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RAF Firefloat refurbishment

Répertorié par ChrisB ·

Photos

À propos de ce bateau

This was my first full scratch build - using the plans from my Dad some 23+ years ago she was built in my garden shed (which at the time was probably not much bigger than the average 4 seater dining table!).
At that time I deliberately kept the boat aesthetically different to his original kit built in the 1950's.
Not sure why, I think perhaps I didn't understand the history of the 2 vessels and my dad was a little vague other than he loved the speed he got from his with an ED racing diesel in it originally!!
Anyhow, after his passing a few years ago I gave it a touch up but was never really happy with it. So I gave it a good refurb last year, replacing the deck, forward cabin roofs, installing the forward portholes, a new aft deck, and scratch building all the parts as best I could from the images I could obtain - tow hook, masts, davit etc etc. and adding an LED light kit to the mast, navigation and insides. I obtained a decal kit from the UK to finish her off, and numbered her #93. When I refurbished my Dads before xmas that became #94 (I understand this was delivered first so it seemed appropriate). Fire monitors from SLEC also obtained a few years back for both boats. Still running my original Johnson brushed motor, but upgraded the prop, shaft and stern tube to M4 and replaced the servo driven electro-mechanical speed controller for an ESC instead. Yet to get a video of her on the plane but she certainly scoots along.
Cheers,
Chris

Commentaires

  1. ads90
    Adjudant
    A very good refurbishment and look forward to seeing a video of her sailing - ah, I bet it would sound lovely with and ED running in it instead of a quiet old electric motor.👍
    Aimé par Martin555
  2. RookysailorSilver
    Contre-amiral
    Tasty build Chris,👍 I bet she looks good on the water, looking forward to seeing a video of her?

    Cheers, Pete

    btw,like the LED's especially the ones in the cabin's😊
    Aimé par Martin555
  3. ChrisB
    Quartier-maître 1re classe
    Thank you Colin, I appreciate your kind words. A lot of personal attachment to her, and hopefully she’ll be around for many years to come and bring fond memories.

    Cheers
    Chris
    Aimé par Martin555
  4. ChrisB
    Quartier-maître 1re classe
    Thanks Doug, I had to learn a lot on the fly so to speak. Back then the internet was far from established as was my capability in using it 😂

    Attached image of what I used to run, I had no idea of what to use so followed the model shop advice all those years ago. I now use it to test motors periodically, my brothers wavemaster in particular was a pain (burning through motors) so this seemed a good option to re-purpose it into a test bed of sorts. Servo obviously omitted.

    Cheers
    Chris
    Aimé par RNinMunich and Martin555
  5. Colin HSilver
    Amiral de la flotte
    Superb modelling of a classic boat. Well done and thanks for sharing with us, you should be very proud of what you have achieved.
    Cheers Colin.
    Aimé par Martin555
  6. RNinMunichBronze
    Amiral de la flotte
    Good work Chris👍
    I'm sure your Dad would approve and be proud of you.
    Especially like the lighting, seldom seen or posted on these models👍
    I guess the 'servo driven electro-mechanical speed controller' was something akin to the dear old Bob's Board?
    Cheers, Doug 😎
    Aimé par Martin555

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