16 Posts
12 Followers
132 Likes
Modified Stiletto project
Making a bit of a start on my stretched Stiletto (more a Stilapier) at the moment, as it had been put aside while I had a play with a surface drive to fit to it, if I could get one working (see under surface drive experiment, in forum). I've shelved that idea till I can find a suitable universal for it, and have decided to use a modified cable drive instead (see under 'converting a cable drive to a standard drive', in forum) I wanted to settle on the drive type before starting fully, to make installation easier.
The Stiletto has been stretched to 38 1/2" by blowing the A4 sized drawings up to AO paper size. I've left out the usual internal locking structure so as to create more room and ease of access to the internals, instead, the whole cabin will lift off, rather than a few 'lids'. All the new positions have been worked out using top and bottom datum lines (pic 1). The deck camber has been changed but the deck sheer left in. A few other mods will be made as things progress.
I started by cutting out the keel, breast hook and new ply bulkheads, then cut the centers out of the bulkheads notched them for the stringers and reinforced them. I made a new universal building jig (under model framing jig, in forum) to hold everything in place, (right side up and upside down), and set everything up on it. Glued all the bulkheads bar the transom to the keel, (keel has shaft tube slot previously built in by cutting the keel on the appropriate angle, separating the 2 pieces by a shaft tube diam, trenching 2 side plates to suit the shaft tube angle and diam, and gluing/clamping them on using the building jig to hold them flat and straight.
I've made a cut-out for the motor in bulkhead 3, and bent the cable drive to suit. A motor mounting plate will be made later. Cable drive will have a V brace made to suit once the angle has been sorted for prop clearance etc.
Getting hard to find some modelling supplies (namely spruce strips for stringers and balsa) now so there might be some slow patches in the building.
๐ณ๐ฟ jbkiwi
2 days ago
8 Posts
15 Followers
105 Likes
Yet to be named launch
Two or three years ago an older modeler passed on and left his tools, parts and pieces behind. As is often the case, the son had little interest in the hobby so advertised the items for sale. I don't remember where I even saw the ad, but responded more out of curiosity than anything else. The son and I corresponded via email a few times with him sending images of box-lots of what was available, Towards the end of our correspondence he mentioned there was a boat hull that he knew nothing about, but apparently had not generated any interest and I could have it for a few dollars and shipping. I didn't need another hull and particularly didn't need a 'glass lapstrake boat, but thought it might be worth something down-stream as trading material, or someone may want it. The alternative was it would end up in a New Jersey landfill. ๏ธ
I received it about a week later, checked it out, and shelved it in the "stash" group.
A while ago I was idly thumbing through a book with page after page of study plans and blew by a launch-type hull that was carvel planked. A couple of days later the plan resurfaced in my mind's eye and I looked it up again and thought the 'glass hull in a 1:8 scale would be close enough to loosely emulate these lines. The inspiration drawings were drawn by a fellow named Nelson Zimmer out of the greater Detroit MI area. My apologies to Mr. Zimmer as I've taken some subtle liberties with his drawing, all the while keeping the basic profile of his design. His title for the boat was "Utility Launch" at 23'3" and the hull I have is 35". Close enough for my purposes.
In this opening "chapter' I have drilled the shaft log hole, determined the log angle, and built a platform for the motor and drive pulley. Given enough room I like the timing belt method of propulsion as they're not real particular about alignment, (that's not to say some care isn't necessary to set up the drive,) they just seem to be quieter, plus one can experiment with different pulleys to come to a good efficient RPM for the propeller.
Photos:
1. A cursory general beginning.
2. determining that everything is "on the level." (This of course starts with the bench the build is on)
3. The propulsion will be a six volt system. One larger battery didn't fit well anywhere in the hull given the open midships area, so I tried two smaller batts in the ends which will be hooked up in parallel. There was some ballast required anyway, so doing a tub test proved this a viable solution.
4, 5, & 6. The forward and main bulkheads. After the time invested in these, I decided both need some modifications. Once the forward deck is in place retrieving the forward battery can be done through the hatch, but it would have been tight with the middle open cockpit benches, flooring, and "stuff". Keeping in mind this was only a 23' launch the 1:1 main bulkhead was originally designed with the bi-fold doors as shown which was a help to access the engine. I'm thinking of reconfiguring this arrangement as well.
I'd name this "Knot Likely", but it's knot a speed likely boat...
๐บ๐ธ Black Shoe
5 days ago
2 Posts
8 Followers
22 Likes
Automatic Bilge Pump for RC Boats
I just finished putting together a circuit, testing it and creating a video for an automatic bilge pump. This circuit can also be used to trigger a warning light or noise/sound.
Easy to build and inexpensive. The video shows the pump working. Enjoy!
Lew
Florida ๏ธ, USA
https://youtu.be/l32YRTsu4Ho
๐บ๐ธ LewZ
7 days ago
18 Posts
24 Followers
271 Likes
Caldercraft Northlight Clyde Puffer.
Hi yโall. I have been eyeing a few Caldercraft kits for some timeโฆ.the Alte Liebe, Sir Kay, Crumbrae and Clyde puffer have been on my radar for some timeโฆbut unfortunately Iโm cheap, and the Caldercraft kits arenโt.
Anyway, I had sold a boat and a kit out of my stash to supplement my slice of the Christmas budget when a club mate offered to sell me his unbuilt Portgarth tug. I thought about it, but the expense and size of the boat was a little more than I wanted to deal with. That and that brass mast! Well, long story short, after I politely turned down the Portgarth, my buddy said he had a Caldercraft Clyde Puffer heโd part with. Itโs and older kit, looks like itโs all thereโฆand the price of entry was about half of a new one. Sold!!
