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Brightwork
Commodore
Graupner Commodore
Hi e
Liked by AndyN and jbkiwi and
5 comments
  • johnfMidshipman
    Well done Brightwork.. Your kit built Commodore looks in pretty good condition - and in your care should be back on the water soon.

    Not many boats have two shafts and props these days. With just one central rudder you may find that it does not like turning at low speed very much.

    In this case you may consider converting to 2 or 3 rudders and\ or programming your transmitter (if possible) to give asymmetric thrust to help right turns.

    Good luck!

    Dr John F. Leeds and Bradford MBC. 😊😊😊
    Liked by Scratchbuilder and hermank and
  • BrightworkCommodore
    Dr. John...she will be getting twin rudder and new screws. May even change out the shafts, will see. I guess that's why the original builder put the big black rudder keels on her. I will redo her interior cockpit in mahogany brightwork. I appreciate all the folks support here. It's nice to share.
    Liked by Scratchbuilder and hermank and
GARTH
Commodore
1 / 3
Graupner Optimist
Today, Optimist saw real water. I had a mini-soling also, but another member had an 88 transmitted, & my mini-soling is also on 88, so it took me a while to get the courage to put the Optimist So today was for sail boats but you usually have a member that wants to test out his speed boat that's has a great paint job . He picked up a seagull feather that really slowed him down.
Liked by RodC and RNinMunich and
6 comments
  • B rian J amesPetty Officer 2nd Class
    Pat, Isn't using the WWW, (slightly) cheating? I.E. I haven't a 'clue'! But 'Glue', I do know a 'little' about, sticky stuff. If 'Sikaflex' sticks to fingers, it must be pretty good? But seriously folks, 'preparation, preparation, preparation', that & spread the contact area, & reinforce with 'glass, (tape). 'B J'. 🤔 Keep on Modelling!
    Liked by Len1 and hermank
  • RNinMunichFleet Admiral
    BJ. 👎👎👎
    Be happy that I am no longer a Moderator!
    To quote your own words: "I (i.e. you) must get a 'life',"
    I believe that you need some help, but unfortunately not the kind of help that you can receive here on a Model Boats enthusiast site.
    Doug
    Liked by Len1 and Mike Stoney and
GARTH
Commodore
1 / 3
Info on Smoke Maker
Was asked for more info . So here are a few photos . This mini humidifier uses water only to generate fake smoke no smelly baby oil & varsol odor 50%-50% mix for Graupner smokers .I get the power to run unit from the receiver battery port as the unit uses a USD port to make it work so I got a old servo & cut the wire off it removed the signal white wire & used the black & red wires to power up unit . I have to turn model on then power up the Humidifier to start fake smoke put the cabin on model & away we go. Make sure Positive & Negative are put in proper receiver slots Please don't damage receiver if it's plugged in wrong.
Liked by Brightwork and hermank and
2 comments
  • Len1Lieutenant Commander
    thanks for sharing. Len
    Liked by hermank and AlessandroSPQR and
  • Commodore-HCommander
    Thanks, great information

    I like this method, simple and clean, but how far away is it still visible?
    Liked by hermank and Len1
Ronald
Fleet Admiral
1 / 2
Changed motor in St. Pierre Dory
I like the new motor, it has a higher voltage rating than the Graupner 400 which is 6 volts.
Liked by pressonreguardless and hermank and
2 comments
  • roycvFleet Admiral
    Hi good idea, have you been out on the water yet?

    I have several 12 -18 volt motors the size of a 550 and run them on 6 -7.2 volts and they will turn over a big prop 45 - 50 mm.

    This looks good on a cargo ship where you can almost watch the prop turn over. They do not get hot and have a low current drain. Bonus is they are often cheap! Also I can use slightly cheaper NiMh batteries of about 3300mAhs.

    I have a few Pittman motors originally scrounged out of computer tape decks 40 years ago. They are almost silent and work really well.

    I always check for hot batteries or motors as I do not want current diverted from the motor to heating up the drive train.

    Following a friend I have also found a cheap and effective and silent U/J. It is plastic flexible tubing about 3/8ths inch diameter in less than 2 inch lengths.

    You can use it in place of the Huco U/J, keeping the brass inserts on which it is a tight fit. Or if you have a threaded shaft a largish pair of nuts locked together with the tubing forced over them.

