Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Yachts and Sail => Topic started by: dreadnought72 on March 03, 2010, 11:11:04 pm
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My name's Andy and ... I'm a junky. :embarrassed:
That is, I need regular, well-written and informative build logs for model saiiling boats. Preferably those with innumerable pictures and a good dollop of humour. But - as Tigertiger and Greggy1964 have recently shown me - your main dealers just let you down. You're halfway through an exicting rabbet or the tweaking of a garboard plank using little more than a kettle of boiling water and a stash of clothes pegs, and they just go offline for a few days, leaving you in need of an hourly check via laptop, copious amounts of tea, and a strange sense of indefinable loss. If they were selling you their stuff, they'd pop back with a simple 1000% mark-up in the price and you'd pay with thanks. But here it's free, no way to up the price, and there's nothing else to cure that itch.
Hmmm ... Nothing?
I'm sat here thinking how to calm my nerves - offset my cravings, you know? Hell, I gave up cigars last year. Saved enough in a couple of months to buy a Proxxon fret saw. Can I give up my fixations with others' boats this year? Can I maybe combine the fret saw and my need to see boats-being-built and save myself from withdrawl symptoms?
...'Course I can! I simply need a one-hundred-step programme to a cure!
Step one, find a boat you want to see built and simply draw up plans for it.
Ok. I want to build Racundra, a boat built for and owned by Arthur Ransome in the mid-twenties. Why? I'll explain that later. Let's get building...
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac001.jpg)
The keel and one of the frames. The scissors are left-handed, normal sized fellas. The hulls's going to be 44" long and about a third that in beam. More on that later, too. The keel's a big 18mm wide collection of pine, that'll end up wider. This is one weird hull.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac002.jpg)
Racundra had a dinghy. I know nothing about this boat, other than she was 2.5 metres long, short enough to park on deck, and had ~12 planks per side. The JOYS of modelling without millimetre accurate plans to force you! "This'll do..."
More soon. I promise!
Andy
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Humble apologies Drednought72 :embarrassed: :embarrassed: :embarrassed: :embarrassed:
I will get back to my ship as soon as I am able :-))
I appreciate that I have left a few folks hanging and folks have probably entertained :police: hunting me down :police: and <*< beating me <*< to a greasy smudge <*<
I am considering allocating one day a week to boat building but as my kitchen table is my only work space I will be forced to set up and take down each time which will cut into my building time.
The situation at present is that I'm between work at the moment so up until recently I was able to spend every day at building and preparing photos/posts of my progress which consumes huge amounts of time but don't put bread on the table sadly :((
I will try and get something set up but folks must appreciate, input will be painfully slow compared with before.
That said I've been building models from scratch for years and didn't know there were such beasts as forums and I was forced to work things out for myself when I was learning my skills.
Typing is easy so I can offer my ideas to anyone who asks. I can of course write articles but its much better from a newbie boat builder standpoint to follow a step by step build along as with my Master Hand project.
I am the type of bloke that will throw anyone a life belt if its within my power to do so as I firmly believe in Carma and I confess I get a lot of pleasure knowing others can benefit from my knowledge.
I am researching internet marketing with a view to developing my own income stream and if Providence shines on me there is nothing that would make me happier than to build models which I love doing and to post build alongs on the subject. :-)) O0
Regards
Greggy1964
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By the way . . . .. .
A simple way to build a clinker planked ships boat, or any planked hull is to get your mits on some of that blue or pink foam board used in building insulation. :-))
The flying boys are doing cart wheels over this stuff as it make lovely light flying models, is easy to carve and sands well and is very tough. On their forums there is tons of advice on shaping and gluing this stuff.
Google 'foamies' for details.
Keep the hoover handy though because you end up with a pink halo that follows you around the house and the missus will take a slice out of your butt for your trouble! {-) {-) {-)
From a model boat builder standpoint it can be used to carve a half model set against the keel of the boat you intend to build.
Or the method can be used on complete hulls using the old and well tried bread and butter hull building method.
On our new foam half hull mould we can draw the run of planks and then lay cardboard plank shapes over this (always salvage the cereal boxes before your kids consign them to the bin, as this stuff is great for plank templates!)
The foam takes pins beautifully and of course the resulting plank shapes are patterns for both sides of the hull.
Take some 1mm aircraft ply and a sharp pair of scissors in hand and chop out two sets of each plank. Chop up the foam half mold where you want frames to land and you have perfect half mold patterns at each point for each frame.
Lob all cut out plywood plank shapes together with your original wooden keel (as in the normal procedure for plank on frame models) on a little building board and chuck it all together.
Lob in a few ribs, thwarts and other required internal paraphernalia and hey presto!
A brand new ships dinghy!
Of course things are a little bit more involved (these are, errr more guidelines than your actual rules) (now where have I heard that before? Something to do with pirates?) than indicated here but you get the basic idea I hope :-))
But with practice you end up with things like this
(http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq32/greggy1964/Planked%20Sailing%20Dinghy%20Model/Picture004.jpg?t=1268132495)
and this
(http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq32/greggy1964/Planked%20Sailing%20Dinghy%20Model/Picture003.jpg?t=1268132411)
and this
(http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq32/greggy1964/Planked%20Sailing%20Dinghy%20Model/Picture002.jpg?t=1268132530)
and also
(http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq32/greggy1964/Planked%20Sailing%20Dinghy%20Model/Picture005.jpg?t=1268132577)
This model is 15 3/4 inches stem to stern but you scale things up or down as required, the principles are the same.
It takes a little blood sweat and tears and a good dollop of swearing to get models of this sort exactly how you want them, but anything worth doing is exchangeable for a little pain of one form or another! :-)) O0 {-)
But once learned this method is like falling of a bike (I think!) you never forget how to do it! O0 {-) :-))
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P.S.
Dig registered! :-))
O0
{-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
Oh and a cold shower is a good cure for those . . . . . .
:o cravings :o. . . .
of any kind!
O0
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very nice , I would like to try that, looks great.
Peter
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:-)) Lovely clinker work there, Greg. That looks like a better method - and finish - than mine would ever have.
(Fade up sound of wood hitting metal as my balsa/ply dinghy goes into the chiminea ... )
So how's the build going? Thanks for asking! Not bad at all. Here's the state of it a few days ago:
Frames assembled on the keel. From the sharp end:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac003.jpg)
...to the other sharp end:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac004.jpg)
Since these pictures were taken, the hull has been bonded to the building board, wrong way up. I've used glue and currently have no idea how I'll remove the hull from the board. But that's something to worry about later on. A chainsaw is the current favorite plan.
I've drilled and fitted the prop shaft. (The original vessel had a woeful "hot bulb" engine which Ransome rarely got to work. I'll be using an electric motor in this model which I'll rarely want to work. %) )
And I've been making planks! The plan is for 4mm thick, 8mm wide pine planks over the hull. Cutting these planks from bigger timber is a bit of a pain, but the strength of the final hull will be immense. Well, at least judging from the fractured clamps that result from bending 'em to fit...
More next time! Including "how to break the biggest rule of hull making."
There, that's got you hooked!
Andy
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Andy,
Not content with straight planks in near-infinite quantities now you are going for bent, tapered, spiled and overlapped ones!
Thanks for the build - clear and inspiring - hope you plan to use wee copper rivets and rooves
Can't wait to hear
"More next time! Including "how to break the biggest rule of hull making.""
Could that be the one about keeping the water out :}
Greggy - lovely boat/shell/clinker planking - that should serve to keep Andy inspired! What is it for?
I see a slot in the keel - is this for a drop keel, or daggerboard, or is it a money box? :}
Planking lies in my future, too - I have couple of styrene hulls which both need stiffening and "plankiness" (to happily steal TT's word). Does anyone have a suggestion for glue to add say 1mm planks to a 36 inch styrene hull?
(I aim to lightly glass the inside and bond in a hefty keelson - that will sort stiffness in that direction)
andrew
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Andy,
It looks great! She has some nice lines.
I don't see a rabbet into which the guardboard plank sits along the keel but I've noticed the heel of the central frames would hold them away from the keel. Presumably there is meant to be shaped lead ballast hung below the keel which the guard board planks follow?
If you're having trouble bending planks I would rig up a steam box using an old wall paper steam stripper rigged up to a pipe of some sort or long wooden box into which your planks can be cooked.
If the outlet pipe from the steam stripper were fixed to the lower end of the steambox/tube set at say a 45 degree angle the planks would be cooked evenly.
Rig up a system in the box where the planks are spaced apart a little so the steam can circulate and set up a restricted opening at the top end of the steam box/pipe for the steam to escape. Make sure that pressure does not build up or you might end up shooting out a window or something with the steam box end cap!
After 10 to 20 mins cooking you'll have a bunch of floppy planks to pin to your frames while hot - hardly needing any clamping pressure at all. Use gloves cos I mean HOT!
After cooling and drying you will find the planks will hold their new shape easily which can the be shaped and glued with ease.
It takes quite a few days doing one set of planks at a time but its how the big boys in the real ship building world carry on.
Me thinks chainsaw a tad extreme - try a fresh new panel saw at the glue join with the frames and board. My own experiences with chain saws it the they eat wood and I cannot recommend them for delicate work as it could end in tears!
Hurry up with the next installment will you! {-)
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AndrewH,
The lines for the boat were taken from an old article in a Classic Boats magazine in an article by a chap called John Leather - he's a renown small boat historian. The model is of a 1920 design gunter rigged sailing dinghy.
The slot in the keel will take a folding dagger board in a case supported by a transverse thwart in the boat.
I built it about 15 years ago as an experiment in clinker planking with aircraft ply prior to building my sailing canoe model I call Swift featured on this forum somewhere
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19576.0
The system works really well.
I will do a build along post one day.
Promise! O0
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Greggy - I remember the article and have the copy.
Can we PLEASE have the build log, and pictures and rigging (with pictures) and we do powerfully appreciate it if you post pictures, too
Andy - thread hijacking disclaimer - In my ignorance I had no idea what Racundra is/was a few days ago so I had a wee keek around and found a plan/lines/sailplan in Woodenboat forum. Wouldn't want to post it if it stole your next bombshell /revelation/ thunder. I will hold fire unless you cry either "fiat" or "impostatur" or "go for it, poser"
I also found for anyone interested that the text of some of the books is available free on the web. I have not pursued that any further and don't know if they are copyright-free or what the deal is.
andrew
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Hi Dreadnaught.
A great looking start. Glad you have found a good way of getting your fix.
Sorry for not posting. Life has taken over again at the moment and I am sorry I have not been building. New schedules to work around and even those are not fixed. I have also added a couple of evening activities.
A thought about hull removal.
If you have not fixed your skeleton onto the baseboard yet it is easy to modify the bulkheads, cut them a bit so that the bulkhead only has two legs. These can be cut with a pad saw when it is time to remove the hull. (see fig.)
If you have attached but you have only screwed the bulkheads in place, whip them out and you can cut before reattaching.
If you have already glued it. Maybe you can separate the finished hull from the base if you can find someone with a big bandsaw. I worked in a plastics factory once that had a bandsaw with a horizontal blade that rode on wheels over a flatbed. The bed was about 2.5m wide. But a big vertical bandsaw would do it if you clamp it too some sort of jig to hold her square upright to the table.
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It looks great! She has some nice lines.
She's a bit too beamy to my racing eyes! But Ransome wanted a big cabin, with a writing desk. And as he was paying, that's what he got! I'm hoping the wide beam will make for a great righting moment, but it might not track (follow a straight line) too well when heeled. We'll see.
I don't see a rabbet into which the guardboard plank sits along the keel but I've noticed the heel of the central frames would hold them away from the keel. Presumably there is meant to be shaped lead ballast hung below the keel which the guard board planks follow?
No rabbet here, for I am a poor sinner, and while I'm in awe at your attention to detail and associated woodworking skills, for speed (and because I have ten left thumbs) I'm going to ask Mr Fibreglass-Resin to penetrate and secure my garboard plank edges. :embarrassed:
You see, that keel is the keel. There's nothing else to hang under it (though I will add a fin) - there's a small centreboard on the original, but the fat wide keel was meant to allow the boat to take a grounding (not that there's much tidal action in the Baltic, where she was designed) and remain the right way up. I'm away from my books at the moment, but in the original boat, with a displacement of about 7 tonnes, that wide keel was 3 tonnes of steel. For my purposes, I'll be sitting strips of lead in the gap between wood keel and planks, all bonded in with resin. Should work ok.
Your plank bending adivce is good and almost appolicable here - what I'm finding is that at this size of plank, and with these curves, they'll go on "dry".
Just.
Which is ok.
To separate the frames from the building board, I'm confident ("60% confident, Chris. ...But can I phone a friend?" %)) that a sharp tap with a chisel will pry 'em off one-by-one. Sending the planked hull into the maw of a bandsaw would require more guts than I think I have. %%
Best wishes!
Andy
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Andy - thread hijacking disclaimer
Work away! All info is good!
In my ignorance I had no idea what Racundra is/was a few days ago so I had a wee keek around and found a plan/lines/sailplan in Woodenboat forum. Wouldn't want to post it if it stole your next bombshell /revelation/ thunder. I will hold fire unless you cry either "fiat" or "impostatur" or "go for it, poser"
Feel free to post away! My scans of the same plans are bigger and much uglier. These plans, incidentally, are the ones originally published by the Cruising Association in the 20s to accompany articles on the First Cruise. Interestingly, I had a few moments trying to work out why some things were the size and spacing they are. Feet and inches didn't seem to make sense. Until I realised they're metric.
