Twin prop counter rotation question

I can't answer the prop question (My guess would be clockwise left, counterclockwise right to prevent torque indicing yaw if one quit) but Preiser makes 1:22.5 scale figures for trains which could work very nicely for you.

Cookie Sewell

If you look very closely at this pic, it appears that the port one turns clockwise and the starboard one turns counter-clockwise.

AFAIK, Tamiya still manufactures 1:20 Formula One team crews.

And if you want to see my disposal list, I have a set of those for sale. Along with some other stuff.

RobG (the Aussie one)

Viewed from astern, the starboard screw turns clockwise while the port screw turns counter-clockwise. We use this to help manoeuvre the ship in confined waters. At slow speeds there's a "paddle wheel" effect which pushes the stern to the side. If the starboard screw is rung on slow ahead, the stern will walk to starboard; the port screw walks the stern to port. This effect is reversed with astern movements, and opposed engines will cause the ship to rotate in place, all very useful in getting your ship into and out of jettys.

J

Thanks for the technical descriptions. Now I'll have something to pass on at the next club meeting.

I dug around my stash of model kits and came up with a Italeri Truck accessories kit No. 764 which contains two truck crew figures in 1/24. They are a tad larger than the other 1/24 military figures I have so its comes out just right (at 1/20?) They are dressed in casual clothes, one seated with arms stretched to hold a steering wheel and another is standing with the right arm akimbo and the left elbow resting at shoulder height. I think they will fit right in as USCG crew figures. I don't do truck or cars which is why I forgot all about having this kit I got at a club draw.

The next question, now that there is a link to the box art <

, can I get away with just painting their clothes khaki, light tan or something like that to pass off as USCG uniforms? My google search on USCG uniforms still look too formal and like nothing I have seen on TV, movies or elsewhere. But then I had never paid attention to this uniform thingy before. And do they wear life jackets at all times or can I leave them as per kit clothing.

Thanks.

Then you can also pass on our little trick we used to use to tell which engine commands to use: We grabbed our belt loops on the outside of our hips and pulled them way we wanted the stern to go (we ladies didn't have belt loops so we just had to grip the outside seams instead). Puling your right belt loop forward moves your hips forward and right so you want slow ahead starboard and so on. You have to remember to reverse your engine orders when you're facing astern. It wasn't uncommon to see a student Officer of the Watch quickly turn to face forwards and grab their belt loops for a second before turning back to give the engine orders they wanted.

Is this your boat?

If so, they got very wet, and the crews wore Mustang Survival suits most of the time. the 1980s when the boats were new, they wore something similar that looked like this: You wouldn't want to be doing this in khakis.

J

Here are some pics of current USCG suits. I don't know how old that CG ship is, so these may be too modern for that time.

Yep. That's the one. I have the older and larger Billings model that is no longer in production. Got it cheap in a garage sale and had already been started. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't finish it either until I realized that the mid deck was almost flush with the gunwales. The precut parts had that deck some 1.5 inches lower down. The plan instructions weren't clear. The boxtop illustration provided the rest of the details. Had to plot and cut a whole new set of wood ply parts.

On the crew uniforms I'll paint it greyish olive green as in one of the photos. On most patrols they would wear ordinary clothes for comfort? Hope no one asks too many questions.

On that boat hitting the surf I saw a Youtube video with a model doing just that. The modeller seems determined to get his model to do a 360 (didn't succeed.)

One more question. What was the top speed of that boat. A direct drive link with a model motor will likely be way too fast. It will have an ESC but I think an estop top speed will be a good idea.

This site

says that the top speed was between 13 and 16 knots depending on the engines installed.

Given that most of the time the crew worked on the upper decks they'd be in their floatation suits. They'd hardly ever be seen wearing only their uniforms. Being at sea in anything other than the calmest summer day is *cold*, not to mention the risk of being swept overboard that the Coast Guard crews routinely face.

J