    They need to be in a straight line and a few fast forward and reverses settles the tubing into position. The drive is silent and efficient and good for up to 20 watts or so.
    regards
    Roy
    Liked by RonBMK2 and hermank and
  • flaxbybuckCaptain
    I would agree with others, viz. use a smaller prop. When a motor gets hot it normally indicates too high a resistance from the prop, so try a couple of smaller sizes and monitor its performance.
    Good luck😉
GARTH
Commodore
1 / 2
My Smoke thing
A friend in the model boat club made a simple smoke generator so I decided I'd try .Use a small humidifier & powered U.S.D plug with 4 NMH batteries & installed it in a model I built a while ago. Some of my old style Graupner smoke generators don't work any more .
Liked by Homdadream67 and Double Rum and
2 comments
  • chugalone100Commodore
    !Great idea, I love it!🤔
    Is it something that remotely you can control or is it on at all the times?
    How long does it take to start smoking after you power it ?
    Liked by Colin H and hermank
  • GARTHCommodore
    Good question I could put a switch in one leg of battery to turn the simulated smoke on & keep the switch on the unit one & the fake smoke will come on right away I think haven't tried out yet but its easy to turn on after putting main battery in & putting plain water in the humidifier tank .New plan took it to Spencer's pool & wire broke off U.S.B. plug .Rewired used battery port on Flysky Receiver which is about 6 volts to power up the humidifier & it worked .
    Liked by KenThompson and chugalone100 and
jbkiwi
Fleet Admiral
FAIRACRE BROADS CRUISER, NEW MOTOR AND ESC
Fitted the new 550 45T brushed motor as a replacement for the ancient and slow 70s Graupner monoperm. Goes a lot better now and has a decent speed range. Handles and rides quite well for a skinny boat. Prop is a Graupner 40mm 2 blade (don't know the pitch, -fairly fine) Using a 2200mAh 2S LiPo battery which probably gives around an hours running slowly, or 30 mins of hooning around.

Battery was only charged to 8.25v and ended up at 7.7v. (45%) after about 3/4 hr. I'll probably fit a Hobbywing ESC as well, for a bit better reverse action, as the El cheapo car one is a bit slow finding reverse at times.
Liked by MouldBuilder and Brightwork and
jbkiwi
Fleet Admiral
GRAUPNER OPTIMIST REFITTED, FIRST SAIL IN 22YRS
Finally got a good day, so raced down to the pond and threw the boat in. 2 problems, 1: battery had run down a bit with all the testing, and the new 18kg digital servo winch needed every bit of 4.8v, so functioned intermittently, meaning not much sail control, 2: jib boom needs a kicking strap to stop it 'skying' and tangling (knew it would happen but wasn't a worry). Apart from that, everything worked perfectly ( cheapo China Futaba knock -off rudder servo still worked fine on the low battery which is a bonus)

Sailed brilliantly like it did over 40 yrs ago, and as it's set will sail hands off on a reach, being nicely balanced, (even with the crappy jib,- which I had to make,- well actually my mother made for me,- back in 1980 after the original was stolen by a kid at the beach, while my back was turned😠) Funnily enough it was made on the same Bernina I used to sew (horrendously) the jib foot after trimming it for the boom a few days ago.

A few more things to improve and add, but pleased to have it back on the water. Another crap video, -seems to get blurry once it's been through the movie editor and You tube ) One day santa might bring me a Gopro, ("yeah right"!)
Liked by Inkoust and ChrisR and
4 comments
  • Graham93Vice Admiral
    JB,

    Looks like a perfect day. I find sailing very relaxing and quiet, with no engine/motor noise. Can be quite challenging though, especially when you need to bring it back in to the dock.

    Graham93
    Liked by Martin555 and jbkiwi
  • roycvFleet Admiral
    Hi the Graupner yachts are the best, I have a Gracia and she sails very nicely and such a pleasure to watch. She had a small change last year to the servos and works for ever on a 4 AA cell pack 2300mAh. I have a little less sail area and have a sail servo the same size as a standard servo and this copes OK.
    regards Roy
    Liked by robbob and Martin555 and
ianed57
Sub-Lieutenant
Motor Tug Seahorse
While I'm at it I have put up this video of my tug. I had been having problems with this and I completely replaced everything inside. Turns out the rudder servo was dodgy and the motor, a geared 500 was far too poky. It now performs beautifully and very quietly. Obviously it's an old Graupner Bugsier but refurbished by me to look a bit more like a British tug. The motor is a low noise 500 with direct drive mounted on a rubber sheet - the only noise is a whine from the esc.
Liked by tony29h and MouldBuilder and
Cashrc
Admiral
1 / 5
North Texas Shipwrights 3 November 2019
😭Video of my San Reno running around with a Graupner Kitty II and a semi scratch built tug on Towne Lake, was visited by Wile E Coyote too!!
Liked by redpmg and Martin555
3 comments
  • redpmgCommodore
    Hi Cash - pity we live so far apart looks like San Reno would give Darth Vader a run for her money - pretty impressive............nice sized lake too........
    One question though - where's the Road Runner ?
  • CashrcAdmiral
    I don’t know where the Roadrunner is, maybe old Wile E Coyote scared him off.😁
    Liked by figtree7nts and redpmg and
Seaspray
Warrant Officer
1 / 4
Research Vessel Meteor
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.

H.Martin Stevenson
Liked by figtree7nts
Cashrc
Admiral
Neptun maiden
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.
Liked by EAGLE and Donnieboy and
3 comments
  • CashrcAdmiral
    Thanks everybody for the kind words, I do appreciate it!😁
    Liked by figtree7nts
  • tidtugChief Petty Officer 2nd Class
    Very stable on the water and water sqirts wonderful nice boat.

Liked by

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