I also found for anyone interested that the text of some of the books is available free on the web. I have not pursued that any further and don't know if they are copyright-free or what the deal is.
Racundra's First Cruise was published in the UK in 1923. It must be out of copyright, as it's available online, but there's a lovely version of it (with much additional info) still readily available. The Second Cruise the following year never really took off: it got affected by weather and by Ransome's work commitments. Which may well have included some spying on the side :o. The Third Cruise existed as logs and short articles which were pulled together and only published a few years ago, in a similar version to the First Cruise. That's the book with the plans in.
Later, having sold the boat to Adlard Coles, Coles wrote about the trip bringing her to England, in his book Close Hauled. Racundra was contractually name-changed for this voyage and sported a bowsprit as Coles felt she was dreadfully under-canvassed.
More soon!
Andy
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Drednought,
I'm sure I don't speak only for myself but my ultimate aims are to get the things afloat.
I welcome innovative approaches to hull and structure building, the thing that floats my particular boat (scuse pun) are wooden scale replicas of wooden ships and I like where ever possible to use my *learned* skills.
I wasn't born with skills but they were hard won with slashed fingers on sharp scalpels and burning the long midnight oil as a kid and young adult - as an aside, Mum used to take the fuse out for the top floor O0 of the house where my bedroom was situated to prevent me working after bed time! O0 {-)
My particular aim is to recreate life like models (the exterior parts of the hull at least) of wooden ships that I'm attracted to.
I'm constantly looking for short cuts to make life easier so I'm watching and learning!
AndrewH
When my ship comes in (scuse 2nd pun) I intend to do exactly that but I need to focus on generating the beans first! :-))
Long term plans are to finish Master Hand and I have the drawings of one of the last sailing trawlers afloat called Excelsior LT472, so if Master Hand's sailing adventure become a success (Hammer in his post No.27 on my Master Hand thread has given me renewed hope with the photos posted therein of his excellent model) I intend to build Excelsior at an even bigger scale cos I just love huge sailing models!
Then I have plans to build a 1920's style speed boat that Ive already knocked up the lines plans for and stuck up somewhere here (though I can't for the life of me find where at the mo)
And then I plan to do a build log on clinker built models
Sorry for hijacking your thread Dreadnought :embarrassed:
I'll shut up now :-)) O0
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Andy,
Thank you for coming clean about your addiction - you have taken exactly the right step by "owning" your problem. None of us judges you as we all have the same thing, and gather to talk it through :}
Removal from board - what kind of glue? PVA, Ok, its thermoplastic so the hairdryer will soften it enough for your brute force and ig subtle method (shield other glued bits to avoid the dreaded multi-poiiiiing)
(http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd159/andrewh_photo/cutter/RECUNDRA_72dpi.gif)
Lovely, distinctive lines - as you say the hull shape should require planks pretty symmmmmetrical fore and aft and with an even taper to a full middle
OK point taken about the scissors - another left-handed planking andy. I have been give left-handed scissors, and find they are good, but I have had to learn to use them since I had become a proficient contortionist so as to see the point of cutting (schnittpunkt?) with the RH ones
andrew
kaggy fisted, lysdexic so if I can anyone can!
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Now that AndrewH has put up drawings of Racundra, she reminds me of Sailing Canoe Yawls built by George F Holmes and Albert Strange in the 1920's of the Humber Canoe Club here in the Uk, any connection?
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Right: the plans were drawn up by an Otto Eggers. About whom I know nothing, other than he "designed racing hulls at the turn of the century". That's the one before this one, obviously.
This hull is quite definitely not one of them. %)
Greg, I appreciate applying trad techniques to modern building very much. That said, I'm not up to it and would take many wrong turns if I tried it, though I think I can produce a realistic hull form by <ahem> cheating. O0
Andrew - I agree about the left-handed scissors. I've had to learn to use them myself, having spent 40 years bending my wrists through directions contortionists would dream of, in order to handle right-handed ones. Ah ... if only righties knew what we have to put up with. >:-o
More photos tomorrow!
Regards,
Andy
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Somebody mentioned a copyright issue of extracts from another website.
Simple cure, post a link to the other website and then we can all have a read. :-))
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TT
Good thinking - thats what I should have done, and will
andrew
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(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac005.jpg)
Above, the hull firmly stuck to the building board, with the non-wind propulsion system next to it.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac007.jpg)
After a mere two hours' hard labour, here's the prop shaft in place. These frames, incidentally, are a scale 50cm apart - 62.5mm. I'll be looking to make a couple of one-eight-scale crew members to "sail" the beast once she's done. Can't have an empty boat pottering around the loch!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac008.jpg)
With the hull turned over, the first few planks seem to have bonded well to the frames (and to each other!). I love PVA. This internal surface may be sheathed with glass fibre tissue once done, to bond the lot together. The exterior finish will remain pine, as it's easy to smooth and work.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac009.jpg)
Close-up of the shoving-end of the power supply. A four bladed prop of 45mm diameter. There's a lot of carving to do on the keel here, obviously. Way too blunt at the moment. For the bulk of this carving, I'll be using an angle grinder with coarse sanding disk. It's a great carving tool - if you're careful! :police:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac010.jpg)
The same planks again, now starting to conform to the curves of the hull next to the keel. And here's the golden rule broken - as I was eager to feel the form of the hull grow as it's planked, I've done all my planking work on one side so far. Not the "one plank per side" rule you read about. Everything's square and shipshape so far, but to avoid any risks by continuing this unorthodox approach, I'll be starting on the other side next, in order to catch up.
More later!
Andy
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Andy,
Our thanks, as always, for boldly going ahead of the plan and breaking the golden rule :}
The planking looks smooooth and neat and a very nice wood. (I must go and re-read to see if you said where it came from.
Being scottish (and careful) I salvage all useful wood - well actually all wood as what I don't need for building sommat goes on the fire all winter! I have an upright piano soundboard which is beautiful pine or similar which I will rip into planks when necessary. The hardwood bits of the piano willl be keels and the like. (Probably needs to season a bit, we believe the joanna was made around 1920 :})
Looking at your last pic you will be able to free the whole planked enchilada with a single tap of a chisel between the former support and the baseboard - fortunately dry PVA is quite strain-rate sensitive - speed makes it more brittle (moisture removes this effect, so funnily enuf wet boats made of PVA may be stronger than dry ones - for a given value of "stronger")
andrew
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Hi Andrew!
The planking wood is from common tongue-and-groove planks. I have some left over after panelling the bath, and these planks have lived in the shed for a few weeks to settle down and stop warping.
It's 8mm thick, so it's on the thick end of what my Proxxon table saw can wade through, but if you take it easy & feed it slowly, getting a long length of suitable 4mm-by-8mm is no problem. Avoiding the odd knot is, admittedly, harder - but with a hull 44" long and enough frames to make scarfing shorter lengths a doddle, things are progressing well.
The other advantage of ripping my own planks is that I now have a sack of sawdust. This'll be handy later on for plugging the (urrmm) odd gap. :-))
The "sharp tap with a chisel" idea is likely to work well. I used two small blobs of PVA when sticking each frame to its block. I suspect the application of well-focussed concussion will do the trick. We'll see!
Regards,
Andy
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PVA wood glue and fine sawdust makes excellent filler and when dry . . . .
you cant see the seam! :-))
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Do I hear a shout?
Ah! It's the assembled throng of the Mayhem forum: "It's been six months, you lazy b------. Surely you've got somewhere by now?"
:embarrassed:
Well, yes, I have. I found the pine planking, which looked lovely (spot the past-tense here?) was taking ages to go on. Each plank took a pile of trimming, required a severe talking-to in order to fit neatly, and it was all a bit disheartening. This, recall, was on the easy bits of the hull: convincing this stuff to go around the complex bends of the keel in the future was frightening enough to keep me awake at night. So the Racundra entered the cupboard while my spiritual boat-building-batteries recharged.
With a fresh head, and an eye to finishing at least one boat before the grim reaper taps me on the shoulder, I took the plunge and <gulp> removed the planks that I'd laid. Stripped up some balsa sheet ("Heresy!" you all cry) and have set-to with renewed vigour, vim and vengeance. A layer of glassfibre tissue and filler will make good at the end.
So here I am, heading for mid-September, and roughly back to where I was in March: but I can at least state that the new planking is flying on. This D--- thing will be off the board by the end of the month.
Or I'll want to know why. :-)
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Mentally "planked out" for a day or two, I needed to focus on something else for a moment, and so I've started on the sails for the Racundra.
Racundra will carry three: a triangular foresail, and a gaff-rigged main and mizzen.
On Wednesday I bought the best cotton I could afford. To casual observers this fine fabric may have resembled a pair 200-threads-per-inch pillowcases from BHS at £4 a pop, but to me they're clearly boat sails, and - following an epic evening with the sewing machine and scissors yesterday they're now cut to shape, the stitching lines are in, and all but the mizzen is now hemmed.
They're a bit bright-white at the moment - and while I should, properly, get the bolt ropes and reefing/batten pockets on before dyeing, they're going into some Dylon tonight with spare cloth - after mulitiple tests on scraps first. I'm aiming for "canvas" and not "day-glo sunflower" sails on this thing.
:o
What could go wrong? ...Photographs this weekend!
Andy
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With the sails hemmed and ready, Saturday night saw them facing a dunking to remove that whiter-than-white whiteness that, while it might suit a pillowcase, doesn't feel like "canvas" to my eyes. The result - this is the head of the jib, lying on undyed left overs:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac011.jpg)
The colour comes from Dylon's "Pebble Beige". I mixed up boiling water, dye and salt and plonked the sails and some cloth scraps into a large steel pot, gave them a stir with a trusty stick for ten minutes until they were definitely off-white, and then I ran them through the washing machine on a hot (soapless) wash. The results, unusually for me, are perfect. The sails have an air of canvas now that I doubt I could match again. I'm currently stitching on the bolt ropes by hand - better to monitor the tension - and this'll take a week or so.
But what of the hull?
Blessed with a gorgeous September day yesterday, I set to work.
Now I've accepted that I'm going down the balsa-clad-in-fibreglass route, things are progressing really well. Here's the bow, now laminated up with 1/2" balsa blocks, ready for carving:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac012.jpg)
Not much more planking to do here, as you can see. The stern is similarly laminated, and - due to extreme tight-fistedness - I've managed to build the block bow and stern out of two pieces of 36" by 4" by 1/2" balsa, with some left over! (Hint - the Proxxon fretsaw is ideal for cutting out the laminations required, allowing me to save the internal offcuts for the smaller, outer laminations).
Within the hull, all is looking good. I think this'll be toughened up with my own bandage-and-PVA gloopy mess recipe once I have decent access through the deck. At the moment, with only 60mm-or-so between the frames I can't easily work in here.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac014.jpg)
But I can stick the camera in!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac013.jpg)
This is (duh!) looking aft. The beam here is around 14", so there's loads of room, even after the dagger board case is fitted. Meanwhile the wide keel slot will be ideal for any amount of internal ballast.
While I haven't built or sailed an R/C yacht before, I'll be aiming for about a third of the total displacement in the hull and structure, a third in terms of batteries, electrics and internal ballast, and about a third in an external bulb. It feels about right. :-))
More soon!
Andy
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Starboard side all finished - barring a couple of bits of balsa to make good the odd <ummm> gaplet!
And soon the sanding will start. Here's how the laminations look from within. (Though I still need to "block up the port side bow and stern, but that shouldn't take too long.)
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac016.jpg)
The starboard side from outwith (as we'd say in Scottish):
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac015.jpg)
WHAT
A
TUB. :embarrassed:
It's the most rotund hull I've ever seen. Lying upside down, it's like one of those fat beetles you feel sorry for when you find them in the garden. Indeed, it's so beamy, I think it might just sail sideways faster than forwards. %%
We'll find out in the future!
Andy
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The thing I like about these 'fat' boats is that they leave a very satisfying wake when underway. :-))
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Andy,
Great planking, as ever.
Rotund indeed! That was my first thought on seeing the lines, but as you say, profoundly rotund in the flesh.
I had a go at drabbing my sparkly sails using weak coffee, it sorta worked, but now I reckon I should have used VERY dilute acrylic paint.
BTW, with my Hibernian upbringing I buy artists acrylic paints from pound shops - generally 12 tubes cost.........Any guesses?
They may not be perfect but they do the job and are waterproof/resistant when dry
rotund, rotunder, rotundest, racundra :}
andrew
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The thing I like about these 'fat' boats is that they leave a very satisfying wake when underway. :-))
%) I suppose a bulldozer would too. %%
Thing is, when cutting out the sail material, I looked at the mainsail I'd made and remembered my days of having my Enterprise sails in the living room for their end-of-season repair/check. Given that this boat is 1/8th scale, it was easy to "think-up" the model's sail to fullsize, and it wasn't much more than twice the area of the old blue triangle that I used to deal with in real life.
So Racundra had - with the mizzen and staysail - maybe three to four times the sail area of my Enterprise, and yet it massed about twenty times as much. It was described as seriously under-canvassed: but maybe this is an advantage to me for a sailing model?
Whatever, I think "satisfying wake" is something you're more likely to find in a Dublin bar than when sailing this tub model.
Andrew - great to hear from you - but shouldn't that be rotundissimus? As in Caesar's famous comment, made shortly before his death:
"Brutus est rotundissimus! Est consumpti totis crustus!"
ok2
Andy
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tt, andy
"crustus" is that shell, as of a crustacean? or is it crust, as round a tiddy oggy?
