Topic: Lady Margaret Steam Launch (Read 15389 times)

muduck · « **on:** September 21, 2009, 11:54:21 am »

I have been after the Kingston molding version of this for some time, but the cost to get it to Oz was prohibitive....anyway, three weeks before last Xmas, a bloke in England who was on a site I frequent said he was migrating here in January09. I checked if he was bringing out a container..He was, & was willing to put the boat in it if I could get it to him in time.
K.M. assured me they could meet the deadline, & in April I had the Hull.
I was going to take out the Chedder Proteus I have in the "Cruiser", convert it to electrics, & put the steam into the L.M.

But,it's such a great boat to run on steam & after a lot of promises to the Mizzus, I made enquiries at Monahan steam to see if Nick could turn one out a "HERON horizontal" for me in time for the upcoming holiday in the US.
Both could be run on Steam.But it cost me...3 weeks@ the Mother-In Law's...
It was waiting for me in Chicago when we arrived. I also got a steam whistle, & a bunch of those must have mini tools that the Yanks seem to have in abundance.
Fast forward a few weeks & I've made a slow start.The plans that came with the hull were only a guide really, so much was left to the imagination.

The stern was a good place to start, & you can never have enough clamps!

Having a heap of Ironbark timber around from building my house, & it's a beautiful red colour, I started the rudder.

and I thought some chain for steering cables would look good.

I'm now at the aft cabin stage using more of the Ironbark..it's an extremely tough & heavy timber..might save on ballast.

Anyway, that's it for now, will add pics as I make progress.

kno3 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 21, 2009, 12:15:19 pm »

The engine is going to be visibile in this one, right?
Good luck with your build!

By the way, try to plug the ends of the metal bar the moves the rudder, either with some brass nails or just two drops of solder. The rudder looks very nice. Is that a local wood?

muduck · « **Reply #2 on:** September 21, 2009, 12:38:13 pm »

Yes, the wood is an Oz species, sadly underrated, used mainly for firewood!!.polishes nicely, but is extremely dense, hard to cut.

The rudder isn't finished yet..was at an early stage when I was wondering how to start, & I had to start somewhere while I found inspiration.

gondolier88 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 21, 2009, 04:02:39 pm »

I believe that the Ironwood was sometimes used as replacement for Lignum Vitae stern tube bearings.

Looking forward to seeing your progress- is this going to be fully open or cabin?

Greg

Bunkerbarge · « **Reply #4 on:** September 21, 2009, 08:33:33 pm »

It's amazing that you use wood as dense as that for building houses. The quality of wood used in house construction in the UK nowadays would surprise you!

Lovely looking build so far and it certainly is a good sized hull. If memory serves me correctly Lignum Vitae is so dense it doesn't actually float, is Ironwood the same?

muduck · « **Reply #5 on:** September 22, 2009, 03:00:41 am »

I used iron bark cut to roughly railway sleeper size for my door lintels & window lintels on the new house which was made from Rammed decomposed Granite with a little lime added for stabilization.
Years ago I purchased a windmill to pump our bore..it came with Iron Bark bearings, which when oiled, "glazed" & never wore out.
The house is actually a duplicate of one I built about 20 years ago just up the road from us..in the mad land boom of a couple of years ago, we decided to duplicate our house rather than sell the land & end up with someones pride & joy staring at us forever more...

The engine area will be exposed. The Monahan is so visually appealing that I have it on the coffee table , just so I can "oggle" it! & visitors can admire..which they do.....

muduck · « **Reply #6 on:** September 30, 2009, 02:43:35 pm »

Having just stuffed up in a Big way at Photobucket..deleted the first pictures, & of course they are no longer visible here...Anyway, some progress made..
Fitted the engine to get an idea how far the forward bulkhead had to come after I put in the water tank..

watertank now in place, the overflow pipe visible...

Now to the stern decking..

finished..

just showing is the red oil filler for the shaft

Starting to take shape now, even the mizzus is showing some interest...

muduck · « **Reply #7 on:** October 25, 2009, 10:43:16 am »

started the deck planking & decide to use walnut .It will come up nicely when painted with Tung Oil.The first few strips were easy, but as I went further down the hull some ingenuity was called for...

the weather has been cool so I took the opportunity of some sunshine to hasten the process with a bit of outside drying...note the bucket under the rainwater pipe...we catch everybit of rain...Climate change is only too real here, it's been 11 years since our River flooded...I was hoping to do the Maiden Launch there, but the weed has all but taken over.

Just about finished, I have positioned the Gas tank..it will be boxed in.

with Barnacle Bill & Fido supervising!

Bunkerbarge · « **Reply #8 on:** October 25, 2009, 01:01:46 pm »

Woodwork looking very nice there and the bottom boards not only looking superb but very practical as well.

Great build this and very interesting as I'd like to try something similar at some point in the future.

muduck · « **Reply #9 on:** November 05, 2009, 03:31:03 am »

Done the buoyancy test, no leaks through the drive shaft

or from the brass rivets I used to hold the brass rubbing strip on the keel.
packed in all the gear & made the marks where the waterline is.

The boat weighs in at 16kilos, I had to put in a lot of pre painted steel plate as ballast. This was glued in so it's time to paint the hull.....

muduck · « **Reply #10 on:** November 30, 2009, 05:07:29 am »

added a "box" to house the forward/reverse servo..a good place for Fido as well..the throttle sits under the cabin so was relatively easy to install.The blue plates under the engine are the steel ballast.
I've been scratching the head as to how to operate the whistle, I may have to use a couple of pulley wheels under the floor boards to house the servo.

