"toy" boats

**Christopha** · 1st March 2005, 11:33 PM

(Apologies to Christopha - but the first parts of this thread are a few years old now (2005) - BUT I thought it worthy of bringing to the top again - lots of people are interested in boat models - so here is the place - MIK)

Ok, I have three grandsons and as the oldest is just about to turn 5 I reckon its' time that Pop built him a decent toy sailboat. Now I am not talking a chunka mallee shaped roughly like a boat on the bandsaw, I want to build him a nice sailer which will become a bit of an heirloom for the kid. His brothers will also get one when the time is appropriate. The 2foot skiff mentioned in the other thread is NOT a kids toy and while I really want to buid one it will be for the biggest kid of all..... ME!
OK, who can recommend a design please?

**bitingmidge** · 2nd March 2005, 12:06 AM

Christopha,

OK, I'll fess up!

Here is page one of a plan I've had since 2000!

A classic pond sailer, the plans call call for it in solid balsa, but I have been meaning to get around to doing it in WRC, with a few highlights in Surian and maybe Paulownia (when I get a few scraps).

Because I can (and so can you!) I'll probably make the hull hollow(ish) jsut by drilling out the blocks before assembly, so that the finished boat will approach the weight of a balsa one, and I'll finish it clear.

I reckon it's a ripper, specially because it doesn't have Radio Control, but the article is obviously aimed at an entry level modeller, not craftsmen like you and I.

I've got the gears (scrounged from a derelict photo copier) and the lead (leaad flashing) and the mast (shaped it out of clear hoop rather than using a dowel...oh... and I've got the plans too!!

Let's know if you've any interest1

cheers,

P

**Paul O'H. Ingersoll Canad** · 2nd March 2005, 12:09 AM

I haven't got a plan for a boat , but how about an animated caterpillar? e-mail me [email protected] if you want it
paul

Caterpillar

**Daddles** · 2nd March 2005, 12:53 AM

One tip - make sure the hull is hollow and you put a bloody big hatch on it. Basically, make sure you can get into it to fit r/c later on. My own r/c yacht started life as a free float beast and took to the conversion very well, despite probably being completely unsuitable for the task.

There are kits in the shops and last time I looked, the prices were merely extortionate. Try Imagine If - I'm not recommending them as I haven't looked around but they do stock the kits.

And what about Violet? Give the kid a pack of sandpaper and point him towards the boat.

Cheers
Richard

**bitingmidge** · 2nd March 2005, 08:17 AM

Richard,

I take your point on the RC, but I wouldn't go that way initially, because I think a fairly robust (or repairable) pond sailer will make that heirloom Christopha is talking about, while the RC stuff tends to fall into disrepair.

I have on my bookshelf the hull of a boat carved for me (and heavily used) when I was five, it still has the rusted tack in the bow which was used to tow it with a piece of fishing line.... plastic RC gear doesnt' tend to develop the same patina!

Be warned that model shops generally don't provide too much support for "scratch builders", they just love selling their kits!

I think the cheapest way of getting a scratch built boat Radio Controlled is to buy a crappy cheap plastic boat, and rob all the bits, although a mate of mine used the same technique by pulling apart a $30.00 RC car, and it doesn't come any cheaper than that!

cheers,

P

**Christopha** · 2nd March 2005, 10:48 AM

Midgster me old china plate That little job looks just the "goods".

Richard, I definitely don't want RC, not for this Pop, if the boy wants to do that 1 day then it will be up to him as I shall probably have gone to the big boatshed in the sky

Paul, while Cat looks good I'm not sure of it sailing abilities. Also, do you think it may be able to be fitted with RC??

**bitingmidge** · 3rd March 2005, 12:44 AM

Perhaps we should build in parallel and post progress on this very thread???

I suppose I have an advantage in that I have the plans!

Now as a diversion: I know it's not wood, and I know it's not sail, but I've had this hankering to build a Pop Pop Boat for quite some time, and it will probably take the advent of grandchildren to tip me over the edge...

If ever there was incentive to do a Cyclone, this would have to be it... I could use the left overs!

