Hi,
No problem. I'm glad you liked the video though. My next project will be a Sea Queen- have a *** kit sitting on the shelf- I have admired these since I was a teenager and that's about forty years ago!
Would be interested to see pictures of your Aerokits rebuilds unless I have missed something somewhere.

All the best,
Ian

Thanks Ian,

I have to be honest and admit that I am not about to start cutting wood! I am currently rebuilding an Aerokits Sea Nymph and Sea Commander both of which I built in my early teens - getting on for 50 years ago now!

No model boating (other than a glass case model) in the meantime, so I am having to update my knowledge as I go along. A scratch built model from plans with no model details seems a bit ambitious at the moment. Dunlin looked as good on the plans as she did in the video, though.

HI Seanymph,
I'm the chap who built Dunlin and yes it was built at 36'' by 9''. This gives a displacement of around 25lb so quite a chunk. I think the plans gave a displacement for the 36'' size and this brings the scale to 1:16.
My model was originally steam powered as in the video but I have since converted it to electric- MFA 540 with reduction gear, 2'' brass prop and 7Ah 12v SLA battery- very powerful and I have never managed to run the battery out!
I think in the days when this model was designed, depth of hulls were increased to give more displacement to accommodate heavier plant. Once you have got her in the water she looks lovely- very purposeful.
If I can be of help do ask and I'd be interested to know how you get on.
Best wishes,
Ian

I enjoyed the video of the steam boat Dunlin and I have bought the plans! is Dunlin scaled up? it looks larger than the 24" as shown in the plans.

Im trying my best to make my boat, both functional and , er "pretty" as far as I can, so be it on the water, under power and firing all 3 monitors, or static on a table with just the leds on /blinking at the passing public, its at least advertising fireboats as a "presence" and we dont all sail tugs or sail boats [no offence!].

I visited the international boat show and did see a few fire boats on display, they were great to see and even spotted a sister ship to my own ! [So Im not the only mad one in the Uk - ha ha].

PS, had to say, was not Impressed by the few number of both stalls and boat clubs on display-- things seemed to be lacking a lot from what was advertised on the web.... did anyone else visit?

what was your Impressions?

nice idea, re the working monitors, its something I have been meaning to do, and if it was going to feature at the next Fireboat funday, it would encourage me to get it done 😀

With regard to static display, I was thinking, if it was all aerokit fireboats, then different skill levels of build would be apparent, and it would probably discourage the less pretty boats (but maybe the best operating/running??) from being on display.

The BEST thing I have seen, and participated in, was the last 1/2 hour at the funday, where Stephen and I did some slow formation running, the 2 boats looked real nice together, reminisant of the original test runs! (nostalgia creeping in!! 😊 )

I am probably alone in this statement, but I think the Fireboat isnt particularly nice looking when static, bit of an ugly duckling, but when running on the plane its beautiful!For those that dont know the boat as we do, most people think its bigger than it actually is, when you put a scale figure on it, its actually quite small. Would not bother me static displaying to promote the website, or running, but its a bit far 😟

either a plane or helicopter !

but who get to draw the short straw of keep rowing back out to relight it after each fireboats put the flames out?

Admittidly 2.4 ghz does no longer have this problem, the only thing they suffer from is "range", but thats where you see people either going for higher ground, or standing on their boat box [ha ha].

2.4GHz radios are 99.99999% trouble free with no range problems compared to 40Mhz or the even more troublesome 27Mhz. For me your not going to get anything better in today's technology when it comes to radio control. These radio's are now being used for the model aircraft for the main reason that they can fly as far away as they can see without any problems. After all loosing the signal in a plane is much more drastic.

The R.C. car racing guys are also using them due to their fast response time and reliability. The fact that they have stubby little aerials is quite misleading!

As for the radio peg board, it's a popular system to use in many clubs. They all have their own slight variation of the same idea of using pegs to attach to your aerial while you're using that frequency.

And no the Fireboat Funday did not have a competition for aiming the water monitors, but instead of a tire inner tube... why not a remote controlled burning plane!?

Fireboat

Tell you what we use at our club and works well.

we have a square board and around the edges is printed all the frequency numbers. each number is then "covered" by a wooden clothes peg. so as someone "launches their boat", they remove the peg covering their radio frequency, so anyone else then deciding to sail and have same frequency, will see that the number is already allotted, so will have to wait until the peg returns to the board.

Admittidly 2.4 ghz does no longer have this problem, the only thing they suffer from is "range", but thats where you see people either going for higher ground, or standing on their boat box [ha ha].

