Hi y’all. I thought I would start an actual build log on the Graupner Tina. I did the gunwales, added some supports for the floor and assembled the floor today. The gunwales are made up of extruded plastic channel that is cut to size, then a pieces of balsa stock is glued in place. This assembly slips over the edge of the hull with the thicker part of the gunwale inboard. This is not as easy as it sounds, as the hull is made of a plastic that seems to be part abs, part styrene. It’s pretty tough, but the hull is flimsy in tortion until bracing is installed, and the gunwales help it keep its shape. Slow and easy is the word. Once I had the gunwales made up I tacked them in place, and when I made sure the hull wasn’t twisted I ran thin ca on the mating surfaces. The transom gunwale was a bit of a pain, but I got her in. Needed a spot of filler on the diagonal joints at stem and stern, but it looks the part.
I then added the floor supports and built up the floor, which is made up of 4 parts of die cut ply, doubled up for strength. I sanded a bevel to almost kind of match the hull sides angle, and did a test fit. Needs a touch of the sanding block in a couple of spots but she’ll fit.
That’s all I did this morning, will try to get some more done this week and I’ll post it here.

Did a bit more yesterday. The bulkheads are made up of 2 pieces of die cut light ply each, one assembly per side. I assembled them, once dry I did a light sanding. I checked fit on the first pair and they needed a little adjustment. Once I have gone thru all of the bulkheads I’ll hit them with sanding sealer and install them.

So, I decided to install the aft and fwd pair of bulkheads, and so a test fit of the upper fairings and floor. From what I’ve read so far, the floor is designed to be removable as it carries the radio and rowing mechanism, while the fwd fairing just drops in place and is kept loos for whatever reasons that I have not yet ascertained. I measured twice, marked and installed, the aft set came about perfect, while the fwd fit the upper fairing slots but I had to adjust the floor slots after installation, which is no huge deal but still kind of disconcerting. Anyway, I’m plugging away a bit at a time, so the more I accomplish the more I’ll understand this beast. Don’t like the idea of the “slip-in” fairing though. Gonna see if there’s a way around that.
Cash

Hi y’all. I’ve spent my time at the bench installing the bulkheads. I installed the aft and fwd pairs first, made adjustments to the slots in the floor plate, then dry fit, marked and installed the rest. There’s also a bulkhead just aft of bulkheads 15 that’s supposed to be glued to the floor plate. In retrospect, I’m thinking it could have been glued to the hull proper, but the manual says glued to the floor plate, sooo...what I did to get it spot on is tacked it to the bottom of the hull with small drops of UHU, then laid medium ca on its top edge. I then sprayed the bottom of the floor with accelerator, and carefully laid it in place. Thirty seconds later I pulled the plate up with the bulkhead glued solid and in the right spot.
I had one bulkhead that had shifted a bit during assembly, and I didn’t catch it. I tried to remove it, but the top was glued fast and not coming off. I got the bottom loose, broke it free and shifted it just a bit, so it lines up better, and a little sanding saved the day. I’ve just given the inside of the hull a coat of paint, as well as the floor. I’ll lightly sand the interior, and the it’s time to install the radio and oar drive. Once that’s done, I’ll remove the plate/mechanical/radio assembly (it’s screwed down midships, and fore and aft to blocks in the hull) and finish painting the hull.
Cash

Hi y’all. Sorry I’ve been off the hook, it’s been crazy at work. We usually have 6 people in the parts department, along with a driver and a stocker/receiver. We’re down to 4 total, not due to Covid as much as firings and resignations. As such, you could say we’re in our “Battle of the Bulge”, and awaiting reinforcements. Anyway, i did get a bit done the past 2 weeks and this morning. I’ve repainted the interior and motor plate a darker shade of brown, and I have the electrics and working bits installed. I’ve made a video of the first test runs, now I have to remove the oar supports and do the rest of the paint. Also, I’m still playing with motors, this thing was designed to run on 4 volts!! Who does that!!???! Still not sure how I’m going to trim her, she just might end up being a dory instead of a jolly boat, but we’ll see.
Again, sorry I haven’t posted or responded much, I get home I’m flat wore out. Hopefully we’ll have help soon.
Cash

Hi all. Painted the hull this week, I used Tamiya’s Racing White for the hull, and a mix of Tamiya Royal Blue and Testors “Aztec” brand blue for airbrushing. The white is a lacquer rattle can, the blue was airbrushed. I also tested a different motor and I think it’s the right direction for this boat, a 2 to 1 geared Speed 400. I haven’t installed it yet, tested it on a lash up, and it works well. After I get it mounted, I’ll start finishing the interior and fairings.
Cash

Hi y’all. Here’s the video of the second test, this was after I had decided to use a geared Speed 400 unit vs a direct drive motor. Power transmission with a 7.4 lipo is much more manageable-she’s just in a hurry at full chat, not trying to tear herself to pieces!! Motor runs cooler too, and it’s a bit quieter..but just a bit.

