I was recently gifted by the family of an older member of our sailing group a model of the Adelaide which he had built. The hull is 32" long with the rudder hanging another 4"out the back. It looks by the location of various holes that he may have intended to power it with a small steam plant but I happened to have a motor and gearbox out of another paddler which fitted in quite well. I have tried it in the water and it seems to drive quite well but without having radio gear fitted I was hanging on to a piece of string so it did not go far. Now the radio gear is in place so we will see how it performs on Sunday, weather permitting. The 12v 7ah SLA battery is just the right amount of ballast and should give a run time of about 4 hours. Cheers, Ian.

Another photo of the workings

A nice model Ian. I like the gear box did you build it ?  If not where did you buy it please?   

Thanks Damien, it is a little rough around the edges but it wont be too hard to tidy it up. The motor and gearbox unit came in another paddler I swapped with a friend. I am sure he would have built the gearbox but I will ask what he used to get the gears from when I see him on the weekend. Regards, Ian.

  Good evening;

A nice little boat, I sis fallen love with this armada and account well made one, but simple form and with a steam engine.

I will follow this story carefully.

Kind regards 

François

Did not see my friend at the lake on Sunday, it was too bl--dy cold and windy for much sailing so I emailed and asked where the gearbox came from. Here is his reply -
Hi Ian.
     The gearbox was a complete home made job.I cut the gears myself on a home made dividing head I cannot remember the number of teeth per gear offhand but I remember making it as compact as possible.I tend to work out designs as I go so no drawings were made. Tamiya make motor/gearbox units and also Jaycar have a few in their range I believe.I could make another G/Box but it would take a bit of time and I would have to charge accordingly.
               Regards,Bill
Amazing what some people can manage isn't it!

Thanks Ian,
It's real nice to have the equipment let alone the ability to do these complex engineering feats.

Damien.