But Caesar would have been in Favour of rotundity :}
he said (famously) "let me have about me men that are fat and such as sleep o' nights"
As well as "Infamy, Infamy! they've all got it in for me"
The only solution to her shape is to build light - I suggest you plank with balsa :}
How goes the cutter, tt?
andrew
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In-depth research (that is, applying my "D" in O-level Latin) suggests the Romans didn't eat pies. (Which might well be why Scotland forever remained unconquered!) But crustum-us is, apparently, the preferred translation.
...Though if you should ever find yourself whisked by time-machine to Ancient Rome, and you fancy a Scotch Pie, don't sue me if you end up with something in the crunchy seafood line.
;)
Andy
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At last!
Planking's complete! :-))
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0024.jpg)
Just a few blocks at bow and stern and that's me ready for some serious sanding. The blobby blue line is the waterline - which, I have to say, gives a smoother entry and exit than this tub ever seemed likely to have.
So what's she like the right way up?
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0020.jpg)
Not too bad!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0021.jpg)
I've cut down/out the frames aft of the mainmast, leaving room for the cockpit and accomodation. I'll leave the tab at the stern for grasping it in the workbench when sanding commences.
Meanwhile, within the hull...
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0022.jpg)
I'm going to reinforce the plank/frame joints with PVA and cloth - leaving lots of room for all sorts of things in here - while the outside will be fibreglassed and filled. The "K" and reverse "K" on the keel are the limits of the centreboard case. I need to drill these through from below and cut the slot. Any ideas to avoid botching that job?!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0023.jpg)
Stern again. Ah - just a few hours with 1/2" balsa, the Proxxon, some glue and some pins, and I'll be able to progress with smoothing the outside and beginning to see something watertight.
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Coming on nicely :-))
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very nice planking job, i`m envious of that neatness :) and the dingy is great too!
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WHAT
A
TUB. :embarrassed:
Yeah but by the looks of it . . . . . .
It's going to be a lovely looking tub! :-))
O0
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very nice planking job, i`m envious of that neatness :) and the dingy is great too!
The planking job is "ok", I think. That is, it doesn't stand close-up inspection or the camera nearer than three feet! But it's done, and there aren't too many gaps for resin to seep through when she's glassed over.
As to the dinghy - quite clearly the best bit of this thread so far - it's not mine, it's Greggy1964's! {-) (Casts an admirable eye over to the Master Hand thread where I, for one, am expecting more!)
Meanwhile, now the hull's all-but a hull and I can look at it with a curious eye, the Racundra's beam and the placement of the waterline suggests enormous stability when heeled. Which is comforting!
Andy - expecting sanding weather this weekend.
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One of the first model boats I ever built was that beer can thing in my Beer Can Sailing Ships thread at 8 years old.
And its been 32 years of experimenting and learning from others to get to where I am now and I give due respect and credit to all who have helped me.
The one person who got me started on the proper road to scratch building was a lovely chap called Derek Stamper, he's past away now but he was the one that made me believe I could build a boat and helped me.
And I'm still learning.
The point is the more you build the better you get, I've had lots of failed jobs that ended up in the bin unfinished.
I've scrapped lots of parts on my current build, they just get shovelled under the rug and I make a new bit {-) that's the beauty of scratch building, if it goes pear shaped you - fix it.
After all you know the job inside out!
And if you get stuck you ask someone who's already trodden the path you want to follow. Thats why I love this forum :-))
The whole object of the game in my view is to get building, and the pretty boat that you've built sailing by and the knowledge 'I made this!' at the conclusion is what counts. O0
It don't matter what it looks like inside or how it got there, its the finished job and the satisfaction.
Amiring glances from bystanders and people comming up to talk to you about the ship is the icing on the cake.
I added the little dinghy to show what can be done with a little effort and knowhow, and I started that 15 years ago as an experiment and it still ain't finished %)
So I hope I haven't stolen your thunder mate {:-{ that wasn't the intention and I'm willing to give anyone the benefit of my knowledge if asked.
If you're not happy with your planking and you've not already thought of it may I suggest you put a thin veneer of planks over the hull (its what the professionals building big boats do, they call it composite construction), you can plot the run of the planks on the surface and you can physically see where the plank runs go.:-))
I spend lots of time reading Classic Boats, The Boatman & Watercraft magazines to see how the big boys do it and adapt what they do to our miniature world but I do it so that I get an end result that don't have me working on it till I'm old and grey, there has to be a cutoff point somewhere.
I've read elsewhere of guys carving boats out of blocks of pink foam, epoxy glassing the hull and they have the finished boat on the water inside two months.
Now there is innovation at work O0
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Agree with all the above!
As to the current planking, it's there to skin the frames, and will be "dealt with" in order to make it stronger and more plankingly accurate.
Here's the stern of the original vessel during her build in early 1922, in "a wooden shed on an island near the mouth of the Dvina river":
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/racb.jpg)
Their planking is lovely. :-))
Two and a half years on, here's the Racundra again:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/raca.jpg)
The plank lines are subtle under coats of cream/white paint, but undeniably there, and it's something I want to have visible on my model. Not sure how to achieve that on a fibreglass surface yet, but I'm working on it.
Andy
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I can help you there . . . .
Plot out the planks at your frame stations on the hull surface by dividing by the number of planks and mark in soft pencil as if you were planking on bare frames,
then tape battens to the hull at intervals on the marks for each plank edge,
then with a sharp scriber score the surface of the fibreglass lightly forming a plank seam,
tape the batten down where you've just scribed and lift off the tape placed initially,
then scribe the missing gaps to make a complete plank line.
You could try cutting plank line battens from 1mm or 2mm birch ply as it is very flexible, say 1mm x 2mm in section or 2mm x 3mm maybe :-))
For all Racundra very beamy - she's an attractive boat :-))
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As the sun* sinks rapidly in the west, I've completed the hull block add-ons at bow and stern...and just peeled my semi-frozen fingers off the fretsaw. What is good, at this point, is that both the ends appear to be symmetrical.
So, the boat's back inside and in the cupboard, and will get a thorough (outdoor) sanding once the glue's dry. Though I think this might be Monday, given the weather outlook for the weekend. >:-o
Meanwhile, next on the radar - and far easier to work indoors - is the initial construction of the companion way. This generally right-angled structure needs to fit snuggly against the curvy frames and the even curvier hull planking, while sitting over the propshaft: so I'm going to spend the evening cutting and taping card together to make a pattern for the perfect fit before I cut any ply.
Photos to follow if all goes well! :-))
Andy
* It's a yellow orb that lives in the sky, in case you've forgotten.
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Today, the weather looked good. :-))
The hull met Mr Angle Grinder's evil sanding attachment, the dust flew, and I have a bow:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0035.jpg)
...and a stern:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0036.jpg)
One of the horrors of making real boats is, apparently, the long board. A strip of wood and sandpaper used for fairing the hull after planking. My long board was - thankfully - a mere ten inches and was employed for an hour or two to sort out my soft balsa planking. The curves are good:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0034.jpg)
...and - flushed with success - I took Mr Angle Grinder's near cousins, Mr Power Drill and Mr Jigsaw, to the tricky problem of the centreboard slot. Bow's on the left, stern on the right, if you're confused!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0033.jpg)
Five minutes later, from the bottom of the hull, and with one eye shut, and a steady, vertical hand (and why had I fretted so much beforehand!?) bish-bosh, job done! A bit of file work and I have a 6mm parallel slot.
The remaining sticky-up frames were sorted (jigsaw and angle-grinder used without a care in the world for Elf and Safety) and all looks well. The two frames crossing the hull in front of the centreboard slot will hold carlins to snuggle up against the mainmast, whose foot will be midway between them at that black spot on the keel.
To finish: here's a bow shot (sorry it's a bit soft) - and some filling and remedial work are needing to be done before glassfibring starts, but it's nothing much. Best of all, the hull looks remarkably like the original. The lines are sweet, the finish is lovely (though I say so myself) and I seem to be steaming ahead!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0032.jpg)
Woo hoo! %%
Andy
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There now follows a brief interlude from mere boat-building. %)
A hull like this will need a sailor: and preferably in this instance a plucky Edwardian gent who looks a bit like Arthur Ransome, the owner.
So - having looked online and found absolutely nothing to help me in terms of figures at 1/8th scale :(( I nabbed some anatomical info (plenty of that online) :o and scaled up some skeletons to the required size. Here's a link to the 1MB file (http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/skeleton.jpg) should you ever need 'em. These are 1/8th scale human skeletons when printed at 300dpi at 100%.
Out with the Fimo! Flesh-coloured, obviously, and on with the oven. :-))
I haven't kept a build log here, not least because it was too much fun playing with clay, to interrupt the process with photos. But, briefly, I made and baked a skull-on-a-stick. Once cool, I started building up muscles and bits, drawing on a dim memory of Gorky Park (?) from many years ago.
And the result's ok:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0037.jpg)
...If you squint a bit and stand three feet away. He needs a hat and hair, still...and I'll be adding a pipe and wire-frame glasses: ubiquitous for Ransome.
Ummm: a body would be useful, too.
Anyway, here's the hands:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0038.jpg)
Right for the tiller, left for the coaming. I nearly made two right hands. Which would have been wrong. %)
More soon, as we disappear down the companion way.
Andy
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Wow!
He's sooo cool :-)) such detail :o
I build model ships and boats but never give real thought to crew.
Can we not have a build log of Ransome?
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Andy
Nice Fimoing :}
You are an artist, sir!
I have only been called an artist when there is an adjective attached - can't remember what it is
Hulll looks very good, too. I'm still reminded of a bisected ostrich egg
andrew
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Build log - sadly not for the head and hands. But fear not!
...Meanwhile there could be a knitting pattern for a 1/8th hat and jumper if you stick around! %% (I hear the clattering of needles in the next room!)
I looked and looked for good resources for modelling heads, and ultimately found this build log which blew me away (http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17398&page=1). Stunning details. The head he makes is half the size (16mm) of the one I made. I'm in awe. :o
I think Fimo (is that what he calls Sculpey?) has a huge advantage over something like Milliput. Milliput goes off rock hard after a certain length of time, while Fimo gives you endless time to sculpt, add and shape before you bung it in the oven. If you do go the "bake a skull first" route then it's a great foundation for what follows. The hands, of course, are just Fimo-sausages with a bit of scalpel-shaping.
As to having a crew at all, the Racundra had an open cockpit, and was only 30' long. Nothing would look weirder at this scale than a Marie Celeste-like boat without a crew, to my mind. With regards to the amount of detail, while I don't need a "perfect miniature" at a range of a few metres when on the water, it's nice to know that the figure will be "good enough" when on display.
Andy
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Moving swiftly downstairs, here's the companion way, made up and glued in place.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0039.jpg)
Many years ago, as an archaeologist on a site in Carlisle, I worked alongside this old fella. He must have been in his forties %) - I was a spotty teenager aged seventeen. Now I'm in my late forties. How did that happen? Anyway, he was excavating a Roman post-hole one day, as you do, which had been cut through a sloping interface of two different soil types. "Look at that, Andy - solid geometry in action." And I looked and it was true: the paraboloid post-hole had a sloping ellipticalish ring halfway down it. You'd need better maths than mine to calculate how one interfaced with the other, but there it was in all its glory.
Well, what's this to do with the Racundra, I hear you snore? ;)
I have a more-or-less rectangular companion way meeting the bottom of the boat - a shape (manifold might be a better word) of immense complexity. How to make them fit perfectly?
Simple! ...Cheat!
I spent a few hours with tape, cardboard and scissors and it was a case of trim-&-fit, trim-&-fit and trim-&-fit until it all worked. Then I transferred this profile to wood. I made one side first, made up all the steps and that thing which is ideally placed to bump your head on, plus the doorway, as seperate units, before assembling the lot, checking it was square, and slapping the other side on.
Once dry, and wiith a slice here and there of the scalpel, it slotted in beautifully. Here's the base of the starboard side glued to the hull planking, with a later sloppage of PVA and kitchen roll to help seal the joint.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0040.jpg)
And now the feature. I prefer to see it as not a problem, exactly. %) The original Racundra had a short prop shaft and a dumpy wee engine situated under the companion way steps, which were removable. I have a big electric motor and a long shaft that ends more or less above the waterline in the hull, which - as you can see here - passes over the floor at the bottom of the steps. (The floor's not yet been added to the section aft of the propshaft support.)
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0041.jpg)
This is a feature since I'll need access to the couplings at some point, so it needs to be accessible. My current cunning plan is to make a removable "pile of oilskins and a crate of cabbages" which will sit at the bottom of the companion way steps and hide all the technical bits.
And finally - a note on scale. I'm appalled/impressed at the designer's ability to shoehorn things into Racundra. That hatchway into the cabin was, in real life, about 20" across and a staggering 44" tall. Pokey doesn't do it justice. (Once inside the cabin, which was ten feet square, there was full standing headroom, and features that weren't so bad for a 30' boat.)
But here in the companion way, each side of the steps and floor, were the galley on the left - a couple of lockers (fronts to be added) containing a primus and some pots - and on the right, the head.
Now I've looked at this build and the plans in depth over the last few months, and while I can imagine a figure standing and cooking without too much trouble, I still can't get a true grasp of the toilet arrangements. I think you could only "arrive" by backing yourself carefully in (preferably beeping like a truck while doing so) in a semi-crouched position, trousers down, and the door couldn't be shut after you. Indeed, if your arms were long enough I strongly suspect you could have fried up breakfast while on the throne. They were tough in them days! :o
(Many years later, following a refit, a posh new head was installed up the sharp end.)