Cheers,

P

**Cliff Rogers** · 3rd March 2005, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

...If ever there was incentive to do a Cyclone, this would have to be it... I could use the left overs!....

To build the cyclone or the pop-pop boat?

Here's a tip for pop-pop boat drivers..... 2 candles in a pop-pop boat is like putting nitro in the fuel of your car, it only goes a bit faster before it goes ****

POP!

**sam63** · 3rd March 2005, 08:29 AM

Hi Christopha,

I am not a professional, but wooden boats are my passion as well. I am into building model boats as well as real one, when I get the time from work of course. I have recently finished a 12ft Sailing dinghy model scaled down to 1:10. I bought the plans from David Payne, and it was a learning practice for me. As a result, I took the hard way and replicated everything as if I was building the real thing. I am currently building another model boat. I downloaded the plans from Svenson boats page, and scaled down to 1:10 as well. It might me something to consider for your grandsons.

Cheers
Sam

**Christopha** · 3rd March 2005, 09:00 AM

PICTURES SAM [B]PICTURES[SIZE=1]

**Termite** · 3rd March 2005, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by Christopha

Ok, I have three grandsons and as the oldest is just about to turn 5 I reckon its' time that Pop built him a decent toy sailboat.

Christopha, over some time you have managed to maintain the image of a hard insensitive cynical tough bloke, but I'm very much afraid that you have revealed a soft spot in your personality that some of the unscrupulous people on this Forum may take advantage of or poke fun at. Please refrain from further destroying the image that so many people appreciate.

**Christopha** · 3rd March 2005, 10:07 AM

Bugger! Perhaps I should log on as a nice softy called NotChristopha

**bitingmidge** · 3rd March 2005, 10:15 PM

Because I have one or two projects very nearly finished and my list of started ones is commensurately diminished, I thought to myself as I drove into my garage and walked past my gear this evening:

"Self, you have a daughter getting married in this very house two weeks from now, why don't you start a new project?"

So I pulled out the plans for the boat above, found a bit of old WRC door jamb that I'd rescued from a skip, a scrap of Surian Cedar and a bit of Camphor that might do for a deck. (photo 1)

Didn't take too long to mill it, run it through the sander and have a bunch of raw materials just waiting to go. (photo 2)

I had a copy of the plans to cut up, and stuck the appropriate shape on each bit(one of each shape at least). Don't do this if you have the original plans, they are printed on both sides! In a few minutes on the bandsaw the bits were cut, all except for the centre stringer in Surian which needed a bit of laminating to get sufficient width for the keel. (photo 3)

Glued the hull bits in two halves (no glue in the centreline) and popped the stringer through the sander to bring it down to 4.5mm thick, then called it a night, (photo 4)

The original plans called for Balsa for the hulls, for lightness and also I suspect because it is easier to "model". I was going to cut hollows in each bit to reduce the weight, but figured I am not going to be racing anyone, and if I ever do, I'll just build a taller rig!

What will happen in our next exciting installment?

For that matter, when will our next exciting installment be??

Cheers,

P (No hand tools were hurt in the filming of this construction).

**Wood Butcher** · 3rd March 2005, 10:35 PM

Now as a diversion: I know it's not wood, and I know it's not sail, but I've had this hankering to build a Pop Pop Boat for quite some time, and it will probably take the advent of grandchildren to tip me over the edge

My Dad and I built one of these of scrap timber and copper tube when I was about 5. He had a readers digest book on arts and craft that had plans in it. I remember taking it out to the local dam and lighting it up. After a couple of minutes it started to move. All we did was just stand ther and watch it leave. We had no intention of getting it back and watching it pop across the dam was great fun.

Speaking of which I am going to give the old bloke a call and see if he still has the plans. Need something to do with the kids this weekend and I have some scrap copper, ply and tealight candles in the shed. Hmmm

**Christopha** · 3rd March 2005, 10:46 PM

amazing things the old "pop'pops" I remeber my uncle making them when I was a wee tacker..... fun, simple and intriguing!

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