Had a renaming ceremony, the Wife was pleased....

Bernhard · « **Reply #11 on:** November 30, 2009, 01:31:09 pm »

hi......What a great lookng launch you have don,,,,,,,,,,super fine,,,,,,,,,,,i have don this with my whistle,,,,,,,,maby the figure is a littel to small...i think a bigger one will look a lot better.,,,,

regards Bernhard

muduck · « **Reply #12 on:** December 01, 2009, 11:01:04 am »

Thanks for the tip Bernhard, I think I will go the same route.....the size of the figure is not that much out of proportion..it's just my photography

..when I do some final shots I'll change the angles..the captain 's size is in scale with the cabin etc..
I now have to look for all those scale "thingys" which make your models such a delight..

muduck · « **Reply #13 on:** December 09, 2009, 05:57:55 am »

The boat is 95% finished, so it's time for a final "trim" test & where's the best place?..the Spa of course

it's cold as we have Summer here..

Bernhard · « **Reply #14 on:** December 09, 2009, 06:31:54 am »

TIP TOP....OHH YES I UNDERSTAND WAY THE CAPTAIN IS SO HAPPY,,,,,,,,,,,

BEGARDS BERNHARD

muduck · « **Reply #15 on:** December 21, 2009, 11:08:44 am »

Launch day last Sunday....water level in our river is way down because of our 10 year drought....lots of weed to trap the unwary, & got me on the first run

I had 3 20 minute runs, each one better than the last. The Monahan steam plant is a delight, mind you I only have my Chedder Proteus to compare with, but it's the perfect plant for this model, giving scale speed with minimal hassels. The onlookers, (Village riffraff), were suitably impressed, & the icing was the steam whistle....they loved it

MONAHAN STEAM MODELS · « **Reply #16 on:** December 21, 2009, 08:34:36 pm »

Wow, Congratulations she looks fantastic!

Great photos on the water too! Do you have any video of her first run?

Bernhard · « **Reply #17 on:** December 22, 2009, 07:11:53 am »

GREAT...LOOK SO REAL ...TIP TOP.......

REGARDS BERNHARD

muduck · « **Reply #18 on:** December 22, 2009, 09:48:09 am »

Thanks Guys, one of my friends took video, so I will learn, finally to post on U Tube...
I wasn't too happy with the photos, lacking in fine detail, but I gave the camera to someone.....
I was surprised to see steam, as the Temp was 29C...

muduck · « **Reply #19 on:** February 09, 2010, 01:22:40 pm »

I have been having a lot of fun for the past few weeks fine tuning the boat. Still haven't got any video, but took a few shots today down the River. Because of the gas cooling problems, I put a coil next to the gas tank, & using the exhaust gas, & lots of fine tuning on a valve on the condenser, I have achieved a fine 30 minute run with no power loss.
I just love running the Monahan, it's finally loosening up..Anyway, some pics..

pipercub1772 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 09, 2010, 03:22:41 pm »

thats a fine looking model and that steam plant looks great,do you have boiler water feed on the plant,if not 30 minutes is very good. in you're climate i am surprised you need to worry about gas tank cooling .but well done,just one thought that pond you're using doesn't house any of them crocodiles dose it regards to all down under .allan

muduck · « **Reply #21 on:** February 09, 2010, 09:42:11 pm »

:-)No Allan, too far South for Crocs, but we do have masses of the far more dangerous Radical,Fem, Hairy Leg Brigade who don't want you do do anything near a river

In fact, they recently won a $12k grant to count the numbers of rare Perch..the conclusion was that due to the 12 year drought, the fish weren't breeding (surprise), And as a result we now have signs everywhere showing pictures of the fish with a warning not to fish for them... <*<previously, only the locals knew of their existence...

I do have the water pump fitted but as the engine is a real water miser, I'm still not sure how effective it is..I'm still working on that. I don't go over the time as the oil needs topping up & after a run my small gas tank needs a topup.

MONAHAN STEAM MODELS · « **Reply #22 on:** February 10, 2010, 12:01:40 am »

You should be getting closer to a one hour run time without a water pump even at full throttle. How often are you blowing the whistle during a normal run?

kiwimodeller · « **Reply #23 on:** February 10, 2010, 10:11:57 am »

Hi, Just spotted your comment about the whistle. I have one on my paddler and you are right about it being the star attraction, people are always asking me to blow it so they can take photos with the plume of steam coming out of the whistle. My question is what type of valve are you using to control it? I have tried valves that were designed as throttle valves from two different manufacturers but both allow a small amount of steam to dribble through the whistle even when the valve is shut. It is not enough to cause any problem but is still annoying so I am interested to find out how others control the whistle. Thanks, Ian.

muduck · « **Reply #24 on:** February 10, 2010, 11:26:19 am »

Ian, I put one of these whistles on...no leaks, works like a charm off a servo & has a very high pitch shriek which echos through the Bush..
I tend to use it sparingly, but it does set off a photo nicely..
https://www.pmresearchinc.com/store/home.php?cat=121

Nick my pump must be working because when I run out of gas, I still have half a boiler full of water

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Author Topic: Lady Margaret Steam Launch (Read 15389 times)

kno3

Bernhard

Bernhard

MONAHAN STEAM MODELS

Bernhard

pipercub1772

MONAHAN STEAM MODELS