Blog

Auxiliary motor, rudder servo, bitts

Back to posting again....I decided to added an auxiliary motor since I had several laying around and it will come in handy when I am tweaking the sailing setup in case I get stuck in the middle of the pond. Made a stuffing tube just like I did on my rescue tug build. Made a shaft from some 3/16" steel rod, threaded it and polished it up, works great. Photo of the aft section shows continued hull framing and upside down mount of the rudder servo. I will enclose the servo with the small pilot house as is typical on the barge. This will make maintenance and adjustment access easy. Yes, the build is wandering away from the true "Pearl" which I used the hull plans from. it will maintain the same sail plan, but I will modify some items for ease of RC use. will be retractable, bitts are shown in progress. The will be made from a carbon fiber "arrow shaft". Mast will be wood and I am shaping out of maple that I have. Staring to plank the hull as well. More to come shortly, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Determine Scale / Ribs / HELP with building board ideas?

To clarify this build, it will be a RC Sailing Boat with full functioning rudder and sails. I say this as I am using the PEARL for its design overall, but as to detailed historical details it will have some, but be simplified. Boat's Dimnsions were shown in Imperial, 21' width x 85'-6" length. The adds about another 25% in length. To determine what scale I wanted to build in I thought most about storage, weight to lift and how to transport to the pond. I like to keep things simple, I prefer to rig it and transport while assembled, with the topsail mast dropping and the retracted. Have done this before and it has worked well for me. Looking at potential scales and finished sizes. * 3/4" or 1/18 scale would be 16" x 64" * 1/2" or 1/24 scale equals 10.5" x 42.75" * 3/8" equals 8" x 32" I prefer a larger bout in length as it is easier to get to sail correctly, at least in my experience. Anything under 32" get tricky. I like the 64" size, but with will be about 88" LOA. This will be a little too large for my vehicle. I decided to go with 1/2" scale as it will still be a good length hull. Ribs - I took the hull line drawings from the book, which were very small, just about an inch wide. I scanned the image and using the app "paint" on my laptop. I cropped it close around the hull rib drawing, I then enlarged it to 1/2" scale. Then I printed on standard letter sized paper, then mirrored the image cut them in two, pasted up as seen in the photos to show the completed rib sections. Next I will put together a building board / hull jig. I want to build bottom up for planking. DO any of you have any good ideas for the best one to build? I have never done this except for tiny boats. Ideas, Help would be appreciated. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

Cleaning sails, toy yachts, etc....

I just got a lovely old Star SY 3 yacht and needed to clean some filthy sails. My wife suggested Vanish and blow me down with a genoa, it's working. A generally mid to dark grey (I believe oil based) grubbiness has all but disappeared and I should be able to re-rig them with some new off white 1.3mm string from Caldercraft fittings at Cornwall Model Boats. I can make new styrene bowsies and any metal hooks and loops. I've scraped the mast and fittings of rust until they look shiny again, repaired a broken mast and repainted the green edging which had been a bit knocked about. I love doing these restorations more than making new stuff! Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Response

Vanity, Victorian Cutter

Thanks, I used to make top end model furniture for the Home Miniaturists. it's my way of finding a connection with my cabinet maker Granddad, who was a big model boat fan too, in fact he was a founder member of the Victoria Model Steamboat Club. She is 48x9x11 plus . Height of rig is about 4 feet also. And yes the fitting on the keel is a piece of ally box section cut in half so it becomes U section, drilled through at equal spacing for the fin keel. Then the U section is screwed with brass screws and Marineflex sealer/adhesive to the keel, which is all solid hardwood. I did my sums and gave up, so once she was waterproof I put her in my son's fish pond and kept piling stuff in until she floated on her marks. Rigging won't be that heavy, but I made an allowance for it. Once it was floating right it turned out to need 14 1/2lbs. of ballast. BUT, that's inside. On the end of a 15" inch(ish) fin it will be less. I have 2 half bulbs cast by my other son in his back garden from my patterns. They will be bolted to the fin and faired in. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Forum

Any clues?

I am inclined to thinking it might be a barge. it is broad in girth (like me) and fairly short bow to stern but has a hole for a . The guy it came from has gone the way of all good sailors (off to Thailand to find a wife 😁) but his other boats are a Joffre Tug and a Smit Nederland tug (plus Pourquoi Pas from Billings) - all to appear, apparently, on Fleabay. The hull I have is a fibreglass moulding so presumably comes from a commercial source but I doubt it is a "kit" like the others. Workmanship on the capping rail and deck is a bit ropey so it will need a lot of tlc. if I can find a suitable plan to give me some thoughts it will become the next on the stocks once my Battle Class destroyer is finished.