Sorry for asking but not having attended one of the fireboat shows, but do you set any "aiming rings" in the water, so the fireboats which have operable fire monitors can aim for? suppose you could then have prizes for best discharge distance and also aim accuracy, suppose this could also then apply to "whilst moving" too!

Ive thought about temporarily anchoring some rubber inner tubes where I practise with my boat, so Ive got something a bit more accurate to aim for. yes its ok just cruising the boat round, byt why not make it more interesting and challenging,

One of the joys of radio control modelling is sharing ideas with others. We all probably started making something after we had seen something made by someone else. So yes static displays are useful and combined with on water display should encourage others to have a go. Hopefully they will then add to the membership of this website and other model clubs. As with most things costs may be incurred but this is a fact of life and should not stand in the way of promoting our hobby.

Yep, a bit of both is great, but I'd still try and get as many on the water at once at some point as the visual effect would be quite good! No high speed stuff.

Who's for bringing boxes of crystals?? 😀

"Fireboat"

I dont think you read my suggestion fully. What I was trying to say was, a fireboat, displayed either on water or on a stand /dry dock should still look as good in either position. Ok, so seeing it tazz across a lake with all fire monitors blazing is great, but we have to not forget that people do like a close up look at these boats too, so a table/ stand close by to the "action" is always a good thing too. afterall, you cant get all the boats in the water at the same time, as theres bound to be a radio frequency clash at some stage, not unless you're using 2.4ghz that is.

At least this post is bringing a few comments out of the woodwork!

If my boat was in one piece, I would of let my own club display it on their stand at the show. I have no problems with that, perhaps next year it will be on display with them.
It would be nice to see more than one fireboat on display on a stand sometime, at least then, people have something to compare them with, rather than just look at one so to speak.

Simply seeing them running on thew water is different, as any boat can look good at a distance, skimming across the waves, but whats it like closeup? thats when the accuracy and scale comes in.

HI Gregory,

I'm not sure if I entirely agree with you there, models made up just to be plonked onto pedistals is not the reason they are made and makes radio control boating just model making.

Many makers of these fireboats go to great lengths to not only make the model accurate and detailed but also to make them perform well with features such as working water monitors. I have seen boats which are highly detailed before now that also don't perform and vice versa.

It would be good as Paul says to get them on the water as well as just having them for show... that's if we ever do put something together! At the moment I for one am too busy with my job to have time to arrange something like this. But I remain supportive of other members that might be interested in putting together such an event or gathering? Or have ideas for it?

Fireboat

At least this post is bringing a few comments out of the woodwork!

If my boat was in one piece, I would of let my own club display it on their stand at the show. I have no problems with that, perhaps next year it will be on display with them.
It would be nice to see more than one fireboat on display on a stand sometime, at least then, people have something to compare them with, rather than just look at one so to speak.

Simply seeing them running on thew water is different, as any boat can look good at a distance, skimming across the waves, but whats it like closeup? thats when the accuracy and scale comes in.

its a nice idea, but I doubt it will get the support, if you where "joe public" it might be a bit boring seeing a stand with all the same boats!
Perhaps it would be better to do something at a big event that has sailing, such as the model boat mayhem forum yearly bash?
Our Fireboats look better on the water than static, and when a couple are together they look really Impressive, just my thoughts 😀

I'm hoping to go on the Sunday. I haven't been to a show for several years (the Warwickshire show tends to clash with the Sugarcraft Fair at the NEC - the boss's hobby not one of mine I might add). She has decided it is my turn this year and said the same thing to me as I say to her. "Don't you come back from the show and say 'I wish I'd have picked that up!"' As if - I can't wait!
I live not far from Weymouth now but have managed to miss that the last few years as well (too many hobbies I guess!!) I must be honest, after visiting a show I usually come back all fired up with new ideas (unashamedly pinched from more experienced boat builders than myself) and lots of enthusiasm. Who knows, I may even manage to get one of my boats sail-able this year 😀

Dave

Well it would be good to have a stall there... but! This website's only really used by people with a common interest in fireboats and aerokits. A stall would surely cost? I don't know for sure when it comes to club stalls but obviously if it did cost it couldn't be afforded and were technically not a club 😛

Plus for the number of people that own a fireboat in the local region it wouldn't be sufficient and I would actually say many wouldn't come to display boats unless there was something in return like free entry/tickets?

What does everybody else think?

Fireboat 😊

So who's going to the show? its only a few weeks away.

perhaps this forum should really start its own club and perhaps even get a stand at the show next year?

Any thoughts on this too guys?