If you go for gas then take a look at the ceramic burners that Bruce Eng sell.

As for control take a look at the two models in this thread

Hi Robert

A few years ago I built a windernere launch powder by a Reeves V twin oscilating engine with speed control and forward and reverse the launch is about 3 feet long. The boiler is a horizontal centre flue fired with a petrol blow lamp very similar to the gas powered lamp in the picture above. The petrol blow lamps are no problem to build, run and provide a good source of cheap and ample heat to run a boat boiler.

My experience meths is fired boilers is wick lamps and single cylinder oscilating engine. for my children to play with when they were younger.

The straight runner I have is also fired with a petrol blow lamp for the flash boiler that will get up and plane just needs some one brave enough to ctach it the engine is Alan Raynams high speed marine steam engine and the boat is a copy of his Paprika.

Not much help really.

Olly

Meths (high proof alcohol) is unusual as it's one of the few fuels you can burn simply by putting a match to a pool of it.

The trangia burner is little more than a shoe-polish tin with an incurved lip. Mamod burners are just metal trays filled with mesh to reduce spillage.

You could just use a tray filled with wire wool connected to by a tube a fuel reservoir with a small bleed hole in the top. Disadvantage is it would be hard to arrange it so it uses all the fuel and the amount you can have will be in proportion to the depth of the burner tray.

Other downers are the problems of spillage – it gets everywhere and even a trace will burn long and hot (although nearly all the heat goes up) and the lack of control – you might need some sort of damper. All in all I'd look at another fuel source for a remote or automatically controlled boiler.

Neil