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Improve
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PLAN FEATURE

Wattle
HINTS & TIPS
Comprehensive
The Steam Tug construction advice
for the novice
workhorse from and expert
down under!

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Scudder
KIT REVIEW

A diamond in the rough!

Build a speed boat using our
complimentary full plan

Ranzow modelLING group

We review Graupner’s 1:32 scale

IN THE UK
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 MODEL KITS POCKETBOND AVAILABLE
FROM AROUND DISTR RIBUTION IN ALL GOOD
THE WORLD MODEL SHOPS
USS MISSOURI (BB-63) Length: 1,352mm Beam: 165mm Over 1,570 Parts
I:350
NEW
1.13m Hull with separate two-piece Bow section
TM03705 Two SC-1 Seahawk float planes included
L:434mm
Accurately detailed guns
I:200 Two-piece Deck

HMS DARING TYPE 45 DESTROYER TM04550

I:350
L:749mm

Upgrade set also available! TM0663I

NEW
USS ARIZONA I:200 HMS HOOD I94I TM05302
BB-39 1941
TM03701 I:350
L:558mm

Over 1,000 parts! HMS WARSPITE TM05325

Single-piece hull more than 920mm long
Metal main gun barrels, shaft and screw

Upgrade set also available! TM0662I

Comprehensive signal flags decal sheet
Photo-etch railings & derricks
I:350
L:461mm

BISMARCK 1941 Length: 1,265mm Beam: 181mm Over 1,700 Parts

Four Ar196 float planes included
TM03702 Metal prop shaft & anchor chain
Photo-etch handrails, ladders etc
Single piece Deck
HMS DREADNOUGHT I907 TM05328
I:200
I:350
NEW L:562mm

Upgrade set also available! TM06627 HMS BELFAST I942 TM05334

USS HORNET CV-8

Length: 1,239mm
I:200 Total Parts: 1,200+ I:350
MM62001 Kit includes: L:532mm
5 x F4F-4, 5 x SBD 3/4, 8 x TBD-1
Optional Build with “Early” or “Late” Type Radars
8 x Turned Metal Barrels for 5 inch Guns

ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE AYI4I03

I:350
NEW L:532mm

USS IWO JIMA LHD-7 I:350

Length: 738mm
Kit includes:
GM64002 CH-46E, CH-53E, AH-1W,
USS INDIANAPOLIS CA-35 AYI4I07
SH-60B, V-22 Helicopters,
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 Model Boats 2013 Special Edition ‘Improve your modelling skills!’

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PRODUCTION
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ADVERTISING
8
STEAM TUG !
KIT REVIEW
Senior Advertising Executive
& Online Manager: Ben Rayment WATTLE
Email: ben.rayment@mytimemedia.com John Parker presents his
Tel: 0844 848 5240 new plan, together with full
constructional advice in his
MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTIONS in-depth article that also
Sarah Pradhan & Kate Scott
includes a Photo Gallery of
MANAGEMENT the full-size tug
Head of Design & Production: Julie Miller
Group Advertising Manager: Duncan Armstrong
Chief Executive: Owen Davies
26
Chairman: Peter Harkness BUT I DON’T
UNDERSTAND
ELECTRONICS!
Dave Milbourn, an expert
on the subject, explains
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42
RANZOW
Terry Small builds the Graupner kit
For plans, hulls, binders, books, back
issues and many other products,
please visit www.myhobbystore.co.uk
or call +44 (0)844 848 8822
4
(phonelines open 9am - 5.30pm GMT) Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
 !
FREE PLAN
50
SCUDDER
Glynn Guest presents an easy
to build small fast electric radio
controlled model

90
HOMEMADE HOT WIRE
FOAM CUTTERS
Ron Rees shows how you can easily make these useful
tools for a fraction of the cost of a commercial machine

56
CONFESSIONS OF A Bow piece
CARDHOLIC MODELLER

Glynn Guest is a great believer in the use of easy to
obtain materials such as cardboard and demonstrates
their practicality for working model boats
68
RESIN CASTING
Dave Wooley investigates and describes the convenience
of polyurethane castings when numerous examples of the
same item are required
76
FULL METAL ANORAK!
Richard Simpson discusses metals in depth and how they
can be best used in model boats
T
his Special Issue has 100 pages and includes a
Free Plan for Scudder, a simple water-jet powered
fast electric radio controlled fun model. In
addition, included on the back of the Free Plan is a
MyHobbyStore plans listing. Many of our readers miss
the old style catalogues that with the advent of the
internet have largely disappeared and as
MyHobbyStore and the Plans Service is an integral
part of Model Boats, as well as other hobby magazines
in the group, we thought this would be appreciated by
those who still prefer to browse a printed version
rather than go online.
This Special Edition of Model Boats also includes a
comprehensive Plan Feature for the Australian Steam Tug
Wattle, which has been supplied by John Parker, as well
as the included Free Plan for Scudder by Glynn Guest,
plus an in depth kit review for Ranzow by Terry Small.
This 100 page issue has as its second thread, the
theme of ‘Improving your Modelling Skills’ and for this
there are articles on the use of Cardboard in our
models by Glynn Guest; Electronics by Dave
Milbourn, a well known master of the subject; Resin
Casting by Dave Wooley; Metals and their uses by
Richard Simpson and finally a really nice piece by Ron
Rees on how to make simple homemade Hot Wire
Cutters. Regular readers of Model Boats will have
seen his fantastic small scale r/c models built on foam
hulls, so this article makes it even easier for the model
boat hobbyist to use and cut this lightweight material,
something that has been common in aeromodelling for
some years now.
I hope in this Special 100 Page Special issue that
there is something for everyone who has a passion for
radio control scale model boating and please don’t
forget to visit our website and participate in our active
forum managed by Colin Bishop. In addition, Model
Boats is now also on Twitter and Facebook for those
readers who like to use social media.
Paul Freshney - Editor

5
 The Model Boats December 2013 issue is on sale on the 22nd November 2013
Next issue
USS Monterey
EE!
FRA
PL N

RAFA Aquarius

This Issue includes a Full-Size Complimentary Free Plan for the World War Two Royal Air Force
Auxiliary Ship Aquarius and John Hollis, one of the UK’s top model boat builders, describes in
depth his unique steam powered model of USS Monterey.
See more about what’s in Model Boats magazine month-to-month in forthcoming issues and see some of the articles you may have missed from
past issues and subscription offers on our website: www.modelboats.co.uk

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............................................................................................................
ATURE

Wattle
The Steam HINTS &
workhors Tug TIPS

arrange for it to be
e from
down unde Compre
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n adv
for the nov ice

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cudder
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A diamond
Build a spe in the rough !
Ranzow ed boa
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ary full plan
We

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review Gra
radio controll upner’s 1:32
ed buoy-lay scale
er kit modell
ING Group
MBwinter2013no
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07/10/2013
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Contents may be subject to change.

6 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

Model
The

17 Tremorvah Barton
Dockyard
H.M.S. Invincible. Battlecruiser 1907 1:250
HMS Sheffield 1:200 full hull
£28.54
£28.54
1:96 Scale 20ft Motor boat
1:48 Scale 20ft Motor cutter 130mm
£6.47
£18.95
Vertical Refillable Gas Tank (1-1/4"" Dia)
Exhaust Oil Trap (1-1/4”)
£64.99
£49.98
Lime Strip 1.5 x 4.0mm x approx 1 metre long
Lime Strip 1.5 x 5mm x approx 1 metre long
£0.50
£0.55
HMS Abdiel Light Cruiser 1;200 scale 635mm £28.54 1:48 Scale 25ft Motor cutter 162mm £30.72 Horizontal Boiler Mounting Tray £39.95 Lime Strip 1.5 x 6mm x approx 1 metre long £0.58
Tregolls Road, Truro HMS Repulse. Battleship 1:300 scale 806mm £27.53 1:48 Scale 20ft transom sterned clinker lifeboat £12.23 Refillable Gas Tank Adaptor (Long) £24.99 Lime Strip 1.5 x 7mm x approx 1 metre long £0.61
Iowa 1:400 US Battleship 1942 680mm £26.52 This is just a selection of over 100 boats in various scales Refillable Gas Tank Adaptor (Standard) £21.99 Lime Strip 1.5 x 8mm x approx 1 metre long £0.65
Cornwall, TR1 1NN HMS Dreadnought 1:200 £26.50
R/C Boat Plans Sound Modules Lime Strip 1 x 1mm x approx 1 metre long £0.36
HMS Cambeltown 1;200 scale 470mm £25.95 Lime Strip 1 x 1.5mm x approx 1 metre long £0.36
Mail order Only. Sorry no callers Normandie French Liner 1:400 scale £25.95 Lime Strip 1 x 10mm x approx 1 metre long £0.55
H.M.S Cossack Tribal class destroyer 38" £12.50 Petrol/Diesel Engine with Horn £43.40
Phone line open Mon-Fri 9am- 1pm Yamato. Japanese Battleship 1:400 685mm £23.95 Lorraine: A really elegant 54in. motor yacht £17.50 Machine Gun £35.73 Lime Strip 1 x 2mm x approx 1 metre long £0.37
Grosdeutschland Superbattleship 1:400 £23.44 Vosper R.T.T.L: 1:24 68ft. Vosper Rescue Steam Engine Sound £43.40 Lime Strip 1 x 3mm x approx 1 metre long £0.38
and Target Towing Launch £12.50 Whooper £35.73 Lime Strip 1 x 4mm x approx 1 metre long £0.39
Tel UK: 01872 261755 Hull and Plan Sets Lime Strip 1 x 5mm x approx 1 metre long £0.45
St Louis Belle 1:64 Mississippi stern-wheeler £12.50 Fog Horn £35.73
Tel Int: +44 1872 261755 Victoria Steam Launch 1:12 scale 762mm £40.45 T.B.D Cruiser Leader: 1:144 32in. Scout class £12.50 Ship Klaxon £35.73 Lime Strip 1 x 6mm x approx 1 metre long £0.50
Pilot 40 . Pilot boat 698mm £50.45 200 Series RAF Seaplane Tender: 1:12 950mm £12.50 Sub Sonar Ping £35.73 Lime Strip 1 x 7mm x approx 1 metre long £0.51
www.model-dockyard.com Bluebird Of Chelsea . 1:24 scale 654mm £46.95 Brave Borderer: A 36in Vosper patrol boat £12.50 Sub Dive Alarm £35.73 Lime Strip 1 x 8mm x approx 1 metre long £0.53
Forceful Paddle Tug Hull only. 1:48 1003mm £51.49 H.M.S Ark Royal : 1:192 WW2 aircraft carrier £12.50 Air Horns £35.73 This is just a selection of sizes. Other woods stocks include
U.K Delivery Guardsman Customs launch 1:32 scale 571mm £37.45 MFV Admiralty Trawler 1:40 scale 710mm £12.50 Large Ship Horn £35.73 Walnut, Maple, Tanganykia, Beech, Pear, Balsa, Obechi
Burutu & Bajima Tug 1:50scale 768mm £47.45 Enterprise: Northumbrian Coble 1:12 685mm £12.50 Large Ship Steam Whistle £35.73 Admiralty Paints
Kits and Boat Hulls Add £9.00 Tyne Life Boat 1:12 scale 787mm £46.49 Tyne class Lifeboat 31in. 1:12 scale £12.50 Old Steam Whistle £35.73
Timber orders Add £6.00 Smit Nederland Hull 558mm £42.45 HMS Kite: Ant Class Flatiron Gunboat 1:32 £12.50 Tug Boat Air Horn £35.73 Available in 14ml flip top capped bottles in the following
Other Order value up to £50 Add £5.00 Liverpool Lifeboat l 905mm 1:12 scale £91.50 H.M.S Kent : 1:96 scale early cruiser 58" £17.50 Mtroniks Diesel Canal Boat £59.99 colours. Light Ivory, Red Ensign , Maroon Admiralty,
Other Order value Over £50 Add £9.00 RMAS Moorhen Hull 1:43 scale 740mm £51.45 Miranda Edwardian steam Launch 42in £12.50 Mtroniks Multicylinder Diesel £59.99 Polished Bronze, Antique Bronze, Olive Green,
Over £190 Free Delivery Cervia, Thames Tug 1:48 scale 711mm £71.50 Valerie Anne Thames barge. 1120mm £16.85 Walnut Brown, Matt Flesh, Gold/Brass, Copper, Dull Black,
Brave Borderer 1:32 scale 914mm £86.50 Orca (Jaws) fishing boat featured in the film. £11.23
Motors Matt Black, Dull White, Matt White, Yellow Ochre, Red
Free delivery does not apply to shipments HMS Warspite. Queen Elizabeth class £127.66 Boston Fury 1:48th 1960 East Coast Trawler £16.85 Genesis Hydra50 combo Brushless £109.99 Ochre, French Blue, Flat Matt Varnish, Matt Varnish
weighing over 2 kilos, being sent to the H.M.S. Devonshire. Cruiser 1504mm £96.00 Fairey Huntsman:1:8 scale 1066mm £12.50 Genesis Hydra30 combo Brushless £69.99 Satin Matt Varnish £2.25 per colour
H.M.S. Liverpool. Town class1409mm £96.31 TID Tug The wartime tug 890mm . £11.23 Genesis Hydra15 combo Brushless £59.99
Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, Scottish
H.M.S. Hood. Battlecruiser 2057mm £137.87 Princess of the Lake Cruise Launch £11.23
Admiralty Woodstain
Islands, Scillies, or IOM. Delivery here will be Schottel drive unit 70mm dia prop £95.94
charged at cost. H.M.S. Repulse. Battleship 1879mm £137.06 HMS Inflexible Dreadnought 1890s.1100mm £16.85 Schottel drive unit 50mm dia prop £76.48 Available in 14ml eye dropper bottles in the following colours.
Waverley paddle steamer 1365mm, £16.85 Rudder-propeller drive: £74.42 Mahogany, Oak, Ebony, Walnut & Cherry £3.32 each
Deans Marine Kits Tina Jane A 45ft stern trawler 560mm £11.23 Schottel drive unit 40mm dia prop £62.71
Orders are sent by 1st class post or UPS
25ft Motor Boat 1:12 scale 690mm £175.95 Altair Auxillary gaff rigged schooner 1200mm £33.19 Deans Marine Navy Geared Maxi 6v £44.95
Books
carrier. Large parcel deliveries to Scottish Rhum Islands Class Ferry, 500mm £9.19
Compass Rose. Corvette1:96 673mm £177.65 6v Geared motor 3 rpm £34.83 The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships £40.00
Highland and Islands, the Isle of Man, Isles of H.M.S. Solebay.Destroyer 1945 1210mm £306.33 Robbe Navy geared motor EF 76 - 6v £33.18
Scilly and Northern Ireland will be shipped by John Lambert Plans IMerchant Ship Construction £28.00
Robert E Peary Liberty Ship 1384mm £336.97 Micro geared motor 50:1 £22.18 Thunderer. Building a Model Dreadnought £25.00
3 day UPS carrier . Deliveries to Channel MGB77. 71.6ft BPB 1:24 920mm £243.01 The Royal Navy’s Standard 14 Ft Sailing Dinghy £14.10 Micro geared motor 150:1 £22.18 RMS Titanic. A Modelmaker's Manual £25.00
Islands will be shipped by Euro 48 service 73ft Vosper Type 1 1:24 scale 965mm £252.20 Vosper 72ft 6in MTBs Nos 73-98 £14.10 Micro geared motor 300:1 £22.18 Rigging Period Ship Models £25.00
Bronnington. minesweeper 1:100 465mm £107.18 71 ft 6 Inch British Power Boat. MTB 467 £37.86 EL653/16 low drain motor £21.95 Plank on Frame Models. Volume Two £25.00
MTB 488. B.P.C. 71.6 MTB 1:24 920mm £272.63 The Quadruple 21in QR Mark VIII Torpedo Tubes £14.10 Deans Marine Kestrel 4.8 to 12volts £19.28
We ship Worldwide too RAF Crash Tender 1:24 scale 610mm £113.31 The 16 Ft Admiralty Pattern Trawler Boat £14.10 543/12 low drain motor for large props £18.85
Plank on Frame Models. Volume One l
Ship Modeling Simplified
£25.00
£14.95
All prices correct at time of going to press but we Steam Yacht Medea 1904. 1:48 870mm £139.86 The Royal Navy's standard 27 Ft Whaler £37.86 Speed 480 Motor 7.2v £18.75 Rigging Period Fore & Aft Craft £22.50
reserve the right to supply at the prices ruling at the Tradition. Seine net trawler 870mm 1:24 £360.92 Flower Class Corvette. HMS Nasturtium £14.10 Deans Marine Kondor £17.31 Masting & Rigging of Clipper Ship
time of order despatch. E&OE H.M.S. Cossack Destroyer 1938 1200mm £272.63 United States Navy 2Omm Oerlikon. £14.10 Deans Marine Kondor 2 £17.31 and Ocean Carrier £22.00
The Twin 2Omm Oerlikon on Post War Mark 12 £14.10 543-24 low drain motor £15.93 Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern £21.95
Plastic Kits The 3 Pdr Hotchkiss Gun £14.10 Deans Kyte Motor £11.18 The Ship Model Builders Assistant. £20.95
Trumpeter Bismarck 1:200 scale £225.99 EL653/33 low drain motor £10.95 The Built up Ship Model. £12.95
Amati Kits Harold Underhill Plans Mabuchi Low Drain 545 £9.96
Italeri MTB77 72.5ft Vosper 1:35 632mm £99.99 Puffer Ahoy £20.00
Heller Le Soleil Royal 1:100 scale £149.95 Cutty Sark Clipper Ship 698mm £29.54 Mabuchi 540 £7.43 The Ship Model Builders Handbook £19.95
Dutch Royal Yacht in Bottle 1:300 95mm £46.93
Trumpeter USS Arizona 1941 1:200 £163.99 Marie Sophie of Falmouth 1033mm £44.41 Mabuchi 480 motor 4.8 to 8.4v £7.00 Card Modelling £20.95
Egyptian Ship Sahure Dynasty 350mm £77.57
Trumpeter HMS Belfast 1942 1:200 £69.95 Lady of Avenel. Wood. 850mm £33.30 Mabuchi 400 £7.00 Ship Modelling from Scratch £19.95
Greek Bireme 480 BC 560mm £77.57
Trumpeter HMS Dreadnought 1907 1:350 £37.99 74-Gun Two-Decker (Circa 1813 1422mm £77.71 Electronize 365/14 low drain £5.56 Flower Class Corvettes £16.99
Viking Ship Oseberg 1:50 440mm £105.14
Mayflower 1620 1:60 scale 650mm £174.59 Academy Titanic 1:400 Ltd Edition £99.95 Lady Daphne Thames Sailing Barge812mm £29.54 Raboesch Propshafts Advanced Ship Modelling by Brian King: £16.95
Chinese Junk Scale 1:100 400mm £87.78 Revell Titanic 1:400 £51.05 12-Gun Brig-of-War. Lines, 1187mm £55.51 Model Marine Steam £14.95
Xebec.1753 720mm 1:60 £155.95 Revell Flower Class Corvette 1:72 £119.00 Cunard Liner Servia, 1:192 scale 850mm £33.30 Waterproof Prop Shaft M4 290mm £25.29 HMS Victory Owners workshop manual £21.95
New Bedford Whaleboat 1:16 550mm £122.50 Trumpeter HMS Repulse 1941 1:350 £100.06 40-Gun Frigate (Circa 1790 831mm £66.61 Waterproof Propeller Shaft M4 290mm £34.22 Scale Model Tugs £14.95
Riva Aquarama. With Transmission kit £509.57 Heller HMS Victory 1:100 scale £149.99 Valerian. Brixham Trawler 1069mm. £49.23 Waterproof Propeller Shaft M5 290mm £34.32 Historical Sailing Ships: Remote Controlled £14.95
Endeavour J Class. Wood Hull 1:80 480mm £83.69 Trumpeter Queen Elizabeth 1:350 £69.99 Diesel Ring Net Fishing Boat 615mm £29.53 Waterproof Propeller Shaft M4 450mm £39.74 Period Ship Handbook. Vol One. £16.95
Endeavour J Class 1:35 scale 1130mm £259.95 Trumpeter USS Alabama 1:350 £79.99 Three Brothers. Rye Fishing Smack. 797mm £29.54 Waterproof Propeller Shaft M5 450mm £39.74 Period Ship Kit Builders Manual £16.95
Trumpeter HMS Hood (1941) 1:350 £91.89 Prop Shaft &support bracket M2 230mm £23.49 Model Ships Fittings £12.95
Victory Models Kits Lindberg Sea Witch. Clipper 1:96 838mm £149.95
Static Display Kit Plans Prop Shaft &support bracket M3 270mm £25.29 Model Submarine Technology £12.95
Lindberg PT 109 MTB 1:32 scale 749mm £149.95 Chinese Junk, construction plans. £11.24 Prop Shaft &support bracket M4 330mm £30.71 Painting Model Boats £12.95
Lady Nelson Cutter. 1:64 scale 530mm £117.95
LindbergBlue Devil Destroyer 1:125 910mm £99.95 Sovereign of the Seas, plans 1:78 1100mm £27.10 Ship Modelling in Plastic £12.95
Granado. Bomb Ketch 1756 1:64 800mm £261.95
Lindberg Air Force Rescue Boat 1:72 330mm £34.95
Rudder Assemblies Scale Model Steamboats £12.95
HMS Fly. Swan Class Sloop. 1:64 800mm £289.95 HMS Fly Plan set £26.50
Lindberg Tuna Clipper 1:60 scale 368mm £49.95 Lady Nelson Cutter Plan Set £9.80 Rudder assembly 33 long x 22mm wide £3.90 Making Model Boats with Styrene £12.95
HMS Vanguard. 74 gun 3rd rate 1:72 1171mm £684.95
Lindberg Atlantic Fishing Trawler 1:90 457mm £49.95 HMS Bounty, construction plans £21.71 Rudder assembly 60 long x 41mm wide £5.36 Simply Model Submarines £12.95
HMS Pegasus Swan class sloop 1:64 800mm £344.95
Lindberg Coast Guard Tug Boat 1:72 304mm £34.95 French Xebec construction plans £11.24 Rudder assembly with tiller arm 45 x 35mm £4.54 The Model Tug Boat Book: £12.95
Mercury: 20 gun Brig 1820. 1:64 scale 860mm £354.95
Academy HMS Warspite, Premium Edition £79.95 Vikingship, Osjberg, construction plans. £11.24 Rudder assembly with tiller arm 55 x 45mm £4.54 Scale Model Warships £12.95
Mamoli Kits Revell Gato Class Submarine 1:72 £72.36 Titanic Plans set £49.89 Steerable Kort nozzle for props up to 35 mm Ø £18.33 Submarines. Models and their Originals £12.95
Trumpeter Admiral Hipper 1941 1:350 £69.95 Endeavour J Class Plans set £25.28 Becker Rudder 43 x 38mm £20.42 Making Ships in Bottles £11.95
Friesland 80 gun 2 Decker 1:75 775mm £492.14 Trumpeter Prinz Eugen 1945 1:350 £61.23 Scale Model Boats. Building & Operation £9.95
Cutty Sark, construction plans, Scale 1:78. £31.00 Skeg and Rudder Assembly 68mm deep, 56mm £19.75
Mary Royal Yacht 1:54 scale 483mm £179.18 Airfix HMS Illustrious 1:350 £51.05 Radio Control In Model Boats £9.95
La Couronne, construction plans, Scale 1:98. £28.50 Rudder assembly with tiller arm 35 x 26mm £4.54
Golden Hind 1:53 scale 496mm £184.58 Trumpeter Graf Spee 1:350 £51.04 Introduction to Marine Modelling £9.95
Santa Maria, construction plans, Scale 1:50. £14.95 Boat rudder set: 45 mm Height: 40 £6.69
La Gloire 34 gun Frigate 1:90 840mm £287.18 Trumpeter Jeremiah O'Brien Liberty Ship £32.99 Ship Modelling Solutions £9.95
French Xebec, construction plans, Scale 1:49. £14.85 Boat rudder set: 32 mm Height: 25 mm £6.47
Hunter 12 gun Cutter 1797 1:72 440mm £134.76 Trumpeter JohnBrown liberty ship 1:350 £30.62 Scratch Building Marine Models £9.95
Thermopylae, construction plans, Scale 1:124. £14.85 Boat rudder set: 36 mm Height: 50 mm £6.19
Rattlesnake Privateer 1779 1:64 697mm £222.62 Tamiya Yamato 1:350 scale £270.95 The Glassfibre Handbook by R.H Waring. £9.95
Mississippi Stern Wheeler plan 1:50 1050mm £34.95 Boat rudder set: 36 mm Height: 70 mm £7.42
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plan feature

Steam Tug Wattle

JOHN PARKER presents
a Plan Feature for this
Australian restored tug

A
t the height of the Great Depression, on
27th June 1933 a small steam-powered
harbour tug was launched at the
Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, New
South Wales, Australia. Its name, Codeco,
derived from that of its builders, the
Commonwealth Dockyards and Engineering
Company, was soon changed to Wattle when
the tug was taken over by the Royal
Australian Navy (RAN) in February 1934.
Today in mid- 2013, the same tug towers high
and dry over its South Dock surroundings in
the Melbourne Docklands precinct of
Victoria, whilst a restoration team works
toward returning it to the water in the near

The Steam Tug Wattle at Garden Island just prior to the outbreak of World War Two. In the
background may be seen the RAN cruiser HMAS Australia with another cruiser alongside
whilst the craft in the foreground is a high-speed radio-controlled target boat. Photo © State
of New South Wales through the State Records Authority of NSW.

future. So, what better timing could there be
for building a model of the Wattle?
Cockatoo Island was named after the
sulphur-crested cockatoos that once made
their home in the island’s red gum trees and
is the largest island in Sydney Harbour,
triangular in shape and covering some 18
hectares. Following European settlement, it
was used as a convict prison from 1839 to
1869, but became an important shipyard
when the Fitzroy Dock, built by convict
labour, opened in 1857. During World War
Two, Cockatoo Dockyard was the major
repair and refit base in the South Pacific for
battle damaged warships of the allied fleets
and it also converted the liners Queen Mary,
Returning to port
with just a few minor Queen Elizabeth, Aquitania and Mauretania
adjustments to make. into troop ships. Ships built there included
cruisers, destroyers of the Tribal, Battle and
Daring classes and Type 12 frigates for the
RAN. Refit work for the Royal Navy’s 4th
Submarine Squadron based in Sydney, and
later for the RAN’s own Oberon submarine
fleet provided much work for the shipyard in
the postwar years until the final Oberon refit
was completed in 1991 and without the
prospect of further major work, the dockyard
was closed. Cockatoo Island is now being
developed as a tourist destination and was
proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage site in
2010.
The steam tug was built at a cost of £18500
as a labour creating project to keep the
apprentices and senior tradesmen employed
and perhaps to show that the dockyard was a
going concern at a time when it was being

8 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

 plan feature

prepared for lease. The yard had built an S.T. Wattle under
earlier tug, Bustler, in 1917 and this formed restoration,
the basis of Wattle’s design. I don’t think by September 2011.
the way that it formed the basis of Vic
Smeed’s semi-scale Bustler plan as it is quite
different in appearance. Although not a large
vessel, Wattle taxed the ability of designers
and builders, being the first Australian oil-
fired steam tug, with an Australian-built
engine and boiler and experimental
electrically-welded bulkheads. Said to be built
to an unusually high standard, she was the
source of some pride upon her completion.

Service history
Wattle entered service with the RAN in 1934
for general duties, attached to the Garden
Island Naval Base, but manned by a civilian
crew. These duties included the towing of
barges, pontoons and lighters and the
collection of buoys and other items from the
various naval establishments around Sydney
for servicing by the dockyard. She was found
to be hard to handle, so a steering engine was
soon fitted immediately aft of the
enginehouse to reduce the effort required at
the helm. Reading just a little between the
lines of contemporary accounts, suggests that
the tug was insufficiently powerful for the
safe docking of larger vessels. Many a time begin the slow voyage home again! passenger vessel running tours and charters
the captain of the vessel being docked would By 1969, the RAN no longer needed the around Port Phillip Bay. Settling into its new
call down to the tug for, ‘a little more power, a tug’s services and the scrapyard loomed role and new environment, the tug became a
little more power, please’, and this being large. A reprieve came with a rescue effort by popular tourist attraction until the
whilst all the time Wattle had its throttle wide a team of marine steam enthusiasts in 1971, deterioration of her hull caused her to fail the
open! During the war, Wattle was involved who managed to keep her working by annual survey in 2003 and once again doubt
with degaussing experiments on warships running public cruises around Sydney was cast over her future.
and ex-crew member Graeme Andrews, Harbour until 1976. Unable to be taken on by This time is was Sorrento Steam, founded
writing in Steamlines, describes the tug being the Sydney Heritage Fleet when repairs in 2007, that came to the rescue. With a vision
used for target towing in postwar years. This became necessary, Wattle was acquired by to recreate the presence of steam in Port
meant a long day for the crew, towing the the newly formed Victorian Steamship Phillip Bay, this group of ten business
wooden target out beyond the heads of Association (VSA) and towed to Melbourne entrepreneurs were able to purchase the tug
Sydney Harbour at some 4.5 knots for six by the tug Edina in 1979. Government for the symbolic cost of 1$Au on the proviso
hours, whereupon a destroyer would appear, funding and a lot of volunteer work made that they fund its restoration, with work to be
pepper the target with gunfire and speed off, possible refurbishment of the deck, bulwarks carried out by the volunteers of the BSMM,
leaving Wattle’s crew to manually wind in the and auxiliary machinery and the ship’s return or contracted out as necessary. This work
towline, vent some suitable comments in the to service in 1986, operated by the Bay continues at the time of writing, with the tug
direction of the departing destroyer, and Steamers Maritime Museum (BSMM) as a having been granted hardstand space at
South Wharf near the Bolte Bridge, whilst
development of Melbourne’s Dock Precinct
Plan for Steam Tug Wattle continues all around it.
The three sheet full size CAD (computer aided design) plan No. MM2086 is available from
MyHobbyStore Ltd and is priced at £17.50 + p/p as of November 2013. MyHobbyStore Principal particulars
plans may be purchased online at www.Myhobbystore.com or please call 0844 848 8822, Wattle is of riveted steel construction with
1000hrs to 1600hrs, Monday to Friday. welded bulkheads and measures 80 feet 8
inches overall length with a beam of 17 feet 6
inches and a displacement of 120 tons. The

PLANS SERVICE
MODEL BOATS 1933
STEAM TUG
WATTLE BY J. PARKER First published
in
2013
Winter Special
1 OF 3 Model Boats
No. OF SHEETS:
MM2086
PLAN No:

MODEL BOATS PLANS SERVICE

1933
STEAM TUG
WATTLE BY J. PARKER
First published in
PLAN No: MM2086 No. OF SHEETS: 2 OF 3 Model Boats Winter Special 2013

MODEL BOATS
PLANS SERVIC
1933 E
STEAM
WATTLE TUG
PLAN No:
MM2086 BY J. PARKER
No. OF SHEETS:
3 OF 3 First
Model Boats published in
Winter Special
2013

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 9

 plan feature
tug is powered by an Australian-built two-
cylinder compound steam engine that in trials
provided 287 indicated horsepower at 134
rpm, giving the tug a maximum speed just
short of 10 knots and an endurance of 36
hours (360 nautical miles) on four tons of fuel
oil. It is recognised by the National Trust of
Australia as: ‘Historically, socially and
technologically significant at the national level
as the only small harbour steam tug surviving
in Australia and one of only three Australian
built steam tugs still in existence and one of
only eight Australian built steamships
surviving on the Australian coast’.
Further information on the Steam Tug
Wattle and its restoration may be found at:
https://sites.google.com/site/
steamtugwattle/home.
Research
For the first time with any model I have built,
I had access to the real vessel just 30 minutes
drive away from my home here in Melbourne.
I thought that would be of inestimable value
and it was, but it also brought about a severe
case of information overload, with
discrepancies between the builder’s drawings
and the real vessel that required further
research and much head scratching,
something that would never have happened if
I only had photos with which to compare the
drawings. Right from the start, when I
explained my project to the restoration team,
they made me feel very welcome and gave me
every assistance, yet as each answer lead to
further questions, and each inspection of the
vessel revealed more and more puzzling
detail not shown on the drawings, I reached
the point where I simply had to turn a blind
eye and make a start.
My drawing shows Wattle as she was built,
prior to the fitting of the steering engine that
resides in a wooden housing between the
enginehouse and aft access hatch. It has been
worked up as a CAD (Computer Aided
Drafting) tracing of the original Cockatoo
Dockyard drawings that I obtained from the
National Archives, which matched the
photocopied set that the restoration team had
kindly provided to get me started. Of course
the vessel currently carries all the
modifications made to enable her to perform
public cruises, most noticeably a timber
enclosure for the stern deck, and I had to
ignore these. That was straightforward
enough, but other details just didn’t seem to
work out.
Various original features of the Wattle
10 www.modelboats.co.uk
differed from what was shown on the
drawings and it soon became clear that
changes had been made at the time of
construction without the drawings being
updated to reflect this. Just one example is:
The wheelhouse is considerably wider than
the National Archive drawings show and
scaling a 1936 photo supports the belief that it
was originally built to this greater width, not
replaced or modified later, so this is the width
I have shown on my drawing. On the other
hand, some differences such as the location
of the freeing ports and bulwark supports
were the subject of modifications during the
life of the vessel and I have shown these in
their original locations. One feature I cannot
confirm is whether or not there ever was a
central porthole on the port side of the hull.
Peering inside the hull, there is no evidence
today that there ever was one, unlike the
others which have simply been plated over. I
would have liked photographic evidence to
support this, but every photo I have seen
(and the drawings) only shows the starboard
side with its three portholes.
Model design
Having plotted Wattle’s outline, I next had to
develop the frame outlines and constructional
details, all simply said and fairly simply done,
though it was time consuming. I have assumed
my preferred method of construction, that of
3mm (or 1/8 inch) plywood frames with 3mm
balsa planking, fibreglassed inside and out. I
used Lite Ply for ease of working, but weight is
of course not an issue and standard plywood
would be fine. Vary the construction as
required to suit your own methods, such as
thicker frames to support basswood planking,
but beware of the flow-on effects of any
changes. I found that the Wattle design threw
up a few challenges and I’d like to highlight
these as you may have better ideas about how
they should be tackled.
Being a steel ship, the keel consists
essentially of the seam formed by the joining
of the flanges of the hull plates on each side.
As such, it is only some 1.6mm wide to scale
and would need to be made from metal to
have the strength needed for a working
model. Rather than do this, I used 3.2mm
basswood for the keel and deadwood around
the propeller, which is quite stiff enough once
it receives its fibreglass cladding, yet does not
look too over-scale in thickness. For reasons
of practicality and time constraints, I have not
included any plating or rivet detail on my
model. I had visions of carefully adhered
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
pieces of litho plate starting to peel at the
edges from collisions and water pollution, or
built-up areas of filler breaking away as my
models can have a hard life! If you can
incorporate this detail, your model will be all
the better for it (and my admiration for you all
the greater), but I’m afraid I did not have a
plating expansion drawing and you will only
have the photos to go on. As for rivet head
counters, please be warned as there are tens
of thousands of them!
The stern tube used a Raboesch RAB301-08
290mm M5, incorporates a lip seal at the
propeller end to prevent water ingress. This is
a good thing in a model with a propshaft well
below the waterline, but it means the
propeller shaft needs to be removed
rearwards to prevent its threaded end from
damaging the seal. To enable this, I had to
forego the fixed skeg around the propeller
and provide a removable rudder mounting.
The full size Wattle tug has a propeller shaft
that is horizontal (i.e. parallel to the
waterline), but as this would leave barely any
clearance between its inner end and the keel
for a motor or gearbox, I have angled it
upwards at 2.5 degrees, so it is now parallel
with the keel.
As is my usual practice, I have allowed for a
sound system with the speaker baffle sealing
off the forward part of the hull to form an
enclosure that, when fitted with a suitable
speaker, will really enhance the quality of the
sound produced. A perforated wheelhouse
floor also helps the sound escape from the
hull. There is room for a bulky nebuliser type
of smoke generator (I used an MMB variable
speed Foggy Mk. 2) for visual effects and I
have fitted working lights. You may wish to
use thinner planking above the deck level as
continuing with the hull planking thickness as
I did, leaves the bulwarks looking a little
shallow under their capping, although it does
provide a stronger fixing for the capping rail.
The drive motor selection will require some
thought. Whilst the original was not noted for
the power of its engine, it did have a large 7ft
6in four-bladed propeller that scales to no less
than 95mm at 1:24 scale, and it’s going to take
some torque to drive that. I am a great fan of
brushless motors, but discounted them in this
case because of the difficulty of finding one of
sufficiently low KV in a large size, and because
unless they are of the ‘sensored type’ they do
not provide good low-speed throttle action.
The next natural choice was a geared brushed
motor, although I have a strong aversion to
gear noise. I found that a popular affordable

