lmagna

I must say that just the adding of the rigging contributed considerably to the model. This is going to be a very unique ship in your collection.

I am beginning to think that your garage is the high end garage in town. The garages I grew up with and even had in my last house, were just a trench in the floor that was narrower than the wheel width of the car. They had boards that fit over them when not being used. The work bench area was all wood and even the vice was just a wooden leg vice with a pipe handle screw. Mine had metal jaws fitted. In fact I still have one in my storage shed that I could not stand to throw away when I rebuilt the shop the old shop in my last house. I would venture to say that it dates back to the time the house was built in 1905.

All of those parasols, sunbonnets, long dresses and kids in tow in the first couple of pictures make for an interesting looking crew. No really, but they do bring the time of the ship more into proper perspective. Nice find

Whatever you choose I will be looking in. They may be small but you make them interesting.

Why? Is the water cold at this time of year?

Very nice work Alan I know next to nothing about German tanks. All these years all I thought of was Panzers and Tigers, and here on the forum, thanks to builds like this, I am learning that they had a seemingly endless line of armored vehicles I knew nothing about. I enjoyed following your build, thanks for sharing.

That really came out nice. DID you ever try building the old Aurora Knight kits? I built them when I was a teen. Didn't know much about knights, (Still don't) but enjoyed them immensely. Could be interesting to see what you could do with one of them. https://www.ebay.com/b/Aurora-Knight-In-Character-Figure-Models-Kits/4249/bn_7022352210

I think you still cheated and just stabbed an ant and glued him into place................ Nice work Craig. Again I say that the photos make it look like it is 1/350 or even 1/200 and I have to keep reminding myself that you are working in 1/700.

I would think that a hobby knife or scalpel would also be useful, along with a strong carpet blade or metal ruler to help fold and shape the PE.

Even though it may be more historically accurate, I think you would be disappointed if you use too much black. After all you will want to make your model pleasing to the eye as well. This most often involves adding some color where there may not have been any on the real ship. You have already added lighter sides above the wales and red in the bulwarks. Brownell went mostly black in the model Mike posted, but even he felt compelled to retain some wood color in his build and added the blue racing stripe along the quarterdeck, and deep red cap rails for some eye appeal. I think that the contrast between your unfinished light woods and the black of the hull is what is making you consider going black on your masts and bowsprit. If you darkened your raw wood areas there shouldn't be so much contrast, and it may not bother you so much. VERY clean and nice looking build though.

Hello Ken A lot depends on preference and budget. I have almost always bought my motors through surplus devices or some other source but that method does not always work for some people. But, if you have the funds I would recommend the set intended for the similar sized Robbe Happy Hunter. They look a little expensive at first but you do get two matching motors and some running gear so it seems a pretty good deal. https://www.harbormodels.com/ro1108.html I have never personally used them but years ago a friend built the Happy Hunter and I think he did and they ran fine. What Robbe items I have used over the years have always worked fine for me and the application I used them in. It seems to be a quality company. I have no idea what country you live in, but most of these options should also be pretty much universally available, at least on line. https://www.harbormodels.com/motors.html There are a number of 12 and six volt options available, both direct drive and reduction depending on your preference. Hope that helps

Very nicely done Craig. Sounds like it is just the beginning of your 1/700 fleet. DO you have room for a "Fleet" shelf?

Just means that when your day is over and it's time for bed we still have a full day of playtime left.😵

At first I was wondering where in the heck Perth WA was, being that "WA" is the abbreviation used here in the US for the state of Washington, where I live. Eventually my few remaining brain cells kicked in and I realized it was Western Australia. So welcome aboard Mike, even if you are from the wrong side of the world. At least we both live on the west coast! Hope you have a good time and hang around for a long time as well.

Just a few comments that you may be interested in or not. In this case you are tying to run a 12V motor @ 2.9 volts and your tube alignment is off, causing extra load on the motor as well. This motor is designed to provide it's optimal torque at at least 12V or even possibly more. Many printers/copiers operate at 24V. The high current draw you are experiencing could be from alignment + low voltage + motor design. You should see your currant draw go down a little by making a little better alignment with the prop shaft. Also, even though it is a little harder to measure, you will find that your current draw goes down and your RPM up as the boat gains speed in the water. If you have machining skills and equipment and want to go to reduction drive then go the gear route if you want. Belt drive has noise advantages in many cases and is certainly easier to design and build, but a well designed and built gear drive can work just as well. Just try and choose quality parts and try to build it as sturdy and precisely as possible. Your motor and battery will like it.

