RC Boater Bill

Help! I’ve fallen into the swamp!! I’ve never campaigned for a GB topic before, but …… A vote for “the Specialists” includes whatever you want to build for “Long Range Maritime Patrol”— but the reverse is not true. So please vote for “The Specialists”! PS: Sticks and Strings is on the edge. The sponsors have tried for years to get a WW1 aviation GB through the Bunfight. Each year, they have made the topic a little broader/inclusive— let’s throw them a bone!

I’m a generalist, not a specialist— I like to build subjects from just about every genre. But I know a lot of folks are the opposite, and like to focus on a particular type/genre. Both approaches are equally valid- it is a hobby, after all! I agree with the perception that the GBs tend to favor aircraft subjects, and I can see how builders of other genres may feel a bit left out. Just look at the list of standard GB candidates for 2026: only two of them clearly exclude aircraft- Muscle Cars and Ground Forces. (and neither of them have much hope of breaking into the top seven.) As a comparison, 6 of the 21 candidates exclude armor/ground vehicles, and only 1 of 21 has armor as the headliner. It seems to say that If you want to win in the bunfight, you have to include aircraft in your proposal. Personally, I like the inclusive GBs the best- they let me dabble in a hodpodge of subjects, and I enjoy finding oddball subjects that meet the theme! “Two Seaters”— I’m ready for you! 😎

Here’s a short video from an indoor test run…. https://billmichaels.smugmug.com/Bills-Stuff/Modelling/n-fK4qbP/ProjectsBuilds/Plastic-models/Group-Builds/Tamiya-1-35-M-10/i-jHRKMKq

I have been trying to take a video of the running model outdoors- but conditions haven’t been favorable. It either rains, or the yard is full of oak leaves- two of which are big enough to cover the tank! SoI tried to take a short video tonight in the basement. The model advanced about a meter and then stopped, with the motor still whirring. I checked under the hood/bonnet- the problem is the old pinion gear isn’t a tight fit on the motor shaft any more. The model runs for a few seconds, as the pinion works it way down the shaft, until it finally breaks contact with the gear train. I am trying a bit of a temporary fix - I glued a piece of plastic to the inner hull to serve as a bearing/blocker- it should keep the pinion from moving so far down the shaft. I’ll try again tomorrow…..

The last guy who tried to apply zimmerit to a “four leg walking type” tiger is still in the hospital…..

The Mechanical Tiger is complete! Here is a link to a short video on my Smugmug page: Four second video…. (this is the first time I’ve tried to post a video link on Britmodeler…) Fourteen second video.. Meet the Cats! 40 seconds

Finished it tonight!! The cats were interested…. When attaching the legs, you can pick a setting from 1 to 4. The higher the number, the longer the stride and higher speed. I set mine to “2”, to give me time to record it in action… Look in the Gallery for a couple of videos……

Spent about 90 minutes at the bench — got the gearbox assembled, and the wiring for the battery and switch…. Next up are the “tiger” parts (legs, etc.) - that should be a bit less fiddly!

This is not a simple snap-tite kit! There are lots of small parts, a mix of steel copper, plastic, vinyl, wire, etc. Here are the kit contents: There are multiple bags of little parts!

Tamiya Mechanical Tiger! With my KUTA off the bench, I have little extra time for an extra OOB build…. This one can do triple duty: — It fits in here — It is a whimsical way to bring another build to our club’s December meeting- our Theme Build is “Animal Kingdom”. — It has potential to function as a cat toy. 😸🙀 (Aren’t all tigers the “Four leg walking type” ???)

Which autumn?? Here we are in Autumn 2025, still waiting….hoping…… I’ll probably buy a half-dozen (at least) of them….

The model is complete! I’ll try to get some more photos soon… (and a video!)

After applying a coat of Future/Clear, the area under the decals was a little bit shinier, but not by much. I was out of my usual Vallejo matte clear, so I next applied a coat of Micro Scale flat clear. It is rather thick in the bottle, so I had to thin it about 50%. It went down well, but after drying, it looked a little too semi-gloss like. So today I swung by the local gaming store- and picked up a bottle of Vallejo’s “New Polyurethane clear” matte. It went down well, and 3 hours later I started working on adding some gear to the turret….. I had to drill/carve holes in the backs of the bags to get them to lay flat, but they look good now! I am hoping I’ll finish adding them tomorrow evening…..

I think this old model was the first time I tried that miracle product called Future (Klear?) that I had just learned about. I must have been a bit heavy handed in applying it, as there some very bright and shiny area under the few decals I had applied. Very glossy spots on the otherwise very flat mystery paint… I am concerned that adding a flat top coat now will not even out the finish- that it may take a couple of heavy coats to truly make the glossy areas around tge decals truly disappear. Rather than trowel on a super thick coat of flat, I am going to try to even out the existing finish by spraying the entire model with a coat of Future…..

Yes I will rig it- I rig nearly all my 1/72 WW1 builds. ( I haven’t bothered on a couple of Fokker Triplanes.). I don’t worry about getting every line in this scale- I just add enough to create a “rigged look”., like this: