Finally dug up a jar of money, bought the kit. Wish I'd done this a long time ago! Opened box, did an inventory (hard to believe, right?), look'it all this stuff, even etched window frames! Wonder why my fibreglassing never turns out like this hull? Must be 10 ponds of plastic parts/sheets, 'nuther 5 pounds of metal parts. Oh my, real live brass props.
Dug out the motors, tried them on a 6 volt battery (no 12 volt battery yet). Might as well do a stall test while I'm at it. Fingers should heal in a day or two, I really do know better than to try holding the shaft with my fingers, oh well.
Think I'll add 'flanking' rudders, too cheap to buy a second ESC for differential motor control. Hmm, wonder where I can find the rudder shafts and tubes?
Everythings in milimeters! Oh yeah, thats on the other side of the ruler, that's okay, I can do that.
Ain't had this much fun since the pig bit my little brother...
- 'Doc

Pictures
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ltdoc/album?.dir=/a573

Hey, Doc,

How'd ya get the yahoo photos into your post?? I'm having difficulty getting photos into my messages--see my other post from today.

Thanks,

John De

"Finally dug up a jar of money, bought the kit. Wish I'd done this a long time ago!"
Hey Doc,
Way to go Doc, that must have been one big jar of penny's.
It's the little boy in all of us, we all want a tug boat.

Don M.

John,
I found that I had this picture place, part of yahoo don't ask me what cuz I have no idea, that lets me post pictures for publication else where. Basically what it amounts to is copying and pasting an URL. The other choice is opening up my email for others to read, sorry, ain't going there (chicken). No idea what to tell you, but it works.
- 'Doc

Don,
I've 'lusted' after several; of these English kits for a good while. 'Uncle Sam' was nice enough to let me have a bunch of taxes back, so rather than waste it some other way, I figured, why not! It's tough being cheap, but somebody has to do it...
- 'Doc

Progress... Got the hull trimmed, hauseholes and freeing ports cut, and the deck fitted. Made some motor mounts and got them installed (remember to swap (+/-) leads on the starboard motor). Also need to remember to get some kinda filler to smooth out the inner bulkheads and seal the deck edges. Tried sanding the bulkheads down, gave up, just too lazy I guess. Painted the deck and hull. Where'd all the black paint go? Oh well, I like red hulls (get black paint). Even got the water line marked! Made a stand from 'Lincoln Logs', looks pretty good (the neighbor kid'll never miss them). Flanking rudders and servos are on the way. Get them in and I can glue the deck down.
Last time I had this much fun I woke up in jail...
- 'Doc

Added rudder servo and linkage. Couple of pictures showing the 'flanking' rudders and linkage (not real yet, I wish). Spent more time cleaning up after last night's storm. 6" of hail, 70+ gusts of wind, didn't like that @#$ tree anyway. Anyone need any firewood? It's free, come and get it...
- 'Doc

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ltdoc/album?.dir=/a573

What, no pictures of the storm damage.

green-boat ,
If you've seen one tree laying on the ground you've seen them all, right?
- 'Doc

Put the motors in, the rudders work, robbed a 12 volt battery from another boat, used a 6 volt for the receiver and servos (no BEC). Couldn't stand it any longer, took her to the pond. It floats! It doesn't leak! It runs like a stripe'ed ***** ape! Oh my. If my grin had gotten any larger I'da broke my glasses. It even sits close to the water line, dang! Gonna go have a beer and calm down...
- 'Doc

Been 'calm' for a couple of days now. Still waiting on a few things so can't seal the deck on yet, but lots of other things to do. Started on the pilot house. Problems, nothing fits exactly. Been 'jigg-sawing' the parts trying to get things together right, not much luck. So, went back and read the manual (first time for the pilot house other than collecting the right parts). Ever heard 'R.T.F.M.'? Read The Furnished Manual (other words sometimes applied instead of 'Furnished')? Hmm, says to do just what I've been doing, make adjustments till things fit. Sure could have saved a lot of anxiety if I'd read the thing first, oh well. Also, I'd done some painting inside the pilot house cuz I didn't want to have to do it through the windows. Going to have to do some re-painting, didn't think far enough ahead to know where things would fit inside there. Through the @#$ windows too. In years to come, this will be the 'fun' part (uh-huh, but not now). Also finding out that you don't/can't spray paint a finished structure without a ton of masking tape. Looking for same color of paint in bottles instead of spray cans is very frustrating. Don't think anyone can afford ~that~ much masking tape. I just LOVE this stuff, don't you!? Seems like if I don't run into enough problems, I make my own. Got to be 'meaning' in that somewhere...
Oh well.
- 'Doc

PS - Not as much sarcasm in that last part as you might think. Odd, huh?