Andy
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Just a brief 'un!
I've made the centreplate case - 6mm ply, glued together and waterproofed within - and just fitted it.
What might be a fatal error is that I've glued it in with the cheapy-cheapy A&B type "epoxy" that you see in the pound shops. There now follow two questions for the viewer:
1/ Does it ever set? Like hard, as epoxy ought, and not jellyish, as it currently is after an hour. <:(
2/ What do I do if it doesn't?!!?!! >:-o
Andy
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Ah! Bliss!
Hour 28, and the epoxy seems to have finally set. :-))
...I promise I'll buy the "name brand" in future. :police:
Tonight's task involves a hastly-constructed 3d cardboard battery. I'm currently thinking* this will be 12V and, because I have the hull and displacement for it, 7.5Ah. This'll give me at least three hours motorin' about the pond time and (...sound of calculator keys...) near-infinite sailing time via the BEC! (Can that be that right? BEC power doesn't mind a winch on it, too much, does it?)
The task? A jigsaw puzzle. There's no picture, all the other shapes are weird, and there's no right way to do things (at least, once the motor's shoe-horned between prop shaft and fin case. I see that it kind of has to go there.) I can certainly fit all the bits in - the fake-o-battery, winch, servo, switches, motor, etc. will get swallowed up in such a beamy boat - but there has to be access and order.
Towards this, I note that Racundra sported a circular hatch forward of the mainmast, of 60mm in diameter at this scale. It's raised, potentially dry, and therefore seems ideal for the main switches, fuses and charging sockets: much easier than levering the cabin lid off.
Other than that:
1/ The battery feels most comfortable just in front of the fin case. It's going to mass around 2.6kg, so needs to be low and central.
2/ The receiver would be handy near the mainmast.
3/ The ESC oughtn't be near the receiver, so I'll bung it portside near the motor. A motor festooned with 0.1 microfarad capacitors, naturally.
4/ Portside is essential for the steering servo (reasons to follow in a few weeks' time).
5/ Portside may as well take the lighting servo. Because...
6/ Starboard side can then be completely freed up for the winch and sheets.
Hmmm...this all sounds suspiciously like a plan! Right - I'm off to cut panels and trays for mounting the bits and pieces.
More soon!
Andy
* Did you see what I did there? :-)
... I'll, urr, get my coat. :((
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:-)) Fifteen seconds of brutal work with the angle-grinder on the Buehler and the motor fits the gap. This is good.
I was concerned about heat on that back bearing during the cut, and the masses of steel filings flying off the redundant end of the drive shaft taking a rapid and disastrous bee-line to the magnets, but all seems well.
There's no motor-mount for it yet, as the companion way door has just been given a catflap carefully crafted access hole for the coupling, and I obviously need to check alignments.
For scale, the space from frame-to-frame is just over 60mm.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0042.jpg)
That little red "5" on the planking relates to the section marked "5" last seen in the plans way back up the page. For some reason, which I'm sure made sense at the time, I have four frames on & between a pair of those numbers (i.e. 4, 4.67, 5.33, 6), while those sections obviously have three (4, 5, 6). Now that I'm at the stage of locating stuff-that'll-be-on-deck using the plans, I'm continually confusing myself - hence the numbering.
Incidentally, that amateurish trickle of epoxy down the keel below the fin case will be buried when the internal ballast is poured into the keel gap. You and I will know there's shoddy work on this boat, but we'll not say nuffin', ok? %)
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0043.jpg)
Forwards - the fin case (6mm plywood), battery holder and mast partners & mainmast step. The cabin's front end just brushes the aft end of the partners here, and it's a wide, beamy, blunt front - so there should be room for battery installation.
That box is 30mm deep, and - as long as The Component Shop have done their measuring correctly - there's a millimetre room for the 151 * 65mm battery. The box appears to be floating, but it's glued to recesses in the frame it's resting on, the front of the fin case, and there's a substantial support below it to the keel. The battery's going to mass 2.6 kg - I don't want it moving!
The fore-hatch, mentioned last post, is centred on the red mark on the right side of the image. Once I've got all the necessary cables and bits to that point at deck height, I may well be filling that entire area to the bow with expanded polystyrene blocks for buoyancy.
And - having never built a sailing model before - I've now got a good idea of the area available for the stringy bits. The winch (a Hitech HS 725BB) will probably land near the motor, and will meet the Meccano set so that I can have three drums (of differing diameters) for the mizzen, main and foresail sheets.
More soon!
Andy
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"More soon", huh? :embarrassed:
Well, it's June - as I'm sure you're all aware - and the work since then has been "occasional". I'm too busy trying to earn a crust at the moment, and can't forge ahead on the boat with alacrity and aplomb.
However, last night I faced up to my impasse on the build and took the following action:
I drew up A List Of Jobs Needing Done.
I ordered this list into What Needs To Be Done First. Always a good way to organize yourself out of a bind. This took time, not least because it's a long list, and much thought was spent on moving jobs up or down the pecking order in order to ensure things like "strengthening pieces for the shrouds" would be attached to the hull sides before such minor tasks as "planking the entire deck" commenced. :-))
Armed with this finalised list, today saw the boat brought back out of the cupboard, ready for such things as these strengtheners, bracing for the samson post and fore hatch, and mast-shaping (got two lovely bits of wood ideal for the masts). I measured, checked, and measured again. All was good. As usual, I suprised myself that measurements and planning made months ago were shaping up fine. I headed down to the storage shed to set up the workmate and all the necessary tools, and then ... it started to rain. <:(
There are some who are apparently complaining of droughts in south England at the moment, but our "summer" up here in the Scottish Central Belt has, so far, lasted precisely two days, nearly reached 22C (but didn't quite) and now the BBC weather is saying "rain for the next four days".
>>:-(
Grr.
A new list. I need to pick one of the three:
1/ I should move.
2/ I need to get a decent, covered, working area.
3/ Take up a pastime less messy & therefore not so reliant on working outdoors.
Bum.
Andy
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Following a couple of posts to the electrical corner of MBM - you know, that section with bits of wire stuck in the carpet, and a faint smell of solder in the air - I'm pleased to announce that Racundra's main power wiring has been completed!
And it even looks relatively neat!!! %%
Here's the diagram:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/wiring.jpg)
The green highlighted bits are all available under the forward circular hatch, enabling me to switch on/off and/or charge without removing the cabin roof. The LED bits of circuitry aren't completed yet, but me and, more importantly, the LED wizard think those values are about right.
Flushed with success following my soldering and cable-running, I just had to try the power/radio side of things. Unfortunately the only spare spade fuses are in the car. As in "literally required in the car", and - since it was raining once again - I did the next best thing. I checked all the wiring with the trusty multimeter.
...I stuck wires across the fuse terminals*... :o
...connected the battery. ;)
And then switched on the main power and the ESC. O0
All works. :-))
I then spent (a particularly 'flu ravaged) twenty minutes wondering if I was being stupid by plugging the BEC cable into the "battery/option 7" slot of the RX (the word "battery" kind of made sense at the time) and only finding the motor control on some pot far removed from my fingers on the radio. But of course it can plug into any socket - the ground/positive pins are common across the sockets, and only the signal pin outputs vary. D'oh!
The other issue that I need to investigate is with regards to the sail winch. It feels immensely underpowered and very slow: yet the BEC claims to deliver 1.2A and the Hitech BB 725 should only draw 0.23A when running, more when under load. Do I have a potential problem here?
Onwards - a cam has been cut for the servo which'll operate the lighting microswitch, and my next stage is to get the final servo mountings in place. At which point I'll have some photos of the layout.
Andy, basking in electrical goodness.
*Don't try this at home, kids. Remember: I am old and stupid. You are possibly not!
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Ahoy. Andy the Basker
Sounds pretty successful, the whole setup (notwithstanding the 'flu)
I think you are running the winch* through the receiver. The tracks and wires are not capable of passing the oooomph the winch needs to accelerate and Hitec literature, at least recommends driving it straight off the battery with only the signal lead from the Rx. I have the Hitec leaflet somewhere, but I think you know your electricery
AAAArgh - and you are running the winch off the BEC! You must not believe the numbers - they lie! Also you are only feeding it a bit under 4.8V - and anaemic diet for winches, they prefer 6V
I have not researched the servo, but it it draws 1.25A running then the instant inrush when it is stationary is about 8 times this. The volt drop will cause the Rx to lose count of its fingers, amongst other things. You need to run the winch off its own 6V - suggest a home-made 6V BEC on a bit of veroboard with good wiring
Hope this helps
andrew
Gathering himself for a footy square-rigger
*Definition of "wench" Something to turn the head of a dolt
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Hi Andrew!
To bring my currently anaemic winch up to a more sanguine state the options would appear to be:
1/ Stick in an additional 6V battery for winch work. This is a bad plan, since the point of the 12V, 7AH battery was to run the winch and everything else furreva. (Or at least allow for many hours' sailing/pottering time).
2/ Run two of the same ESCs in series, dropping both inputs to 6V, in order for one to run the motor and the other to run the winch from the power output leads. But this is also a bad plan, since I'd lose some umph when in propellor mode, and I'd need to take the winch signal wire from the radio to the winch ESC signal input, and, ummm, dismantle the winch and chuck in a couple of microswitches to limit the throw - running the winch as simply a 6V geared motor? No, that can't be right.
3/ Source a 12V to 6V voltage regulator, capable of "several amps" and wire this in parallel with the current ESC across the 12V supply. There's this (http://www.freeprawnracing.co.uk/etronix-li-po-regulator-6.0v-5a-et0556.html), capable of 5A output (is that enough?) and it's relatively cheap. :-)) Output here would be to the 6V supply leads of the winch, with the signal wire coming from the RX.
4/ Ditch the winch completely and brew up a homemade sail winch using sticky-backed plastic and a spare 12V motor, worm gears, other gears, and microswitches. Advantage here is that I have the insane beam room to fit this in, and I could create bespoke gearing/drums for the different needs of my three sheets.
Have a missed any other options?
Andy, ruminating.
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3a/ - the addendum!
I'm betting the ~£9 option mentioned above in 3/ contains a LM338T (http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LM138.pdf) with a heatsink, a couple of capacitors & resistors. I would brew one up myself, but I've hunted around and cannot beat a price for the primary component of about £2 online. Add similar for a heatsink, a quid or so for the capacitors and resistors, a dash more for some veroboard, and the advantages of making my own is quickly offset by the cheapness of a bought-in unit.
(Globalisation and cheap overseas labour seemingly wins once again.)
Andy
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The results of doodling on the train ...
Armed with a couple of hours, a pen and paper, and my thoughts on sail control for Racundra. First, the problem:
I have to control a loose-footed jib with two sheets, along with a main sheet, and a mizzen sheet.
The main and mizzen sheets are different lengths, and will therefore require different drum diameters.
The loose footed jib is a royal pain in the bahookie to control realistically - I see why many models go for boomed jibs, for one jib sheet and therefore ease of sheet control.
Given that I want to go for twin-jib-sheet control, how's something like this sound?
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/jib.jpg)
The jib sheets are controlled by a long arm - maybe using a 2:1 tackle on each side to get the sheet lengths ok.
This will work fine for close-hauled sailing, but won't for reaching or running.
This is because you need more downwind jib sheet to let out the clew to the right amount when reaching or running, and - at these points of sailing - even more upwind jib sheet to avoid "bagging" and drawing on the sail.
This is not possible with a fixed servo.
This is where the slide comes in: when moving off the wind towards running, the jib sheet servo is moved progressively forwards by the static servo. Result is more jib sheet on both sides to set the jib angle correctly, and not interfere with it by providing enough "free" sheet on the upwind side.
Sounds ok?
Part two of my mental meanderings realised that the position of the moving jib servo can be tied directly into the work done by the winch for the main and mizzen sheets. Sheets in = moving servo aft. Sheets out = moving servo forward. Brewing up a two-drum winch with an added drive to the moving servo is relatively straightforward.
So...
If you now think of one tx stick being able to control two functions, then the proposed control would have the y-axis controlling the main & mizzen sheets in/out amount (down for in), along with the position of the moving servo (down for aft), with the x-axis governing the position of the jib sheet arm (right for starboard tack).
This feels remarkably intuitive - it will be "easy" to select the sheets and jib position depending on the direction/tack required, and "easy" to temporarily back the jib during a tack, for example.
So intuitive and easy, in fact, that I'm left wondering whether this has this been done before? :-))
Andy
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I like it - it slacks the sheets when coming about.
But being a frugal sort, if not stingy, I still wonder if there isn't a one servo way to do it.
Maybe if the arm hauls back on the sliding-servo as reaches it's travel limit. I haven't worked out the geometry, but at a glance it looks like it might save a channel. (see attached)
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Hi Jerry!
Let me get my Pondering Cap on. :-)
Your spring solution doubles the forces on the servo when close-hauled - it's having to keep a sheet taught and stretch that spring. It might be power-hungry. Or even thread-strippingly-unpleasant, depending on the size of the rig!
When running (servo forwards) there's no bias to the sheets - so which side will the jib fly? But, on second thoughts, I think this isn't too bad: the main sail blocks much of the jib anyway (unless sailing goose-winged and, in real boats, that's a relative rarity). So the jib can make up its own (semi-ineffectual) mind.
