suit anything (guns, exhaust startup and run, steam to simulate steam whistle etc) Balloons of all shapes can be used eg -(long thin sausage balloons could be fitted inside a tube if space is an issue).
With a good air pump, the 'capacitor' will fill quite quickly and some good pressure can be achieved.
JB
Always thinking of improvements and new gadgets Martin, which might be useful for new model builds. At least Graham and I have got it pretty much sorted, so people can do modifications to suit their particular models. Main thing is that these devices are cheap and simple to make (in basic form) which is the whole idea, and can give your model that little bit extra. Most bits can be easily sourced from Ali Express/ Ebay etc.
JB
Just trying a few more things while waiting for more bits to arrive. This time using a small ESC for the smoke, and using CH 6 (rotary pot) on the TX. Water is adjustable with the voltage reg but could be hooked to the motor ESC as well, with a voltage reg used to set max flow. I'm just using the Heng long smoker box (modified) for this test.
40" Seaplane Tender, new build. Quest for the correct engine sound
Found a sound by accident which sounds quite a bit like the sound of the GM Detroit 453 2 stroke diesels fitted to this boat (still has these today) Vid from cockpit is the sound I discovered while mucking around with some old electric motors, and my new voltage controllers which just turned up.
I'll add the link to the real engine for comparison (next post here). Sounds to be revving really high but being 2 stroke it's only doing around 2800 rpm!
And the prize goes to..., perhaps if I (thr) hum along Doug?😊 (see reply to Martin for answer) It's real hard to get just the right sound to match a model (the sound units I have are not too bad) but there must be ways of doing it without having to spend lots of money on complicated sound units with set programmed sounds. In the case of my sound units, they are real engine sounds, programmed to be proportional on internal SD card but they don't quite match the model). A lot depends on the internal volume of the model (resonator), sound unit and speaker/placement.
The search will continue for a cheap alternative.
JB
Made this in about 6 weeks for my son who was not interested so I now use it for general on water filming etc. It was scratch built from a few photos and is all balsa construction, sealed and painted. Powered by a single 12v 380 motor with a 28mm 3 blade prop. Runs flat out at around 15,000 rpm.
I haven't run nitro boats for a number of years now Doug, same with the planes, everything has been converted to electric long ago, (all the nitro planes included.) No more mess and smell of burnt fuel in the house, no having to take a roll of paper towels and soap sprayer and wash your plane or boat before putting it in the car, and no more having to put a plastic 'nose bag' on the planes to hang them up so you don't get oil dripping on your carpet!
Re- Graupner 'Premium Line', certainly sounds like their quality has dropped, you couldn't fault them in the 70s, gone the way of all the others due to competition from the home of Oolong tea by the sound of it.
"everything has been converted to electric long ago"
Know what you mean John.
I've still got a 5ltr canister of pepped up glow fuel kicking about in the cellar.
Probably degenerated into uselessness by now🤔
Maybe I'll stick in the car or use it to start the barby😊
Re Premium line-
Belfast wasn't so bad, but had the same crappy plastic props held on with grub screws.
So she's getting threaded shafts and brass props from Raboesch 😉
On Graf Spee though I noticed a lot of resin casting faults, evidence of air bubbles and smudged detail, as well as over / under-spray in the painting and lifting of the wooden decks.
Had to inject liquid CA glue round the edges to stop it peeling ☹️😠
Best thing on both ships were the faultless hulls with double skinning!😉
One thing surprised me with Belfast though-
the recommended SLA batteries don't fit! I couldn't get them in any which way 🤔
Not to worry, they go in my 1:72 destroyer with ease 😊
BTW I prefer lapsang souchong 😋
This is my latest build and first time at scratch building. Other than the hull I've done everything else so far and learned a great deal in scratch building. The hull was built for me by John Elsy of Newcastle as I had no experience of lifting details from the basic layout plan I had, but will learn this soon. Various stages in the build to date. it has a Graupner 500 ECKO motor pulley drive. Motor sits above the propshaft on special engine mount and the shaft has an oiler. 2 ch Futaba `T2ER 40 MHz radio which is all hidden under the false planked aft working deck. it will run on a 12v 7amp gell cell battery with a FR30HX Electronize ESC. Currently building one of the cranes.
This is my model of the KG5. Futaba 2 ch, electronize ESC, 12v 7amp gell cell battery. The motor is from a Ford radiator fan and pulls 1 amp current. Scratch built in the 60.70s and revamped in the 90s by myself. it is 1/96 scale @ 72 inches long and a width of 14 inches.
This is a 1984 re-issue of a Lindberg Chris Craft Sport fishermen purchased used on Ebay. Some of the parts where broken and some partially assembled. The model did come with 2 MACK RC motors and some fabricated wood parts, including a template for the aft deck. The interior was assembled from quarter scale doll house items except for the dinette. There are 4 underwater LED bulbs with a dedicated power supply. The running, interior and radar unit are powered by a separate systems from the hull electrics. The second Li-po battery is for backup and balast. There are number of additional items added since these photos were taken including a stern seat and larger radar array .
Just built Krick RO-Marin Neptun. First tug I’ve built, she came out okay, I think. 6volt system, MFA 2.5 geared motor, Graupner SXM switch controlling the lights, older Pixie brushed esc controlling water monitor pump. Old Futaba MC210 for motor esc, Frysky QX7 radio. This video was shot at Towne Lake, McKinney Texas. She well on her maiden, needs about 2-4 ounces ballast in the stern though.
I have been building my scratch build PT 109 for the last 3 months, working sometimes only one or two evenings in the week. As you must all know you can only do so much before you have to stop and wait for glue or paint to dry :( but at last it is now completed, RC gear installed and a mighty 48" in length at 1/20 scale. Next will be the lake and a final trial run, I completed a 'bath' test a couple of days ago and it only just fitted in the bath but both motors run great. hope you like. Andy
Sounds good to me DELVEIN 👍 PLEASE start a Build Blog about your project.
I'm sure it would be an inspiration to many members, not least me 😉
I propose to fit the centre motor as a simple brushed job with independent control, as RHBaker did with his superb Brave Borderer MTB. Centre motor for cruising and manoeuvring, two outer brushless for full power 'action' manoeuvring. So far I've only renovated the hull, way to go yet.
Looking forward to the vid of your Sea Trials👍
Cheers, Doug 😎
Was given this as a hull which had been started 25 yrs ago, along with some superstructure parts. Without other materials to finish it off, I gave it what I could find and here is where it is today.
Motor is 340 Graupner geared 3:1 & 7.2v 2400 NiMH
Can not provide any specific sailing details until it has been in the pond which could be awhile...se my front and back yard!