Framework assembled on the building board.
geared motor had an overall combined (motor
plus gearbox) efficiency of less than 50%,
whilst a quality one of higher efficiency was
very expensive. In the end I settled for a high-
torque direct drive brushed motor, the T24 (12
to 24 volt) from Mobile Marine Models. As I
needed 24 volts anyway for the smoke
generator, the 24 volt version was the natural
choice, and four series-connected 6 volt, 4.4
amp-hour sealed lead acid batteries provided
an energy source that was both cheap and
convenient to install low in the hull. The
propeller I chose was a V3540 LH 4-blade
vintage tug pattern from The PropShop,
slightly undersize at about 90mm diameter.
Building the Wattle should pose no
particular difficulties for an experienced
scratch-builder, but a fair degree of ‘stick-to-it-
ivness’ is required to see it through as making
the fittings is time consuming. The drawings
are on three A0 (1188 x 840mm) sheets and
show external and internal (model)
arrangements as well as patterns for the
frames and most other major components. The
completed model measures some 1028mm by
242mm and tips the scales at around 8.5kg.
Hull construction
For reasons already given, the keel is narrow
so use a nice straight piece of 3.2mm x 25mm
basswood or the like (I used two 3.2 x 12.5mm
pieces edge to edge) as its basis, adding the
separate stern deadwood, bow piece and
doublers. The latter should have their leading
edges chamfered to the approximate hull
contour before fitting. Cut the frames and test
that they engage with the keel to the correct
depth. A gimlet-point drill is best used at the
corners of the frame cut-outs. Score the deck
curvature on to the frames from each side. but
do not cut through. A photocopy of the frame
outline can be used to transfer the shape from
the drawing to the wood, either by using a hot
iron on the reverse side, or cutting out the
shape and fixing it with spray adhesive, letting
it go off a little first so as to ease later removal.
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
plan feature
Planking commenced around the stern knuckle.
Far left: Overall view
of the hull being
planked.
Left: Stern planking.
With the frame positions and centreline
marked on the building board, for which a
piece of melamine-faced shelving serves well,
the framework can now be dry assembled
and the frame extensions fixed to the board
with short lengths of square section timber.
PVA glues works well here as the extensions
can later be tapped off the melamine with a
hammer and the shelf reused. I get about
eight models, four each side, before the shelf
gets too ratty and has to go back in the
bookcase! When all is well, epoxy the keel in
place on the frames and double check
everything for straightness, squareness and
location before the glue sets. Once set,
carefully fair all the edges of the framework to
follow the curvature of the hull, using a balsa
test plank to check for any bumps or hollows.
Frame edges may be built up with thin strips
Above: Bow planks
of wood if necessary. at deck level where there is slight knuckle, meeting the keel at
especially at the stern. I found I could twist the bow doublers.
Planking the plank just below this knuckle a full 90
Doing this with balsawood and medium degrees to run under the fantail of the stern.
superglue is one of those skills that sneaks up After working a few rows of planks up and
on you, as at first it seems all too difficult, down from this point, alternating sides to
then one day it all comes together, you build even out the stresses, I moved to the keel to
Below: The twist in the
up a rhythm and find that planking a hull is run three or four planks each side of it. The planks is quite evident
the pleasant work of a couple of evenings. first of these is probably the hardest of all to here.
Inevitably, you will get some superglue on
your fingers, but after a while it forms a
protective extra skin and prevents you
becoming permanently attached to
everything you touch! You learn to judge the
amount of bevel to put on the edge of a plank
and apply it quickly and easily with a sanding
block; you don’t get too hung up about small
gaps as they can be plugged with slivers of
balsa, or by the plank being forced a little
sideways; you anticipate the general line of
the planks and taper their widths at each end
to suit. Work where there’s good ventilation
though, or the superglue fumes will get you
as you’ll be using a lot more glue than usual.
Working with a pile of planks cut from
1200mm long sheets of 3mm balsa using a
long straight edge and a simple jig, I started
www.modelboats.co.uk 11
 plan feature
Left: Planks need to
be tapered from this
point to even up the
remaining gap.
Far left: The almost
completed hull
planking prior to
sanding.
Left: Planking around
the stern using a
temporary former.
Far left: Hull now
fibreglassed inside
and sanded outside.
fit as it needs to twist from vertical at the bow
to horizontal amidships and then back to
vertical at the stern, with a varying edge
bevel required along its complete length.
You’re allowed a bit longer to get this one
right as subsequent planks will largely follow
its example.
At this point the remaining gap in the hull
planking will vary considerably in width, so
rather than continue with straight planks,
start to even up the gap width by tapering the
ends of the planks you fit, bringing some to a
point well short of the full hull length. To
taper a plank, hold it in place near the centre,
mark its location with a pencil mark across
the adjacent plank and mark where the taper
needs to begin and end. The taper can usually
be cut as a straight line, with the change of
angle smoothed out a little with the sanding
block. Some short tapered pieces, called
stealers, will probably be needed to complete
the planking. At the bow, the planks need to
be carefully trimmed for length and their
inner edges sanded back to fit neatly against
the keel. The sharp curves around the stern
are achieved by using short tapered vertical
planks aft of Frame J, using the temporary
Fibreglass skinning of the hull’s outside.
12 www.modelboats.co.uk
Former O to create their upper edge.
It is tempting at this point to sand the
outside of the hull, but I find it better to apply
some chopped strand glass mat and resin to
the inside first. This prevents the balsa flexing
between the frames when sanding and ensures
the hull has the rigidity needed to carry a few
kilos of batteries and ballast. It is quickly and
easily done be cutting strips of 200 to 250gsm
(grams per square metre) chopped strand mat
to suit the frame spaces, laying them in place
and stippling on some polyester resin. Knock
off any upstanding plank edges first with
coarse sandpaper or you’ll get air trapped
under the mat. Once hard, you can sand the
outside with medium grade paper (we don’t
need a really smooth surface), working with
sanding blocks and in different directions to
remove any waviness and achieve a smooth
flowing shape. Some of the stern planks will
have to be feathered right back to the keel.
Take your time at this stage because it defines
the final shape of the hull.
Fibreglassing
With the inverted hull supported at a
comfortable working height in a well-ventilated
Hull being fitted out for running gear.
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
area, you can start fibreglassing the outside. I
generally use polyester resin as it’s cheaper
and allows me to work quickly, but it has been
tactfully suggested that I have rocks in my
head for not using epoxy resin! Amongst other
benefits, its advocates point to a quicker and
easier final sanding process. Both will produce
a tough, hard wearing hull that is impervious
to water, so the choice will come down to your
own preferences and experience, local advice
and availability of materials.
I used one layer of 185gsm cloth for
strength, followed by a layer of fine 85gsm
cloth to fill the weave pattern and finally a
coat of straight resin as a sanding filler. With
the cloth pieces cut to generous oversize, the
first can have its edge pegged to the keel with
the plastic clamps and the resin stippled
through. Don’t coat the hull with resin first,
as the cloth will grab and you won’t be able to
drape it around the hull properly. You will
need to cut some ‘dart shapes’ in the cloth for
the stern knuckle and possibly where the hull
tapers inward at the bulwarks. Trim it just
past the centreline at the stern fantail. Having
done both sides, I followed up with the fine
cloth and final coat of resin. After a short
 plan feature

Early on-the-water test with jury-rigged systems and ballasting. Gluing the half-deck in place.

Far left: Further

general progress with
completion of deck
and servo mounting.

Left: The foredeck

planking overlay.

break, the resin had reached the ‘green’ stage section consists of pieces cut from across the temporarily fitted to the tops of the frames, I
and the excess resin/cloth could be trimmed sheet, with the grain vertical. was able to power up the hull on the water
using just a sharp knife drawn along the and confirm that all was well. In particular I
edges of the keel and bulwarks. One final job Test run was glad to see that the motor made fairly
then was to lay a strip along the bottom edge At this point I chose to complete a trial fit of light work of turning the large propeller and
of the keel and similarly coat the rudder. the running gear, fitting a tray for the that a fair amount of ballast (I tossed in
Working on a warm day, this was all in an batteries and a shelf each side of the motor various heavy items I had to hand) was still
afternoon’s work, after which the whole lot for connections and the Electronize speed needed to bring the model down to the
was put aside for a few days to harden. controller. The rudder linkage runs below correct waterline.
deck through slots in Frames H and I and will
Sanding emerge through a semi-circular groove in the Main deck
This is best done wet to control the harmful deck to connect to the top of the rudder tiller. Construction continues with the fitting of the
dust. Have some water and a sponge at hand to The servo is mounted on a shelf just aft of deck from 3mm plywood or Lite Ply. This is
wash off the slurry as it forms and a few drops Frame G where it will be accessible via the best done in two halves, both to accommodate
Below: There’s just a
of detergent in the sanding water will help float enginehouse. With the heavy speaker the compound curvature of the deck’s sheer wisp of smoke with
the debris off the paper. You can probably start mounted forward and the smoke generator and camber and so that the outer edge may the model stationary.
with 180 grit and finish with the 240 or 320
grade to leave some ‘tooth’ for the paint. As
you sand, any low spots will remain shiny
whilst the rest takes on a matt finish. Low
spots that require really heavy sanding may
have to be filled, as otherwise you will start to
sand through the glassfibre cloth. Since I use
two different cloth weaves, I can judge how the
sanding is progressing by watching for any
areas of weave pattern that appear, stopping
before I reach the coarser cloth. When all is
done you should have a smooth matt surface
all over, with no bumps or low areas.

Bulwarks and deck

Work on the hull continues with the
bulwarks, which need to have holes cut in
them for the freeing ports and hawse holes.
The frame extensions that support the
bulwark planking need to be sanded back
and the whole above-deck area filled and
sanded to produce a smooth surface. Hull
belting on Wattle (the restoration crew refer
to it as the sponson) is heavy and consists of
timber baulks fitted between metal flanges
running around the hull at deck level. I
constructed it from strips of 3.2mm thick by
6.4mm wide basswood, laminated to the hull
in three layers, using superglue and with the
joints staggered. There’s no chance of
bending this around the stern, so that

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 13

 plan feature
Stern grating.
be carefully trimmed to fit the hull, leaving
the straight-line trimming to the centre line
until last. I sealed the underside of my deck
with resin, scraping clean the contact areas
and coating generously with slow-setting
epoxy before fitting. You’ll likely need to call
all your clamps out of retirement for this step.
As I messed up the cutting of the slot for the
rudder linkage, I cut the whole area away and
fitted a thin disk of ply with the slot cut in it.
The deck can be doubled up in thickness by
laminating pieces to the underside along the
opening at the front of the deck house and
where the ventilators will go. Cut out the top
of Frames C, D, E and F and fit the coaming
for the deck cut-out from 1.5mm plywood.
The design allows for a total of 1mm
clearance between the coaming and its
mating deckhouse (0.5mm each side), which
provides for movement of the timber with the
weather. The notched shape at the rear
corners of the deckhouse is to accommodate
the steps leading to the bridge deck.
Deck planking
The foredeck of Wattle is planked back to the
access doors of the main deckhouse, this
being a design requirement due to the
accommodation spaces below. I found the
easiest way to do this was a cut a foredeck
overlay from 0.8mm plywood, plank it off the
Right: Bulwark
capping completed
with deckhouses,
foredeck and stern
grating being tested
for fit.
Far right: This view
shows the deck
coaming and separate
deckhouses.
Right: A closer
view of the basic
superstructure.
Far right: Stern deck
area.
14 www.modelboats.co.uk
model and fit in place later once the painting
of the bulwarks had been done. The planking
consists of wider margin planks for the edges
and surrounds for the bollards and skylight,
with narrower 5mm wide planks covering the
remaining area. All planks were cut from
0.8mm basswood sheet with a permanent
black marker run along their edges to
represent the caulking. On the full size tug,
these planks are joggled into the margin
planks as I have shown on the drawing, but
unless you are confident that you can do a
really crisp job of this, it might be better to
forego the joggling (as I did) and concentrate
on trying to achieve a good general standard
of fit throughout. Two coats of satin marine
varnish were used to finish off the planking.
Bulwark openings
Pieces slightly thinner than the overall hull
thickness are fitted to the freeing port
apertures to represent the opening doors,
with a piece of D-section plastic across them
at mid-height. Build up the inner and outer
cheeks of the hawse holes with ovals of
0.8mm ply and smooth the inner surfaces of
the penetrations.
Bulwark capping
This was cut from 1.5mm plywood, three
pieces for each side. I used a piece of paper,
pushed down on to the inner curvature of
the bulwark, to pick up the shape required
and transferred this to the wood, adding
2mm for the inboard overhang and drawing
the outer line of the capping 8mm away from
this. This gave me over-width capping pieces
that could be epoxied to the top edge of the
bulwarks with an equal overhang each side.
Start with the stern pieces, continue with the
bow pieces and finish with the centre pieces,
which being only slightly curved, are easily
trimmed to fit. All the capping pieces then
need to be sanded back in-situ to 6mm wide,
forming sweeping curves along the length of
the model. Due to the method of
construction, the bulwark sides are far
thicker than scale on the model as they
would be under 0.5mm thick if truly to scale.
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
Bulwark supports and
fittings
Pre-filled and primed 1.5mm plywood was
used for these. Most are 42.5mm apart, centre
to centre, so a 41mm wide spacing piece can
be used for setting them out. Note that they
are all vertical and not necessarily
perpendicular to the deck. At the bow, you will
need to paint at least the lower edge of the
inside of the bulwarks first and glue the
planked foredeck overlay in place before fitting
the more closely spaced forward bulwark
supports. The Sampson posts are from 7mm
square timber stock, thinned down below
capping level at an angle, to compensate for
the thicker than scale bulwarks and allow them
to stand vertical. They have strengthening
surrounds of 1.5mm ply.
Stern grating
A feature of most tugs, the stern grating
provides a safe area to walk on without
getting tangled up in the rudder mechanism.
On Wattle, the grating is divided into three
framed sections running across the ship. I
used three grating kits (73 x 73mm with
2.3mm holes) to provide the basic material,
trimming these into the three pieces, framing
with basswood and joining together to
produce a one-piece stern grating that sits on
supports glued to the extensions of Frame J
and at the stern. If you have the patience, an
alternative to the grating kits would be to file
slots half-way through strips of basswood at
the correct intervals using a jig; the pieces
can then be fitted together with the slots
forming halving joints.
Basic superstructure
The various structures built upon the deck of a
ship were once known as ‘deck erections’, but
I’ve noticed that this term is no longer in
common use. I therefore refer to it as the
superstructure, consisting of the combined
main deckhouse and boiler room with the
galley and WC at its forward end, the
enginehouse (over the engine) immediately
behind it and the wheelhouse which sits on top
of the main forward deckhouse. I made the
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 plan feature

Right: Main stairway

construction from a
stack of risers and
treads.

Far right: Completed

stairways.

Right: Enginehouse
hatches, bulwark
supports, stairways
and other parts fitted.

Far right: Wheelhouse

construction.

engine and main deckhouses removable as

separate units. Operational access is normally
only needed via the enginehouse for the
various switches and recharging sockets as the
smoke generator can be topped up with a
measured amount of water fed through the
funnel via a plastic tube.
The enginehouse is of a simple construction,
I made it from 3.2mm basswood sheet so that
there would be enough material thickness for
the radii along the top and edges. A
companionway is added to the rear of the port
side. The hatches are represented by 2mm
thick spacing pieces overlaid with thin ply
covers fitted with 14mm portholes. Don’t
forget the smaller hatch on the lower section,
which is the emergency exit for the engine
room. To represent the hatch hinges, I used
the tiny aluminium clips that come with
certain brands of sock to hold the pair of
socks together, so as an added bonus I now
have eight spare pairs of new socks in the
drawer! Small holes were drilled in the hatch
covers to receive the bent down end tabs of
the clips.
You may find as I did, that the shiny
appearance of the various brass portholes just naturally, you can darken them chemically. stairways to allow for the mounting of the
Below: Wheelhouse
and bridge deck does not look right on a working ship model. The traditional method uses chemicals that funnel and vents. Note that the access doors
planking. Rather than wait years for them to tarnish today would probably see you arrested on are in slightly different positions each side and
suspicion of terrorist activity, but there is an that the bottom edge of the deckhouse needs to
easy alternative. Household bleach will be stepped up over the foredeck planking. To
darken brass parts progressively if you soak allow more of the sound to escape, I fitted a
them in it. Two or three hours is probably perforated metal floor (actually an old speaker
long enough, as overnight will turn them grille) under the wheelhouse area, planking the
black. Rinse thoroughly after treatment. As remainder of the bridge deck in a similar
the portholes need to retain their bronze manner to the foredeck.
appearance, only fit them after painting the For the two main stairways, I cut 20 pieces
hull and superstructure. of basswood, 20 x 8.5 x 6mm, and 20 pieces of
aluminium, 20 x 10 x 0.5mm. Each piece of
Main deckhouse aluminium was given a 30 degree by 3.5mm
The main deckhouse is a little more bend in the vice, then the parts glued up in an
complicated. I used 3mm Lite Ply for ease of alternating stack. Provided with side cheeks
working with 1.5mm plywood for the curved of 0.8mm basswood, these stairways can be
front and roof. The curvature for these is set by set on to the ramps on the rear corners of the
the appropriate bulkheads (doubled up at the deckhouse.
transition to the bridge deck) and the formers
at the front. Inset ramps need to be provided Wheelhouse
for the separate stairways to be added. I Wattle’s rustic wheelhouse, such an
doubled up the roof thickness between the important feature of the model, deserves

16 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

 plan feature

Far left: Foredeck

detail.

Left: Foredeck skylight

construction.

careful attention to detail. I used basic panels

of 1.5mm plywood (templates are provided on
the drawing), to be joined at the corners with
3mm square basswood posts. Before joining,
the panels are planked with narrow strips of
0.8mm basswood, framing the window cut-
outs down to their correct size and thereby
leaving a neat recess for the window glazing
to be inserted through the slot remaining in
the top of the panel. Having the glazing
separate like this avoids getting glue on the
windows and allows them to be removed for
replacement or cleaning. On the inside, the
whole area could be planked as per the
outside, or you could just frame the cut-outs
as I did. The roof is from two pieces of 0.8mm
plywood, laminated together to hold the
curvature and fitted with roof beams on the
Above: Mast
underside. It needs to be made removable to the cowls may be ordered from Shapeways, tabernacle and cowl
fit the glazing or service the lighting, if fitted. based in Holland, to a design by an American vent construction.
To complete the wheelhouse, I fashioned a modeller whose shop is hosted by the
representative engine telegraph mostly from Shapeways site, please see these websites:
scrap brass, fitted a ship’s wheel mounted on http://matthewsmodelmarine.wordpress.
a pedestal made from plastic sheet, and com/writings/matthews-cowl-vents-for-
installed the captain (an Adrian’s Marine model-ships/ and: http://www.shapeways.
Models figure), a fuse box and a seat. The Method of moulding fibreglass funnel. com/shops/
doors are only planked on their outsides and patmat?url=%2Fusershop&rows=3
their windows permanently fitted. When all wThese are quite the finest, best-shaped and
had received a coat of teak stain and two coats then being upended on a sheet of glass to fully functional cowl vents I have ever come
of satin marine varnish, I attached the doors fully set, after which the flange can be drilled across, but beware that you will need a range
in the open position via lengths of shallow to clear the smoke generator tube and drilled of brass tubing sizes to extend their height. Of
brass channel representing the door tracks. and tapped for three attachment screws. the different finishes and materials available,
Bands of 3.2mm x 0.8mm plywood in two the ‘white detail’ is probably the best, but
Foredeck fittings locations complete the basic funnel expensive. The cheaper ‘white, strong and
The foredeck skylight is a simple basswood construction. flexible’ grade has a rougher finish which
construction with its upper parts stained to For the cowl vents, I turned to 3D printing requires more work filling and priming,
match the wheelhouse, and it sits in a recess as I was not at all impressed with the sample though the end result can be just as good and
formed by the planking. Immediately behind moulded vents I purchased. They were these were in fact what I used. Wattle requires
it, in an extension of the recess, is the mast typically poorly shaped, thick-lipped, solid, four small and two large cowl vents.
tabernacle, constructed from 5/16in (7.9mm) out of round or not available in a large enough They have been designed to imperial
brass tube and three pieces of brass sheet. size. You don’t need your own 3D printer as measurements so I will quote inch sizes. The
Note that there is a forward slope of 3
Left: General
degrees on the mast socket relative to its rear view of the
base, when fitted to the foredeck which at this superstructure.
point slopes upward at 6 degrees. The result
is a mast with the correct 3 degree rearward
slope. A small square access hatch on the rear
deck was made use of on the model to provide
access for lubricating the stern tube via a
flexible extension tube fitted in the hull.

Funnel and vents

The funnel scales to 53mm diameter and you
could probably get away with using 2 inch
(50.8mm) aluminium tubing. I managed to get
a little closer, 51.5mm diameter, by laying up
some fibreglass mat and resin inside a scrap
piece of 2 inch nominal inside diameter plastic
plumbing pipe. I like this method as it means I
can incorporate a thick flange on the inside at
the base of the funnel. I cut a saw slot most of
the way through along the length of the
plastic tube before starting so that the tube
(with its inside waxed) can be easily split and
stripped off the fibreglass once it has set. The
flange is formed from disks of glass matt laid
up at one end to plug the tube, the assembly

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 17

 plan feature

Doors will be fitted as separate items. A general ‘in the raw’ view with temporary mast fitted.

A first glimpse of
the model’s overall
appearance.

Above: Preparing the

hull for painting. small ones are the 0.375in (3/8in) tube size
and to go with them you need 3/8in brass
tube to extend their height. If you want to
sleeve the extension to accept the cowl vent,
you will also need 11/32in tube to take up the
material thickness and 5/16in tube for the
joining sleeve. Lengths of the 11/32in tube
can also be fitted to the deck so that the cowl
vents can be fitted over them. For the large
vents, you need the 0.625in (5/8in) tube size,
along with these sizes of brass tubing: 5/8in,
19/32in and 9/16in. Alternatively, you could
in each case just get the matching brass tube
size and join the cowl vent to it by other
means, such as a stepped piece of dowel,
though the obstruction will be visible through
the mouth of the cowl.
Note that the large vents have a short fixed
section near the base with the remainder able
to swivel, whereas the small vents swivel from
the base. The large vent stems need to go
right to the rear corners of the upper deck; I
used a sanding drum in a rotary tool to thin
down the inside corner walls of the
deckhouse to facilitate this. You will likely
find that the funnel still prevents the cowl
vents from swivelling to the fully forward
position. If so, congratulate yourself on your
scale accuracy, for the same is true of the
full-size vessel!

Basic painting
At this point I will assume you have the basic
structure of the model completed with all
surfaces sanded, filled and primed as
necessary. I generally make use of an
automotive aerosol combined spray putty and
primer for this purpose, as it readily fills any
visible wood grain and provides a good base
for further painting. I used general purpose
aerosol cans of red oxide primer and satin
black for the hull, with satin white for the
main deckhouse and white roof areas. From
this point on I had to resort to my airbrush to
achieve the correct colours.
Climbing over the full size vessel with my
pockets full of colour chips and tinlets of
modeller’s paint, I was able to confidently
match un-faded areas of its structure to Revell
enamels, No. 364 for the deck and No. 85 for
the enginehouse. I wasn’t feeling so confident
once I’d applied these colours to my model
though, as the green looked far too garish
and bright, and I wasn’t keen on the toffee
brown either, so what to do?
I resolved the dilemma by invoking a
modeller’s law that states colours too need to
be scaled down on a model if they are not to
look too bright and toy-like. So I mixed the
green with some darker green that I had to
produce more of chalkboard colour, and took
some of the ‘toffeeness’ off the brown by
mixing in a few drops of a dark brown. It’s a
personal choice, but I think the model looks
better this way. The colours the ship carried
in any case had been subject to interpretation
by previous restoration teams and may change
again before the ship once more takes to the
water. The other principle colour is the buff of
the funnel and vents, for which I used Revell
No. 71. My aversion to the brown also saw me
painting the three small aft cowl vents this

18 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013


Colour starts to put some life into the superstructure.
colour instead of the brown they had carried.
The worst aspect of the painting was the fact
that the deck and the bulwark supports are
different colours and this led to several rounds
of masking, airbrushing and touching up with
a brush. White automotive pin-striping tape,
3mm wide, was used for the colour line
running around the hull just above the belting
and BECC 10mm white lettering for the name
on the sides and stern. To protect these and
bring all paintwork to a consistent level of
gloss, two coats of satin acrylic spray was
applied from an aerosol can.
Davits and ship’s boat
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in
the water, you find you’ve got all the final
detailing to do. Never mind, it’s the final
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
plan feature
Far left: The hull, deck
and interior in their
final colours.
Left: Don’t forget to
glaze the portholes!
The windlass is set at an angle - it didn’t slip during gluing.
straight now and these details will breathe life
into the model. The largest remaining item to
construct is the ship’s boat and its davits.
I made the boat by carving it from two balsa
blocks tack-glued together at the centreline.
These were then separated and had strips of 4
x 0.5mm plastic applied with overlaps to
represent the clinker planking before being
re-joined each side of a central piece of 2mm
plastic sheet that forms the keel.
The structure that supports the davits is
fairly complicated, the original being
constructed mainly of angle iron and looking
rather agricultural in appearance. I
reproduced it using thin brass angle, 3 x 3mm
and 3 x 4mm, made by Ruggi of Germany and
available from Bob’s Models Limited of the
UK. The sub-assemblies consist of the main The davit support frame, tow hook and other scratch-built metal parts.
www.modelboats.co.uk 19
 plan feature

vertical frame, the two angled side arms that

carry the swivels, and the davits themselves.
Joints within the sub-assemblies were
temporarily held together with miniature
screws whilst being soldered, with tiny M1
screws used to hold the sub-assemblies
together and bolt them to the superstructure.
I used the wider-than-scale 4mm flange of the
angle where this facilitated easier assembly.
The frame components are shown separately
on the drawing to aid construction.
Note that you will need to scallop out the
main horizontal angle member at two points
to clear the large cowl vents, just as they had
to on the full-size tug. The curved arms of the
davits scale to about 4 x 3mm rectangular
section with the short sides curved (like a
slice through the centre of a circle).
Laminating strips of 3 x 0.8mm basswood
around a former of 75mm radius would be
one way of making these, but for strength I
settled for 4mm square brass tube, annealed
and curved to shape. Instead of socketing the
bottom of the davits into the deck, I
supported them on thin brass platforms
extending from the bottom of the stairways
so that the forward superstructure can easily
be removed for access.
The doors to the main deckhouse are
separate items, planked or framed with plastic
strips as appropriate, and fitted with vents,
hinges and handles. Two small sets of steps
lead up to the bridge deck and these were
made from thin ply as left and right units, to
suit the roof curvature. The anchor windlass
is an assembly of edged plastic side frames
with gears and drums from the scrap box and
similar construction was used for the column
that supports the ship’s wheel. Small
strategically placed super magnets were used
to ensure the model does not blow its top
(superstructure) off in windy conditions!
The tow hook detail is best seen before fitting the ship’s boat. Can you spot the mistake?
Mast and lighting
The mast was made from 8mm hardwood funnel. Here I used 1mm brass rod soldered motor position is that I was allowing for a
dowel, necked at its lower end to fit the mast to the brass lamp platform to form both the much longer geared motor at the design stage.
tabernacle and tapered using a hand plane, bracing and pivot for the pulley used to haul The low and wide battery installation provides
shaving first to a square profile, then up the oil lamp. For the navigation lights, for good stability, leaving adequate room above
octagonal and ultimately sixteen-sided, finally shading boards were folded up from for a large nebuliser smoke generator (keep its
finishing with abrasive paper. Its base or aluminium sheet with due allowance for the mounting parallel with the water line so that
tabernacle is formed from three pieces of camber and sheer of the bridge deck to which the water sits level in the tank). Items such as
sheet brass and a length of brass tube which they are fitted. Commercial model ship lamps the speed controller (an Electronize type
may, with a little thought, be made to slot were used at all lighting points, including the chosen for its 24-volt capability), fuses,
together for easier soldering of the assembly. cabin, where two panoramic lamps were fitted switches and sound unit can sit on rearward
Note the angled base to provide the correct under the roof so that the captain would not extensions of the battery tray each side of the
rake to the mast. The lamp attachments be kept in the dark. All lighting points were motor, or on a plate between Frames F and G
consist of short pieces of brass tubing, sized fitted with 12 volt incandescent lamps (they that can lift out for access to the coupling. Two
appropriately for the diameter of the mast at look nicer than LED’s) wired in series-parallel sockets are provided for the 24-volt battery to
their respective heights and fitted with a to suit the 24 volt supply. One light was fitted be recharged as two separate 12 volt batteries,
sheet brass platform, bracing or rigging to the toilet (port side, forward) as a cheaper one at a time, to suit my 12 volt charger. The
system for the oil lamps as required. For the option to buying an extra crew member from receiver and its aerial are best kept high up,
guy ring, thicker tubing was used with four Adrian’s Model Figures. well above the waterline.
attachment eyes, cut from rigging clevises,
fitted to its circumference. Running gear Detailing
One further lamp attachment is required This has largely been covered already. The The remaining work is quite straightforward
for the stern light, fitted to the rear of the reason for the double coupling and forward and the following notes should suffice:
Right: This view of the
wheelhouse shows
the electrical control
box with a photo of
the actual item as
an overlay and the
method of window
glazing.

Far right: Most of the

running gear can be
seen here, with the
smoke generator
prominent over the
four 6 volt drive
batteries.

20 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013


Gooseneck vents on deck: From soft 3/32
inch (2.3mm) aluminium rod bent around
4.8mm drill bit; two plain (front), two fitted
with brass eyelets (mid-ships); two fitted with
collars (aft).
Railings: Two hole 35mm brass stanchions
threaded with 1mm brass rod rails; enlarge
the holes in the stanchions so that the rails
can run though at an angle and solder.
Deckhouse handrails: 1mm brass rod
threaded through 1 x 15mm brass split pins
and spacer sleeves by Robbe.
Steam vent pipe: From soft 3/16 inch
(4.8mm) brass tube, bent to shape.
Steam whistle pipe: From 2mm brass rod,
bent to shape.
Both pipes fitted to front of funnel using
two of 40mm brass split pins and sleeves by
Robbe.
Whistle: Turned on pillar drill from 3/16i
inch (4.8mm) scrap brass rod, fitted with
1mm brass rod outlet pipe.
Tow hook: Length of 4mm square brass
tube, one end fitted with hook formed from
3.2mm brass rod curved and filed to shape,
other end fitted with 12 x 8mm shackle.
Tow hook fitting: swivel rail from 3.2mm
brass rod, curved to shape and fitted between
two lengths of brass angle; support rail from
3.2mm square brass tube curved to shape and
fitted between uprights of davit support
framework.
Guy wires: 0.6mm galvanized steel cable,
tensioned using M2 x 12mm bottle screws,
M2 spade fittings used as anchor points.
Commercial items included:
Three of cast twin bollard on base, 32 x 11 x
16mm; One of 40mm boxwood ship’s wheel;
One of 40mm Hall anchor; Two of 30mm
lifebelts; One of 80mm bow fender; Fourteen
of 10 x 14mm flanged portholes; Three of 8 x
12mm flanged portholes; Lamp fittings.
On the water
With a large model of a stable vessel such as
a tug, you need to have made a serious mess
of things for the handling to be anything but
safe and predictable, and this was the case
with the Wattle model, so let me clarify that!
I mean it was the case that the handling
was safe and predictable, not that I had made
a serious mess of things! For the final
ballasting, I had to add 930 grams of lead
between Frames G and H and 300 grams
between Frames F and G. This was in the
form of lead sinkers from the camping and
fishing section of a department store,
trimmed for length and fitted each side of the
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
keel. I did wonder if it was tempting fate to
add items intended to sink to a hull that is
intended to float, but let it pass.
The hull had been baptised previously, but
the difference now was that the weight of the
superstructure had replaced some of the
ballast originally put in it for testing. The
higher centre of gravity had the effect of
making the model less ‘stiff’, reacting more
slowly in the rolling plane, which made it look
more realistic on the water. An advantage of
larger models such as this is that they are
hardly affected by the out-of-scale wind and
waves of a typical sailing pond and their
greater inertia makes them respond more
realistically to the controls. Despite the size, I
found the model would still fit quite readily in
the boot of my hatchback car and it is about
the maximum weight for comfortable
carrying and launching by one able person,
the overhanging stern providing a convenient
means of gripping the hull.
Throttled right back, it is almost possible to
count the blades of the large propeller turning
as the model silently glides past. A touch
more throttle provides the best setting, with a
bit of a bow wave forming, a nice wake and
the smoke generator doing a passable
impression of a very clean steam exhaust.
The generator produces a constant amount of
‘smoke’ (actually water vapour) that is blown
out with more force by a fan as the throttle is
opened. This can make the exhaust appear
less dense at higher speeds and it can tumble
down the sides of the funnel at idle if there is
no wind as the vapour is heavier than air. I
had to fit a foam collar between the inner and
outer funnel flues to prevent the vapour being
plan feature
Left: Wattle and Craig
(MM1522)
re-ingested. The model is over-powered at
high throttle settings, but that’s okay as this
can be saved for towing a full-size boat or
when you need to accelerate out of the way of
another craft.
Due to the higher voltage, current drain is
quite low and averages a little over one amp.
On club sailing days, a full battery charge
provides around 3 hours smoke-free run time
or 2.25 to 2.5 hours with smoke, one
intermediate refill of the smoker tank being
required over that time. This makes
demonstrations throughout the day at a
model boat show quite practical. The turning
circle is adequate rather than tight, probably
due to the narrow-chord rudder, and the
model heels slightly when turning at speed.
Control astern is marginal like most such
single propeller craft, but with the large
propeller the model may be ‘walked’ gently
sideways when docking if you learn the
technique.
Acacia pycnantha, The Golden Wattle, is
Australia’s national floral emblem so perhaps
it’s appropriate that a tug named Wattle, be it
full size or model, should stand emblematic of
the shipbuilding skills achieved by Australia
eighty years ago.
Enjoy your hobby - John Parker, Aug. 2013
21
 View of davit support
structure and boat saddles.

