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Author Topic: Building the CalderCraft Imara  (Read 166624 times)

Tafelspitz

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Building the CalderCraft Imara
« on: February 25, 2017, 03:39:10 pm »

Well, my Imara kit finally arrived today  :}
As I promised earlier, I'm gonna try and keep a building blog in this here thread.


Today was unpacking day and oh my dog, where are all these parts, bits and pieces supposed to go eventually... what have I gotten myself into?  ok2



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Baldrick

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2017, 04:33:45 pm »




No plans or instructions  ?  looks interesting  {:-{
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T33cno

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2017, 10:30:19 pm »

Love it and will watch with great interest :-))
I guess you've gone for twin props?
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oldiron

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2017, 03:15:34 am »

Will be atching. thanks to Irishcarguy I've got a kit myself. Will be starting it next winter.

John
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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2017, 08:27:32 am »

No plans or instructions  ?  looks interesting  {:-{


Yes, there are plans and instructions. Otherwise I'd be completely lost  :embarrassed:


Love it and will watch with great interest :-))
I guess you've gone for twin props?


Thank you! Yes, it's the twin prop version with a twin steam engine for better maneuverability.


Speaking of the steam engine, I just unboxed it and had a closer look at the parts. Very exciting and a wonderful piece of engineering. Brings the golden age of steam into the 21st century  O0









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derekwarner

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2017, 09:12:23 am »

Good evening....may we call you Tafel?

The Imara kit is certainly a complex build assembly and a number of beautifully completed models are available on the WEB for reference and inspiration :-))

Opening up the world of controlling two reversible twin cylinder steam engines [PICCOLO] will pose many questions, however a number of members here will openly offer helpful constructive advice   O0...... Regner model steam components are world renown  ;) ....... for quality in their respective ranges

One interestingly point is there appears to be an individual de-oiler/condenser [REG40453] per engine :o........

The boiler water, or gas tank capacity will dictate run times and hence oiler water discharge requirements 

Many will look forward to your build and do not hesitate to ask any questions......

Derek
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Will01

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2017, 08:26:09 pm »

Very nice, this will be interesting to follow
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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2017, 08:26:45 pm »

Good evening....may we call you Tafel?


Hello Derek, and thank you for stopping by!
You may also call me Dominik, or Dom, which is my real life name  ;)

Quote
Opening up the world of controlling two reversible twin cylinder steam engines [PICCOLO] will pose many questions, however a number of members here will openly offer helpful constructive advice   O0


Yes, that will certainly be an interesting point once I get there. Shhhhh, can you hear an RC kit with a proportional mixer coming up somewhere in the not too distant future?
%%
Quote
One interestingly point is there appears to be an individual de-oiler/condenser [REG40453] per engine :o ........


Yes, there are indeed two of these, and according to the manual that came with the kit, that's the way it is supposed to be. Is that unusual?
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ballastanksian

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2017, 11:59:47 pm »

Hi Dom,

The pewter castings look very nice indeed. I hope they have no 'stepping' and that the mould lines are minimal. It makes cleaning up so much easier.

A tip for filing or 'fettling' pewter and white metal is to rub some talc into the teeth of the file first as this helps prevent them from getting clogged up with pewter that you then have to pick out unless you have a file rake.

This will be another good topic to follow in the late Winter and into Spring. I hope that the Summer will be fine for when you get her on the water for ballast and running tests.

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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2017, 08:15:08 am »

The pewter castings look very nice indeed. I hope they have no 'stepping' and that the mould lines are minimal. It makes cleaning up so much easier.


Well, most of them look decent enough, but the A-Frames for the prop shafts have some substantional mould lines. I cleaned them up using my Dremel and a rotary polishing tool, but there are some areas I couldn't reach with it that are going to need some manual attention.

