Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Springer Tugs => Topic started by: radiojoe on April 24, 2015, 04:11:42 pm
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Well I hope you guys won't mind but I decided to do a build log on my Springer, If nothing else it keeps me focused, I won't go into great detail, as said there have been quite a few Springers, so I don't want to bore you all, but it might just be of interest to Springer fans.
I'm building a fairly simple traditional top and the hull is set out to the standard formula, Although I'm not going to be that strict, I started by making the rudder, as I had no plywood to hand for the hull at the time, as I said don't want to bore so I'll let the photos do the talking.. %)
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A bit more done. ;)
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What have you used for the bottom, looks like it bends well
regards Jack.
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Hi Jack, Its 1/8" ply cross grain, yes it bends to the shape quite well if you glue and pin a bit at a time.
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It looks good. :-)) Aren't they fun to build.
ken
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HI ken, they sure are, as it says in the forum (Bringing back the Fun into model boats!) I'd agree with that, ;)
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:-))
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They are not just fun to build, they are great fun to sail on the lake.
John
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Yes it makes a nice change to build something simple out of the head so to speak, (lets face it if it's out of my head it's going to be simple) and although I did a drawing I'm adding bits as I go, but she's also has a practical side, if any of my ships are stranded in the lake for what ever reason Gopha Girl might just save me getting wet trousers. %% {-) {-)
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I don't know if it's allowed but I fitted a keel in the stern section to aid steering. Just a small one but enough to keep a straight line.
Yes, an ideal rescue boat because of the 'knees' in front. {-)
ken
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Yes mines going to have a skeg keel enclosing the prop shaft and same depth as the rudder, not too bothered about Springer rules, it's never going to be used in comps.
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Mine has a skeg and a Kort nozzle.
It's called International Rescue down at the pond
as it is launched at least once a week for rescues.
If I made another I would use the fishtail rudder as I
believe it is just as effective as a Kort.
Ned
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When I designed mine I couldn't decide whether to have a kort or fishtail, have to confess I went for the fishtail because I thought it would be easier to make, it will be interesting to see how it performs. ;)
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My Springer with a Fishtail Rudder spins 360degrees in its own length.
Len.
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Thank Len should be quite maneuverable then. :-))
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Interesting build Joe. My Springer has a Kort nozzle, spins almost in its own length.
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Thanks Bob, I've heard a lot about them so I thought it might be fun to make one. :-))
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An update, two coats of sealer to the inside and deck fitted, I also want to make all the deck fittings out of what I can find in my workshop, not that I mind buying them but I thought it may add to the fun, I've loosely based it on 1:24 and made a start on some bollards, later I'll have a go at cobbling together a winch of some sort. %)
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The hull shape reminds me of a cubist lute! Already looking forward to the next installment.
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Running gear fitted, completed skeg and rudder, next I'll fit the deck up stands. :-)
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Really nice job.
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Now that's what I call a Tiller Support. :}
ken
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Neat work. I see your oiler on the stuffing tube Joe. Is that a home made bung, or purchased?
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Ian, the black cap on the greaser, came from a self assembly garden storage unit the wife bought, it was put together with self tapping screws and there was a bag of these little plastic caps to cover the screws ends, there was a lot left over that I kept, that was years ago well I've finally found a use for them. %%
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Finished running gear and tested, fitted hatch upstand and made cover/deck, a snug fit but also used magnets, next I'll make the wheelhouse and funnels. ok2
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Made a start on the wheelhouse and thought as the windows are quite large I may as well do a bit of detailing inside and look out for a 1:24 helmsman. %%
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Been pottering some more, in keeping with the theme of making all the fittings from stuff in the workshop I had a go at making the wheel, should look ok once painted, and improvised some vents. :o
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Made and fitted the funnels, the roof and loose fitted, and the rams. %%
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I do like your work in ply Joe. It always looks so clean and tidy. My work usually gets covered in pencil scribblings and excess lines where I have measured twice like a good boy:O)
She's looking really good and very well progressed.
