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[Andy M]

While waiting for varnish and paint drying on a couple of other projects, I found this plan and article online.
 I decided to build it at 20 inches as I figured I could skin it with my recycled balsa removed from a pair of foam wings. I had used some of it on my Starlet yacht but still had a fair bit left.
 The design is nearly 47 years old and was in a Czech magazine. I liked the lines of it but didnt have the materials to build it exactly following the plan's. I modified the required parts and started building....
 As I looked at the screenshot of the plan page prior to writing this, I noticed the dimensions for the first time, 50cm long, and thats exactly what mine has turned out at, even though I had resized the plan to give me the size I wanted.
 I went for 1/16 ply cabin sides for 2 reasons, sharp looking window cutouts that you dont seem to get with balsa, and also the fact I didnt have 2 bits of balsa big enough. By doing it this way, it leaves more of my recycled 1/16 balsa wing skins to (hopefully) do the 2 bits of cabin roof.
I used 1/8 liteply for bulkheads, all from my scraps box, a 1/4 balsa keel made up of 3 smaller pieces to get the shape. 1/16 fairly hard balsa skins and 3/16 x 1/4 balsa chines and inwales. A small selection of balsa scraps completed the hull. And a very nice shape it is too. I have the propshaft but no rudder yet.
 The propshaft and rudder holes were filed into the sheeting after one half was glued on, then finished off once the other half of the bottom sheeting was fitted. Gives a very nice finish. I have found several nice plan on the website, all free, but in Czeckeslovakian....  Not a problem, you can always get it translated if you really need to, I didnt bother, I just needed the lines. 😁
 

[Andy M]

The cabin so far. Still got a lot to do.

[Stuw]

A nice looking vessel there.

[Andy M]

Thanks, it is really starting to take shape now. A few hours more work on the cabin has it looking a bit better, I have used 1/16 ply for the rest of the bits that have windows, its pretty tough to sand, but takes a nice edge. I have still to go round tidying the window edges with a selection of files.
  I am very pleased with how the recycled balsa turned out. The inside isnt quite so nice looking though, due to copydex glue and slivers of blue foam. Not really a problem but its a bit untidy looking.
The rear section of roof still has to be finished off, not sure whether I will leave it overhanging at front and sides, or sand it flush. The copydex glue is bobbly on the underside of the roof and hard to get off unless I sand it flush like the front cabin roof.

[Andy M]

Here is the plan if anyone fancies building one

[Andy M]

I have the full pdf file if anyone wants the full article and plan. Just remember its in Czeckeslovakian....

[Andy M]

In my last post about my micro Starlet, I mentioned that I have several other boats I can work on, here they are, in various stages of construction, left to right they are Edita, Suzie Q, another own design hull, (sheeted with my recycled 'wing' balsa) and micro Starlet. They are all sitting on my four ways cargo ship. I like building hulls... what else can I say. 😁
 The Suzie Q has sat longest, I have lost the propshaft in my shed somewhere and dont want to cut down a longer shaft until I am sure I cant find the correct one. The own design hull had been sitting for a few years waiting for suitable skinning to come along. The recycled wing balsa has been enough to skin it and the Starlet and Edita, so I did pretty well out of it. I may even manage a ships boat for the cargo ship. There isnt very much of it left though. Might not happen.
 Edita will get a session of window filing then I will need to think about what I can use for the 'well'? behind the cabin. I really want to have this feature but I dont have any sheeting left that is big enough to manage this, it may well end up with a frame and small strips of balsa planking.
 