6 years ago by aanside

Response

Thames sailing barge Capricorn

I made new little blocks for brails and I added the missing brails for main and mizzen masts.In this photos, the is not properly fastened, only put down due to photographing. Last photo - model ready for transport...

7 years ago by tomarack

Blog

Sailing for the First Time

In April 2011 I set a deadline to sail the model for the first time on July 10th. I had places to go and other things to get done, so I figured that was far enough ahead to have her ready in time. There were a lot of things that needed to get done if the model was going to sail; * Shape the still rough cut yards; fore course, fore tops'l, crossjack, and mizzen tops'l yards. * Complete the yard trusses with mast bands and banding to attach them to the yards * A gammon "iron" for the . * Rudder control & steering. * New winch drum for braces (the originals with wood drums warped badly). * Sails for planned sailing suit; 3 tops'ls, spanker, and jib. She was basically jury-rigged, with all three course yards linked together to a single winch. July 9th's forcaste was for perfect weather, light northerly wind, blowing up the creek so if there was a problem, the model would drift back to me. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready by the 9th and the 10th was light, variable, fluky, 90°, and humid. The top mast fids were pulled and the topmasts lowered. The model with some tools, her ballast, and what I thought I might need were all placed in the truck the night before. The radio and main batter were put on charge. Next day we drove the couple of block down the street to the Sloop Cove public dock on Stoney Creek. The rig was raised, ballast attached, electronics connected and tested, and she went into the water. With her ballast and extra lead I had she still sat 2" high in the water. I set her out, but the iffy light wind sent he back, then she threatened to get tangled with a powerboat on a lift until I managed to squeek her out into open water. She sailed a bit, but just when she'd get moving the wind would shift or reflect off something and catch her aback. Then suddenly she stopped responding at all. Something of a gust caught her and she headed for a dock. I headed over, which meant swimming, and not being a great swimmer realized I should have brought my flotation vest from my sailboat along. it being so hot, the swim wasn't exactly unwelcome, but it was a lot of work. The model sailed right into the end of a dock about 100 feet away, bounced on her forestay, and basically parked there. I got her back to shore looking like a drowned cat myself, but there was no damage at all to the model. As it turned out, the main battery failed.

7 years ago by Jerry Todd

Forum

''Vanity'' leaves the building board

This one is (for you furriners) 80mm long by 50 wide. This is the tiddler between the roundhouse/tiller area and the companion aft. Then there's a bigger one forward of the companion and then a forward companion forward of the mast. Mast bitts, Samson posts for the and prism bricks in the deck. Fortunately Vanity's deck was laid a la workboat, all planks parallel unlike most yachts. I shall pay for that simplicity when I deck Bloodhound. That has swept decks with mitred toeboards round every item of deck furniture, joggled into a King plank fore and aft and the main companion is shell topped, requiring steamed, tapered planks all the way across, but I tend to like the fiddly bits. The finish on that is cellulose sanding sealer. When the other light is done I'll varnish it all very thinly. Cheers, Martin

7 years ago by Westquay

Directory

(Working Vessel) Bertha

Scratch built from Marine Modeller plans. One sail drum servo for the main and self tacking jib. A sail arm servo for the staysail and foresail. An extra servo to allow tension on the upper trisail. The is an additional 10" on the overall length of the model. For RC sailing I have a 2.5kg detachable keel and rudder extesion ( shown in the photograph). All the deck winches are built from old clock parts. The lee boards are also functional and work in conjunction with the forward head sails and the sailarm servo. For transportation the top mast can be lowered and the raised. (8/10)

7 years ago by solo1274

Media

KATE. pilot boat

pilot boat, made from kauri strip planks and then glassed. slides in for transport and mast comes out. Small motor to get you home if no wind.

7 years ago by chrys

Forum

Thames Sailing Barge

Good Morning Gents, .......and now for something completely different........ I enclose a picture of my model Thames Sailing Barge. Model Barges are very popular at clubs in the Essex and Kent area, because of the many historic barges in Maldon and the surrounding rivers. The members of Maldon Blackwater Model Boat Club have built several barges, but there are many other barge owning clubs in the Essex and Kent area who meet to run interclub Barge Matches. Most Model barges are built 40"-45" in length either 'stem head' or '' and usually they are fitted with a fin keel and a deep rudder, to give improved sailing abilities. Many are highly detailed models of specific barges; however the yellow barge is a 'generic' model with a 'Sirdar' hull built from balsa reinforced with grp. The model in build is based on a 'Veronica' grp hull and will be a barge. These are the names of 'racing' barges, sadly broken up many years ago. I hope you find our particular passion interesting. Best Regards Frank Burgess

7 years ago by frankburgess

Blog

A bit more work.

