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[magpie]

You guys might think I'm mad, but I'm waiting on a Steve Neill kit to arrive and a friend gave me this little boat a while back to finish off. I did some free work for him and he's a really nice guy and wanted to show his appreciation, so the boat.
    Not being much into cabin cruisers, I decided to make something interesting out of it. I plan to build a water ski boat that tows a skier behind from a central ski pole. The skier will have ballasted skis made from metal and a buoyant body and the legs will be spread for stability. I think it'll work and it's a good fill-in job until the next sub.
   I've started by removing everything from the hull and I then set up the running gear and tested it all to see where it would best fit and keep her trimmed the way I wanted. It needs to be sitting a bit low with lots of torque and not too much speed. (Like a ski boat). I had a spare graupner 500 motor in the shed and a lead acid 4 amp 6v battery. I fitted them loosly and a little servo- receiver-esc etc to try them and she looked about right and tested OK in the tub. I marked their placings and removed them all to do the reno-rebuild.
    I did some sanding where needed and then added balsa of varying dimensions to transform the decks from a sedate looking cruiser to a sporty looking ski boat like I once owned many years ago.
    The pics show what's done up to now and I'll post more as I go.
I hope it doesn't bore you too much.
Jason

[bluesy]

Hi Magpie.......

The "White Star" was my second build as I start in this wonderful hobby.  I built her completely stock.  I used two 7.2 volt stick packs for batteries (in parallel) which gives me about 2 hours of run time. 

I like the idea of converting to a ski boat.  Mine really scoots along. 

Waiting patiently for more pix of your progress. 

Doug

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[magpie]

That looks good!
I did a bit more today on the decks. Here's some pics.
Jason

[magpie]

A bit more work. It has some stain and a coat of resin. I'll be sanding that back and adding a coat of clear flowcoat to sand back and polish.
Jason

[magpie]

I decided that the deck finish wasn't good enough or strong enough so I gave her a layer of glass mat and some more flowcoat and filler. She's now painted in blue metalic and will have some airbrush work once the rest is done.
Jason

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[magpie]

Today I did some airbrush work on her.

[magpie]

Did a bit more to her. The rear hatch and cokpit etc. I tested her in the lake today and she was too slow so she's getting upgraded to 12 volts. The 12 volt graupner 500 pushes her along OK on 6v but I want her to blast!
The rear deck will be painted with some more airbrushing too.
Jason

[magpie]

I fitted the 12 volt nicad pack today and a 4.8 for the receiver. She runs very nicely and Roars away for a few inches in the tub till she hits the other side. (See video clip).
I now just have the rest of the paint job to go and to finish the water skier. He needs a bit more lead for stability. I tested him at the lake last week and he?s too roly.
The clip:
http://magpieyachts.com/files/Skiboat12VTestTub.wmv

[magpie]

A tad more today. Some paint and an engine!
Fake one that shows through a window. It's a pic of my car's V6 under a layer of clear plastic below the window for a bit of a 3D effect.

[magpie]

I did some more painting and lowered the engine box a bit. I also finished off the water-skier. The trials are this weekend where I'll get some pics and video if all goes well.
Jason

[magpie]

I tested her at a pond near Cherry Lake today. It was too
rough on the main lake.
She pulls the skier well and I found the skier stands up and
rides at the right height if you don't drive her too fast. It
leans over on it's side over that speed. The boat isn't fast
without the skier, due to it having the original cruiser prop. I
could put a big pitch 2 blader on her, but then she'd have
trouble pulling the skier and would use much more power
so run for less time. She currently runs for 1/4 Hr or so.
I'm taking her to the club tomorrow and hope to get better
video there. The one linked below is a bit brief as I had little
room for her in the pond and mucked up most of what I
took. You?l notice the motor running a bit eratically too. I think the esc has problems but I could be wrong.

http://magpieyachts.com/files/skiboattrialscherryminor6may06.wmv

[Stavros]

Hi Magpie your esc has gone up the creek without a paddle!!!had the same probs today ended up buying a new one Stavros

[magpie]

Hi Magpie your esc has gone up the creek without a paddle!!!had the same probs today ended up buying a new one Stavros

Hi Stavros
You're right mate!
Looks like I'll need to do that too.
Jason

[magpie]

I didn?t get to the lake today due to wild weather so I did some more painting on the engine box with the airbrush. The stencilled flames looked crap, so I did them over free hand  and I think they look better.

[magpie]

I tested her with the big prop and she went well. Here's a clip that features her in action: http://www.magpieyachts.com/files/13May06CherryLakeSailing.wmv
She'll just plane when running straight without the skier and she pulls him no sweat at his ideal speed.
Jason