The windlass, nick-named

‘Hernia’!

The Steam Tug Wattle moored at Docklands

against the Melbourne skyline in 2005.

Steam Tug
GALLERY
By Alan Flack Wattle
T
hese walk-around photos of the Steam Tug Wattle were taken by Alan in 2005 and show the
vessel with all the modifications made to suit it to passenger carrying service at that time,
Funnel and main cowl vents detail. before she failed her annual hull survey. the tug is now being restored as described in the
accompanying Plan Feature article by John Parker.

22
Amidships view showing front skylights over the engine room, tow hook and boat saddles.
 Wheelhouse and bridge deck
with doubled-up railings.

Main deckhouse side.

Upper decks with gangway

modification and please
note shape of railings.

Steam pipes and

Davit head detail.
whistle.

Forward hull and anchor detail.

Rear deck with canopy (when

used as pleasure boat) and
23
replacement stern grating. Foredeck detail with skylight and mast tabernacle.
special feature

Figure 1 Figure 2

Now read that again, slowly please. It says,
in other words, that electronics is the
knowledge of how individual components
work and how to assemble them together to
make a working device, while electrical
technology is the knowledge of how to
connect together different devices to turn
electrical energy into useful stuff like heat,
light and motion. When applied to model
boats this means that anyone with a basic
knowledge of what I call ‘bells, batteries and
switches’ can install the necessary electric
circuitry to make the model do what he (or
she) wants it to do without having to
understand how the clever electronic bits in
that circuit actually work. I’ve been challenged
by the Editor of this magazine to write an
article to illustrate and explain model boat
electrics for the non-technical reader, so I
hope what follows is at least halfway towards
that goal. There will be a few slightly technical
bits here and there but no complicated
mathematics will be used! You can treat this
Tim Fawcett has article as a reference work, that is to say,
used ACTion R/C diving into it for the bits of information you
Electronics products
extensively in his need, or sit down and read through the whole
Tamar lifeboat. thing just so that you know what’s in there for
when you might need it later.
The very simplest electrical circuit involves
negative of the last one. For the purposes of
this article I will use the terms ‘battery’ and
‘pack’ as if they mean the same thing.
Any battery is identified by two very
important properties. Its voltage puts a value on
the electrical ‘pressure’ it exerts between the
negative and positive poles, i.e. the higher the
voltage then the more electrical pressure it can
exert on a load. Increasing the voltage will, for
example, makes a bulb glow brighter or a motor
turn faster. The battery also has a capacity,
which is a measure of how much electrical
energy it holds and can supply before it becomes
discharged, or ‘flat’. The rate of flow of electrical
current along the conductor is measured in
Amps; the more amps which a load draws from
the battery then the quicker it will discharge.
The value of a battery’s capacity is the
arithmetical product of the current and the time
for which it can be supplied and is quoted in
Amp-Hours (AH), or Milliamp-Hours (mAH)
which are 1000 times smaller. A battery which
can supply one amp for one hour has a capacity
of one amp-hour. To give a figure more typical of
a model boat application, a 7.5AH battery will
supply a current of 2.5 Amps for 3 hours (2.5 x 3
= 7.5). Note that this does not depend upon the
voltage of the battery which, as I hope you have
learned, is a different thing altogether, Figure 2.

But I don’t
a power supply, conductive wiring, a load and There is an arithmetical relationship
a switch. The circuit is dead until the switch is between voltage and current in a circuit and
moved, at which stage a current of electricity it’s called Ohm’s Law and states that the

understand flows through the wiring of the circuit and

energises the load. The load does whatever it
voltage across a load divided by the current
flowing through it is called its resistance, or

Electronics!
does for as long as the power is supplied and
can be anything which consumes electrical
energy such as a bulb, a sound unit or a
motor. When the switch is returned to its
DAVE MILBOURN explains it all original position the circuit becomes dead
again and the load stops whatever it was
R=V/I, where I is the usual symbol for
current. For most practical purposes you
won’t really need Ohm’s Law but it’s useful to
be aware that it exists, if only to know what
‘resistance’ means. For model use there are
two types of battery:

F
irst, a couple of definitions: According to
my dictionary, electronics is the
technology of electrical circuits which
involve active electrical components such as
transistors, diodes and integrated circuits. It
is distinct from electrical technology which
deals with the generation, distribution,
switching and conversion of electrical energy
into other forms (e.g. light and motion) using
wires, motors, generators, batteries, switches,
relays, transformers, resistors and other
passive components.
1 sole function in life is to grab them from the
doing. Simple enough so far? Good, then
please see Figure 1. So let’s now deal with
the elements of this circuit, one at a time.
Battery
This is the power source and is essentially a
store of electrical energy. It has two poles, or
terminals, which are termed negative and
positive. The battery has chemicals inside it
which react to produce little particles of
electrical charge called ‘free electrons’ and
shove them all up at the negative pole. This is
insulated internally from the positive pole,
which has a deficiency of electrons and whose
other end of the battery. If a metallic
conductor is connected between the two poles
then the electrons will flow along it from
negative to positive. The conductor is usually
in the form of a thin metallic rod called a wire,
or a bundle of very thin rods called a cable.
The flow of electrons is called a current**.
Strictly speaking, a battery consists only of
one cell, which has just one pair of positive
and negative poles. For most uses this is
impractical as the voltage of a single cell is
only between 1.2v and 3.7v, depending on the
type of battery, so most model batteries are
actually packs of cells which are either
welded/soldered together in a chain or
manufactured together inside the same case.
A pack will therefore contain several
individual cells, but only one overall pair of
positive and negative terminals, i.e. the
positive of the first cell in the chain and the
Dr y batteries, which are not rechargeable
and useful really only for low-current
applications such as the transmitter.
Rechargeable batteries, which we tend to
use for everything else. Rechargeable batteries
come in various different guises and to describe
each fully would take a lot of space and probably
bore you rigid. The main types used are Sealed
Lead-Acid (SLA), Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH)
and Lithium Polymer (LiPo). Their names refer
to the chemicals inside them (electrolytes)
which react to generate the electrical energy,
and each type has its use in model boats.
Nickel-Cadmium types (NiCad’s or NiCd’s)
were popular at one time but have been
removed from the market because of the
adverse effect on the environment of discarded
heavy-metals such as cadmium.
SLA batteries are heavy, the ‘L’ stands for
lead after all, and cannot generate very high
currents, so are used where slower motors
are appropriate, and where they can
contribute usefully to the total weight of
ballast required to get the model down to its
scale waterline, e.g. in tugs. The usual sizes
for SLA batteries are 6v and 12v, both in many
different capacities, although there are also
some 2v cells around these days, Photo 1.
Nickel Metal-Hydride (NiMH) batteries
are generally made up in packs of joined-up
cells, each cell having a nominal voltage of 1.2

26 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013


volts and the cells coming in different case
sizes. The smaller case sizes have the smallest
capacity; typically around 850mAH for an AAA
pack, while the largest cells, ‘F’ size, go up to
10000 mAH (or 10AH). Packs of these cells
are much lighter than their equivalent capacity
SLA types and thus suitable for faster models
where low weight is more important. NiMH
cells can supply a lot more current than SLA
batteries and can also be fast-charged at the
lakeside from a portable charger. The term
‘nominal voltage’ is used to indicate the
voltage at which the pack will discharge for
the majority of its discharge cycle. When fully
charged, a NiMH cell can have as much as
1.55 volts across the poles. This will quickly
settle down to about 1.2v and stay at that level
until it is almost fully discharged. At that time
the voltage starts to drop quickly and should
not be allowed to go below 1v per cell or
damage will occur.
Finally, Lithium Polymer (LiPo) batteries
are the newest kids on the block and are
lighter and more powerful even than NiMH
cells. Their nominal voltage is 3.7v per cell,
BUT they do have to be carefully handled and
monitored. Careless handling or
overcharging/discharging can in the extreme
case, cause them to catch fire and even
destroy your model. For this reason it’s always
advisable to use a speed controller which will
monitor the battery voltage and cut off the
power to the motor before it reaches a
critically low value, e.g. the Mtroniks Tio
range. You can also obtain a stand-alone
device to do this, or a simple monitor which
just sounds an alarm when the value is
reached. That said, LiPo batteries are in use
all over the world and instances of such
accidents are becoming rare. As regards
charging, if you purchase the correct type of
balancing charger and follow the instructions,
then you will have no problems. LiPo packs
come in multiples of 3.7v and are quoted in the
form ‘XS’ where X is the number of cells. Thus
a ‘3S’ pack is 3 x 3.7 = 11.1 volts. The capacity
is quoted in the usual way i.e. mAH, and the
maximum current which can safely be
delivered is given in the form ‘YC’, where Y is
the value of the capacity (confusingly in
Amp-Hours). As an example, a 1700 mAH LiPo
pack has a corresponding ‘C’ value of 1.7 and
so a pack rated at 20C can supply a maximum
of 20 x 1.7 Amps = 34 Amps, Photo 2.
The only other thing which I should
emphasise about any type of rechargeable
battery is to use the correct type of charger
and always follow the charging instructions.
**Please note that unfortunately for some
reason the ‘conventional current’ flow in circuit
diagrams is always labelled as being from
positive to negative, but it’s not important as
long as you remember to connect the terminal
or wire of any load which is marked with a +
sign to the positive terminal of the battery etc.
Polarity
As described just now, there is a flow of
electric current when a load is connected
between the two poles of a battery.
Unfortunately some loads are sensitive to
which way around they are connected
(polarised) while others aren’t. Examples of
non-polarised loads are conventional bulbs,
relay and switch terminals and fuses.
Practically any unit which includes
semiconductors (transistors, PIC chips etc.)
will be polarised, so make sure that you
connect items such as speed controllers,
sound units and receivers the right way
around. They are usually marked with +
(positive) and – (negative) signs/labels or at
least the instructions will tell you how to
connect them. Yes, it DOES matter! If you
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
special feature
connect up a polarity-sensitive device the
wrong way round, even for a split second, 2
then you will probably damage it and often
fatally. Those of us who have suffered this fate
often then refer to ‘The Magic Grey
Smoke’……………!
Conductors
For our purposes, this means wiring and
usually of the insulated flexible variety, so that
complicated circuits can be accommodated
inside complicated hull shapes with lots of
bulkheads and electronic gizmos to negotiate.
A wire, or cable, is made up of a central
conductive core, usually multiple strands of
thin copper wire, and an insulating outer
sleeve. The sleeve is typically either PVC or a
silicone-based compound, which is more
flexible and resistant to heat. The most
crucial factor as far as wiring is concerned is
to use the right thickness/diameter. Too high
a current passing through a cable will
increase its temperature to the point where
the insulation breaks down and melts and the 3
conductor inside can short out against other
‘live’ components. Fires have been caused by
burning insulation, too. Model boat circuits
come basically in two types; those which
include motors and those which don’t. The
former will be subject to high currents while
the latter will only carry a few amps at most.
My own preference is to use thick multi-strand
silicone-coated cable for power wiring, and
thinner multi-strand PVC ‘hook-up’ wire for
such items as sound units and lighting. The
gauge of the silicone stuff is usually quoted in
AWG (American Wire Gauge) and the
following table will be useful when working
out what gauge of wire you need:
AWG Conductor Max current
dia.(mm) (Amps)
10 2.59 55 4
12 2.05 41
14 1.63 32
16 1.29 22
18 1.02 16
20 0.81 11
22 0.66 7
For other wiring I find that PVC insulated
hook-up wire of 7 strands of 0.2mm dia.
Conductor, usually termed 7/0.2, is okay up to
2 Amps while 10/0.1 is good for low-current
lighting circuits. If you need very thin cable
then I suggest buying multi-core alarm cable
which contains 4, 6 or 8 different coloured
insulated multi-stranded cables inside one
outer sheath. Others have used telephone
wire or enamelled copper wire, but you have 5
to scrape off the enamel insulation on the
latter type in order to make a decent joint.
Connectors
There are literally dozens of different types
of electrical connectors, many of which you
will find on model boat equipment. The
pictures show the main types in use, with
the exception of the familiar domestic
electrical multiple screw terminal blocks,
also known as ‘choc blocks’. These are fine
for their original application, i.e. domestic
wiring with single-core copper wire, but if
even slightly over-tightened, the screws
may secure only a few of the wires of a
stranded conductor cable or even cut right
through them. Avoid using these if at all
possible. The golden rule is that if a
manufacturer has fitted a particular type of
connector to the wiring on his unit then
you can assume it’s safe to use it, so fit the
appropriate mate to the connecting cable
and all should be well. Where no connector
has been supplied, then you need to decide
what type to use, Photos 3,4 & 5.
27
special feature
For general circuits of less than about 15A
(15 Amps), the Tamiya types are very
popular. For higher currents then consider
the Deans type, or the gold-plated bullet
connectors for very high currents. Do make
sure that you fit insulation (usually heat-
shrink tubing) over any soldered joints. Also
make sure that you fit the shrouded sockets
to the battery as this is to avoid un-insulated
plug connections accidentally shorting
together and blowing up the battery pack!
If your electronic units have screw
terminals then you will need to prepare the
ends of the cable to suit. NEVER just twist the
strands of cable together and stuff them into
the terminal. You will inevitably discover one
day that there is a loose strand (or ‘whisker’)
of wire which finds its way across to a
neighbouring terminal, causes a short-circuit
and melts or blows up something. At the very
least you should strip, twist and tin the
strands with solder, then crop them to length,
Photo 6. Ideally plain cable ends should be
terminated with a crimped bootlace ferrule;
the blue and red colour-coded ones are the
most useful sizes for models, Photo 7.
Figure 5
28
8
Soldering
This is the single most terrifying aspect to
fitting out model boats with electrics, if my
correspondence is anything to judge by. You
wouldn’t believe the lengths to which some
folk will go to avoid soldering, yet it’s very
easy if you follow the rules and use the right
tools and materials.
For general soldering use a 15 to 25 Watt
mains voltage electric iron. Fancy little gas-
powered torches are barely useful for any
electrical soldering except field repairs, but
they are excellent for browning crème brûlée!
I don’t use one for anything electrical myself.
For heavy-duty cable, i.e. anything thicker
than 18AWG, a 40 to 80 Watt iron is better,
especially if it has a decent-sized flat tip fitted
(4.2mm or wider). I have used a soldering
gun which heats up very quickly, but is too
hot and cumbersome to use for most
electrical work. Solder wire comes in two
sizes; 18SWG and 22SWG. I prefer to use the
thinner type for all joints, as you can feed it
into a heated joint without the risk of flooding
the joint with excess solder. Choose solder
with a lead content, as it’s easier to use than
lead-free, and a resin flux core. NEVER use
an acidic flux for electrical soldering. The
other major rules are:
1) Always make sure that the work is totally
clean and degreased before you try to solder it.
2) Wherever possible, hold the two pieces to
be joined together with non-ferrous clamps or
similar before applying the iron.
3) Never carry solder to the joint on the iron tip.
4) Wipe away excess solder from the tip of
the iron with a damp sponge regularly – never
take a file to the tip of a soldering iron or
you’ll destroy any special coating it may have.
5) Always scrub off any excess flux from the
joint afterwards. Methylated Spirits or
Isopropyl Alcohol are OK, but a proprietary
aerosol circuit board cleaner such as
Warton’s Total Clean 200 is best.
6) A good solder joint should be clean and
shiny-bright. If it looks grey and dull then the
chances are it’s what we call a ‘dry joint’ and
will neither conduct electricity properly nor
physically hold together for very long. If in
any doubt remake the joint.
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
Figure 3
Figure 4
Switches
These are devices which are operated either
manually or via remote control and are used to
turn electrical circuits on and off. In its simplest
form, a switch has a lever which moves a
conducting piece of metal into a position where
it makes contact with another fixed conductor,
thus bridging the two and allowing an electrical
current to flow between them. Each of these is
called a terminal (or pole) and is connected to
the wires within the circuit, thus controlling the
current in that circuit, Figure 3.
Manual switches are used in model boats to
turn on and off the power from the batteries to
the various loads. Usually these switches have
an extra terminal, so that the moving contact is
touching one or the other of two fixed terminals
at any time. This can be used to divert the flow
of current from one circuit into another and is
called a changeover (or double-throw) switch,
Figure 4. A simple switch which only has one
set of terminals is called a single-pole switch,
while a switch which can operate two
independent circuits with just one toggle is
called a double-pole switch, Figure 5. You will
find switches referred to by their abbreviations
SPDT and DPDT, which are respectively Single
Pole Double Throw and Double Pole Double
Throw. The centre contact of a set of three is
always the common contact.
The choice of switch depends upon what you
want it to do and also what current it will be
conducting, as switches are rated for voltage and
current. I recommend a 16A toggle switch for
motor circuits and either a 2A or 5A toggle
switch for lower current circuits, Photo 8. Note
that these ratings are for the ‘switching’ current
at a mains voltage, i.e. the current which will
flow instantly as soon as the switch is thrown. In
practice they are capable of conducting a higher
 9 10
current once they are ‘on’. In nearly all cases in a
model boat we are dealing with much lower
voltages and there will be very little current
flowing initially until you actually move a
transmitter stick and energise something like a
motor. I don’t personally use slide switches, but
they are still fitted by radio manufacturers in the
wiring harnesses which they supply to connect
receivers to battery packs, Photo 9.
Switches being what they are, the toggle or
slide needs to be accessible from outside the
model. This means either leaving it standing
proud but in a less visible place (e.g. inside an
open cockpit); hiding it under a removable
hatch, or modifying a deck feature so that it
moves and operates the switch. For
submarines none of these options are
practical, so you might want to fit a magnetic
switch. This is based on a magnetic reed
switch and is mounted on the inside of the
model, right up against the outer skin. To
operate it, you simply ‘wipe’ a permanent
magnet along the outside of the skin from
front to back of the switch area. This
energises the thin reed switch, trips a
latching relay and makes the circuit.
Alexander Engel KG sell two different types;
one for models with a BEC (Battery
Eliminator Circuit) speed controller and one
for those without, each in either 6v or 12v
versions They are however, as the Editor
says, not exactly cheap, Photo 10.
Remotely-controlled switches do essentially
the same job as manual ones, except that
instead of moving the slider or toggle of the
switch with your finger (or a magnet), you
operate a control on the transmitter of your
radio which sends a signal to a special sort of
switch inside the model to turn on and off the
particular load e.g. lights and more about
these later.
Series versus Parallel
Connection and Loads
At this point I will have to explain those
confusing terms parallel and series. There
are two very simple rules here.
Loads connected ‘in parallel’ go alongside
each other in side-by-side (parallel) cables
which are then connected at each end, like
two sidings along a single railway track. The
voltage across each load will equal the total
voltage across the circuit, Figure 6.
Figure 6
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
special feature
Figure 7
Figure 8
Loads connected ‘in series’ are connected
one after the other along the same cable i.e.
like a series of programmes on TV. The
voltages across each load will add up to the
total voltage across the circuit, Figure 7.
As I said earlier, a load can be anything
which consumes electrical energy but
typically will be a motor of some sort, or
lights or a sound effect unit. You can fit such
loads in series into a circuit where their total
operating voltage equals that of the whole
circuit. As an example; two 3 volt bulbs wired
in series will require a total of 6 volts across
the pair to operate them. This is a good way
to combine bulbs of a different voltage, e.g.
two 3 volt bulbs and a 6 volt bulb all in series
adds up nicely to 12 volts. If you wire two 3v Figure 9
bulbs in parallel however, they will require
only a 3v battery across the circuit as each
will receive 3 volts. You can combine loads in
circuits which involve both series and parallel
wiring if you like. Please see the illustration of
a typical lighting circuit in a modern tug
model, Figure 8. Here the supply voltage is
12v and it’s supplying both a series circuit
comprising of 2 x 3v bulbs and a parallel
circuit of 2 x 6v bulbs. Note that if one of the
bulbs in a series circuit fails then the whole
circuit becomes dead, whereas a failed bulb in
a parallel circuit has no effect on the other
bulbs. You’ve quite likely already discovered
this when hanging Christmas tree lights?
The terms ‘series’ and ‘parallel’ are also
applied to connecting batteries, but beware!
While you can connect two batteries with
different voltages and capacities in series, you
must NEVER connect two batteries of a different
voltage in parallel or one will discharge into the
other, with potentially serious damage to both
batteries and possibly the model. As before, the
total voltage of a series pair will be the total of the
two battery voltages, Figure 9, while the voltage
of a parallel pair will be the same as the two
individual batteries, Figure 10. The capacity of a
parallel pair will be twice that of the individual
batteries. In practice you should always make
sure that the two batteries in the pair are the
same type (e.g. SLA or NiMH) and the same
capacity (e.g. 7AH), irrespective of whether you
are wiring them in series or parallel.
Ideally you should disconnect pairs of
batteries from each other when charging and
charge them separately as there’s always the
risk that one will charge at a different rate
and be the weaker of the two if you charge Figure 10
them together as a pair. If you can’t, or don’t
29
special feature
Figure 13
want to remove them from the model, then
you can use a double-pole changeover switch
to connect them to charging sockets in the
model. The connections for series and parallel
connections are shown in the diagrams
Figures 11 & 12 respectively. Note that the
switch in the parallel set-up acts also as the
On/Off switch for the whole circuit, while in
the series circuit you need a separate On/Off
switch (in the positive wire) to do that job.
Figure 11 Planning
Before you can plan an installation you need
to know the operating voltage and the
approximate current drawn by each of the
loads. The operating voltage is usually
12
Figure 12
11
13
30 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
specified, e.g. a 12v motor, 3v bulbs etc., while
the current is seldom mentioned. You can
measure the current drawn by any load by
connecting it to a battery of the correct
voltage and connecting an ammeter in series
with it, please see Figure 13. You need then
to switch on the circuit and read off the
current. For a motor you will need to simulate
the load it will be working, so a main drive
motor should be fitted into the model and
running with its propeller in the water when
you measure the current. Most digital
multimeters have a scale which will read up to
10 Amps, while I came across an analogue
panel ammeter on the Internet which
measures 0 to 15A and cost less than £5,
Photo 11. I have found that a cheap digital
multimeter like the 318A from Rapid
Electronics suits all of my requirements and
there’s no need to spend more than around
£20 while you can get a very basic type for
less than £5, Photo 12. Alternatively you can
obtain a special Wattmeter for higher
currents. This clever device will also indicate
maximum current, voltage and thus power
consumed (volts x amps). They can even be
fitted into the model if you wish, and cost
around £15 to £40 from specialist model
suppliers. Examples are the JP EnErG Power
Battery Analyser, Photo 13, and the PP-
Wattmeter Budget, Photo 14, but other
types are available.
Once you know the voltages and currents you
can go ahead and plan the installation. For a
simple single-motor model with just a speed
controller and a steering servo that’s an easy
task, especially if your speed controller has BEC
(Battery Elimination Circuit). This is a little
circuit built into the speed controller which
reduces the voltage from the main motor battery
and passes it down the 3-wire connection from
14

Figure 14
the speed controller to supply power to the
receiver, Figure 14. When a speed controller
doesn’t have a BEC then you can either fit a
remote one or power the receiver from a
separate 4-cell NiMH pack.
For more complicated installations you might
well consider using a power distribution board
such as the ACTion P92, Photo 15. This takes
the power from the main battery and directs it
through fuses to five pairs of terminals, all at the
same voltage as the supply battery. It also has a
reduced-voltage fly-lead with a plug to power the
receiver i.e. the BEC device is fitted onto the
power board and not inside the speed controller,
Figure 15. A similar fused power board, albeit
with switches and without the BEC output, is
available from Hunter Systems while there is a
very sophisticated version from Harbor Models
of San Diego which includes voltage reduction
for the outputs as well. With this you can use just
one 12v battery to power two 12v circuits, two 6v
circuits, two 3v circuits and the 4.8v receiver! It
does however come with a hefty price tag and
because of its size is really not suitable for small
models. Note that where you have fitted a BEC
speed controller you must NOT also use a
separate power supply to the receiver such as a
battery pack or the flylead on the ACTion P92.
Further, if your model has two or more BEC-
equipped speed controllers then you must
disable the positive wire to the receiver on all but
one of them, Figure 16.
Where multiple voltages are required, a
little bit of planning can often resolve the
matter down to using one battery. For
example, if your main power supply is 12 volts
but you want to run a 6v lighting circuit from
it as well, then simply have two 6v bulbs in
series as one circuit (total supply voltage =
12v). You could incorporate a resistor instead
of one of the bulbs, but it will usually need to
be of a very low resistance and high power
capacity in order to ‘absorb’ the unwanted
power. It will, of course, also get pretty hot in
operation. In such circumstances it’s easiest to
hide the second bulb internally if you can’t
make use of it elsewhere on the model. If you
do find yourself needing a different voltage for
just one circuit then it’s often the best advice
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
special feature
15
to use a separate battery to supply that circuit
rather than mess around with resistors etc.
If you really do have problems with
planning circuits then you could take a look at
the ACTion website, which includes over 170
full-colour wiring diagrams for all sorts of
model boats from simple launches to multiple 16
screw warships. See www.action-electronics.
co.uk. It is naturally biased towards ACTion’s
own products. but the principles of installation
apply equally to most electronic gizmos.
Fuses
My friend and mentor, the late Craig Talbot,
wouldn’t hear of fitting fuses into a model
boat as: ‘They don’t prevent anything from
being destroyed by a determined idiot’! I
admit that I followed this until I witnessed a
fire in a model which could so easily have
been prevented had a fuse been fitted.
The purpose of a fuse is primarily safety. A
fuse probably won’t stop a stalled motor from
blowing the output FET’s in a speed obtainable, and are not expensive. You can
controller, but it will blow fast enough to stop even buy a fuse holder for these with an
cables and contacts from overheating and indicator diode which glows either red or
catching fire. Choose a value which is just a green depending on which way the current is
little above that at which you get nuisance flowing, which is very useful for setting
blowing of the fuse, e.g. try a 5A fuse in motors up, Photo 16. Finally, don’t fit fuses
circuit with a 10A ESC (electronic speed or fused boards inside a box or have them
controller) and if it continually blows when way down deep in the hull as you’ll need to be
the motor is at full load, replace it with a 7.5A able to get to them easily for checking and
one or even higher rating if required, but replacing them.
don’t exceed the maximum rating of the ESC
with the fuse value. For those who want to
know whether to fit a fuse between the
Figure 16
battery and ESC or between the ESC and the
motor, there’s no harm in doing both, but you
must ALWAYS fit one in the positive line
between the battery and the ESC somewhere.
This is also the place for the main On/Off
power switch.
For fuse values of less than about 2A you
can use those clear glass cartridge fuses
fitted to an in-line, spring–loaded holder.
These aren’t very useful for higher currents,
as the contact area at each end of the fuse is
very small which can produce excess heat
and melt the holder. I favour the automotive
‘blade fuses’ which go up to 30A, are widely
Figure 15
31
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special feature
Figure 17
Motors
17 Electrically-powered model boats
exclusively use Direct Current (DC)
motors, although there are
thousands of different types and sizes.
Essentially they all involve using the power
supply to energise a coil or coils of wire inside
the motor. These coils form the armature of the
motor. The electrical energy creates a magnetic
field in the coils which in turn rotates the
armature inside the motor. The armature shaft
extends beyond the end bearings in the motor
case and the propeller shaft is connected to it via
a coupling. There are very many websites which
show their construction and operation, with both
coloured diagrams and animated graphics.
18
19
Figure 18
Brushed motors
In what we call a ‘brushed’ motor, the coils of
wire are wound around the poles of the
armature which is caused to rotate inside a
permanent magnet or magnets. These magnets
are fixed around the inside of the motor case.
The almost-universal way of conducting the
electrical current to the coils of wire around the
armature is via fixed carbon ‘brushes’, which
rub tightly against brass contacts on the
armature as it spins around. These contacts
form what is called the commutator of the motor.
The rubbing action creates quite a lot of friction
and heat; it can also create electrical sparks
which in turn put out a very messy radio signal.
This unwanted radio frequency (called RF) can
interfere with the signals received by the radio
in your model and cause servos to twitch
uncontrollably. This effect is known as Radio
Frequency Interference or RFI for short. You
can, and should, fit small suppressor
components called capacitors to the motor as
shown in the diagram, Figure 17, to eliminate
the effects of RFI, Photo 17.
Motor suppression is not as necessary if
you are using a microwave-frequency radio
(2.4GHz), but if you are sailing with others
who aren’t, then the RFI created by your
motor might just be ‘loud’ enough to interfere
with their radios. Further measures may be
needed if the RF still causes twitching servos
in your model. These can include earthing
the case of the motor(s) to the propeller tube;
twisting the two wires from the speed
controller to the motor together and/or
passing these wires through and around
ferrite rings. A full treatise on suppressing
motors can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.modelsoundsinc.com/articles/
DavidsOriginalArticles/RFIArticleMarch2006.pdf
Brushless motors
Over recent years there has been a major
revolution in model motor technology with the
advent of brushless motors. As the name
suggests, these don’t rely on fixed brushes to
transmit the power to the central armature.
Rather they are made ‘inside out’ with the wire
coils fixed around the inside of the motor casing
and a permanent magnet rotating the shaft
inside them. The power to energise the coils is
transmitted by some very clever, fast-switching
electronics outside the motor case. Because
there are no brushes, these motors are much
more efficient than their brushed cousins, so a
small and light brushless motor will do the same
job as a bigger, heavier brushed one. There are
no brushes to replace and so the motors are
virtually maintenance-free. They are, however,
very hungry for power and so heavy-duty cable
and batteries which can supply high currents
are required (usually NiMH or LiPo types).
They also have a couple of other limitations in
that low-speed control is not yet as good as with
the brushed types and there are only a few
speed controllers available which will allow
remote selection of forward and reverse.
Because they have no commutator to create RF
interference, brushless motors don’t require
suppressor capacitors, which should please the
‘solder-phobes’!
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
Just to muddy the waters a little further, there
are two types of brushless motor. Those where
the outer casing of the motor is fixed to the
mount and the shaft rotates within the casing are
called ‘Inrunners’, while those which have a
shaft fixed to the rotating outer case are
‘Outrunners’. The latter type is more useful for
model boats as they generally have higher
torque and lower RPM than the former. In
model boats the water-cooling of brushless
motors is sometimes necessary; more
frequently with the higher-revving Inrunners but
occasionally where the load on an outrunner is
relatively high. This is achieved by using the
propeller to force cold water from the pond
through a scoop just behind the propeller blades
into a flexible tube. The water passes through
this tube into a specially-made motor mount and
conducts the excess heat away through a small
exit outlet in the side of the hull. In many cases
this cooling water also needs to pass through the
speed controller, which will have tubes already
fitted for the purpose, Photos 18 and 19.
At the moment the general practice seems to
be to use brushless motors where speed is the
main criteria for performance, with brushed
motors still being by far the most popular for
model workboats, warships and submarines, but
like the man says, you pay your money and you
take your choice! Just remember that you
cannot run a brushless motor using a brushed-
motor speed controller and vice versa.
Speed controllers
If you want to know how an electronic speed
controller works then I’d refer you to the
article on the ACTion website as it’s far too
long to reproduce here. Please see: http://
www.action-electronics.co.uk/pdfs/ESCs.pdf
In the bad old days we used to use
mechanical variable-resistance speed
controllers, operated by a standard servo,
which controlled the speed of the motor by
‘bleeding off’ unwanted power. A contact on
the end of a wiper arm moved across a coil of
resistive wire like a rheostat, or a miniature
electric fire. This was very wasteful in terms
of battery power and the advent of the
Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) has made
these almost extinct. Okay, users of ‘Bob’s
Boards’ will object to that statement, but
matching the correct resistive board to the
motor was always critical to operating the
things and few users seemed to manage to do
that successfully. The contacts also could
work loose in operation, would only handle
relatively small currents, and required
regular maintenance.
The modern electronic speed controller comes
in two distinct types, depending upon the motor,
that’s brushless and brushed. We’ll concentrate
on the latter here, as most of what applies to
brushed types also applies to brushless.
There are two distinct parts to the inside of
an ESC; the logic circuitry and the power
circuitry, Figure 18. The logic components
are the ones which are connected to the
receiver via the 3-wire lead with a plug on the
end. Its operating voltage is dictated by the
receiver and is generally of the order of 4.8v,
but you don’t need to make a conscious

decision about that as the receiver will take
care of it. The purpose of the logic circuitry is
to detect and decode the signal coming from
the receiver and to switch the high-speed,
high-current semiconductors in the power
circuit which control the speed and direction
of the motor. The ESC manufacturer will state
in the technical information the range of main
motor battery voltages with which the ESC
will cope, along with what should be a value
for the maximum motor current (in Amps)
which the ESC will handle under
continuous operation. You should be
guided by those two values when choosing
your ESC, after first ascertaining the working
voltage of the motor and its current
consumption under load as described earlier.
I’ve emphasised the words ‘under
continuous operation’, because the current
rating often causes confusion and I suspect,
involves a little skullduggery on the part of
some sellers. When you switch on an ESC
and bang open the throttle there will be a
sudden inrush of current from the battery to
the motor to get it spinning. This will always
be a larger value than that consumed when
the motor is running at full speed, i.e.
continuously. Modern switching
semiconductors therefore have two current
rating values; one for continuous and one for
‘inrush’ or pulsed currents. The value we
should be concerned with is the continuous
current rating. Because it is a much more
impressive figure, I have long suspected that
certain oriental ESCs are rated with their
inrush current instead. Indeed, we have
handled supposedly 50A ESC’s from such
sources which failed consistently at 15A. So,
the moral is clear; buy a known unit from a
reliable source with a good reputation and a
clearly stated service/warranty policy.
Popular UK-manufactured ESC’s are by
ACTion, Electronize and Mtroniks, while
other popular and reliable imports carry the
Graupner or Robbe labels. Make sure also
that the ESC has both forward and reverse if
you are fitting out a workboat like a tug.
Many of the cheaper ones are forward-only or
have limited reversing capability. Incidentally
it’s quite okay to run a low-current motor on
an ESC which has a much higher rating, but
not the other way around.
The power circuit connections of an ESC will
always comprise a pair of thick battery cables.
These are usually made in red and black, for
positive and negative connections respectively.
There will also be a pair of cables to connect with
the motor terminals, often in blue and yellow, but
be careful and check your instruction leaflet first.
Brushless motor ESC’s have three motor wires.
It doesn’t matter which way round you connect
the motor wires to the motor, BUT the battery
connections should NEVER be reversed. If you
wish to reverse the direction in which the motor
is rotating then just swap over the two wires from
the ESC to the motor. For brushless motors swap
over any two of the three motor wires.
Setting up the ESC to operate from the radio
can either be a real pain or none at all,
depending on the type chosen. Some require
you to move the transmitter stick to its neutral
and extreme positions while you push a small
button on the ESC in response to flashing
coloured LED’s. Others have rotary trimmers
and slide switches which can adjust the
working frequency and the neutral and peak
motor speeds. Others, you just switch on, and
they ‘Autoset’ themselves! Brushless ESC’s are
a law unto themselves and frequently require a
separate programming card.
The only other variable is whether or not
the ESC contains a battery eliminator circuit
(BEC – see earlier). If it does, then you must
NOT connect an additional power supply to
the receiver. Some BEC-equipped ESC’s have
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
a small slide-switch on a pair of thin wire
leads. This usually controls the onward power
from the internal BEC voltage regulator to
the rest of the radio system and therefore
serves as a radio ON/OFF switch. It does not
control the power supply from the battery to
the ESC, so I would recommend also fitting
an addition high-current switch in the positive
lead from the main battery to the ESC unless
you are in the habit of disconnecting the
battery physically each time you remove the
model from the water. If you do disable the
BEC for any reason, then leave the little
switch in its ON position or you may find that
the ESC doesn’t work; again, this should be
covered in the ESC Instructions.
Modellers have complained about the high-
pitched whine that some speed controllers
appear to emit at low motor speeds. In fact it’s
the motor which is making the noise and it’s
caused by the very high frequency at which
the motor is switched on and off. This is
usually only audible at very low speeds. If it
annoys you, then the only solution is to
change to a speed controller which operates
at a lower frequency, whereupon that whine
becomes a low-frequency buzz. Some ESC’s
are switchable between high and low
frequency, but that is more because high
frequency ESC’s are more effective at low
speed control.
Whichever type of ESC you buy, read the
instruction manual before you do anything
with it. Of those units which were returned to
us ‘for repair’, at least 50% had nothing wrong
with them; it was usually a case of the user
thinking he knew more about how the ESC
should work than the guy who wrote the
instructions. If ever you hear an electronics
engineer muttering about ‘Hardware-User
Interface Conflict’ then you’ll now know
exactly what it means!
Motor Mixers
Twin electric motors can be operated by
various means. You can run two motors in
parallel from one ESC or you can operate two
separate ESC’s from one receiver channel. In
both of these cases the motors will run at the
same speed and in the same direction
together. If you wish to do what the full-size
boats do however, you can split the two
motors between two separate channels and
use a transmitter stick to control each one
independently. This is called ‘tank steering’ as
it’s the way a tank driver controls his vehicle.
It allows much better low-speed control for
manoeuvring into a dock, and it can also
greatly improve the turning ability of a model.
However you’ll have spotted that it required
two channels for the throttles and it’s also
quite a complicated skill to learn.
You can alternatively fit an on-board device
called a motor mixer, which is coupled to the
Figure 20
special feature
Figure 19
throttle and steering outputs of the receiver
and automatically slows down or reverses the
inner motor in a turn as you apply a steering
command. There are several different types
on the market (e.g. Mtroniks, ACTion,
Hunter) and also a combined twin speed
controller and mixer, the ACTion P94. I’d
suggest you have a look at the article:
http://www.action-electronics.co.uk/pdfs/
Twins%20Ver2.pdf, which explains and
illustrates further how these units work.
Radio Control Switches
You can’t just connect a load like a bulb to the
output pins of a receiver and expect it to
operate when you move the transmitter stick,
because the receiver is not itself a switch. It
puts out a signal voltage pulse through one
wire of each channel’s connectors. The length
of these pulses is varied by movement of the
stick or switch on the transmitter and ranges
typically between 1 and 2 thousandths of a
second (1-2mS) as you move the stick. The
other two wires of the channel’s output are at
0v and +5v all of the time. In order to make
sense of this variable signal pulse, the device
which is plugged into the receiver needs a
circuit to detect it, decode it and change it to
drive an output which can be used by the
load. In a servo this output drives the servo
motor. In a radio-controlled switch it operates
either an electromechanical relay or a
semiconductor, which in turn, switches an
external circuit, e.g. lights, winch motor,
sound unit.
The original remote switch for model boats
was a sensitive mechanical type called a
microswitch, mounted on top of a standard
servo. The button of the microswitch, or a
lever connected to it, was depressed by the
rotating arm or disc of the servo, so making
the electrical circuit connected to the switch.
Figure 19. The contacts are the same as a
conventional single-pole changeover switch,
Figure 20. Some modellers still cling to this
method, largely I think because they don’t
understand the workings of a servo-less
switch. A simple single-relay switch has
exactly the same contacts as a microswitch
and is physically much smaller than the servo
+ switch assembly. It plugs into the receiver
35
special feature