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What he said ^ such neat work is a huge credit to you. Really enjoying this build.
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Yes, really nice work and a nice boat
regards Jack
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As always thanks for your interest guys,
Did the bulwarks today I used styrene as it was easier to cut all the small knees, next I'll make some kind of engine room skylight. ;)
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Bit more done today, I'm going to do some more detailing to inside wheelhouse, then for spray priming.
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Your detailing is superb. looking forward to the colour. :-))
ken
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Thanks Ken, Haven't decided on a colour scheme at the moment only thought as far as the primer. :o
Meet Sam, he arrived today to try out the wheelhouse, Bless, he's only 5' 3" I had no idea of the actual measurement or where his hands would be when I made and positioned the wheel, what a surprise when his hands fell right on it, spooky %% %%
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Sorry Joe, Sam has already got a berth {-) {-) {-)
Ned
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Joe / Ned,
Where was "Sam" procured from?
Thank You.
Tug Hercules
Fireman Rick
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Cornwall Model Boats
Think it is a Graupner figure.
Mine arrived in about six pieces >>:-(
Ned
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Yes that's right cornwallmodelboats.com Graupner but mine was a one piece moulding and very nicely painted,
I think Sam is going to be moonlighting Ned. %%
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It was the Postal service that dissected mine .
A bit of cyano soon fixed it. :-))
Ned
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That's bad Ned, I thought you meant it was made in sections. {:-{
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:-)......your Sam looks a little like John Lennon's Dad....minus the nose job {:-{............Johns Dad [Freddie] was a merchant seaman as I am sure you know.... Derek
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I was in a Range store yesterday and came across some spray cans called Hycote half the price of the Halfords rattle cans so I bought a red primer and a white primer, when I started spraying the springer this morning it became obvious why it was so cheap it was so thin it was almost translucent so it took twice as long to paint and three times the amount to cover any thing, ok that, and half a can of primer I had in the garage eventually did the job but I won't be using that again, that will teach me for skimping. :embarrassed:
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We are all tempted by budget stuff Joe. I remember my parents trying cheap household cleaning goods with the same results. (Well on cleaning the dishes not painting a ship!)
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I've done exactly the same with that paint Joe.
£2.49 a tin or something and it was like spraying water!
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Yes I guess the old adage applies, you get what you pay for, %%
while waiting for paint to dry on the hull I thought I'd have a bit of fun with the wheelhouse so here we have Sam's lunch and his pinup's (I've really got to get out more %% %%) but all done in the best possible taste %) %).
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When Sam appeared last week, I thought to myself there is no way that Joe will not be tempted to add his customary high level of detail to the inside of the wheelhouse, and I was right {-)
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The flask is excellent. I would never have thought of that detail. I would have gone all hoity-toity and assumed he would have had a kithchenette, but his business is shunting ships, not feeding the five thousand, so having his refreshments next to him is wiser.
Brilliant as ever Joe!
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Love the flask and lunchbox, they look fantastic.
Alex
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Thanks guys, with the primer hardened on the hull she had her first float test today, with just the running gear and the two sla batteries she sat in the water level about 12mm above the water line, it took a kilo of ballast to settle her down to the line, I arranged it so she is slightly bow up, and first impressions are she is a bit too powerful but I've decided to leave as is for now and see how she is on the lake, if she was two inches shorter I think I could have turned her about in the bath, so quite happy with her. %%
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Good show Joe. I look forward to seeing her finished and on the pond, which will not be long given the speed you have been going at.
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Thanks Ian, yes I think she'll be on the water in a week or two. ;)
In between the various coats of paint I've still been playing around with the wheelhouse, and Sam is now permanently on board to help with the work up, as you can see Sam comes from a time before the powers that be dictated our entire lives, smoking in the work place indeed, naughty Sam. {-) {-) {-) {-) %%
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Finally finished the paint work, not my strong point I have to admit, had to scrape off the boot topping due to the first one reacting and crazing %%, so redone with white acrylic which seems OK, all that's left to do is to make up something resembling a winch for the fore deck, fit the bollards and fit the tyres around and find some sort of rubber for the rams. :-))
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After seeing the result I think mine is a bin job :embarrassed:
It has kickstarted an idea of a new superstructure.
