Adamcraft Seaplane Tender ST206

Looking good Barrie 

really is looking very nice..........look forward to seeing her on the water.

neil.

nhp651 wrote:

really is looking very nice..........look forward to seeing her on the water.

neil.

Should be this weekend  

Barrie

A bit more progress today, but its too hot for much work   Mainly filling and painting, although the cabin roof is underway. The floor and rear of the cockpit are made and have had one coat of paint, as have the cabin and cockpit sides. Because there is a lot of glazing in the wheelhouse and, as per the original model, I don't intend to fit it out, I have painted the rear bulkhead.

Grandson and weather permitting, tomorrow I make the cabin roof fit and arrange some means of securing it, and also try to build the wheelhouse after glazing it  .

Barrie

It's beginning to look like a Seaplane tender now. Cabin roof finished and painted. Wheelhouse assembled - just the roof and I want to see if it needs ballast before I fix it. Numbers and window frames fitted - waiting for more vinyl so I can make the roundels. Some fittings to make and I have ordered a life ring from Marks Model Bits.
Tomorrow I have a CT Scan in Cambridge so should be able to get a couple of pots of paint from Hobbycraft so I can finish painting. Its looking good for a first sail on Sunday  

Barrie

that is looking SUPERB, barrie.absolutely superb.
neil.

The postman brought my vinyl this morning so I cut and fitted the roundels. I also made and fitted handrails to the cabin roof. This afternoon I managed to buy two pots of paint so tomorrow I can complete the painting and fitting the electronics. It really needs a bath test before Sunday - hopefully I will be able to manage that as well.

Photos tomorrow  

Barrie

Looking real good Barrie.  

Well, after a long day and a couple of setbacks its ready for a test sail Sunday.  

The cabin roof has been painted as has the deck. The hull has had two coats of Humbrol Satincote to seal in the vinyl and leave a uniform finish. The deck will be left matt, and the cabin and wheelhouse were painted with satin paint.

The flotation test showed up the first problem - a leak   - not sure where it was coming in as I didn't realise until I had taken it back to the workshop and drained the bath   Its not the rudder tube, and I don't think its the propshaft. I mixed a load of P38 and slapped it around the P40 I used to seal the propshaft entry and the joint between the bottom ply and the keel. Will have to see if that's fixed it  

I then fitted the electrics back in ready for a test and realised I hadn't greased the shaft   After re-installing everything, I decided to test run the motor, except it wouldn't go   Before I started the build I tested the motor/ESC combination as I wasn't too sure about the ESC, and everything was fine. I took an ESC from another boat and that worked  

Before fixing the wheelhouse roof, I installed the ballast, fixing it with glue, then glued on the roof and fitted the cut-water and handrails. These still need painting. Next week I will make the remaining fittings.

Barrie

Well, it floats and moves, but not very fast   It needs either a different prop (35mm currently) or bigger battery. I will try both next weekend. The good news is it was almost completely dry.  

No pictures - it wasn't in the water long enough  

Barrie

Construction is now complete (almost). Ready for more testing on Sunday with a  larger battery, new ESC and possibly different prop. I just have to fix the wheelhouse roof which I removed to extract some ballast. For some reason the super glue wouldn't stick this afternoon - maybe suffering from the heat like the rest of us.  

I now have to think about my next project. I was going to make another Richard Webb Huntsman, but think first of all I will try to fix up the one I have. I also want to rationalise the electrics in my boats - particularly the connectors used. I seem to have two sizes of bullet connectors, some Tamiya , some Deans and some XT. It makes it complicated to move things around  

Then I have my eye on two kits - a new Deans mini trawler or an Aeronaut day cruiser. These will have to wait until after my holiday - I shall be going to Ron Dean's Open day in September so could come away with a kit from there  

Barrie

you made a lovely job of that Barrie.....if she goes as well as she looks you'll have a real winner there. enjoy it whilst we are still having this great weather.
neil.

Thanks Neil. I think I achieved what I set out to do. Just need to get it sailing well. It should go well, the original was made from regular ply so this is much lighter.

Barrie

hi,

looks great barrie well done:Thumbup:  always nice to finish a model and see on the water 

david

Thanks David - at the moment I seem to be finishing them many too quickly   - I need to slow down.

Barrie

snap barrie that is my problem, what was going to be a slow build I have finished . I don't think I dare build another yet as my garage is up to the roof at one end off boats.

david

I finally got the wheelhouse roof on - had to use Araldite   Changed the ESC but not the prop and off to the lake again. She sailed very well until the coupling came lose   Its still taking in water somewhere - it may be the prop shaft, but it was filled with teflon grease. More investigation required  
I took another boat with me and the propshaft coupling came lose on that on as well - must try harder  
A couple of on the water shots - not very good - taken with my phone.