[Andy M]

After another search of my attic, I found the 1/8 fuselage sides, 1/16 covered ailerons and fixed trailing edge parts of my blue foam flying wing. Of no use now, as I have used the actual wing's skins, a bit more work with my scraper has given me enough 1/16 balsa to do the well bit of my cockpit area. I managed to nick my finger with the scraper but noticed it after I spotted a drop of blood on one bit of balsa, a poor man's plaster from masking tape and kitchen roll kept any more blood off me precious balsa. 😁 I will need to join 2 or 3 bits for the larger pieces but its now possible to complete my cockpit area.
 I am now looking at the nice wings and airfames I made years ago but couldnt afford to cover with solarfilm.  Being all balsa construction, I dont think they will come apart quite as 'easily'?  as the foam wings did.
 The obvious option would be to sell them and buy some balsa, but they are pretty big for posting.

[Stuw]

Efficient recycling in progress!

[Andy M]

Definately! It means I can build boats when I  didnt think I actually had any materials to use.😁

[zooma]

That is a good bit of recycling Andy - nice work!

The Edita design is nice.  I am restoring another old broken boat (Rapier 2) and in my attempt to make it look a little different to my Rapier1, I have made an extension to the top of the cab back that gives it a very similar profile look to your Edita cab.

The lack of progress on your Suzie Q makes me feel a lot better - mine has been neglected for a few years now......come to think about it - my Remora is not doing too much better either!

If you find your missing prop shaft - why not add your build to the Suzie Q thread that I started some time ago ? It would give something to read about - it could be some time before I have anything interesting to add to it 

I am looking forward to seeing the progress on your Edita build - there are not too many of them afloat in the UK

Stay safe,

Bob.

[Andy M]

Hi Bob, the Suzie Q isnt that far from being finished, apart from finding the propshaft. And fitting radio gear of course. My other Vic Smeed design, Rorqual, was tried the other night but was underpowered and I also had radio issues. It will get tried again once I sort out the 2 problems.
The balsa recycling has turned out well, the blue foam cored wings were far too heavy compared to my recent Depron planes anyway.
I still have a few balsa airframes that probably wont get used, I really should sell them.

[Andy M]

Here is the remainder of the 1/16 balsa skins I harvested from my foam wings. I have already managed to do the skinning on 3 boats from it, I just wondered if I could manage to get another one out of it? 😁
 My wife offered to buy me some balsa, after seeing my blood soaked man plaster, but to be honest, I really like the fact I have made boats from something I was never going to use again.
 Pristine balsa would obviously be nice, being able to just cut a part out and glue it on, rather than having to join several bits to make a 6 inch by 4 inch roof. I like the challenge of it though, and it is recycling stuff that normally wouldnt get used.
 Some of my best projects started when I was given stuff that was destined for landfill, my Vic Smeed Vivacity build started when I was given a motorised  golf trolley by a friend, it had one sheared off bolt in the motor and his Dad was upgrading to something he could ride on instead anyway. I used the motor, speed control and batteries from it and ended up with a very nice boat. I also used a hairdrier motor (also destined for landfill) for cooling the speed controller, but it never actually needed it as the big golf trolley motor was never under any load, it drew 8 amps whether the boat was in the water or not.
 I guess its down to personal preference, I built 4 'full size' man carrying boats, all under 8 feet long, and rebuilt 2 outboards from engines that were actually already in the skip. The total cost of 4 boats and the outboard rebuilds, including some new parts I had to buy for them, was around £2000, which is around what a  forum member on here is planning on spending on having his (admittedly very nice)  10 grand model boat painted.
 Each to his own, but I would rather have the enjoyment of building something myself and be riding about in it at the end for that amount of money.
 I had a guy started asking me questions about one of my boats once, he had just got off his 250 hp Kawasaki pwc/ big jetski? He asked loads of questions and I was very proud to answer them. He asked how many gallons an hour it used, I said about 1 gallon an hour, he said he had used twice that amount coming from Balloch, about 7 or 8 miles away.
 My boat was nowhere near as fast, but I had built it myself and the feeling that gives is worth much more to me than doing 70mph.
 I enjoy building things, if I can do it cheaper, then I can make more 'things', whether it is a boat from a golf trolley, a motorbike from a generator or a lamp base from a piece of oak for the wife.
 I have just bought things ready to go in the past, but I seem to get more enjoyment from building things.