He was very honest about this kit. Itโs an older kit, some wood parts machine cut with part numbers inked on, the upper decks are printwood. Itโs missing a few nuts and bolts, and the molded hatch cover, but everything else is there , including about a half million white metal fittings, which came carded and shrink wrapped. The fittings are of pretty good quality, better than the last Deans kit I built. The hull had taken a โsetโ due to lying around for 20 years or so, but some tape in tension and slight heat from a heat gun and an overnight rest cured that. So, itโs time to build!!
First thing I did was to build up my stuffing box. The one in the kit is fine, but I wanted one a little longer and unplated so I could solder on a lube tube. I wanted a good mechanical fit, so instead of soldering on a tube then drilling the stuffing box, I drilled the box first, and selected a brass tube that would just fit in the hole. I pressed it in, making sure I cleared the shaft, and silver soldered it in place. I use a mini grease gun from Pro Boat that will give enough pressure to have grease squeeze out between the ends of the tube and the shaft, so a good mechanical fit and silver solder are a must.
I then cleaned the interior of the hull with a paper towel dampened with lacquer thinner, and gave it a quick sanding once dry. Caldercraft made sure the builder knew that the hull is a polyester resin hull, not epoxyglass, so I wanted to make sure the glues I use would work.Stabilit works well, and I read that epoxy will work with some prep. I made a very small batch of 5 minute and microballoons, and pick a place in the hull to experiment. Once my sample dried I tried to peel it off but itโs on there for good. Cool!! I have Stabilit, epoxy and ca, weโre good!!
I installed the front and aft bulkheads next, I drilled a large hole for the stuffing box in the aft bulkhead before the install. Once I had the aft hole drilled ( and fixed), I was able to move the tube to its proper height. I then cut 2 thin ply scab patches and drilled them to fit the tube. I installed the tube with one patch aft and one forward of the bulkhead. Once I had the shaft where I wanted it, I packed up the tube with scrap, tacked it at the aft of the hull and the bulkhead with ca, and once satisfied with the fit installed the scab patches with a liberal dose of epoxy, sandwiching the tube and bulkhead together. I then filled the aft end with filled epoxy.
I built up a motor mount from 3mm abs sheet and ply, and once everything was lined up, installed the mount and a Zippkits 650kv motor.
I wonโt go into too many specifics about the rudder, if you look at the pics you can see itโs a bit of work. The lower skeg is bolted to the hull by 3 screws, those were missing so I used socket headed servo mounting screws, 2 from one side and 1 from the other. I then added the rudder post and rudder, the post has a screw built in that goes thru the hull and is secured by a nut inside the hull, itโs supposed to be joined to the skeg with a small nut and bolt, but I used a brass pin glued in place. It works pretty good! Looks finicky but came out better than I expected.
The last thing I did was to add the aft deck. Now, the plans show servo bearers installed and the servo is mounted to the bottom of the bearers, with the screws coming up from the bottom. Unfortunately once the assembly is glued in placeโฆyouโll never be able to replace the servo without major surgery. What I did was I made spacers to drop the bearers, and once I had that assembly epoxied in place I installed the deck. I can now install the servo at the right height and can replace or service the servo if needed.
Thatโs all for now. My next steps are the stringers for the hatch, main deck, and fwd deck.
Cash
๐บ๐ธ Cashrc
9 days ago
5 Posts
10 Followers
84 Likes
Clinker built sailing dinghy
A few years ago I saw a couple of Adamcraft sailing dinghys and was taken with the simplicity of their appearance on the water.
More recently there was an article about Adamcraft in the Model Boats magazine (Sept 2023) which rekindled my interest.
A search of the Sarik plans catalogue on-line came up with MM153, an 21" clinker built dinghy which looked similar to the Adamcraft model. A few days, and a few pounds later, the two sheet printed plan arrived. Studying the plan, I soon realised that what looks to be a simple boat when its completed, is far from simple when it comes to construction. This wasn't helped by the fact that the plan was originally published in the Model Mechanic Magazine" July 1948. Some details are missing from the plan, no doubt covered in more detail in the magazine, but I couldn't find a back issue of that mag! However, I like a challenge!
The first issue to resolve was the overall size. The plan is drawn at 1/8th scale giving an overall length of 21". I decided to scale it up to 1/6th scale giving an overall length of 28" (710mm) as I find small boats struggle a bit on choppy water. The larger size should give more stability while still being relatively easy to transport.
Down to the local printshop who scanned the plan and provided me with two .jpg files. These I was able to rescale on my PC. Many of the enlarged parts, like the bulkheads will fit onto an A4 sheet so I was able to print those as templates using my inkjet printer. Other part outlines don't need to be printed full size as they can be marked out directly onto the timber using the dimensions on the plan (suitably scaled of course!). As the plan was drawn pre metrication the original dimensions are all imperial. I don't like trying to measure out 3 11/16" or 1 25/32" not to mention having to scale those dimensions from 1/8th scale to 1/6th so a few minutes (hours?) with a spreadsheet and I had the required measurements scaled and converted to metric equivalents. The metric dimensions were then added to the plan in red ink, before printing out working copies.
Next, I'll finally be able to start cutting some timber!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-I-M6X-4A4
๐ฌ๐ง Graham93
9 days ago