Barrie
 
 

       

A colleague from the boat club took a couple of better on the water photos.

Barrie

 

hi barrie,

have you sorted out the water ingress and coupling.

david

David,

No - water is still coming up the prop tube - despite filling it with waterproof grease   I'm not sure if it does this only when going astern, or when going forward also. Just sitting in the bath it was coming in, but since that test I have put more grease in.

It will have to wait now until I fill the "test tank" for the next boat. I don't like wasting all that water. 

It isn't too serious as I have fully waterproofed the compartment where the tube comes in, so water can't get all over the boat. It goes very well on its brushless motor and 13.1 volt LiPo.

Barrie

hi barrie,

I have not tryed brushless yet, or lipos, do you find the charging easy as some people say they over heat. only I could do with some smaller packs that will give me some extra time sailing and fit into some small places, do you find they stay charged longer. I have a imax b6 charger so no problem there. hope I am all  right asking on your post.

david

David,

From my experience, provided you only charge them at a maximum of their capacity, e.g. a 2200 mah charged at 2.2 amps, there is no problem. It is also important to balance charge them. Finally, if not using with a brushless ESC, then make sure you don't discharge them below 3.1 volt per cell - you can buy alarms which will alert you, or more sophisticated devices which will reduce the voltage to alert you.

I am also told that you should store them at 3.8 volts per cell if not going to be used for a while. My charger has a storage setting which will do this - I think the Imax may have this feature as well. You can also get a temperature probe which will switch off the charger if the cells do get hot.

I think most of the problems arise from charging at multiple times the capacity, and if the cells get damaged in any way.

I never leave them unattended when charging, and use a fireproof bag.

Barrie

PS I have actually rescued two batteries that were discharged below 3 volts per cell. The LiPo charger wont charge these, but if you use the NiMh setting to get the voltage above 3 volts/cell, then you can switch to the LiPo setting. There is a risk in doing this, but provided you keep a close watch it works. The last one only took about 3 minutes to go from 2.4 v to 3.1 v per cell.

Just a postscript to this build. I have just returned from holiday in Madeira. Whilst wandering around near the cable car in Funchal I came across this exhibit in a glass box - part of their museum.


It was used to service flying boasts, then by the Blandy Family to access their own pleasure craft. It was in a remarkable state of preservation. The Adamcraft model was a pretty accurate model going by this example. The main thing missing from the model were the two engine boxes in the rear well.

Berrie

Message for Paul

Paul I have the plan - a copy of the original Adamcraft one. I also have templates taken from all the parts in an original kit and the instruction book - but you have that I think. Do you have all the parts? The most important ones are the building cradle. I didn't have this and it made construction a little tricky.
Let me know what you want and you can have it for the cost of postage.

Regards,

Barrie

Very grateful to Barrie for plans and templates, invaluable to help construct incomplete 1947 Adamcraft kit.
Also have (2) other almost complete Adamcraft kits of pond International 12ft sailing dinghy, clinker construction and has a bronze centre plate, should be fun.
Have tried to uncover Adamcraft (New Forest) articles and history, but very little found, does anyone have knowledge of these late 1940's kits.
Have seen mention of an Adamcraft Jetex powered hydroplane somewhere.
Very best wishes to all, projects, plans and dreams.
Paul

Hi Barrie,

Could you help me with the building plans? I bought a ST Adamcraft kit but there were no instruction included. 

Cheers
Erik

Erik

I no longer have the plans or templates - I gave them to pautr as ya can see from the previous post. Maybe he still has them. You could try sending him  a message via this web site.

Barrie

Hi all,

I hope you don't mind me tagging onto this thread, I had to sign up and say hello as I recently came across this kit and saved it from a bonfire / shed clear out! I've got a couple of other RC boats, a small tug boat that was my Grandads, and a modern speed cruiser kit by Kyosho that I built as I was growing up.

Anyway, this one seems to be a bit of a find. But it is missing lots of bits I think. I believe all the wood panels are there but it is missing all the fixtures except the wire for the railings. And probably the decals!

I assume the missing components will be almost impossible to find, but perhaps I can source similar bits and bobs. My main issue is no instructions! I am confident I can make up the bits that are missing but I have no idea how to assemble it! The schematic image in this thread is a useful start though.

I'll try to pop some pics up of the kit when I work out how 

Cheers,
Simon

Apologies for the delay. I've been sorting out some things to take on a refugee. Anyway, I think I found a way to share pics so here is the kit!..

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fZVHMXztaSCwSUc37

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DKJqYwwqqGfqaVqc6