For my first foray into boats I have acquired what is like a Vosper Firefloat Mk.2 but it is different. The wheel house section of my boat is different, being longer, the mid-ship section having three windows in lieu of two and the stern is completely different in profile.
I have spent many nights trawling the internet to see if there is anything like my very detailed model but to no avail and I have even asked a few of my old work colleagues who are ex-naval men if they can help out in identification. I am wondering whether this could be an elusive Mk. 1 - the boat that was never put into commission.
I attach a few photos of my model in the hope that someone out there can throw some light on it. it is in very good condition and a few years old, is fitted with a Graupner Eco 600 motor on a single prop with 7.2 NiMh batteries. it is about 34" in length and 9" beam and goes really well, planes quickly and turns very tightly - in all a cracking boat. The numbers on the side of the boat are strange as they relate to what I believe is a coastal command unit - the numbers are not new as they appear to be original under the paintwork. Any help in identifying what actual boat it is modelled on would be appreciated.
HI Alan, it reminds me of an air sea rescue launch I went for a ride in when I was an air cadet in the year dot! Had three packhard engines as I remember and went like the proverbial!
Roger
ok, my first ever attempt at posting a video on here and youtube..
my Aerokits Sea Commander restored but not finished running a direct drive graupner speed 600 8.4v on 40mm std 2 blade plastic prop. battery is 9.6v 8cell 3300mA nimh. sailing Sunday 15th August 2010 at Taylor park st Helens mbc
many thanks to you both.
At this time I have no idea of the weight except to say that from what I can gather from looking at the rudder that this boat seems to from the sixties/seventies, and is quite a substantial vessel.
She is undergoing a major refit.( spent the day rubbing down the inside of the hull, and removing paint from the toerail to the carlings.
This looks like being a long job.
if its "that old" and is a 60's/70's built model that had an I.C. engine fitted..
I would recommend you "glass-cloth" the outside of the hull..
models built during this period tend to have been built with bio-degradeable glue! (cascemite/ boneglue. etc.) show it water for the first time in 40 years and your boat will revert to kit status and basically become unstuck! if the wonky glue doesn't do it then the diesel/glow fuel used in the 60's will have undone all the joints from the inside-out anyway!
enjoy your restorations and read as much as you can on here
This is my second attempt at scratch building using a a grp hull. My first boat was an MTB/MGB built on a Perkasa hull as a semi-scale model. (see All things Rc - Power setups).
This time I have concentrated on keeping things lighter but it still weighs in at 2.5kg!
I have built without plans, relying on internet photos scaled etc using "Photo deluxe" and "Photo Express".
Virtually everything is built from plasticard apart from a 3mm liteply deck.
The dinghy is epoxy resin and microballoons, ths scramble nets are Lego!
Power is again courtesy of Graupner -2, Speed 600 8.4v using lh. and r.h 35mm props. Esc is one of those 50amp ones from the far east. These are far cheaper than the Viper Marine 40 used in my MGB, but slightly heavier and less sensitive at low speeds. Current drain (in the bath!) is up to 30A but this gives a superb on the water pace of an, estimated,8mph. Battery is a 4,600 mAhr NiMh.
(A true scale speed approaching 150mph plus).
I sail it on Ullswater in the Lake district and the Vosper Perkasa type hull shape is superb in the real waves that we get there, flying over the crests and taking aboard No water!
It really looks the part as my photos would show if I could learn how to load more than one! Can anybody help with this?
Hi" there fellow model maker.
You have done a great job on your ASRL 😊 👍 .
I have also had problems in uploading more then one photo on this site ! I dont know why ? it used to be quick n easy but no more . 😯 Albert
Lesro Sportsman kit, wood sports fishing boat 33'' in length, weight about 8lb. MFA 850 on 12v (10 NiMHcells 3.5ah) MTroniks 40amp esc, X50 prop. Built by Ian Gardner.
March 2010. I am now using 12 cells and a Graupner speed controller. I added watercooling too and the boat goes noticeably faster- but melted a fuse holder on first outing so I need to upgrade some of the wiring. There was also a bit of prop aerating on turns so might reduce the prop size.
The last photo is with increased voltage.
Thanks to all those that made suggestions about making the Suction Hoses, here are my efforts. The boat looks OK now thought there is much to do still. I am using two Johnson drill motors in paralell with one 50 amp ESC & 20A fuses in each motor + supply lead, all running on 8.4V NiMhi. the current props are 40 X 21 three blade. The boat is fast enough but battery life is short and the battery is very hot after the end of the run. I water cooled the motors and ESC. I will try some smaller props and 7,2V to see if there is an Improvement.
gearbox fitted, tested today with 8.4v graupner, running on 19.2v nimh. GPS Data logger installed, measured at 14.63mph, sound like a jet turbine!!, and this video was the slower of the 2 props tested.
Improvements with gearbox, motor is stone cold (it is water cooled, but was still hot as direct drive) , quieter, longer run time, esc cold, now able to upgrade from 2 blade 40mm prop to 3 blade, and possibly 4 blade, amp draw much less. Video taken at Newsham Park, Liverpool. Handling is now difficult, as its going way too fast, but its great fun! and might go faster, with the motor thats been fited tonight, watch this space!!
well that was the distant memory of brushed motors!, way back when we had gas lanterns instead of LED's 😀
Unfortunately I cant remember the ratio, I think it was 2:1 from memory. it was later converted to brushless. Has not been run for two years since the bigger brother fireboat came along. I keep thinking just put a brushed motor back in it, and have plodding speed, it looks silly doing all that porpoising, and the bigger brother can give me my speed fix 😁
Maybe a little more bow weight would stop the problem , my Spearfish used to do that all I did was put lipo length ways and it stopped , but yeah if your happy with the bigger being the faster then go for it 😊
The boat has no name as yet, it is scrach bult from two photos. I found in a loft as usual. it is about 25/30 years old, she is powered by a darke horse 785 turbo with a 2.5 to 1 gearbox and two 9.6 volt 3700maH NiMH bateries and a 50mm 3 bladed prop, sailed at our local lake.
The boat is far from finished and is not to scale as you can see, but for a first time build it looks pritty fair out on the water. Just one last word, many thanks to all the members of the forum for all your help.bit of a muck here lads the photos were in the loft,the hull I bought for £30.and every thing else is scratch built.
