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[zooma]

The first Nor Star model boat has joined my fleet of classic model power boats from the 1960's sort of time period that I have been enjoying restoring and returning to "active service" over the last few years.

This Wave Rider shows that the kit would have been well specified and solidly specified in good quality plywood, and some of the kit numbers can still be seen clearly printed on some of the parts.

Unusually, the first thing that I did was to knock the stand apart as it was not shaped to fit the bottom of the hull and it caused the boat to sit with its stern higher in the air than the bows.  The stand (although quite a simple) was quite a nice shape when compared to my own fruit box types), so I tidied-up the end plates on the band saw by making them symmetrical so that the boat could sit "square" on it rather than at the twisted angle that it came with.

I also shortened the softwood side runners as they had been roughly sawn and were split and splintered on the ends, but it will still "look" the same and nicer than my usual fruit box type!

This weekend I will take a quick look at the boat to see if I can fit restoring it in-between my other ongoing classic model power boat projects!

I have no idea how well this model will perform as I have never seen one on the water, so it could be interesting!

[canabus]

HI Zooma


I have one of these little tanks!!!


Performance on the water, it requires a set of spray rails or two.


Of course chine rails.


I installed a 28mm 1800kv brushless on 3S which I had, but I wish to change to a 35mm 1250kv.


Go well, but restoring boats in lockdown was a pain i the butt !!


Canabus

[zooma]

Good info Harry  - thanks 

[Dave_S.]

I have a more or less complete kit (in poor condition) that I will someday used as the basis of a new Waverider (I built one about 50 years ago). The kit still has the price on the box - 69/11

[zooma]

I have a more or less complete kit (in poor condition) that I will someday used as the basis of a new Waverider (I built one about 50 years ago). The kit still has the price on the box - 69/11

That is interesting Dave, and if you have a complete kit of parts to work with (and a plan?) it will be easy to replace some (or all) of the parts to build a nice new model.

With all of the kit parts available to you, it would be easy just to use them as templates and make a complete new model out of fresh new wood.  That is exactly what I have done with my H&M Wavemaster 34 as it still leaves me with a complete original kit with plans and instructions that may be of some use in the future.

From what I can see, the Wave Rider is a well specified design that will build into a very strong model so it will be a nice project,  and hopefully when you do it you can add it to this thread (or start another) so we can see what one would look like during the construction.

Stay safe - Bob.

[Dave_S.]

Thanks, Bob. The model was bought on eBay 2 or 3 years ago, described as part-built, but the building probably took place about 50 years ago. Unfortunately, the assembled parts and rest of the kit had simply been put into a cardboard box and posted, nothing to protect the model at all. By the time it arrived, it was mostly broken parts, and most of the ply had partially delaminated, so really it is just a plan and some parts I can use as templates.


The previous one I built long ago was quite heavy, very thick ply keel & chines, probably needed as it was originally IC and free running or R/C, so much have need to be able to resist a starting chord around a diesel's flywheel, and potentially some full power meetings with the edge of the pond.


When I get around to building it, I think I'll make it a lot lighter, as modern radio is so much more reliable than the single channel 27 mHz gear I had back then - and a nice smooth brushless will put far less strain on the structure than a rattly old diesel.

[zooma]

I seem to remember reading somewhere (in the distant past) about the need to keep the weight towards the rear of the boat as the Wave Rider has a tendency to be nose heavy?

It would be nice to know a bit more about this as I will shortly be deciding on where to position everything, and the heaviest single item that I have to act as ballast will be the LiPo pack.

Maybe the plans show where the ideal centre of gravity or balance point should be ? - but it would be good to know what works best before I fix a LiPo mount as I can work-out the best location to place it in the hull and avoid the need for any additional weights.

[zooma]

Thanks, Bob. The model was bought on eBay 2 or 3 years ago, described as part-built, but the building probably took place about 50 years ago. Unfortunately, the assembled parts and rest of the kit had simply been put into a cardboard box and posted, nothing to protect the model at all. By the time it arrived, it was mostly broken parts, and most of the ply had partially delaminated, so really it is just a plan and some parts I can use as templates.


