That's where the water is coming from !

On Sunday I mentioned that I'd been Slingshot racing at the KMBC open day. My results had been OK but not exceptional. This doesn't matter as it's a bit of fun.

However there has been a change to the rules which I believe has been detrimental to my performance.

As you can see from the photo, the boats now have to be fitted with a fin showing your race number. This was sprung on me at the last minute and I ended up using the generously supplied version - a square bit of plasticard stuck to some more plastic to make an L and then attached to the boat with a stick pad.

What about my aerodynamics ?

Obviously I did my best and carved it to shape a little with some scissors but it's still not right. I mean you don't see McLaren spend ages in a wind tunnel and then stick a roof rack on their cars at the last minute because Lewis wants to take a deck chair with him in case he breaks down and has to wait for a tow do you ?

Nor do you watch a nature documentary and look at sharks or aeroplanes or anything else where sleekness is a requirement and see a cardboard box nailed to the top. I wouldn't mind but this change is just so we can have a "caller" by the person keeping score to save the racers having to shout out their own numbers. Don't people realise that this is part of racing ? I say if they can't be bother to shout then let them forfeit the lap. All's fair in love, war and model boat racing.

Anyway, I need to make something a bit more stylish. I'm thinking about the sort of L-shaped fin that stock cars have on the top. I reckon I can use the horizontal bit as a wing to give me less down force and regain those hundredths of a second I'm currently losing.

All I need is some carbon fibre, a few hours in a wind tunnel and I'll b e good to go. Unless I pop it into the bank. Or hit a fish. Or pick up some weed. Or hit another boat. No wonder, Formula Once employs so many people...

The other goodie was that I've been picking up more water than I would like in the hull at the end of a race. Looking proper look at the boat canopy. At some point I've picked up a bash which has now grown to look like crazy paving. Time for a bit more sticky tape repair I think !

Slingshot racing round 1

First round of the KMBC Slingshot racing series occurred a few days ago. Last year I didn't get down to many races so my tally of laps didn't make it into double figures. This year I had already exposed the boat to the water just to make sure things were OK.

Sadly they weren't. After a year of inaction the Ni-cad batteries held little or no charge. One lap at speed followed by what is best described as a trundle was all I managed. Consulting with people who know about this stuff, it appears this is a known problem but if I cycled (charged & discharged) the batteries a few times, they might recover.

A fellow club member had arranged a good deal on Thurnigy Accucell-6 chargers for us so I had upgraded my equipment - to good effect as it turned out. As suggested I put the batteries through a couple of cycles and by the time of the race was not only able to stay the course, but was on the pace well enough to win my first heat with 13 laps in 4 minutes. Money well spent by the look of it.

In the final I wasn't quite so lucky. A lap of touring with a weed covered propeller didn't help followed by another delay while the boat was turned the right way up after a racing incident (not my fault) involving another vessel. The final total wasn't bad but I reckon a little more luck could have bought me 3 or 4 more laps on the score board.

KMBC Open Day 2009

Down came the rain.

I arrived at the boat club around 9am and was met buy a couple of the other committee members looking bedraggled. We repaired to the clubhouse for a coffee and decision on the rest of the day. The general opinion was that there wasn't much point in hanging on as long as planned. However, expecting a few more people to turn up we erected a new (well, £10 car boot sale bargain) gazebo to keep the rain off those not able to cram into the clubhouse itself.

Gradually more members arrived. Most were a touch wet but still seemed happy. I tested my Slingshot out of sheer bloody mindedness and was followed onto the water by a member of the Footie society . His swing rigged vessel seemed to be able to extract every ounce of propulsion from the meagre wind on the lake. A second boat joined in and from the comfort of our tent we had some sailing !

By 11am Alistair Roach arrived to judge the cork boat competition. He even brought the good weather with him and so after judging (well done for winning the beautiful boat competition Rob) the boats were launched and pottered around the water. When we had a breath of wind they sailed off, most of the time towards the bank admittedly but sail they did.