Figure 21

exactly as a servo does, and requires no

further setting up such as bending levers or
repositioning the servo arm to make/break
contact at the appropriate point, Figure 21.
Radio control switches can behave like a
bell-push, where the circuit is live only for
as long as you hold the transmitter stick or
switch in the ON position, Figure 22. The
alternative is that they operate like an
Anglepoise lamp switch, where you have to
push and let go of the switch to turn it on,
and then repeat that action to turn it off,
Figure 23. The latter is called a latching
switch while the former is, unsurprisingly,
a non-latching switch. Each has its place
within a model; for example you would use
a latching switch for any load which you
want to keep on for a while, such as lights,
whilst a non-latching switch would be more
suitable for a horn or whistle.
Some r/c switches can operate up to eight
separate circuits from just one channel but
beware! Those simple 2-way switched
Figure 22 channels on multi-channel radios which are
often marked with legends like ‘Retracts’ or
‘Flap’ are capable only of operating a single
function switch (i.e. On or Off). Practically
this limits them to one lighting circuit, a
single sound card or a continually-rotating
motor like a radar sweep arm. For two or
more circuits per channel, then you need a
spare radio channel which is operated either
by a stick, a rotary knob or a 3-way switch
(Centre = Off).
The main selection criteria for a switch is
the current which the load to be switched
will draw. Typically one Grain of Wheat
bulb will draw 60 to 80mA; an LED will
draw 20mA; a 12v smoke unit will draw 1 to
2A and a geared 12v winch motor between
1A and 5A depending on the motor size.
Calculate the total current for each circuit
and then buy the appropriate switch. With
relay switches, the voltage doesn’t seem to
matter as long as it doesn’t exceed about
30v whereas switches without relays can be
limited to well below that value. Again, do
some research before you decide. Popular
makes of r/c switches include Electronize,
Hunter Systems, Technobots, ACTion and
Robbe-Futaba.

Engine sound units

If you wish to add realism to your model,
then pretty much the obvious choice would
be an engine sound, ideally one which
increases in pitch as you open the throttle.
Take care that this is a realistic choice
however as I doubt ver y much if you would
have heard the engines of HMS Hood or
the Titanic unless you pressed your ear to
the hull and the ver y popular KD Perkasa
was powered by three gas turbine engines,
not petrol or diesel!
Such sound units are available in two basic
types; those which simply simulate the
sound of an engine by generating and
modifying electronic noises, and those which
replay digital samples of real engine
Figure 23 recordings. In order for the pitch to be
varied there is a connection either to the

36 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

 special feature

brushes of the motor itself or to the receiver

throttle channel output, Figure 24. In the
former case it’s important to know the
voltage of the main batter y, because the
sound card runs directly from it. In the
latter case the sound card takes its signal
and power from the receiver so the main
motor batter y voltage isn’t relevant. Sound
simulators are generally adjustable for
volume, pitch, idle and top speed and some
sort of character or tone, e.g. number of
cylinders in a diesel engine, while the
digital replay types are usually only
adjustable for volume.
In nearly all cases, engine sound cards will
have an amplifier chip built into their
circuitry, so the only other item to fit will be
a suitable speaker. Make sure you use the
correct impedance, which is usually 4Ω or
8Ω, but check the instructions. The
exception is the ACTion P100 Noisy Thing,
which requires an external amplifier to
work. Most sound cards will benefit from the
addition of an external amplifier to increase
their volume, as few seem to be suitable for
all but fairly small lakes. Model Sound Inc’s
Shockwave digital system has a very
powerful on-board Class-D amplifier which
Figure 24
makes it suitable for large model aircraft and
helicopters, but a high supply voltage and
large speakers are required to obtain the
optimum performance from this unit.
Note that a straightforward engine sound
card doesn’t require a separate radio channel
to operate, as it simply uses the throttle
channel to vary its pitch. Some units,
however, may require a second channel e.g.
the Mtroniks unit needs one to start up the
engine sound while the P100 carries up to
eight other sound effects (horns, bells etc.)
which can be activated by a second channel
and selector switch.
Engine sound simulators are made by
Technobots, ACTion, Harbor Models, Robbe,
and JoTiKa while the more expensive digital
types are from Mtroniks, Benedini, ACTion,
Model Sounds Inc. (Canada) and Graupner.
Model Sounds Ltd (UK) make a fixed-pitch
sound unit called Master Blaster which is
switched on manually and allowed to run for
the whole sailing session. This is useful for a
heavy marine-diesel sound, which varies very
little with throttle anyway and other types are
available. Note that the digital types can all be
programmed with different engine sounds,
some by the user and others at the time of Figure 25
purchase. Once again, check out the
manufacturer’s website for all the details.

Other sounds and speakers

Most of the manufacturers just mentioned,
also supply sound units for other ship’s
noises, e.g. fog horns, air horns, bells,
whistles, telegraph, sirens, destroyer ‘whoops’
etc. These tend to be the synthesised kind
that is adjustable by the user as required.
Some will be supplied with their own speaker
and perhaps a microswitch so that they can
be activated by a servo; others will need a
separate speaker and some sort of r/c switch
to operate them. You will need a spare radio
channel for these sounds. You can operate
more than one sound unit at a time, but if you
are using just one speaker then you must fit a
separate audio amplifier/mixer (e.g. ACTion
P97 or P101), or fit a separate speaker for
each unit. Two sound cards wired directly to
the same speaker is almost the quickest way
to a blown unit that I can think of and nearly
as quick as connecting the power supply the
wrong way around!
The question of speakers arises. The sound
quality from a paper cone is without doubt
better than any other type, BUT don’t forget
you are only going to hear the sound from
quite a distance, so real hi-fi quality would be
wasted. Mylar or polypropylene cones are
better for model boats because they are
waterproof (or rather, splash-proof), in that
they probably wouldn’t survive being
submerged while turned on. Speakers do have
polarised connections, i.e. there is a +ve and a
–ve marked on the solder terminals. If your
sound unit or amplifier is also marked with the
polarity of the speaker outputs then do connect
them up, like for like. However, it isn’t vital that
they should be connected like that; you won’t
damage anything if they aren’t.
Figure 25 shows a siren unit connected
to an r/c switch with a flashing light unit
wired in parallel. This is popular for fire
and rescue models and shows how several
of the different items in this article can be
operated together. In this case the siren
will sound and the light will flash when the
switch is operated.
Lights
Fitting working lights to a model boat is often
not the easiest of tasks. Many are placed in
awkward positions, e.g. at the top of a tall thin
mast. This will require good planning and thin
cable, and if lights are going to be inaccessible
after fitting then you are best advised to
include them in a parallel circuit. That way if
one does fail then the others will continue to
work. One common way of reducing the
number of wires needed in a mast installation
is to make the mast of brass tube and use it as
a common negative connection for every light.
That way you need only a separate positive
wire for each bulb or LED.
You need to plan how many separate circuits
you want, because you will need a separate
switch for each one. For example, you might
want the navigation lights and mast lights on
one circuit, while the bridge and interior
lighting is on another. This is where twin or
multiple switches (e.g. ACTion P44 or P62) are
handy, in as much as you can operate two or
more circuits from one channel.
The question then arises whether to use
LED’s or conventional bulbs. LED’s have the
advantage of a much longer operating life
and lower current consumption (about a

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 37

special feature 20
third of that needed for a Grain of Wheat
bulb), but they usually require a series
resistor to make them compatible with the
supply voltage and they are only bright when
viewed from quite a narrow angle, like in a
spotlight. Component Shop’s catalogue has a
very informative article on using LED’s as
well as a calculator for working out the value
of series resistors. Internet tools are also
available e.g.: http://www.muzique.com/
schem/led.htm Another option, especially
for very small lights, would be to fit a
powerful bulb or LED inside the model and
run optical fibres from it to the sites of the
lighting points.
Smoke
For some modellers there is no option but to
have a funnel belching smoke as the model
steams away from the side of the lake. If you
are considering fitting such an effect then
make sure, as with an engine sound, that this
is appropriate for the type of model, e.g.
modern large diesels will give a cloud of dirty
smoke on start-up, but then run without any
21
38
visible exhaust, while other vessels have
exhausts situated below the waterline.
Smoke or steam simulators work on two
different principles. The first type e.g. Marks
Model Bits’ ‘Foggy’ has an internal nebuliser
and runs on water. The nebuliser creates a mist
of water vapour which is then forced up a short
plastic funnel by a small computer fan. This is
quite a bulky unit and requires a 24v power
supply to run (or a 12v/24v voltage converter).
A more sophisticated version is available which
has a small speed controller to increase the
speed of the fan and thus the volume of smoke
as the throttle is increased. The newer Steam
Master unit does essentially the same thing, but
works on any supply from 6v to 20v. It’s also
smaller, but produces greater volumes of steam;
has four different, programmable smoke outputs
and is nearly twice as expensive.
The other type of smoke unit actually does
produce real smoke, usually from a
commercially-available hydrocarbon-based
distillate. This oil is retained in a metal
reservoir which also has a wick inside it. This
soaks up oil and is ignited by a heating
element to produce the smoke. This exits the
funnel, either with or without help from a fan,
as per the Foggy system. Hunter Systems’ unit
works on 12v, but has no fan assist, while the
daddy of them all has to be the Harbor Models
unit. This 12v ‘squirrel cage’ blower-assisted
unit is expensive, but mightily impressive and
there is a video on their website.
The other pros and cons I have heard, are that
the water-based units are ineffective in hot or
humid countries, while the oil burners can leave
a sooty residue all over the model. Oh, and you
won’t get black smoke from either type, at least
not safely, Photos 20 & 21!
Other functions
The variety of working functions which can be
incorporated in a model boat is largely down
to the imagination and ingenuity of the
builder and the budget available. There are no
fixed rules about how these things can be
operated, but here are a few suggestions:
Bow thrusters: Often incorporated in
models of workboats such as tugs and
ferries, these are small electric brushed
motors fitted inside a tube which runs from
side to side at the bow of the model, below
waterline level. Water is drawn into one side
and expelled from the other, applying a
turning force to the bow (or stern) of the
model. Typically the motor will run from
7.2v and needs a speed controller which will
give equal power in both directions. Connect
it to the channel which is operated by a
sideways-movement of the transmitter stick
and this is usually the opposite stick to the
main steering one.
Working winches: These use a geared
motor run either by a speed controller or a
2-way relay-based switch, with or without limit
microswitches to prevent over-running.
MFA/Como Drills have a very large range of
geared motors and also a selection of plastic
gears, chains, racks, pinions etc. to make up a
drive train.
Doors, ramps, deck lifts, retractable
antenna: Either use a geared motor as above,
or a suitable servo. ACTion’s P96
 special feature

ServoMorph is a handy device which can

var y the total amount, direction and speed
of rotation of a standard ser vo. Model
aircraft retracting-undercarriage ser vos
will turn slowly, have high torque output
and will rotate 180 degrees with a normal
transmitter signal. Sail winch ser vos will
rotate several times from one extreme of
signal to the other. Both types can be
adapted for these sorts of function.

Gun turrets: Again, use either a geared

motor and 2-way switch or a servo.
Technobots have a dedicated Servo Position
Controller which can be made to move a Figure 26
servo and stop the rotation at any point by
returning the stick to centre without the
servo following it. This clever little unit can
also increase the degree of rotation as well as
Suppliers’ website details:
adjust its speed. It is only available as a kit to www.action-electronics.co.uk Speed controllers, RC switches, power distribution board, fuse boards,
build on stripboard, however. Multiple turret motor mixers, sound units, ServoMorph, Wiring Diagrams*
servos can be made to rotate together by
interconnecting them using Y-leads. Servo www.benedini.de Engine sound systems
rotation can be reversed by either a controller
such as the P96 ServoMorph or a simple and www.component-shop.co.uk Batteries, connectors, leads, cable, chargers, LEDs, ACTion R/C Electronics units*
cheap reversing lead (available from
www.electronize.co.uk Speed controllers, RC switches, motors
Component Shop and others).
www.engel-modellbau.eu Magnetic switches
Fire monitors, bilge pumps: Use a geared
water-pump suitable for the voltage available www.graupner.de/en Speed controllers, sound units, pumps
(Robbe and Graupner market several) and
switched by a high-current r/c switch, e.g. www.harbormodels.com Smoke unit, sound units, power distribution board
ACTion P91. Note that the motors in these
pumps are not often rated for running http://shop.huntersystems.co.uk Smoke unit, power distribution board
continuously for more than about 30 seconds
at a time. Ignore such warnings at your peril! www.jotika-ltd.com Sound modules

And finally: www.marksmodelbits.com Foggy smoke/steam generator*

Which channel is which?
All multi-channel receivers have labels to www.mfacomodrills.com Motors, gearboxes, gears, chain, sprockets, pinions, pulleys etc.
inform you which numbered channel you are
connecting your device into, but very few www.mtroniks.net Speed controllers, mixers, motors
have the corresponding labels on the
www.modelsolutions.ca Engine sound systems
transmitter sticks. I am frequently asked:
‘How do I know which set of pins to use’? The www.modelsounds.co.uk Sound modules
answer is to experiment, or try it and see.
Plug a servo into Channel 1 of the receiver, www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk Power analyser*
switch on the transmitter and receiver and
wiggle the sticks until you find which www.rapidonline.com Test equipment*
movement of which stick moves the servo.
Now draw a diagram of the transmitter in the www.robbe.de Speed controllers, sound units, RC switchers, pumps
notes section of the radio’s manual and label
it. Switch off the Rx, move the servo www.steammasterunit.co.uk Steam/smoke generator*
connection on to Channel 2 and repeat. Do
this for every channel and you’ll end up with www.technobotsonline.com Servo Position Controller, engine sound simulators
an accurate picture of your Tx showing the
correct stick/switch for each Rx output. www.4-max.co.uk PP-Budget Wattmeter
Simple, innit - please see Figure 26! l
*The author wishes to acknowledge these suppliers for the use of their photographic images included in this article.
Other photographs by the author, Paul Freshney, Nick Keur and Tim Fawcett.
Please also note that all ACTion R/C Electronics products are now only retailed by Component Shop.

MODEL BOA
TS Model Boats Magazine is now only a
ONLINE ! click away! You can find us online at...

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Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 39

 The Yacht Utrecht, 1746
NEW Scratch BUILDING
the Yacht Utretcht
By Gilbert “Gib” McArdle
G ilbert McArdle has taken
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THE STATENJACHT UTRECHT
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Editor: Ab Hoving
Plans: Cor Emke
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 kit review
Ranzow
TERRY SMALL reviews the Graupner kit
R
anzow is a multi-purpose ship designed
for operation in shallow and confined
waters. She can cope with many tasks,
including transport of personnel, equipment
and materials, the maintenance of navigation
buoys, ice-breaking missions and other
maritime related tasks. The vessel is fitted
with a remote controlled hydraulic crane for
work on deck. The mast can be folded down
and the searchlight on the bridge swung
forward and down, enabling the ship to pass
under low bridges. Twin Becker rudders with
a bow thruster provide excellent manoeuvring
capability, while electronic equipment allows
the crew to operate and monitor all the ship’s
systems from two control stations.
The kit
Ranzow has been developed from documents
supplied by the Fassmer Dockyard and is to a
scale of 1:32, making for a model 100cm long
and weighing approx. 7.4kg. Graupner
recommended accessories are two electric
motors, Speed 500E No.1788, and the bow
thruster No.1785. Of course other radio
control and power items will be required, but
1 2
42
these are at the model builder’s discretion.
The deck-mounted crane is included in the kit
and can be made to work in a scale fashion
using the separately purchased Expansion
Crane Set, Part No.2023, in conjunction with
three mini motors Part No.1753, but this is all
at the builder’s choice. Parts which are
difficult to make, including the hull, deck
parts, bulwark, superstructure and bridge,
are injection-moulded, so reducing the
building time considerably. However, the
model is not intended for the beginner, so
some modelling experience and assembly
skills will be required. Current UK price is
around £240 for the basic kit without the
optional extras. It should also be mentioned
that Graupner at the end of 2012, underwent a
change of ownership and it would appear that
only now, in the second half of 2013, are
supplies into the retail market starting to get
back to normal for their product range.
Hull and running gear
The hull is a superbly trimmed ABS
moulding, requiring just a light sanding on its
outside for painting and a semi-coarse sand
inside to create a keyed surface for gluing in
place the running gear etc. A boat stand from
CNC cut plywood is supplied, ready to glue
together, although for added strength as a
personal choice, I used the parts as templates
and made another from thicker plywood,
leaving the original for display purposes only.
To strengthen the hull, an internal framework
has to be separated from the excellent laser
cut plywood sheets, Photo 1, on which the
parts are number stamped, indicating their
correct position as shown on the plan and
stated in the instructions.
For all wood-to-wood joints, a waterproof
resin wood glue was used and for wood to
plastic, five minute epoxy glue did the job very
well. The hull’s internal framework was glued
in position making sure nothing moved as the
adhesive was setting to avoid any twisting,
Photo 2. The plywood motor mount was next
to be assembled, unless different type of
motors are to be fitted, as then you would be
on your own as they say! I used two 545 low
drain high torque motors from Howes Models
instead of those recommended (which were
rather expensive) and they fitted without any
modifications to the supplied motor mount. To
achieve correct alignment of the propshafts
and motors, it’s best to dry-fit everything first
before going into action with the glue. The
 3 4
propshafts each have skegs and some
adjustment may be needed to get everything
ship-shape, Photos 3 and 4.
The other key point is to make sure that
both Becker rudders, when in position, are
upright and at the same angle to each other
when looking side to side and directly from
the stern. All this sounds a lot to do, but is
very important for future smooth running of
the model. It is a good idea to file a flat
section to each drive motor output shaft and
the propshafts where the couplings attach, for
a much improved securing point. The bow
thruster unit, if fitted, is to be located and
glued in place at the correct angle centrally in
the pre-cut hole as in Photo 5. A bow
thruster is not essential, but you might as well
include it if you are able to. Once the glue was
set, the excess tube outer ends were cut back
and sanded to match the hull’s outside
curvature. If not fitting a bow thruster unit,
then the holes will require internal blocking
off using scrap plastic, with filler to smooth
the exterior to match the hull, or as an
alternative, a dummy tube could be inserted.
As they say, the choice is yours!
One other thing: The position of the rudder
servo mounting was as in the plan, but does
result in very little clearance between it and the
linkages underneath the deck, so be careful and
you might want to change its location.
The deck
A one-piece printed planked plywood deck is
supplied, Photo 6, on which eventually some
areas will need to be painted up to the
‘planked lines’ once it is glued in position. The
first task is to carefully separate it from the
carrier frame by gently cutting through each
of the very small securing pieces with a sharp
knife, Photo 7. Next, the underside of the
deck (i.e. the side with no printing) was
sanded using semi-coarse sandpaper, so as to
create a good glue keying surface. It was
7 8
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
kit review
offered into position on top of the hull internal
framework and just inside the lip of the hull. 5
Only some very slight trimming was
required. It was subsequently glued in
position with slow-setting epoxy adhesive,
tape helping to hold everything in position.
Humbrol Model Filler was later applied to
make good any small gaps between the wood
and plastic hull.
The aft crane house vac-formed coaming
was then glued from underside as are the
plywood strip coamings for the stern hatch
including the two rear stairwells either side,
Photo 8. Care must be taken not to scratch
or sand the printed planked areas at any time.
Later, these will require masking and the rest
of the deck painted with Humbrol No. 88
Deck Green. A low-tack masking tape, such
as that from Tamiya, which comes in different
widths, is probably the best for our purposes.
The bow bulwark upright and stern
vac-formings required the minimum of
trimming, if any, before gluing. Square
plastic is used for the bulwark uprights, cut
and glued in position. The main deck has a 6
number of tie-down or anchoring points,
which resemble the tops of cross head
screws, printed onto it. Rather, than drill
holes and make up something that would
‘do’, the centre cross section of each
marking was carefully coloured in, using a
black fine tip permanent marker pen, then
the outside round area was filled by using a
green fine tipped permanent marker pen.
Once the whole of the main deck was
painted (much later) and detailed, a coat of
Ronseal satin varnish thinned 50:50 was
applied to seal everything.
Main superstructure,
bridge and its roof
Supplied as clean well manufactured ABS
vac-formings with all window and door
openings already accurately CNC cut, all that
43
 kit review
9 10
is required is the removal of any
11 remaining excess material. Photo 9
shows the wheelhouse windows in the
foreground untouched, but those on the
other side have had the surplus inner
par ts already removed.
A supplied internal plywood frame is
glued in place at the required position to
make the bridge ‘block’ more rigid,
Photo 10. The lower superstructure
section bottom edges have also to be
trimmed to follow the deck camber. This is
best done a little at a time, as you cannot
easily add material if you have taken of f
too much! Inside this section, another
plywood framework is glued in place, also
making this unit stronger. The bridge unit
then needs to be glued to the top of this
lower main section - in the correct place
of course!
At this point, consideration was given to
adding internal detail inside the bridge,
because it will all look ver y empty if there
12 is is nothing to see, From scrap styrene, a
map desk with a lamp and other par ts
were made. The front and back control
desks are also from styrene of f cuts,
Photo 11. The map is the bottom half of
the UK coastline cut out from a printed
adver tisement for maps.
The roof vac-forming, Photo 12, was
cut on the line (here shown marked with a
pencil), trimmed to size and finally sanded
15
13
14
44 Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
smooth equally all the way around the cut
edge using a sheet of fine grade abrasive
paper stuck to a flat surface.
Fittings
A selection of aluminium, injection
moulded ABS, brass and CNC plastic
components make up the fittings set.
Bottle screws, lights, bollards, portholes,
anchors, lenses, stanchions, deck lights,
spot lights, wipers, horn, radar, chain,
liferaft canisters, steps, ladders and even
netting to be glued to flat plastic to
simulate grill vents, are included.
Photo 13 is the start of the searchlight/radar
platform and Photo 14 is of it well on the
way to completion. There are loads of fittings,
as Photo 15 reveals and they all need to be
painted. Some of the fittings supplied I have
yet to find a home for, so a bit of a bonus for
later use on another project.
Main mast
Aluminium tube forms the main uprights of
this, with the plastic CNC cut platforms just
sliding over (with a friction fit) into their
correct positions and fixed with superglue.
The various aerials are cut to size from thin
brass rod, with CNC plastic parts for their
bases, the lights boxes etc. The hinged
base, that the mast is hinged on, is built
from the CNC slot and glue plastic pieces.
I decided to make it fold backwards as per
 16 kit review

17

18 19

the plan and instructions, thus reducing

the model’s height for transport and 20
stowage, Photo 16. This was achieved by
using a retractable pin on the rear side of
the pivot point - just a length of brass rod
removed by hand and I suppose for those
so inclined, it could even be lowered using
radio control perhaps? Working lights can
also be installed, although no
recommendations for these and their
wiring is made by Graupner.

Railings
Not everyone’s cup of tea to construct, but
they have got to be made at some point in the
construction process, Brass wire is supplied
and you would naturally think brass
stanchions would follow. Well you’re wrong,
as they are plastic! The last time I used these
was when building the Graupner Tito Neri
tug model and to be truthful, the combination
of plastic uprights with brass rails does work
extremely well, a small drop of superglue at
the joints being all that is required.
The first task is to mark all the required each stanchion - a neat touch as more pro-typical assembly for which the rod bending is rather
mounting positions of the stanchions, taking than passing through an eye cast into the top more tricky, but this hobby isn’t meant to be
the measurements from the plan and using a of each stanchion. In my experience, it is all ‘plain sailing’ is it?
ruler and dividers to transfer these to the always best assemble the railings in position
model. The brass rod for the rails was on the model, but allow for complete sections Crane
thoroughly cleaned before use with fine grade of it to be removed for painting off from the This is a key feature of the model and you have
wet and dry sandpaper, but it was still a very model. Where up and down sections are to decide before construction whether to have
tight fit in the pre-drilled stanchion holes. So required having no stanchions, the brass wire it working or not, and the decision? Well, it was
these were opened out using a drill 0.1mm joints were soldered using a simple ‘hold and to be working! An expansion kit is available to
less than the rail diameter, so the brass rod space’ jig and/or clips, plus suitable heat do just that; Part No. 2023,
became a tight sliding fit, Photo 17. Note shrinks, Photos 18 and 19. It is worth Photo 20, but the three micro-geared motors,
that the top rail just clips in place at the top of mentioning that the crane has a small railing Part No 1753, are another (and not

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 45

 kit review 21

22

24

inexpensive) extra, so you may think twice

about it. So, here we have a model within a
model, and some cross-referencing with the
main model kit instructions and plan will be
required for assembly. If broken down into unit
sections though, all will become very clear.
The arm (or jib), Photo 21, is in part a
vac-forming, with CNC pre-cut flat styrene
parts glued where indicated. The lower part
of the crane itself includes a number of small
structures as in Photo 22, and eventually it
will all look like Photo 23 where the bottom
part fits inside the top unit. This all then sits
on top of a box-like vac-forming requiring
slight trimming at deck level to follow the
deck camber and with external detail parts
added. Photo 24 is of the inside of this with
its connecting wires.

23

46 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

 25
To control the crane’s mechanics, Robbe
duo-switches as in Photo 25 were used.
These switch modules control each micro-motor
direction in response to a specific transmitter
stick movement and are installed under the main
deck just above the main drive battery. Power
for the ‘official’ crane motors is 6 volts, so
therefore comes from a separate battery pack in
the hull of the model, as initially the main drive
motors were on 12 volts. From the inside of the
hull leading up into the crane’s base unit is a
multi-pin plug (from Maplins - a UK electronics
store chain) that matches the half-socket
hanging down to connect everything to the
crane’s power controls, Photo 26. To be
honest to explain all the intricacies would be
an article on its own, so suffice to say, make
the crane work if you wish, but non-
functioning will be a lot less demanding on
your time and pocket!
I have to say as a final comment that the
Graupner catalogue illustrations were in
many ways more useful than the instructions
and drawings - so the choice is yours. Maybe
conventional printed catalogues are going out
of favour in this digital online age, but there is
still a lot to said positively for them.
Figures
A brief word about these now. Ranzow is to
1:32 scale, so figures are not too hard to obtain
from a number of sources including Model
Slipway, Adrian Clutterbuck (ex-GT Models),
Preiser and Caldercraft, but Graupner have
five to suit this model, Part Nos. 375.40 to
375.44, painted and ready to arrange. Here in
Photo 27 is one of them, No. 375.43, together
with three from an old Britain’s Road Working
Crew picked up from a car boot sale. So, the
lesson is that you don’t need to spend a fortune
‘figuring’ your models if you hunt around and a
visit to the occasional car boot sale can turn up
all sorts of things at bargain prices.
Painting
As usual, Halfords acrylic car sprays were
used whenever possible, basically for
convenience, speed of application and the
overall excellent finish. Fittings requiring the
same colour were mounted on pieces of scrap
wood and sprayed in batches.
The hull initially had the areas that were
not to be colour painted at all carefully
masked, Photo 28. It was then sprayed
28
kit review
26
overall in red oxide primer, highlighting any
surface problems which could be rectified
before applying the top colour coats of the
hull’s exterior upperworks. Aerosol Red
Oxide primer is in my experience as good as
any for the below waterline anti-fouling.
However, it must be remembered that the
first coat of any primer when applied to any
part of any model, is usually redundant as it
merely highlights the faults beneath it, which
will then need filling and sanding as
appropriate. I use far more aerosol cans of
primer than the topcoats that follow these
undercoat/filling paints.
Once satisfied with the basic primer finish,
which here doubles as the underwater colour,
the waterline was marked in pencil as per
plan. There are various ways of doing this, my
preferred method being to ‘chock up’ the hull
on a large flat surface such as the dining
room table, get the actual waterline mark the
same at the bow and stern and then with a
pencil securely clamped in a depth gauge set
to the same height, run the pencil around the 27
hull, thus hopefully giving a straight
waterline. As a further tip, if you actually
mark the line one or two millimetres within
the area to be next painted and then mask the
hull parallel to that, no pencil marks will
remain visible on the hull as the newly applied
paint will cover them.
In the case of Ranzow, additional masking
will be required to protect the wood and in
particular, its planked deck areas. The hull
was sprayed satin black above the waterline
with the red rubbing strake sections picked
out later, once the aerosol spray paint had
thoroughly dried, Photo 29. To be honest, if
the model still smells of paint, then the
solvents have not totally evaporated, so the
paint is not really dry, although it may appear
so to the touch.
The superstructure is white - no surprise
there, so once again white primer first,
followed by a topcoat of Appliance White.
This last colour is rather nice as it mimics
‘white goods’ such as washing machines etc.
It is white, but not those weird ‘snow or artic 29
whites’ that some cars are painted in
nowadays. In other words, it is a nice
wholesome white!
The crane was painted in Vauxhall
Mustard Yellow which again is not as bright
as pure yellow.
47
 34
kit review
30
31
All the other detail was usually picked out
by hand, using Humbrol paints, applied using
various size brushes. These were: Light Matt
Grey No.64; Matt Black No.33; Silver No.11;
Satin Signal Red No.174 for the rubbing
strakes and rim of the superstructure roof.
This last colour is okay, but does seem to need
a fair few coats when being applied by brush.
32 A self-adhesive decal sheet is supplied
requiring each item cutting out, either as a
shape, but still showing the clear carrier film,
or you can go into action with a scalpel and
cut out each letter separately, particularly in
the case of the ship’s name. Tinted clear
styrene is supplied for window glazing and
injection moulded wiper blades for the bridge
windows. Graupner do not supply a template
for cutting out each window, which is a bit of a
nuisance and something one not normally
expect bearing in mind that so many other
parts are CNC cut or injection moulded. So,
why not the windows? All the glazing was
glued in place using Evo-Stik contact
adhesive, Photo 30.
33 Other fittings
Workboat and davit
These make for quite nice ‘models within a
model’ and the basic workboat hull is
assembled from two vac-formings that require
cutting and trimming, then gluing together
with a plastic solvent glue such as Plastic
Weld. The small outboard motor, follows the
same process, although getting its two halves
to match each other required some
imagination, Photo 31. The davit is an
injection moulded kit of parts and there is
nothing complicated with this, Photo 32. It is
not designed to work, but could be made so
with a small motor concealed to pull or let go
the lifting cord and with a small servo
mounted under the deck connected to the
davit’s base, it could easily be made to turn.
35
Buoys
These come in all shapes and sizes in real
life, but those supplied with the Ranzow kit
are quite basic, each being assembled from
two half vac-formings that need to be cut
out, trimmed and sanded flat at the join
mark until the two halves come together
perfectly before being glued together and
that pretty much is all there is to it,
Photo 33. Model Slipway do some rather
nice and better detailed buoys, so sourcing
from them might be a good idea as an
alternative to the kit versions.
Radio control
I went to town a bit with this model, using a
seven channel r/c system for:
Individual port and starboard
motor speed control
Bow thruster
Rudder operation
Crane rotation
Crane arm lift and lower
Crane hook up and down
Main power supply initially came from a
12v 7Ah lead acid batter y purchased from
Component Shop and it was to the same
size and specification as the suggested
Graupner item, Part No. 259, but rather
cheaper. So, as good a reason as any to go
and buy from this UK based supplier. This
batter y was located in the centre of the hull
sliding into (and along) a tray made from
plywood (not supplied in the kit) with the
main batter y wires running under the radio
tray for ward and aft, so ever ything is
hidden from view. Three Mtroniks Marine
15 electronic speed controllers were
installed for the port and starboard motors,
plus the bow thruster, Photo 34. As
mentioned earlier, a Robbe Duo-Switch
Module and a Two Duo Switch Module
‘Memor y’ were used to control the crane.
Power for the crane motors, which are
rated at 6 volts, came from a separate
batter y pack, although as you will see later,
once the main drive batter y had been
reduced to 6 volts, power could be taken
from that instead. These switch modules
control each crane motor’s direction in
response to a transmitter stick movement.
Completed model
Ranzow makes up into a nice sized and
practical model, Photo 35. Yes, perhaps
the detail is not to the same degree as
some of the kits now in the marketplace,
but there again it is not that expensive,
unless you go for the optional working
extras and it cer tainly is not a
‘back-breaker’ when launching, which as
the year’s progress for me becomes more
of a consideration.
Winter Special Edition 2013
 36 kit review

On the water
Ballast will most likely be needed to bring
the model down to its correct waterline and
this is best done at home in a calm
environment, perhaps in the domestic bath,
a garden pond, the child’s paddling pond, a
plasterers mixing bath or a neighbours
swimming pool, Photo 36. Having the main
drive battery centrally placed, but moveable
forward or aft, will take care of most of the
ballast required and some lead shot
contained within small self-sealing bags with
the weight of each clearly marked, is a
simple and convenient way of doing this. If
you then draw a plan as to where these bags
go, they can later be removed and used in
another model.
Power was more than enough from both
motors and propellers and perhaps too much,
but you don’t have to go full speed all the
time. The Becker rudders, Photo 37, are a
key feature of this model, enabling tight turns
with or without the bow thruster and going
astern was equally satisfactory. The choice of described as an ‘easy build’ taking into
motors and speed controllers proved quite consideration all the vac-formings and CNC 37
compatible, giving excellent high and low parts supplied, but it is not a beginner’s
speed performance, although the model is model in my opinion. The working features
overpowered so thoughts then turned to can be as basic or advanced is the builder
trying 6 volt battery packs of a similar desires and the crane jib is quite big and
physical size. Later with these, everything dominates the model, so having it all function
proved to be just perfect. is a distinct positive feature.
This kit came from A Model World and
Conclusion current UK price is around £240. l
When choosing a subject to build I always
look for at least one key feature from; detail,
functionality and building enjoyment. This
model actually matched all three with the
added bonus that additional detail can be
added in due course. Being a flat bottom
model with a small draught, I was concerned
about weight and handling, which I am glad
to say presented no problems at the revised 6
volt operation, as scale speed and control was
then perfect. The quality of the parts,
instructions and plan are first rate. The kit is

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 49

 free plan
EE!
FRA
PL N
Scudder
GLYNN GUEST presents an ultra-simple
model using the Graupner Mini Jet unit
T
he full-sized world appears to be
making increasing use of ‘jet’ power
for high speed vessels. The term ‘jet’
in this case referring to a marine propeller
which is encased in an internal duct. It
propels the vessel with a high speed jet of
water emerging from a suitable nozzle in
the transom which is clear of the water
when at speed.
I have read with interest about other
modeller’s experiences with such water-jet
power and was tempted to give it a try. A little,
actually very little, thought convinced me that
making my own jet unit was not the way to go.
The hydrodynamics of the tube, plus correctly
matching it with a motor, propeller and nozzle
are quite complex. It would be easy to make
something that would get a model moving, but
much more difficult to achieve any respectable
performance. Rather than spending a lot of
time and money in a reinvention of the wheel
exercise, starting with a commercial item was
the obvious way to go.
Basic requirements
Electric power is so convenient and reliable
that it was a ‘no brainer’ to use it. Likewise,
sticking with the popular and economical
500/600 type of motor and a six cell battery
pack was a pretty obvious choice.
50 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
Searching through magazines and the
internet showed that the Graupner Mini Jet
Unit, Part No. 2349, was the most promising
item available. The price, just under £30,
seemed to be reasonable, especially as I could
see myself spending much more than that
trying to scratch build an equivalent and then
with no guarantee of success! The order went
off to Cornwall Models and the unit was soon
in my hands.
Initial hiccup?
I was impressed with the design of this item
as it was both compact but durable looking.
Steering was by means of a movable section
aft of the nozzle and even a reversing flap was
included. Just reversing the direction of the
enclosed propeller would not normally be
effective, but lowering this flap into the
water-jet should get a model moving astern.
However, a separate servo is needed to raise
and lower the reversing flap.
Sketches for a suitable water-jet powered
model were drafted and a problem
immediately became apparent. The Graupner
unit had obviously been designed to be
installed in a moulded plastic hull. This
required thin hull bottom material and a flat
surface on which to fit the unit. This would
not readily match traditional wooden hull
construction methods.
A period of sketching different ideas
followed, but nothing really seemed to work.
A couple of ideas almost made it, but they
looked uncomfortable and potentially weak,
so I did what has often been done in this
situation, put the Mini Jet Unit to one side
and built something else!
The idea was still lurking in the back of my
mind though. When designing the Triune
model (Model Boats June 2012) it was
tempting to install the unit, but two things
stopped me from doing this. First, the slim
and deep central hull would have made both
installation and then maintenance, quite
tricky. Second, being a high speed trimaran
and something I’d never tried before, adding
the water-jet would make it two big
experiments in one model which is never a
wise thing to do as one big new idea at a time
is a much safer way to go.
Inspiration?
The idea of using the Mini Jet unit would not
go away and then out of the proverbial
nowhere, inspiration struck. If a flat bottomed
area of the hull was needed to mount the unit
on, why not make the whole bottom flat? This
appears to go against the idea of a stable
planning hull which usually requires a Vee
bottom section, but such a flat bottom had
been used successfully before. The Skimmer
design was published in the September 2007
issue of this magazine and this model was a
small airboat, no doubt inspired by watching
too many TV programmes about the Florida
Everglades. It featured a simple flat bottomed
hull powered by a Graupner Speed 400 type
of motor proved to be both fast and stable.
One doubt still remained: The Skimmer
being an airboat, did not loose thrust if the
hull left the water, but I could see the Mini Jet
unit powered model having problems if the
flat hull allowed any air to be sucked into the
intake hole. Visions of the model sort of
‘hiccupping’ across the water came to mind!
A working draft of the model’s construction
showed it would be quick and cheap to build,
so on this basis it seemed worth a try. The
original plan was to build a model about 24
inches (600mm) long by 8 inches (200mm)
beam. It was then realised that this would
 free plan

have so little draught that the propeller would

be well above the waterline. I could see the 1
propeller spinning madly whilst failing to
self-prime and the model slowly drifting
downwind, so the final design was smaller,
the hull being just over 18 inches long with its
bow strengthening block, but not including
the protruding water-jet nozzle and with
hopefully enough draught to allow the
propeller to find some grip when first
starting-up.

Building materials
Hull: Plywood 24 x 6 x 1/16 inches
(600 x 150 x 1.5mm)
Balsawood 36 x 4 x 1/4 inches
(912 x 100 x 6.5 mm)
Liteply 6 x 2 1/4 x 3/32 inches
(150 x 56 x 2.5mm)
Hatch: Built from scrap/spare balsa to suit
personal taste.
These can be regarded as guidelines only.
It would be possible to use different materials
provided strength was not sacrificed nor
excessive weight added.
White wood glue (PVA) was used for all the
wood to wood joints. The Graupner Mini Jet
unit was secured to the hull bottom with slow
setting epoxy adhesive.

Hull construction
A numerical construction sequence seems the 2
best way to describe how to build this model
and like most things in life, the key to success
is to do things in the right order!

1) The hull parts were cut out from balsa,

plywood and Liteply, Photo 1. The edges
needed to be cut squarely to enable strong glued
joints to be made. It is also worth checking the
fit of the parts, anything oversize can be easily
cut down at this stage, if undersize or misshapen
then discard and replace.

2) The slot in the plywood bottom sheet was

cut so the water-jet unit fitted snugly into it.

3) The hole in the transom for the jet nozzle

must be positioned to allow the unit to fit
correctly in the bottom slot when the hull is
assembled, Photo 2.

4) The two deck parts were glued together.

To ensure they remained flat whilst the glue
dried, they were sandwiched between thin
plastic sheets and pressed down on a flat
surface with suitable weights, Photo 3.

5) The balsa hull parts were glued to the

underside of the deck and pinned together to
prevent any movement, Photo 4.

3 4

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 51

 free plan
6) The transom was glued to the end of the
5 hull along with some corner reinforcement
strips, Photo 5.
7) The bottom edges of the sides and
bulkhead were sanded with a flat sanding
block that would reach from side to side. This
was to make sure that plywood bottom piece
would have a perfectly flat surface to be glued
to. For the same reason, the bottom edge of
the bow piece needed shaping to match the
curve of the hull sides.
8) The Mini Jet unit was refitted to the
transom for any final adjustments before
gluing the hull bottom in place, Photo 6.
9) The bottom was glued in two stages. First,
the flat section between the front bulkhead
and transom, Photo 7. NOTE: Even though
the propulsion unit was in place, it was not yet
glued to the hull bottom!
6
10) The second stage was undertaken only
when the first had fully dried. Glue was applied
to the hull sides and bow piece and the
plywood bent to shape. Several small clamps
held it in place until the glue set, Photo 8.
11) The Mini Jet unit was removed from the
hull structure to avoid any damage during
subsequent work.
12) A strip of balsa (laminations of thinner
sheets could be used) was glued across the
bows, Photo 9. When dry this was shaped to
blend into the hull.
Surface preparation
The external surfaces were sanded smooth
using sanding blocks. Care was taken to keep
the edges between the hull bottom and the
7 sides and transom as square as possible. Any
significant radius at these corners will
encourage water to run up the hull sides rather
than break away cleanly when sailing at speed.
The hull was examined for flaws such as
cracks or gaps at joints. Small cracks can be
sealed by forcing glue into them. Larger gaps
are better filled with a sliver of glue covered
balsa. If any are found then the hull must be
sanded again.
The external surfaces need waterproofing.
You may have a favoured method for wooden
hulls and there is no one perfect way to do it.
You ought to avoid adding too much weight
and remember those edges must be square,
not rounded.
I used cellulose dope and model aircraft
tissue. These ought to be readily available
from hobby shops or the usual internet
vendors. A couple of coats of thinned dope
8 (about 50:50 mixture dope and cellulose
thinners) were applied to the outer surfaces
with a light sanding after each.
Panels of tissue were cut slightly larger
than the area to be covered. A spot of neat
dope was placed in the centre of the area to
be covered and then the tissue laid in place.
Using a well loaded brush, dope was applied
from this spot forcing it through the tissue
and working outwards. The flat surfaces of
52
this model made this task easy but if any
creases or wrinkles appear then peel back the
tissue and brush it back down again.
The excess tissue was trimmed away using
a sharp blade. No attempt was made to wrap
the tissue around the corners of the hull as
this would have rounded them off, something
I did not want. The deck had been covered
with a single piece of tissue so the material
over the access opening was cut away.
Likewise, tissue covering the slot for the jet
unit on the hull bottom was cut away.
The hull was lightly sanded then given a coat
of neat dope. This process was repeated two to
three times and finally produced a smooth
surface for painting, but, before that the coaming
strips around the deck access opening had to be
glued into place. I used some plywood left over
after cutting out the hull bottom, but other
materials could be used. It is important that this
coaming is perpendicular to the deck as this will
ensure that the detachable hatch is held firmly
in place when sailing. A couple of coats of dope
were used to seal the external surfaces of the
coaming strips.
Hatch
This could be a purely functional item
intended to just keep the water out of the
model. However, I wanted to give the model a
little character rather than just have a plain
box shape. The result was a wedge shaped
hatch to which a driver’s helmet could be
added and hopefully create the impression of
a small racing craft.
This hatch was made from some balsa found
in the scrap box, but any material would do
provided it weighs very little. To ensure a good
fit, it was built over the deck coaming, but take
great care not to stick it to the model!
After sanding smooth, the hatch was sealed
with three or four coats of dope. The edges and
inner surfaces of the hatch up about one inch
(25mm) from the edges were also sealed with
dope. Some water is bound to reach the bottom of
the hatch and capillary forces will pull this water
to the gap between hatch and coaming, hence a
little waterproofing in this area is sensible.
Painting
A tough and smooth skin can be created on
wood models by using Hammerite paint. Being
cellulose based it bonds strongly with the dope
used previously. It is quite thick and viscous,
which combined with its rapid drying nature can
make it tricky to apply, but the resulting smooth
and shiny finish which can make people think
the model has a plastic rather than wooden hull,
is well worth the extra effort.
The hull was painted bright yellow and for
contrast, orange was chosen for the hatch. To
give the orange a good base, the hatch was
sprayed with white primer. I was using a well
known hobby brand of paint and two colour
coats usually produce a nice solid colour.
However, this particular tin of paint proved to be
most disappointing with the first coat producing
a very thin patchy effect. A second coat made
hardly any improvement and in the end four
coats were applied before the tin was emptied.
The final colour is far from perfect, but hopefully
is not be too noticeable when sailing.
 free plan

Re-installing the
Graupner Mini Jet unit 10 11
You could install this into the hull prior to
painting, but it seemed easier to do this
afterwards. The unit was cleaned and lightly
abraded where the epoxy was going to be
applied to secure it in the hull. Slow setting
epoxy was used for this job as it would make
a better bond with the wood and plastic. It
also avoided having to rush this job and risk
doing a poor job.
A downside to using slow epoxy is that it
has time to flow away from the joint and
possibly end up just where it is not needed.
This can be minimised by just using sufficient
adhesive to do the job. I tend to apply a
generous amount to the joint surfaces and
then wipe away any surplus after the parts are
pressed together.
The nozzle was fitted to the jet outlet then
screwed in place on the transom. I could not
resist a quick test on the garden pond at this
stage, so the motor and battery were installed.
This showed three important things. First, the
unit worked and produced an impressive jet of
water; second, when holding the model you
should not point the nozzle at yourself and
third, some water was being sprayed sideways
from the nozzle/transom joint.
After drying myself, the nozzle was
removed from the transom and a thin bead of
clear silicone sealant was applied to the face
that fits against the transom. Fixing the
nozzle back onto the hull, the excess sealant The six cell battery pack could be installed
squeezed out from the joint could be wiped behind the first bulkhead, which left space for
away. Retesting on the pond, but this time the receiver and esc behind it, Photo 12.
with the nozzle pointing away from me, The battery was secured with two blocks of
showed that the sealant had done the trick! expanded polystyrene slid under the decks
between the battery and the second
Steering nozzle bulkhead. The receiver and esc being secured
The steering nozzle fitted onto two pins into cutouts made in a piece of foam plastic.
moulded in the fixed nozzle on the transom. Another block of expanded polystyrene was
Graupner’s instructions describe gluing a placed inside the hull between the second
steering arm to this nozzle. I was not too bulkhead and transom on the opposite side to
happy with this idea as the steering nozzle is the servo. I hoped that these blocks
the only vulnerable external item on this combined with the sealed bow area would
model, and sooner or later it’s going to get a provide enough buoyancy in the event of any
substantial knock. emergencies. So far, thankfully, this has not sheet of self-adhesive plastic film and stuck to
After some thought, I drilled a small hole in been tested. Ready to run, the model weighed the deck and sides in a diagonal
the nozzle to match up with one of the unused in at a shade over 33 ounces (0.95kg). checkerboard pattern. Working from
holes in the steering arm. A small self-tapping forwards from the stern, the squares were
screw was then driven through the arm and Final decoration added to the model until I had gone about
into the nozzle. A thin coat of epoxy over the Even after adding the driver’s helmet, made halfway along the deck. This seemed to be a
screw, nozzle and arm area then held from a polystyrene ball, the model looked too good place to stop and the effect, at least in
everything firmly in place, Photo 10. plain. Some red squares were cut from a my eyes, looks reasonable.
This photograph also shows the ser vo
linkage being made by a stiff wire secured
into one of those small adjustable screw 12
connectors fitted on the steering arm. The
wire link was run through a plastic tube
glued in the transom. By using the longest
tube possible and applying some grease, it
makes the model if not watertight, at least
resistant to splashes.
You may wonder what the two pieces of
self adhesive tape are doing on the transom
either side of the nozzle. Well, they are
covering two holes. The electric motor is
held to the jet unit by two bolts screwed
into the threaded holes in the motor case.
This is a neat and secure method but also a
devil of a job if you tr y to change a motor
after fitting the unit inside a model. Two
holes in the transom and a long
screwdriver avoid a lot of frustration and
probably many rude words.

Fitting out
A standard servo was used for the rudder and
the only place for it was to one side of the
motor. Two balsa blocks, one glued to the
bulkhead the other to the hull bottom, were
used to secure it. This allowed a simple
straight wire link between the servo and
steering nozzle arms, Photo 11.

Model Boats Winter Special 53

 free plan
Adding some racing numbers and some
Model Boats stickers, that came free in an
issue some years ago, and the model looked
about as good as I thought it ever would. It
will never be a thing of beauty, but at least it
now had a little character.
On the water
The model was given a trial run as soon as
possible. The hull was painted, but with no
hatch constructed yet the deck opening was
optimistically covered with a plastic bag. The
motor fitted was a 545 type which on a six cell
battery would have a no-load speed of about
16000rpm. The battery was initially placed just
ahead of the second bulkhead to ensure that
the Mini Jet unit was sufficiently submerged.
It was noted that after applying power to
the motor there was a short interval as the jet
unit primed itself and the model began to
move. This was found to be a characteristic of
the system and now passes unnoticed when
sailing the model.
The jet of water emerging from the nozzle
looked impressive, but the actual speed was
disappointing and the boat ran in a stern-low
and bow-high attitude. The battery was
moved forward to a position between the
bulkheads. This improved the operating trim,
but it was still not quite right, so the battery
was placed as far forwards as possible, i.e.
just behind the first bulkhead. This was much
better with the model running flatter and
skimming across rather than pushing its way
through the water. The speed was improved,
but still appeared to be modest.
Handling was investigated next and the
model proved to be safe and reliable. The
absence of a conventional rudder and any
keel area means that the model slides around
turns. In fact this handing is very similar to
operation of a model airboat or hovercraft.
There is no banging in full rudder to get you
out of trouble as you have to anticipate where
the model is likely to be a few seconds in the
future. Despite the sharp corners of the hull,
the model never showed any tendency to ‘dig
in’ when turning.
54 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
As the esc installed in the model was
capable of reversing the motor’s rotation, I
gave it a try. A certain amount of gurgling was
produced, but no significant astern motion
occurred. I guess these water-jet units really
are for just ahead sailing only. This is no
problem provided you avoid sailing into
situations that only astern can get you out of.
At the end of the first sailing trials I was
pleased with the model. It had no bad vices
and ran surprisingly straight, although I was
sailing on a relatively calm day. I did notice
what appeared to be an occasional aeration
effect; that is sucking air into the jet intake.
This was only a transient thing that caused no
obvious problems.
A second set of trials was undertaken but
with a faster turning motor. Searching
through my stock of spare motors I found an
MG540. This was bought sometime ago and
hence is probably no longer available. On a
six cell battery pack it could run at over 20000
rpm, a significant increase on the 545 motor
used in the first trials.
With this motor installed, the model’s
characteristics were unchanged, a short
hesitation before the jet gripped the water and
began sliding safely through turns, but the
model was noticeably faster and still ran
straight with no nozzle deflection. The jet
spray out of the back was impressive and I
really began to enjoy sailing this model. Alas,
this probably resulted in a momentary lapse
of attention as I took one turn a shade too
wide and slid the model into the vegetation
along the far side of my sailing water. Now I
began to wish that there was an astern option!
However, vigorous nozzle movements and full
power extracted the model, but the lesson
was learnt, look where you are going at all
times with this model!
In an attempt to tighten the model’s turning
circle, two longitudinal strakes were fixed to
the underside of the hull about two inches
(50mm) in from the sides. No obvious effect
on the straight-line speed was noted, but as
soon as a turn was initiated, the model
slowed. It may have tightened the turn, but
the model then had to accelerate back up to
speed on its new heading. This was, at least to
me, less satisfying than sliding through wider
high speed turns, so off came the strakes.
Further testing on a larger water confirmed
these first impressions. At full speed the
model would run level with surprisingly little
disturbance to the water, none of this
throwing spray about and creating massive
waves! It would also hold its course
surprisingly well for a model with no keel or
rudder. Not a ‘straight runner’ by any stretch
of the imagination, but you do not have to
work hard to maintain a heading.
Turns were best carried out in a wide
sweeping fashion which maintained the
speed. The absence of any keel area means
that to keep the model in a circular path, the
model’s bow has to point into the circle, thus
allowing the jet thrust to create the desired
centripetal force. This would seem to be
much the same as high speed cars, both
model and full-size which can be made to drift
through corners.
Slightly choppy water did not seem to affect
the model in any serious fashion.
Occasionally there could be the sound of
momentary loss of drive, presumably through
aeration, but no noticeable momentum was
ever lost. Rougher water conditions would
probably be more troublesome, but a flat
planning hull really needs calm conditions to
perform well.
Last thoughts
The model in its final form works far better
than its simple appearance would suggest.
The large jet spray and wide sweeping turns
are a mixed blessing. On the one hand they
make an impressive sight that never fails to
attract interest and excitement. On the other
hand, it makes the model unsuitable for small
and crowded waters, plus those modellers
lacking in both anticipation and quick
reactions. In this respect it is similar to its
cousin, the Skimmer airboat design.
A thought is that several such models,
racing around an oval course, could form part
of a club’s public display. They would certainly
attract attention from the general public and
who knows, perhaps a few new members? In
addition, from a safety aspect, having the
propeller hidden inside the water-jet unit
makes it a safe model when inquisitive fingers
are around.
No doubt some will be tempted to install a
brushless motor and LiPo cells to achieve
much higher rpm. This could be interesting,
but it might exceed the limits of the Graupner
unit and this simple hull’s stability. As for me,
I will just enjoy scudding about whilst waiting
for inspiration for the next model to strike.
The final word must go to my dear wife,
who tolerates this hobby and might even
welcome it when it keeps me out of her way.
She does however have a knack of sometimes
coming up with a witty but painfully accurate
description of my creations. In this case, the
Scudder was described as: ‘That model that
looks like a butter dish’. So, alas, the image of
such a dish will not leave whenever I now sail
the Scudder! l
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card modelling
US harbour tug with
its deck coaming,
funnel, bulwarks and
bulk of superstructure
from card.
Confessions
of a Cardholic
Modeller
By GLYNN GUEST
W
hen fellow modellers find out that I
often make extensive use of
cardboard in my radio control model
boats, their initial reactions can take two quite
different forms, but both are based on the
perception that this material is cheap. Some
say that it’s a pity that I cannot afford to use
proper materials with which to build my
creations, card being so obviously cheap and
inferior, but others react with a comment that
it’s a good idea since card works and is very
cheap, perhaps being even free?
Assorted bits of card, mostly free!
56 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
My personal approach to the selection of
any material is that it should do the job
without being excessively demanding in
terms of construction time, effort and cost.
This ‘cost’ word including both the initial
price and maintenance factors, when the
latter can sometimes be forgotten until you
are faced with a model that is in a permanent
state of repair. On this basis, cardboard looks
decidedly unpromising for a model boat as
after all when it gets wet, cardboard turns into
a soft mushy state, doesn’t it?
First steps
Fortunately, as a young and inexperienced
schoolboy in the 1960’s, I was ignorant of all
this. A friend passed to to me a few copies of
the magazine Model Maker, the forerunner of
this publication and included was the
December 1963 issue which included the plan
and construction details for Philip Connolly’s
HMS Diamond. This was enough to expand
my modelling activities from building (and
inevitably crashing!) aircraft into attempting a
model boat.
The first model was something of a
mongrel, combining features of the Daring
and Battle class destroyers. Although
construction and scale differed from the
Philip Connolly model, I did copy one idea of
his and that was to ‘plate’ the hull’s exterior
with thin overlapping pieces of card stuck to
the actual wooden hull, using contact
adhesive.
This plating effect probably did little to
improve my first nautical attempt, but it
revealed that this card surface did toughen a
balsawood hull, which was a very useful
discovery! It was also realised that covering
the curved underwater hull surfaces with
card was a tedious, if not a painful experience.
As this section of a model boat cannot be seen
whilst sailing, it’s something that has usually
been omitted in subsequent models.
A few years later, a copy of G. H. Deason’s
book ‘Cardboard Engineering’ was seen and
promptly purchased. Although it now might
seem very dated as it was published in 1958,
it contained a wealth of information on how to
use card when making all sorts of models.
Since that time I have often made use of
card in my model boats, but unlike Mr.
Deason, I’ve never been brave enough to
make all of a model from card, preferring to
use wood for most structural parts. However,
card has been widely and successfully used
for detail parts and surface finishing.
What is card?
This is not the place to go deeply into the
different types of card products and their
manufacturing processes, however a little
basic knowledge can go a long way towards
understanding how to use card successfully.
Most cards are made from an organic base,
wood being the common one. Wood is broken
down into fibres by a chemical or mechanical
means to produce wood pulp. At this stage it can
be mixed with recycled pulp and additives to
produce the desired properties. Pressing and
drying then follows to give the final product.
Thus ‘card’ has a structure based on interlocking
fibres, the density of which can vary from being
an open flexible structure (think blotting
paper!), to a highly compressed and much stiffer
form. Also, dependent upon how it was made,
the preferred orientation of the fibre can give
card the equivalent to a wood grain structure
with different properties in different directions.
To be honest, this effect is not something that
has ever given me any problems to date.
Card life
One of the supposed weaknesses of card is
that it will not last as long as proper model
building materials. It is true that card, like
most paper products, will deteriorate when
exposed to the elements and a common effect
is ‘yellowing’ when left in strong sunlight.
Water is readily absorbed into card
resulting in both its weakening and
subsequent swelling, but some card types can
be treated to have a water repellent surface.
This sounds ideal for our models, but is likely
to give you problems when trying to glue
such a card into place and may also make
painting difficult. Luckily, we modellers have
got into the habit of waterproofing and
painting our creations, so assuming that you
exercise reasonable care in building and
maintaining a working model boat, any items
 The Noggsund Free Plan
model used card for its
hull plating, superstructure
card modelling
and decks.

made from card ought to last. I have a

destroyer which incorporated quite a bit of
card in its construction when built 40 years
ago, and it’s still in good working order! All of
this neatly leads into the subject of storing
card prior to use.
Clearly it ought to be kept in a dry place to
avoid absorbing water. It is also a good idea
to keep sheets of card flat as unsupported
sheets can sag under their own weight.
Flattening them out by placing under suitable
weights or even some judicious bending in
the opposite direction can be later applied,
but it seems more sensible to avoid the
problem in the first place.

Card stock: Coverstock

(or Pasteboard)
This is the type of card that I have found
most useful for covering a wood structure. It
could be to suggest the steel plates on a hull,
panels on the superstructure or even if I’m
totally honest, to hide my poor construction and
assembly mistakes! It is thicker than paper and
is widely used for things like business cards,
anniversary cards and postcards. The thickness
of card can be quoted in different ways:
The good old Imperial measure is the
weight in pounds of 500 sheets of size 20 by
26 inches. A tad more logical is the
grammage value, which is the weight of the
card in grams per square metre.
Card stock usually falls in the ranges 50 to
110 pounds or 135 to 300 gm./m2.
Our American cousins may well measure
card thickness in ‘points’ (pt.) or ‘mils’, which
is the actual card thickness measured in
thousandths’ of an inch.
Thus, 10 point card = 0.01 inch (0.254 mm)
thickness or about 250 gm./m2
This is all very interesting, but if we are not
using card for structural purposes, is A small destroyer with
somewhat irrelevant. It might be helpful if lots of card used in its
you have to buy your card supplies, but you construction.

quickly develop a sense of what type of card

is useful for our hobby.
Sources of card
Well, you could march into an art shop and
ask for Bristol Board, a type favoured by
artists and illustrators. It is excellent quality
and with a grammage of 220 to 250 gm./m2,
ideal for our hobby, but it might prove
expensive although this could appeal to those
modellers who like to equate the cost of a
model with its superiority!
Suitable card can be bought quite
economically from high street stationery
chains. Another source can be the craft and
hobby stores that cater for things such as
knitting, sewing and a whole range of
domestic and leisure activities that I was
unaware of, until my wife dragged me into
one when searching for more wool! They
usually have an art section and suitable card
can often be found there.
To be honest again though, most of the card
I use is free. It seems like very little these days
can be sold without including some form of
card packaging. It matters not whether it is a
shirt or a box of chocolates, any card that
comes into the house is usually examined and
if suitable, saved for potential model use.
Places of work can also be a source of
card, but I’m not suggesting you raid the
office supply cupboard. Things like card
folders which might get thrown away can
be recycled into our models. So what, if it
has ‘ACCOUNTS OVERDUE’ written
across it, as by the time we have stuck it to
the model, sealed and painted over it,
nothing will be visible!
The sheets of stiff card at the back of
writing pads are worth saving. They may not
have the perfectly smooth finish of other card
types, but they have the stiffness to make up
decks and superstructure blocks on smaller
models. Another idea is to ask anyone who
mounts pictures what they do with the offcuts
of mounting board. I had an uncle who was a
keen photographer and I’m still working
through a pile of such board that he passed to
me some years ago!
Some card surfaces feature a textured effect.
This can be useful when you want to represent a
less than smooth surface on your model. I used
card with a fabric effect on one model to suggest
a well worn steel hull. Another use could be to
create the non-slip surfaces found on some
decks, but clearly your sealing and painting
techniques need to be appropriate to avoid
loosing sight of these effects.
Cardboard of the packaging variety, might
not seem to be very useful. The internal
fluted structure, whilst giving it toughness
and strength, could be a problem in a model
boat. It would be very difficult to waterproof
these internal surfaces and should any water
enter them, perhaps though an accidental
scrape or impact, then getting the water out
before things turn ‘mushy’ will not be easy.
Well sealed and well above the waterline and
you could get away with using such
cardboard, although regular checking for any
sign of swelling would be essential.
So, having been rather negative about
this type of cardboard, I have to admit that
I still save it. It may not get built into my
models, but it makes cheap and perfectly
acceptable templates for marking out parts
to be cut from wood. With care you can
even use it as a guide for cutting around,
although do not expect it last for more than
one or two models!
Looking at my stock and I
can see pieces of greeting
cards, calendars, etc. Just keep
your eyes open and you ought to
be able to amass quite a pile of card
suitable for building our models with.
Tools for card
Geoffrey Deason’s book that I previously
mentioned, was entitled ‘Cardboard
Engineering with Scissors and Paste’ but
then went on to explain that scissors were far
from the ideal way to cut card!
Scissors achieve their cutting effect by
shearing, which involves one blade
supporting the card whilst the other literally
tears the card away. Using a correctly set up
pair of scissor blades this can produce a neat
cut, but, as you might well expect from the
term ‘tears’, it can be a somewhat vicious
process. The result is that an edge cut with
scissors can be stressed and deformed, even
to the point of it no longer being straight, so
cutting card with a sharp blade on a suitable
surface is to be preferred. However, a good
pair of scissors is still worth having as it can
be handy for cutting card to convenient
shapes prior to final trimming with a blade.
So far, the best way to cut card that I have
found is to use a sharp blade, steel rule and
one of those plastic self-healing cutting mats.
A small craft knife with replaceable blades,
plus the willingness to replace them as soon
as they fail to cut easily, should cope with
most of the card thicknesses you are likely
to use. Any heavier card might be best cut
with a larger knife and one of those with a
snap-off blade to refresh the cutting edge is
more than suitable.

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 57

card modelling

A light fleet carrier, its hull sides are

plated with card and gun sponsons
covered with card.
The light fleet carrier
superstructure island is
built-up from balsa and ply,
later covered with card.
The light fleet carrier
superstructure island now
has some of the card parts added.
If circles have to be cut from card then a
circle cutter is hard to beat. You can buy
expensive cutters, but a modest plastic one is
usually adequate. I’ll confess that until I
bought such a cutter, card circles were cut
using a suitable round object and an ordinary
knife. This was as you can probably imagine,
fraught with difficulties, first finding
something of the correct diameter to cut
around and then making a neat job without
cutting myself, so a circle cutter is well worth
the price!
Cutting techniques
Thin card can be cut with one pass of
the knife, but only with the proviso of a
sharp blade and suitable cutting
surface. Thicker card might need to be
cut using a few light passes. This will
minimise the risk of the blade wandering off
course and maybe into your fingers?
Using a circle cutter successfully will
probably need a little experimentation to find
the best technique. The plastic cutters can
flex if excessive force is applied and result in
the blade missing the original starting point
when completing a rotation. For this reason I
have found that circles are best cut out
using several light cuts. In some
situations the cutter has been held
stationary whilst the card itself was
rotated under the blade.
Fortunately card is cheap, so it is
not too painful financially if it takes a
few attempts before you discover the
best way to use a circle cutter.
Gluing card
Card, being a porous material into which glue
can penetrate before setting, should produce
strong glued joints. One characteristic of
good card joints is that when overstressed,
the card around the joint will fail before the
actual glued joint does.
Many commercial adhesives can make
successful joints with card, but there are a few
points worth considering. Since water can
make card swell, any water based adhesives,
such the white woodworking types, need to
be used with care. I did once plate the hull
sides of a model with thin card using such a
glue. Halfway through the job it was noticed
that the cards were trying to expand and
producing a wrinkled surface rather than the
smooth steel plate effect I was hoping for.
Luckily as the glue dried out the cards shrank
back to almost their original size. In fact the
final slightly rippled surface, although not
planned, was actually realistic for a welded
steel hull, but this was pure luck and should
not be relied upon in future I decided.
The woodworking (PVA) adhesives do have
a lot of good points, so I do use them with
working with thicker card, about 1/16 inch
(1.5 mm), at card to card and card to wood
joints. The trick is to make good close fitting
joints, apply only just enough glue, and after
pressing the parts together, wipe any excess
away. Keeping them pressed together for at
least the minimum recommended time is
essential. When dry, my instinct is to apply a
bead of glue along the joint and produce a
smooth fillet with a fingertip which ensures
that there are no open gaps at the joint which
would weaken the structure.
Contact adhesives such as Evo-Stik, can
make excellent glued joints with card and
such glues are my favoured way of sticking
card plating on to hull sides and
superstructures. However, one drawback can
be the instant bond created which requires
that card is placed perfectly the first time the
parts are pressed together. To allow a little
‘shuffling time’, I usually ignore the
recommendation to apply the adhesive to
both surfaces, then let it dry and press
together. The glue is usually applied to just
one surface, spreading it evenly and then
quickly pressed into place which gives me a
few seconds to make any adjustments before
the solvent evaporates and the glue starts to
set. Solvent free contact adhesives are
available, but I prefer to use the smelly ones
which I know will give me a lasting strong
bond. As a result this is a job for a well
ventilated space if not actually outdoors.
Balsa cement can be used with card
successfully, although it might be harder to
obtain and it does have a strong solvent smell.
This glue will produce a very strong bond
with card as it readily penetrates before
setting hard. It does offer some ‘shuffling
time’ before it sets, but does usually become
completely hard in minutes which is handy.
There is however a serious problem in that
balsa cement tends to contract when it dries
and can therefore distort thin card sections.
The trick here is to use the minimum of balsa
cement to make the glued joint. Then a
second, but still thin coat to avoid distortion,
can be applied to strengthen the initial joints,
its solvent softening the previously applied
balsa cement to create an excellent bond.
It is possible that you might need to attach
a metal item to or through a piece of card. In
this case I would be inclined to use a slow

Above: The light fleet

carrier superstructure
island now ready
for painting.

Right: The light

fleet carrier
superstructure
island finished.

58
 card modelling

setting epoxy so as to give it the best chance

to penetrate into the card’s structure before
setting. Naturally, the usual precautions of
having clean and oil/grease free surfaces are A US Navy tug
still needed for the strongest final epoxy with its deck
adhesive strength. coaming, funnel,
bulwarks and bulk
of superstructure
Shaping card from card.
Thin card, being flexible, might seem to be
willing to take up any shape you might desire,
but in fact it is reluctant to change from a flat
shape into anything else except a cylinder,
Figure 1. Luckily this still offers us a range
of shapes that can be used in our models as it
will also form pointed and truncated cones
which can often be very handy, Figure 2.
Burnishing card by rubbing it over a
suitable curved surface can make card take
up a more complex shape as what you are
doing is gradually moving the fibre strands
relative to each other, but this takes time and
requires continual checking until the desired
shape is achieved. For us modellers, this
technique is probably only suitable for the
thinner grades of card as the stiffer thicker
grades would require larger forces and likely
produce unwanted creases.
Card will also accept being twisted with little
resistance as in Figure 3. This is helpful when
plating the sides of a hull with card where you
often encounter compound curves that a large
piece of card could not accommodate. If the can often be found in the home, but it might
card plates are glued to the hull in the form of be best to ask first before covering them with
individual strips, then they can usually be damp pieces of card!
persuaded to twist to fit the hull shape. Tricky
areas, usually in the bows and around the 3) Leave the card to totally dry out either on,
stern, might call for cutting the card plates or in, the mould. Removing it too soon might
with curved edges rather that using simple not result in it collapsing, but it could still
rectangles, but at least you can afford to change shape before becoming totally dry.
experiment with this cheap material.
Flat card can actually be drastically 4) Be prepared to experiment and learn
reshaped if required by using the fact that its from mistakes.
structure is one of fibre strands which are
simply compacted and mechanically held So, by one means or another, card can be
together. If the strands can be ‘loosened encouraged to change from its original flat
apart’ by dampening a little, then the card can shape into something appropriate for our FIGURE 2
be deformed into the desired shape. As creations. The first method you try might not
mentioned previously, water will cause the work well, but the next could be perfect and
card to swell and will, if not controlled, loosen at least card is cheap, so you can afford to
the fibres to the point where the card loses all experiment.
its rigidity. The trick then, is clearly to
dampen the card just enough to allow it to Card corners
deform into the desired shape, then be Rather than applying separate pieces of card
allowed to dry and shrink back to recover its to each side of a structure, it can be more
stiffness, but now in the revised form. convenient and probably neater to wrap one
I’ll confess to limited experience at strip around it, Figure 4. This obviously
moulding damp card to shape and can only requires the strip to be the right height to
offer the following guidance: match the structure and long enough to wrap
around it. Perhaps not so obvious is the need
1) If you over-wet the card so that it falls to for the card to be bent so as to match the
pieces when you try to use it, just leave it to structure’s corners before it is glued into
dry out a little then try again. place. The best way to bend such corners I
have found is to fold the card over, using the
2) Pressing the damp card over or into a hard straight edge of a steel rule. Once a
suitable mould is the only way to achieve right angle bend has been created in the card, FIGURE 3
consistent results. Suitable forming shapes the rule is removed and the card folded flat,

FIGURE 4

FIGURE 1
59
card modelling
Card is so easy to use around
superstructure upper platforms.

FIGURE 5

Figure 5. This will ensure that the final card Bulwarks

covered item has the sharp well defined
corners that you expect to see.
A word of warning here as this technique of
bending corners in card works well with thin
card but thicker card may be troublesome.
The inner side of the card is subjected to a
compressive force and as a result will tend to
buckle, which can lead to the card
delaminating at the corner, Figure 6. If you
need to make a corner using thick card, then
FIGURE 6 a glued butt joint together with a piece of
internal reinforcing strip is a better way to do
it as in Figure 7.
It is a simple task to produce a bulwark
around a superstructure block by extending
the card facing strips above the deck level,
Figure 8. The same method can be used to
make bulwarks around the edge of the decks
with the card hull plating.
Many vessels have platforms, around which
bulwarks are fitted, gun and searchlight
platforms on warships being common
examples. Again, card can be used to create
the desired effect. The card strip can be
pre-bent, as described
previously, so that one

FIGURE 7
Above: Card has been extensively used for the
deckhouses and to plate hull sides on this turret ship.

HMS Mandate, a small destroyer

model with a significant amount
of card in its construction.

FIGURE 8

60

length of card can be fitted to make the
bulwark in one go as in Figure 9. This method
is usually much easier than using separate
panels and can save a lot of aggravation.
Circular platforms are even easier as no
pre-bending is required, only make sure that
the card is long enough to do the job and has
an overlap for gluing the ends together.
Quite often the upper edge of a vessel’s
bulwarks feature some reinforcement. This
can be suggested by simply gluing card strips
along both sides of the top edge of the card as
in Figure 10. Likewise, any rubbing strips
along the hull sides can be made from card
strips. If the rubbing strips need to be thick,
then building them up by gluing laminations
together will avoid any problems of bending
the card.
Funnels
These items can be ideal for forming out of
card. A purely circular section funnel could be
made using a cardboard tube around which
some, usually a domestic product, had been
wrapped. Toilet roll and kitchen towel inners
spring to mind here. Assuming that a tube of
the required diameter and length can be
found, it will however need some work before
it can be placed on a model.
These cardboard tubes are often made
using card strip in a spiral wound fashion.
Inevitably this spiral is visible and would
remain so after sealing and painting the tube.
For this reason it has always seemed a good
idea to glue a single piece of thin card around
the tube.
If no suitable cardboard tubes can be
found, then one could be rolled from thin
FIGURE 12
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
card modelling
FIGURE 9
Card plates have been stuck to the
hull sides above the waterline on
this model destroyer.
card. This can be done freehand so to speak,
but it is far too easy to crease the card and
produce a misshapen item. A better idea is to
make the thin card tube around a suitable
former. This could be a length of dowel, metal
pipe or plastic tube, but of course care must
be taken not to glue the funnel to the former!
Many funnels are oval or even ‘teardrop’ in
section. It may be possible to carefully squeeze
a round cardboard tube into an oval shape, but
squeezing into a teardrop section is asking for
trouble. I have found that wrapping thin card
around two suitably shaped pieces of balsa
sheet gives good results, Figure 11. Making a
crease in the card to locate the rear of the
formers helps, and it also creates a neat gluing
surface when joining the ends of the strip. FIGURE 10
Using a slightly longer strip makes for an
easier life and the excess can be trimmed away
after the glue sets.
The lower former should be at the bottom of
the funnel to provide a large gluing area for
fixing it to the model. This former can also be
angled if the funnel is to be raked aft as in
Figure 12. I tend to recess the upper former a
little as this avoids the final funnel having an
unrealistic solid appearance. Full-size funnels
often have bands around them and these can be
suggested with thin card strips, using sufficient
laminations to create the desired thickness.
Deck coamings
A neat way to secure a detachable hatch or
superstructure block over a deck opening is
to use a deck coaming, Figure 13. This is no
more than a vertical strip stuck around the FIGURE 11
opening over which the detachable piece can
fit. By making it a snug fit, which means
FIGURE 13
61
card modelling

Plating hull sides

With some models this is best done by gluing
individual card plates to the hull. An original
drawing (plating expansion plan) may show
the plate sizes and their shapes as used on the
original vessel. If not, then some idea of the
typical plate sizes and their layout can often be
found from reference books or the Internet.
To ensure that plates are secure, a degree of
overlap between adjacent plates is needed.
Using contact adhesives I have found that an
overlap of 1/8 inch (3 mm) is usually adequate.
It is important that no gaps appear between
plates so the glue must be applied carefully
and the joints firmly pressed together.
The card plates can be applied in a
bricklaying fashion with their vertical joints
being staggered. Some hulls were built with a
distinct ‘in and out’ run of plates in which case
single longitudinal strips of card running from
bows to stern might be more appropriate. The
external armoured belt that older warships
might feature is easily suggested by using a
thicker piece of card. It is worth looking at
full-size vessels and thinking about which
method will create the desired impression.
Even modern all-welded hulls can show
obvious lines along the hull sides which a strip
of card can realistically suggest.
Above: WW2 CAM-ship. The hull above the waterline is plated with thin card. Rivets can be simulated on a plated hull
quite effectively. You could use something
like the heads of suitable pins to add each
rivet individually. A less tedious method can
be to use spots of glue, but this will have to be
done after sealing the card surfaces to avoid
sanding the rivets away. It is possible to
emboss rivets onto card plates by pressing
into the rear face of the card with a suitable
tool. If lots of rivets are required, then
something akin to a gearwheel could be used
to run along the inner surface of the card and
emboss a line of rivets.
One tip that I have been eternally grateful
for, is to always start plating a hull from the
stern and work forwards. This ensures that
any overlapping joints face to the rear of the
model. Thus, when the model is moving
ahead, which they normally do most of the
time, water flowing along the hull sides does
not tend to peel the joints apart.

Sealing card
The porous nature of card might, at first
glance, seem to be a serious drawback in this
hobby. In fact, it can be used to our advantage
as any sealant applied prior to painting will be
able to penetrate into the card. This ought to
produce an excellent bond and usually a
noticeable strengthening and stiffening effect.
I have successfully sealed card surfaces
using domestic primmer/undercoat although

Above: Building the ‘secure without being overly tight’, such a

card superstructure
over the card deck
coaming will be both secure and reasonably
coaming. water resistant. Unless the detachable piece is
very heavy or subject to large forces, I have
Right: The completed
found that stiff card can make excellent
fireboat model has card
bulwarks and rubbing coaming strips, the flexibility of the material
strips around hull. being very handy when the openings have
curved edges.
Successful coamings do however require
that the strips are fixed perpendicular to the
deck surface with no gaps at the joint through
which water can enter the hull. The
detachable piece is often best made over the
coaming to ensure that it is a good fit and it
ought to go without saying that care is needed
to avoid gluing this piece to the coaming or
the deck!

62

my favourite is cellulose dope. I favour this
due to its quick-drying nature and the fact
that each coat seems to soften and dissolve
into the previous one to produce a solid
rather than a laminated effect.
Dope does have a couple of potential
drawbacks which can fortunately be
overcome. Cellulose dope, or more correctly
the solvent in it, can soften contact adhesives
which use similar solvents. Having once had
an elaborate length of card bulwark around a
gun platform decide to become un-glued, I
now glue such items using a small amount of
balsa cement which can better resist the
solvent. As cellulose dope can also shrink
when drying, it is possible to warp thin
unsupported pieces of card when using it, but
the trick in this case is to start off by applying
only very thin coats of dope.
There are other sealants available which
would probably work just as well. It might,
however, be best to try them out on a scrap
piece of card before working on your model.
My technique is to lightly apply thinned coats
of the sealant to the card surfaces, which allows
it to penetrate into the card and also dry
reasonably quickly. Between each coat a light
‘rub-down’ is applied using fine sandpaper. This
removes the, for want of a better word, surface
‘fuzz’ that the sealant has now made rigid.
After a couple of coats of thinned sealer, the
neat stuff can then be applied, but again in
light coats and sanding between each coat.
Also, after each coat, it is worth checking for
any gaps or defects and correcting them
before applying the next coat.
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
card modelling
Now almost 40 years
old, but HMS Lagos is
still serviceable with
its card parts and
Indeed, it has probably
lasted longer than the
full-size vessel.
The total number of sealing coats is up to you.
If the surface was sound to start with and only
very light sanding was needed, then 3 to 4 coats
might be enough. I stop when the surface has a
smooth sheen and it reflects light.
It might be worth adding that before
‘plating’ a wooden hull with card, I usually
commence the sealing process. The
external surfaces of a hull are treated
with thinned dope and sanded
between each coat, working up to a
couple of coats of neat dope as
described before. This provides a
good base to which to glue the
card using a contact adhesive. It
also means that in the event of any
light damage to the card whilst where we all Above: Papier-mâché,
starting to lay glue
sailing, this will not allow water to struggled to
soaked paper strips
soak into the wood. make something inside an unused plastic
I have read about card being sealed and out of a very hull mould.
strengthened by allowing superglue to soak messy mixture of glue
Below: Virtually
into it. This is something I have never tried, (usually wallpaper paste) everything above the
but it would seem to be an expensive way to and paper strips. This method is not strictly deck level is made
treat large areas and if you are sensitive to within the area of cardboard modelling, but from card on this LCM
featured in MB a few
the fumes, it is likely to be highly unpleasant. has some potential uses that are hard to ignore years ago.
and after all, where paper stops and card
Papier-mâché begins is somewhat nebulous anyway.
Whilst working on this article I came across For those readers who have never enjoyed
this subject. Papier-mâché which is French for working with papier-mâché, it simply involves
‘chewed paper’, is sometimes written as ‘Paper
Mache’ in English, but I am sticking (pun
there!) to the French spelling. It raised
memories of long past art sessions in school
63
card modelling
Above: Adding balsa stiffening pieces to the dry soaking paper, usually in the
paper-mâché hull.
form of strips, in a glue then
Below: As first removed from mould forming them into or over a
and looking ‘orrible! suitable mould. Layers of
paper can be applied until the
desired thickness is created
then left to dry. Done carefully, this
can produce an accurately shaped
article, which by reusing the mould, can be
reproduced as many times
as required.
In this respect it
is similar to
techniques such as
casting in resin, but
using readily
available and cheap (if
not free?) materials along
with the resulting lightweight
end product, might make it more
tempting in some situations. I had never
actually tried to make any part for a model
boat by this method until now, so a suitable
use was needed. The answer came in the form
of an old plastic hull moulding that had been
purchased with a view to building a model
from it. Alas, it had spent maybe three decades
wedged in the garage rafters before I now got
Above: Now the papier-mâché
hull looks more ‘hull-like’ having
around to using it, not as the basis of new
been strengthened on its top edge model but as a mould for a papier-mâché hull.
and trimmed. It seemed wise to have a trial run and make a
couple of ‘test coupons’ using paper (from a free
car sales magazine picked up at a supermarket)
with either wallpaper paste or wood glue as the
adhesive. These were made by soaking the
paper sheets in the glue then pressing
Right: Not looking too bad now
and serviceable as a model them firmly together on the
boat hull. Cost? Well virtually nil! workbench to avoid
Below right: The papier-mâché
hull needed some filling, sealing,
sanding and then a bit more filling.
64
any bubbles between the layers. Fortunately my
workbench has a non-porous surface so when
dry, the coupons could be lifted off. They had
thicknesses of around 2 mm and proved to be
remarkably stiff, so thus encouraged, I started
to make a paper hull.
The plastic mould would produce a hull
about 30 inches (75 cm) long with a beam of
4.5 inches (12 cm). The bow section had
quite a fine entry and looked like it would
make a good test for this material. I decided
to go with the wallpaper paste as a glue on
the grounds of economy. Another couple of
free car sales magazines were picked up from
the supermarket and construction of a very
messy and ‘hands on’ type of hull was started.
As this work was being undertaken in an
unheated workspace during the winter
months, I found that only a couple of layers of
paper could be added every day or two. This
gave the paper time to dry somewhat before
the next layers were added. Eventually a hull
thickness of around 2 mm was produced and
was left to dry out thoroughly.
Prising the papier-mâché creation from the
mould produced a surprisingly accurate
model boat hull, but it did seem rather more
flexible than you might care for. Gluing some
balsa strips inside what would be the top
edge and then trimming, greatly stiffened it
all. Checking the outer hull surface revealed
a few places where the paper had not been
pressed firmly to the mould, but no serious
flaws could be seen.
The inner and outer surfaces were then
treated with some yacht varnish left over
from a domestic painting job. The first few
coats just disappeared into the porous hull,
but eventually the varnish began to build
upon the surface. Sanding revealed
numerous irregularities, but luckily the
application of domestic ready mixed filler,
then more sanding and varnishing, produced
a smooth and apparently quite tough surface.
I’m going to have to give the use of
papier-mâché in our hobby more work and
consideration, but it clearly does have
some potential. With the decline of the
traditional local model shop, some people
might find this technique to be a handy
way to continue with their hobby?
Card conclusions
If you did not already make use of card, I
hope that this article has opened your eyes to
its possibilities. It may require more effort
than modern materials such as plastics and
the like, but it is cheap, if not free. Yes, I keep
repeating this, but ‘free’ is the one price that
doesn’t rise with inflation!
Finally, if you still doubt the potential for
card use in our hobby, just look at a few of the
card modelling sites on the internet. Some of
the creations are amazing and you could
easily doubt that they started out as flat pieces
of card. If you have saved the May 2006 copy
of the Model Boats magazine then also look at
the card model of HMS Sheffield that Michael
Tunnicliffe made from a Polish card kit.
Good luck! l
Winter Special Edition 2013
 1907-2011
1907-2011
1907-2013

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 To help you get the best from The Model Engineer Exhibition
These notes are written purely for guidance. Full information is contained in the Competitors’ Information booklet which is sent to
every entrant as part of the information package. If you have an item and are unsure as to the Class into which it should be entered,
leave that section blank and we will take care of it. The Judges have the right to move any competition exhibit into another class if
they feel that by doing so its chances of gaining higher marks or a more appropriate award are improved.
I Marine Models
f the item is offered as a Loan exhibit please indicate
this by writing Loan on the form in the box identifying
the Class. Loan models are not judged but carry all
other privileges associated with competition entries.
Part built models are particularly welcome in the Loan
Section; visitors like to see work in progress, and entry
does not preclude the item being entered in competition
when completed.
The classes listed below are those associated with
mainstream model engineering.
Club exhibits
Where a club is exhibiting, each model should be
entered on a separate entry form and clearly identified as
a club exhibit by entering Loan/Club in the class section
box. This ensures that we have a full record of all models
on display during the show and facilitates matters of
administration and insurance.
Additional forms
If you do not wish to deface your copy of the magazine we
are happy to receive photocopies of the entry form, one for
each model. We will be pleased to send out extra forms if
required, so if you know of a modeller who is not a reader
of one of our magazines but who you think may wish to
participate, please advise them to contact our Exhibitions
Office, or simply photocopy the entry form for them. The
success of the show depends largely on the number of
models on display. Your work could well be the stimulus
which inspires someone else to start in the hobby. There
can be no doubt that this event is our showcase on the
world of modelling in all its aspects. Every modelling
discipline needs more and more participants, and it is
by displaying not only the crème-de-la-crème, but also
examples of work of a more achieveable standard, that
people are encouraged to join into the wonderful world of
modelling, in whatever aspect. We look forward to seeing a
sample of your work at the show!
Engineering Section
A1 Hot air engines.
A2 General engineering models (including stationary
and marine engines).
A3 Internal combustion engines.
A4 Mechanical propelled road vehicles
(including tractors).
A5 Tools and workshop appliances.
A6 Horological, scientific and optical apparatus.
A7 General engineering exhibits – not covered
by the above
Railway Section
B1 Working steam locomotives 1” scale and over.
B2 Working steam locomotives under 1” scale.
B3 Locomotives of any scale, experimental,
freelance or based on any published design and
not necessarily replicas of full size prototypes,
intended for track duties.
B4 Scratchbuilt model locomotives of any scale, not
covered by classes B1, B2, B3, including working
models of non-steam, electrically or clockwork
powered steam prototypes.
B5 Scratchbuilt model locomotives gauge 1
(10mm scale) and under.
B6 Kitbuilt model locomotives gauge 1
(10mm scale)and under.
B7 Scratchbuilt rolling stock, gauge 1
(10mm scale) and under.
B8 Kitbuilt rolling stock, gauge 1
(10mm scale) and under.
B9 Passenger or goods rolling stock, above 1” scale.
B10 Passenger or goods rolling stock, under 1” scale.
B11 Railway buildings and lineside accessories to any
recognised model railway scale.
B12 Tramway vehicles.
B-K1 Working steam locomotives built from a kit.
B-K2 Working locomotives other than steam powered.
(Any model locomotive in class B-K1 and 2, built
from a commercial kit, entered into these classes
will not be judged in the medal classes but can
receive commended certificates and an award
from a trade supplier).
C1 Working scale models of powered vessels
(from any period). Scale 1:1 to 1:48
C2 Working scale models of powered vessels
(from any period). Scale 1:49 to 1:384
C3 Non-working scale models (from any period).
Scale 1:1 to 1:48
C4 Non-working scale models
(from any period). Scale 1:49 to 1:384
C5 Sailing ships and oared vessels of any
period – working.
C6 Sailing ships and oared vessels of any
period – nonworking.
C7 Non-scale powered functional models including
hydroplanes.
C8 Miniatures. Length of hull not to exceed 15in for
1:32 scale, 12in for 1:25 scale, 10in for 1:16 scale;
9in for 1:8 scale. No limit for smaller scales.
C9 For any model boat built from a commercial kit.
Before acceptance in this class the kit must have
been readily available for at least 3 months prior
to the opening date of the exhibition and at least
20 kits must have been sold either by mail order or
through the retail trade.
Scale Aircraft Section
D1 Scale radio control flying models
D2 Scale flying control-line and free flight
D3 Scale non-flying models, including kit
and scratch-built
D4 Scale flying radio controlled helicopters
Model Horse Drawn
Vehicle Section
G1 Carriages & other sprung vehicles.
(Omnibuses, trade vans etc.) Wagons, carts
and farm implements. Caravans.
Junior Section
J1 For any type of model, mechanical or engineering
work, by an under 14 year old.
J2 For any type of model, mechanical or engineering
work, by an under 16 year old.
J3 For any type of model, mechanical or engineering
work, by an under 18 year old.
All entries will be judged for standard of craftsmanship,
regardless of the modelling discipline, i.e. a boat will
not be competing against a military figure. Providing a
model attains sufficient marks it will be awarded a gold,
silver or bronze medal.
Model Vehicle Section
K1 Non-working cars, including small commercial
vehicles (e.g. Ford Transit) all scales down to 1/42.
K2 Non-working trucks, articulated tractor and trailer
units, plus other large commercial vehicles based
on truck-type chassis, all scales down to 1/42.
K3 Non-working motor bikes, including push bikes, all
scales down to 1/42.
K4 Non-working emergency vehicles, fire, police and
ambulance, all scales down to 1/42.
K5 Non-working vehicles including small commercial
vehicles (e.g. Ford Transit,) scale from 1/43
or smaller.
K6 Any available body shells including Concours,
in any scale or material, to be judged on
appearance only.
K7 Functional model cars/vehicles which must be
able to move under their own power of any type.
Can be either free-running, tethered, radio
controlled or slot car, but must represent a
reasonable full size replica.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH CHALLENGE TROPHY
Rules and Particulars
1. The Duke of Edinburgh Challenge Trophy is
awarded to the winner of the Championship Award
at the Model Engineer Exhibition.
2. The trophy remains at all times the property of
MyTimeMedia Ltd.
3. The name of the winner and the date of the year
in which the award is made will be engraved on
the trophy, which may remain, at the discretion
of MyTimeMedia Ltd., in his/her possession until
required for renovation and display at the following
Model Engineer Exhibition.
4. Any piece of model engineering work will be eligible
for this Championship Award after it has been
awarded, at The Model Engineer Exhibition, a Gold
or Silver medal by MyTimeMedia Ltd
5. A model may be entered more than one year but if
the model wins it will be permanently retired.
6. Entry shall be free. Competitors must state on the
entry form:
(a) That exhibits are their own bona-fide work.
(b) Any parts or kits which were purchased or were
not the outcome of their own work.
(c) That the model has not been structurally altered
since winning the qualifying award.
7. MyTimeMedia Ltd. may at their sole discretion vary
the conditions of entry without notice.
COMPETITION RULES
1. Each entry shall be made separately on the official
form and every question must be answered.
2. Competition Application Forms must be received
by the stated closing date. LATE ENTRIES WILL
ONLY BE ACCEPTED AT THE DISCRETION OF THE
ORGANISERS.
3. Competitors must state on their form the following:
(a) Insured value of their model.
(b) The exhibit is their own work and property.
(c) Parts or kits purchased.
(d) Parts not the outcome of their own work.
(e) The origin of the design, in the case of a model
that has been made by more than one person.
NOTE: Entry in the competition can only be made by one of
the parties and only their work will be eligible for judging.
4. Models will be insured for the period during which
they are in the custody of MyTimeMedia Ltd.
5. A junior shall mean a person under 18 years of age
on December 31st in the year of entry.
6. Past Gold and Silver medal award winners at any
of the exhibitions promoted by MyTimeMedia Ltd.
are eligible to re-enter their model for the ‘Duke of
Edinburgh Challenge Trophy’. Past winners at any
of the exhibitions promoted by MyTimeMedia Ltd.
will not be eligible for re-entry into the competition
unless it has been substantially altered in any way.
7. MyTimeMedia Ltd reserve the right to:
(a) Transfer an entry to a more appropriate class.
(b) Describe and photograph any models entered for
competition or display and to make use of any
such photographs and descriptions in any way
they may think fit.
(c) Refuse any entry or model on arrival at the
exhibition and shall not be required to furnish a
reason for doing so.
8. Entry into the competition sections is not permitted
by:
(a) Professional model makers.
(b) Anyone who has a financial interest in the direct
supply of materials and designs to the public.
NOTE: If unsure, please contact the Competition
organisers prior to the show.
9. The judges’ decision is final. All awards are at the
discretion of the judges and no correspondence
regarding the awards will be entered into.
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models collected at the end of the exhibition and
sign as retrieved.
11. The signed release for each model must be
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IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE MAKE COPIES, INCLUDING
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LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS.
CLOSING DATE 29th NOVEMBER 2013
The Model Engineer exhibition
13-15 December 2013
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Please return completed form to:

Mr Mike Law, 12 Maple Drive, Elkesley,
Retford, Notts DN22 8AX

CLASS ENTRY NO.

ENTRY FORM - COMPETITION & LOAN MODELS

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Surname _________________________________________________ Forename(s) _________________________________________________ Age ___________

Address _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MODEL DETAILS – PLEASE TICK BOX IF MODEL IS FOR LOAN ❑

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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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MB-magazine

special feature
Some of the
fittings the author
has produced
using the casting
techniques which
he describes in
this article.
Resin
Casting
DAVE WOOLEY investigates
T
he Editor suggested that for this Special
Edition I discuss the process of making a
master, then a mould and from it a resin
(urethane) casting. This is something that is
increasingly popular, because it enables the
model builder to replicate an item easily,
rather than perhaps scratch building 20
identical ammunition containers individually. I
was enthusiastic about this, as I have always
wanted to have a crack at developing this
skill, but there was one problem and to be
honest it was that this would be a steep
learning curve for me as I tend to scratch
build everything nowadays, even multiple
identical items.
So, as you will no doubt have appreciated
from Range Finder in the regular issue of
Model Boats, I enjoy developing methods to
create repeat fittings without recourse to
casting and as such during the course of my
model construction projects have used jigs to
1 2
68 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
manufacture such components, rather than
making moulds and going down the casting
route. In fact, thinking about it, the jigs
referred to in the HMS Daring project
described in Range Finder in the regular
issue of MB are great for preparing and
cutting raw material, but perhaps are not
always the best solution for replicating
numerous finished items, so that is why I am
writing this.
Where to start?
Generally most practical tutorials on the
subject deal with the process of making the
mould and then making castings from it, so
okay, you may ask what more is there to
know? Well, here I am going to go back to the
very start of it all, in other words producing a
fitting that is suited for resin casting rather
than use an existing item, thus all the trials
and tribulations of the process will be more
clear. In this article we will see how well tried
methods were used for producing two single
moulds and a two piece version, then gravity
casting from them. I am not covering the use
of a vacuum casting tank, because the vast
majority of readers will not want to invest in
one of these machines which for example
enable the complicated fully detailed one piece
model tank bodies to be produced such as
those by Accurate Armour and Kit Form Resin
Vehicles, website: www.kitformservices.com.
There is of course a huge amount of
information in books and on the internet, so what
is written here is my own personal experience of
this subject and is in no way definitive.
3
5
Masters (or patterns)
Whilst in conversation with Paul Beckley (sadly
now demised) some years ago when he was the
proprietor of Sirmar, I often remarked on the
quality of his resin castings, many being quite
complex in form. On one occasion I asked what
makes for good fittings and his answer was quite
straightforward, namely ‘a good pattern’
(master). This may seem obvious, but basically
the quality of the original will determine the
quality of the fitting cast from it. Paul was well
suited to the task of producing fittings for model
warships as his background was from pattern
making and his material of choice was often
Jelutong, a well known fine grained timber, or he
would use metal in its various forms as these
usually have good surfaces from which to create
a good mould.
For the purposes of this project, I decided
to combine Jelutong and litho plate, both
materials with which I am well acquainted.
For those unfamiliar with litho plate, it is an
aluminium type of thin sheeting used in the
offset-litho printing process. Use sheets can
often be obtained as scrap and can be easily
cleaned back to the clean base material by
domestic solvents. I would also use styrene
sheet and strip, to ascertain the results when
developing a two-part mould.
For the one-piece mould, the fittings are
those on the 1:72 scale HMS Daring as in
Photos 1 and 2. Like so much on HMS
Daring, the fittings such as the various
lockers, differ from those used on previous
warships. Both the selected fittings have
sloping sides and the core of each was formed
from Jelutong, Photo 3.
For those unfamiliar with this timber, it is
perfect for producing patterns as it has a
close grain, can be easily cut and shaped, but
more important, it will create and retain sharp
edges. The next step was to clad the outer
surfaces with 0.5mm litho plate. This material
is almost as workable as styrene and does
have a true metal surface, ideal for being
reproduced from rubber moulds, Photo 4.
Referring back to the very first picture, the
second litho plate clad pattern is formed
using two separate Jelutong timber parts,
each of these providing the former for the
litho plate cladding, Photo 5.
 special feature

7
6

Litho plate glues well with cyanoacrylate

(superglue) metal adhesive and will fix well to
the surface of Jelutong. Cladding the wooden
former takes only a few minutes, but care must
be taken when using superglue, as there is
very little time in which to make any
adjustments. With the cladding in place, any
additional features such as access hatches,
ribs, catches or clips can then be added. 8
Depending on the scale and the dexterity of
the modeller, patterns (masters) such as these
can be made quite complex. However, for this
project, both fittings are reasonably
straightforward with the clips just represented
with narrow strips of litho plate, but even so The mould rubber and casting resins have a
the results were quite satisfying, Photo 6. ‘shelf-life’, particularly once a can is opened,
so I would suggest initially purchasing a
The mould Sylmasta Starter Kit, to see how you get on,
Basically a mould box can be constructed or the smallest can sizes of rubber and resin
from any material that retains the rubber from Alec Tiranti. Photo 10 is of what I
whilst it cures around the pattern (master). It initially purchased from Alec Tiranti in
is worth mentioning that the rubber being ‘rubber’ terms, namely a 1kg of T20 rubber,
used here is ‘cold-curing’ and the setting time its catalyst, a spray release agent that is
can be more than 24 hours depending on the required when making a two-part mould and
ambient temperatures. Manufacturers making some mixing implements. Sylmasta sell very
masses of components may well use much the same types of rubber etc. in a range
vulcanized moulds which require heat to cure of can sizes, shore ratings and at similar
the rubber and this is not covered here, as prices. Shore rating relates to the point at
once again the vast majority of model makers which rubber will split if being pulled apart.
will not have access to, or want the expense Higher shore rated rubbers tend to be harder
of, the necessary equipment for that process. and better suited to white metal casting for
For this project, I chose to make a simple example. For resin casting with subjects that
9
mould box from discarded pieces of 2.5mm have undercuts, you need a flexible (but still
styrene sheet, all temporarily fitted to a plywood firm to the touch) rubber and this T20 ticks
base. For this, modelling clay was used to secure the right boxes.
the sides and allow for easy dismantling, once Measurement of the weight/volume of the
the rubber had cured. The clay is readily silicone rubber and catalyst is critical. It is no
available from W.H Smith (a UK high street good adding excessive amounts of catalyst to
newstrade retailer) and costs around £3, more the rubber (or guessing it) to speed up the
than enough for the task in hand. The great curing process, as the reverse may occur, so
advantage of this material is that it remains the instructions have to be followed precisely
pliable and does not harden, Photo 7. An and this should be undertaken with care to
alternative is to use Lego bricks in all their ensure the correct results. So, accurate
various shapes and sizes to create the box, but kitchen scales will be required to measure the
once broken down, it cannot usually be exactly weight of the rubber being used and to make
replicated and a dedicated box will often be sure the right amount of catalyst is added, a
handy to retain the moulds’ outside shape, the syringe or small graduated measuring
rubber being quite soft. The process is simple, beaker/pipette is ideal and these are available
but every gap has to be sealed so no rubber can from the suppliers and are included in the
escape and this involves ‘thumbing’ the clay Sylmasta Starter Kit. Disposable gloves are
around all the base and side joints. This not only also not a bad idea and spatulas (mixing
seals them, but also holds the sides of the box
firmly as in Photo 8.
The final task before pouring the rubber
10
into the box, is to place the two patterns
(masters) into the bottom of the box. I found
it is useful to fix these on a piece of flat
styrene sheet, which ensures that they are
held in place and will be easy to remove
whilst providing a good flat surface on the
underside of the mould, Photo 9. These
masters (patterns) are, as I said earlier,
relatively simple having no significant
undercuts, so removing them from the mould
(and the subsequent castings) should not
present any problem.

Mixing the rubber and

creating the mould
There are a number of excellent suppliers in
the marketplace and for this article I used
products from Sylmasta and Alec Tiranti, who
both offer a range of rubbers and urethane
casting resins. I must make it clear that these
rubbers and resins are all cold-cure, that is to
say no heat is required, although the
urethane resin can become hot as it cures,
usually within a few minutes of mixing
depending on the ambient temperature.

Model Boats Winter Special

special feature
11
12
14
sticks) for stirring are handy. Wooden stirrers
from Starbucks will do…..
The first task is to pour the rubber from
the can into a disposable container (clear
plastic drink party glasses from Poundland
are as good as any) whilst noting the weight
of the volume you have decanted. From that it
is easy to determine the volume of catalyst
required which will need to be stirred into the
rubber and the whole lot then thoroughly
mixed, Photo 11. Now clearly you don’t want
to have more catalysed rubber than
necessary to fill the mould box, so a bit of
guesstimation is needed, but usually the
amount required will be more than you
expect! The stirring/mixing process will
create air bubbles in the rubber, but don’t
70 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
13
15
worry as what happens is that because the
curing process for the rubber can be 24 hours
or more, the bubbles inevitably rise to the top
surface in that period after the rubber is first
poured into the mould box.
Anyway, having thoroughly mixed the
rubber and catalyst, which should take a few
minutes, pour the rubber into the mould box
over the object to be moulded, Photo 12. If
the item has undercuts, then initially
brushing the rubber into those areas will
ensure no trapped air pockets, thus possibly
comprising the mould. There isn’t much one
can do now, except leave it in a warm dry
place and wait!
So now a day, or even later, the rubber
mould can be extracted from the temporary
box, Photo 13, and the master item should
be intact, with the mould being a perfect
representation, Photo 14, and here lies the
rub as it will be a perfect copy, so any faults on
the master(s) will also be perfectly
reproduced, so getting this right before
making a mould is essential. In this last
picture, you can see a small circular air
pocket in the rubber. This is not a disaster, as
all it means is that when using this mould,
there may be an extra small ‘blob’ on the final
resin cast item, which in practice can usually
be easily sanded away.
Casting in urethane resin
The urethane resin Biresin G26 used came
from Alec Tiranti, Sylmasta also selling an
 special feature

16 17

18 19

identical product, Photo 15. This is very

easy to use, the two parts simply being mixed 20
in equal volumes. Once again, clear plastic
beakers are ideal for this as one can confirm
by eye that the two volumes are identical in
the beakers. Mixing should be done in a way
so as to avoid creating air bubbles and the
resultant mixture poured into the mould. Pot
life is usually no more than four minutes or
so, so speed is of the essence when gravity
casting, which is what we are doing here,
Photo 16. There are substances one can buy
from the suppliers that will help retard the
curing process.
There is a distinctive change in the resin’s
colour as it cures, Photo 17. This stage can
be rapidly reached in a few minutes, but DO
NOT remove the items from the mould just
yet as one should wait at least 30 minutes (an
hour is better) for the resin to set properly
hard, Photo 18.
Here in Photo 19 are three castings
from the mould and in fact, as my skill
improved, so did the castings with no bits
missing from the most recent ones,
because of my earlier haste when pouring
in the resin and not making sure it was
into ever y nook and cranny.