The previous one I built long ago was quite heavy, very thick ply keel & chines, probably needed as it was originally IC and free running or R/C, so much have need to be able to resist a starting chord around a diesel's flywheel, and potentially some full power meetings with the edge of the pond.


When I get around to building it, I think I'll make it a lot lighter, as modern radio is so much more reliable than the single channel 27 mHz gear I had back then - and a nice smooth brushless will put far less strain on the structure than a rattly old diesel.

If the model needs any ballast to make it "sit" in the water nicely, I would rather have the weight in a good strong construction than have to add any "dead-weight" anywhere in the hull.

Performance models will always be built as light as possible to help maximise speed, but I think modern brushless motors will give a choice of several that will have more that enough power to shove this little boat along at an alarming speed without having to worry too much about a lightweight construction.

........but I wont know that for sure until I run it - so I will report back when I have some real life experience of what it can do - but I think Harry is already getting his Wave Rider to scoot along at a fair pace!   

[zooma]

HI Zooma


I have one of these little tanks!!!


Performance on the water, it requires a set of spray rails or two.


Of course chine rails.


I installed a 28mm 1800kv brushless on 3S which I had, but I wish to change to a 35mm 1250kv.


Go well, but restoring boats in lockdown was a pain i the butt !!


Canabus

Hi Harry,


Have you added any triangular strakes to the underside of your Wave Rider?


Bob.

[Dave_S.]

I'll check the plan to see if there is any indication of CG position, but I doubt that there will be.


I plan to go for a lighter construction partially to save a bit of weight, but also to make the job a bit easier - I can remember it was quite hard work to plane & sand the plywood keel & chines (though I was only 13 or 14 at the time!).


I've got a 2836 1000KV brushless lined up for it (I have used them before in models this size) on either 2 or more likely 3 cell lipo pack or the equivalent in NiMH. I remember the Waverider as being a bit of a handful if the engine was too powerful.


Back in a few minutes, going to dig the kit out and check the plan for you.

[zooma]

I'll check the plan to see if there is any indication of CG position, but I doubt that there will be.

I've got a 2836 1000KV brushless lined up for it (I have used them before in models this size) on either 2 or more likely 3 cell lipo pack or the equivalent in NiMH. I remember the Waverider as being a bit of a handful if the engine was too powerful.

Back in a few minutes, going to dig the kit out and check the plan for you.

Thanks Dave - I am working on mine now - and I may have a similar motor - I will take a look now.

Bob.

[Dave_S.]

No CG on the plan, and nothing mentioned in the instructions either. I can't remember ever seeing that info on a model boat plan - I assume that if it floats at or parallel to the water line, then the CG is correct.

The final paragraph of the instructions are interesting:

The prototype was fitted with an M.E. Snipe engine, a Pixie Radio Control Single Channel unit and using O.S. Motorised escapement. The model was extremely fast so great care should be taken if let go on a small area of water as it is quite easy to run into an obstruction before you realise it.
(the odd capitalisation has been copied from the original)

[zooma]

Thanks for the info Dave,

The last paragraph from the building instructions reads well - very interesting. 

Your little brushless motor should easily produce more power than an ME Snipe diesel engine.

Bob.

[Dave_S.]

I've got several projects on the go at the moment (and not enough space for any of them!) but I am trying to resist the urge to make a start on the Waverider until I have completed at least a couple of the half-built models.

[Martin (Admin)]

Also see: https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,4787.0.html

   

[Dave_S.]

It's still a great looking boat, no matter how long ago it was designed.

[tonyH]

Bob's Project Number......Oh.....Um....32ish! Oh, and what came after Kim?

[zooma]

Tonight I made the decision to remove the 11" 4BA prop shaft from my "new to me" Wave Rider as it had some "play" in the bearings at both ends. Also, I did not have enough space in the engine bay to fit an alloy water-cooled motor mount with a brushless motor mounted onto it.

The prop shaft extended into the engine bay more than it needed to so I chipped away at the body filler that had been used to bond it into the hull until it had a bit less of a "bite" and then gave it a few taps with a heavy hammer.  Once the remaining pieces of filler were cracked they were chipped away and the shaft was firmly gripped in my hand and twisted and pulled until it was free of the hull.

