Refinishing a 50" destroyer- fibreglass hull, plastic top kit.

[Frank v B]

This was a donation from Rob Dickinson.  It was a model his brother Dana built before he passed away last week.
It is 50 1/4" long and had two small brushed motors.  The condition is rough with a lot of broken details.

Assignment
Repair the model, add RC and do a tour of TooGood Pond in the spring in Dana's honour.

Approach:
- sand the hull and re-paint it.  I just spent 20 minutes with a Dremel detail sander on the hull.  It will come out nicely.
- add as many details that can be retrieved or re-built without going overboard.
- add two motors that would achieve flank speed...without planing*.
- add RC with ESC.
- Go float the boat in the spring

Some starter photos.  Photo 64 is after sanding a rough area.  Will need some filling.

Frank

* I powered a 36" tug once and overdid it.  At full throttle it would plane!  Not quite scale.

[piker]

That's a very cool boat.  It's a shame Dana won't be able to see it when ready.

I really want to join you guys at TooGood next year.  I have an over powered tug to run there 

Robert

[Frank v B]

Rob,

Yes, that tug planed on 7.4 votes (2S 5,000 mah).  
I bought a 6 volt motorcycle battery at Canadian Tire and it was perfect.

Frank

ps: Piker bought that tug from me before he went to California.  It had a geared Astro Cobalt (brushed) 25 motor in it.

[Frank v B]

Getting back at this one:
- prop shaft re-inforcement- installed supports under the prop shafts outside the hull.  Glued them in place with 5 minute epoxy just to hold them.  When cured I added fibreglass cloth with 5 minute epoxy.  It went from the hull, around the shaft and then to the hull on the other side of the shaft.

- Installation of the two motors- Used salvaged geared brushed motors from Carbon Cubs.  Made a former to hold the motors (photo 16), then realized the shafts were at two completely different angles.  Arghhh!
Removed one motor, cut the bulkhead in half but held it together with a plate and 4 screws. (Photo 18). Fibreglassed the half in place so it aligned with the shaft.  Let it cure.
The second motor- cut the former in half, installed the second motor on the second half of the bulkhead, lined it up with the shaft and fibreglassed it in place. Photo 23 shows both motors in place and connected.

While curing, installed:
- twin rudders
- rudder servo
- wired the motors (counter-rotating)
- readied the rc gear (TX, RX, ESC).

Frank

[GuyOReilly]

Looks great @Frank v B  !!
Just passed by Toogood Pond this afternoon: still solid ice - what did you expect!! 
BTW, I completed the water test/trial of my destroyer in the bath tub. 
No problem with power, steering or most importantly flotation.

[Frank v B]

Thanks Admiral Guy.

Installed the radio gear.  Used a Viper Marine ESC.  Bought this about 10 years ago but never used it.  25 amps.  It is encased in resin and completely waterproof....just in case.  I use a 15 amp version in the little tug that I have brought to Toogood Pond.

Painting is next.  Has to be done outside due to odour.

Frank

[Frank v B]

Identification:  Just found a small label on the side as I was masking it for painting.  "Swansea".  Googled it.  It was actually a Frigate in the Canadian navy.  HMCS Swansea.

From a Google answer:
"The River-class frigate was designed by William Reed of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees. Originally called a "twin-screw corvette", its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower-class corvette. The first orders were placed by the Royal Navy in 1940 and the vessels were named for rivers in the United Kingdom, giving name to the class. In Canada they were named for towns and cities, though they kept the same designation.[5] The name "frigate" was suggested by Vice-Admiral Percy Nelles of the Royal Canadian Navy and was adopted later that year.[6]"

Will use this photo when finishing it.

Frank
ps: the builder has passed away so there was no history to the model.

[Frank v B]

Ready to float my boat!

Everything installed and where it belongs.
The boat has been cleaned up (removed the broken stuff, ratty stuff) and removed everything that is breakable.

Everything painted, new bottom paint, new topside paint, new waterline, hatches close now.
Decided not to add the dazzle paint scheme on the hull.  This is good enough.

Frank

[msatin]

Really Nice Frank!

[GuyOReilly]

So @Frank v B  no razzle dazzle, but still looks great!
Looking for an early Spring.