[/size]
Quote
A tip for filing or 'fettling' pewter and white metal is to rub some talc into the teeth of the file first as this helps prevent them from getting clogged up with pewter that you then have to pick out unless you have a file rake. [/size]


Some very useful advice there, thank you! I just added baby powder to my shopping list :-))

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Tafelspitz

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First Drilling
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2017, 08:54:58 pm »

I did it, I just drilled the first couple of holes. Scary stuff  :o


The two A-frames have very tiny supports and they aren't of equal size (probably due to substantial mould lines which had to be removed), so the holes for the screws are a tight fit. I'll probably need to get smaller diameter screws to get them in unconstrained. The supplied batch is 3,5 mm-somethingish (I suppose some weird english imperial screw size  ok2 ), so I will probably get some 3,0 mm screws which will get me some more wiggle room.
So far I have only drilled one of the four holes to put things tentatively together.


Drilling the holes for the drive shafts into the GFK hull was a breeze with the Dremel milling cutter.



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Tafelspitz

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Some more supplies
« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2017, 05:59:53 pm »

Just a short update (as a lengthy note I just wrote has been eaten by the forum I'm afraid  >:-o  ).


Bought a couple of accessories today but some more are needed since the shop I went to didn't have everything I had on my list.


In the dry docks nothing much has happened, I rubbed her bottom down a bit but some more work and body filler is still needed.
I shortened the lower rudder support to the needed length. This mould is a bit misshapen, to say the least, and will need some rubbing once installed in place.


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T33cno

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #12 on: March 03, 2017, 10:06:23 pm »

Thanks keep it going  :-))
I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of quality of the Caldercraft fittings. How hard can it be to make these  :((
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Colin Bishop

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #13 on: March 03, 2017, 10:32:00 pm »

One problem with these older kits is that the moulds tend to wear out and are not refreshed so the fittings lose their definition. With things like the keel extension as shown above I prefer to use the supplied fitting as a pattern and fabricate a copy in something more robust such as brass. I also discard things like immensely heavy white metal rudders and fabricate a replacement in brass with stuck on plywood or metal strip detail. If the rudder needs to be contoured then make the basic plate in brass and build up the shape with car filler. The result is much lighter.

Colin
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Tafelspitz

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Drive Shaft Supports and Rudder
« Reply #14 on: March 06, 2017, 08:21:52 pm »

I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of quality of the Caldercraft fittings. How hard can it be to make these  :((


Yeah, well. All in all they don't look so bad, it's just with these couple of bigger (and mechanically important) parts, maybe I just had an unlucky batch. However, there are some other, um, difficulties, of which I will tell you in a minute.


With things like the keel extension as shown above I prefer to use the supplied fitting as a pattern and fabricate a copy in something more robust such as brass. I also discard things like immensely heavy white metal rudders and fabricate a replacement in brass with stuck on plywood or metal strip detail.


Thank you for your input (and for your immensely helpful review from back when which I frequently refer to  O0 ).
I agree that the keel extension may benefit from a replacement and I already ordered some stuff to give it a try. I ordered a piece of brass and a needle roller bearing for the rudder axle. I'm not sure whether I'll come up with something useful with that stuff, but in case of failure I still have the original parts.

I don't see the problem with the rudder blade and in fact like the heavy build of that thing. I bought a couple of high torque servos anyway, so this shouldn't be an issue as long as it runs smoothly in its supports.


As for the drive shaft support A-frames - they are all over the place, shape-wise. When I first tentatively mounted them, there was a difference of approx. 6 mm when measured from the stern. This will not do.
I mounted them onto a piece of scrap wood, carefully warmed them with a hair dryer to make the metal a bit soft and then carefully, softly bent it like Beckham (see image below).
I proceeded likewise for the other A-frame, albeit in the opposite direction.
After two rounds of re-mounting, measuring and more bending, they were almost spot-on, if slightly bent. But that's the price I have to pay to have the propellers in perfect symmetry  {:-{


I then tentatively mounted the rudder support plate and determined the place for the upper hole in the hull. Difficult place to drill since it's slanting and so close to the vertical part of the keel. I used an extended Dremel drill to bore a pilot hole and then drilled from the other (upper) side downwards. The result was perfect, I'm glad (and prowd) to report  :P


Caldercraft fail intermezzo: the rudder parts bag came with a note (see below): Important: Rudder tube is now BRASS.
What they failed to mention, however, is that said rudder tube also doesn't fit the rudder shaft. It simply doesn't. Because it is too small. The rudder shaft is 5,0 mm in diameter and the rudder tube, which, important, is now in brass, only has 4,8 mm inner diameter  <*<

Off to the hardware store I went to buy an appropriate 5,0 mm id brass tube which actually fits the rudder shaft.
So if you're about to build the Imara yourself, you may want to double check the inner diameter of your supplied rudder tube.
In the picture below you can see the rudder, the supplied and the home made rudder tube. Note the slightly different sizes.