I think the real benefit of the "spring" version would be in improving the geometries in close-hauled/broad-reaching sailing, and it would boil down to selecting the ideal geometry/correct spring tension to achieve the best results. One for the experimenters, maybe?
I'm leaning towards driving my moving servo by a threaded rod, powered by the winch. I've enough space available for this contraption, so I think my next steps are:
1/ Calculate the geometries required in Racundra's case.
2/ Evolve a plan of where the sheets ought run.
3/ Opt for choice 4/ in my list made earlier and start playing with Meccano developing a bespoke winch solution. And a full-bloodied 12V "we don't need no stinking BEC" one, at that. In this instance, I'll only need two servos: the moving one for the jib sheet arm, and a control one (think microswitches on levers) working with feedback from a (geared down) quarter turn off the main winch motor.
Incidentally, I do like the website in your sig. And you're a re-enactor, huh? I have been known (http://www.colinmacdonald.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bannockburn2003/andy.html) to do such things myself. %)
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The spring, or bungee, or whatever need only to be strong enough to pull the servo forward, but there's nothing saying the set-up can't be reversed and the spring pull the servo back instead. Then it assist against the pull of the sheets and when off the wind, the servo is assisted by the sheets in pushing it forward.
When sailing, typically on helm's-a-lee the jib sheets are let go and the headsail's are brought over with help from the wind. When the sails are sheeting home, the windward sheets are slack.
We modeler's tend to fore-go the whole operation with clubed or short footed jibs. When we do run P/S sheets, it's basically a taught-line closed loop system meant to prevent slack lines snagging.
There's got to be some way using odd shaped disks, levers, tackle, etc to better replicate prototypical operation without a second servo.
I've got 3 heads'ls on a 1:36 scale square-rigger to work out, and a 1:20 Baltimore Clipper coming up with 2 heads'ls and a loose-footed fores'l. I'm always looking for ideas to deal with this.
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Andy
Sorry not to have been pitching in recently - your thinking on BEC is (as ever) impeccable the price of the widget you showed us looks pretty reasonable
<<I'm betting the ~£9 option mentioned above in 3/ contains a LM338T with a heatsink, a couple of capacitors & resistors. I would brew one up myself, but I've hunted around and cannot beat a price for the primary component of about £2 online. Add similar for a heatsink, a quid or so for the capacitors and resistors, a dash more for some veroboard, and the advantages of making my own is quickly offset by the cheapness of a bought-in unit.>>
I kinda assumed there would be a 6V equivalent of a 9805 (9805??) I salvage them for free out of dead equipment, also the electrolytic capacitors
(I'm not mean you understand, just careful :})
Jib sheets - sorry again, I must have missed something quite basic - loose footed jib sheets sheet exactly the same as sparred ones. See my thames barge with 3 foresails (but I won't attempt to name them right now)
You can get different travels with a single arm servo by using different radii and even double purchase if necessary.
Is the problem of getting the sheets around a forestay?
There has been extensive and learned discussion of this issue on severial of the fora on http://www.rcgroups.com/scale-sailboats-653/
I can find the relevant bits if they would be of interest
andrew
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Is [it] the problem of getting the sheets around a forestay?
Yes - exactly.
Loose footed sails on models tend to get sheeted to a fixed point on the center-line usually resulting in them being sheeted in too much and spoiling their efficiency - when on real boats they often sheet to point outboard near the bulwarks (when they wrap a stay) or to a traveler (when they don't).
The subject's been dealt with in several ways over at RCGroups.com, but they all still use a constant tension set-up that drags the clews over the stay under tension and don't allow the heads'l to sheet out properlyl when sailing off the wind.
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Ok, after a bit of ponderin' juice (courtesy of Morrison's range of unusually-named bottled beers), here's a semi-scale view of how the sliding jibsheet system would work:
Click here (http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/sheets.swf) ...you'll need a Flash Player-equipped browser.
The box, top left, is the two-axis tx stick.
Down is sheeted in for close-hauled sailing, middle is for reaching, top for running. This axis would also drive the winch drums for the main and mizzen sheets.
Left is starboard tack, right is port tack. This is effectively a digital setting - one or the other.
The sheets (red and green) do not change length, but don't properly reflect what would happen when/if the leeward one is loose. You'll have to apply a little imagination to think about what happens in those circumstances!
The sheets never let the clew of the jib pass forward of its tack - so Chinese gybes aren't possible, and there's not enough slack for the clew to get caught up on the tack.
In a real set-up, the jib fairleads would be further apart, and further aft of the clew of the jib, making the geometry a little better for real-world sailing.
The blue line with blobs on is the sail's "normal". I was hoping to accurately depict the sail and its curvature depending on the distance between tack and clew, but this surprisingly straightforward task involves some deeply serious maths, skirting solutions to the equivalent of Kepler's Equation. Don't look it up: you'll most probably go mad. %% So I've cheated the sail, but it's close to what would be seen.
I think this is the way to get things working. :-))
Andy
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This morning I danced a dance to placate the glassfibre gods.
They're a rascally bunch, always on the look-out to ensure that your cat leaps onto the resinously wet surface at precisely the wrong moment. Often they lie in wait to hide your previously-cut tissue the instant you've finished mixing a batch of the stinky stuff. And - of course - they particularly enjoy ensuring that you run out of resin or catalyst or tissue or brushes or gloves at the worst time.
...But my dancing must've worked, because I've now got a sheet of tissue firmly polyestered to the hull. No lumps, air bubbles or, indeed, anything stuck to me, which is gratifying. Inside, I've gf'd the centreplate case and poured some resin into the bilges. The mixes were good, as they've all gone off on schedule, and the boat's back in the cupboard to harden off for a few days before the final filler is slathered all over it.
And at that point, the boat'll go into the bath for the first estimates of how much ballast I'll need.
Racundra weighed about 7 tonnes, so the model will come in just shy of 14kg. My battery is 2.6kg, the hull as it is now is about the same, and I doubt they'll be more than another couple of kilos when sails, spars, decks and crew are added. I'm guessing a lead bulb around the 4kg mark will be appropriate, with something like ~3kg of internal additional ballast. It all feels just about right. :-))
Andy
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News just in!
Racundra floats.
Now sheathed in glassfibre and P38 - but still in need of a substantial sanding - the Racundra was popped in the bath for ten minutes to see how things are. (It's maybe worth pointing out that she only just fits.) And she floats very well: right way up, keel down, and everything.
I have some changes to the weights listed above, though: the hull is currently 4kg (up from the guessed 2.8kg before fibreglassing) rising to 6.6kg with the battery in place. It took another 5kg in the form of lead diving weights placed internally to get her just about to her marks: it's hard to check this exactly when there's no obvious waterline to follow.
This suggests the lead bulb I was considering of about 4kg is wildly off the mark: it'll be too much - but that in itself is not a bad thing. The current keel is remarkably resistant to sideways movement, and the insane beam, along with the tight turn of the bilge, makes her very very stiff and stable. I'd expected good things, but it was more than I had looked forward to.
Indeed, when on her marks, I popped on a 1kg weight to the hull edge at her widest point (9" off the centreline), and her gunwhale was still completely clear of the water. She'd take 2kg no problem. (That's the equivalent of twelve adults on the original vessel sitting with their feet over the rail). So...
The original had a centreboard. I'm going to have a (removable) fin on the model, a little deeper than the centreboard, but I'm not going to bother putting a bulb on it. I'm going to melt the diving weights into numerous small, 55mm long, ingots and pop these into the keel slots between the frames where I have excellent access.
Final ballasting won't occur until she's fully decked and ready to go, of course.
Oh, and I should report that there's a small weep on the base of the centreboard case - though it's nothing some thin resin and paint won't cure.
Next task: sanding, sanding, sanding, more sanding and then painting. I bet you'll want pictures, too!
Andy
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congratulations on a superb build and description. If it helps, i slide a length of piano wire into the lower seem of the jib and this keeps it in shape, a quite small gauge works well.
regards Roy
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Thanks Roy. I've read of piano wire inserted into the vertical sides of square sails for advantages when close-hauled. At the moment my biggest sail question is with regards to the battens on the main. The leech is large, and will cry out for battens when sailing, but I don't recall having read about their use much in models. Room to experiment, I think?!
Andy
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Andy
Battens: I have limited experience (but that's never stopped me opining before) of battens but for early trials I would suggest cutting the sails from free/cheap economic materials - I usually use umbrella nylon or old polyester/cotton shirt - or even polythene bags. Cut with soldering iron. That way you never get hung up on modifications or scrapping and starting again
Battens - for Footy use I attached drafting film (that's "fillum" to you, Andy :-)) with double sided tape and also have used laminating film ironed in place.
btw - if you open up a laminating envelope - preferably one of the matt type then you have sheets of polyester (mylar) film with hot-melt adhesive on the back - lots of uses!
andrew
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Andrew - just to catch up, the sails are made. Look back a page. They'll be on the boat whether they work or not. %%
Meanwhile, having got most of the way down page #2 of this thread without a photo, it's clearly time the redress the balance.
Racundra, blessed by a sunny September day, went outside for her second major sanding since the glassfibre work was done.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0044.jpg)
Here she is, basking in the golden rays having had yet another sanding with the long board, and a dash of wet-papering (240 grit) to remove the scours. I'm currently painting white-on-black to give me a layer to work to. The "exposed" wood shown here is still under 1mm or so of polyester resin, so there's nothing to worry about. The task at the moment is to fair the last edges of the glassfibre mat I put on, in order to develop a smooooooooth finish. I'm just about there, I think - a couple more coats-and-sands should do it.
Meanwhile, here is the 'lectronic layout, done ages ago, which hasn't been demo'd yet:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0045.jpg)
That's the speed controller for the electric motor, and the distribution block for the various cables 'n' stuff. This is portside of the battery holder, and it will be accessible when the roof of the cabin's off. Though I suspect I'll be needing to remove the battery for access when required. My primary, overriding, concern here was to have neat wiring for once. I see builds on this forum that have wiring which is gorgeous beyond compare - certainly to my usual "this wire's almost long enough to stretch that far" approach.
And finally...
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0046.jpg)
The bit that I would be tempted to pretentiously call the Main Bus Switchgear. This is the area that will be under the small (55mm diameter) forward hatch when the decks are on. The two fuses (main power and motor) are here, the phono charge socket, and two switches - one for the main power, and one for the ESC/radio. Did I need two switches? Not particularly ... but "port" and "starboard" made some sort of sense at the time!
The square hole in the ply sheet is for the samson post - this will be firmly glassfibred to the keel once in, and this entire area (hidden under the foredeck) will be stuffed full of expanded polystyrene bouyancy, living just a little room get some much-needed lead ballast up forward once done. (During the float test, and due to where the cabin is, it's going to be too easy to get her down at the stern: far harder at this end.)
Hey, it's looking lovely outside today: must get painting (again) O0, and hang the washing out! :embarrassed:
Andy
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A hyperboloid is a mathematical surface defined by two opposing curves. Think of a horse's saddle: the bit you sit on is doubly curvy.
Decks are hyperboloids - there's a shear, a rising, fore and aft, and a camber to port and starboard. No sheet of wood, which is flat and dimensionally more-or-less stable, takes well to being bent to fit a hyperboloid: forcing it to do so causes compression and expansion at some point.
On the Racundra, now that the insides are done, I've made a start on the decks-and-above stuff: the first stage has been to plank the subdeck using strips of wood which allow me to conform to the changing hyperboloid shape of the deck's surface. Above this will be thinner "real" planking, but first I've had to face my (crash of thunder) bête noire. :o
The cabin.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0047.jpg)
When Racundra was being built, she was built the right way up. No doubt the builders used plumb lines to ensure that the sides of the curved cabin walls (that bit with the elliptical and round portholes in the top drawing) were vertical to the local horizontal as they nailed and glued stuff together. To define the top of the cabin walls they could measure off from lines running to the building shed's roof beams.
Over to the model. I had a hole in the subdeck the right shape for the cabin, and yet no easy or obvious way to ensure that similar vertical surfaces would be added - the changing camber of the deck ensures that the angle 'twixt deck and cabin wall is varying all the time. And I had no simple way to measure the cabin wall height.
The solution, after much thought, was - as ever! - cheat! O0
The front of the cabin meets one of my frames. My frames are vertical. It struck me that a looooong narrow strip of balsa, glued up out of several pieces with the grain parallel to the short edge, could be glued to the top of this frame and then slowly bent, glued and pinned to the subdeck edge all around the cabin to the aft bulkhead. The balsa - resisting curvature in two dimensions - would follow the curve of the cabin without distorting from the vertical as it did so.
The strip is narrow, but taller than required. Once set, I've been able to trim off the excess under the deck, and now have enough material "above" the cabin roof to allow me to mark the roof line, using heights as measured from the subdeck.
Trimming that off and cutting the portholes will follow later this weekend. There will be pictures!
The lesser evil (the bête grise?) that is the curved shell of the (removable) cabin roof comes later. I have evil plans to succeed in that.
Andy
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Andy
Glad to see you have faced and fixed your bêtes de multi-couleurs.
I found myself about to dive in in the middle of you last post - but no need - you have neatly done the deed. I was about to mention iron-on edging strip in real wood, which I have used for similar coamings with complex curves.
It can be got from good wood work shops, and I have applied it too deep round a coaming in a cambered and sheered deck (nay, hyperbolic) then ruled either from the deck (or from the waterline ) to get the final height.
