New Member in New Zealand/Australia

[StuC]

Hi All,

 

I'm a mechanical engineer and live in New Zealand, but work extended rosters in the mining industry in Western Australia. I normally work 3 weeks on, 1 week off and do project work which means anything from 6 months to 3 or more years on a project. With COVID-19 preventing me from flying home now for a couple of months, I need something to occupy my time in the evenings and days off.

 

I've done some modelling before - many ubiquitous balsa planes, an RC plane that had a single flight that ended in 1 very short and sharp landing (it was 20 years ago, but it's still quite raw), but mostly larger scale WW2 RC ships with medium detail, but again, that was years ago too. I was also quite active in Australia model warship combat (1/144 scale) until about 2007 and built very reliable ships that I kept looking very clean. Here's a photo of the USS Artemis I built in New Zealand years ago in 1/96 scale, and is in a state of semi disrepair here. It was armed with a single rotating cannon in the stern.

 

I really enjoyed the hobby. It was a good mix of modelling and engineering, and I fabricated brackets and set up the pneumatic systems for the CO2 powered cannons. What made an effective ship was thought in design, good execution and reliability above everything else. My ships were reliable. I understand scale modellers sometimes frown on warship combat, but I liked it. Having said that, I probably enjoyed building them more than battling, and I always put more detail on my ships than others.

I've worked extensively on our family wooden yacht (a Sparkman and Stephens 35 foot sloop built in the 1950), so I know all about refastening, re-caulking, and anti-foulling bigger boats. My brother and I also built and sailed a racing skiff when we were at school, and I'm in the final stages of finishing a Lotus 7 kitcar - I really enjoy making things. When I'm at home my wife and I (no kids) surf, look after our rescue animals and work on our lifestyle property on the west coast of Auckland. That always keeps me busy, which I enjoy, however with travel restrictions keeping me in Australia, I've got myself a Victory Lady Nelson to keep me busy in the evenings and on my days off while I'm on site.

 

I've always wanted to build a smaller scale "age of sail" model and this is it.

 

Here's the set up in the room at camp, and I've made a start. Everything packs up into a small storage container.

I'll kick off a build log with my progress so far.

 

Cheers,

Stu

Edited April 26, 2020 by StuC

[Edwardkenway]

Welcome to MSW,  must hard not being able to get home! Anyway  have fun with your Lady Nelson and enjoy. 

[ccoyle]

Welcome aboard and thanks for sharing your backstory. Never done it myself, but I find RC combat interesting (same as for any nautical buff, I suppose). From what I've read, it's quite popular in the Antipodes, but less so in the Northern Hemisphere. If I recall the rules correctly, your 1-gun ship would have been entitled to having fewer of the shot-susceptible panels in her hull?

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress on Lady Nelson.

Cheers!

[GrandpaPhil]

Welcome!

[mtaylor]

Welcome to MSW, Stu.  I too have never done model combat but always found it interesting.

[Jim Lad]

G'day Stu, and a warm welcome to the forum from over on the east coast.

 

John

[JeffT]

[Louie da fly]

Hi Stu, and welcome. Where are you? I used to live in Port Hedland in the north-west of W.A., but it's a big State so you may be nowhere near there.

 

Looking forward to your build log.

 

Steven  

[StuC]

Thanks for the welcomes. What a nice online community.

 

I've been away from home for almost 2 months now. I'm lucky in that my wife is very practical, pragmatic, and independent - she understands. The project is in quite a busy period now, and I'm so site for about 6 weeks but I'm now taking every Sunday off. I work 11-12 hour days, work out after work with my brother (who is an electrical engineer and coincidentally is also on the same site, but different project), and do some model building most evenings and Sundays.

 

Re model warship combat, it was actually started in the US and has been quite active in Australia for the last 25 odd years. There are 2 different sets of rules and therefore different clubs. "Fast gun" is only in the US and ships are allocated "units" where a unit is a single fixed (cannot rotate or depress) 0.177" (bb size) cannon with a 50 shot magazine. The captain can fire each cannon as quickly as he likes. Ships speeds are set depending on size or displacement and bilge pumps are constrained by output nozzle size only (I think).

 

The other is "Big gun" where everything is to scale. The guns rotate and depress to allow for different ranges (they never elevate above horizontal for safety reasons), and the allowed projectile diameters (steel ball bearings) depend on the original ship. 0.177", 3/16",7/32", and 1/4". 1/4" is allowed for ships that had 15" guns or over. Firing rates are also regulated at 2, 4, 6, 8 seconds respectively. Bilge pump flow rate depends on the displacement of the original ship. There is only "big gun" in Australia and I much prefer the concept of it.

 

In both cases, the penetrable areas all follow the same rules, but in "big gun" the balsa sheet thickness is dictated by the armor belt thickness of the original ship, and ship speed is to scale. Anyway, I enjoyed by time in the hobby, but found it a little disappointing that others didn't put more effort into increasing the effectiveness of their ships (read reliability) which makes it more fun for everyone.

 

Steve, I'm at Mining Area C (MAC) just out of Newman. I've spent most of the last 12 years doing iron ore projects in the Pilbara. I will get down to Perth for a one week break in about 3 weeks. I'll take my modelling gear in the storage container and make sure everything is nicely wrapped up and protected.

 

Cheers,

Stu

[Louie da fly]

13 minutes ago, StuC said:

just out of Newman

Well, just down the road from Hedland (in terms of North-west distances).

 

I can think of few things better designed to take a person's mind off work and lockdown than ship modelling. The Lady Nelson is a very attractive ship, well worth the effort. Looks like you've already got a good start on her.

 

Steven

[Modelkiwi]

Hi, what a nice workshop you have. Fabulous work as well.