Another example?
Photo 20 is of two small stowage lockers for
personal survival suits on HMS Daring.

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 71

special feature 22

Two part moulds

21
commercially, because it cures with a dry
clean surface that needs no preparation (apart
from washing perhaps) before painting.
Beware of cheap alternatives, since these can
be ‘seconds’ and perhaps not cure as well. As
before, thorough mixing is essential to ensure
a good mix, which as it so happens is easy to
determine because the mixture will have a
uniform colour when it is ready to pour into
the mould. Anyway, Photo 25 is of the end
result of some stowage lockers for HMS Daring.
A two part mould is used for items that would
prove difficult to remove from a one piece
mould. For example, items with deep
undercuts, round or complex shapes and
delicate parts with extensions, and I soon
found out that there is no real substitute for
experience. I should mention again here that
commercial manufacturers will usually use
vacuum casting chambers for these complex
shapes. With these machines, the resin filled
rubber mould is put in the chamber and the
air is drawn out. This forces the urethane
resin into every nook and cranny of the
mould, thus totally filling it and all the
complex surface shapes within. An example
of these are the complex vehicle bodies
moulded by Kit Form Services, mentioned
earlier and on their website you can see the
complex shapes successfully moulded, but
this is not what we are doing here as we are
relying just on gravity.
The whole process is actually similar to that
for a one piece mould, but it will be in two
halves and the easiest way to do this is to
half-embed the item to be moulded into soft
clay (or plasticine) in the lower half of the
mould, pour rubber over it all, allow to cure,

Jelutong blocks, Photo 21, sheathed with 23

litho plate rapidly became the masters,
Photo 22, and a rubber mould was made in
the same way as earlier.
Photo 23 is of them in the mould box,
which is probably bigger than is really needed.
For this mini-project I used the Sylmasta
Starter Pack which includes everything you
need, which is a good way ‘to test the rubber’
as it were. Making best use of the volume of a
rubber mould is essential to avoid waste, and
here you can see another couple of items in
the rubber mould, Photo 24.

Casting
This followed exactly the same sequence as
with the Tiranti Biresin G26 urethane resin. It
is worth mentioning that there are different
types of urethane resin which have different
hardness and curing features and also
different colours, so it is worth checking our
the websites. However this G26 type would
seem to be that which is widely used

24

25

72 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013


26
28
30
remove, and with the master still in place,
invert and make a mould of the other half.
Okay, not quite as simple as that, but that’s
the plan!
The clay will need to be laid as flat as
possible in the bottom of the mould and the
item to eventually cast is part embedded in it,
Photo 26. For the purposes of this moulding
exercise, I made one of the large decoy
dispensers which are basically a tube
mounted on a U section support at each end.
What you will notice about this picture are the
plasticine ‘tails’ which are there in the mould
so that when the two moulded rubber halves
are put together, the urethane resin can be
easily poured in and equally important, the air
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
27
29
31
inside can escape! Also, please note that the
air escape tube and the filler hole are both on
the same side, because clearly we don’t want
the resin to simply pour straight through the
mould and out the bottom when filling it!
Photo 27 is of the first volume of rubber
being poured into the mould box. Note that
there is an indentation (repeated on each
corner) in the clay. This will create a positive
location later for the second half of the rubber
mould. As before, the rubber needs to be left
for at least 24 hours to properly cure.
Photo 28 is of the rubber and clay
removed from the mould box prior to
separation, and after carefully splitting, we
are left with a rubber half-mould as in
special feature
Photo 29. On the left is a little tubular
device, that will have to be glued to the
main body of the decoy dispenser that is
being moulded at the same time. The inlet
cavity and venting tract need to be refilled
with clay for making the second half of the
mould. The box was reassembled around
the half mould section as in Photo 30.
Now, you cannot simply pour the rubber in
again, because it will stick to the existing
half mould, so a spray release agent is
required and this was (is) R5 available from
Alec Tiranti or under a different name from
Sylmasta, Photo 31.
Following the same procedure as
previously, catalysed rubber can be poured
73
special feature
32
34
into the mould, Photo 32. Once again, leave
for at least 24 hours, after which the outer
mould retaining box can be removed and the
two halves split apart, Photo 33. This may all
look rather grotty, but in fact is a decent
enough two part mould of this component
and its accessory fitting.
Two part mould
resin casting
The mould is now ready for use, so the two
halves can be put together, and the locating
‘pimples’ should ensure they are a perfect match.
Elastic bands are as good as any way of holding it
all together with strips of styrene on the sides
helping prevent the rubber, which is relatively
soft, from distorting, Photo 34. Following the
same procedures as earlier, the resin was mixed
in a 1:1 ratio and carefully poured into the filler
opening. Although there is provision for venting
36
74 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
33
35
any air that remains within the mould cavity, a
few taps of it will assist in freeing trapped air so as References
to avoid air cavities within the casting - hopefully! Sylmasta Ltd
It took a number of attempts before I was able to Halland House, Dales Yard
get it right, Photo 35, and this picture is of a Lewes Road
poorly moulded first example. Anyway, things got Scaynes Hill
better with practice and Photo 36 is of a West Sussex
completed unpainted example that ‘will do’ as RH17 7PG
they say. United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1444 831459
Conclusion Email: websales@sylmasta.com
Website: www.sylmasta.com
There is no doubt that practice makes perfect. Sylmasta Starter Moulding Kit is around
Once one appreciates the limitations of gravity £36 at time of writing.
casting, then actually quite complex items can
be successfully cast and if you need ten of Alec Tiranti - mail order,
something, then resin casting is as good a way showroom & technical enquiries
as any. So in summary, for those of us who 3 Pipers Court
need multiple identical parts from a scratch Berkshire Drive
built master, resin casting is a practical way of Thatcham
achieving this. On a final note, urethane resin Berkshire
cast fittings are quite light and size for size RG19 4ER
much less in weight than an equivalent cast in +44 (0)845 123 2100
GRP resin. For me, this has been a useful Email: enquiries@tiranti.co.uk
Website: www.tiranti.co.uk
extra skill learnt and it clearly has numerous
applications in my future model ship building. Biresin G26 Urethane Resin is £38 for
two litres at time of writing. This
Mind you, whilst writing this I have read the
quantity will be more than enough to
article on 3D printing in MB August 2013,
cast all the fittings for an average size of
Page 56, and recently there have been several scale model.
programmes on TV about this, so as that
technology develops perhaps that is Alec Tiranti - London Shop
something that will become more common in 27 Warren Street
our hobby, but for the moment mould making London
and resin casting requires nothing more than W1T 5NB
a well-made pattern, rather than in-depth Check website for opening times.
computer skills. l

Model Slipway R/c
Assurance: WWII Tug 1/43rd 1108mm............................ £315.00
Tamar Class Lifeboat: 1/16th 1000mm............................. £367.00
Shamrock: M160 Fast Patrol Boat 1/24th 685mm........ £119.00
Sentinel: 34m Island Class cutter 1/40th 940mm............. £213.00
Drumbeat of Devon: Fisheries Protection 1/24th 915mm £219.00
Maggie M: Shelter Deck Trawler, 1/32nd 850mm.......... £239.00
Tsekoa II: Buoy Maintenance vessel 1/32nd 845mm....... £199.00
10 Hatch Coaster: Europa-type coaster 1:50th 1005mm. £254.00
4 Hatch Coaster: Europa-type coaster 1:50th 1005mm.. £254.00
Wyeforce: Harbour Tug1/24th scale 840mm................... £219.00
Dutch Courage: General Tug 1/32, 870mm..................... £249 00
Vielstroom: Buoy-Layer :1:40th 960mm........................ £233.00
Post War Envoy: Envoy Class Tug 1:48th 1108 mm...... £315.00
Admiralty: Envoy: Class Tug 1:48th 1108 mm... £366.00
Aziz: Anchor Handling Tug 1:50th 1105mm.................. £284.00
Our Lass II 21.5m twin-rig trawler......................................£274.73
Calda Craft R/c
Joffre: Tyne Tug 1:48th 775mm ....................................... £232.23
North Light: Weston isle coaster 1:32nd 660mm ........... £232.39
Marie Felling: Crown Colony Tug 1:32nd 1105mm....... £368.34
S.S Talacre: Single Hatch Coaster 1:48th 863mm........... £232.36
Cumbrae :Clyde Pilot 1:32nd 864mm............................ £247.96
Sir Kay: Table Class minesweeper 1:48th 933mm....... £266.36
Imara :Tug Crown Colony Tug 1:32nd 1105mm........... £431.91
Brannaren: Coastal tanker 1:48th : 1067mm.................... £277.36
Milford Star: Steam Trawler 1:48th 933mm.................... £212.57
Alte Liebe: Harbour tug 1:25: 984mm............................. £260.81
Schaarhorn: Steam yacht 1:35 Length: 1140mm.............. £311.55
Resolve: Salvage Tug 1:48th 1165mm............................ £472.00
Amaranth: Herring Drifter : 1:40th 600mm...................... £101.79
Thunder Tiger Sea Dragon Racing Yacht 993mm.... £179.00
Laser :1/4 Scale Laser Yacht Inc with bag & radio.......... £413.00
Graupner True Blue: Bermudian Rig.............................. £144.99
R/C Yachts
Robbe Atlantis, Wishbone Schooner, 1:20, 1730mm....... £439.00
Robbe Windstar, 1Mt class inc Std Rig (Sail)................... £338.99
Aquacraft Vela One Meter sailboat .....................................£410.39
Thunder Tiger Vouger II 1Mt .............................................£149.99
ProBoat Westward RTS Return to base motor 69Cm ....... £139.60
ProBoat Serenity 1Mt Ep RTR 914 mm..............................£245.99
Email: saleswestbourne@btconnect.com Tel 01202 763480
Amati Static
We are one of the largest stockiest of model boat Shops in
England and currently have on display some 300 to 400 model
Tipo Riva Aquarama 1970 1:10th . 850mm .................. £352.50
boats. HMS TitanicScale 1:250 .1070mm................................... £375.00
Split between static 'Plank on Frame and Radio Control kits Ferrari Arno X1 RacerScale 1:8 . 790mm......................... £332.00
From Companies like Robbe , Graupner , Aero Naut , Deans Dorade modern yacht. Scale 1:20 . 856mm....................... £276.98
The Schooner Endeavour POF 1:80 .480mm................... £9.99
Marine , Marten Howes & Baylis ,Billing Model Slipway. The Schooner Endeavour Pre Made Hull 1:80 . 480mm.. £89.99
Along with the static manufactures Calder Craft ,Victory Mod- Rainbow Pre Built Hull Version 1:80 . 480mm............... £89.99
els , Amati , Mantua , Corel . Rainbow Plank on Frame Kit 1:80 . 480mm.................... £89.99
Enterprise America's Cup 1930 1:80 . 460 mm................. £89.99
In addition to this we stock a wide range of model Boat fit- Shamrock V 1:80 . 440mm................................................ £89.99
tings, Radios Control Systems , Electric motors, and Steam Ranger America's Cup Defender 1:80 . 470mm............... £89.99
plants, plus many other accessories for model boats. Columbia 1958 Us Cup 12 Mt Class 1:35 . 68mm............ £130.99
Constellation 1946 Us Cup 12 Mt Class1:35 . 600mm .... £130.99
Schooner Endeavour America's Cup1:35 . 1150mm........ £270.00
WP Rhode Island Formula 1 Catamaran Artr Robert E. Lee 1:50 . 600mm..............................................
H.M.S. Bounty 1:60th . 720mm.........................................
£266.99
£225.99
New Bedford whaleboat 1:16th .550mm........................ £128.99
Information : Bluenose 1:100 .540mm .................................................... £96.00
Pirate Ship 1:60 .780mm ................................................... £88.04
ARTR (Almost Mayflower 1:60 .650mm................................................... £165.36
Ready To Run) VICTORY MODELS Static
Controlled via 2
Sciabecco 1:60 .720mm..................................................... £133.06
functions Chinese Pirate Junk 1:100 400mm..................................... £81.19
With 1 brushless Viking Long Boat Oseberg 1:50 440mm.......................... £106.99
outboard motor H.M.S Pegasus 1776 Sixth Rate Swan Class 1:64th .........£349.00
HMS Vanguard Ship Of The Line 1/64th 1171mm ......... £694.00
After installation of HM Cutter Lady Nelson 1:64, 530mm, 1/19c 10 gun........ £124.95
the receiver and HM Bomb Vessel Granada, 1:64, 800mm……………..... £268.90
HMS Fly, 6th rate Swan Class Sloop, 1:64th 810mm........ £291.00
drive battery, the
model is ready to
go: CALDERCRAFT (Nelson's Navy) Static
Description: ARTR (Almost Ready To Run) model ,GRP hull ,Built-in
H.M.S Victory: Ship Of The Line 1:72 1385mm............ £709.00
brushless outboard motor ,Built-in controller ,Built-in servo HM Brig Badger: Brig 1:64 600mm .............................. £161.00
Simple installation of the RC components Price:£255.60 H.M.A.V. Bounty : 1:64 660mm .................................... £157.99
HM Revenue Cutter Sherbourne, 1:64, 500mm……....... £72.61
HMS Mars: 1781 Armed Brig, 1:64, 790mm…………... £183.68
HM Mortar Vessel Convulsion: 1:64, 600mm…….......... £91.00
Westbourne Model Centre HMS Agamemnon, 1781 3rd Rate, 64 gun, 1:64 52"...... £615.00
HM Brig Supply, 1759, 675mm, 1:64 sc……………...... £135.50
41 Seamoor Rd Westbourne Dorset HMS Cruiser, 1797, 18 gun brig. 1:64, 850mm……….... £193.57
HMS Snake, 1797, 18 gun Sloop, 1:64, 910mm……....... £194.57
BH4 9AE HMS Diana, 38 gun heavy frigate, 1180mm…………..... £442.19
Mary Rose, 1545, 1:80, 730mm……………………….... £241.17
Tell/Fax 01202 763480 HM Bark Endeavour, (Cooks) 1:64, 725 x 275mm….... £208.06
HMS Jalouse, 1794 ex French 18 gun brig 1:64 815mm… £204.99
Opening Hrs 9:15..5:00Pm Mon-Sat Half Day Wed
modelling techniques
Full Metal Anorak!
RICHARD SIMPSON looks
at metals and how to work
with them in our model
boats
L
ast year in the MB Winter Special
Edition we had a look at what metals we
might find available to us as modellers;
what their individual properties are and how
we can work with each type. This time I
thought it might be an idea to build on that
and look a bit closer at why different metal
types lend themselves to the various uses we
want to put them in our model boats and
steam installations, and look a bit more
closely at some of the metalworking
techniques that are available to us. Let’s start
then with a very brief overview of the main
groups of metals we discussed in 2012 and
identify their basic properties.
Ferrous metals
Ferrous relates to the group of metal alloys
which use a base of Iron, so it includes all the
family of metals from Cast Iron through Mild
1 fastenings, boiler bandings and the internal
A typical steam engine crankshaft using stainless steel for its
manufacture. Note also stainless steel used for the fastenings,
whereas all the bearing surfaces are brass.
76 www.modelboats.co.uk
Steel to Stainless Steel and all the huge
variety of different alloys in between. Ferrous
metal has one main disadvantage to the
marine engineer or model boat builder, and
that is the fact that it readily returns to its
oxide state, i.e. rusts under the influence of
moisture. Even stainless steel is only in reality
stain resistant, with this resistance depending
on the quantity of chrome alloyed with the
steel, so this whole family of metals finds
limited use for the model boat builder.
Interestingly enough of course, steel as a
result of its ready availability and relative low
cost is widely used in the construction of
ships, but to prevent the corrosion process
we have to apply costly paint systems and
even impressed current cathodic protection
(ICCP) systems to maintain the quality of the
structure.
Consequently, although this family of
metals is relatively cheap and easy to obtain,
we will probably only come across stainless
steel in our model steam plants and boats,
usually in the form of stainless steel
fastenings and fittings. Stainless steel does
have a high strength and abrasion resistance,
so this combined with a nice bright finish
when polished, makes it ideal for screw
components of various valves and fittings,
although possibly the most common
application is for propeller and motor shafts,
Photo 1.
Aluminium
The big advantage of Aluminium is the fact
that it is light in weight, however difficulties
with machining and ‘hot working’ tend to limit
its use. Even drilling presents challenges with
the swarf building up on the cutting edge, so
working aluminium is certainly not
straightforward. It is of course very light, so
makes a good material for manufacturing
frames for stiffening structures and its good
heat transfer properties enable it to be used
as heat sinks. Aluminium does cast very well
and is now also being used as a material for
3D printing, so quite complex parts are being
manufactured as parts of more complex
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
2
Aluminium can be worked into the most
intricate shapes and designs, however it
remains a very difficult metal to work with
for the average modeller. This shows just
what can be achieved with a huge amount
of patience, experience and a lifetime of
spare time!
equipment. The difficulty of machining and
hot working though does tend to limit the
versatility of the material and restricts its use
as a model making material, Photo 2.
Brass
The family of Brass Alloys is also a wide
ranging and extensive group of metals with
the basic Zinc and Copper base metals being
added to with a whole range of additional
metals. Brass is however a very versatile
metal and does a wide range of jobs very
effectively. It can be easily machined; can be
hot worked in a variety of ways; is strong and
resilient enough to be threaded and even has
very good thermal and electrically conductive
properties. It is very corrosion resistant and
can be polished to a beautiful shine. This all
makes brass a very useful material in model
boating as well as model engineering and of
course it is used extensively in steam plants,
both for boiler fittings and engine
manufacture, Photo 3.
Copper
The reason we add Zinc to Copper is to
produce the metal Brass with its
aforementioned wide range of very useful

3 4
properties. Copper itself however actually
does a few things significantly better than
Brass, so it is also a useful metal in its own
right. It tends to be a bit more focused
however and has a few extremely useful
properties rather than a wide range of not so
positive attributes. Two of the main positive
properties are its ductility (softness) and
therefore its flexibility, which combined with
excellent electrical conductivity, make it a
perfect metal for electrical cables. In fact the
electrical conductivity properties make it a
very useful metal in all sorts of applications
and you will find it in many conductors,
contacts, switches and printed circuit boards.
The ductility and thermal conductivity
attributes also make it an excellent material
for boiler shells with the heat transfer
through the shell being very effective and the
ductility allowing the shell to flex as a result
of the effects of heat and pressure without
adversely affecting its strength. This very
softness however means it is not a good
material to thread fittings to, so we have to
attach brass bosses to mount the fittings with
a much more resilient thread cut into them.
The ductility also makes it a very useful
material for pipework as it can be bent fairly
easily into complex shapes, as long as it is
regularly stress relieved by heating to remove
the effects of work hardening. The softness of
the metal however again makes it unsuitable
for the pipe connections so we have to attach
brass fittings to enable the pipes to be
connected together. Of course, copper
polishes beautifully, so also makes for a very
attractive installation in conjunction with
some varnished wood and brass fittings,
Photo 4.
White Metal and Lead
It is probably worth clarifying first just what
we mean by White Metal, as this does seem
to get a bit confusing at times, particularly as
it can be similar in properties to pure Lead,
especially as we see it in the model boat
world. White Metal is a term that
unfortunately seems to be used nowadays for
alloys of both Lead and Tin, which end up
with quite different properties. The alloys of
Tin are often used as the base metal for silver-
plated table ware and are obviously fairly
hard. The alloys using Lead as a base tend to
be quite similar in their properties to Lead
itself and are extensively used as bearing
surfaces, fusible plugs, cast figures and
fittings. We obviously come across the Lead
based White Metals in modelling as it is used
very commonly to produce the white metal
detailed parts and figures offered by a
number of model manufacturers. Both lead
and lead based white metal are dense metals
so are actually very useful for ballast, as for a
set required weight, you have more room left
in the model for other things. Both metals are
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
modelling techniques
Far left: The
Graham Industries
TVR1A engine uses
aluminium, stainless
steel and brass in
its construction. The
brass is not only
functional, but also
polishes up very well
and is very attractive
when combined with
gloss paintwork.
Copper, as well as
being a perfect metal
for boiler shells, looks
superb when used
in conjunction with
polished woodwork as
this home built steam
plant clearly shows.
also very ductile, which can be useful when
you want to shape a piece of lead sheet to fit 5
the bottom of your hull, but which can also be
a bit of a challenge when the white metal
fittings on the model get knocked out of
shape! It is also a point worth remembering
that bent white metal fittings might be easier
to rectify than a split piece of decking or
structure, so the ductility of lead fittings can
also be an advantage, Photo 5.
Metal working
There are many ways in which we can ‘work’
metal, some more practicable than others, but
with a bit of creative thought it is surprising
just what we can do with our normal everyday
modelling tools and equipment. Not only will
this help us with modifying and assembling a
steam plant, but incorporating metals in
general into our model construction can
significantly improve their looks and their life. White metal fittings are often supplied with kits nowadays. This winch
Knowing a bit more about their unit is a kit in its own right and consists of a number of cast white
metal parts as well as rod and tube. Epoxy glue was used to assemble
characteristics (as discussed last year), also this winch.
helps us to understand which processes are
more appropriate to each type, so we can start
to get a better feel for why we use certain however we do need to take a bit more care
metals in certain situations, Photo 6. The over the type of glue we use. As a rule of
following therefore are descriptions of the thumb, you should always be looking for an
most common and available means of adhesive that is stronger than your material
working with metal without going into the when it has set. Most water based adhesives,
depths of lathe work or milling techniques, such as PVA glues, are designed to soak into
but are the sort of methods that modellers the surface of the materials being joined to
with very modest tool and workshop set-ups form an incredibly strong key to the material,
can consider. so generally water-based glues are not strong
enough for metal adhesion as they cannot
Adhesives soak into the surface, so tend to be of very
Never underestimate the power of a tube of limited value for this purpose. The only glues
glue! When we are considering it for metals of any practical real value are cyanoacrylate
6
The hull and superstructure of this scratch built tug by Keith Hayes of the Kirklees Model
Boat Club is actually clad in printers litho plate. This enables a very realistic riveted plate
effect to be achieved but care has to be taken to ensure the plate is suitably bonded to the
wooden hull.
www.modelboats.co.uk 77
 8
modelling techniques

Epoxy glues and cyanoacrylate adhesive work well with metals and This model was built by a traditional engineer who used a large number of metal
even epoxy filler can be used in some circumstances. components in its construction. Even the window frames are brass extrusions, which makes
for a very realistic look.

9 heat as it does so, which increases the speed
A typical multimedia assembly using white metal kit parts modified with
wood components. A slow setting epoxy was used here to enable all
the items to be perfectly aligned while the glue set.
types (superglue) and epoxy adhesives,
Photo 7.
The former can be purchased in thin,
medium and thick consistencies and they
form an incredibly strong bond between two
materials. Cyanoacrylate is actually an
acrylic resin, which you would normally
expect to find as a two part adhesive with a
base and a hardener and this is surprisingly
still the case, as the hardening agent is
water. When the glue is placed on the
material, moisture from the atmosphere
immediately starts the chemical reaction and
the adhesive starts to set. It also generates
of the reaction. An interesting tip with
cyanoacrylate glues is that if you are
working in a very dry atmosphere and the
parts you are trying to glue are very dry, try
breathing on the parts before joining them.
The moisture in your breath will act as the
hardening agent and start the process off,
making for a stronger bond. This is also why
it can be such a challenge if you get it on
your skin as the moisture in the skin starts
the reaction off very quickly. Sticking your
finger (the affected part perhaps?) into water
to relieve the pain, only makes it worse. This
is also why you simply MUST NOT get it
into your eyes. These glues work well with
most metals, but have limited grip on metals
that flex a lot, such as lead and copper. They
also work better with smooth, polished
surfaces rather than the more normal
roughened-up texture, but contrary to
popular belief they do not actually fuse with
the surface of the metal. Photo 8 is of a
model where superglue has been used
extensively to hold metal fittings together,
including the stanchions and railings.
Epoxy resin adhesives actually give you
the two parts of the reaction in two tubes
and are usually intended to be mixed in a
one-to-one ratio. Mixing the base resin and
the hardener starts off the chain reaction
which can be completed in around 5 to 10
minutes in the case of the rapid types or a
number of hours in the case of the slow-
setting versions. Epoxy resins are a lot
thicker than cyanoacrylate and can even be
made into a paste by the mixing in of a
powder called ‘micro balloons’, which is then
extremely hard when set and can even be
machined. Epoxy resins bond to most
metals, but will soon come loose from lead
or copper due to the ductility of the metal
and movement as a result of temperature
changes combined with the extreme
hardness and inflexibility of the adhesive. It
is always worth thinking of how you can
actually capture a metal fastener such as a
screw or a nut to form an extremely effective
bond with a parent material, which can then
be used to attach other metallic components.
Embedding nuts into a drilled surface or
holding a screw head between two beams
achieves this very effectively and then gives
you a wooden surface to bond into your boat
with normal wood glues. It should also be
remembered that cyanoacrylate and rapid
epoxy adhesives may deteriorate with
prolonged contact with water (depending on
the type), so a suitable protective coating
may be required in these situations. Also,
although the rapid type is far more
convenient for the progression of a project,
usually the slower setting types are actually
harder and so form a stronger joint. They
also of course give you plenty of time to set
up the joint with clamps to get perfect
positioning while the adhesive sets, Photo 9.
Soft soldering
This is often only thought of as a means of
connecting electrical cables, but soft
soldering is also a very useful means of
joining brass and copper in a wide range of
uses. It can also be used to join tin and
ferrous metals, but as we rarely use these in
our modelling we will leave them out of this
discussion. Soft soldering brass tube and rod
to make mast arrangements and handrails
will produce neat and robust structures

10 11

These handrails on Stan Reffin’s model were joined with soft solder, Any soldering, soft or silver, requires the metal to be cleaned back to
assembled on the model, then subsequently removed for painting. A bare. If you don’t, the oxide coating on the surface will prevent the
fast means of attaining the required temperature was needed, so a solder from spreading over the joint and it will remain a blob of liquid
small hand held flame burner was used. metal sat on the surface, no matter what the temperature.

78 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013


12
Although multicore solder contains flux it is regularly well worth considering using additional
flux to keep the surface clean during the heating up process.
which will be far more resilient and reliable
than any glued connection and the low
temperatures used make for a quick and
convenient means of joining these metals,
Photo 10. You even have the option of re-
heating the joints to separate them if you get
it wrong.
Soft soldering, as with any heat process, is
all about the control of heat. You need to
heat the joint up quickly to the required
melting point of the solder so you can add
the solder and let it cool quickly. Struggling
with a heat source that is too small will
always lead to heat going off in the wrong
direction, so select an appropriate sized heat
source for the job. Don’t go too big though
and then lose control at the other extreme!
First, the job must be thoroughly cleaned,
degreased and abraded to bare metal, Photo
11. Whether you are soldering handrails (or
wiring or anything else) the heat of the
parent metal must melt the solder and not
the flame or the soldering iron. This ensures
that the parent metal is at the correct
temperature for the solder to flow over its
surface and capillary action will take it into
the joint. It is always worth using a spot of
flux, even if you are using multi-core solder,
to thoroughly clean the surface of the metal
before heating, Photo 12. Note that for
electrical connections you should not use the
acid type of fluxes as is mentioned elsewhere
in this issue in the ‘But I don’t understand
Electronics’ article.
Heat the job quickly with your heat
source, apply a spot of solder to the now hot
job and allow the solder to seep into the
joint. Remove the heat source quickly and
the job will cool down allowing the solder to
solidify. I like to use the small petrol burners
for brass handrails and mast structures as
the heat is perfectly controllable and heats
up the job quickly, Photo 13. It also avoids
actual contact with a soldering iron, which
can move the job around and mar it with
solder from the tip of the iron.
Handrails and mast structures can be
done very quickly and easily with soft
soldering and far more effectively than you
could do with any glue. When you are
finished it is always a good idea to degrease
the joint to clean off the flux as the residue
might cause staining and corrosion in the
future. An electrical spray degreaser is easy
and quick for that purpose.
Silver soldering
Because model boilers and associated pipe
work could get very close to the melting
temperature of soft solder, especially if you
ever let your boiler run dry, it must not be
used to build them. Even though it may be
tempting to use soft solder for such things as
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
14
Silver solder is a very expensive commodity,
but a bulk packet from an industrial supplier
can be shared amongst a number of
modellers and coated rods such as this
make for a very convenient medium.
water feed lines, it is better to stick with silver
solder, Photo 14, because a leaking clack
valve could still subject your feed line to
boiler water and if you ever decide to change
15
www.modelboats.co.uk
modelling techniques
13
A typical hand-held petrol burner provides enough heat to raise the
temperature quickly and efficiently and is very easy to use.
your pipework around and reuse the pieces,
there is never going to be a danger of mixing
up silver soldered joints and soft soldered
joints.
Silver soldering, in exactly the same way as
soft soldering, is all about controlling the flow
of heat. The process is basically the same:
Clean up the joint; arrange the job in a hearth
to prevent heat from escaping; then heat the
job to the melting point of the solder and
apply first the flux from the rod if it is coated,
Photo 15, or from the tin if not, then touch
the rod to the joint.
Again it is the heat of the job and not the
flame that should melt the solder to ensure
that it will flow over the surface of the metal
and by capillary action flow into the joint.
When the job has cooled down it should be
cleaned to remove the flux and then polished
to give a nice bright pipe and fitting. The most
common challenges with silver soldering are
not getting the parent metal hot enough to
melt the solder so you end up with a spherical
blob of molten solder sat on top of the job, or
not cleaning the surface prior to soldering, so
the oxide coating on the copper pipe prevents
the solder from flowing and again you get a
blob of solder sat on top! As with soft
soldering, choice of heat source is important
as you do not want to get too big and damage
the parent metal and not big enough will
never achieve the temperature you need.
Silver soldering will produce a very strong
joint in copper and brass, which is resilient to
the effects of temperature as it requires a
much higher temperature to melt the metal.
This makes it ideal for boiler shells and steam
pipework and even cold water feed lines that
Apart from safety,
the next main
consideration when
silver soldering is
comfort. You will never
get a nice even joint
if your arm is shaking
because it is tired!
79
modelling techniques

16 17

Get everything right and joints like this are easy to achieve. If you Boiler ends are regularly dished to give additional strength. A
remember all the important considerations, good solid joints such as common method is to simply beat them with a planishing hammer
this are achievable by anyone at home. on either a former, or a sand bag, with regular heating to anneal and
soften the metal.