Please keep posting the pics and explaining the thinking - I find that most useful
andrew
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And as the weekend turns into Kitchen Patrol (I am ordered to do the roast spuds tonight) there's just time for a swift update of my productive few last hours:
Here she is, with the subdeck on, cabin wall finished & strengthened, portholes cut, much of the aft coaming done, and the head/kitchen roofed over.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0049.jpg)
That thing on the foredeck between mainmast and samson post holes is the switch/charging/fuses area, now surrounded by a steamed plywood surround. Originally, this was the forward escape hatch, just wide enough for a fella to get through, and (at one eighth scale) just wide enough for all the bits I wanted in there. There will be a sealable lid.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0048.jpg)
Here's a view looking forward into the cabin. The white blocks are expanded polystyrene. (This boat is full of it). The size of this gaping maw is, incidentally, about 11" wide by 12" long. Loads of room to get in and fettle. Once the balsa coaming was glued in, I glued two thin strips of ply around the inside at the top: this strengthens the walls vastly, and will provide a surface for the cabin roof to sit on. You can see that the lower parts of the cabin walls stick below the level of the subdeck - these'll be trimmed back later. Those two vertical strips at the front are the aft end of the mast partners, which are morticed and tenoned into the frame in front of the cabin. Tough as old boots. The gap between the poly blocks at the front will give me access to chuck in a couple of pounds of lead where it's needed, later on.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0050.jpg)
And finally, further aft: the companion way. Now no longer a wooden structure sticking up from the bare frames like the sore remaining tooth on a Lanarkshire granny, it's become part of the whole thing. Hurray!
More polystyrene is buried within. The area on the left was the galley on the fullsize Racundra, and the tiny head was on the right. Doors are to be added. You can just see the right hand side of the tiny catflap door into the cabin.
The coaming at the sides here will drop down in smooth, sweeping (and maybe even matching!) curves to provide a back rest in the steerage well. Which will be the next stage of building.
(See, I do to have a plan. It's just that I'm very slow!)
One thing I've been delighted with here is that - while the construction has caused me a pile of headaches over the last week or so - the preparation and planning and (dare I say it?) accuracy at the beginning is paying off now. Frames are where I expect to find them, and the original builder's plans are resulting in many many "ah, that's why this is so!" moments. It all begins to make sense.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0051.jpg)
Next time: we meet the comfy chairs!
Andy
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...comfy chairs? Well, maybe not this time, but they are on the horizon.
You see, today's task is to start work on the cabin roof. Job one:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0052.jpg)
Line the opening with cling film (this is important!), find a pile of clamps, then glue up two whippy pieces of ply strip and combine the lot into a glue-flicking uncontrollable near-three-foot mass which only takes on order once the bends are done and the clamps are on. This process is to be repeated a couple more times in order to build up a solid laminate "inner" that precisely fits the cabin.
When internal struts and bracing are applied later, the plan is to have a solid, properly curved base on which I can build the roof. The roof will overhang this structure and rest on the outer edge of the cabin walls (there's a handy "beading" on the very edge in order to cover up the near-inevitable woodworking errors). I'm hoping, with the application of catches, latches, magnets, mastic and magic that this will be at least splashproof. And - better - possibly even fat-dollop-of-waterproof.
Next on the list:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0053.jpg)
This impressive piece of electrical butchery is what happens when a greedy Hitech servo requires 6V.
Does it work?
I dunno. %%
I'm building up the courage to plug it in. :embarrassed:
Andy
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build up a solid laminate "inner" that precisely fits
Hi Andy
Thanks - I like that advice and I can certainly use it for many things.
Enjoying your whole build too.
Dave
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Hi Dave - thanks for the comments. I've used four pieces of 1.5mm ply which has now set and feels pretty solid. It's taken (and will hold) the curve well. I'm going to let it completely set overnight and then add the brackets.
Meanwhile - news just in.
One substantial amount of courage later.
I wired everything up, and threw the switches.
No magic smoke was emitted :-)) and the winch took off with an impressive, torquey, 6V-meat-and-two-veg grunt O0, seeking (I foolishly thought) to find its dead spot. :-)) :-)) And off it ran. And ran. :o And ran. >>:-(
No amount of stick-twiddlin', switch resets, or anything else (short of killing the power) got it to stop. <:(
My thoughts were:
1/ Does a 4.8V pulse signal get somehow "lost" in the 6V awesomeness that was powering the winch?
2/ Did I need to ensure the pulse signal's 0V was directly connected to the ground running into the winch? (I think not - unless something mighty weird is going on inside the BEC circuits in the ESC).
3/ Do I have a tea and a think?
Not really knowing what I was doing - indeed, there are times when I have to Google "which end of the soldering iron should I hold?" - I took option #3.
I returned ten minutes later and have chopped things up a bit. I've ditched the BEC on the ESC. Who, after all, needs a puny 4.8V when I have a solid, seemingly reliable, and certainly working 6V on call? So ... I've wired the regulator into running the receiver, winch and servos. The ESC is now just an ESC.
All seems well. The winch now does what it did at the start of this post, but with the added benefit of stopping where I want it to. This will be very useful when there's strings attached.
It also means that I can go for a sail with the ESC and motor utterly isolated from the power supply, given my switch wiring earlier. I don't think this is necessarily a Bad Thing.
Right - I've got gratings to make.
Andy
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Regretably the oft-promised gratings and comfy chairs have to come later. But before you boo and hiss, let alone resort to this emoticon <*<, I have to report success!
For, tonight, the solder flew and wires were hacked. Neither myself, nor the carpet, nor the boat got burned.
And as a result the Mark #1 Auto-Stop Jib Sheet Winch is working. Well, at least its electrics are. This is it in its raw state:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0054.jpg)
Top left is a spare Buehler. I have many! This is a near-twin to the one that drives the propshaft. (The only difference is the shaft has been hacked off the back of the prop one, in order to clear the centreboard case.)
Bottom left are two microswitches, both wired to COM and NC, so they're shorted unless depressed. This is important!
Middle right is what I'd laughingly call the brains of the operation, based around a spare Viper 15 ESC. Its board mounts a pair of fuses and a couple of diodes, rated for 5 micro amps when driven the wrong way = not nearly enough to swing the Buehler.
The Buehler will meet the Meccano tomorrow in order to make a five-ish-turn-in-ten-seconds-or-so drum for the sheets, and a geared take-off from this, doing less-than-one-turn will be cunningly arranged, probably using a well-crafted twig, to impact the microswitches.
If I get the switches in the correct position, and the motor turning the right way, then a horizontal stick on the TX will drive the winch, at any speed, between the end stops of the winch. Due to the nature of the fiendish wiring, these end stops will be end stops: it is impossible to drive the motor further when one or other of the switches is depressed. Only backwards, away from the switch.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/racwiring.jpg)
When not at an end stop, s1 and s2 are closed. The output of the ESC, at a and b, drives the motor in either direction.
If s1 is open, then its partner diode will only let current flow when a is positive. If s2 is open, then b must be positive for current flow.
Most simple.
(Well, it has to be, in order for me to get it.)
Andy
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Those genii at Giant Cod delivered (within 20 hours! How do they do that?! Do they send stuff out before the order's received, let alone processed?) the 2.4 GHz radio for Racundra today. "Receiver binding is simple" they said. And in a house full of wifi, from Xboxes to Internet to neighbours up and down the street, it took under a minute: utterly painless - unless you're the cocktail stick used to depress the binding switch, which had a point cut off to perform this neccesary operation.
My new radio, I'm delighted to report (green LED glowing solidly this evening) works on all functions, and glueing/nailing/organising has commenced on the boards, bits and wires.
Only one question - I thought 2.4GHz inferred two rx aerials. This wee box has one, it's short, and works parked right next to the ESCs, battery and any other sources of radio interference. Is this A Bad Thing?
I dunno - but I am a happy bunny. :-))
Photos of the mechanical side of the jb winch arrangement are to follow.
Andy
-
The invention of the transistor, Japanese electronic skills, and a mass market eager for small, battery-powered, pocketable devices turned the world around some fifty or so years ago.
But fear not! For - in the true spirit of British bodging ingenuity - the heady days of Dan Dare, valves, and rooms full of electro-mechanics are back. With a vengeance. Lacking only the heady smell of warm bakelite and the crackle of ozone, the Racundra Mark III jib winch is complete.
Mark III? Well, yes.
The Mark I, using a linear track drawing on 40 years of dubious devastating Meccano skills (and, of course, the tracks from the Meccano Army Multikit of the late 70s), was deemed too big to fit even in the cavernous interior of the boat. Plus there was a bit of slop in the movement. Not good. Not good at all. And I didn't fancy sawing the battery in half.
The diminutive Mark II, all gears and winch drums, followed. This homage to Frank Hornby was cute, did the job, but ... lacked a certain flair. A bit like your Dad saying he'd just bought a new car, and as you eagerly ran to the window, ready to brag to your mate Phillips in class the following day, you caught a glimpse of a second-hand beige Hillman Avenger, leaking oil, on the road outside your house.
And so the Mark III was born ...
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0056.jpg)
Drive belts, worm gears and another set of gearing result in a lever arm that could easily beat The Terminator in an arm-wrestling contest. Full throw, end to end takes about 8 seconds. And those cunning microswitches are ready to prevent the out-of-limit arm continuing on to slice its way effortlessly through the bottom of the boat. Which would be a little embarrassing. :embarrassed:
Here the black tyre of safety <tm> says "enough" once the right limit has been hit ...
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0055.jpg)
So, this thing fits the space available. Yes, it's basically a home-brewed sail arm servo, but it weighs the best part of a pound and a half, is over eight inches long and cost a fortune. Who needs miniaturisation? British industry is alive and well!
Next time - back to building in wood.
Andy
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Hi Andy
Whilst I fully applaud the ingenuity and function of your Heath Robinson Affair
I have to say ............
Don't knock my old Avenger Estate - did me really good service that old car.
Dave ......... on my third Punto now {-) I know nothing about cars obviously %%
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Hi Dave - I ought admit that I have some fond memories of the Avenger ... my early years as a cameraman in the mid/late 80s saw me catching a lift to OBs all over the country in a mate's beige "Toxic" Avenger: FDB289V.
In the years before technological advances such as satnav we'd draw maps in the copious dust that covered the dashboard in order to plot routes to events. ... I wonder where the old girl is now? %)
(http://gallery.artnotoil.org.uk/d/402-1/1114177184ChrisCooper_.jpg) {-)
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Hello, my experience of Meccano in sailing boats is that it goes rusty very quickly. The worm reduction drive is not very efficient and may grind to a halt, on the other hand the elastic band may snap.
Always applaud other solutions though.
There are some motors with high built in reduction gears, I assume recovered from an earlier life, that are not too expensive. just need limit switches fitted and you have a sail servo.
If you do this, then use a drive circuit that puts a dead short across the motor when the power is off. This will stop the motor very quickly, it is necessary if you use a coreless motor (I think that is the type with the armature revolving around the magnet). I have several of this type, not man enough for your requirements though.
Look forward to future posts.
regards Roy
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Thanks for your input, Roy!
The rustiest part so far in the Meccano tale is ... my brain. It'd been the best part of thirty years since I set-to with a vengeance with this product of Edwardian engineering. I found, interestingly - and not a little disturbingly - that my adult Fat Fingers are not as nimble, nor, indeed as flexible as they were when I was ten. But this paled into near-insignificance as I realised that reading glasses are utterly essential with regards to finding and fitting the fiddly bits together. <:( I'll recover the nuts and bolts that surround my working area in piles inches deep with the vacuum later. :-))
The benefit of the worm drive in this instance is that it can't be driven the wrong way. Thinking about this, the direct-drive Long Threaded Rod With No Gears might be the best way to go for Mark IV. Loads of torque, accurate movement, easy to securely position the end-stops.
The "elastic band" as you call my "drive belt" was chosen to snap or slip IF (when?) the rest of the winch seizes up. I see it more as a rubber-based mechanical fuse for my peace of mind. This is a "feature", not a "bug". %%
That said, a quick splash of grease and WD40 should keep things moving until I replace this contraption at some point in the future. I think this probably will happen, once I get an answer for "How much force is on the jib sheets?" and, of course, "How the dickens do I sail a model yacht?"
Meanwhile, in breaking news - Racundra hit the bath last night with her motor, prop and 'lectrics fully wired up for the first time. At this stage of the build, I needed over 5kg of lead to bring her down to her waterline (result!), and she (apparently, as it's hard to tell when she's only 8" shorter than the bath) has the umph to motor at a reasonable lick. That said, steering in reverse would appear to be near-impossible - her back-end wandered all over the place. (I should admit that steering going forward is pretty poor at the moment, too, not least because she doesn't have a rudder...)
Tonight's build?
A rudder.
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Hi might be able to answer the 'force' question.
I think in a F4 (20mph?) wind the pressure is 1 pound per square foot of area. This would be on a sail at right angles to the wind.
So adjust for angles.
regards Roy
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You had me worried there Ian
I thought you really did mean 'breaking news' when I read the words 'hit the bath' :-)
Dave
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The rudder. Part one.
And for free I'll chuck in the SIX most important rules of scratchbuilding.
Off we go:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0057.jpg)
Rule one: good source materials. Here are a copy of the builders' plans for the boat, used to scale up the rudder for the model.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0058.jpg)
Rule two: the correct tools. Ten minutes' work with the Proxxon fret saw (which has already paid for itself in terms of time, giggles and fun, many times over) and we have two ply blanks. One blank is liberally daubed with good old PVA.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0059.jpg)
Rule three: daubing is not as good as smearing. Get that finger in there! And don't forget to wipe the excess off on blank #2!