I would say the same thing, but depending on your budget would also recommend sheet plastic if you can get it. Trace the wood sheet onto the plastic and cut out and assemble. Saves a lot on sanding as well later. If the original wood has lost all of it's structure that it just crumbles then it may not be the best stuff for the final build anyway. My favorite plastic for this type of modeling is Expanded PVC or "Sintra". It is light and easy to work with. Cuts and glues well and is relatively light. Can be bought in a number of thicknesses to suit your needs. I built my first superstructure from this material over 30 years ago and it is still as strong as it was when built. The material is normally used in signs and things like that as well so can sometimes be found in art supply places and has a surface texture that is not completely smooth and takes paint well. If not and you need to use the original wood then Mark's and Jan's method is a very good method. If I remember correctly aren't the plans drawn 1:1? in that case you could also copy the parts you need and use them to glue onto the wood. I think I would use a small drill at each corner and then remove the center with a Dremel or something rather than trying to cut them out.

Congratulations on a very nice finish. I agree, the slightly rustic uneven shine looks much better than a true modern day mirror. If you do it again, you may look at toothpaste. It is surprisingly abrasive in most cases.

Years ago I helped a friend with building this kit. I don't think we followed the instructions all that much to be honest but we did do the hull both sides at the same time. They are some pretty large sheets and to be honest don't bend as easy as one would like. We remade the entire superstructure from plastic, so I still have some stuff laying around in the basement for this kit. I could gather it up and send it to you if you wanted. I forgot what all it is but could possibly give you some spares if you needed. Good luck on your build.

No reason to not show your build of this tug. There are plenty of builds in the kit section. If you share your experience in a build log then others who may be interested, (You might be surprised how many people here would be interested) can follow along and get answers to possible builds of their own. This type of tug is as much of a static display model with wide appeal as well as a comfortable size for RC. Over the years I have built, run, and competed with about twelve RC tugs ranging from small harbor tugs to 65 pound ocean going tugs with dual 4" props that could tow real boats with people in them at surprising speeds. It was a fun hobby. You may just want to buy one of the 7.4V battery packs that are commonly available for RC cars and such. They are easy to find, normally not all that expensive, and there are a number of chargers that will both quick charge and slow charge them. https://www.amazon.com/Zeee-Batteries-Dean-Style-Connector-Vehicles/dp/B076Z778MJ/ref=asc_df_B076Z778MJ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312111912863&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=612196785035678968&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033347&hvtargid=pla-571251577875&psc=1 And that price is a bit on the high side. A little looking around will probably get you a much better price. Unlike Kurt I am a fan of direct drive, especially for smaller props like yours. Not only is simpler and quieter, but smaller props will need to spin faster just as you will benefit from a larger rudder. I DO AGREE with his comment on the Dumas Adapt-A-Drive! Pure junk is the only fitting description. For larger props in the 3 to 4" range I found that finding a large motor suited to driving that size of prop was the best answer, although this may be hard for some people to acquire. In years past I was able to locate 18V motors from scrapped out copiers and printers that were real powerhouses and very high quality. I used a number of them in my bigger boats, all direct drive with excellent results, AFTER learning that I needed to make my own universal joints from metal to handle the torque! I won several Tug-A-Wars against other model tugs over the years with this arrangement. The biggest prop I ever installed on an RC tug was a 4" four blade prop from a US WWII torpedo. It was used on the nose of the torpedo to arm it as it traveled through the water. I can't remember where I found it but it was a fantastic tug prop, but again the loads imposed on the running gear were impressive and all had to be made extra heavy. No off-the-shelf stuff in that boat. I started with 2:1 belt reduction but eventually ended up with a much larger motor and 1:1 direct drive. If you end up running with other similar sized tugs, sooner or later you will either get into a race, or Tug-A-War, probably both. It is in the blood. Even real tugs do it. I have been on board real tugs a couple of times in the middle of tug races and believe me it is a lot of fun. If in the future you end up building one of these monster RC tugs. They are not fast as boats go like plaining hulls but they are impressive when pushing half of the lake in front and dragging the other half behind!

