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[kiwimodeller]

  Got reminded recently that I should be putting my builds on record so here goes. The hull is a very well made River Queen from Kingston Mouldings although I will not be building the deck and interior to plan. Malcolm has kindly sent me plans and an article on Wideawake so I will be styling my efforts on her. The engine is a Gage VR1A double acting single cylinder from Graham Industries, the single version of the popular TVR1a twin. I have had the engine and boiler in a ply hull previously and know it goes well. Prop shaft is a WADA reversable from the Yokohama Model Works and I recently found an add for it being sold by Maxwell Hemmens in the UK in the early 1980's. I have made a bit of progress with the build and today took her to the lake just to see how much ballast will be needed (answer = lots!) and to see if the engine would pull the prop on full ahead. The prop instructions say that in forward the pitch is greater than the diameter which is 2 & 1/4 inches. I am pleased to say that even when throttled well back the engine did not stall on application of full prop pitch and there seems to be plenty of power on full throttle. With no rudder and no radio gear I was hanging on tight today. I now need to build a rudder and steering system I will more or less copy the design of the boat on the front cover of the Stan Bray book and use a quadrant wheel and braided wires or chains from the servo. Also need to work out mounts for the reversing and throttle servos and then hide all the radio gear behind bulkheads or under seats As I will be using a Spektrum 2.4 radio and will have a couple of spare channels I am keen to find a small whistle, preferably with built in valve and I will also look at fitting a small electric motor for starting or getting the boat home. I would like some advice on using a handpump from outside the boat to top up water. I believe the train people do this? Will report progress as I go. Cheers, Ian.

[mogogear]

Nice set there Ian--the PM Research folks make a nice and affordable whistle and valve for a nice price....

Funny I haven't seen much mention of the controllable pitch propellers ( reversing propellers in a while) I have Marx Vario 50mm That has been sitting on my shelf too long still in the box that I need to move on to someone to put it to use..

The Wideawake trim up on your Kingston hull should look smart!

[kiwimodeller]

A bit of progress with bulkheads etc and figuring out where and how to mount servos etc. Usual story - it takes more time sitting staring at it than it takes to make the bits once you have it figured. Funny thing is my partner says the same when she is doing a painting - 10 minutes dreaming for 2 minutes of brush strokes. I am pleased that I suddeenly figured that the prop reversing lever did not have to stand vertical in the middle of the cockpit, by laying it on its side I can hide it under the floorboards and fit both the rudder and prop servos in the back section along with the receiver and battery pack. The throttle mini - servo will be on the bulkhead but hidden in a box.

[steamboatmodel]

Hi Ian,
The train guys use a type of check valve and a spray bottle for filling up on the run.
Regards,
gerald.

[kiwimodeller]

That is a simple and interesting looking idea. I presume you mean just the domestic spray bottle used arond home for cleaning etc? I was planning on a clack valve in the side of the boiler. I do not want to bother with onboard tank or pump but still want to be able to refill without letting all the pressure out. I will have a surf around some train sites when I get back from holiday. Thanks for your help. Ian.

[steamboatmodel]

Hi Ian,
Yes just the domestic spray bottle, they take the spray nozzle out and fit a hose (fuel tube) which they insert in the valve. I have seen them using them, but didn't pay too close attention.
Regards,
Gerald.

[kiwimodeller]

Great, thanks for the help. I will go looking once I am back from holiday. Cheers, Ian.

[kiwimodeller]

Just an update - I had the boat on the water under radio control for the first time today and I am really pleased with how it performs. I was a little surprised at how much ballst she needed to come down to a realistic looking water line - about 3 kilos which made me worry about how the engine would cope but the little Graham Industries single will push her along with a good bow wave at better than scale speed (of course I forgot the camera) but will still throttle back to just over idle revs even with full pitch on the prop. The controllable prop also works really well and with the stick in the neutral position she will sit still and go nowhere even if the engine is at full revs. Give the prop a bit of pitch and she takes off really smoothly. All in all the best maiden voyage I could have hoped for. Now to strip her down for decking, painting and interior. Promise to take the camera when she goes back on the water. Cheers, Ian.

[benjaml1]

Well done, thanks for the update... 

[america12mj]

 
hello guys
in france we have the same systememade by JP Duval!

look at this

http://jpduval.free.fr/Plans_divers/Clapet_AR.pdf

best regards
pascal from paris

[kiwimodeller]

I decided that before I carried on and made the deck etc I would try out a nice little vertical boiler that I brought home on a recent trip to Australia. I mounted it up temporarily using the bearers for the previous horizontal boiler and went for another test sail today. It comfortably held 35psi  and did a 15 minute run on 30 grams of gas. There was still water left in the boiler and I would be comfortable that I could safely leave her out there for at least 20 minutes. Performance was again better than expected and it will run at scale speed with a nice bow wave while only on half throttle. Although the run time will not be as long as with the horizontal boiler I am going to leave the vertical in there as I am happy with 20 mins per run. That leaves the horizontal boiler available for my next project, a Graham twin in a Kingston Yarta - just got to find a way to get the hulls from UK to NZ without freight costing more than the hull costs! Cheers, Ian.

[UKJonathan]

hi Ian,
 pleased the test sail went well and I really o like the hull. Good luck on the further build can't wait the see the finished result
Jonathan

[kiwimodeller]

A bit of progress in fits and starts. Deck made and fitted although I dont now like the stain I used on it or the planking drawn on so I might go back to plan A and plank it properly in alternate light and dark strips. Floors also made but with the same comments as the deck - dont like the colour! Still the coamings around the openings and the gunwale rubbing strips to do plus a half round cover over the steering gear. When I am happy with it then I will strip everything out and paint the hull and lag the boiler with Kauri strips. What I am happy with is the P M Reseach whistle which is mounted on the top of the boiler and actuated with a micro servo under the floorboards. The tone is adjustable although not as deep as I would like but probably O K for a boat of this size and I was pleased that blowing the whistle several times did not result in any significant drop in pressure so it obviously does not us much steam. I also made up some ballast by pouring resin in to a plastic bag of lead shot and moulding it in to the bottom of the hull. This works but it takes a lot of resin. At least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Cheers, Ian

[kno3]

I've found that a much easier way of adding ballast to model boats is using lead sheet (as used for roofing). You can easily cut it to fit the space between the ribs, at the bottom of the boat. No need to glue it down, as you can make it a push fit.

[kiwimodeller]

The sheet would most definitely be easier to use but the shot can be pushed in tosome small spaces well. Besides, when you have been given about 15kg of shot for free it would be silly not use it! Cheers, Ian.

[HS93 (RIP)]

if you are going to glue it in with resin or epoxy lay cling film or something similar first then you will be able to remove the shot a lot easier if req.

peter

[kiwimodeller]

I have actually done some of it by putting the shot in a zip - lock bag, pouring in the mixed resin squeezing it around to spread the resin and then moulding the bag in to shape in the bottom of the hull. When it has hardened I cut the bag off. This worked reasonably well with only a few loose bits of shot on the edges but did need quite a bit of resin. In places away from the heat of the boiler I am going to leave the bag in place as that will keep the shot tidy. Cheers, Ian.