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[Dave_S.]

Thirty plus years ago I built a British Power Boats co. Motor Gun Boat from the Dean's Marine kit, and sailed it all around the south of England at various shows. I sadly sold it when I was moving abroad, but never forgot the great little boat.


Last December, I was shown a Dean's  63ft ASR (same hull as the MGB both in model and full size versions) which the oxford model boat club was selling as it had been donated in order to help the club raise funds.


The motor (540), ESC and rudder servo plus Tx & Rx were removed by another member of the club and a little money changed hands.


Got it home, and started working on it. Obviously, I needed to replace the drive and radio components, as the prop shaft and stern tube simply fell out when I picked it up - I think it was held in mainly by the motor coupling!


The coaming around the deck edge had definitely seen better days and was held together but patches of plasticard. I moved the entire coaming and replaced it, with a light wooden strip to help it sit against the edge of the deck.


I then turned my attention to the stern tube. I had a spare of the same size (bought a while ago from Steve at  Model Boat Bits) and set about removing the mass of filler that was intended to hold it in place. Once the filler was removed, a rather large hole was revealed.


At this point, I visited Dean's Marine for their Christmas open day and bought a second MGB kit, as I still wanted to replace my old one and also because the dimensions for mounting the prop shaft, etc. were the same for both the MGB & the ASR.


Two months or so later, I now have the ASR hull ready for the final placement of the battery tray & radio gear, which shouldn't take long. I will then make a start on its sibling the MGB.

[Dave_S.]

I have followed Ron Dean's advice and added an inner stern tube support as a precaution. Just a simple piece of 1/8th ply held in place with microballons and cyano.

[Capt Podge]

HI there Dave, I'm keen to see how you tackle this restoration and you've made a good start, I'll be looking in as you progress 


Cheers,


Ray.

[Dave_S.]

Thanks, Ray - there's not a lot left to do, hoping to get it on the water this week.

[Dave_S.]

After several weeks of occasionally working on the ASR, it suddenly was ready for testing. As we don't have a bath (just a shower), I wasn't able to make sure it floated, remained upright and level, and didn't leak.


So, battery in, superstructure on hull, and carefully placed it in the water at the Oxford club's water in Hinksey Park. Against all expectations (sorry, Ron Dean!) it stayed upright and level and very close to the water line.


Battery plugged in, steering and motor appeared to respond, so back in the water and the throttle tentatively opened - and off she went. Within a minute I was confidently making full throttle passes inches from the concrete bank.


The ASR was on the water for over two hours, greatly admired by the other club members present (and by a few passers by), at the end of which the battery still had 55% of its charge left in it. The boat was also completely dry inside, not a single drop of water or even a damp patch.


Thirty years since I last had a Deans Marine fast launch, and it brought back so many memories of my Motor Gun Boat - a new kit for which is my next project!


Ron might want to cover his eyes at this point, as I will list the drive train and radio used. Motor is a 2836 1000kv brushless out runner, battery is a 2900 mah 2 cell lipo, and the radio is a Fly Sky car radio (steering wheel and trigger throttle). I wasn't sure about using the radio, but it worked out very well and was intuitive to use.

[Circlip]

Lot to be said for a few bricks and a sheet of polythene to make a temporary test tank.


 Regards  Ian

[Dave_S.]

I have a plasterer's bath that I bought a few years ago just for testing boats, but it is currently stuck in the loft until the spring.


I was surprised at the number of reviews of the plasterer's bath on Screwfix that were from people using them as model boat test tank.

[Capt Podge]

...and there was i, thinking this was going to be a few months (years even) restoration job


Good to know she goes well and is watertight - well done Dave


Cheers,
Ray.

[Dave_S.]

To be honest, the restoration isn't completely finished, I wanted to make sure it didn't need any more modifications/repairs before painting the bottom of the hull to cover up the filler I had to use. I hope to get that done this week.

[SailorGreg]

Looks a nice job Dave, well done.  Will you be posting a build log of the MGB?

Greg

[Dave_S.]

Thanks, Greg, I'll try to remember to take pictures when I start the MGB. Second time around, I built the exact same kit over 30 years ago, but there are quite a few improvements in the current kit.


I have just changed the ESC in the ASR as it was very weak in reverse, and although I had the programming card for it a day or two ago, it had disappeared without trace today - so I swapped it over with a simpler ESC that doesn't require programming to go in reverse. Should be back on the club's water on Thursday afternoon.