After I had this little nuisance out of the way I had to manufacture a wooden support for the upper part of the rudder tube since this part no longer seems to be part of the kit (it used to be a white metal part, but I've read other building blogs where they also noted that this part was MIA. No big deal. A wooden block is presumably more solid, anyway.


After I had everything in place (and in the right size), I shortened the screws for the drive shaft supports accordingly and glue-screwed them in place. Likewise the rudder tube and its wooden support. The epoxy is hardening as I type this  %% 
The white metal parts are now coated with white primer, in case you wonder.


Next step will be mounting the drive shafts and aligning them with the steam engine...
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Tafelspitz

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Re: Drive Shaft Supports and Rudder
« Reply #15 on: March 06, 2017, 08:27:10 pm »

Sorry, double post.
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ballastanksian

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #16 on: March 06, 2017, 08:45:23 pm »

Moulds will degrade due to undercuts and rough handling and especially under extremes of heat (casting white metal) or chemical burn (Casting resins). Moulds never wear equally and so while it is possible to have several negatives survive, they will degrade eventually.

If RTV rubber is used for casting white metal, the mould may even have split causing cracks to show on the castings surfaces as RTV for white metal casting is brittle and ghastly, but cheaper to use than a vulcanised mould. This requires a press, mould can and special rubber blanks in silicone (If the originals are made from styrene or similar low temperature) and also organinc rubber, and so is expesive to set up tough there are mould makers around who can do the job for you.

Production moulds should be replaced when the negatives start to wear or rubber that will form hollows in the casting pulls out leaving a solid metal or resin casting. This is infact counter productive as the costs of material increases affecting the cost of a product and thus profit.



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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #17 on: March 07, 2017, 07:56:00 am »

Production moulds should be replaced when the negatives start to wear or rubber that will form hollows in the casting pulls out leaving a solid metal or resin casting. This is infact counter productive as the costs of material increases affecting the cost of a product and thus profit.


Do tell that the guys at CalderCraft  :-)
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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #18 on: March 07, 2017, 06:23:42 pm »

Are there any fellow Imara builders reading this? If you built the Imara recently or not too long ago: can you confirm that, contrary to what the instruction manual says, the plans are now actually in full size and to scale?
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Tafelspitz

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Some more Bits and Pieces
« Reply #19 on: March 09, 2017, 07:39:11 pm »

Just got a package with some more bits and pieces. Will be a busy weekend  :}



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T33cno

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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #21 on: March 12, 2017, 07:49:47 am »

Oh yes, she's definitely a beauty!  O0


Now, I have a question about some spray paint I just bought for the GFK hull, not sure if it's suitable for this purpose. If you please kindly follow me to this topic  :-)
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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #22 on: March 13, 2017, 08:44:25 pm »

I made some minor progress lately. The drive shafts are now glued in place, and I finally bought myself a drill press. Wanted one of these for a long time anyway.
Next up is the mount for the steam engines.


Oh, and guys... I need some help with the propellers, please. I just can't figure out which part of the drive shaft goes where. See picture below. There's a washer, a nut and a ring with a socket screw. I guess the nut and washer goes at the propeller end and the ring/socket screw at the other end?  :o
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Colin Bishop

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #23 on: March 13, 2017, 08:51:01 pm »

Yes, that's about it. The nut is a locknut against the prop. The washer seals the outboard end of the shaft and the ring with socket secures the inboard end of the shaft

Colin
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Tafelspitz

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Re: Building the CalderCraft Imara
« Reply #24 on: March 14, 2017, 06:14:30 am »

Gotcha. Thanks, Colin!
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