WRAM show and scratch-building, The

Radio Control Boat Modeler, Aug 1999 by Fryant, John L

BEGIN THIS TIME with an observation: something that has been in the back of my mind for a couple of years and that was brought to the fore by an article I read in a British modelboating magazine. The author wrote about "high-speed scale" and the fact that there are no provisions in presentday scale regattas for vessels capable of high-speed running.

Many manufacturers now produce excellent kits of vessels that are capable of high-speed operation. I'm not speaking here of fast electric raceboats, but strictly scale vessels. For example, the Dumas* line of Chris-Craft(R) speedboat kits and Graupner's water-jet-powered Atlantic Challenger and Condor Fast Ferry all have very fast scale speeds. Robbe* also has several high-speed vessels, including its "SAR 33" Coast Guard boat and Blue Star motor yacht. All of these kits, and many others, are capable of excellent, high-speed scale performance. Yet no scale regatta I've ever attended has provided for running these types of vessels.

I'd like to suggest that planners of scale events take this into consideration for the future. Perhaps precision-steering courses could be redesigned to include a section in which high-speed craft "show their stuff,' or maybe there should be a separate event for high-speed scale craft only.

Modelers who build these kinds of models are no less talented than any other scale modeler. In addition to realistic scale detailing and appropriate finishes, high-speed models must be engineered to perform at the faster speeds for which the full-size vessels are known. Just as much effort is put into these boats as into vintage tugs and super-detailed warships. It would be nice to have a place for these speedy craft to operate in a scale like fashion-fast!

THE WHAM SHOW

I was pleased to attend the '99 WRAM show in White Plains, NY, and I observed some interesting things that are relevant to scale R/C boating.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Robbe was once again represented at the show. The company's new U.S. distributor is HUI Robbe/Schluter*. I met and spoke to the distributor, Paul Goldenberg of Avon, CT, at the Robbe booth. If you would like a Robbe catalog, info, or prices, call Paul at (860) 677-7278.

I also noted some really nice, toothed-belt-reduction drives by SubTech* and Modelair-Tech*. The latter company is a model aircraft supplier, and these units are intended for electricpowered aircraft. I'm sure that they will also work fine in any scale model boat. Modelair-Tech's drives come with ratios ranging from 2.57:1 up to 4.8:1 and in several motor sizes. They also have gearreduction drives in ratios of 2:1 and 3:1. When you're on the Internet, check out Modelaire-Tech's website at www .modelairtech.com.

Skip Assay's SubTech units are primarily aimed at model submarines but can be used in any type of electricpowered boat. These, along with the reduction drives already available from Hobby Lobby* and MACK Model Marine Products*, give scale boaters a very wide choice for powering virtually any type of boat.

If you still like to "gin" together your own reduction drives, here is another source of components. The folks at Small Parts* sell all sorts of components for precision miniature drive systems, such as gears, toothed belts, pulleys, universals and roller chains, etc., as well as just about everything else imaginable in the way of raw materials and tools. They also have a website: www.smallparts.com, and their catalog is a definite must-have.

WRAM SCALE COMPETITION

The scale competition at this year's WRAM show included a wide variety of ships and boats, both military and civilian-more, in fact, than were exhibited at last year's Toledo show. They were displayed on very low platforms, though, and the details would have been much more visible (and the models less prone to damage) if they had been on standard-height tables.

On display in the Scale Military category was a magnificent destroyer, the USS McCall(DD 400) by Bruce Aikman. Other vessels displayed included the WW II sub chaser (SC 724) by Jerry Sweifler of the Empire State Model Mariners, and the German light cruiser Prince Eugen built by Bud Lederer of Woodcliff, Long Island, NY. Nick Starace's fantastic USS New Jersey (mentioned in my last column) was also displayed with its superstructure raised to show the inner workings.

Boats in the Non-Military category included a large steam launch, *Stolen Pleasures* by Lawrence Goldstein of Plainview, NY, that featured a beautiful natural-wood-finish canopy and a shiny brass stack. A nicely built Canadian buoy tender, 'Tsekoa II" by Kevin Holden of Rosedale, NY, was the first completed example I had seen of this impressive Model Slipway kit. There was also a very nice Midwest Sequin tugboat by William Seary of Farmingdale, NY, and a beautiful Dumas Typhoon built by Jamie McDonald of New York City.

CONTEST CATEGORIES

Many of the regional 'model show' static display contests are oriented toward model aircraft and give only secondary consideration to ships, boats and land vehicles. While the categories for aircraft are quite complete and well thought out, the others are too often over-simplified. The WRAM show has only three categories: Scale Military, Scale Non-Military and Racing. Though I am very pleased that boats have a place to compete, I wish that more thought was given to the classifications for non-aircraft models. It is difficult enough to compare battleships and destroyers with Navy tugs and USCG utility boats; all of these fall under the Scale Military classifica tion.