Hidden inside is an electric motor of more or less modern construction that acts upon a brass propeller via a high-quality prop-shaft. Shaft and motor are connected by a flange that aligns them perfectly to keep noisy vibrations at bay. The motor mounts are standard to allow for a wide variety of motor options. Twin engines and shafts are a further possibility. The torques of counter-rotating props cancel each other out and thus improve the handling, besides, they make for an awesome sight. (better picture with everything installed will follow)

Tiny stainless steel cables convey the steering forces from the servo to either a tiller or a quadrant. Another set of pretty brass bits installed on deck in full visibility.

A fitting project to test the concept of the Victorian speed-boat. After all, this is what the original Turbinia, which she is based on, was referred to before she was given her famous name.

Length:  109,5cm

Beam:  14,5cm

Displacement:  1,8kg

Engine:  electric Power 600, 2S LiPo battery

Naming torpedo-boats after vicious things like medieval staff weapons or ferocious predatory fish seems an appropriate tradition. Naming them after gorgeous English actresses not so much, but anyway.

Here is another variation of the Victorian era speed-boat. The self-propelled torpedo, invented in 1868, proved a formidable weapon which could be launched from a rather small craft. The proud, heavy battleships with their big guns found themselves surprisingly helpless confronted with a nimble, fast-moving adversary. So the navies devised a new type of ship to take on this menace. It was light and fast, very much like a torpedo-boat itself, but armed with small, quick-firing cannons, and they called it “torpedo-boat-destroyer”. After some later development, they figured out that small, fast warships could really destroy a lot more than just torpedo-boats, so nowadays they are referred to simply as “destroyers”.

These craft were pretty cramped, more like floating engine-rooms with some spartan creature-comforts wedged in between machinery. Since there was no room for complicated smoke-ducts, and every boiler has its own funnel, the tiny HMS Pike rivals the most powerful ocean-liners when it comes to the sheer number of stacks. The overall black colour scheme serves as camouflage for nightly operations, besides, the excessive amount of soot coughed out by furnaces would soon render the boat black anyway.

Length: 92,0cm

Beam:  14,8cm

Displacement:  1,77kg

Engine:  electric Power 600, 2S LiPo battery