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[Dreadstar]

Picked up as you know,a rather nice little renovation project for the winter,a Neptune/Lorraine,not to sure which one it actually is,as one of the club members recognised it as being of the type that he had already built,and he said that it was a Neptune kit by Billings.
 Anyway,I repaired the motor mount,and held it down using the rubberband method,installed a fresh battery pack,( one of my 4300MAh packs),and put her in the water,to see just how much work was going to be needed to get her sailing properly.
  I needn't have worried,I opened the throttle,and this thing just took off,way over scale speed by a country mile.Maybe it's because it just has a mech speed controller,I'm not sure,but even after an hour and a half's worth of full speed sailing,with no signs of my pack bottoming out,the motor was barely warm.
This boat can believe it or not almost turn in her own length,even at full speed. I'd thought that the rudder was over long,but having said that,it allows you to steer the boat quite well in reverse,something that the RTTL just can't do.
 Weight wise,this boat is very light,maybe weighing no more than about 3 pounds,with the batteries in it.The whole thing is built out of 1/16th ply,so it really weighs nothing,she's 33.5" long x 7.75" wide x 7.5" high. For a non-runner,she's a cracker of a boat,and came complete with a controller and battery,of unknown capacity. The battery could well be a problem,as without knowing it's capacity,there is no way of being able to safely charge it at 1C.

 I'll post some pics tomorrow.

[Circlip]

If it's a Ni-Cad pack Dread, you can weigh it and work out the capacity from that.

  Regards  Ian.

[HS93 (RIP)]

explain the 1c please as I thought that was for li poly batteries ? nicads/mimhs get peak charged .at a set amp rate.

Peter

[nemesis]

Hi, You charge Ni-Cads at a tenth of the capacity ie 1000ma battery is charged at 100ma for 10 hours
That is the theory, in practise you give it 12 hours to overcome the internal resistance. This is assuming the pack is flat. If it is a New Pack give it 14 hours, as long as you keep to one tenth you
will be ok                   Nemesis

[HS93 (RIP)]

Hi, You charge Ni-Cads at a tenth of the capacity ie 1000ma battery is charged at 100ma for 10 hours
That is the theory, in practise you give it 12 hours to overcome the internal resistance. This is assuming the pack is flat. If it is a New Pack give it 14 hours, as long as you keep to one tenth you
will be ok                   Nemesis

Most race Packs   subC    as they are normally called recomend fast charging from new, between 4 or 5 amps that should take 40 min from flat.

Peter

[Edward Pinniger]

Was it this auction: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280404346493 ? If so, it's definitely a Billing Neptun - see the photo on this page: http://users.cybercity.dk/~ccc16084/scaleboat.htm (lots more interesting old kits/models there).

The design is very similar to Vic Smeed's "Lorraine" plan, though significantly smaller and with a different (probably more scale) lower hull form.

Anyway, it certainly looks like you got a bargain for under £50, with working radio + motor installed! Are you planning to add any extra detail/fittings to the model?

[Dreadstar]

Yes,I will be adding to her,after the cabins have been stripped down and re-built.I may either plank the hull or glass it,because the hull sides are very thin. I took some photo's today along with a short vid of her.She's running on just the throttle trim,so that i can steer and film at the same time,as you can see,she's quite maneuverable.













http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l4/xuihpilli/?action=view&current=DSCN1271.flv

[Dreadstar]

I've removed the 3-stage mechanical speed controller,and replaced it with a 15T limit ESC. She's powered by a Robbe EF76 II motor with a 2-blade 30mm nylon prop. I'm going to go against the kit convertions here and fit a set of chines to her,to kick the water away from the sides of the hull.I'm not going after speed here,just aesthetics,to give her a more unique look.
 I see from the old Billings listing,that this boat requires portholes,6 on either side. It is my intention to just make the porthole rims from plastic tubing,stuck onto the sides,with the windows painted on,rather that cut into the very thin hull sides. Can anyone suggest just what diameter I would require the tubing to be?

[Dreadstar]

Please forgive the rather thick wiring on the mast,but I'd used the lighting rig from one of my cars to light the boat. How she's looking just now,the painting has still to be tidied up though.

[Dreadstar]

An internal shot of the workings as they are now.



The aft deck,with the servo's boxed in.Still to be finish painted.



Aft cabin with hand rails and mast fitted.



