Martin.
Please find a few notes below on our Carlson Tug and a few pictures. If you
use them on your excellent website.
At work a few of my colleagues have got radio controlled boats, as I
already have a radio controlled 4 Wheel Drive Buggy I decide to get a
Carlson Tug.
The kids and myself have started to customise it as we felt that the
stickers supplied in the package made the boat look a bit toy like and if
every one made theirs they would all be too similar and we wanted ours to
stand out a bit.
1. To start with we brush painted the deck with Humbrol Emerald Green
paint.
2. Sprayed the superstructure with Plasticote Orange.
3. Marked on the Waterline, masked it and brushed Humbrol Black enamel
above it.
4. Two Oil Drums were painted Humbrol Blue and stuck to the deck.
5. Four Brass Portholes were fitted to the superstructure along with 2
Lifebelts.
6. A Life Raft Canister was painted and also stuck to the deck.
7. The original Anchor winch was left unpainted but handle was painted
red.
8. A Fender completed has our customisation so far.
These were all purchased from Mobile Marine Models. But we have other
plans that include Navigation Lights and possibly motorising the Radar
that came with the Kit.
We use a Futaba Attack 2 Channel Transmitter with Futaba Receiver and
Servo. The motor is standard and the 4.5Ahr battery seems to last about
¾’s of an hour to 1 hr depending on how the boat is used. Maybe longer as
we have been told that the speed becomes jerky as the voltage drops down
but so far have not got the battery that low.
Around the prop shaft I was advised to fill the area with silicone sealant
as before we were getting a vibration noise at certain speeds. Doing this
has cured that.
Ballast was added to the model to get it looking right in the water. 400
grams were added to the rear and 200 grams at the front. For ballast I
used old airgun pellets from a pellet trap (as Airgun Target shooting was
on of my other hobbies). These were put in a plastic bag then wrapped in
Duct Tape and Velcroed into position inside the hull.
With the guys from work we have joined the local Model Boat Club and make
full use of their lake on Sundays (Club Day) and also sailing before work
or even after work shifts permitting.
Cheers,
Nigel C |