After this the weather was a bit mixed with odd showers. Enough sunshine allowed some general sailing and a couple of slingshot races. My boat seems to be OK now, clocking up over 16 laps in each race. Quite a lot of water is finding its way inside though, The prop tube can be the only possible source so I'll need to look at greasing the shaft to stop this happening.

By early afternoon lost of us were sailed out. When I left a couple of people enjoyed the sunshine and the chance to get on the water without anyone else around. It just goes to show - even when the weather doesn't want to play ball, all you need is the right group of slightly mad people to have a good time.

Slingshot number 9

Slingshot number 9
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

The electrical bits have now been crammed into the Slingshot and it's ready to race. Everything seems to have fitted and works, at least as far as you can tell without putting the boat on the water. It's chucking it down outside so I'm going to take the risk and wait until the race !

Somehow the motor seems to run smoother with the Viper speed control than the original one. I suppose that as this cost 2/3rds the price of the complete boat it ought to ! The tiny unit isn't difficult to hide in the hull either. The receiver was more of a problem, I should have spent a couple more quid and bought a smaller box perhaps. Still, it's sealed up in a plastic bag and stuffed in the side.

The original servo still works the rudder and plugged into the receiver as you would expect. I assume this is a standard unit, just with a moulded yellow plastic box rather than the normal black.

Anyway, it's back together, ready to race. I'll let you know how I got on on Monday !

Model boat wiring

If I am to go Slingshot racing in Sunday, I need to re-wire the boat. Either that or have yet another day looking at the thing floating pathetically in the lake while everyone else gets to charge around clocking up the laps.

This time I've decided to dispense with most of the electrical bits that came with this model boat and put something reliable in. To this end I've ordered a new receiver and Viper speed controller from Howes

Taking all the gubbins out of the hull, it occurred to me that I could wire everything up and test it on the bench. Which is how I came by this photo which handily shows everything you need to make a radio control model boat go.

Top left you have a receiver. Into this is plugged a crystal (the orange bit indicating the frequency) and the speed control and servo. The aerial is the black wire heading off stage left. This must stay the same length as supplied, so if you attach a whip aerial, the wire must be shortened by the length of this.

Bottom left, the yellow box is the servo. This handles the steering. It's the one that came with the Slingshot - it still works and fits the mountings already.

In the middle is the speed control which (surprise, surprise) controls the speed of the motor (top right). Into this is plugged the battery (green thing bottom right). The switch handles on/off duties. The speed control cleverly incorporates a BEC (Battery Eliminator Circuit) and feeds the receiver with power down the same wires it gets it's control information from.

All I have to do now is connect the motor to the prop shaft and the servo to the rudder, stuff the rest of this lot into the boat and I can go racing.

Spring day sailing

What a lovely day for a sail !

The morning started a bit grey and surprisingly chilly but as the club had organised a "Footie" yacht sailing day with members of Wickstead Park Model Boat Club, it seemed worth a trip to the lake. I charged up the batteries for Pigeon Pie and my Slingshot and headed to the water.

By the lake the weather hadn't improved but at least there was plenty of convivial company. The Wickstead guys started to arrive with some very impressive boats - it seems that they all built large, well detailed tugboats. When I say large, I mean around 4 feet in length. Most arrived on trolleys and needed to be launched in two parts, hull first then superstructure plonked on top. Sound units were also de regur and very effective. In a larger model boat you can generate the kind of base that always seems to be lacking in model railway engines in comparison.

My day wasn't perfect of course, the Slingshot battery was plugged in and... nothing. So I tried another battery with the same result. And another. And another.

Rather than try and fix things on the bank I stuffed the boat back in its box and sailed Pigeon Pie instead. This gave me time to think and with that boat back on dry land I had another poke around. Squeezing up the connections in the battery plug I managed to get some life and so gave the boat a few circuits of the water. I needed some practise as we've got some new buoys which look like the balloon from "The Prisoner" painted orange. Nice but a bit larger than the old ones. Bouncier too as several members discovered when they tried to park boats in them.

