Member postings for Banjoman

Having not looked in at the forum for several weeks, I only now saw the mournful news of Dave's passing.

I met Dave in person just the once, at the IMBS in 2018, but had and have been in contact with him, on and off, both here on the forum and outside it, before and after that, and found him a most delightful person, with a keen intellect, a solid sense of humour, a ready tongue and readier wit, extensive knowledge, a readiness to share that knowledge, and a willingness to help and encourage others.

The world of model boat building will be a lesser place without him. The world be will a lesser place without him.

I'm deeply saddened by his loss, and would like to extend my most sincere condolences to his family.

Mattias

My favourite wood stains for model work are without any doubt those from JoTiKa/Caldercraft, sold under the Admiralty Stains brand. They can be bought from various sellers -- I usually get them from Cornwall Model Boats (see **LINK**). The bottles may seem ridiculously small at 18 ml, but they go a surprisingly long way! As an example, I only needed about 25 ml (i.e. +/- a bottle and a half) to put two generous coats onto the stand for my Moonbeam build a few years back (see **LINK**).

Their extremely good cover rate is thus one of the reasons I like them so much; another is the quality of the pigments and the resulting beautiful colour of the finished piece. They are also very easy to apply.

Mattias

I, too, was shocked and very sad to come upon this thread and read the dreadful news of Paul's passing. I never met him either, but even over the comparative distance of his editing of Model Boats Magazine and his participation on the forum, he stood out and truly made a strong, positive and lasting impression.

My sincere condolences to his family and friends,

Mattias

Gemplemorums all,

First of all, may I express my very best wishes to one and all for the New Year, and also my sincere hope that you are all doing as well as is but possible under current etceteras!

I am also happy to say that my own bill of health is a nice and clean one, and that my unduly long absence (hiss! boo! for shame!) from active participation on this forum has only been due to my continual being a very naughty boy: I fear that back in the summer I managed to once more ignore the compass and head off course from the model boat build that I'd started in spring, lured towards the rocky shore by the siren song of general woodworking.

More specifically, I've kept very busy down in my workshop since, but with building a bench for full size woodworking, rather than things to scale that go through water. This is still very much work in progress, as with almost only hand tools to hand, it is rather taking it's time to turn this pile of 8/4 hard maple into a bench.

So far I have ripped most of the planks to make the blanks to produce a sufficient number of laminates (aiming for each one to be +/- 2250 x 105 x 45 mm) from which to glue up the top ...

...

...

... and I'm currently about half way through the process of planing and jointing them to those final dimensions, and to S4S.

...

...

...

...

Other than me gallivanting off after the lure of wood shavings, it has, alas, also been a case of very little actual sailing being possible anyway. As the pond to which my model boat club has access is part of a larger recreational and sports facility, access has been limited for much of 2020 by lockdowns and other pandemic-related measures. Not that model boating out in the open air is all that risky in and of itself, but just that the whole complex has been shut down or have had very strict rules of access for much of the time.

So. I do hope that I now know better than to make too many promises as to what and when in the way of model boat building on my part, and in all honesty it is more than likely that I will continue to heed the woodworking siren's song for some time yet (I ruddy well do want that workbench!) but I shall at least try to follow the forum discussions more actively, and chip in as and when I have something with which to contribute!

For starters, and to end this posting (duh!), I should for example very much like to compliment previous posters in this thread on their builds, whether they be boats or trains: a number of fascinating subjects and excellent builds!

Cheers and, once again, my warmest wishes to you all and all of yours for a Happy New Year!

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 06/01/2021 12:42:27

Edited By Banjoman on 06/01/2021 12:43:00

Edited By Banjoman on 06/01/2021 12:44:48

Hello Derek,

Are you by any chance thinking of my Eilean Mòr thread from a few years back? If so, it is still here: **LINK**

Cheers,

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 22/06/2020 14:23:02

Hi Stephen,

If I understand your post correctly, you want to scratch build a static model of a sailing man-o'war of the larger sort, i.e. a ship of the line from the 1700's (which, given your mention of the Victory, I suppose might inlcude the Napoleonic Wars era).

