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[Backerther]

Hi zooma,


It's a really really nice Tiger 1 model.!! well painted, indeed !!  Nice pic.!!


I like both German tanks,Tiger 1 and Panther.

Kiyo

[zooma]

Hi Kiyo,


It is nice to hear from you, and to see the pictures of your tanks.


I painted that Tiger 1 in the "ambush scheme" and when it was pictured it was only part completed, but I was pleased with it when it was finished.


More recently I have sold all of my WW2 armour as my interest has changed to more modern tanks from the "cold war" period - mainly British Centurion, Chieftain, Conquerer and Challenger models, but also the Leopard 2A6  - all in 1/16 scale.


I will probably do more modelling in the winter, but for now I am enjoying the warm weather and spending a lot of time outdoors....but do hope to work-out how to post pictures on Mayhem from my iMac in the future.  The picture shown of one of my Tiger 1 tanks worked, but I have not been able to repeat this feat with anything for a second time (!) so I need to find out how to do it!


Last night I did start to glaze the windows of my Sea Commander as I have found that it runs quite 'wet" compared to my other classic power boat models (that have more of a deep vee shaped hull form)  and hope to find time to sail it again in the very near future........and to picture it here on Mayhem!


Stay safe.  Bob.

[Backerther]

Hi zooma,
I do feel easy on reading your latest posts about RC activity.!
I also look forward to reading as well as seeing your RC activity with more pics and /or videos which are so appealing and persuasive
concretely about what you have done together with descriptions to the Mayhammers here. 


Kiyo

[zooma]

Sea trials of my “Kopy Kommander” continued at Southport today after a similar session on Wednesday showed some ongoing improvements were needed.

Firstly the glazed windows removed any water ingress being splashed in from the decks but some minor seepage could be seen in the central compartment under the end of the prop shaft to coupling joint.

More minor seepage was found in the rear compartment around the rudder shaft.

The M5 prop shaft was removed and was coated with petroleum jelly and the rudder shaft was given the same treatment.

Some water cooling tubing was sliced off to make thin seals at either end of the prop shaft and rudder shaft and everything was refitted into the hull.

At the same time the prop was changed from 50mm to 45mm as I thought it would suite the in-runner motor better.

Today’s performance was the best so far. The smaller prop ran much smoother with only a small loss in overall top speed (already too fast) with no vibrations at any throttle position.

The rear compartment was totally dry, and only a tiny drip of water could be seen under the coupling to prop shaft joint in the central compartment and there was a chance that I splashed this in when fiddling about inside the boat when it was already in the water!


I am now fairly happy with the performance of my rebuilt Sea Commander - a model that I would not have had if Will had not accidentally given me a pair of incomplete and delaminated cabin sides in amongst some other old model boat parts that had been “rescued” when we were sorting through some old broken hull parts in our (failed) attempt to find enough parts to copy and make a pair of Stilletto models (small Rapiers).


Fortunately both Will and myself have both acquired used examples of Stilletto models to restore since then, so this Kopy Kommander has been a really unplanned (and very welcome) addition to my fleet of classic model power boats .

[zooma]

I did wonder what my home made version of an Aerokits Sea Commander would look like when it was seen alongside a  genuine kit built example.


Recently I have been able to veiw my “Kopy Kommander” against some “proper” kit built Sea Commander models and found that it compares very well against the genuine Aerokits originals - it looks exactly the same when placed alongside them, but closer inspection reveals some minor detail changes.

Although the opening front hatch that was fitted to give access to this otherwise closed part of the hull is visible on close inspection, but cannot be seen when the boat is on the water.

The edges of the decks look much straighter and “flow” better (to my eyes) than any kit built Sea Commander (or Sea Queen) that I have seen to date - at the cost of loosing the distinctive “swooping” lines of the kit design.
This is probably because I had no bulkhead shapes to copy so as I developed my own shapes I spent some time to make sure that the stringers fitted with no “rise and fall” as Tony had warned about checking the edges of the deck to make sure they were straight.


I have an old Sea Queen awaiting restoration. When I get around to doing it I may decide to remove the side and deck skins to change the “swoopy” look that it has and try to achieve a similar straighter deck edge line to the Kopy Kommander. I am also tempted to cut some more triangular hardwood strips and add some stakes as I like the way they look and perform on this smaller version.

The triangular strakes that I cut and fitted to the underside of the hull were inspired by those on my Swordsman. They are not standard on a Sea Commander (or a Sea Queen) but I liked the way they looked and they can be seen to lift the boat more readily onto a plane with very little power input, so I am pleased that I added them during the build.

Storing some “essential” small tools on magnets inside the rear compartment made changing the propeller when pond-side very easy to perform ......and is something that others have noticed and commented positively about (and copied) since I first fitted similar tools to magnets in the rear compartment of my Rapier restoration some years ago, and it has proven to be a really handy feature to have on this model too .

I have wanted to own a Sea Commander since i was 16 years old, and the 60 year wait has been well worth while - (even if it is not an original Aerokits model). I am really enjoying sailing this model and I wish I had built (or bought) one a long time ago!

[zooma]

Tomorrow I hope to test the final small handling “tweak” that should improve the left to right balance of the hull.


My earlier pictures of the middle compartment show the custom made battery containers that I designed to hold a 7600 LiPo on each side.


Unfortunately all testing to date has only been completed with ONE battery as the water cooling outlet pipe fouls the entry to the right hand side battery compartment (!) , and reaching up in between the small gap between the cabin side and the hull side to connect a longer length of water cooling pipe has not been something that I was looking forward to doing!


A hole has been bored in the lower part of the cabin side to hold the longer cooling output pipe in a higher position to allow the second LiPo battery to slide under it when it is being fitted and removed.


All I have to do now is to fit the longer cooling outlet tube and connect it............then the hull will be perfectly balanced with a LiPo fitted in each side 👍

[canabus]

Hi Zooma


Twin 7600 batteries are you planning to run the boat to London and back !!!


I have only used a 3S 5000 mah in my Sea Commander.


Oh well as it's Winter down south, so it's a quick Saturday morning run and back to the heater.


I am still restoring a Sea Rover and just received an unstarted Lesro Sprite.
My first unstarted kit boat !!
Another tick off the bucket list.


Harry

[zooma]

Hi Harry,


I normally only connect one battery at a time but have one mounted on each side to balance the boat.


Two different types of “Y” lead allow me to double the capacity or run on 4 cells (!) but I prefer to run one battery at a time as that gives me plenty of run time (not measured exactly how long per battery yet) before coming in to change over to the second battery.


The size of our Southport club lake does not need more than two cells and the boat has plenty of power and more speed than I would normally use on it, but I do have some three cells LiPos available for winter use when the weather can get a bit rough and a little more power can be used to drive the boat into the wind - not experienced this yet with this boat, but have done it plenty of times with the Rapier in recent years.


I have not timed any runs yet, but based on what my Rapier gives me on the same LiPos I would expect to get 15 - 20 minutes on each battery, although the Rapier has my usual out-runner motors and this boat is my first classic model power boat to be powered with an in-runner (and a non water cooled ESC).


Only the alloy motor mount and the motor’s water jacket are water cooled for now- the 150 amp Surpass ESC is fan cooled as standard.


I know you have told me many times, but I am still surprised that after all these years of model boating you have still never actually built anything from a new kit (!) -  but you have years of working on model boats so I am sure you will find it easy enough and I hope you enjoy building your first ever model boat from a kit .


Nice to know that you have an Aerokits Sea Rover on the restoration production line - one of the few Aerokit classic model power boats that I have never built or owned……but maybe one day I will get the chance to fill this void !


Stay safe, and enjoy you Tazzi winter building projects.


Bob.

[zooma]

The (copy) Sea Commander ran really well again today, but the small water weep that drips off the end of the prop shaft next to the coupling continues to annoy me.


I actually wonder if it is because the prop shaft is slightly too short so that the inner-most end of it is actually below the water-line and so what  I am suffering from is a natural siphoning action?


The shaft length is exactly as specified in the Aerokits Sea Commander kit - so maybe other Sea Commander operators have the same problem?

If the prop shaft was 1/2” longer it would be above the water-line and would stay dry?


The commander sailed perfectly “straight” (no list) with an Overlander 7600 hard cased Sport Track LiPo mounted on each side of the battery compartment.


This is a very nice boat , if I can fix the minor seepage at the inner end of the prop shaft I will learn to put up with it ….but I would rather not ! 🤔