Lynn Leaich ....Loves Park, Illinois |
Hello all, My other 2 boats are not as
noteworthy as the lifeboat and are not r/c. They are both about 50
years old and fully refurbished. I'm attaching pix of all 3 for for you to
see. Thanks for a great site on the internet. |
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After many trials and tribulations, I have all the "guts" back in the lifeboat and all systems are go except the lights. I'm still thinking things out on that. I've a switch rigged for on/off for them, but haven't decided what to rig for power to them. As I may have told you, I have converted all filament type bulbs to LED's. I could run resistors to each LED and run them off the 12 volt main battery, or run them on my 1800 mah receiver battery with a small dropping resistor to each, or get 5 volt LED's and still run them off the receiver battery. With 1800 mah, there's still plenty of run time on the boat. If I go 5 volt, I'd have to strip all the lower voltage LED's out and start over......too darned much work. After all, I do want to get it going this summer , for sure. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Back to square one, large resistance or small? Oh, well, a nap should clear my head. Just got
back from "Martin Park" from a sailing session. The water was pretty
calm, but it was cloudy and dreary, so my pictures aren't the best they
could be. All systems were go and it went great. I did forget to
take a picture of the "Martin Park" sign, so that you would believe
me when I talk about sailing there. I started getting cold, so I broke
off my session early, if truth be told, me bladder started to
overflow....too much coffee before I went to the park. |
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Martin, Happy modelling. |
( ...... included because it is such a great email! - Mayhem) ....... I've been modelling since sliced bread began. My first efforts were as a kid of about 10 or 11 years of age, which puts me into the 'Grandfathered in' group, about 52 years. I've built my own design planes, flown with control lines, then built my own boats, again my designs. My first power boat was a tethered little beast about 12 inches in length and powered by a .049 cu.in.engine, which I still have. It was an "OK Cub" engine. Fuel was about $1.00 a quart and lasted me almost all summer, as I didn't live too close to a lake or pond, and it was a task on a bicycle, to haul my toolbox, boat, and fuel. The same was true when I was flying planes. At about 12, I had to teach my little brother what to do, so we had what you might call a 'flying circus', when we could con our buddy Glen to pit crew for us. We popped balloons with our planes and made up tissue paper walls to smash thru without damaging our planes. Boats began to be the most cost effective of our hobbies. All you had to avoid was rocks. We didn't yet have r/c controls. Later, when my wife and I were raising kids, I went back into planes with radio controls. Too many crashes later, I decided it was time for boats again, hence my love affair with the lifeboat. Lately, I've been adding more features to her. If I sent the pix of my speedboat, I bought it when I was 11. The rowboat was my cousin's and had no oars, anchor, bow seat, oarlocks, rope cleat, and was all chipped paint when I got it about 30 years ago. It took colon cancer recovery time at home to get me going again with detail work. I love small details. I built a Santa Clause's workshop,
ages ago, with operating sub-miniature light switches, a revolving
Christmas tree (lighted), airplanes flying around the ceiling, all kinds
of lamps (table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces). My wife picked up a 2
inch porcelain doll at a craft sale for Santa's shop and I scratch built a
rocking cradle for it. Everything in the shop is 1"=1'. I also love
doing artwork and cartooning. I've had a standing contract with one
couple to do their Christmas card artwork, for the last 9 years. They
are really into square dancing and round dancing, so the card usually
relates to this, with their caricatures as the theme. Well, guess I'd
better get busy and get something done today. I'll be in touch again soon, |
More Memories.... When my wife and I were first married, she was a little surprised to see me still building and customizing model cars, until I won my first contest trophy. She was also surprised when I started building some small hot air balloons and launching them from the front yard of the house we were renting, watching them drift off into the cold winter sky. I never retrieved any of them because they were expendable, since they were made of tissue and bamboo. The largest I ever launched was about 6' tall and about 4' in diameter, but the largest I built was12' high and 10' in diameter, which was badly damaged when we moved to our own home, so I never had the chance to see if it would carry my camera platform aloft. This was the end of my modelling for
awhile until I got the radio control airplane craze. She was a
little more tolerant, when she saw my model airplane designs come to life
and actually fly, but had, I'm sure, the thought of 'Idiot', when I
crashed one. After 5 years of this insanity, I turned my thoughts to boats
again. The rest is pretty much history, what with my Coast Guard
lifeboat, and years of other hobbies, such as fishing, camping,
cartooning, artwork, square dancing, collecting miniature kerosene lamps,
and carpentry, each being another recurring insanity, that run through
cycles, that in many cases result in the raised eyebrows of our spouses
and the refrain, 'Boys will be Boys'. |
[ Click
here for Lynn's $10 Lighthouse - Meet Cullen! ] |