A small prop like that would tend to need to spin faster than you may think to get realistic or enjoyable operation. But you are probably right in that you will need nothing like 20,000 RPM to get the job done. More importantly, motors that run at those speeds are normally meant for RC cars and such and draw many more Amps than you would need for a tug of that size. I think you would be much happier with a motor equivalent to the Dumas line of scale type motors, https://www.micromark.com/Dumas-6V-10-000-RPM-Boat-Motor I prefer a 12V motor set-up as they tend to develop more torque and draw less current, but the motor listed should get the job done and includes the direct drive components you will also want without putting too much strain on the bank account. It should give you reasonable power, speed, and handling, while not sacrificing running time by being over powered and drawing unnecessary current. If you are going to run RC on this tug then you may want to enlarge the rudder or make a clip-on rudder extension for when you run it. Single screw/rudder models tend to have very poor rudder response at slow speeds, and even worse in reverse and the smaller/lighter the model the worse it is. If the model was a larger/heavier tug then this would not be as big of a problem. If you are just going to run around the pond/lake back and forth then you may not be bothered too much by this but if you do a lot of close in "tugboat work" and maneuvering then you will appreciate the larger rudder. Good luck on your build. Do you have any pictures or build log information?

Too late

This is the only RC model warship I ever built. Mine was one of the Matchbox kits from the first release. A 1/72nd kit of this type of ship was unheard of at that time. She had many years of running true North Atlantic conditions on a number of my local lakes and a few not so local. The model has been retired for some time now but still sits a little the worst for wear on a shelf in the basement. My build outside of the RC conversion was of course out of the box as there was no after market at the time. I think that if you look a little closer at the pictures of the Saucy, you will see pretty much two periods. The " Snapdragon" picture is of the saucy as she looked when handed over to the US with the 4"/50 and shield forward and the two pounder AA gun mounted in the amidships tub with searchlight platform. It also has the British style radar lantern aft of the bridge. In the picture supplied by Mike it looks like the forward 4" gun mount has been completely removed and replaced with a 3", (?) American open mount. The AA tub and searchlight had been completely removed from the boiler casing and a quad .50 mount put in it's place but without the tub. A new American style tub is installed at the very end and another open 3", (?) installed. Also in this picture the lantern style radar has been removed and replaced with what looks to be a searchlight platform and the crows nest on the mast is also gone. The mast looks like it has been reinforced to hold a more modern US radar. As this is a wartime photo it is possible that the radar and some of the other mast or gun details have been cropped out of the picture for security reasons. With more time, better pictures, and eyesight there are possibly other things to be picked out but in my humble opinion the "Snapdragon" picture is in reality the Arabis just after being handed over to the US. There would have been no real reason to return the Saucy back to British configuration in 1945. I think that if I was to build this kit again I would be sorely tempted to build her as the Sackville. Plenty of documented material there! As for the stern not being low enough in the "water", I think I would have to agree with you. The stance you put her into is very similar to the original Matchbox box art: And if you look there is no boot top showing aft. But then that is a painting and if you are off at all it is only very slightly. Instead of lowering the hull you could build up the wave at the stern instead and get pretty much the same effect. Also you could look here in case you feel you have not spent enough money so far: https://distefano3dprint.com/collections/uss-saucy-pg-65-flower-class-corvette Looking forward to following your build. It is very impressive so far and it is just started.

Probably not going to be an issue with your build Denis as you intend to build it in flying mode. But if you do build in on the ground the model is going to be a massive tail dragger unless you add weight. The Navy blue colored PB4Y versions were interesting colors as well.

Back in my RC days I had good luck using Galvanized Flashing. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Amerimax-6-in-x-10-ft-Galvanized-Steel-Roll-Flashing/3020245 It is even less expensive in sheet form https://www.lowes.com/pd/Amerimax-6-in-x-10-ft-Galvanized-Steel-Roll-Flashing/3020245 Use a wooden dowel to roll it to the required diameter and then solder the seam.

Nice to see you making some progress Mike.