Half a dozen circuits later the boat died. Not entirely unexpected as I knew the battery hadn't taken the greatest charge, saving the good batteries for racing seemed like a good strategy. Back on dry land the model wasn't to be revived though so I'm going to have to look further at this. After last years efforts I want to have a reliable boat, not something that needs constant fiddling.

Anyway a bacon buttie and some more sailing fun made me feel better. The sun came out and by the end of the day a "couple of hours at the lake" had become over 5 hours. We'd seen some fantastic powered models and very mediocre yacht racing thanks to a lack of breeze. I am now convinced that boats should have engines for propulsion and not bedding on sticks !

In a few days time I'll update the KMBC web site with some pictures from the day. In the meantime, I'm a bit pleased with this shot of a scratchbuilt RAF rescue launch at speed:

Foul play or fairies ?

Slingshot in bits
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Spring approaches which for model boaters means it's time to think seriously about some sailing. Pleasant days on the banks of the lake tootling around with a radio controlled boat and chatting with like minded people are in the horizon. And with the new formula 1 season kicking off, it must mean the racing boats will be in action too.

With this in mind I've unearthed my Slingshot. Having won the first season I was disappointed last year not to be competitive. Even worse the boat didn't complete the the series of races thanks to some unexplained breakdowns. This year I want to do better.

Looking at the pile of bits that is my boat I couldn't find all the parts. Specifically the prop shaft and propeller. As the rules prohibit pushing your craft around the course, I can't see me winning many races without these !

Strangely the boat had been in store since I took it apart trying to find the fault last year. It's been in a box and I'm sure was all there when it went in. How did the bits escape ?

This isn't a problem just for boat modellers. Everyone who has ever taken something apart knows that somehow vital parts will vanish into thin air. No matter how careful you are you reach a point of re-assembly when you thing "Where is that .... ?". Now in this case I might attribute blame to my competitors who fear a return to form and think swiping the drive parts will slow me down. Normally though I think it is fairies. Yes, modellers fairies.

You see they flit around and pinch the odd screw or bolt from the workbench. Then they drop them where someone else is working. That explains why you always seem to have an odd bolt or screw left over when you put things back together.

Slingshot damage

Slingshot damage
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

We seem to have gained a "Gentleman's Racing Series" in addition to the normal Slingshot series this year. Apparently the Thursday morning crowd at the model boat club fancy have a go at racing with the big boys.

All of which means I had to sort out the damage to my boat from the last races. To date I've always been fairly lucky and come through unscathed. A flip last time lead to water getting into the controls through a hole chewed in the hull by someones propeller.

The water damage has dried out and controls are working again. Physical damage required a patch to be stuck on the inside of the cover with superglue and the a bit of smoothing. This reduces the covers flexibility a bit but not in any way that will affect the boat - I hope.

We'll find out tomorrow if the rain stops long enough for a sail.

Battery repair

I need help with my Slingshot Racing sometimes. A few weeks ago everything seemed to be going fine and then the boat stopped. Dead.

Retrieval was the usual palaver - these things never die near the bank and there isn't much on the boat to grab hold of with a pole. The race carried on around me too. Thanks chaps.

Swapping the battery over for a spare cured the problem. Back at the bench it became obvious why. Some water had found its way under the battery cover and corroded the join between cell and wire. This had eventually parted company in the rough and tumble of the race.

Soldering the wire back in place after a quick clean with some emery paper was easy enough and the model is back on the water at full tilt. It doesn't look as pretty covered in insulating tape but I put that down for wear and tear. We can't all have a car like Louis Hamilton.

KMBC open day 2008

KMBC open day
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

The sun shone (unlike last year), the people were happy. We sailed model boats and raced model boats and chatted about things including model boats. Everyone had a good time. That's what a hobby is about.

My results:
Slingshot - Middling. Fairly average scores today. In the last race though I was flipped over and water entered the hull. The speed control is now playing up. There is a nasty gash in the side which will make an impressive battle scar when repaired.

Plank - Hopeless. Lighting the burner took an age. Once on the water it travelled about a quarter of the way across before giving up. And I broke the chimney off by dropping the boiler when packing up. A re-think is required.

