Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Water Models / February 2007

Hi All,

I am an old retired person who played with little tin pop-pop
steamboats before WW2 when they were some of the favorite toys for
small boys. Pop-pop boats are still being manufactured and don't look
much different from those I played with. They aren't as popular now as
they were back then, so anybody who hasn't seen a pop-pop boat might go
to <http://www.buzzboats.com/> and click on "Pop Pop Boats" over on the
left side of the opening page.
I am trying to encourage development of a new generation of pop-pop
boats that would look more like real steam powered boats and ships, and
less like recycled tin cans. I thought the best way to do this might be
on a discussion group for pop-pop boats. I couldn't find groups of this
kind and finally decided the only way to find the right kind of group
would be to start one. It is called the "pop-pop-steamboats" group at
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pop-pop-steamboats/> and now has
slightly more than a hundred members. Our main problem is that there
aren't many kits or plans for scale, or semi-scale, models in the one
to one and a half foot long range that would be suitable for propulsion
by pop-pop engines. Models with the plank on frame, or plank on
bulkhead, construction used for larger scale models might cost too
much, so we are trying to come up with ways for building small plank on
foam core models, or modifying kits for paper boat models to make them
stronger and waterproof- of course. Google helped us find a company
that has a product for making paper maps waterproof at
<www.aquaseal.com>. Most kits of this kind are for making waterline
models, so we think that by adding below the waterline components that
might be carved from blocks of styrofoam and providing thermal
insulation around pop-pop engines and the heat sources that make them
work, we might have a relatively quick and inexpensive method for
producing moderately realistic models propelled by real steam engines
of the simplest possible kind, since it would be hard to get much
simpler than engines that don't have any moving parts. I would be
delighted to have replies from members who know of sources for kits and
plans that we could use- and other construction methods too- of
course.

Best wishes, Frank McNeill