Wheelhouse and fore cabin with handrails and navigation lights fitted.1st section of rubbing strake fitted.



Foredeck.



Two views of how far I've got to date. Still more work needed,but she's getting there. Now named the Jennifer-James,after my daughter and grandson.

[Dreadstar]

Not really a very good day to try sailing on,but I gave it a go.She handled the wind and rain... just,twice she was nearly blown over,before I could turn her nose into the wind. It was too windy to try taking video's of her exploits,but I did get a short one when the wind dropped.







http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l4/xuihpilli/?action=view&current=DSCN1320.flv

[Dreadstar]

I've got a problem lads,the prop has stripped it's threads.Does anyone know where I can get an M2x0.70 pitch threaded prop from,either 30mm or 35mm 2-bladed nylon?

[DickyD]

3 bladed

http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/plasticm2.html

[Dreadstar]

Thanks Mr. D,I'll order up a few from him.

[Dreadstar]

Well,I got the props through today,and guess what,the shaft wasn't 2mm after all,still,nothing a little turn of a 2mm die didn't fix.
  These Graupner props are really nice,as I've found out. I tried out the 30mm 3-blade version,and it moves the boat at the same speed as the old 2-blade 35mm,and the boat sounds so much quieter too. I think the runtime should be about the same,but it was far too wet this afternoon to find out.
 I ordered 2x25mm and 2x30mm props,just in case I lose the odd one.At least with the Neptune being a cabin cruiser,speed isn't a prerequisite,so the 25mm's will do nicely too.

[Dreadstar]

Had her out for a night sail today for over two hours,when she started glitching a little and wallowing a bit.I brought her in and thought that she was feeling a little heavier than usual. I took her inside the clubhouse and took the superstructure off to turn off the power switch,lo and behold,there was at least a full inch of water inside her. Now I know that the propshaft leaks a little,but come on,this is excessive. I brought her home and had a very close look over her. There below the waterline,there is a split in the bottom of one of the 'V" plates.(Don't know the proper name for it I'm afraid.)
  Out with the old epoxy,and an offcut of ply,and a sealing patch is glued over the weakened section of hull,(on the inside),and the outer hull given a liberal coating of epoxy,to seal the split. This is just a stopgap measure,as I really need to epoxy the entire hull.

 Can anyone please tell me which type of brush-on resin you use,and some idea as to where to purchase the same? 

[Dreadstar]

Having lost one of my 30mm props,I thought that I'd try out one of the 25mm ones. Ok,so it's quite a bit slower running,but on the plus side,I'd to change my transmitter batteries before I had to change the pack in the boat.After 1.75 hours sailing,I changed over the boat pack,even though it hadn't run out yet,but it was starting to lose it's edge.

 I sealed the inside of the hull with just a decent quality varnish. Ok,so it's not what you would normally recommend,but it's all that I had to hand. The ply on the interior of the boat is so dry,that I'm going to have to give it another coat to make sure that it's really sealed.
 Having said that,even after 3.5 hours of sailing today,there were only a couple of drops on the inside,from the prop shaft,which means that I've found all the leaks and dealt with them.

 I'm really pleased with the performance of this boat,and other than alternating between the 25 and 30mm props,I'm going to leave the running gear just as it is.

[Dreadstar]

A short vid of the Neptune running with a graupner 25mm 3-blade prop. At the end of the clip you will see a floating glass obstruction that I later hit,stripping the blades off my prop. I've now replaced it with another 3-blade 30mm one,and removed the afore mentioned bottle from the pond.

http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l4/xuihpilli/?action=view&current=DSCN1330.flv

[Dreadstar]

Forgive the noise,but I forgot to grease my prop shaft.

 Today at Lomond Shores.

http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l4/xuihpilli/?action=view&current=DSCN1348.flv

[Dreadstar]

The poor Neptune labouring in heavy seas today at Lomond Shores.

http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l4/xuihpilli/?action=view&current=DSCN1375.flv

[Dreadstar]

Back in her home waters again after her all too brief tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o5DotaTM48

[Dreadstar]

At long last,the Neptune has finally had her foredeck handrails fitted. Now she's starting to look the part.

[Dreadstar]

A short video from yesterdays EPMBC Open Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w23t6cud_0

[Dreadstar]

I think I'm finally finished her now. A short vid of her as she is now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9JAw_LoQyQ