This photo followed a nervous moment. While I doubt that any model boater is entirely at ease as their creation gets wet of the first time, most haven’t made all the nautical bits out of cardboard. Any hints of a crack in the waterproofing paint and varnish and I could enjoy watching the model soak up the contents of the bath.
Fortunately this didn’t happen. The model sat nicely on the water with the waterline at about the right place. One of the best launches so far in my model boat career.
I then tried the radio gear. It worked as well. In fact it worked so well that I can 3-point turn it in the tub. OK, it’s not a big boat but it is very manoeuvrable. Even reverse isn’t bad. If I’d charged the battery properly I might have had quite a good sail.
There may be problems ahead as this is a very light model and I wonder how it will behave on a lake with slight cross winds. That will have to wait though as it’s too dark in the evenings to check and I’m away at the weekend. Anyway, the windows in the superstructure haven’t been glazed yet and I’m not going anywhere near our fish-infested sailing area with holes in the top.
One thing I will do is very carefully dry this hull out every time. I know I sprayed a lot of varnish on and did everything I could to keep the water out but it still worries me.
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