This would of course a pretty ambititious build, and I sincerely hope that lockdown will be but a long-past memory by the time you finish it, but there's nothing inherently impossible about it; where there's a will, there's a way.

Firstly, as most of the people (active) on this forum tend to be more interested in (a) more recent prototypes, and (b) the r/c side of the hobby, I suspect it might be worth your while for you to check out an American forum, called Model Ship World (see **LINK**) which, I believe, has a centre of interests much more in the direction you are looking at.

Then a quick search of the list of plans published by Brown, Son & Ferguson in Glasgow threw up a set of Harold A. Underhill plans for a c. 1813 74-gun two-decker (see **LINK**). Please note that the link is only to the first of a total of seven plans, so at £10 per plan, it is not exactly inexpensive stuff. On the other hand, it is a set of Underhill plans, and there were few better than Harold A. Underhill when it comes to plans (and he was a top-notch model builder, too), so likely to be worth the money if you want an ambitious build.

For even more money, there are also a number of publications available from SeaWatch Books in the US, that provide not only plans but also very detailed build descriptions by contemporary masters of this type of build, see **LINK**.

Finally, another possible source of plans is the Brunel Institute at the S/S Great Britain Museum in Bristol. They hold the David McGregor collection of more than 7,000 plans, a list of which is available on their website (see **LINK**). For a fee, they are happy and willing to provide scanned copies of most of those plans (exceptions may apply for very fragile material).

Good luck with your build,

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 29/04/2020 14:47:01

Edited By Banjoman on 29/04/2020 14:47:25

Edited By Banjoman on 29/04/2020 14:49:12

Edited By Banjoman on 29/04/2020 14:49:28

Edited By Banjoman on 29/04/2020 14:50:25

Hi Bob,

I remember reading in another book on another conflict (Peter Englund's book on the battle of Poltava in 1709, during the Great Nordic War, to be precise) that the main point of battlefield tactics and behaviour in the era before widespread use of precision, long range, high rate-of-fire and (not least) smokeless fire arms was not primarily to kill or maim as many as possible of the enemy, but rather to get them to break and run by the psychological pressure of a massed advance.

Furthermore, given the lack of workable means of communication, what with all the smoke and noise, dense grouping was pretty much the only way to keep units reasonably together, and may well have helped the individual withstand the fears involved.

In most cases, I think the casualty figures also make it clear that the precision and rate of fire was low enough that you usually stood a sufficiently decent chance of coming through alive and unhurt that the odds would not have seemed too long for those involved.

One my my big regrets from travelling in the US, also back in the 1990s, is that I did visit the battlefield at Gettysburg, but only stayed for about two hours. But I didn't know then what I do now, about neither the battle itself, nor how well-preserved the place is, and we had further to go that day, so basically only saw the museum and the view from the top of Cemetary Hill.

And if you haven't read Shelby Foote's three-volume work on the US Civil War, it is seriously recommended!

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 22/04/2020 11:07:51

Hi Eddie,

That is absolutely true, and my wife and I are well aware of how fortunate we are; both able to work from home, a comfortable house with a lovely garden (and a nice workshop, too ) and on top of that the village bakery and pharmacy are still open for business, plus we live more or less at the nexus of a network of walking paths that take us straight out into the open countryside whenever we want a constitutional (which is expressly allowed under Belgian lockdown rules, as long as one keeps one's distance to anyone one happens to meet). Here are a couple of photos from a nice 6 mile walk we made last week:

And yes, we do indeed have a lovely dawn chorus! We get quite a number of birds in our garden, and this time of the year they're of course really at it!

Cheers,

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 22/04/2020 10:13:43

I forgot to say about the charging and storage charging that the former was done at 1C, so that it took just over half an hour to get the battery up to full charge, while the discharging down to storage level was a rather slower process.

The max current setting for the Storage mode is 1.0A, which is what I selected, but the charger decided for itself to run the process at 0.5A, going down gradually to 0.2A for the final balancing act; that thus took neigh on three hours, but it was a lovely evening to sit reading out back, enjoying the garden, while the book I'm currently (re-)reading is thick enough, too, to last me rather longer than that, so all in all, no worries ...

