Graupner Southampton.

[Ghost 2501]

now have a Southampton and she is a peachy boat, need to get some transparent plastic to do the windows of the bottom deck, having tried a power test with her in the bath, tethered, i think that a tow could be doneI wound the engines up to full bore holding the tow line and she seemed ok, the deck bollards not moving.

I do like how the battery compartment has its own watertight hatch, underneath the lock-down superstructure, and the way the lock is consealed to the rear servo access hatch, (which makes for good useful storage). that hatch too is weather proof, so as long as nothing silly is done, she should take some good water on the lake without taking on water.

As regards detail, the model is very well detailed for a RTR, and worth the £216 I paid for her, which when you consider say a kit built tug may cost £160 before paint, motors, optional fittings, radio gear ETC, is a good price.

The hull itself certainly looks to be durable, not made of cheap "made by cam fong in China" type plastic, even though it is quite light. The only thing I can fault, is the fenders, being made of vinyl, to be as soft as rubber tyres are on the real model, some of them ripped as the thread that held them to the ship was being fed through the pre-formed holes, also the thread itself isn't particularly wonderful, cheap nylon, so I will get some double sided tape and stick the tyres down to the hull.

The model looks to be able to be converted to 4-chan control with independent ESC's for the two motors. for an RTR, its a good buy compared to the Ripmax Carlton, which looks very much toy like.

Southampton on the water.

after charging batteries, it was a case of go down to the local park lake and put the ship in the water to assess how she performs, here are the results as follows.

along with My freighter, Gemini, Southampton was sailed around the lake, at varying speeds and turns to see how she handled, with the results being quite pleasing, the Twin-screw drive performed as well as can be expected with only two-channel control, with almost straight line reversing.

The turning circle could do with being a little tighter, taking as she has a radius of around 5 boat lengths, (that may be due to the fact that she is twin-screw twin rudder with no differential effect on the props allowing the speeds to be controled independently, changing this to 4 channel with twin ESC will probably solve this)

The high superstructure on the deck, in relation to the deck means that the model is prone to weather-cocking, and so sometimes twisting in reverse, and the kort nozles reduce the effectiveness of the rudder when in reverse, this may be a problem when engaging in Tug-Towing competitions, however, it is no worse than a single motor tug.

The Southampton is a very good model but could do better, perhaps an option would be to produce a model of her with twin controlers for the engines and to make the rudders have more throw on them, and to glaze in the lower windows on the superstructure.

well done Graupner
Rating: 4 STARS

[meechingman]

I got a Southampton after Christmas. Very pleased with her and terrific value, I think. I know what you mean about the 'missing' windows - thank heavens for Chinese Meal containers! :) Also had to tidy up a few gaps with a bit of Plasto and paint.

The original tug on which she's based is Wyeforce, and has an anchor on her starboard bow in place of a tyre fender. I used a Billings anchor and some plastic strip to recreate this - shown in the photo

[meechingman]

Oops, don't think the photo uploaded. :eek: I'll try again

[Ghost 2501]

meech, I used clear plastic and sellotape to fasten mine in :) and the hull was of a high quality, though when the warranty runs out shes having new electronics installed

[Ghost 2501]

remember me saying about those hatches being water tight, well they work!!

towing a barge way to big for her, I managed to get into a situation that would probably cost me my job if it were real, I rolled Southampton over. not a drop inside her!

[Shaun Hendricks]

As the "Bourbon Dolphin" demonstrated, you can lose more than your job doing that... :(

I think you just replicated that accident...

[rlboats2003]

OK Ghost 2501 how did you get the deck off

I studied the pictures in your older threads- I had all the screws out and h bits out of the way when I realized I need to run this during the summer. but here is the question - are the last 2 screws under the bollards in the stern corners. If they are how are the bollards held in place over the screws.

I is the deck/Bulwarks one piece and is it glued to the Hull bottom or held together with a sealant. Did you need to pry, cut or just push away the hull once everthing is loose.

Finally did you "Y" the speed controllers into one channel to be hooked into the v tail controller or are they independent channels. Just interested for a possible winter conversion. Besides with the deck off I could get some lead low into the boat for added stability.

Thanks,
Rich

[Ghost 2501]

grab the bollards with a set of plyers and pull them straight off, they are just push-fitted into locating holes either side of the screw holes. once they are off, unscrew the last two screws along with all the other screws. remove the hatch at the stern then using the deck as a grab hold, gently prise the deck up, it will come adrift with the bulwarks still attatched to it. dont loose the little rubber seal band that wraps around the underside of the deck in a groove, this is what helps keep her dry inside.

once deck out of the way, remove all the gubbings off the tray and then unscrew it. save the tray!!!!

for the conversion you will need:
wire (yellow)
wire (blue)

wire cutters / nippers

1x 4ch (minimum) FM transmitter and receiver of your legal surface frequency - in uk its 40mhz, USA its 75mhz.

one V-tail mixer.

2x esc (viper 15A is what I used, though any 15A will do)

2x battery extention leads

2x 6cell AA batteries / 1x two-tail 6cell AA battery

[rlboats2003]

Just spliced loops in the towing line and wil complete putting on the last of the tires tonight so she can make her debut at our pond side club meeting Saturday. I just wanted to wait till winter, I have most of your list laying around except for the v-tail mixer (even marine wire from my real boat). But before I open up the Southampton after the first week of October (out of water date for the real boat) I have one last question - How is the performance in reverse and making a turn since you did the conversion?

I did notice that she turned wide and on a windy day didn't do well in reverse. With the modifications did these issues improve.

