Sailing well in the sun and sparkling waters. A NZ Scow scratch built from plans. Unusual trading schooner based on those from the Great Lakes, USA.Actual vessel now restored as an example of an early NZ coastal trader.
Westbourne is a Port of London Authority steam Tug from the Caldercraft Mini-Fleet Range - it is 1:48 scale. This model was discontinued a few years ago but I did manage to purchase a brand new boxed one via ebay a couple of years ago.
During her time Westbourne was hired by the Royal Navy as a rescue tug. She saw service with them between October 1916 and July 1919 in the HM Dockyard. Prior to that she was on general towing service duties on the Thames.
She can be found mentioned in “SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - by TYPE & CLASS
Section 3. SUPPORT and HARBOUR VESSELS”
Following the first world war ‘Westbourne’ was one of three tugs attached to the Port of London Authority (PLA) Dredging Service, they were the "Westbourne", "Thorney" and "Brent", they were all fitted with a drag and under running gear.In 1940 during the Battle of Britain. ‘Westbourne’ and many other tugs were used in assisting the berthing of these large ships that entered the Thames.
The photos show from box to construction plus her on the water.
Nicely finished model of this now discontinued kit.
I like the details about the tug and her career, sadly our river scenes no longer feature the tugs that were an essential part of the docks and shipping of the time.
This is my latest build she is all scratch built.
She is based on a Robert Allen tug built in Cyprus.
She has two 800 motors on belt drive with 70 mm props.
Actually I knew it was Andy 😉
Just another example of my usual pathetic attempt at humour😁
Wonder if John has since made a vid of her Sea Trials?
Or is she just 'TOOO Nice' to risk in the wet stuff 🤔
Cheers, Doug 😎
This free sailing pond yacht has remained a treasured model from childhood. it “escaped” one holiday and sailed out across the bay at Tenby. it was retrieved a mile out to sea by persuading local boatman to pick it up. Hull carved and hollowed from wood. Must be well over 100 years old now. Sails well without rudder fitted.
Speed line kit completed a year ago. Sails well and is fun to handle. Has done many hours on the water and is still in good shape considering the conditions I have subjected it to.😎
So here’s another partially built Riva Aquarama, my second project and Plan B after Ciao Bambina ran into stringer difficulties. I started this one on 14 April 2016, and had only 16 days, none of which meant full time working on the boat but merely an hour or two available some evenings and at weekends, to finish this before a friendly “Boat Race” at Coate Water in Swindon with a few friends. Not much in the way of rules for the event, just bring along an RC boat. I didn’t get it finished in time, and since the event, which is the last picture in the post, I have only been able to spend a few more hours, mostly spent planking small mahogany strips over the hull and fore deck. I will be moving this Project 2 forward in between phases of work on the Sea Commander (Scrumpy 3), which is a kit build and is going well after around 6 hours work so far.
So here’s my partly completed Riva Aquarama, to be named Ciao Bambina, a scratch build from plans, with laser cut marine ply as the base structure. I started her in April 2016 and got to the stage of balsa wood stringers as per the plans and got into a real pickle, breaking pretty much every strip and gave up after six days of struggle. I then focused on Plan B, which was Project 2, a smaller Riva Aquarama, and again a scratch build, for an event planned with friends at the end of April 2016. I’ll come back to Ciao Bambina once I have completed my Sea Commander and the smaller Riva I think. The stringers will be made with laminated 3mm strips Okichi or similar, which is the way the Sea Commander has been done, so I have learned something from the experience. Balsa doesn’t really work on a big stringer! I will update as I progress the project.
Have you tried soaking balsa in boiling water and pre forming it to shape ? (bend around pegs on a board) works well for hard wood as well. Shape, allow to dry, check and repeat as necessary. Be gentle with it and if the curve is tight, do it in stages.
Whilst putting the finishing touches to my latest project I came across a morse code sound clip.
Using my Shockwave2 sound system, I synced it to an LED on the bridge.
Trouble is, I do not read morse.
Can any of you signallers tell me if this message makes sense?
Thank you.
I suspected as much! 😲
I can design naval COMMS systems😉, but I can't read the codes they use 🤔 I thought an Old Sea Dog could decode it.
BRAVO ZULU THAT MAN 👍
A challenging project 10 years ago. Scratch built model of theSRN3 built under licence by the US for use in the Mekong delta against the VC in Vietnam. Very light construction with liteply.
Two ESPs control brushed and brushless motors for lift and propulsion. Motor tube ball-raced at each end with a 9x6 pusher prop. Realistic performance and sounds like a turbo prop. Tricky to control in anything stronger than a light breeze. Best on water.
