Two years ago, while participating in one of our clubs events, A club member, and a friend, had gifted me a classic DUMAS Chris Craft Cobra. It was a welcome gift. Yet plagued with problems , right after another. It was basically broken out of the box, and marginally not safe to drive. IT plowed water, rode low, and was a death trap, when going into reverse. It would and flood, eventually sank. And almost two years later it was fished out by another club member, and took three weeks to restore. It became my daily driver 6 months ago, and is officially one of my best running boats. It become known as the "Phoenix," because it basically came back from the dead, and was returned as a much better boat. It's got some kiddy' up, and is 4S ready. ON 3 S. I'm skirting 30 MPH, from a 2000 KV. motor.
The build history is unknown. We don't know who the original builder was. Only that it changed owners at least 4 times. ME being 3 and 4. It was basically , the boat came back to me , after I was the one who lost in the first place . NOW, it's resting on my table, fully restored. THE photos , were of the restore process, and the first day back in the water.
I was there the day it visited Davy Jones Locker!
Super glad you got it back, and with the help of a talented fellow club member it was made sea worthy again!
Dave B
PS I heard Tim K in the background in the video 😀
At one point the sailboat was out in front of me, but in the waves and stiff wind, it would not come about, I had to sail it by dropping off the wind.1 / 4
Sailing on Lake Champlain, NY
I wish my videos would have been better but I had a stiff wind and some choppy water, still the double end design of Emily the little spunky sister of Gary Webb’s Emma, did a nice exhibition of a sailboat for the family.
I was sailing off the southern side of Willisboro Point on Wednesday afternoon.
The Wiesel is Back: Sea Trial at Lake Seminole Park (Florida, USA)
Had a nice run with the Schnellboot Wiesel at the June 21,2026 meet of the Suncoast Scale Model Boat Club. First time back in the water after 15+ years in my display case. I was hoping for a little more speed but the boat ran well and looked good cutting the water. But then, don't all of the Schnellboot look good? Only issue was me letting it drift into some weeds while setting up my camera on the tripod. Most of the video was recorded at about 30 meters away but the decent zoom on the camera brought the boat in close. I hope you enjoy the video.
At the last SSMBC (Seminole, Florida, U.S.A.) Jim brought his RC scale model of the "Blue Devil" (WWII Fletcher Class destroyer) to the SSMBC meet. Having taken a video of it I decided to have some fun and edit it and add some sound effects to represent it looking for a German U-Boat. About 2-1/2 minutes long). Sound layers added: Water, engine, sonar, alarm, and voice. Lew
The sound track makes all the difference, it adds a sense of realism and character. The back end looks rather low in the water, and you don't want the crew to get wet feet when firing the depth charges.
It is taking a lot of work (like building another medium size detailed RC scale model boat), but I am getting the new site running. It is not complete but the basics are in place.
The opening video is also on YouTube with the link below. Short and to the point, it has model boat videos in it if you are interested.
Suncoast Scale Model Boat Club meet on April 19, 2024
A light turn out and heavier that normal winds limited the number of boats in the water at this meet. Got some video and for the boats that did not "go for it" I have some video of them on the tables. On top of that we had to make two "rescues".
Stunning weather most model boaters would be jealous of. Warm, but not hot! Very gentle breeze. No rain! But not many showed up. Wait 'till the summer comes" No complaints about it being too hot for model boats!
Anyway, I wanted to get back to my trawler with another video. This time on board with my old GoPro. Had some issues with the battery packs slipping inside the hull. I'm going to remove the one for the lighting as I don't use them anyway. Then I will add some fixed ballast in the bottom. The video with the camera (and waterproof housing) on the top of the pilot house made the boat heel quite a bit. Going to try for some more on board videos in the near future on my other boats.
Got the 4 minute YouTube link here:
I hope you enjoy it!
Lew! This is great!!!
When you have a moment can you post a picture of the rudder and prop set-up you've used Elena? Or is it in your harbor or build blog? I have a trawler in my future.
Many thanks!
👍
Nothing fancy about the prop and rudder. The rudder pivot axis is about 35% back from the leading edge. This way the rudder forces more of the prop back wash to the side to help the boat turn sharper.
Suncoast Scale Model Boat Club - March 1, 2026 meet
SSMBC - although a little windy, only four members showed up. The wonderful temperature and no rain was great. I decide to run my trawler, "Elena", which has not seen the pond in over five years. It handled the wind quite well and is perhaps my best operating boat for rough conditions. I know there is a limit with that much above the deck to catch the wind, but I must admit this was a very good run with a little challenge!
Ronald, the reason I built this boat with the nets up is I wanted it to show it in action. The net is loaded with fish and two men are working to bring the catch aboard. See photos.
Lew
Yes Dave, is was the Helen kit. I bought it (2016?) partially built (up to the deck) but had to rip it apart to get the big dead battery out.
Worst part was the entire hull was covered in masking tape for many years. What a pain it was to remove it. In the long run it worked out.
I renamed it "Elena" after my wife. It sits in our front room and is the first model one sees in our home. Still uses the old FM radio. Runs perfect as I have alluded to.
Lew
Got a new tablet and when I placed my SD card in it I found this old video (~8 years ago) video of my towboat pushing a barge under the bridge between the dock and shore.
Lew
WOW!!!!
You guys are simply amazing, no . . more . . . Your work is just fantastic. It's a treat to see such beautiful models.
I looked at my Aline (shrimp trawler) and noticed that there's still quite a bit missing. Yippee! More work to do!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I enjoy watching the real towboats pushing their "tow" LIVE (hence "towboats in the US) through the locks, especially Lock 19 on the old Mississippi River.
Towboats straining to push 1,000's of tons with the turbos screaming . Too bad I live so far away.
The video link show one of the towboats pushing 42 barges on the river. Each barge is 200 feet long. (Copy and paste the link in your browser.)
Am building an experimental airboat that will ideally be steered by differential thrust. Ignore the seat, we won't be sitting there any time soon 😐 but whenever it gets on water I'll post video at www.teledrone.com
On the weekend Confederation Marine Modellers held a warship regatta at the Burlington pool at Spencer's.I use my IPhone to video & it's a technique I can't seem to master.
Super glad you got it back, and with the help of a talented fellow club member it was made sea worthy again!
Dave B
PS I heard Tim K in the background in the video 😀