Extra points if you do it on the correct side of blank #2!! %%
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0060.jpg)
Rule four: it is physically impossible to have enough clamps. Everytime I "get dragged" into a pound store by my wife, after whatever it is that normal people buy in such places, I secretly laugh under my breath and get more. Upon returning home, I stash them in the clamp room for future use. O0
This, dear reader, is just the merest, most pathetic selection of All The Clamps that I have the ability to draw on. Oh yes. :-))
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0061.jpg)
Rule five: Squeeze out is your friend. We know the glue is smeared over everything it ought to be, and this shows that there's enough for the job, 'cos the excess is trying to escape. Just a bit, mind. We don't want to squeeze ALL the glue out!
And rule six.
This is the tough one. Wait until it's dry.
The glue will be set in an hour or so, and fully cured sometime tomorrow.
So I'm off to make tea and will not touch this until much later. :((
Next up, sanding and shaping the blade, and applying the pintles and gudgeons.
Both great words, though particularly hard to use in Scrabble.
Andy
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Andy,
"I stash them in the clamp room for future use." :o
You must live in ever such a posh house. Is the clamp room near the gun room and the games room or the pantry and the footmen's parlour? {-)
I think the Meccano's fantastic, by the way. It's the sort of thing we once built an empire on! :-))
Robert.
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Taking a break from polishing the clamps in the aforementioned clamp room (if I were really rich, Robert, I'd someone to do that onerous task for me!) some work has been done on the sails:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0062.jpg)
I've hand-stitched the bolt rope and added cringles to all the edges. Pretty neat, though I say so myself! The secret here is to stretch the hem-edge and gently stretch the bolt rope at the same time (I used - umm - three clamps on a small piece of ply.) One of those jobs that seems to take a while - there was loads to do - but if you bung on the radio and Set To, you're done before you know it. Boltrope is cotton. Cringles are toughened up with PVA - will be superglue-smeared before water gets a chance of soaking 'em.
Then:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0063.jpg)
Out with the sewing machine. The mainsail had three battens. And here are their pockets with battens in place. I'm using thin ply at the moment. For more bendiness, plasticard might be more suitable. We'll find out when sailing trials start.
Incidentally, the sails for Racundra have a tale of their own. The original sails had batten pockets but no battens - these hadn't been made when Ransome took her, unfinished, from the boatyard, in order to fit in his first cruise. He says, almost in between chucking wood shavings overboard, that "they set dreadfully" without them. The plans (back a page on this build) show no battens, but do detail reef points. Meanwhile the photos for the third cruise, a couple of years later, clearly show battens but no reef points.
All very bizarre. But Racundra was undercanvassed (so perhaps she never got reef points?) and then there's this letter, which predates the third cruise (which is the time I'm picking to portray the Racundra on this build):
15, Stralsunder Strasse, Kaiserwald, Riga. Feb 24th 1923.
My dearest Mother,
Please observe number of street. 23 Stralsunder Strasse no longer exists. Nothing is left but charred logs, and a chimney with bits of the lower storey.
I have lost almost everything: my sextant, and every single thing belonging to the boat, all the sails, all the ropes, all the wire rigging, all the lamps, every single thing, even the tiller, which for safety I had taken home. Nothing is left of the boat but the bare hull at the Yacht Club. About two hundred pounds worth of stuff gone. I suppose it would cost at least a hundred pounds to get again all the boat things, and even if I were to order the sails and ropes at once, I doubt I could get them in time for the summer.
Generally the disaster is pretty complete.
Walking about the frozen ruins I have picked up two shackles, and the twisted bottom of my beloved cabin lamp, and a small bit of iron rigging. That is all.
What was not burnt was stolen by the fire brigade, who even saved camera cases, from which the cameras had miraculously disappeared, and were actually seen by a neighbour smashing open the sextant box with a hatchet and breaking the sextant in doing so after it had been saved undamaged from the wreck.
I am too gloomy to write more for the moment.
Oh dear! But we can't stop a post in a fit of gloom and despondancy!
Here's the rudder, carved and sanded and ready for some serious pintling and gudgeoning tomorrow:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0064.jpg)
Andy
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Loved the research - encore!!!
Dave
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Andy,
It's great to see the sails being made. It's a process that I shall have to confront...eventually.
I suppose, on the design front, I have it easy as I long ago decided to model the boat as she is now rather than in some historical state. So there's no problem with research.
And you're right, your stitching looks lovely.
Robert.
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The sails were fun Robert.
Of course, the closer you leave 'em to the end, the more eager you'll be to get them done and thereby go sailing. So maybe don't start them just yet! O0
Meanwhile, back at this boat.
There are moments (crash of thunder, flash of lightning) when this building lark starts to look like a horror story!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0065.jpg)
That's the tiller (21cm long) mid sanding, and the hand from earlier.
And, of course, if I'm doing the tiller, the rudder must be underway too!
Here she is: the thing is, how do you align three pintles & gudgeons to ensure that they work properly? (This had me awake for some time, I can tell you!)
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0066.jpg)
It seems to me that the best way is to start off with a known straight edge. This edge was cut into the lower piece of ply. Three pieces of brass tube were araldited to it, with a long axle passing through each one while the glue set. This ensures the three bits of brass are co-linear.
Once set, the pintles were glued into the three bits of brass. I now know that the pintles are in a line. Good stuff!
Like casting moulds in gf, my next job is to glue gudgeons onto the rudder using these known pintles, and - once they're all set on the rudder - transfer these pintles to the boat, and glue 'em on using the rudder's gudgeons as a guide.
Ummm...Does any of that make sense?
Andy
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This ensures the three bits of brass are co-linear.
Nice word!
-
:embarrassed: It would have been even better if I'd got it right: collinear.
(Blame it on being 10pm last night - and after a whisky or three.)
And at times like that, do you ever wonder how they cut the cutting mats to shape at the cutting mat factory? I do! %%
Andy
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Talking of cutting mats
Does everyone on Mayhem apart from me have a pristine cutting mat for use when photographing parts they have made?
Mine are covered in glue and paint and look terrible if they are photographed.
Ned
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Neat word that - collinearity
When say 2% wear develops will you have multicollinearity because you have some known variables?
I know nothing about math - but looking up one term just leads to thinking about the others you see.
Andy - Your sewing skill are fantastic - I can't believe how neat and good that all looks, I can't wait to see
the sails set up and full. Keep up the stirling work. :-))
Ned - just photoshop your mat until it looks perfect %%
Dave
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Ned - just photoshop your mat until it looks perfect
That's how my models look good {-) {-) {-)
Anyway back to the Racundra build thread which is great.
Ned
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My cutting mat looks truly awful. Years of abuse and a heavy hand on the Stanley knife. {-) Not sure I'd paint on it, though. It's too dusty and horrible.
Psst! Want to see a gudgeon? Here's the middle one:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0069.jpg)
The brass strip is about 50mm long. It was glued on (and around) the socket once the socket was completely set.
Hmmm...the ply needs a major smoothing before any splashes of paint. I'm not looking forward to hanging the pintles on the aft end of the boat - it's going to be a fiddly job, I just know it.
And now upwards - the cabin was last seen with a laminated ply insert, made to fit it. This is the curvy bit in the photo below.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0067.jpg)
Bracing was added to the lamination, in situ, before a thin ply shelf was glued on, not in situ! This forms the basis for the removable cabin roof, seen upside down here. The ply shelf neatly rests on the cabin walls, and that bar at the back wedges tightly into the front end of the companion way. Should be "dry" in use, I think. It's a good fit, but it'll get magnets and catches later.
The gusset of ply (to the right, aft end) helps keep it all square, while the gaps mean:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0068.jpg)
...that the eight round windows which were mounted on the cabin roof, shown here in my much-scribbled on "plan" (as I laughingly call it) will let (LED) light out of the cabin once that wiring's done. In the original Racundra, the six central windows allowed a pile of light onto the cabin's table. The ones offset port and starboard nearer the front illuminated Ransome's writing desk and the stove. A cosy wee boat. The frames for the curvy roof have been added at the original frame locations - a wise move, really, since they now cunningly don't interfere with the location of the portholes. Forward planning strikes again!
Sticking the roof onto these formers is going to be a bit of a nightmare though, since there are curves in two directions. I shall take my time and proceed with caution! I do NOT want to warp this structure.
Other tasks that lie ahead in the not-too-distant future include finishing the spars, planking the decks (I'm looking forward to that one - I cut some tight-grained pine into thin strips that looks the business) and - of course - the much-promised comfy chairs.
Who knows what will be posted next time: I don't have a clue! %%
Andy
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Lead. Pb82. Melting Point: 330oC
The story so far: there are gaps between frames in the model about 56mm apart, and there's a slot each side of the pine keel ideally suited to slurp up the ballast.
The headlines today: I've cast a few lead ingots to do the job:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0070.jpg)
There are twenty of these fellas, each massing about 300g. Each block is 53mm by 45mm by 10mm. I will need most of them to level the boat, but there are a few spares.
They were cast in this:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0072.jpg)
A now-charred ingot-casting-thing that I made earlier today. Glued with PVA and made out of (dry) pine, it performed admirably, and smelt lovely as it smoked away following each pour. Burns on the top were from a couple of slightly over-filled ingots, which (with a manic laugh, 'cos I did enjoy this) got chucked back into the bubbling cauldron of Terminator-2-like doom.
What is interesting is that some of the ingots have these in them:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0071.jpg)
Little dimples on the lower side. I noticed that the hot metal caused the wood some steamy out-gassing, which has been preserved as bubbles in the lead block as it cooled off. It never bubbled and splattered dangerously at the surface, however.
Tools: an old, small saucepan, a propane camping gas cooker, a stick.
Safety gear: an oven glove. With a slight hole where the thumb goes.
Take care with lead. I've not burnt myself today, but it is pretty toasty stuff when liquid. :police:
Andy
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News Just In!
Back in the bath tub, Racundra got batteried & lead-ingoted up.
She's not finished - I see "maybe almost 1kg" of stuff still to add to her - but it was a good guide to answering the age-old ballast questions: "how much?" and "where should it go?"
And she swallowed it up. All of it.
Almost at her marks, fore and aft, I needed the full 6kg. This can be sat right in the bowels of the boat, and makes her very stiff indeed. The turn of the bilge is barely in the water at this point and, once that's properly submerged (maybe 20 degrees of list?), it requires a huge effort to list her further.
The total all-up weight is around 13kg according to the bathroom scales. That's six and a half tonnes at full size, which is just about spot-on.
Were this thread Top Gear, of course, the following stuff would be read in a Jeremy Clarkson voice... %%
"But what of the power tests?"
"From a standing start to a full 0.20 m/s took a little under three seconds. She was still accelerating when she reached the end of the tub, a whole eleven inches from her bow...<dramatic and unnecessary pause>...this thing's better than a Volvo!"
I've no idea what the ultimate hull speed will be, but it feels "stately" and not "power-boaty". Just as it oughta. O0
Andy
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Hi Dread 0 very much enjoying this build, looks very good and well thought out.
My 2 pennorth this time is you do not need a big motor as auxiliary in a yacht,
Best use is to get the stern round quickly and when it is time to come in for lunch.
I have a smaller craft, a Graupner Norderney sailing fishing boat. The 380 motor through a gearbox will drive the boat as fast as she goes under sail, but you can go full astern in a breeze and it has very little effect.
I opted for a big pitch propeller(X series) on the basis that it offers less resistance to the water passing by when under sail,
regards Roy
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Thanks for the comments Roy.
I've had my hand forced a little with regards to the prop: the 45mm four-bladed fella is an excellent match to Racundra's original. This, Ransome said, was ""rather like a little brass flower attached to the big hull of the Racundra". And on the model it looks it. It's a fairly steep pitch, but much of the rudder is behind it, so I'm not sure how "draggy" and interfering it might be when sailing. I'd sooner not increase the rudder size - the useful part of the foil is around 120cm2 as it is. Surely enough?
And I'm deeply curious to know what sort of hull speed I'll have. She's a beamy boat, heavy and under-canvassed. She should track all right with her long keel, but it might take "some time" before she gets up to speed.
We'll see, I suppose!
Jobs today - I've cut the discs for the main winch drums, glued in blocks to take the port and starboard shroud attachments. Next up? Well, there's still so much to do - but hanging the rudder and getting some steering has to be a priority, I think. Followed by rounding off my square stock for the other sticks aloft.
Andy
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"Other sticks aloft"?
Done! I'm now the proud owner of two gaffs and booms.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0073.jpg)
The stock for these spars came from some furniture which had been "retired". It's seasoned and dry pine, which I ripped into square sections using the Proxxon table saw. Choosing the most closely-grained and knot-free bits, I planed these to eight-sided sticks, then sixteen-sided, before hand-sanding them round. The work wasn't hard and was extremely enjoyable. Possibly because I could sit on the back step in the sunshine for the first time this year. :}
I doubt I'll ever be buying dowels again. By hand-making these, I can reach any diameter that I need, and the stock is £0. The finish is perfect.
The plane, incidentally, is one I bought ages ago. It's tiny - under eight cm long - and is ideal for work like this.
Racundra now also sports a mizzen mast. I'll be making the hardware to connect all this woodwork together over the next couple of weeks. Adding the mizzen to the hull has fundamentally changed the look of the model. She's becoming more like the photos of the original, than a random collection of bits and pieces. This is good news!
