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Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8776

After 3 weeks of waiting, my new project arrived - a "Kitshack" (TBH I think it's probably out bloke in a shed out in The Wash) 28" inch (so about 1/30 scale) kit of a Vosper 68ft RAF Rescue/Target Towing Launch.

Construction is a Balsa frame/box with ply skins (described as Birch in the eBay listing but as Obeche in the manual) for the outside of the hull & the deck.

I ordered one with a "driving kit" - prop shaft, universal joint, rudder, plastic prop & a 450 size motor - but it turned up with a brass prop (nice :) ) and an LRP Zenit Superfun 550-7-8 Flugmotor ... I'm not sure if that'll give it extra pep - or just a load of cavitation :whistle:




This is not my first RC boat btw - back in the mid 80's I kludged up a torpedo boat hull with a shaft, prop, a couple of gears, a 540 motor, a very basic rudder & an MSC ... it was quite impressively fast, & got up on the plane quickly -but a little excessively - it must have been up at over 30 degrees :whistle:

All went well until I tried reversing - it went vertical & shot straight down :blink: :cry:

I'm hoping for a bit more success this time :)



Kit came in quite a small box, with an A3 size build manual & two (A1?) full size plan sheets:




Starting off - the radio/motor box:



I'm pretty sure "Dur" is a small island in the Outer Hebrides, but it's also the noise when you make to indicate someones stupidity... this I suspect is how it got its name: it rapidly sticks balsa to your fingers, the bench, the cutting mat, the instructions - anything _apart_ from sticking to other bits of balsa, for which you have to let it set for an hour :silly:



Onto the keel:




Fitting:



Note sure what these side bits are called ....





That's enough for today I think :)

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Last edit: by Jonny Retro.

Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8817

Lots more progress - if anyone cares :whistle: ;) ...

Balsa bulkheads & stringers finished:




The two easy bits of the hull skin:




I've evidently been spoiled by Tamiya ... despite this nominally being a kit with a lot of parts precut, everything needs a lot of fettling before it can be fitted. Consider these two parts for the below the chine part of the bow - the bottom one is how they come out of the box, the top one is the shape it needed cutting/sanding to in order to fit:




The "top" bit glued on:





Fettling the other side:





Fettling of one of the bow pieces:




And one of the midships sides:




Port side skin complete:




...

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Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8818

...

Starboard side finished, the transom need the bottom trimming once the glue has dried:




I'd hesitate to call it a design flaw, but I have noticed that a puncture/leak anywhere on about 75% of the hull could cause about 75% of the space between the hull skin & the radio/motor box to flood, and I'm not sure the displacement of the radio/motor box would be up to holding all that weight up ... actually, I'm sure it wouldn't :(

The way the hull is held together doesn't fill me with confidence either - so I have a cunning plan - to fill the voids with expanding foam (for bouyancy and limiting flooding), and to reinforce the outside with very thin fibreglass sheet & epoxy resin.

I don't think I'll be able to take on Mallards & yachts with impunity :D - but it should reduce the chances of the thing sinking without trace - which I'm not really keen to repeat :whistle:
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Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8821

looks good jonny, build is coming along well. never trusted wooden boats myself, but yeah maybe a fibreglass shell will protect it.
its not like its a high speed boat lol :)
lots of different theories about motor sizes,prop diameters and prop shafts but as you bought it as a kit it should work ok

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Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8823

Seeing this excellent build brings me back to when I built my own DMI Admiral (now discontinued) This must be more than 25 years ago, and I still remember the build.
The good thing is that the Admiral is sitting nicely in my attic waiting patiently...

Found this picture on the net: (from users.cybercity...leboat.htm)


-Lars
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Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8845

looks good jonny, build is coming along well. never trusted wooden boats myself, but yeah maybe a fibreglass shell will protect it.
its not like its a high speed boat lol :)
lots of different theories about motor sizes,prop diameters and prop shafts but as you bought it as a kit it should work ok


I think I trust the wood ... just not the butt joints holding it together :S

Speed, etc - It's not going to be powerboat fast, but it's not going to be scale tugboat slow either, I'm hoping for a speed around a fast jog (15mph?) at about 1/2 throttle - but TBH I think the prop is too small for the motor (or the motor is too big for the prop) so full throttle is just going to produce more noise & foam :D

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Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8846

Seeing this excellent build brings me back to when I built my own DMI Admiral (now discontinued) This must be more than 25 years ago, and I still remember the build.
The good thing is that the Admiral is sitting nicely in my attic waiting patiently...
...