To be continued ...

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 22/04/2020 08:03:40

Well!

Yesterday afternoon, the postman turned up with a nice, big package, that had taken a full week (!) to travel the +/- 14 miles (!!) from Albatros Modelbouw in Mechelen – but then I read in the paper yesterday that what with lockdowngenerated on-line ordering, the Post Office has to handle the same volumes now, week in, week out, as it usually only does in the run-up to Christmas (which might incidentally also explain why I've not yet recieved my copy of the May issue of MB).

In any case, there it was, and first out of the box was this beauty: a Robbe RO-Safety dedicated LiPo charging and storage box:

According to the specs it is good for simultaneus storage of up to the equivalent of two 6S 5,000 mAh packs, so my little 3S:er had plenty of elbowroom, all to itself.

For the details on the features and specs, see **LINK**. Obviously there's only one way to really know if it does what it says on the box (ha!), and I most sincerely hope I'll never find out, but in any case it is a pretty nice piece of kit. Rather more pricey than the usual soft LiPo bags, but I'm happy enough to have spent that on peace of mind.

Furthermore, there was a couple of packs of Z-Poxy finishing resin (and no, I don't expect to use all that on this build; I'm just stocking up, is all) ...

... and glassfiber cloth in 25 and 100 gram/m2 weight respectively.

I also recieved a receiver ...

... and a Hitec HS-81 servo.

After my days work was done (I'm still working full time from home), 'twas time to set uip out on the back terrace, and fully charge the LiPo, which went completely hassle free, I'äm delighted to say ...

... and then to bind the receiver, solder on a Deans plug on the powefr leads of the esc, connect it to the LiPo and set it up with the programming card (another doddle -- that card was well worth he money!) and finally test the motor-and-esc set-up.

Everything went swimmingly well: the motor runs nice and smooth, forwards and backwards, and is very quiet, too.

All in all a very successful afternoon, which I then rounded off again, back out on the terrace, by running the storage mode (dis)charging programme on the LiPo, to take it back down to 3.8V per cell. As I won't be using it very much during next stages of the build, I figure it'll be better that way; it can still be used for any occasional testing needed, and then topped up every now and then back to said 3.8V/cell storage voltage.

A couple of things rather struck me during the charging and discharging process.

Firstly, the LiPo didn't increase its temperature in any way that could be detected by simple touch, which of course was reassuring.

Secondly, with the press of a few buttons, the charger very neatly displayed a lot of measurements, including current voltage per cell, which meant that progress was easy to follow, which in turn also felt very reassuring.

All in all, I rather think I've been getting me boxers in a little more of a twist over this whole LiPo thingummy than what was really necessary – but then again, I feel much happier with having been perhaps overly cautious than the opposite.

To be continued ...

Mattias

Bob,

I entirely agree with Ashley: it looks great, and is indeed av very cleverly creative solution!

Mattias

Coming along very nicely indeed, Ray!

Mattias

Hello Ray,

Yup, 'tis 35C – and as it happens the exact same brand and spec as the packs that Dave M. put into his two prototype boats a few years ago. So, there's precedent

Mattias

Hi Ray,

Oh, I think I will continue to worry slightly and build that boat

And indeed things such as barbecues and fire places (both of which we have here at home) can cause fires (and probably do much more often than LiPo:s). Back in the 1980s, an aunt of mine made a very serious error: she'd enjoyed a cosy wood fire of an evening, and then, being (too) tidy, removed the (as she thought) burnt-out ashes before going to bed. The ashes she put in a plastic (!) bucket, which she then pushed under a chair in the entrance hall, intending to take it out to empty next morning. However, she woke up in the middle of the night (actually, the cat woke her up!), with flames coming up the stairs from the hall to the second floor, where she slept! She had to climb out through a window, and was lucky to survive! If it hadn't been for the cat, who knows how it might have ended?! The fire brigade managed to save the house, although it needed extensive repairs.

