Post by Graham on Oct 3, 2018 12:42:57 GMT 12
Just to prove there are other things in life as well as hi fi here are some photos of my two model tug boats. The first is a scratch built semi scale vintage steam tug based on the Australian tug Wattle. It is 750mm long and built from plywood, plastic and fibreglass. Note the intentionally aged look of the wheelhouse. The inside shot shows the motor, steering servo and the two small speakers are for an electronic sound steam whistle. The chimney is for the DIY smoke generator sitting on top of the 6 volt battery. All controlled with a 4 channel 2.4ghz rc system.
The second photos are for a partly build Billings kit Smit Nederland tug. This is a very complicated and detailed kit of one of the most famous tugs in the world. It is definitely for 'experienced' modellers only and I have to admit I have been building it for over 2 years. The winch for example has over 35 pieces that had to cut out, sanded and then assembled !!!! It will have independent twin motors, operational lights and a sound system. It is 850 mm long and is built to 1/33 scale. I hope to finish it before the end of the year ! empirical formula of aluminum oxide
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Post by cooksferry on Oct 4, 2018 6:23:51 GMT 12
Very nice. I was a committed model builder for many years, mainly cars and motor bikes, and still have a couple of kits held over as retirement projects. One has been sitting in the garage since 1988. I never did any big boat kits but remember the Billings name from various modelling magazines . I did build a motorised model of the Japanese battle ship Yamato in my youth and it fought many a battle in the bath before total destruction. Shame that it's fallen out of favour with younger people. I look at the little 3D milling machine that my son owns and think of all the super detailing I could have done with it. Once you start going down that path it rapidly becomes a very deep hole and some times its hard to know when to stop.
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Post by Graham on Nov 30, 2018 14:56:08 GMT 12
Here is my latest addition to the fleet. A 700mm long ( 1/12 scale) model of the African Queen as per the classic movie of the same name. It is another Billings kit,(meaning bugger-all instructions ), with a plastic hull but everything else from wood. The steam engine is a dummy but is driven by a hidden electric motor to activate all moving parts, and the dummy boiler has a DIY smoke generator inside it. Radio control of propulsion motor and rudder.
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Post by michaelw on Nov 30, 2018 15:47:27 GMT 12
woohooo
african queen is one of my favourite huston/bogart films
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Post by cartridgeguyonline on Nov 30, 2018 16:23:39 GMT 12
That is a great movie.
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Post by Graham on Apr 1, 2019 20:05:09 GMT 12
I'm feeling very pleased with myself having finally completed my model of Smit Nederland. Painting was the usual nightmare with a mixture of spray and brush application followed by an all over coat of sprayed on satin clear. The wheelhouse has no less than 23 bloody windows, all individually hand made !!! It has operational lights, radar scanner, a fog horn and electronic diesel engine sound linked to the throttle control. The final photo shows the rather busy inside workings with twin independent motors, 6 volt SLA battery, and electronics located on a detachable platform. Next week it will be having it's maiden voyage in the local clubs lake.
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Post by Owen Y on Apr 1, 2019 21:51:41 GMT 12
Splendid Graham! What scale is that model? And what is its as-built length?
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Post by michaelw on Apr 1, 2019 22:06:08 GMT 12
23 windows like a classic vw kombi ! what's next to launch from your drydock, how about a boaty mcboatface ?
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Model Boats Apr 1, 2019 22:09:21 GMT 12
- Edited Apr 3, 2019 13:00:46 GMT 12 by Graham: typo
Post by Graham on Apr 1, 2019 22:09:21 GMT 12
The scale is 1:33 giving an over all length of 850 mm. IMO this is one of the most attractive tugs ever ( you cant really call a tug beautiful ! ) built in 1979-80. Many modern tugs are brutal looking functional beasts, while this 'vintage' tug has nice proportions and old fashioned features like wooden sliding doors on the wheelhouse and traditional chimney stacks.
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Post by Graham on Apr 1, 2019 22:15:50 GMT 12
23 windows like a classic vw kombi ! what's next to launch from your drydock, how about a boaty mcboatface ? Ha ha, no more boats planned for quite a while. I'm tugged out. I'll stick to something much more simple like rebuilding turntables !!
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Post by Graham on Apr 3, 2019 20:41:26 GMT 12
A couple of photos of the captain with his hand on the throttles,and the winch operator for added realism. These sort of details are not included in the kit but must be sourced or handmade. These two guys were originally farm hands in a farmyard diorama I found at Stokers Models. I had to perform some surgery on their legs to make them the correct scale height and trim their hats down to caps, and make the tiny life jacket. All good fun but very time consuming.
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Post by Graham on Apr 4, 2019 12:05:13 GMT 12
Here is some absolutely useless information for you non-nautical landlubbers. Many ships use flags as a means of communication at sea, with a specific flag for each letter of the alphabet and numbers 1-10. Pictured are the flags raised on my Nederland with a decode.
Red, white and blue = T and also 'Keep Clear' White and red = H and also 'A pilot is on board' Yellow and blue = K and 'I want to communicate with you'
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Post by cooksferry on Apr 4, 2019 12:42:33 GMT 12
It's always the little details that count, even if its only the builder who appreciates them.
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Post by Graham on Apr 4, 2019 16:16:24 GMT 12
Whipped up a display stand from pieces of beech left over from turntable plinth building. The felt padding to protect the hull is cut from a discarded platter mat. A much better use for it IMO. It now sits in pride of place in my man cave when not being sailed.
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Post by Graham on Apr 7, 2019 15:04:48 GMT 12
About 12 or 13 years ago ( my how time flies ) I was heavily involved with racing RC boats. My particular interest was semi scale offshore endurance racing with gas powered ( seriously tuned 26cc 2 stroke ) engines. I have since sold all of these boats but have kept my scratch built model of the then Class One world champion Victory One. This boat is 1.4 metre long and built to plans and photos that Victory Team Dubai supplied to me when I emailed them. An original hull was built from fibreglass and plywood, which was then used to make a mould. Then hulls were produced in fibreglass. Quite a number of these were sold around NZ being marketed as the Eurocat . Mine was powered by a purpose built racing motor from Quickdraw in the USA which produced 6 bhp at 18000 rpm. In time trials on lake Hakanoa I recorded a whisker under 90 kph. Great fun but rather stressfull, and requires very fast reflexes to control which I no longer have !! To an old 'petrol head' like me the scream of an engine at 18000 rpm is a form of music !!
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Post by Graham on Apr 7, 2019 15:52:53 GMT 12
This was probably the most attractive one I built, which I raced for a few years but was sold to another nutter some time ago. The full size boat was powered by 2 Lycoming gas turbine helicopter motors and could top 200 MPH !!!!.
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Post by colinf on Apr 7, 2019 19:24:08 GMT 12
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Post by cooksferry on Apr 8, 2019 22:07:44 GMT 12
slightly in with your racing theme I did build a nice resin and metal model of the famous Ferrari engined 1953 Timossi-Ferrari 'Arno XI' Racing Hydroplane . This had a 12 cylinder motor from the GP cars, nice.
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Post by Graham on Oct 6, 2019 10:34:57 GMT 12
I've been at it again ! Along side a couple of major turntable rebuilds for clients I have found time to complete another tug model to add to the fleet. This is a 1/35 semi scale model of a Damen 2207 harbour tug and is completely scratch built, ie not a kit. Damen are a Dutch company that produce many of the tugs seen in the worlds harbours. including Auckland, Nelson, Otago, Wellington and Napier. The designation 2207 simply means the basic design is 22 meters long by 7 meters wide.
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Post by Graham on Oct 6, 2019 10:42:29 GMT 12
The twin ducted props are powered by a single 550 size motor employing a cunning arrangement to achieve counter rotation. From the pictures you can see that two gears ( from a dead cordless drill ) provide the counter rotation for the pulleys which then provide a 2-1 reduction via O ring belt drives. It works a treat and on it's maiden voyage provided plenty of power and speed with only 2 amp load at full throttle to the 6 volt 12 ah sla battery.
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Post by Graham on Jul 6, 2020 17:03:18 GMT 12
Confined to barracks during lockdown seemed like the ideal time to build another model boat !! This one is a 1: 48 scale model of a US Coast Guard Cutter which was mostly scratch built, ie not a kit. These boats are all based on the successful British Vosper Thornicroft patrol boat and modified by the US Coast Guard. All are named after a US island and mine is called Tybee.
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Post by Graham on Jul 6, 2020 17:46:30 GMT 12
An interesting little story about these Island class cutters. As mentioned, they are based on the British Vosper Thornicroft 110 ft patrol boats and a total of 49 were built by the US Navy. They proved to be very successful and reliable boats but some bright spark in the navy decided it would be a good idea to modify them further by adding 13 feet to the stern to enable the RIB to be launched via an integral ramp rather than using the crane. A total of 8 were extended but sea trials showed the hull was now unstable at high speed and worse still they started to show signs of cracking at the welded extensions. The project was suddenly stopped and those 8 boats quietly retired from service. The remaining original unmodified boats are still in active service. There must be a message in there somewhere.
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Post by michaelw on Jul 6, 2020 18:34:03 GMT 12
Original usually best !
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