Added a few pictures;
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ltdoc/album?.dir=/a573

- 'Doc

This ~is~ a commercial for 'Model Slipways', Just wish I was paid for it. One of the Model Slipways people just happens to read the forums and has seen my progress on the 'Wyforce'. Finding that I've complained about the upper bulkheads needing filling/sanding, they offered to furnish the plastic sheeting to plate/line the bulkheads with, ->free. Considering where they are, and where I am, that's a ~really~ nice offer! Just wish my consience would let me take them up on it - lol. I seriously doubt if it's because of 'bad publicity' for their product. If you pay half attention to what I've posted you'll have seen that any problems were my fault, and not theirs! If you twist my arm, I have to say that these guys make the best kit I've ever seen (haven't seen them all, theirs or others, so take that for what it's worth). Not exactly the reaction I've gotten from manufacturors in general, you know?
- 'Doc

PS - Not sure how this 'comercial' fits on the forum so if it's a problem doing this much bragging about them, let me know and I'll remove it.

I think it is great that a manufacture takes the time to browse the forums and tries to correct problems that arrise. What better way to improve on thier product and keep the customer happy. Word of mouth is everything when it comes to the sale of a product especially in such a small niche market of scale boats. I wish more manufactures would do just that. There are manufactures here in the states that would benifite greatly from this kind of thing.

I also frequent another hobby forum not related to R/C but there are manufactures that frequent their topic and do slove problems that come up. I work in an industry where most manufactures want the techs input on thier products to inprove on them. The ones that don't are no longer the big fish in the pond and get left behind.

Details, paint lights, mounted ladders, have the spot light, horn, antennas ready, and still no rudders/Post Office Turtle. No tracking number so who knows where they are.
Got all the metal window frames on, think I'll leave them 'brass' colored. Not much point in doing the bulkhead stanchions(sp?), bullards, so on till deck is down, can't do the deck till the rest of the stuff gets here. Sigh... Found the last window frame and it's on. It's raining.

[Told the bartender that I've been working on a tug boat. Very impressed, lots of questions. Wanted to know it's name and where the tug boat was, said it was the 'Wyforce', on my front porch... Was asked to leave for telling all those @#$ lies. What lies?! Sometimes I just don't understand people.]
- 'Doc

Cmon doc lets see some more pics

Quattr0,
Okay, if quits raining and I can take them outside (no cameras in the house, no close ups! At least till I can clean up some of the mess[boat and house].)
- 'Doc

I you're not making a mess then you're not making progress.

Really? In that case, you wouldn't believe the 'progress' I've made on this house!
- 'Doc

Not happy with the color of the hull, so changed it a little. Anyone want to tell me what you think of it?
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ltdoc/album?.dir=/a573
Or any suggestions?
- 'Doc

Doc,

That is the most splenderific paint job ever!!! Is there a template for that wonderful mix of colors?
marjin

I'm having flashbacks from the 60's. Does it glow in the dark too.

I like it!!!
Doc, have you been hitting the nitrous oxide bottle again?

Don M.

Nitrous oxide? Ha! Only thing I have that would come close to using N.O. is a weed eater, forget that!

A template? I wish. Just too many years 'playing' with digital pictures. Hmm wait a minute. Print it off, paste on the sides? Oh my... you just had to give me an idea, didn't you!

And I can make anything glow in the dark with a computer...

- 'Doc

Day Twenty

Decided to forget about the flanking rudders so I can get the deck stuck down now. Found some very thin, flexible plastic used for sails, used that instead of waiting for the plastic I ordered. Doesn't look all that bad, sort of. Besides, I can hide the 'goofs'. Got the deck marked for the bulkhead braces, got the braces cut out, then froze out. Was in the 60's but dropped into the 40's, that's it, I quit for the day! Figure another day or two of decent weather and I have'er done, maybe. Also found that it'll need just an ounce or two of ballast in the back end. Made one 'chunk' a little small, one about right, and one 'chunk' too big. One of them ought to get it to where it should sit, or all three, what do I know. Then some touch-up, tweek it here and there, and it'll be READY.
- 'Doc