I had an old 5mm prop shaft on the bench that had been removed from another model some years ago, so I cut this down to 10", tapped-out the bearing from the cut-off section and reinserted it in the shortened shaft .

Next I started to align it with a brushless motor that I had loosely bolted into a new alloy water-cooled motor mount that I laid onto the kit engine mounting platform that was already fitted in the hull.

A Powerflex coupling that had been bored out to 5mm at each end to fit the motor shaft and the new M5 prop shaft was fitted and everything was aligned and also checked that the new shaft would give the same position for the propeller - albeit at a slightly shallower angle with enough clearance for a 50mm prop (the biggest size I could ever envisage using) .

The epoxy side cheeks of the motor mount were pressed down firmly and "spotted" into place with a small dab of superglue on each side while the alignment was finally checked again and then both outside edges of the mount were given a full run of superglue along their entire length to give a permanent bond to the engine mounting platform.

At a later date when everything is permanently mounted the motor will be un-bolted from the alloy water-cooled motor mount to make the inside edges of the epoxy engine mount "side cheeks" fully accessible and more superglue will be run along both of the inside edges to reinforce the bond.

I used the above technique first when I was restoring Rapier 1 and that boat has since had many hours of running with various powerful brushless motors and it is still going strong, although I did paste a fillet of epoxy along the bonding areas to double reinforce the joint at a later date.  I don't know if this was necessary - but I prefer the "belt and braces" approach to guarantee the engine mounting security.

Next I marked a small off-cut of 5mm ply to show the angle between the underside of the hull and the underside of the prop shaft and cut it into a fillet that I will bond between the hull and the prop shaft when I complete the next stage of bonding the prop shaft into the hull.  This can also be "blended in" to make a nice fairing at a later date with some body filler prior to the final finishing.

[zooma]

I've got several projects on the go at the moment (and not enough space for any of them!) but I am trying to resist the urge to make a start on the Waverider until I have completed at least a couple of the half-built models.

 




A very sensible thing to do..........and something that I have totally failed to achieve at any time!   

[Dave_S.]

I haven't succeeded in the last 50 years, but I am sure that change is just around the corner!

[zooma]

Bob's Project Number......Oh.....Um....32ish! Oh, and what came after Kim?

I am not sure if anything will come after Kim, but I have been taking a look at the windscreen and notice that most of the Wave Riders that I have seen don't have the central dividing pillar left in them.

This pillar is just a thin square weak looking stick and it does not look very good (it reminds me of the way LesRo failed to finish the windscreen divides on the Rapier convincingly),  so I will see if I can come up with something to improve on this area and retain the divider but make it look a little nicer - and probably a bit stronger too!

The back of the cabin was fractured in transit to me, but this has been repaired and looks OK so the superstructure is now basically sound and only needs a little cosmetic detail to finish it.

[tonyH]

New bits!

[zooma]

Thanks for up-loading the pictures for me Tony.

I need to check that the new engine mounts and shaft are fitted securely today and fix the prop-shaft support permanently too.

The shaft had 24 hour Araldite flooded around it and the keel last night, so that should be dry by now so I can get on and see what else needs "sorting" today.

This is only going to be a "short refurbishment project" to return the boat to the water as quickly as possible.

[Dave_S.]

New bits!

That's a useful looking motor mount, may I ask whether you made it or bought it? If bought, where from??

[zooma]

That's a useful looking motor mount, may I ask whether you made it or bought it? If bought, where from??

Hi Dave,

I use these alloy water-cooled motor mounts on all my model boats as they are "as cheap as chips" and offer a "plug-in" motor system that allows me to swap motors in just 2-3 minutes - almost as easy as Lego.

I buy mine from a UK supplier via eBay but they can be bought from a number of different sources.  Here is a link to the ones that I use:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361330720797

I have used these in all my powerboats since switching to electric power and they have stood the test of time.  They offer a good solid mount and the water cooling helps to keep the front bearings on a brushless motor cooled, but not everyone is a fan of water-cooling and for those that prefer to run their boats without, the alloy mount can also act as a heat sink.

Hope this helps,

Bob.