KMBC Web site

Slingshot number

Slingshot nose
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

Repainting this model boat has taken longer than normal because I've struggled to find suitable numbers for the front.

On my boat I was able to use the sort of number you have for house doors. Not a problem with a single digit. Because my Dad has been given race number 10 this doesn't work. I know - I tried.

Wandering around the town inspiration (desperation ?) struck as I left a local car bits shop empty handed. Par Pack Party time sell sticky numbers for balloons so you can celebrate birthdays with the right number on the inflatables. These are just the right size for the boat.

Cheap too - 15p a digit. I bought 3 sets so I could try them to decide which colour looked best.

With the numbers in place and a bit of silver Letraline hiding my dodgy masking, the boat has been sprayed with gloss varnish to seal everything in. The makers of these stickers didn't design them for use in boat racing so I thought it best to try and keep the wet out.

Paint cobwebs

cobwebs
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

With the Slingshot season approaching I'm painting my Dad's boat as he's going to have a go. The last time he tried anything like this was in the 1960's with slot cars. Apparently slot racing was big then - clubs scratchbuilt huge circuits and then converted 1/32nd Airfix kits to run on them.

Anyway, his racing colours were royal blue with a yellow nose so that's how he want his boat painted.

The yellow will be a fluorescent colour that I've used before. Sprayed over a matt yellow base it took an age to get a decent colour depth. The paint from Revell has to be dried as you use it or runs happen.

It's awful stuff to spray and weirdly produces fluorescent cobwebs over everything in the garage. I think this isn't a conventional paint but a sort of plastic. It's certainly has more in common with jelly than paint.

Slingshot testing

slingshot preperation
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

First test session for the Slingshots today. It rained.

My boat wasn't competitive, hopefully this is just the batteries not taking a proper charge and will improve later in the season. For now I'll blame the organisers since the new handicap system means I have to start behind everyone else :-)

Still, we had 5 boats circling the pool and some good fun. Not bad for a wet Sunday morning.

Slingshots & naming

model boats april 2008
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

A double whammy this month. April's Model Boats magazine features a follow up article to my original Sling Shot piece and a page on applying lettering to boats. The later elicited an almost immediate thank you from the manufacturer of the lettering.

The Sling Shot article has come out especially well. The magazines designer, Richard Dyer, has excelled himself with the layout of this. It looks fantastic.

Slingshot coupling - again

sligshot coupling
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

The reason I’ve been checking the Slingshot over isn’t because I’m packing it away for the winter. It’s because I’m not always that great at controlling it.

After our final race in the series we decided to have an endurance challenge. The plan was that the race would last 10 minutes (normal races last 4 or 5) and must include one a battery change.

So I prepared some extra bits of black tape read for my hurried pit-stop. This might not be Formula 1 but wielding scissors while in a hurry seemed to be a quick way to a world of pain and sticking plasters.

On the water we set of for our first slow warm up lap. I noticed as I went round that the rudder trim was hard over to the right. So thinking this was wrong I centred it. Of course this made the boat pull to the left. By the time I realised this of course I’m back at the start.

Which explains why after the first corner my boat is half way up the bank.

Once retrieved all I get is a death rattle from inside. Hitting the bank side on had tugged the prop shaft out of the coupling. Again. This is the second time it’s gone in a week.

So that’s why I had the boat apart and spotted the battle scars. The shaft has now been Araldited into the coupling – superglue obviously not being quite man enough for the job.

I have greased all the shafts and oiled the other metal parts ready for the months of storage. Even the mud that coated the hull has been removed. The model deserves a bit of pampering after winning I suppose.

Battle Scar

battle scar
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

I need to do a little work on the Slingshot before it gets tucked away for the winter. Taking a closer look I found this.

Someone has gouged the side of my boat and even cut the insulating tape that holds the top on. This can only have happened during the last race when someone collided with me.

For plastic boats with plastic propellers and plastic rudders, this is an impressive amount of damage. Looks like I’ll need to be careful next year !

The winner is...

Slingshot
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

Me !

Yes, after a years hard campaign, I am the Knightcote Model Boat club Slingshot champion., by 4 laps.