Great job Joe !
Ned
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Ok, so she isn't a Rembrandt. But she has been well finished and you made the effort to re do the Boot topping, so you can't say you bodged it.
I saw on a friend's Military Trawler that the winch looked like it had been made from a set of G gauge railway wheels (for the sides of the drum) and other gizmology, so if you know of a friendly model railway shop that sells stuff like that, they may have a pair of wheels you can use?
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Finally finished the paint work, not my strong point I have to admit, had to scrape off the boot topping due to the first one reacting and crazing %%, so redone with white acrylic which seems OK, all that's left to do is to make up something resembling a winch for the fore deck, fit the bollards and fit the tyres around and find some sort of rubber for the rams. :-))
Rubber for the Rams = a section from an old Timing Belt, ask at your local Garage for one.
Len.
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Thanks Ian I think I've managed to cobble some bits together. :-))
Thanks Len that would be perfect I'll see what I can scrounge. :-))
Here's what I've made so far, the large gear is an old drive sprocket out of a RC car, I'll paint some of it before assembly, I'm attempting to make it work, I've no idea why %% %%
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You are pining for a complex job to solder and this is a good substitute:O)
Looking good Mr Radio.
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Well I finished the winch and it works just got to wind some "cable" on the drum, truth be told it's probably a bit over scale but Springers are supposed to be fun so I'm not too bothered about it, Sam's a little guy and this is a BIG winch. %% {-) {-) {-)
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It looks like it would work!
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Just about finished now, I made a oil drum and cast some off to add a bit of interest to the fore deck, fitted the fender tyres, still need to get the rubber for the rams, she has been great fun to build, it made a change to build from imagination next we'll see how she performs on the lake. %%
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Love the working winch, and oil drums. When working to your imagination the 'rivet counters' can take a running jump {-)
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Lovely job there Joe.
Even a handraulic bilge pump :-))
I think mine has to have a makeover
From the deck up.
Ned
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As a new member I'm reading as many posts for information as I can, what a great build.
Rick
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She is very attractive Joe. One to put on the build list I reckon. You must have a good selecetion of moulds now?
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She is very attractive Joe. One to put on the build list I reckon. You must have a good selecetion of moulds now?
I guess your Moulds are flexible? where do you get your supplies from?.
We could do with a Master Class on making Moulds and casting.
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Yes the moulds are made from flexible silicone rubber, I get the silicone and resin from www.easycomposites.co.uk ok it's not cheap but it goes a long way, and I find it a fascinating extension to our hobby, I'm certainly not a master at it but it's really quite easy, just take some time making the fitting, fittings with a base such as bollard are the easiest, bond the fitting into a "box", I make the box out of styrene, mix the silicone and fill the box being careful to avoid air bubbles, when cured remove the sides of the box and remove the mould, depending on the fitting you can just flex the mould off others you need to cut the mould in half, it will then fit together and held with elastic band, mix the resin and fill the mould again avoiding air bubbles, that's it make as many as you want.
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Nice to know there is more then one springer in town
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I do like the weathering on that Springer, very nicely done. :-))
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Gopha Girl had her first trials today, have to say very pleased with it, the handling and performance exceeded my expectations, more than enough power which will be useful when pushing and the fishtail rudder really dose the job, hard over she pivots on the spot, a good speed before the tendency to dip the bow, I did make the mistake of ballast trimming before I decided to add the winch and fore deck detail so this was enough to lose the slightly bow up attitude, so now have removed some ballast, when I got home I noticed she had shipped a small amount of water I suspect the prop tube, I've never liked the greased one that much but I used it as I had it spare, with hind sight I think it would have been worth the expense of a water proof one, it took some more grease though the grease tube so maybe I didn't have enough in it, I've just sectioned off the area beneath the inboard end to form a coffer dam to contain any more drips, all in all she's a lot of fun to sail :-))
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Very nice build. Glad you enjoyed its sailing.