That's a nice looking boat, let's see yours down from the loft :)

The size is attractive too - this 28" RTTL I would say is quite a pratical scale, it's big enough that I won't have problems getting regular RC gear in it, and it's small enough that I won't be too difficult to find shelf space for it, and to go in any car without faffing about folding seats down, etc ... but having said all that, it's a bit unsatisfying ... I see Kitshack do a 46" Crash Tender and a 56" RTTL ...

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Last edit: by Jonny Retro.

Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8861

Nice! Never been into boats (If sommat goes wrong, you lose all your expensive bits, same with planes) but I like the putting balsa bits together bit. Built a couple of balsa planes, enjoyed the tissue dope, kept me off school with hallucinations... As far as "fettling" goes, I suspect it's on purpose, something extra to do, extra fun included with the cost of the kit - think about the type of people these types of kit are aimed at & compare with the type of people Tamiya RC cars are aimed at. What I'm trying to say is the people who build boats/planes from wooden kits are usually the type that take their time & get their satisfaction/joy from the build & looking at their creation when it's done, whereas the toy car folk want it together as quick as poss so they can go play before they get too bored & have to vandalise something, hence why all the bits fit without further attention. The putting it together bit is just (A) teaching a bit of engineering & (B) allowing the owner to see how it works so that hopefully, when it goes wrong the owner can fix it & Mr Tamiya or the shopkeeper won't be getting hassled by said hooligan. I personally enjoy toy cars for the engineering side of things & get more of a kick from impressing people than actually playing with them (Mainly cos I play hard & playing usually leads to spending time having to fix rather than building something else)

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Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8867

More progress ... fitting the keel, test fit of the rudder & prop ...



The keel is very ugly & completely non-scale, but according to the manual single motor setups will be difficult to control without it, due to yaw ... although the idea of using opposite lock to control drifts does appeal, with my plan of fibreglassing the hull, retrofitting the keel wouldn't be easy, so I put it straight on ...



Supports for rudder post/servo & motor are balsa blocks clad in spare bits of ply ...





Made a fair job of the hole for the propshaft on the outside skin ...





... but the inside balsa was a bit of a mess ....





... so I hid it with a bit of ply:






This is where it gets ugly though ....


The hull so far is either on the line of the plan - or inside it - which means I didn't get the curve quite right ... but it does mean there shouldn't be any issues with the deck fitting ...




... BUT the manual calls for the deck pieces to be trimmed back to slightly over the hull size ... and in several places they are way _smaller_ than the plan - mainly the point & sides of the bow piece, and the sides of the stern. Furthermore, one of the sides is a ludicrously bad fit to the main hatch:



This means the ply in the kit are effectively useless ... so I'll have to buy some more :(



In the meantime I thought I'd start on the cabin & other deck bits ... the 10mm balsa roof I'd already attacked for the motor/rudder supports - thinking it couldn't _possibly_ be for the roof as it was 2mm too narrow & 20+mm too short ... I guess it doesn't really matter as it wouldn't have fitted anyway ... the balsa "nose" for the main cabin has been cut about 15mm too narrow, and the front window panels have been cut so badly I can't imagine how they're going to fit ...




The reason why I bought a kit was so I wouldn't just have to work from plans - which I wasn't that confident about, this being my first build - and have a manual to build from, but also that I'd have all the materials I'd need to build it.

However ...

The "precutting" of parts has proved to be hopeless - oversized on the hull, which was not only very confusing, and if you have to cut them yourself anyway, then they might as well be full sheets - and undersized on the deck/cabin, which makes those bits useless.

The manual is also boneheaded in an important regard - on the plans, the stern is on the left & the bow on the right ... in the manual all the digrams are reversed.


Next time I think I'll just buy a plan - I'm so glad I didn't let my initial enthuisiasm/progress lead me into buying any more :angry:

I just noticed that an anagram of Kitshack is "badword kack" :whistle:

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Re: Kitshack 28" Vosper 68ft RTLL Rescue Launch build 11 years 11 months ago #8868

Oh the joys of pre-cut kits.... This isn't an isolated case & the "Cut, but in the wrong place" thing isn't restricted to boats - I've seen it with planes, choo choo buildings & rolling stock & even brass sheeting for steam engine kits, & yes it's annoying when you have to go out & buy material because the manufacturer can't do his bit right! Like you say, you've been spoiled by Tamiya kits! Have you done any static plastic car kits? (ie kits that are anything but aeroplanes) - it's a similar scenario with those, where nothing fits properly & needs fettling/remaking. However, it's a good way to learn some new skills, with which you'll soon get fed up spending time reworking the bits & just scratch make them, so they're right in the first place! From what I've seen, you're seriously skilled working with plasticard etc, without any plans or pre-cuts, you just need to let go of the "Kits are easier" thing & get creative!

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