 

Let me introduce myself. My name is Karel Polman I live in Auckland and was forced to retire due to bad health. And of course the Covis 19 Lock-down does not help.

 

I used to do some bout building many years ago ut had to give it away, due to work commitments and bad health.

 I originally came from Holland and worked as a Marine Insurance Inspector working mainly with small crafts, river boats and tugs etc.

 I love Tugboats and work boats in general , Currently I am setting up my workshop to  be able to start doing this great hobby again.

I was a fervent sailor, Ocean racing and lots of Local sailing in NZ

 

I made some models which were all passed on to family members as gifts. 

 

The NRG website is a great resource that I will gratefully tap into.

 

Thanks for accepting me as a member.

 

Karel Polman

[Nirvana]

Stu, a warm welcome from Washington, USA.

I think many of us has various model experiences before we found this website. Sorry to hear about the covid-19 separation between you and your wife.

I have watched many videos regarding rc ship combat. It looks fun, but seems costly at the same time. 

[turangi]

Very glad to see you here! I think you will have fun doing boat models while confined to quarters. A bit of an interesting story (to me at least)! I frequently travel to NZ for fly fishing on the Tongariro River. I went over in February and my only cares in the world were fly selection, which meat pie I wanted for lunch and should I order a flat white or long black. 

 

Come March, a couple of days before my return home, I decided to look at the news and check my flight home as I travel standby my late wife was an airline flight attendant. I had purposely avoided both as I was so much enjoying my time on the river and loving the magnificent scenery. The news and the flight information were not good. The virus had really exploded and the the flight from Auckland to America was oversold. I was able to get a flight up to Sydney on the West Island, spent the night and made my way home. As a high risk individual because of age and previous chemotherapy I was the antisocial old man hiding in the most quiet corner of every airport. I got home, went into immediate 14 day self isolation and the day it was over our governor announced a mandatory stay at home home order so I was well practiced!  

 

I had hoped to return to my beloved Turangi a couple of more times this year I don't think that will happen. I am very impressed how well NZ and Australia have handled this pandemic. Stay safe and be well!  John

[StuC]

Hi All,

 

Steve, I do like the Lady Nelson and I think she is a good starter ship for me. Being small is very handy as I don't have a lot of room, and of course I want to take her back to NZ with me. I make it out to Port occasionally, but mostly work at the inland mines around Newman.

 

Karel, my wife and I live at Muriwai beach on the west cost of Auckland. Lovely spot (in summer anyway) - I just don't spend enough time there. Welcome to the forum - obviously I'm new here myself.

 

Per, thanks for the welcome. Being away from home isn't a new thing, but for 3-4 months at a time is. I think Australia will open up domestic travel in a few weeks, and I'm hoping trans-Tasman (between NZ and Oz) travel in a couple of months. You're right, model warship combat is costly. I built a fully armed USS Massachusetts (about 4'9" long) about 15 years ago, and I conservatively estimate I had over AUD$3,000 (US$2,000) in her. Great fun though!

 

John, with an avatar name like that I though you had to be a Kiwi! My wife and have been trout fishing around Taupo. When I say fishing, I mean finding a good excuse to take the dogs for a walk and have a beer looking at the river - I'm an awful fly fisher. She's pretty good though. BTW - definitely a flat white. Take care as well.

 

Well, back to the build log in the weekend. I'm making some progress this week and have Sunday off again.

 

Cheers,

Stu

[turangi]

Thanks Stu! Lake Taupo is magnificent, it is always a thrill to round the bend on SH 1 and see the lake with the mountains as a backdrop. I'm no great fisherman, took it up 4 years ago at age of 68 but I can flog the water and scare the fish with the best of them. I think I sometimes I catch fish because they are angry at me disturbing them.

 

Best wishes for your travels, stay safe an well. John  

Edited May 2, 2020 by turangi

[mtaylor]

Karel,

Welcome to MSW.  

 

 

[Modelkiwi]

3 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Karel,

Welcome to MSW.  

 

 

Patience is a virtue. You will be come a Virtuoso after lots of patience

Thanks Karel Polman Modelkiwi Auckland NZ

[Jonny 007]

kia ora!

Welcome to MSW. There are a few Kiwi’s lurking around on here and quite a few people from the West Island.

@StuC I have spent a lot of time surfing Maori Bay, so much so, at one stage my nick name was Mr Mudbay (Maori Bay’s local name). I still have lots of friends that live out Muriwai. It’s a awesome beach.

Not much of a fisherman myself, but here in Wanaka there are lots people that do. Apparently there is a local here who makes the best fly fishing rods in the world (world famous in NZ?)

Personally, we use the lake for wakeboarding or Jetskiing!

I look forward to following your build log for Lady Nelson.

[Moab]

Stu; welcome aboard!  For me it really doesn’t matter if it’s in the water, air on rails or roads etc.  Just viewing the breadth of craftsmanship and creativity on our site is what I enjoy. I’ve worked mostly in wood and plastic but when I saw some of the ships and trains, etc. made from paper/cardboard I was blown away!
Again, welcome...stay safe...Moab

[StuC]

@Jonny 007 we are just down the coast from Maori Bay and moved out there from the city about 5 years ago. Love it in summer, winter not so much. I just read your build log intro - I grew up in Cambridge in the Waikato and then shifted to Kawakawa Bay in Auckland when I was about 10. I've been kicking around Oz and doing project work for almost 20 years now. Given the restrictions of international travel I'm likely to be stuck here for a few more months, so I'm now on the scout for a board and wetsuit in Perth as I'll be down there for a week from this Sunday and probably another week in a months time. Not much in the way of boards on the second hand market wetsuits are full price... Looks like I'm buying myself some early Christmas presents 😀

 

Thanks Moab. I don't have much time to check out other peoples work, but I do now and then. Will have a look at some of those card models soon.