Bobby
Bobby was a design published in Model Boats magazine in 1977. I built the model shortly after that and found it a great deal of fun. I remember it having a 540 motor, 6 Nicad cells and 35X prop- it went really well- just like the photo above (which was of Lou Jeffery's prototype). Apparently the original was based on a Vic Smeed design called Twinkler from the 1960's. My original model was scrapped for some reason, so sometime in the 1980's I decided that I'd enjoyed Bobby so much I'd build another one. This was also loads of fun- but also got scrapped along the way!
Just recently (April 2018) I was scrounging through my drawings looking for a quick and fun project when I came across the original plans for Bobby- they had been a free pull out in 1977. I thought about a new one and found a few had been built over the years and described on the Model Boats magazine Forum. I also discovered that a Dutch firm, RBC Kits, had produced a laser cut kit for the boat. It looked just the job and I parted with a modest amount of cash. Although the website said the kits were produced to order, the kit was packed up and sent the day I ordered it and was with me a few days later. On opening the box I was presented with about five sheets of laser cut parts, a bundle of strip wood, some clear plastic sheet, a plan and a CD. The CD contains a lot of photos decribing the build and a video of the RCB prototype in action. So far I have spent about an hour cutting out pieces, marking them with their respective numbers from the diagrams provided and cleaning them up. The wood is poplar ply and seems to be of very nice quality.
29.4.18 After some seven hours of construction I have the main hull components together, the motor mount in and the first skin attached. The kit goes together very accurately with hardly any fettling of parts- just a light sanding to get rid of nibs and whiskers. For speed I have been using cyano glue with an aerosol kicker, including the glueing of the shaft tube- first time I have ever done this. It seems very firm.
13.5 18 After about seventeen hours of work the hull and superstructure are all but finished and the hull has received a coat of Z-Poxy on te outside- I have used good old fashioned sanding sealer on the inside to save a bit of weight. A Graupner esc and 3s Lipo have been purchased- the motor will be a Graupner Speed 500 as the 600 was bit long to fit in. As mentioned above, my original Bobby had a standard 540 and six 1.2v Nicad cells. It was fast enough for me..
6.12.18 Progress has been somewhat sporadic after an initial burst but Bobby is nearly complete. After discovering a good source of timing gears and belts it was decided to use a 1:1 toothed belt drive to save a bit of space. I also bought an airbrush and this is the first model I have completed using sprayed acrylic paint. It has worked out reasonably well but how durable the finish is remains to be seen. It is certainly interesting to learn a new skill like airbrushing.
April 2020- Bobby is finished and had her first wet (actually at the back end of 2019). Total failure! The toothed belt drive is nowhere near man enough for the 540 motor so back to the drawing board and, at some stage I shall revert to a direct drive using a rubber coupling from Model Boat Bits. I may need to do a bit of surgery to get that in ther now. I may also try brass pulleys with an O ring belt.