I've been waiting for the rudder servo tray from Speedline for a couple of weeks ( perhaps they're on holiday ), which was missing from the kit so am doing odd bits whilst waiting. This time the and it's mounting and I've made a start to planking the deck. Chris

9 years ago by chrislang

Media

HILDA

Another damaged fiberglass hull rescued. every thing else made by me. At 3/4"=1' a very big model. Completed 2012 but only sailed twice, a very good sailor just needs a big lake. The mast lifts & folds forward after removing the hatch. The top mast lowered, the retracted and the sails raped around the shrouds, held in place with masking tape. ( this stops the lines from tangling.) Takes about 5 minutes to reassemble.

10 years ago by hammer

Response

Cariad Sailing after refit

Paignton, in Yongs Park only in the winter as there is a concession for motor boats in the summer. The Exeter club's new pond is almost surrounded by trees over hanging the water, no good at all for boats with no motor. This summer I am going to try the river Teign (salt water tidal). I will have to loan a friends 16ft boat incase things go wrong and the model goes out to sea. Thinking about things, your motor although low down will give your boat a higher C of G to mine. My ballast is chips of sheet lead mixed with cement, spread along the bottom. I must confess I sold Spray on Ebay £250. Was the only fiberglass hull I had. Needed the room. I still have a Sailing trawler,4ft pilot cutter cutter 4ft, Topsail schooner 3ft, all plus , & 2 paddle steamers 5ft & 6ft both steam. Only the schooner has a drop keel. 🔨

10 years ago by hammer

Media

Stardust

HI fellow model leers.this is my latest model.Built in 1926' for the Ffyfe(bananas) family. Originally it was run on steam,but in 1939 converted to diesel,this was kept until 1957 when all the staterooms were replaced by cargo holds . She was then made into a feeder bringing eleven thousand boxes from Rotterdam to Southampton. She was scrapped in the seventies.my model of her was from 1926 the scale is approx 1/30th her length is 48 inches including , and has a beam of 10 inch amidships. She is totally scratch built, plank on frame, all the decks are individually planked with black card in between , wheel house and all other parts are mahogany. She runs on a decaperm geared motor @ 6 volts, and the lighting system consists of 10 accommodation lights, port and starboard , wheelhouse, and both mast headlights,the large saloon skylight is also lit up with a set of disco lights on a separate circuit. The funnel houses a heavy duty smoke unit switched on by switching unit.

11 years ago by Chiefpurser

Directory

(Yacht) Moonbeam

This is a gaff rigged yacht kit by David Metcalf. 52" long including the , overall height in stand 63" and carries 14 Lbs lead shot. This was a great build from an excellent kit. it sail very well even in the lightest winds. I've made a few changes to the original rigging which has made Improvements. Easily transported in the car. Will have to get a better photo. (9/10)

11 years ago by chippy

Response

Motor and prop shaft

HI David Sounds very similar to our lake. I can easily lower the Topsail and with the lead now amidships and sealed to the base of the hull I am confidant that I can sail safely. My is also wedged so acts like yours. Also helps to load into car and storage. Actually need nearer 6Kg of lead in the end so my total weight is over 7Kg. Thanks for the additional feedback Dave

12 years ago by Dave M

Response

Motor and prop shaft

HI Dave I think I did not explain very clearly about wind at our lake it comes in of the sea but the lake sits down below an embankment and on one side there are apartment blocks so the wind does swirl around to the point you can be beating in one direction when the wind will do a 180degree change in direction. if the wind is gusting about I leave the topsail off this makes it a little more stable.My e is held in position by a wooden tapered wedge so if I do run into anything the e just slides back onto the deck then all I have to do is pull the e forward and refit the wedge and away we go.Cant remember the weight of the ballast could weigh boat minus masts and rigging etc it will give us a ballpark figure when I get a chance will mail you. Good sailing David

12 years ago by Lifeboatmember

Response

Motor and prop shaft

HI David Yes I had 4.7kg of lead either side of the keel and I was very lucky to make it back to shore. I have plenty of scuppers so the deck drained ok. Problem was my poor sealing at the rear. That's now sorted and I have built a lead keel extension. Tried in the test pond and appears very stable. I have covered the lead with glass cloth and fibreglass and once hardened (bit too cold at present) I will make it nice and symmetrical and smooth. I wish our lake had such nice wind. Problem is we a we surrounded by trees which cause horrible gusts and turbulence. I agree about the damage you can cause. The worst problem is getting the entangled. What is the weight of your ballast? 😀

12 years ago by Dave M