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[gondolier88]

Hi,

I have recently acquired a wonderful 1:12 scale model 50' steam picket boat that I am restoring to full working steam powered order.

I have just bought the book 'Steam Picket Boats' by NBJ Stapleton- a highly detailed book published in 1979 packed with pictures, specifications and stories.

One picture is of HMS Repulse' two 50' Picket Boats, one of which is exactly like mine- I have chosen to name mine after HMS Ajax- no reason other than preference for the name.

My post is to ask if anyone has any or knows of any pictures of Ajax' Picket Boats that will allow me to model her boats exactly?

Also, does anyone know where there may be a copy of Ajax' ships coat of arms online?

Lastly- does anyone on here have experience/knowlege of model working guns- my model came with a seemingly working model Hotchkiss 3 pounder QF gun- locking loadable breach, rifled barrel and recoil action included!!!

Greg

[DickyD]

Coat of arms.

[Netleyned]

Not a coat of arms Dicky it's a Ship's Crest
Nothing heraldic about them just a graphic
representation of the name
Most of the Leanders depict the God's head
on the crest.


Ned

[John R Haynes]

HMS AJAX was a Cruiser and too small to carry a 50ft steam pinnace . For a view of the Ajax boats take a look at my site www.johnrhaynes.com , for sale . This site also gives a complete record of this build and of other ship .

[John W E]

HMS AJAX was a Cruiser and too small to carry a 50ft steam pinnace . For a view of the Ajax boats take a look at my site www.johnrhaynes.com , for sale . This site also gives a complete record of this build and of other ship .

This must be the HMS Ajax that gondolier88  is referring to

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/ajax_1912/hms_ajax.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/battleships/hms_ajax_1912.htm&h=432&w=744&sz=52&tbnid=Qz3-MRlCUpT32M:&tbnh=82&tbnw=141&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhms%2Bajax&hl=en-GB&usg=__zphp5IO7W3Eh-s2UOylN6udfdOw=&sa=X&ei=qW8HTOTYH6T60wSLhIRo&ved=0CC4Q9QEwBA

aye
john e

bluebird

[Netleyned]

There is still the last remaining picket boat no 199 attributed to HMS Monarch possibly
afloat and in steam complete with Hotchkiss 3 Pdr at the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth
Naval Base. It runs round the harbour during the summer months

Yours Aye
Ned

[gondolier88]

Hi all,

Thanks for the crest DickyD, thats great- I now know what badges to put on the bow of the model.

The Ajax I mean is indeed the one you show Bluebird, as Netleyned says she was one of the Leander class ships.

Pinnace 199 is actually an Admiral's barge and would originally have rarely had the gun carried on the bow- she carries it to show what picket boats would have been equipped with.

No one has any clues about the model gun the....

Thanks for the help guys.

Greg

[dreadnought72]

The Ajax I mean is indeed the one you show Bluebird, as Netleyned says she was one of the Leander class ships.

Ummm? Bluebird shows the King George V Class battleship, HMS Ajax. Not the later Leander class cruiser which - as John Haynes points out - was too small for 50' picket boats.

I'm presuming you mean the battleship?

Andy

[gondolier88]

Yes your right, sorry that was me getting mixed up- she was indeed a King George V class.

In fact, looking at the last photo on the link that Bluebird you can see one of her picket boats in the mid ground.

Greg

[Netleyned]

199 started off as a picket boat then was rebuilt as an Admiral's Barge with a counter stern but is now back as she was originally

Ned

[gondolier88]

Hi Ned,

I had realised this- however admirals barges always had some sort of cabin at the stern that was there purely for the captain/admiral/royalty or whoever had command of the vessel- the picket boats only had one type of cabin- a large box section with a very pretty curved roof at the aft end.

199 reserved her non-standard cabin, and this being the major difference between barges and pickets, along with counter sterns which not all barges had, I refer to her as an admiral's barge and not a picket boat.

Greg

[DickyD]

Have you come across this by Edward Pinniger?

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=41843

[TAG]

I am fairly new to model boats mayhem and am not a frequent visitor but have picked up on your restoration project.
A few years ago I built a 1/12 scale steam picket boat constructed from plans by David MacGregor (drawings by Norman Ough), giving a 50 inch model. It is fully steam driven by a Nichols Avon twin cylinder engine running at 3bar.
The Cheddar boiler is fired from a Coleman 500 gas cartridge adjacent to the oil seperator which gives out some heat to the gas canister.
The boiler is fed from an about a 1litre water tank shaped into the bow. Water is transferred by a home built electric feedwater pump controlled by a Cheddar ABC unit. This set up gives sailing times of an hour plus, the time limitation being when the oil separator overflows. It is controlled by three channels of radio control, steering, forward /reverse/speed and a servo to operate the steam whistle valve. I still have the original plans, the picket boat builders bible 'Steam Picket Boats' by Stapleton but do not have any gun information. I use the mount to to have the gas valve spindle and wheel available on deck. Unfortunately all my pictures are on film but counld take some digital ones to post if there is a demand.     
 

[dreadnought72]

I suspect there IS a demand - if it's not too much hassle!?

[gondolier88]

Hi TAG,

There is definitely a demand- I would ceratinly love to see your model.

Also check out the thread on the steam section if you havn't already;

www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=22006.0

Your model sounds fantastic, very similar to what I have in mind.

Greg

[TAG]

Tried all afternoon to post three images of my picket boat, with no sucess.
Model boats mayhem help page not a lot of use. May be a delay while I figure out the system - any hints?

[gondolier88]

Get VSO Image Resizer free download (google it).

Use the programme to resize the images to less than 161Kb and save them in 'my pictures' (hover your mouse over the image in 'my pictures' and its file size comes up).

Go to 'additional options' under the text box to post a thread, select the resized file you want, click 'more attachments' to add more images.

If that doesn't work I will PM you my email.

Good luck!

Greg

[TAG]

Greg
After a lot of trial and error I think I now have one picture which will pass the kb test.
Here goes!

[gondolier88]

Hi TAG,

That's beautiful!

Sent a reply to your PM.

Greg

[Edward Pinniger]

To gondolier88:
 I have the plan sheet from the Billing Boats pinnace/picket boat kit I built (link posted by DickyD). This shows side and deck profiles of the boat in 1/35 scale (full size for the Billings kit). I'm not sure how accurate they are, but you're welcome to borrow the plans if they're of any use to you (PM me if so)

[gondolier88]

Hi Edward,

That's a very kind offer, thankyou, but I think i'm ok for the moment. I will keep your offer in mind though.

Greg