Stupidly, I’m quite pleased with this. After several early sessions where I failed to finish some good, consistent races saw me rack up the laps. Sadly it doesn’t make me Lewis Hamilton, nor does it give me his budget. My fellow competitions were mostly older than I am and we know we’re just playing. It’s still fun..

We banter and take the mickey out of each other. Barging other boats is against the rules but it still happens accidentally. What we do have is a good time. Only the kids take it seriously, the rest just have a laugh.

What the racing has done is brought us together as a group regularly. Sailing can be a bit lonely as you often find yourself down at the lake on your own. Pleasant but the occasional group sail is nice too. People often bring down their Slingshot and another boat so you get to see what they are making, something that didn’t happen before.

Still, time to look forward to next year. I think the competition’s going to be a lot hotter and I have a title to defend.

In flight repair

tiewire
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

It’s a lovely evening so I fancy a sail. Running the batteries down in the Slingshot seems like a good idea and perhaps a gentle turn around the lake with Pigeon Pie.

First the Slingshot. Off it shoots across the lake and a couple of circuits are put in. Then on the far side of the water it makes a noise. The sort of horrible but undefinable noise that makes everyone who knows a bit about mechanical things think, “Something bad has happened.” with possibly a little added swearage.

The boat stopped dead in the water. Fortunately close enough to the bank that the handy long bamboo pole could just bring it in.

Looking inside the problem was obvious. The red wire that runs to the battery had wrapped itself around the coupling between motor and shaft. This is new – goody a fresh problem, I’d hate things to just work properly without adjustment after all…

OK, so I stick the wire out of the way using insulating tape. This lasts for about 4 laps and then the noise returns. On inspection the tape has worked as well as a chocolate teapot.

But my luck is in. When I removed the switch, this left the plate that includes the driver figure with a couple of holes. In the bottom of my boat toolbox there is some of that plastic coated wire normally used to seal sandwich bags. A couple of minutes with this and the wires are permanently pinned up out of danger.

I’ll need to tidy up a bit and perhaps add some black paint for looks, but it works a treat and the final battery is run down without incident.

Racing in the rain

Slingshot Bumper
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

Morning: Visit VeeDub show put on by the Vintage Volkswagen Society at Hatton. A quiet but friendly show. Not a huge number of vehicles attended but there were some goodies. I liked the shortened pickup – it’s for sale too, for £2500. If only the premium bonds had come up this month !
Anyway, for pictures, check my Flickr page.

Afternoon: Boat club BBQ with Slingshot racing. A good afternoon was had by all despite the weather. My boat was running well too. I won the final heat and would have clocked up 20 laps in five minutes had I gone the right side of every buoy and not been docked half a lap.

The Slingshots are gradually getting modified well beyond their RTR origins. The picture shows the bumper I have fitted to mine, which is made from a piece of fuel pipe slit along the centre and glued on with epoxy glue. The Blu-tack is holding it in place while the glue dries.

The bumper stops, or at least limits the damage I could cause to other boats in the hurly-burly of the racing. It hopefully stops me damaging myself if I clobber a buoy on the way round. If nothing else, it brightens up the already pretty loud colour scheme of the boat even more.

Slingshot racing

Slingshot
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

This isn’t my slingshot. There’s no way I’d put a couple of big ears on top even if they do help it to self-right after an accident. Good grief, the thing looks like it’s got Prince Charles stapled on it’s roof.

No, my boat is sleek and orange. And successful.

This evening was perfect for racing. The water was calm. The sky was clear and bright. It was even reasonably warm, although you’d hope that this last one would be a given in August even in Britain.

Anyway I missed the first heat but put in a couple of good runs in the next one and the final. My trick is to stay out of trouble and keep putting the laps in. Not breaking down helps too. In the end I won my first heat with 14.5 laps (in 4 minutes) and came second in the 5 minute final with 18.75 laps. I was only beaten by a single lap here and that I blame on the boat pulling to the left. I probably didn’t have the battery quite central in the hull.

OK, it’s not Formula 1 but then they probably don’t have the laugh we have either.