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Huge 48 inch Aerokits Sea Queen. I picked this up from the same fellow as the large crash tender when I won these on e-bay last year. This is having an SC .61 which is about 1.7 BHP (compared to the Merco 0.9 BHP for the same 10cc). I am told that these engines do not have a great reputation - I will find out for myself. I have another Merco .61 standing by if this is the case. Getting this boat on the water is the next project. I will return to the crash tenders to finish these off from time to time.....
Steps – from e-bay to water
For those (like me) with limited time and money to spend on model boats, E-bay os a potential solution to both. The Sea Queen only took a few hours – over 3 weeks – to get going. These were the stages:
1. Buy boat – cost about £70 on e-bay – a reasonable price I would say.
2. Engine – Merco 61 – again from e-bay - £36
3. Fit ball raced prop shaft – cost about £12 – using 2 part epoxy
4. Fibreglass inside bottom of hull using kit from Halfords – cost £13
5. Cut 20mm plywood engine plate
4. Drill and assemble rubber mounted engine mount kit from Prestwich Models (£15)
5. Assemble with engine, using rubber propshaft joint (£8) again from Prestwich Models.
6. Epoxy engine in place – checking for alignment.
7. Water inlet / outlet from Westbourne Models (£6?).
8. Fuel tank (Prestwich again – but from e-bay – he sells stuff every week on a Sunday night - £4). Using ply formers, cut half round with a hole-maker of the right size for the tank on the end of a drill.
9. Silencer mounting – using Prestwich rubber mounts again. Strap for metal ties formed from strip of scrap metal.
10. Silencer from e-bay (£20), tubing again from Prestwich models.
11. Radio control tray is a standard Futaba item (£3?)
12. Window frames refurbished and clear plastic sheet installed – similar method to Crash Tender.
13. Robbe life belts – with red insulation tape – left over from Crash Tender.
So total outlay less than £200 (exluding radio which I already had – perhaps add £40 for this) and around 20 hours – not bad – for the finished result!
Have decided on the Merco .61 for now, so after a quick swap over with the SC .61 she was ready to sail. See the next page (Sea Queen in action)......
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