[zooma]

Hi Andy,

I also like to rescue and recycle and get more pleasure from restoring a "skip-find" than I do from making a new build - but your reclaimed ex-model aircraft wing skinning balsa takes reclaiming to another level - well done!

Saving something that was going to be thrown away and turning it into something that can be used and enjoyed every week always gives me the most pleasure.

My last completed rescue was an original LesRo Rapier that has become my "go-to" model boat and is the one that has the current Mayhem thread, and this model is used to test all kinds of things from motors and ESC to propellers - for use in other models that I am working on, so it really does get some good hours of use.....covid restrictions permitting!
 
I have seen your large ride-on (ride-in) models  - I have never attempted anything like that - but one day I would like to find a Vivacity that needs a good home or rescuing as that is a model that I fancied since the 1960's when I first became aware of it but apprenticeship wages and being away from home conspired to make that a non-event.

Lets hope you find that missing prop shaft and that your Suzie Q makes the Mayhem thread of the same name sometime soon when it is back on the production line  

Bob.

[Andy M]

Hi Bob, I eventually found the propshaft for my Suzie Q, its a bit thin for attaching to a brushless motor though, pretty sure these propshafts are for low powered motors. As its a bit late for changing to a thicker propshaft, I will probably have to just accept that it will be a slower boat. I have a few other faster boats anyway, so not really a problem.
 Next time I am able to afford more modelling supplies, I will probably invest in a couple of decent propshaft assemblies.
 I am not that bothered about some of my boats being more sedate, I usually use them in quite a small river anyway, so faster boats are more likely to get stuck in the opposite bank. I have found this out the hard way, off with the shoes and socks and into the freezing water for a rescue mission before it gets dislodged and floats off downstream.
 I am wary now of adding stuff to other peoples threads, to avoid hijacking them. I will post updates on your thread if you are ok with that.
 The Suzie Q will definately not be as fast as the one shown on youtube, which I think is a bit fast anyway.
 I tested my brushless motors and speed controllers, they work fine.... it turned out I had tested them on the super glitchy radio gear I had in the Rorqual. All sorted. I had originally purchased the pair of motors and esc's to go in my Atlantic yacht, but changed my mind when I had the stuttering motor problem. They might go in it after all.

[Andy M]

Thats a recycled battery pack as well, from an ebike pack that was being dumped because its battery manager had failed and stopped the voltage getting through. The individual cells all seem to be ok though

[zooma]

Hi Bob, I eventually found the propshaft for my Suzie Q, its a bit thin for attaching to a brushless motor though, pretty sure these propshafts are for low powered motors. As its a bit late for changing to a thicker propshaft, I will probably have to just accept that it will be a slower boat. I have a few other faster boats anyway, so not really a problem.
 Next time I am able to afford more modelling supplies, I will probably invest in a couple of decent propshaft assemblies.
 I am not that bothered about some of my boats being more sedate, I usually use them in quite a small river anyway, so faster boats are more likely to get stuck in the opposite bank. I have found this out the hard way, off with the shoes and socks and into the freezing water for a rescue mission before it gets dislodged and floats off downstream.
 I am wary now of adding stuff to other peoples threads, to avoid hijacking them. I will post updates on your thread if you are ok with that.
 The Suzie Q will definately not be as fast as the one shown on youtube, which I think is a bit fast anyway.
 I tested my brushless motors and speed controllers, they work fine.... it turned out I had tested them on the super glitchy radio gear I had in the Rorqual. All sorted. I had originally purchased the pair of motors and esc's to go in my Atlantic yacht, but changed my mind when I had the stuttering motor problem. They might go in it after all.

Hi Andy,


You would be more than welcome to add anything Suzie Q related to the thread of the same name.

I would consider it a big favour as my own lamentable lack of progress after starting the thread is frankly getting a little bit embarrassing!

The thread is about Suzie Q, and anything that anyone can contribute to it can only be good and add interest to the thread.