From which I learned (a) never to clean out the grate (or the barbecue, for that matter) on the same night as it was used, and (b) to use a proper, made-to-purpose steel ash can with a heavy lid and a bottom raised to two inches above the floor for storing (even cold) ashes until final disposal (on the compost heap, usually).

As for the balancing dervishes and all that, my charger does have a mode (called Charge) expressly for the purpose of charging LiPo:s without a balancing lead. But I'm not going to use that mode, am I now?!

Thanks again, though, for your encouraging words and kind help

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 21/04/2020 10:37:02

Edited By Banjoman on 21/04/2020 10:38:09

Gareth,

Thank you very much, too!

Just to be clear, the manual does of course say that balance charging (i.e. using the Balance function) should be done with the lead; it also implies that the same goes for the Discharge function. It is just when it comes to the Storage function that the manual is really not clear at all.

Any road, 'tis balanced 'twill be!

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 21/04/2020 09:32:48

Dave,

Most emphatically THANKS!

Why, oh why, one wonders, couldn't the manual just say that in a few clear and straightforward words?

Oh well. Wenn dass Wörtchen wenn nicht wäre, dann wäre ich schon lang ein Millionaire!

Again, thank you very much!

Mattias

Bob,

I'm sure a tin hat is much better than a tin foil one, eh wot wot?!?

That pile'll just be for storing the stuff. I plan to do all charging out of doors (there's a handy electric outlet on our back terrace) in a protective box on top of some fire bricks.

Just call me Granny Cautious!

Mattias

Here's one more newbie question on the by now slightly worn-thin subject of LiPo:s.

As mentioned already in my Sweet Sue II thread, I have a SkyRC e6650 multi-chemistry balance charger and am, since yesterday, also the (still ever so slightly apprahensive) owner of a brand new LiPo battery.

If for a moment we pretend that we've never heard owt about with what the road to hell is proverbially paved, I might perhaps dare say that I do at least wish to set out as a LiPo owner/user with the good intention of doing everything by the book.

This should of course include regular checking and (re)establishing of storage voltage, for which purpose I dare say the Storage function of the charger will be just the thing.

Now, I have read the manual of said charger backwards and forwards, and have also googled the matter, but have as yet not found a conclusive answer to this question: should storage charging be done with the balancing lead connected or not?

From the way certain passages in the manual are formulated I suspect that the answer is "yes", but I would very much appreciate any input you could provide!

Many thanks in advance

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 21/04/2020 09:17:27

Hello Ray,

Yes, they are indeed batteries, but at least to the novice user of them perhaps not quite as "only" as the ones with which one is already familiar, given all the dire warnings and strict injunctions with which they come. Of course I understand that manufacturers and sellers of something that could carry a risk must underline and to some extent exaggerate said risk, both to cover their own behinds and to make sure that users are aware.

In any case, yesterday afternoon, the chap from UPS brought me my package from ComponentShop (while maintaining appropriate distance, natch!), in which was first and foremost a LiPo (cue thunderclap and some menacing music) ...

... but also a LiPo guard bag (soon to be replaced, but more on that once the postman has been along today with a further parcel).

Here in Belgium, the DIY shops were allowed to reopen on Saturday, so yesterday afternoon I popped along to one and bought some fire-resistant bricks, of which here's a sample ...

... with which I created a sort of secure storage facility in a part of the garage (which is heated in winter, so always at room temperature) where there's nothing else immediately above or in front that wouldn't be able to survive the heat of an incident. I will make this neater with a small metal cabinet from Ikea, once they too are open for business again.

Am I being overly cautious here? I'm sure I am (if I weren't, I wouldn't have bought a LiPo in the first place), but I'd rather err with a very large margin on the side of safety – if nowt else it'll help me sleep at night!

And while we're being cautious, here's the low voltage alarm as already discussed

I also took the opportunity to stock up Deans type connectors, regular, mini and micro ...

... and finally there was the programming card for the ESC.

To be continued ...

Mattias

Nope, not yet. But then, I'm in Belgium, so usually get my copy anything from a couple of days to a couple of weeks later than (most) UK subscribers.

Mattias