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Paradise Place Fun under the sun!, with R/C BOATING! Page was last on Feburary 27, 2005. |
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Status of my Boats:(in storage) Two water ready, one being built, two waiting to be built. |
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My interest in R/C boats started while surfing the net for shipwrecks on the Great Lakes.  I surfed until I found what I wanted to model, the steam ship EDMUND FITZGERALD, a bulk cargo freighter that plied the Great Lakes until it sank in a violent storm in November 1975. This ship is the second most known ship wreck to that of the R.M.S. TITANIC. I wanted to build this model the the best of my ability and detail.  I decided to start by building a tug boat from scratch. I went to the local Ames store found a toy tug boat that would fit the bill. O.K. now all I needed was a propulsion system. My R/C car donated its power. All that was left was the propeller and shaft. Off the the Hobby store I went to get the needed parts. I mounted all the electronics from my car in the tug drilled the hole in the bottom of the hull and glued everything down using 2 part epoxy.  After two days of messing around it was time to set sail. It worked! Kim (My Girlfriend) wasn't overly excited but thought is was... you know...cute. The steering was a little flaky, but I would fix that later. Next time out was when the problems began. The 2 part epoxy broke and let water in. My tug boat was sinking. After all the time in the bath tub, perfecting the seals, it sprung a leak. For the first boat, it worked, but this method was a BIG MISTAKE!! At first, I was over whelmed by not knowing where or how to start, but the idea hit me. A fellow boat modeler had came out to the boat launch where Kim and I were at. Wow, he had a fast electric boat that jumped waves and would run circles around my tug boat. There was a better way to get into this hobby. It wasn't to long before the tug boat would be retired. |
Not knowing where to begin I picked up an issue of "BOAT MODELER" magazine and found a starting point. It wasn't long before I bought a beginner boat, where I should have started in the first place. The boat (Koysho's Viper-R) was 90% built, all that was left was mounting the rudder, the radio equipment and the stickers. In less than 5 hours I had both my boats in the water.  At this time my girlfriend (Kim) didn't know what all the fuss was about. Until I let her drive the Viper. She drove the fast little boat very well, and without hitting anything either. Before long she was jumping waves, cutting sharp turns (at the dock we stood on, none the less), and running circles around the tug boat. The tug was leaking so badly that I retired it that evening (the third time out). Kim's face was full of smiles. I watched hoping that she would let me drive my other boat. After awhile she stopped and let me drive it, with an evil look on her face. None the less I was driving the Viper and suddenly I realized what the evil look was all about. The batteries were drained and the boat limped back to shore. Luckily I still had the battery from the tug boat. Since I lost the Viper to Kim, and wanted my own boat.  The Kyosho Stream Liner. A wooden boat similar to the Chris Craft barrel back model. Since I loved the wooden Chris Craft boats I figured I would buy one to build. All went well. I purchased the model and took it home to build. Upon opening the box, I found out it was similar to build the Stream-Liner as it was to build the Viper-R. The hard part was done for you. All that was left was the mounting of the rudder, propeller, electronics, wind shield, stickers, and some metal deck parts. It looks like I built a wooden Chris Craft, but I didn't. If you never ran a wooden boat before, there is no comparison. The boat seems to just glide on the water, unlike the plastic hulled Viper-R (it is light in the nose making it bounce more). This wooden boat had everything with it as well. Looks, speed, and function. Unlike the Viper, the Stream-Liner has a two speed throttle control and reverse. |
Well it wasn't long before the desire to own more boats came a knocking. At this time I surfed and found a model building company named "DUMAS BOATS" who sells boat kits and then some. Since the "Fitzgerald" has some curves in the aft part of the hull (and only "Resin Unlimited" offers a kit to build it for $649.00), I would like to learn how to build curves in hulls. To begin building a boat with cuves in the hull is hard enough (I haven't yet tried even to build a flat bottom boat) however, I decided to tackle something a slight bit easier, but in the same breath almost scratch built.  My first kit is the "Creole Queen" riverboat. This model is available thru Dumas Boats. The building technique is rather simple, in regard to you build a box, upon on a box, etc, for five (5) levels. Once complete, the 48 inch long, five level tall boat can be built to use its stern paddles to drive the craft (the needed internal workings are available thru "Dumas Boats", cost is minimal). This boat hopefully will be built with additional details such as navagational lights, a bow thruster, electric steam sound or real steam power, and riverboat music (CD) playing as it paddles its way lazily around the lake. Follow me thru the construction of the riverboat "Creole Queen". CLICK the Well the Clayton Boat show was a huge sucess. I have several pictures to show you and I am in the process of scanning them in. Keep checking back. Heck just bookmark this site. Check out the Clayton Boat Museum boat museum in Clayton N.Y., as they will be updating there site with new pics. If you live around the area check them out. It is a great place to get information on old boats or just go for a cruise in one (Chris Crafts and others). You can even enter your old boat (or your Dad's,Grandpa's) or even a model (new or old, Kit or Kitbash) at the museum for show. Here are some pictures from the Clayton 2000 model boat show. model#1,model#2,model#2b,model#3,model#4,model#5. |
 
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This Model Boaters Webring site is owned by Todd Hutt. Want to join the Model Boaters Webring? |
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This page has been active since December 22, 1998. |