Stay safe,

Bob.

[Andy M]

No problem, I will add to it once I get it back on track.
I built my Giant Starlet right after I built the Vivacity, I had figured that a boat not much bigger than Vivacity would allow me to get in it. The big Starlet is about 2.75 times bigger than Vic's original 34 inch yacht. I just had to draw it out on bigger paper! Then modify the bulkheads so my legs could fit down either side of the keel socket. All built in my attic apart from lead half bulbs which were cast in sand in my friend's garden.
 Next up was my Viper speedboat, based on a Lesro Javelin. Seats 2 comfortably at 46 inches wide by 88 inches long, smaller than some of the models I have seen on here.
 
A man carrying Vivacity would be very nice, you should give it a go. The original model is 54 inches by 17. My Starlet is only twice that width and I fit in that comfortably. A 9ft  Vivacity would carry you with no problems, or go up to 13 1/2 feet by 51 inches for a really roomy version?
 I really enjoyed building my larger boats, and I didnt have to fork out for radio gear! 😁
 Give it a go!

[Andy M]

Edita gets a rudder, made from 2 sections of a transmitter aerial, a bit of brass sheet and a wheel collet drilled out to suit. Still to make up a tiller arm and solder it on to the collet. I have been wondering for a while what I was going to use for  a rudder but this solves the problem nicely. I will glue the rudder tube into the hull tomorrow once I have given the hull a final sanding ready for painting. I am in 2 minds whether to wait till I get a sturdier propshaft assembly or just go with what I have already. Once I glue it in, there is no going back. The propshaft would probably/possibly? cope with a brushless motor, but if it doesnt.......
I can work away on the cabin while I decide, or test one of my brushless motors in the Rorqual as it has the same propshaft assembly.

[Andy M]

I decided my other brushless motor setup is going in Edita, so that I could set the propshaft up in its final position and glue it in place, this means I can start painting the hull anytime. Just need to decide what colour(s) to paint it. I also fancy sticking spray rails on it too, I wasnt going to bother, but I think it may be fast enough to need them now the brushless is going in it. The motor mount plate I made is 1/8 liteply, plenty strong enough. The motor is still easily accessed for swapping between models. Things are so much easier with electric... no more castor oil to deal with.
  It will be a while before I can test it in water, so I may use the motor in another model until then. Looks good so far, need to get more done on the cabin.

[Andy M]

I decided to fit spray rails, 1/8 square spruce for dingability. I glued the front ends of them on first and let them set, then using superglue gel on the rest of one and stuck it down, breaking the other one as I did so! Luckily when it snapped, it popped the front glued bit off as well, without damaging the balsa hull, very lucky, so I made up a new one and repeated the process......
 After the front end had set, I applied gel to the rest and started to glue it down, it snapped near the front again, this time the front section wouldnt come off to allow a 3rd try, so I filled the break with superglue, clamped it down then stuck the rest of the spray rail in position.
 Once this had set for about an hour, I had a check to make sure it wasnt going to ping apart then sanded the join, not very noticeable considering it was totally snapped off.
 Next job was a final sand, then a coat of white paint on the whole hull, leaving the deck bare balsa as I might just varnish the deck, it looks reasonable, not to many glue marks visible, if I dont like it I can always paint over it.

[zooma]

Looking good Andy! 

[Andy M]

Thanks, it is a nicely shaped boat, main reason I picked it, instead of just going for another Vic Smeed design. The spray rails were a bit of a challenge but worked out ok eventually. My bath test of the Rorqual later will tell me if Edita will need to run on 7.4v instead of the 11.1v the Rorqual and Suzie Q are getting.

[Andy M]

Might need to run Edita, Suzie Q and Rorqual on 2s, 3s pack was quite wild.....

[Andy M]

I soldered a brass machine screw into the tx aerial ruddershaft to stop it crushing the tube, the screw head was ground off flush with the end.