Showing off my RC model boats

[Ken_NJ]

Since the boat is going to bounce around a lot, I had to hold down the cockpit cover somehow. They do make lock down screws for this purpose but then they stick out of the deck with a knurled grab you push and turn. I can't have that as they are unsightly and take away from the appearance. So I fashioned this hidden mechanism under the cockpit deck to hold it down. The rod sticks out into the cockpit behind the crew and is hidden by a hatch. The two piece of wood on the left engage the hatch coaming. They are beveled to keep constant pressure holding the hatch in place.

 

[Ken_NJ]

My machinist friend Charlie made the dash, gauges and toggle switches for me. I had to paint, assemble and mount it all.

The old not used dash on the left. New used one on the right.



New dash





Inserted brass pins to mount the panel to the boat.











Dash panel in the model.



There were two real KAAMA boats with different hulls. The picture below is of the other boat so the dash looks different than what I made. I cannot find the pictures that I was looking for of my dash.

 

[Ken_NJ]

Seats. Hit the limit of 20 pictures so two posts on the seats.

Seats in the 'other' boat.



Started with blocks of pine.



Shaped. The brass item is the engine throttle control.





Measured and marked for, not sure what it's called, those lines in the seats.





Cutting those lines. Had to be sure the depth was the same between them all.







Softened the sharp edge with a file and sandpaper.





Trial fit in the boat.



Started rounding the edges to give the appearance of softer stuffed seats.

 

[Ken_NJ]

Seats part 2.

Continued rounding the edges.











Keyed so they go together the same each time.



Fiberglassing them to fill in the grooves.



Then sanded. cleaned up and painted.



Boat seats usually have piping on the edges. So I took some fine wire and CA'd it along the edges prior to painting.

 

[rwm]

I'm stunned at the detail! Remarkable work.

 

[RJSakowski]

You are indeed the da Vinci of RC boats.!

 

[Ken_NJ]

Thank you guys!
This is the last construction detail. Then onto painting.
You can probably find some things online, or in a hobby store/craft store, or a toy store that might fit the bill. Hobby shops have been closing up but hobby shops these days might be only RTR, ready to run, essentially selling toys and not cater to builders like me. A new hobby shop opened near me that I saw on my FB feed. The pictures they posted are all RTR's. Buy it, open it, play with it. At least the Hobby Lobby near me does sell some K&S brass, balsa and basswood sheet that I use. But, I've bought brass and basswood sheet online in bulk, bigger selection of sizes. And some thinner 1/4 ply can be bought at big shop Home Depot. Baltic birch type wood. And then there is Amazon. I'm rambling.

That being said. Buying something from a big box store would just not look right on a scratch built model. I build things things that are the right scale and look like they were made for this or that boat. I like working with brass. Hence this steering wheel. Easily bending bras around a form, cutting small pieces nd soldering it all together.

Here we have bending.



And forming.



The spokes were drilled first, then cut and filed to shape.



Placed ito the jig.



And soldered.



Clean up soldered joints.



And painted.

 

[sdelivery]

This is so incredible, I feel like a cave man with a home made hammer and chisel.

 

[Firstram]

Very nice work with the Sculpty. I have trouble getting fine detail using it, it seems so soft and spongy it tends to drag or spring back. Any tips?

 

[Ken_NJ]

What I did so far was not much fine detail. When the day comes that I get to the hands, will have to experiment, and practice. I see your point about spongy. The creases in the arms kept the shape when it was heated. I don't think it's the kind of material that will hold really fine details.

Was thinking this. Get it to the general shape you want, heat it to harden it, then use files or other tools to get further into the detail.