So, I decided that the 7.2 Speed 400 motor was just a little too “hot” for the Tina, even with the 2-1 gearbox. I had purchased a 5 pole 380 sized motor that was very mild, installed that and gave it a go..it was a little too sluggish on 2 lipo. Against my better judgement I tried her on a 3 cell and whaddya know? Perfect. Good turn of speed but not too much, I can actually “throttle” it down to a much slower pace if I want.
So, electrics are done, wiring completed, everything bolted/Velcroed down and tightened up. The figure that came with the kit is in place, I need to paint the oars and probably do a ballast check, add ballast if needed, then try her out!
Cash

Hi y’all. After much fiddling, checking, rigging and bench running the Tina was ready for her maiden. I took her out this morning. I rowed out about say, 50 feet or so, made a right turn, and then...nothing. Dead in the water.
You could hear the motor running, the oars would move a little, then nothing. My buddy Mike Duran has a flat nosed Hacker airboat that we’ve earmarked as a recovery boat, so he fired her hip and pushed me back to port.
I thought that I had stripped the spur gear, I did a partial disassemble lakeside, but I couldn’t tell what happened, so she went back to the trunk of my car and I ran my little Billings Coast Guard boat the rest of the morning.
I took a good hard look at her a few hours ago. I stripped the boat down to the rowing gearbox, and removed it. I swear the thing was built in the mines of Moria, as the mechanism comes pre assembled, and getting it apart was a challenge, but I did it...and I found the culprit. Thankfully, all gearing is intact.
There are 2 pins, or shafts, that everything is attached to. The spur gear and both crank arms are held in place by set screws going through their respective bosses. The spur and its boss are one solid piece, while the boss for the arms are attached to the arm with a large brass washer pressed or peened on.
What was happening is that the boss for the driving crank was spinning around inside the crank. No power was getting applied from the spur to the rowing arms.
I had to remove the set screws and pull both shafts to get the arms out, and as I did, what looked like either cellulose or super glue came out from between the shaft and crank.
I think that the boss for the crank was bonded into the arm, and the washer was there as a backup, and age and some of the lube I used helped work it loose. I’m pretty sure I can fix it.
I’m going to soak it in alcohol and maybe give it an acetone bath, then dry it off, roughen up both the boss and arm, and Stabilit that sucker! I would really like to drill a 1mm hole thru the boss into the arm and pin it in place too, but I don’t know if my drill bits are up to the task. We’ll see.
As an aside, if I can’t fix it...well, I think she’ll make a fine steam launch, cat rigged sailing skiff or maybe fit her with an outboard. I have options, and I’m all kinds of stubborn..🤣

Hi y’all. I came home from work, spent a little time with the family, then went into the garage and tackled the gearbox. I had mentioned trying to drill and pin it, and Ianh mentions using tapered dowels. Unfortunately, there’s nothing around here I know of that keeps that type of stock, save maybe a jeweler. So, I decided to try to pin it with what I had on hand. I took a drill bit that was close to the inside diameter of both cranks, lined them up and used the set screws to keep them locked in place. I then drilled a hole, probably about 1.5mm in diameter, thru the boss, arm and peened washer. I found some brass rod that was a good, tight fit, and waddya know? It worked. I then cut the brass and cleaned up the protruding ends, put a little thin ca on the boss and pin, and finished up by roughing up both arms and using a tiny amount of Stabilit to keep either boss from coming loose. I then reassembled the boat and ran it full bore on the bench for about 15 minutes or so..I even lightly interrupted both oars, one at a time, by hand to see if anything gave. It works as advertised. Now I’m going to tinker with it to get as much friction out of the system as possible, starting with the rowing figure. It’s going to be a couple of weekends before I get a chance to try it again..we’ll see what happens.
Cash