After the conversion I plan in filling the deck holes by adding cleats to hold the towing hook in position when not in use and some other typical fittings. Than add the correct towing/running lights for towing astern.

Thanks for the input,
Rich

[Tugboat Andy]

Question....

I think I have read all of the threads on the Graupner "Southampton" and the less expensive Hobbytron version of the "Southhampton". I'll admit that I get excited and read too fast sometimes and I miss things. If I did, my apologies. :o

Could someone explain the function of a "V-tail mixer" when converting to independent control of the motors? I understand that it takes two speed contols. It is not clear what the mixer does for motor control.

Thanks folks :)

[rlboats2003]

Since I have not done this yet, it was explained to me by Don of Loyalhanna Dockyard as to what it does

The v-tail mixer links the rudder to the twin motors - so what it does if you want to make a turn to port you push the rudder stick to the left and the starboard motor will increase it forward rpm while the port motor will back off - making the boat turn in a shorter diameter. The futher you push the rudder over the greater the speed difference between the motors.

This can also be done by using a twin stick 4 channel like the ace units, Robbe f-14 or purchasing the f-14 twin module and putting it a futaba 4 channel. This has the advantage of you get to control the forward / reverse speed. The bad is that you have the sticks together and lock them before you use normal forward or reverse.

The really old way was to use switches attached to the rudder servo - everything works normal until you use the trimer and the added throw hits one of the micro switches which activates a relay that reverses one of the motors. Needless to say this is only done at very low speeds, but it does provide a unique turn the boat on its beam effect.

All this doesn't sound real important unless you need allot of manuverability. If you do a scale regetta and you need to back down a channel that is 6-8 feet long and then have to exit in reverse between to floating bouys that's were something like this really helps. The other time is if you are pushing barges and need to make a turn in a channel - having that extra push can really help.

Hope this helps,
Rich

[Ghost 2501]

Question....

I think I have read all of the threads on the Graupner "Southampton" and the less expensive Hobbytron version of the "Southhampton". I'll admit that I get excited and read too fast sometimes and I miss things. If I did, my apologies. :o

Could someone explain the function of a "V-tail mixer" when converting to independent control of the motors? I understand that it takes two speed contols. It is not clear what the mixer does for motor control.

Thanks folks :)

the V-tail mixer is quite a clever piece of kit, originally designed for V-tail aircraft, hence its name, it has found new uses in model boats. you plug the "elevator" into your throttle channel, (3) the other lead of the VT mixer goes into ch4 of your transmitter.

your speed controllers then plug into the mixer.

[Tugboat Andy]

Ahhhhh - this makes a lot of sense. Clever indeed!

It was very interesting to read the threads. I looked at the less expensive version of the Southampton briefly last night. The price is right, even if the quailty is off a smidge. However, the company offering this boat seems to battle with customer service and delivery issues. As I am not a risk taker, and the Graupner version is a bit out of my league at the moment, I'll have to enjoy pictures and stories about your lovely boats. Thanks so much for sharing! :D

[Ghost 2501]

Tuggy, I have the hobby engine version of the graupner southampton, hell go for the hobbytron version, even though its an el-cheapo knock-off.

give Barry a ring at westbourne models in westbourne, UK
web www.westbourne-model.co.uk

address Westbourne Model Centre
41 Seamoor Rd Westbourne Southbourne Dorset
BH4 9AE

Tell/Fax +44 1202 763480 if dialing from outside uk
01202 763480 if dialing from the uk

[rlboats2003]

Just a couple of pictures of the Southampton in action at the Buffalo Model Boat Club Meeting 6/2/2007 It was just fun to set the Rachet on the throttle side (modified the transmitter with an old Futaba part) and let her and a towed barge run around the pond.

Buy the Hobbytron.com Southampton - there big problem I had was a bad rudder servo that took about 20 minutes to fix at pond side using a futaba 3003.

Have fun modeling
Rich

[hdking46]

what size is the motors? would it make a good recovery boat for my gas boats i have a aqua atlantic with single 550motor, and it is a bear on a windy day.

[Jayshum]

Just got done yesterday taking the Superstructure of mine apart, ready for a simple repaint. As of Sunday, mine will be the SMIT Southampton (decided to do it after SMIT took over my local Adsteam). Very simple, only the superstructure and forward bulwarks need a respray. I'll hopefully post some pictures this monday.

[hdking46]

can somebody please tell me what size are the motors????

[Tugboat Andy]

I believe they are twin 380's witha gear reduction.

I am real tempted to buy one... :)

[Ghost 2501]

Andy, I think they are speed 200 type motors on a gerabox each to get the drive line down. even so they still have some serious grunt!

Even if you buy the cheaper hobytron version, i doubt you will be disapointed. I wasnt!

[Jayshum]

You really won't. I've sailed mine in some really foul weather, and it's been fine. I've also used it to tow my local club's 16ft towboat, and it was surprisingly good (not perfect, but fun). I really love this boat, and I'm relishing having the time to convert her to independant motor-control (using Ghost's guide as a map!). :)

[Ghost 2501]

You really won't. I've sailed mine in some really foul weather, and it's been fine. I've also used it to tow my local club's 16ft towboat, and it was surprisingly good (not perfect, but fun). I really love this boat, and I'm relishing having the time to convert her to independant motor-control (using Ghost's guide as a map!). :)


what kind of lean angle did you get? also what club are you in Jay?

[rogeraust]

HELLO,
i AM INTERESTED IN MAKEING A BARGE TO TOW AND PUSH AROUND WITH MY NEW SOUTHAMPTON. cAN SOMEONRE HELP ME OUT.
sINCERELY
rOGRAUST

[Ghost 2501]

all you really need is a wooden box, :)