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[steamboat66]

some time ago i bought a kingston mouldings minivap tender hull with the intention of using electric power. i've now (3 years later!) decided to go steam. i've ordered a virgo vertical boiler steam plant from clevedon steam, and just now a 2030 prop from propshop. to give some maneuverability  i've ordered a becker rudder from an australian maker, as it was the only one i could find which was both a good price, and the right size. the only thing i slightly regret is not choosing the minivap tug hull, which is no longer available as robin retired in april this year. if this build goes well, (it will go very slowly) i may consider a TID from mobile marine models at some point in the future. it would, of course, also be steam.

[jarvo]

Great , set pics of the build, such a pity but we all retire sometime


Mark

[steamboat66]

got the prop today. nice piece of casting, but must remember NEVER get my fingers anywhere near it when it's running. they have a slender profile which equals SHARP when spinning.

[steamboat66]

got my becker rudder from australia this morning, and found an email (sent last night) from jerry at clevedon steam. my steam plant is ready!

[steamboat66]

well, the bit i was NOT looking forward to, i've done. the planking, i'm not that good, or confident with woodworking. but i now have a planked boiler. it's no where near good enough for show, but it's going under a super structure. i'll get some pickies, but posting them is another matter entirely!

[steamboat66]

built the engine last night. got it all together, oiled round then gently spun it over with my cordless drill. it pinched up!! nightmare!! undid the grub screws to find that the cylinders were free and the output shaft was free. the centre crank shaft was very tight. i found a tiny burr, which had picked up in the bearing bore, so i had not checked thoroughly enough, my bad. took the burr off and then put the shaft in my drill and used some fine emery cloth, checked thoroughly, then put it back together. it now turns nice in the drill. i'll pick up some battery water from halfords later so i can steam it (hopefully) this evening. i'll get some more pickies then try to work out how to upload from chromebook.

[steamboat66]

i've steamed it. what an awkward little bleep! i'd forgotten how awkward they are when new. i'll steam it every evening this week, and hopefully it'll run nicely soon.

[steamboat66]

well i've not steamed it every evening this week, but it now has a flywheel. 1" O/D about 10 mm thick. it will give me something to get hold of to "persuade" it to start!

[steamboat66]

second steaming. much better, flywheel gives me something to get hold of, and seems to improve running. got it running quite slowly.

[steamboat66]

just tried to upload some pickies, but they were too big.

[nivapilot]

Try opening your pics in "Microsoft Office Picture Manager"
go to "edit pictures"
find "compress" and compress the pic for "documents"

This will bring down the pixels to anable posting on here...

hope this helps........if you don't have  "Microsoft Office Picture Manager", try another program.

[derekwarner]

If you check your PM's........

You will find a message that I offered to post your build images in acceptable size format if you e-mailed them to me.....

Derek

[verithingeoff]

This is an old favourite for resizing windows pics http://www.bricelam.net/ImageResizer/ 

[hammer]

Micro Soft Paint works well.

[Seaspray]

I use the resizer in reply 12 for years now its good