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4 posts
jbkiwi
Fleet Admiral
BROADS CRUISER 'FAIRACRE' TEST.
Took the cruiser out today as well, to try the new coupling I made, and test the new downrated motor. Now using a 550 80T as opposed to the 550 45T previously. Runs very quietly now with almost 0 vibration and a more scale top speed.
Liked by Mike Stoney and Graham93 and
8 comments
  • deeprivermanMaster Seaman
    Hi jbkiwi, you have done a wonderful job of restoring the model to running order. The plans from MAP originally, she is not a broads cruiser ,but i can see why it was thought to be, but a 40FT Starcraft built in the late 50's early 60's by W Bates and sons on the river Thames at Chertsey in surrey.
    Fairacre is one of a range of boats built post war by company from 20 ft inc 25 ft, 29, 30, 33, two 35's 40ft narrow and wide transom models and 7or 8 45ft models some with flybridge some without, the last wooden boat they built only one of , the 47ft Sea star finished in 1976 i seem to remember. There is currently a Star Craft owners club with a good range of the boats in it and have regular meets on the Thames. I worked for the company first on hire fleet in 70's as Saturday lad whilst at school then after a year at Falmoth tech went to work for them full time until august 78 and worked on refurbishing in the paint shop and craning and sliping them to be worked on, sorry to ramble but very happy times for me
    Liked by Dumaspittman and stevedownunder and
  • jbkiwiFleet Admiral
    Hi DRM, thanks very much for the info, must have been an interesting job. Being at the other end of the world, I'm not sure how you classify your boats up there, - we mainly just have runabouts, launches or yachts/motor sailers, (and a few super yachts). Someone mentioned that's what it was, so I went with that. I previously found a photo of the original named boat (Fairacre II ) on the Bates owners site, and I didn't realise it was a genuine name, (thought it was just the model name) Took quite a bit of research to even find where the model originated, (I think the guy from vintage model boats UK pointed me in the right direction) but eventually found it was from the MM709 plan.(maybe originally MAP).

    The original was supposedly built in 1957 and had 2 BMC Commodores fitted, and as you say, was a 40ft model. The boat was renamed 'Lady Nassau' but not sure if it still exists. Very nice looking boats, and a totally different look to our launches (we'd call them a 'bridge decker' here). Most of our earlier launches were Kauri planked, then to laminated ply/ply, some foam sandwich, glass and aluminium. They would be an interesting launch to own down here, and would attract a bit of attention from classic enthusiasts.

    If you are interested, check out the Waitematawoodys.com site for everything on classic NZ launches.

    JB
    Liked by Dumaspittman and stevedownunder and
RudyM
Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class
The Northern City Lighthouse
Perhaps not a boat, but no pond is complete without one of these gems.
This lighthouse is fully remote controlled.
The lamp rotates at 12 rpm allowing a flash of light every 5 seconds.
A 5kg weight is mounted under the island and winched down to the bottom of the dam to anchor the island. The winch is powered by a 6V Ryobi Cordless Screw Driver's gearbox and motor.
The Fog Horn is operated by a 9V motor with a counterbalance causing a vibration inside the tower, amplifying the sound effect of a steam horn.
It's built at 1:35 scale and stands 80cm tall.
Liked by MouldBuilder and Graham93 and
4 comments
jbkiwi
Fleet Admiral
HARTLEY FLARELINE, NEW PROJECT, TEST 2
Second test was slightly better, using the aluminium spiral cut universal which came with the jet unit. As you can probably hear, it was horribly out of balance (even with cable ties to reduce it). It was not even drilled centrally and the spiral is right hand when it should be left hand, (like a spring twisted against the wind, it wants to deform). Slight improvement in speed on the first test (no slip this time) but the noise was horrendous.

Have pulled the jet apart and found that the 3 blade prop is around 1 mm too small for the hole, causing cavitation (see loads of bubbles in the jet stream) which is causing loss of thrust. The prop is the wrong type as well, with rounded blades, so I have modified a larger prop with more pitch to fit snugly in the unit to hopefully increase thrust. The shaft is also wrong, with a flat cut almost half the diam and carrying on through the bearing, allowing the grease to fly out.

I actually saw a Chinese site on Al Expr stating that "some dimensions on the product may be different due to the number of machines and operators involved in its' manufacture," SERIOUSLY!!??? their quality control must be utter crap and the operators not skilled enough to eat their lunch😐 Why bother having a dimension at all?? Little wonder nothing fits properly.

Unfortunately, most model shops sell the very same stuff, unless you want to shell out muchos dolleros for European stuff. I have just ordered some 4mm silver steel to make a new shaft, so a coupling or silicone tube will fit better. Also ordered some solid connectors to try. Vibration is wasted energy so it needs to be eliminated. Hopefully the mods will improve things and allow the motor to run on 4s rater than 3s. Worked out that the motor is only 1200KV, so it's only doing around 13,000 rpm under load. Probably will need around
18,000 rpm for proper performance. Onwards and upwards (or forwards as the case may be.😁)

Sorry about the blurry vid again, but my camera lens is knackered.
Liked by MouldBuilder and Colin H and
29 comments
  • Martin555Fleet Admiral
    That Martin is a very naughty boy.
    I know on his School reports it said this boy is easily lead and is disruptive in class.

    Martin555.
    Liked by jbkiwi
  • jbkiwiFleet Admiral
    I might have guessed he couldn't resist a reply😂

    JB
    Liked by Martin555
Lyle
Petty Officer 2nd Class
1 / 4
Crash Boat & Steam In Oz by Lyle
Some 25 to 30 years ago I wrote to Peter Dimberlins for details of the Crash Boat following a mention of him in 'Model Boats '. Peter supplied me with data and we have been so close ever since. These and more Images are of Peter at the helm of my Steam boat' Lady Halina ' and his successfully (ha ha) steering my Crash Boat as I did not know it was so fast/ ballistic. More pictures to follow of this gracious man at the helm at our pond/ tidal creek during his momentus visit to OZ in early 2008. My model is some 30 years young and is with the third engine as the others were worn out with use ( OS35, ENYA35 now a S/C 40 a bit too much) in a 25 pound plus model, yes she is heavy. She has been re done over and over(paint resin paint resin etc) and only had the 1/8 inch steel prop shaft (yes 1/8) replaced recently. I have a "leather flange coupling"as on all my power boats and never let me down and vibration free. Exhaust system 1:muffler to a 2.tar lined tin can to a 3.small resonator (equals quiet ) More to come of my Crash Boat as a result of this gracious man and his service to modelling even to a colonial.
Liked by circle43nautical

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