18
Forming, as most of us will have experienced it, is when we simply
bend copper pipes to fit the various components of a steam plant.
Regular annealing and correct tools are required to prevent creasing
of the pipe.
may be subjected to higher temperatures in
the event of a failure of a feed clack valve,
Photo 16.
Forming?
Forming metal is basically bending it into a
shape, possibly quite complex, by nothing
more than the action of forcing it around a
solid object or former. It can be assisted by
heat to soften it, or it could even be simply
cold-formed. Obviously the more ductile
metals lend themselves to this technique such
as Lead, where we may be forming it to a
shape to fit into the bottom of a hull as ballast,
or Copper, where we may be bending it as
pipe or forming a dished end of a boiler shell,
Photo 17. Metal can be formed into quite
surprising arrangements of complex shapes
with patient work, remembering of course
that all metals are malleable to varying
degrees. I once made a ring as an apprentice
by very gently tapping the edge of an old two
shilling (10p) piece on a flat hard surface.
After many hours of slowly rotating and
tapping, the edge flattened out to around a
quarter of an inch wide and the coin reduced
in diameter. The centre was then be drilled
out and I was left with a smooth silver ring
with the wording that used to be around the
edge of the face around the coin now on the
inside edge of the ring - I wish I still had it!
We are more likely to be involved with
forming copper pipes that are bent into shape
to fit our steam plant and boiler end plates
that we want to be dished in shape for
increased strength. To dish a flat plate of
copper requires care and patience as the
copper is slowly beaten on a bag of sand with
a curved headed hammer known as a
planishing hammer. As has been mentioned,
Copper ‘work hardens’ more noticeably than
most metals which basically means that it
becomes harder under deformation.
Planishing a dished shape will require regular
reheating to maintain the ductility of the
copper and prevent cracks occurring and with
regular heating, the edge of the dished boiler
end can actually be bent completely over to
form a flange without any creases.
Similarly with a pipe, if you use a small pipe
bender and carefully feel the resistance of the
copper tube as you roll the handle you will
quite noticeably feel it increase. You need to
stop when you feel the resistance getting too
much to prevent a kink forming and reheat
the pipe to red heat. This relieves all the
internal stresses that you have created by
bending it and allows the pipe to be gently
bent a bit further. Ninety degree bends can
often take two or three reheats to get the pipe
to shape and then it is always worth a final
heating to relieve any stress that remains in
the copper, Photo 18, otherwise this (stress)
could lead to cracking later in life as a result
of flexing with heat or even manual
movement.
General rules of machining
A lot of modellers think of machining as lathe
work or milling (or ‘shaping’ if you are really
old fashioned) and forget that machining
covers all aspects of cutting metal from
simple drilling and tapping to even sawing it.
Not surprisingly, similar rules apply to all
19
A bit obvious this, but perhaps the most essential tool of all is a vice!
these procedures, because all involve the
action of a harder and sharper material being
drawn across the surface of the metal to
remove part of it, namely the swarf.
Machining ease and quality will always
depend on the following few simple criteria
that should be remembered.
Secure the job
The number of times I see people sawing,
drilling and even tapping a piece of work that
is being held in their hands is worrying. At
the very least you will almost certainly end up
with a cut, a hole or a thread that is poorly
aligned, but you also run a very high risk of
having a lump of one of your hands removed
as well. Always secure the job by either
clamping it to a secure table or holding it in a
vice, Photo 19. It actually makes the process
of machining so much easier and it amazes
me the number of times modellers do not
realise this.
Remember the safety aspects
Wear goggles, Photo 20, to keep the swarf
out of your eyes and never disable or remove
machine guards. Stand with your feet secure
to ensure that you are properly balanced and
you are comfortable. Never reach across
rotating machinery and ensure that loose
clothing and jewellery is secured and always
ensure that the area is well lit. All common
sense stuff, but things that still leads to
accidents nowadays when insufficient
attention is paid to them.
Always use a sharp tool
Whether we are talking about a saw blade, a
drill bit or a lathe tool, you are going to
struggle if the tool is blunt. It will generate

80 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

 modelling techniques

excess heat as a result of the higher frictional Goggles or safety

spectacles should be
forces involved and will probably end up with 20 handy in everyone’s
a poor finish on the cut. Use new tools or at workshop. For the
least tools of a proven sharpness and do not sake of a couple
of pounds versus
hesitate to replace or re-sharpen when you possible terminal eye
suspect that things are becoming worn. Drill damage, I’m sure
bits can be re-sharpened, but surprisingly few there is no need to
explain much more.
modellers know just how to do this and you
run a very high risk of making things a lot
worse if you get it wrong. If you know exactly
how to manually sharpen a drill bit then
please go ahead, but for the cost of a new bit
it is probably not worth it, Photo 21.
Ensure the appropriate tool shape
The cutting angle and clearance angles of
many tools are dependent on the metal being
cut, but frequently tools get misaligned as a
result of poor sharpening. Drills are the
favourite and it only takes a slight imbalance
between the two cutting face angles to end up
with the drill tip describing a circle on the job 21 22
and a hole bigger than the diameter of the bit.
Lathe tools require a degree of understanding
as regards what angles should be appropriate
for what metals and what cutting speeds, so I
would advise using indexable bits until you
are competent with tool sharpening, Photo
22. As with sharpening generally, if the tool
shape is inaccurate the best remedy is usually
replace the tool, be it either a saw blade, drill
or lathe tool, and throw away the old tool to
remove the possibility of using it again.
Cooling the job
It seems to be a bit of overkill for many
modellers to have gallons of coolant
splashing around the workshop, spraying up
the walls and liberally coating the floor. Most
modelling jobs, if sharp correctly shaped
tools are being used, will not require coolant. For cutting mild steel, the angle of the two Tool sharpening is almost as much a black art as drill bit sharpening,
Coolant is too often used to compensate for cutting faces should be 118 degrees. Add so indexable tips make a lot of sense for most modellers.
poor tools when a new bit, a slightly slower to that there should be a clearance angle
on the trailing cutting edge and the two
feed and less repetition will make life far cutting faces should perfectly meet in the
simpler and less messy. Only if you are into centre and it is easy to see why effective blade. Blades designed for wood will only last a
mass production is coolant a major concern sharpening of drill bits is not something that few minutes when cutting something as soft as
many hobbyists get right!
and then only for sophisticated machine even copper.
tools. Some modellers seem to think that a
spot of light oil or neat cutting fluid on a saw will help tremendously. Starting off with the Filing
blade or a tap is beneficial, but I tend not to obvious stuff in the general section, the other This is another black art but again stance is
bother and rely on good tool quality to keep single most important aspect of sawing is your one of the key factors, Photo 24. Long
the temperatures down. stance. Your sawing arm should be in line with strokes are a better approach and regular
Having now looked at the aspects of the cut and at such a height as to allow easy cleaning of the file with a file card is
machining that apply across all different free movement of your arm back and forth, worthwhile. You used to be able to buy files for
machining let’s have a brief look at more Photo 23. Any deviation from this will almost particular metals, but that all seems to have
specific considerations that apply to the main certainly lead to a cut that drifts off the line gone by the way now, so softer metals such as
areas of machining that we might want to that will require a lot of dressing up copper will invariably clog up the file very
consider using in our modelling. afterwards. Don’t forget to tension the blade quickly. I frequently use emery cloth or wet
Sawing correctly and make sure it is fitted the correct and dry paper attached to a solid backing as an
This is probably one of the most frequently way around! Finally if you are going to use a alternative, which can then be disposed of
used processes for the metalworker and one of general purpose saw such as a junior hacksaw, when worn, so maintaining a good cut rather
those classics that if you take a few precautions make sure you are using the correct type of better than a clogged file.

23 24

Use a vice, adopt a firm comfortable stance and ensure the job is at the correct Using a file is a very underrated art, but can be an extremely useful skill. Once
angle and height as well as a sharp blade, correctly tightened. You are then in again, a good stance and holding the job firmly is critical.
with a fighting chance of a clean straight cut that doesn’t wander off line.

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 81


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 modelling techniques

Drilling
It is surprising just how much there actually 25 26
is involved with drilling, but starting with the
correct sharp tool is the first priority. I also
use a drill press wherever possible and that
can be something as simple as a Dremel type
of tool in a stand or even an old Black and
Decker bench top drill press, Photo 25.
Manually sharpening drill bits is something
best left to the experts, however you can
purchase clamps that fit to your grinding
wheel that rotate the drill in the correct
angle and attitude. The trouble with these is
that they soon wear the same area of your
grinding wheel, so are not the best way
forward if you are endeavouring to sharpen a
lot of drill bits. It is surprising though, how
long good quality drills can last if treated
with respect, so it is well worth investing
initially in a good set and then looking after
them. I always replace mine in their pouch to
protect the tips and always use a gentle feed
Above: Traditionally,
that doesn’t overheat their tips. Rotation electrically isolated when you do tasks such taps would come in
speed is also important and is dependent as this. In the case of a Black and Decker tool a set of three and
upon the material, so if you want to do it (or similar) in a drill press I would always should be used in the
order of the taper
correctly look up a set of drilling tables to recommend that you remove the mains plug tap, then the second
get the correct speed. from its socket. tap and finishing off
Put the taper tap down first to centralize with the bottoming
tap. A tap wrench is
Tapping the thread and start the cut and ensure that a common means of
Before you even think about tapping a Even a simple drill press accessory for an you run the tap through as far as possible. In driving the tap, but
thread, the hole has to be of the correct size old drill can improve drilling accuracy and is a blind hole you will be limited by the depth looking for any means
well worth getting set up properly. of holding the tap
and the temptation for many is to use the of the hole, which is why you should always
square such as in the
nearest size drill they have in their old biscuit run the bottoming tap down afterwards, even lathe is well worth it.
tin of ‘used but good’ drill bits and hope for and gently fed into the job with your other if you don’t think you need to. I always rotate
the best! If your drill is slightly too small, the hand, or perhaps even allowing the thread to a tap by around 180 degrees then back it off a
tap will be tight and you run a real risk of it pull the tap into the hole as it cuts, Photo few degrees to break the swarf and keep the
breaking and the mess involved with trying 28. Always ensure that the machinery is flutes clear.
to remove the pieces. If the drill is slightly
Taking metals
too big the resulting thread will be sloppy to an extreme is
and the fit with the screw you are going to this amazing fully
put into the thread will be a poor. It is worth functional model made
entirely from brass by
looking up the correct drill size you need for Harry Barrow, again
the thread you want to cut and then I would demonstrating the
recommend that you purchase the correct amazing flexibility
of metals. He has
item. It is surprising just what a huge range previously made a
of drill sizes are available from machine tool landing craft in exactly
stockists and how reasonably priced they are. the same style -
outstanding!
If you want a good strong thread without any
play, get the correct drill and drill the hole
with a drill press. Then turn your attention to
the taps. Taps traditionally come in a
matched set of three, including a taper tap, a
second tap and a bottoming tap, Photo 26.
Nowadays however, a lot of sets, particularly
modelling sets, only include the taper tap and
the bottoming tap. I would always look for a
way to hold the tap square, be it in your drill
press or a modelling lathe, as it is so easy for
the tap to wander off-line if held by hand,
Photo 27. The tap can be rotated by hand

27 28

Using the three taps in the correct order and all the relevant precautions keeping A lathe makes for easy accurate tapping in circular jobs, but even a drill press
the thread square is still a challenge. can be used to help create accurate threads.

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 83

modelling techniques

Left: Taking a bit

of time getting the
wooden pattern right 29 30
is well worth the
effort, as it will form
the mould that can
then be used to make
as many castings as
you want.

Right: The two halves

of the mould with a
funnel shape cut into
the top. An additional
option is for a separate
small vent to prevent
air bubbling up through
the poured metal.

Left: G cramps make

for a quick and easy
means of separating 31 32
the two halves of
the mould as well as
holding them back
together for the next
casting.

Right: It is relatively
straightforward
to make your own
castings with a bit
of common sense
and some basic
tools. Just take all
safety precautions
seriously and wear
protective clothing
and use appropriate
equipment.

Casting
Many model boat kit suppliers nowadays
include fixtures and fittings made of cast
white metal and while we may consider it
beyond our abilities to create our own
castings, it is actually something that we can
all do at home, for example enabling us to
make for instance tailored ballast weights and
keels for yachts. With this in mind I thought it
might be worth describing the process of
casting and pointing out some of the pitfalls.
Taking the simplest component I can think
of, which could be a model yacht keel weight,
the first part of the process would be to
determine the size for the model you are
building. If you are building from a plan, this
will usually include the required ballast
weight, but if not, then you are going to have
to determine this yourself from stability trials
in the bath (or test tank). Once you have
established the amount of lead required, it is
then necessary to calculate the approximate
shape of the weight and then manufacture
that as a former (pattern), usually from wood,
Photo 29. This wooden ‘pattern’ is then used
to make the mould. The challenge here with
describing home moulding techniques is that
there are many different variations of the
process. You could be using a high
temperature silicone rubber mould or a
compressed sand mould or a Plaster of Paris
mould and the pattern could be made of
wood, acrylic, brass, metal or styrene. Dave
Wooley elsewhere in this issue is discussing
resin casting using cold cure flexible rubber
moulds and some of the principles from that
article apply to casting items in metal.
Most kit manufacturers use a centrifugal
machine for their cast white metal parts as
this tends to be a labour saving tool and lends
itself to mass production. What I will do here
is explain a simple method that most people
can try at home with the minimum of tools
and materials to make a keel ballast weight.
The mould
This will consist of two halves that are held
together for the pouring process and you will
need to put a lot of thought into how you
want to arrange the pattern to ensure the
halves can be separated and the air can be
vented from the casting void as the metal is
poured in. The wooden keel weight plug
(pattern) is usually finished with a couple of
coats of varnish and then a simple MDF (or
plywood) outer box must be made (usually
with two matching hollow trays like shoe
box tops within it), overall being around
25mm wider and 12.5mm longer than the
pattern. One of the trays is now almost filled
with plaster and the greased pattern pressed
into it until it is at exactly the centre
longitudinal line of the pattern and perhaps
some temporary means of preventing it
sinking into the plaster will be needed. The
volume of the pattern will force the plaster
up and out of the mould tray if it is overfilled.
It may be worth inserting some wooden
pegs into the plaster which will later assist
with the correct registering of the two halves
when making the casting. When the plaster
has set, a surrounding box should be placed
around this filled tray with the pattern still in
it, and the second half tray frame (no bottom
to it at this stage) inserted. The wooden
pegs should be varnished and greased if
they are being used and a layer of cling film
over the surface of the first plaster half
should prevent the second half sticking to it
(we are not looking for perfection with
making the keel weight). The mould box can
now be filled with plaster to the very top and
put away to completely dry for at least a
couple of weeks in a warm dry place, such as
an airing cupboard. I have read that the
temperature should be slowly taken up to
100 degrees centigrade, but this could cause
cracking and warping of it all, so may well be
best avoided. My advice is to let nature take
its course! It is however, absolutely critical
that the plaster has dried out thoroughly and
naturally before being used for casting. This
cannot be hurried as a damp mould (i.e. one
still drying out) will cause molten metal put
into it to spit.
Once the mould is totally dry, the outer box
can be removed and all being well the plaster
block will split along the centreline, the cling
film having prevented the two halves
becoming one, as it were. With the pattern
removed (you did remember to thoroughly
grease it didn’t you?) a funnel shape will need
to be filed into the two plaster halves to
enable filling and perhaps also a vent hole
(not shown here), Photo 30.
The two halves are relatively brittle so will
need to be carefully handled and care must
be taken when holding them together as
they obviously cannot be simply gripped in a
vice. Photo 31 shows how it was done here
with the plaster halves also retained in their
wooden trays. The white metal (or lead)
should be heated in a suitable container with
a proper handle to ensure firm control over
the pouring and should never be heated over
a flame source that is not secure. White
metal (and lead) gives off obnoxious and
poisonous fumes when heated, so best to do
all this in a well ventilated area or outside in
the open air. A small old traditional saucepan
is ideal, but it must be safely positioned on
the heating ring.
A word about safety here. Molten metal of
any sort, will severely burn you if it comes
into contact with your body. Safety goggles
are essential and protective gloves and
clothing. It is no good wearing goggles and
gloves if you are otherwise in a T-shirt and
shorts whilst wearing sandals! Spitting lead
or white metal, usually because a mould is
damp, is a sure-fire way of being personally
hurt, so be careful.
When the metal is liquid it can be poured
carefully and slowly into the funnel shape of
the pouring hole. You obviously need to pour

84 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

 modelling techniques

33

Metals not only allow us to enhance detail but also allow us to make considerably more
robust and reliable models. This is another shot of Keith Hayes’ Moorcock tug showing how
metals have been used for the superstructure fastenings, to provide strength for the towing
bollards and to strengthen the rudder stock linkages.

Slots with an undercut, epoxy adhesive and fasteners ensure a secure

quickly enough to ensure the metal does not
solidify prematurely and slowly enough to let
the mould fill evenly and completely. This is
why a vent hole (which can be no more than a
very fine drilled pin hole in the side of the
mould) is a good idea as it allows the air to
escape from the void, but is not essential for
this keel, as the weight and volume of the
casting metal will force out the air. You do not
want a large vent hole at the bottom of the
mould, as otherwise the molten metal will go
straight through and end up on the ground,
or even worse, on your feet (remember, no
sandals?)!
The process is usually more difficult with
the first ‘pour’ as the mould is cold and will
therefore cool down the metal more quickly.
Almost certainly you will be unsuccessful at
the first attempt only creating a ‘part object’,
but at the second attempt you should end up
with a useable cast item as in Photo 32. Lead
and white metal can be re-used, so there is
actually no wastage.
To secure this keel weight to the wooden
often plans include sections of the ballast joint for the lead weight to the fin.
weight to enable the modeller to make the
ballast weight from sheet lead rather than a
casting. These sections can be made from 34
card and used as templates to mark them out
of a lead sheet, Photo 35. Lead sheet can be
cut easily and the lead sections can be glued
and clamped together to form the rough
shape of the weight. This can be smoothed off
with a rough file and finally prepared in a
similar way to the cast item. Lead sheet is
available from DIY stores and builder’s
merchants as ‘flashing’ and a roll will
probably last you a lifetime.
Putting everything into
practice?
I thought that to conclude ‘Full Metal Anorak’,
it might be interesting to just have a look at a
very simple project and see how much of our
metal working techniques we might find
incorporated within it. Here, this is nothing The finished item should be firmly attached and a compliment to the
more complex or involved than a radio model. Once you have mastered simpler items, you may be tempted
controlled conversion of a plastic kit so for this to try slightly more comple x designs?

fin, we need to cut a slot into the top of the
weight either with a milling cutter or by chain
drilling, but this slot then be undercut to
produce an internal dovetail shape and drilled
right through to enable screw fastenings to be
used. The slot can then be filled with an
epoxy adhesive before screwing in place to
the wooden fin as in Photo 33. Finally the
weight can be cleaned, fared with car body
filler, primed and painted to match the model
as a whole, Photo 34.
A final point on this subject, is that quite
purpose, I decided to use a Revell Type VII
U-boat. Even with a project as simple as this,
the following metals and metal working
techniques were used in its construction:
1) Lead ballast was fitted into the keel to
enable the model to float at the correct
waterline. Cut strips of lead, Photo 36, here
from a roll of domestic lead flashing as
mentioned earlier, were formed to match the
keel space and held in place by pouring epoxy
resin over it to fill the void underneath.
2) I wanted the model to look as perfect as
possible and so wanted to avoid external
switches and an obvious means of holding the
top down, so I devised a fastening that was
located below the deck gun. This required a
transverse beam to be fitted across the hull
with a brass BA nut bonded below it. The deck
was also fitted with a transverse beam and a
brass BA screw was turned down in the lathe
to make it fit through the deck gun location,
Photo 37. The deck gun locates over this

35 36 37

A keel ballast weight can also be assembled
‘bread and butter’ fashion from sheet lead
using templates. Once all glued together, it
can be properly shaped after covering with
car body fibreglass filler.
Sheet flashing lead is still available from Metal fasteners allow you to make modifications that would otherwise
builder’s merchants and can be cut with a be unavailable, but care should be taken with how you secure them.
pair of substantial scissors.

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 85

modelling techniques

Left: A bit of brass

photo etch can make a
huge difference to the 38 39
overall level of detail in
a model. It must be well
secured though, usually
with cyanoacrylate
glues of various
thickness grades.

Right: I always strive

for accuracy so
exposed shafts plus
the original rudders
were an aim for this
conversion and metal
parts enabled this to
be achieved.

screw by a firm enough fit in the hole. as luck would have it a very generous fellow
3) The Photo Etch (PE) set from White 40 modeller who had done the same
Ensign Models was used to enhance the modification sent me a couple of lovely brass
detail around the model and consisted of a bushes to fit to these frames. The frames
number of pieces of brass that were glued to were slightly over-drilled and the propshafts
the plastic parts with cyanoacrylate glue. inserted before bonding the bushes in place
Both thin and thick adhesives were used with epoxy adhesive, allowing the shafts
depending on the gap available. The bridge themselves to correctly centre the bushes,
area in particular benefitted from this extra Photo 41. Brass propellers with a thin brass
detail, Photo 38. lock nut were fitted, and the motors mounted
in their wooden bracket. Again, clamped
4) One of the biggest modifications was to together by a brass screw bonded into the
the propulsion system, so 2mm stainless steel lower clamp and a nut and washer fitted to the
diameter shafts, 12 inches long, and 4mm upper one.
diameter tubes 10 inches long, were
purchased. This ensured that the tubes could 6) The rudders also needed to be
be fitted to the hull with the external shafting significantly more durable, so their plastic
being exposed outside the hull, as per the shafts were removed and a length of brass
original, Photo 39. With tubes of these tube bonded into holes drilled into the rudder
diameters and lengths, alignment was blades. Alignment was assured by making a
absolutely critical, so the entire alignment of With long shafts and small motors, keeping plaster copy of the original and using this to
bulkheads, motor mounts, hull openings and the resistance to a minimum is very set the correct attitude of the brass tube. The
important. Consequently oiler tubes were
the A-frame brackets was ensured by using a fitted and the shafts filled with very light oil. hull was also drilled to take a larger diameter
length of 4mm diameter stainless steel rod
with a 2mm diameter end turned down to fit
the A-frame. Once all the parts were aligned
and glued in place the steel rod was removed.
Next, the tubes were loosely fitted and the
location of the oiler tubes was determined.
The shafts were removed and the oiler tubes
were fitted by soft soldering short lengths of
tubes to the outside surface of the propshaft
tubes then drilling through inside with a hand
held drill in a pin vice, Photo 40. The insides
of the shaft tubes were cleaned out with a
Riffler file and final cleaning was with pipe
cleaners, before refitting the propshaft
bushes. Finally, the tubes were bonded in
place with a two part epoxy adhesive. When
Below: Bushes will
improve the life of the actual shafts were inserted, they both
the A-frame bearing rotated smoothly.
considerably, as long
as they are fitted
concentrically and 5) Having the shaft rotate in the plastic
made of the right metal. A-frame would not have lasted very long and

41

86 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013

 modelling techniques

rudder stock tubes, Photo 42, which were

bonded in place with a slow setting epoxy, 42 43
with the rudders in place to ensure the
correct positioning of the tubes. The rudders
stocks were later fitted with servo arms, also
bonded in place with slow setting epoxy
adhesive, Photo 43.

7) To minimise excessive wiring which would

affect the trim of such a delicate model, all
wiring was trimmed down to a minimum and
connectors soldered appropriately.

8) The final bit of detail to bring the model

to life was a Heckler and Goros U-Boat crew
cast superbly in white metal. The figures Brass and copper tube is normally available in sizes that Attaching plastic parts to brass tubing requires the tube
were drilled out under their feet with a small slide inside one another. This is a very useful attribute for surface to be roughened, the fit to be tight, and epoxy
the making of sleeves, pipe reducers and rudder stocks adhesive used to bond them together.
drill held in a pin vice and then dress making and tubes etc.
pins were cut down and glued into the holes
Attaching white metal
with epoxy adhesive. After painting, the figures to a wooden
figures were glued in place after pushing the 44 deck requires a bit of
ends of the pins into the wooden decks, help, so dress making
pins help to keep
Photo 44, with another spot of epoxy. them secure as well
Despite all this I still lost a figure on the way as the epoxy glue.
to a show one year!

Conclusion
Hopefully, reading through this will tempt you
to extend the use of metals in your model
making. It doesn’t have to be a complex steam
plant, but just improving a kit or converting
something to improve its operating endurance,
can be hugely satisfying. Don’t be scared of
metalwork, it gives you a whole new world of
opportunities to improve your model making,
as long as you are aware of their properties,
strengths and weaknesses, all of which leads
us to Photo 45 of the aforementioned
submarine heading out on patrol!
(Additional casting material and pictures by
kind permission of Alan Wyatt of Kirklees
MBC)

Useful contacts for modelling metal suppliers

Name Telephone Website
Albion Alloys: 01202 511232 www.albionalloys.co.uk
Converting a plastic kit
Alec Tiranti 08451 232100 www.tiranti.co.uk
to a radio controlled
Blackgates Engineering 01924 466000 www.blackgates.co.uk model can be very
Chronos Ltd 01582 471900 www.chronos.ltd.uk satisfying and produce
CUP Alloys Ltd 01246 566814 www.cupalloys.co.uk an excellent level of
EKP Supplies 01598 710892 www.ekpsupplies.co.uk detail in the model. A
good knowledge of
Forest Classics 01594 832797 www.forest-classics.co.uk the metals involved,
M-Machine 01325 381300 www.mmachine-metals.co.uk how they behave and
Noggin End Metals 01782 865428 www.nogginend.com how they are all best
RDG Tools Ltd 01422 885069 www.rdgtools.co.uk joined to each other
and the plastic, will be
very useful.

45

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 87

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special feature
The basic design of a simple Bench-top Hot Wire Cutter.
Homemade Hot Wire
Foam Cutters
By RON REES
I
have been ‘Messing About’ again recently,
making model boats out of blue foam (July
2013 MB) and skinning them with nylon
stockings and resin. This method is quick,
cheap, easy to do and produces very light and
tough model boat hulls. The off-cuts also
make brilliant seats, figures and lightweight
bases for awkward things like gun turrets etc.
which can be sheeted over with styrene card
or given a thin coat of epoxy resin for a final
finish. As I’ve become more adventurous, I
have experimented by trying to make more
and more complicated shapes and this has
required the use of more unconventional
modelling methods.
Until now, most work on foam blocks was
done using a bandsaw, my wife’s’ best
breadknife and all sorts of weirdly shaped
blocks covered in silicone sanding paper.
The latest experimental model needed
something more precise and in fact, a lot
more finesse all round for its construction,
so this led me to start looking at shaped
hot wire cutters.
90 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013
I had used this technology before when I
used to manufacture kit r/c planes and
making wings out of polystyrene white foam
was common practice in the aeromodelling
hobby. When more recently teaching
technology, we used large floor-standing hot
wire machines for foam projects and a glance
through some catalogues showed that these
now cost over £800! This is way too much for
a tool to support my hobby, so further
investigation and an hour on the Internet told
me all that was needed and off to the
workshop I went.
Test tool
What was needed was a cutter that could slice
large blocks of foam, possibly up to 12 inches
thick, but the test tool was only capable of six
inches. The wire itself and the power source
to make it hot needed a bit of research, but I
soon found that fine Nickel/Chrome wire
(Nichrome) could be bought easily enough,
but more important was the fact that guitar
strings are also made of a similar material. By
coincidence, some redundant strings were in
the ‘bits drawer’, so ‘playing’ commenced, but
not of the musical variety!
Anyway, after making a single bar electric
fire on the workbench, the voltage was scaled
down a bit, as the workshop was getting
rather hot! The mains to DC power supply
was delivering 13.5 volts at 16 amps through
the six inch long piece of guitar string, hence
the electric fire effect and not really a very
good idea at all.
After a bit of fiddling around, it seemed that
one volt at 1.5 amps would heat a one inch
(25mm) length of wire hot enough to cut blue
(or any other type) of foam quite quickly. An old
NiCd pack was therefore dismantled and the
decent working cells (they were 25 years old)
made into a 4.8 volt 1.2 amp/hr pack. A quick
re-vitalising charge on the fast charger and then
it was tested on the six inch wire which was
now looking a bit sad and twisted having
overheated the workshop. It now worked okay,
so the proper much larger bench-top cutter was
immediately planned and designed.
 special feature

Top left: The complete

Bench-top Hot Wire
Cutter.

Left & above: The

top of the vertical
support post and the
pivot point. The ‘hot
Wire’ is tensioned by
a small ‘wire rope’
tensioner available
from Screwfix Direct,
or other DIY stores.

Bench-top cutter
Blocks of foam up to ten inches thick needed
to be cut at an angle of two degrees from the
vertical, however they also needed to be cut
vertically, so some form of angle setting
device was needed. Industrial units have a
tilting table, but that was more work than
could be justified. Consideration was given to
putting angled bits of wood under the foam
as it was cut, but that could never be 100%
foolproof. In the end, a series of holes in the
top beam that could be chosen as required
and held with a bolt for a pivot, tilted the wire
at progressively increasing angles, so that’s
what was made as in the Diagram printed
here. As you can see, by moving the pivot
point on the top beam, the Hot Wire will
move out of vertical and the tensioner is easy
to adjust to ensure it remains taut. When
tested on some ten inch thick blue foam, the
cut was smooth and clean, provided a firm

Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk 91

special feature

continuous pressure was exerted on the

block as it was pushed past the Hot
Wire, with cut marks only appearing if
you stopped. The length of the throat
of the device is not a problem, as the
wire cuts in any direction, so long
lengths and curves can be cut by
pushing the foam block through from
the side rather than the front.
Cutting was ver y fast in cheap white
polystyrene foam and only a bit slower in
the Styrofoam block (Blue Foam) used for
the model boat hulls, because this latter
material has a denser consistency. The
pores of the cut foam were actually also
sealed ver y nicely by the cutter, leaving a
slightly shiny surface.

Hand-held cutters
Smaller cutters were needed to make slots,
recesses and cut-outs in the foam blocks
inside the hull. An example of this would be
cutting out a servo mounting hole in the
foam, but a guitar string is not rigid enough

Above: Underneath the chipboard platform is the bottom securing

point for the Hot Wire. Below: The business end of the top arm. The
metal ‘mending plate’ that holds the end of the Hot Wire is a standard
fitting available from DIY stores.

A hand-held Hot Wire cutter

can remove large sections
of foam to a set depth.

A hand-held Hot Wire cutting device used for ‘scooping-out’ sections of foam.

92 www.modelboats.co.uk Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013


to do this. In fact a semi-rigid shape needs to
be formed in a wire that can be cut and
shaped to a specific size of hole or opening.
Therefore, a thicker type of wire was
required and this was found in the Hobbies
catalogue. A couple of metres were ordered
and when it arrived it did indeed stay in
shape when hot, but was also easy to bend
into the desired shape with pliers.
Two small handles were made with
terminals from electrical connector blocks
which allowed for different shaped wires to be
selected and fitted to do different jobs.
Sticking to the previously tested 5 to 6
inches of wire and plugging into the pack of
Model Boats Winter Special Edition 2013 www.modelboats.co.uk
four sub-C NiCd’s (4.8v), this rigid wire
worked ver y well. The two hand-held cutter
tools needed switches and these were fitted
so they could be switched on/off quickly
with the push of the thumb. In use, a cutter
drew 2 to 3 amps from the NiCd pack and it
needed to be re-charged following
intermittent use after about 30 to 45
minutes which was more than adequate for
my needs.
The thin wire on the bench cutter left a very
small cutting slot (Kerf), but the thicker wire
on the hand-held cutters burnt a kerf up to
3mm oversize, so this has to now be taken into
consideration when planning a cutting job.
special feature
Conclusion Above: The author’s
completed model on
Hot Wire cutters are a handy addition to the the water, it’s hard to
workshop for many different hobbies, but believe that the hull
is constructed from
especially when using foam in our model blue foam.
making. They are simple and very cheap to
make and the ‘hot wire’ is easy to obtain. If
you buy two metres of it, then it will probably
last a lifetime. For those who fancy making
hot wire cutters, I am listing a number of
contact addresses.
Have fun……………………. l
Useful addresses
1) The mounting points were three inch long straight ‘mending
plates’ and together with the tensioning device, which was actually a
‘wire rope’ tensioner, these were all bought from Screwfix Direct,
website: www.screwfix.com or tel: 0500 414141 for your local store.
2) Hobby’s, website: www.hobby.uk.com, tel: 02087 614244, supplied
the stiff Nichrome wire used for the small handheld devices. Part
No. 124200, £2 for a one metre length.
3) Cables, on/off switches, heatshrink etc. all came from
Component Shop.
4) I used a top ‘E’ string from a guitar for the large cutter, and this
can be bought for approx. 99p from any music shop, or you can order
the proper Nichrome stuff on a roll from Technology Supplies Ltd,
website: www.technologysupplies.co.uk, tel: 08455 670000.
Another hand-held
Hot Wire cutter with
a different shape of
wire, for cutting out
servo mounting holes.
93
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U-Boat U47 Type VIIB £225.95 HM Yacht Chatham £83.95
Viking Ship £99.95 HMAV Bounty £184.95 Alexandra Steam Launch inc Fittings £300.00 HMS Victory 1:78 Scale £389.00
HMS Agamemnon £588.95 Anna Steam Launch £100.00 HMS Victory Bow Section £173.00
Artesania Latina Borkum Steam Launch inc Fittings £339.00
HMS Cruiser £193.96 Section Deck £130.00
Amsterdam £211.99 Felix £88.93 San Felipe £583.00
HMS Diana £440.95
Bounty Jolly Boat £58.99 Lisa M £104.95 The Royal Caroline £265.00
HMS Jalouse £204.95
Hellen - Radio control Coastal £179.99 Gulnara £271.99
HMS Mars £183.00 Pro Boat Ready to Run
Fishing Boat U-Boat £326.95
HMS Snake £193.96 Impulse 26 £170.00
HMS Victory 1:84 £679.99 Victoria Steam Launch inc Fittings £355.00
HMS Victory £709.50 Westward 18 Sailboat £139.50
King of the Mississippi £143.00 Mamoli Kits
Mary Rose £242.00
Titanic Lifeboat £58.99 Robbe Kits
San Juan £116.99 Constructo Kits Blackbeard Pirate Ship £110.00
CSS Alabama £202.00 Dolly Harbour Launch 1:20-New Version £129.95
Santa Maria £121.50 Albatros £76.94
Golden Hind £180.00 Estelle £299.99
US Constellation, American Frigate 1:85 £277.00 America Schooner £99.73
HMS Beagle 1:64 £173.00 Le Courageux £340.00
Swift 1805 £89.00 Cutty Sark £179.54
HMS Bounty 1:64 Scale £211.00 Magin One Black Race edition £189.98
Billing Boats HMS Bounty £176.11 Magin Two £190.00
HMS Victory £331.73 HMS Endeavour 1:100 Scale £115.00
Absalon £450.00 HMS Portsmouth 1:64 £156.00 Sylt Police Boat £559.99
African Queen £138.00 Le Pourquoi-Pas £189.98 Windstar £239.99
Louise £82.07 HMS Prince £256.00
Andrea Gail 1:60 £89.95 HMS Surprise £305.00 Sergal Kits
Bluenose £125.95 Mayflower £176.11
Robert E Lee £167.57 HMS Swift £126.00 Cutty Sark £358.00
Boulogne Etaples 1:50 £149.99 HMS Victory 1:150 Scale £260.00
Building Slip £44.98 USS Constitution 1:82 £297.53 HMS Bounty £174.00
L’Orenoque £300.00 HMS Peregrine £182.00
Calypso Research Vessel 1:45 £365.99 Corel Kits Roter Lowe £283.00
Colin Archer 1:40 £85.00 HMS President Light Frigate £77.00
Berlin £336.00 Valiant £173.00 HMS Racehorse £77.00
Cutty Sark 1:75 £266.95 HM Endeavour £196.00
Fairmount Alpine £324.95 Mantua Kits Mississippi 1870 £356.00
HMS Bellona £302.00 Soleil Royale 1669 £710.00
HMS Reknown £75.95 HMS Neptune £265.00 Amerigo Vespucci £296.00
HMS Warrior £449.99 Armed Swedish Gunboat £140.00 Sovereign of the Seas £710.00
HMS Resolution £170.00 Thermopylae £77.00
Nordkap 1:50 £269.94 HMS Unicorn £206.00 Astrolabe. French Sloop 1812 £197.00
Smit Nederland 1:33 £319.99 Bruma Open Cruiser Yacht 1:43 £165.00 Wasa £710.00
HMS Victory £317.00
Smit Rotterdam 1:75 £266.95 HMS Victory Cross Section £100.00 Golden Star £77.00 Thunder Tiger
Viking Ship Oseberg 1:25 £111.98 Prince William £335.00 HM Endeavour Bark 1768 1:60 £156.00 ETNZ 1M Racing Yacht £219.95
Waveney Lifeboat £39.95 Ranger £66.00 HMS Victory 1:200 Scale £103.00 Naulantia 1M Yacht £149.99
USS Constitution £188.99 Reale de France £543.00 HMS Victory 1:98 £283.00 Team china 1M yacht £219.95
Will Everard 1:67 £71.94 Scotland £66.00 Mercator £145.00 Desperado Jr. ARTR Catamaran £119.99
Caldercraft RC Kits Wasa £405.00 Mincio £94.00 Outlaw JR OBL Power boat Combo £165.95
Le Superbe £322.00
Alta Liebe £264.95 Dumas Victory Models
Branneran £299.95 Occre Kits
Ace racing Sloop £29.99 HM Granado £261.95
Cumbrae £266.95 Chinese Junk £19.99 Albatros £79.00 HMS Fly £289.00
Imara Twin Screw £458.95 Chris Craft 1930 24” Runabout £53.99 Apostol Felipe (Galleon) £216.00 HMS Pegasus £344.00
Joffre £251.95 Chris Craft 1938 27” Triple cockpit £53.99 Bounty with Cutaway Hull Section1:45 Scale £257.00 HMS Vanguard £684.00
Marie Felling Single Screw £395.95 Gondola £17.99 Cazador Xebec £180.00 Lady Nelson £117.95
Milford Star £228.95 Viking Ship £19.99 Diana (Frigate) £216.00 Mercury Russian Brig £354.00
Northlight £251.95 Dos Amigos Brigantine Schooner 1:53 Scale £106.00
Resolve £508.95 Hobby Engine - Ready to run models Gorch Foch £320.00 Plastic Model Kits
Sir Kay £294.95 Flash Speed boat 1:25 £94.99 Nuestra Senora del Pilar 1:46 Scale £450.00 Academy, Airfix, Dragon, Easy Model, Heller,
Talacre £251.95 Snake 1:20 £256.49 Mississippi Paddle Steamer £180.00 Iterleri, Minicraft, RB Model Upgrade Parts, Revell,
The Motor Fifie “Amaranth” £121.94 Viper S Small £94.99 San Marcos (Galleon) £215.00 Smer, Tamiya, Trumpeter

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