marchioness of lorne

[boatmanic 678]

Hi i am new to this site my name is Richard (boatmanic)I am from sheffield , been modeling for about 4 years now and i am a member of the sheffield ship model society . At the moment i am halfway through making a model of the marchioness of lorne . Now i could do with some advice about the size of the paddles , The model is 43 inches long by 8 inch beam , the plan i am using is only basic, no instructions with it . I have made a set of paddles from plasticard 4 inch in diameter and 8 bladed . i was advised by mfa to use 2  919d 50 /1 motors using spur gears 1 on the motor shaft 1 on the paddle shaft , power is from a 7.2 battery . I have ballast tested the boat it was to high in the water and slow speed on the first test , paddles not deep enough . so more lead was added now it looks about right but it is still very slow . and a lot heavier .
I am now thinking of making bigger paddles and taking some weight out , is there a rule of thumb for the size .?
can anyone advise please

Cheers Richard (boatmanic)

[R.G.Y.]

As you have a scale model, fit paddles to fill the paddle boxes. If the 4" already do then lower the shaft, unfortunately this could be a lot of work. My Glen Usk (as avatar) sails with 4" with 7 floats (correct name for paddles). Powered by steam it is not fast but it is scale speed. Slower than walking pace, but the wake looks right & gives adequate steerage way.

[Talisman]

Hi Richard,
Welcome to Paddle Ducks first of all.

Before trying to answer there are a couple of questions that might help to get you to the right answer.
Are your wheels feathering?
Who's drawings are you working from?
A couple of pictures might also help.
Regards,
Kim

[Gerhardvienna]

Hi Richard
First of all. welcome to PD`s forum!
To your questions, firt it is important, that your ship ist not too high in  the water, so your try was correct, to give a bit more ballast. If the wheels are still not deep enough, you will hae to set them lower, this means in most cases a lot of work to do, but there is no abbreviation to get the job done! The wheels shoud be around 1/3 of diameter in the water, then it will fit right. For the correct speed it it important to know, that you will need more revs at the wheels, than the original paddlers, but we dont build racers, so it will not be too bad, if your model is slow.
Regards
Gerhard