Yes, they are fun and also make excellent rescue boats. :-))
ken
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Lovely work chaps! That weathering would make a military modeller proud!
I am glad that even with a simpler model you have found some things to teach us Joe. I will keep the coffer dam idea for future projects, though probably making sure your tubes etc are water tight/secure is more important.
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That's a cracking little springer radiojoe . like the ratchet on the winch
regards Jack.
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Thanks to all for your interest and comments,
Went on her second trials today again nearly two hours in the water and this time dry inside the first time must have been lack of grease in prop shaft, so I think now I'll take her every time, reassuring to know there's a back up. :-))
Thanks for watching. :-))
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Just an update on fitting my spare 12 volt smoke generator, when I built her I thought that I may fit one at some point so made provisions in the exhausts etc. so it was just a case of making a chamber under the two stacks and fit the smoker in the right place and wire into the ESC, there is a bit too much smoke indoors but with forward movement and a bit of a breeze I hoping it will look more realistic.
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Nice work Joe,
Its given me food for thought! what dimensions is she and what running gear motor,prop size etc have you put in? She looks good on the water well done.
Cheers,
Faz. :-)) :-)) :-)) :-)) :-)) :-)) :-))
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Hi Faz she's the standard Springer size, 18"x 8" I've used a 540 motor I had spare, and a 50 mm three blade prop, the formula for the hull is under plans in the Springer section. :-))
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@ radiojoe, you could try reducing the voltage to the fan as this will reduce the output to the funnel.
Cheers
ken
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Hi Ken, to be fair the photo was taken at full throttle, a setting I rarely use when afloat, the smoke is proportional to the throttle, I think she would need a snorkel if I used full ahead unless she was pushing something heavy %%
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nice model Joe and a good read
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G'day Joe,
Just picked up on your build the other day and you've done a great job and it looks the part.
Some months ago while I was waiting for my Albert kit to turn up, I cut up some scrap timber and ply and started on a Dredge Tender. Just a couple of inches longer than a Springer, but I thought it looked sort of cute.
He's now at the almost complete stage, but just now making up a heap of wheelhouse details, because of the large window area it needs some clutter within and without. It's only a day cab, so there won't be benches and stuff like you have in yours
I was interested in the conversations on your build regarding rudders, and on Derrick I made a pattern and cast some in Urethane to the photos I had showing the wide horizontal fins on both sides of the rudder. It should be quite effective, but he hasn't been wet yet, so that is still an unknown.
Derrick is powered by a 12v car aerial motor, direct driving a 50mm 4 blade tug prop, so down on revs but up on thrust. Initially he'll be powered by 6v gel cell, then maybe 7.4V lipo, or if all else fails, 12v Gel. Hopefully the performance will be adequate.
Ian.
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Just realised after I had posted, that the image of the rudder wasn't the preferred one, so I add it here. Hopefully got it right this time!
Ian.
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Hi Ian, Thanks for your kind comments, that's an interesting build you've done let us know how she/he sails, I think they're great fun to build without the constraints of making it look like an actual vessel I fancy making another one at some point maybe when I've completed my present build. :-))
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G'day Joe and others,
Finally got Derrick wet today for the first time, and no prior bath trials. What you see is what we got, with two x 2S ( 7.4v ) lipo's, one for power and one as a spare and no other ballast. He was a little heavy in the stern, but he performed perfectly with no nasty surprises. The scale rudder worked well and he turns very quickly. He's not underpowered which I was worried about , using the 12v motor and direct drive to the 50mm prop. He was built heavy and has far more timber inside than he really needed,
But that's how I tend to build stuff!
Just waiting for some 100mm figures to apply some surgery on for crew. Also still need to fit the door and a few other detail bits like the Furuno Radome which I'm having decals made for the name.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this model is not a springer, being 2 inches longer, and is scaled off a pretty ordinary drawing and images I found on the web of this particular vessel.
He will make a great rescue boat, as his performance is better than expected and with the large prop and unusual rudder, turns well in both directions.
And the pond was much cleaner today, as they hadn't been pumping for irrigation for a few days!
Ian
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Looks good on the water Ian, slightly stern down is not a bad thing on these type of hulls they're inclined to nose dive a bit as speed, mine's 12 volt with a 50 mm prop, she was pushing a 6 foot sheet of ice around the lake on Thursday, and the retro fitted smoke generator worked very well, got it from a guy in your neck of the woods. :-))
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No ice here, but a cooler day today at around 35C! I almost ran down a long necked tortoise who stuck his head up for air at the wrong time!
I'd be worried if any of my diesel engines ( real trucks ) blew white smoke like your tug. A bit of black is quite healthy when working hard, but not white!
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Yes Ian know what you mean, if it was a full sized tug I'd be quite worried too. %% %% %) {-) {-)
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Looks good on the water Ian, slightly stern down is not a bad thing on these type of hulls they're inclined to nose dive a bit as speed, mine's 12 volt with a 50 mm prop, she was pushing a 6 foot sheet of ice around the lake on Thursday, and the retro fitted smoke generator worked very well, got it from a guy in your neck of the woods. :-))
Joe: I think you may be referring to the SG-1 smoke gen, same as I have - an excellent bit of gear. The Aussie guy seems to have disappeared from Ebay and I wish to buy another. I lost his contact details, so I wondered if you have any way I might contact him? Thanks IA Bob.
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Hi Nemo, yes Kevin is still about, I just had my third one delivered last week 9 days from the other side of the world, I waited longer for stuff in the UK, he goes under the name Chopperflyboy, :-))
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Thanks Joe, but where does 'Choppeflyboy' live on the internet? :o Do you mean Ebay?
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Yes he sells on an e-bay shop, if you enter chopperflyboy in any search engine it should come up with what you want :-))
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Found him. Many thanx Joe. :-))
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I've been trying to find suitable crew figures for the little Dredge Tender at around 1:16, but there's not much about, so I bought a set of 4 Bruce Lee Kung Fu figures of Fleabay at 100mm tall for under AU$10. Poses were totally useless as they come, but after some serious surgery to the most acceptable figure who was squatting like he was on the lav, I poured silicone rubber over his body segments and cast off a batch in polyurethane.
The plastic used on the original figures is a greasy semi soft PVC, which Superglue and car bog refuse to stick to, but it did hold together well enough to make a mould of his lower torso with surgically straightened legs, and these new cast components are now able to be filed and cut and glued with no problems.
I've done some arm changes as well, so the first figure will be the skipper. His very chinese coat, with some minor alteration will become a safety vest in orange with some reflective stripes, and his slip-on casual shoes will remain as they are, as they won't be seen when he's on duty.
The smaller figures are modified 1:24 Tamiya Pit Crew I chopped a lot of years ago for one of my tugs. Again in polyurethane, they are easy to work and alter poses, but the plastic used in the Tamiya figures is injected Styrene and works and glues well with solvent type glues.
Ian
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After a couple of outings I wasn't happy with the smoke performance, nothing wrong with the super smoker that works fine, what was happening was when sailing with the wind astern the wind was blowing the smoke back down the exhausts and into the boat and out of the forward vents, probably due to the angle at the top of the exhausts, it looked weird so I've decided not to have smoke in the Springer,
instead, after a recent evening sail at the club where we had around 15 boats on the water all lit to various degrees, and I realised I only had my Envoy Tug that had nav lights I thought I'd fit some to Gopha Girl and ordered some nano chip lights Red, Green and two bright white, from JS Miniatures a good source of all things lights, pre wired with resistors and various voltages, and the all important good service, www.smallscalelights.co.uk ,here's the result, the lens for the 360 light is the top of a biro pen and the flood on the front ram is a spare I had in the bottom of my odds and ends box the nanochips fit just about anywhere.
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Lovely illuminations Joe.