There's still loads of work to be done, but I think I am getting there. :-))
Andy
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Just found your build again post meltdown :-))
Dave
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Hi Dave!
I melt my lead, and the mayhem site melts also. A coincidence? Maybe not... %%
Bryan, over on his Admiral's Barge build, is detailing costs of a scratchbuilt. And I think that's a good idea ... non-scratchbuilders might not have a real feeling for how much money a build takes.
Here's Racundra, to date (figures rounded to whole British poundses):
Plywood for hull.........................8
Glue for entire build...................15
Balsa...................................50
Glassfibre Stuff........................22
Running Gear............................38
Fimo.....................................4
Sails, Sheets and Brasswork.............18
Radio and Electrics.....................75
The Secret New Winch Mark IV............25
Lead..................................free
Pine for decking and spars............free
Making a grand total of (whips out calculator) £255. You can probably bung another £40 on for paints and further brasswork, but <£300 for a unique model and a build spread over a couple of years is pretty much nothing.
This much fun for 40p a day? O0 Try it!
Andy
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Definitely time for a photo!
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0074.jpg)
Those who've been following this thread will notice that the last jib winch has been completely rebuilt subtly remodelled, and this new one firmly fixed into place.
Using some birthday money (thanks, Mum) I put in a request to those helpful people at technobots.com (http://www.technobotsonline.com) for some bits and pieces. Specifically, a mucho-geared motor that prefers 12V to anything else, some plastic chain and sprockets.
The chain comes in a kit, and needs to be assembled, but it's not unsatisfying work. The end result is a slopless mesh with the sprockets, one of which is connected to a 300-sized motor geared down to whip out a mighty 37 rpm. The result is slow but torquey. Extremely so. The other sprocket was gently persuaded to fit onto a Meccano axle - it came with a 4mm diameter hole, but Mr Hammer soon sorted that out and it's now decided it rather likes 8-gauge metal rods.
In the photos above and below, the three-by-five Meccano plate slides effortlessly along its track, from end to end, in about three seconds. The microswitches - with the required Little Wooden Blocks of "Stop" - prevent movement beyond the track.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0075.jpg)
There's loads of room for sheeting down here, next to the centreboard case. I'll tidy the wiring up, though, and blank off the moving parts from the sheets, should they ever slop about. My current plan is for a cloth bag, made to fit this area, which'll keep me from embarrassment.
Total movement for the winch is around 16cm.
With tackle to double the throw, and port and starboard jibsheets run out of the front and back of the winch, I should have enough sheeting to tack with impunity. Certainly there's a pile o' pull here: it's extremely difficult to stop the movement with a finger. If the "1lb-per-square-foot" figure is right for wind force, then I'm laughing. Indeed, I could probably shorten the boat if I tied the sternpost to the winch and moved it forwards. ... In which case I suppose I wouldn't be laughing so hard.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0076.jpg)
Next up? There's a loose servo in the first picture. That's going to wiggle the rudder.
Andy
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Ah, fond memories of Meccno.... :-))
-
Martin, you and Andy seem to be fans so here's Meccano's - Cammel Lairds 100 Ton Crane - about 1960
(http://s14.postimage.org/9rak0qwst/Cammell_Laird_s_100_ton_Crane_Meccano_1960.jpg) (http://postimage.org/image/9rak0qwst/)
Dave
(http://s14.postimg.org/wsr56hwgh/Cammell_Laird_s_100_ton_Crane_Meccano_1960.jpg)
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476 days since the last posting, I think it's maybe time for an update. %%
...More later this week!
(Warning: might include hull paint, but probably won't include the comfy chairs)
Andy
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We've waited this long. Another week will just fly by.
{-) {-) {-) {-)
Ken
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Another week?! Erm ... or six. :embarrassed:
But I have been busy. Oh yes. In between all the other stuff required to keep a roof over my head. <:(
Here's the proof:
(https://scontent-a-mxp.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1237108_627245540652966_234396218_n.jpg)
Dodgy camera this time, and via a different server - but the decks are done.
I sliced up some lovely pine with the Proxxon tablesaw, slathered the sides with black electrical tape, and got sticking the wood down onto the false deck. Result? A fabby pine deck looking just right. This has had a couple of coats of varnish and sanding and is ssmmootthh. Needed here are the toerail (causing me nightmares - more on this next time) the rubbing strip (ditto), a couple of anchors, the samson posts and the dinghy.
The cover for the forward hatch is underway - and I feel good about it - while that wee triangular breakwater positioned to save the mast step from soaking was also used for the halyards' tie-offs: which, in a strange way, is all starting to make sense with regards to the design behind the real thing. Cabin sides are now covered in pine strips and are much stronger - but are on the verge of needing their portholes cutting out again.
Next!
(https://scontent-a-mxp.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/1234070_627245573986296_1315904041_n.jpg)
Stern end. Not much to see here, but she's smooth: a few last splodges of Milliput need sanding down, and the cream paint can be finished. The waterline is about right - this'll get repainted once the cream's done. There will be an external (non-scale) push rod for the tiller - coming out of the red tube - but you'll never see it. Much.
Pintles and gudgeons need marrying up here, but the rudder and tiller look the bees' knees, and should all work well.
More!
(https://scontent-a-mxp.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/543949_627245557319631_788741549_n.jpg)
Comfy seats!!! At last!!! I did promise them! %)
(Milliputted "leather cushions" now adorn the cockpit. The gap on the portside of these is for the 1/8th scale helmsman's bum. ;D The benches for these were made up in pine strips - the same pine material that is being slapped on the coaming inside and out to provide a better surface.
"Slapped" as in adding an inch or so per night. {:-{
The mizzen tabernacle space is done - there'll be a compass in here later - and (outside the coaming) the decking looks great: I'm really pleased with it. The shroud deadeyes are firmly mounted through the deck, and outside these I need to fit the toerail all round the edge of the decking. Outside this, on the hull sides, is the rubbing strip which (I suspect) will require superglue, lots of carving and swearing.
But! (You know what?)
I am getting there. I'm ready to start rigging (everything's done up top) once the hull sides are finished and a stand is made. The list of "needing done" is evaporating - at last!
:-))
Sailing? Well - how about when the ice melts at Riga, early next year?
Andy
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(http://thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0080.jpg)
I've realised, when scratchbuilding, it's the little things that take the most time.
And here we have a pair of 1/8th scale spectacles, wireframe 1920's vintage. These are attempt #7. Or #8. The wearer is even now being painted.
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From Racundra's First Cruise:[/font]
In the working drawings for her there had been a neat galvanized iron saddle and ring by way of gaff jaws, but the builder, saving time and money, had not bought it, and, at the last minute, had made wooden jaws, with holes for the lacing bored far too big, thereby weakening a contraption which even apart from that was rather ineffectively held together by screws.
We heard a loud crack aloft, but nothing had come down, and from the steering-well we could see no damage.
I went forward to take a look at things. I saw at once that the parrel rings of the gaff jaws were hanging loose, that the gaff jaws were broken, and that the broken side of the jaws was jammed into place by a halyard, which, bar-taut, was the only thing that kept the gaff from breaking loose. This was pretty unpleasing, but, after watching it for a minute or two, I became convinced that nothing would shift it so long as we held the wind on the starboard side, which we should do until we came to Reval Bay. In any case we were moving finely, and this place, with Sandgrund, Grasgrund and the Locust Rock all to be avoided, was not the one to choose for a stoppage for repairs.
[/font]
During the night, with the mainsail down and Racundra facing fierce winds under mizzen and staysail only:[/font]
The Cook struggled up the companion-way with a sandwich. She asked, with real inquiry, "Are we going to be drowned before morning?"
I leaned forward from the steering-well and shouted, "Why?"
"Because I have two thermos flasks full of hot coffee. If we are, we may as well drink them both. If not, I'll keep one till tomorrow."
[/font](Cook was Evgenia, Trotsky's former secretary, and soon to be Ransome's second wife)[/font]So the lessons here are: don't over-bore the parrel rope holes, don't use woodscrews on your gaff jaws, and - if you like coffee - tell your mistress that you will probably drown before dawn.
Taking two of these lessons to heart (I don't drink coffee [/font] %) ) here's my gaff jaws:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0082.jpg) [/font]
...Just awaiting a splash of varnish and the sails bending on.
And now, trick of the day!
The circular forward hatch cover will fit snuggly over the switches near the bow of the boat. For the sides of the cover, I needed to stick on 40-or-so short planks of wood, butting against the edges of the plywood hatch cover. Realising that this would take far too long, I took a shortcut.
With a pile of planklets cut out to just over length, I stuck these to a long strip of electrical tape. Armed with glue and cable ties, along with not enough hands, here's the result:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0081.jpg)
Instant barrel, without the fiddly hassles of individual plank-gluing. The inside of the planks has received a couple of long strips of PVA'd paper to hold it all together, and - once set - I'll run more PVA into the plank edges on the outside before sanding all smooth. It works a treat: but ensure you measure out enough planks (two-pi-r) and have a couple of narrower strips to plug the inevitable gap at the ends of the tape-mounted planks before you set off.
The hole? There's a porthole in the top of this hatch which'll get added once the edges have been sanded smooth.
Andy
[/font]
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And now - the torus:
In geometry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometry), a torus (pl. tori) is a surface of revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_of_revolution) generated by revolving a circle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle) in three-dimensional space about an axis coplanar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coplanar) with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not touch the circle, the surface has a ring shape and is called a ring torus or simply torus if the ring shape is implicit.
Neat! Additionally neat is the fact that the volume of a torus is 2*PI*R*r2, where R is the major radius centred on the outer circle, and r the radius of that circle. How cute is that?With that sinking in, we might also wish to consider the preposition that the shape of the very universe is that of a three dimensional surface of a four dimensional torus.
And what, you might ask, our heads stuffed full of imagining four dimensional tori (if not literally exploding) has this to do with Racundra?
Good question.
Take a bite of ring doughnut and read on...
Racundra, in every photo, has two lifebelts shown on the main or mizzen shrouds.
Here they are on the mizzens during the Summer of 1923:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/raca.jpg)
Clearly I need to make two tori.
Setting to:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0084.jpg)
^ Here's a plywood circle, bottom left, and four balsa rings, made from calculating the required radii for each height of a circular torus, made of two balsa blocks, to be situated above and below the circle. (And when, exactly, did balsa move from being a sensible 6.35mm thick to 5mm thick?) Grrr!
Glue up and suitably clamp these on a suitable flat surface under suitable weights:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0085.jpg)
Carve them to shape - I used a Stanley Knife - and sand (via various grades) to the correct profile. After about fifteen enjoyable minutes you get this:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0086.jpg)
The dark line is the ply former, while the fadey black line marked the middle of the outer layers of balsa at top and bottom - handy when sanding the torus to shape. I have lifebelts!
They need a surface finish (tissue and dilute PVA) and a paint job of off-white canvas.
Andy
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Racundra's in the paint shop.
The underwater bits have had two layers of Revell's lovely Aqua Color acrylic black applied to them. The paint is something I recommend: it's water-soluble, the brush cleans very easily, there's no smell and it dries flat in about ten minutes. The only downside, if pushed, is Revell's spelling of the word "colour".
Meanwhile, I've mixed up the cream colour for the upperworks, and taped off the waterline. Previously the waterline was defined by laser level, which produced (on a hull as Rotund-a as Racundra's) a series of straight lines that looked "not great" in real life. This time I've gone for the distinctly low-tech "pencil on a block" technique, taped to that line, and it looks much better.
First coat is on, on the portside. It'll need three before I'll be removing the tape. But it's "ok" after layer one.
Once the paint's dried, both sides, it's off for some lettering and some waterline scum, before a sealing layer of flat/satin varnish. Probably sprayed.
Andy
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Andy, very fine work indeed. I am really enjoying this build! Can't wait for the next post and pics.
Regards,
Dennis
-
Thanks, Dennis. And here it is!
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1390514_653873134656873_1308858717_n.jpg)
The rope-making machine.
My rope trials at the moment are being made with standard polyester thread. Running even numbers of loops along my rope-walk to the above contraption, and then engaging the single-speed 15:1 manually-operated gearbox, I'm able to bung on about 1000 twists-per-metre in just a few minutes. I'm still working on the best tension/twist for these initial strands, and fully agree with Longridge in his Anatomy of Nelson's Ships book: rope-making is more of an art than a science.
But the end results are getting there! With the twisted triple strands hooked together, and wound up the other way, the end result is definitely <ahem> "ropey". :-))
(https://scontent-b-mxp.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1451370_653876781323175_1188618235_n.jpg)
On the left, 24-strand rope. Needs a bit more initial tension, I think, to make it tighter and decrease its stretchiness, which is currently a bit too high for shroud use.
On the right, 18 and 12-strand cable-laid early experiments (cable-laid through turning the handle the wrong way!) I can see a rope version of the 18-strand being good for sheets: it doesn't stretch, does bend easily, and scales to around a half-inch diameter. Pretty-near perfect!
Andy
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The wobbling board at the back.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1384218_653988954645291_1328463042_n.jpg)
I'm tempted to increase the area of the rudder - a small piece of transparent plastic let into the aft and underside of the rudder should do the the trick. We'll see if it's necessary following sailing trials early next year. I hope it isn't required...
Andy
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Hi to all in this nice thread... I cant help myself and I must react!
Few years ago I came across this nice forum when I was searching websites for some materials of Ransome's Racundra. Simply, I like his nice books (as many of us ok2 ) and I do plan to build Racundra (once). From that time I returned time to time here - just to know what is new. I had also suffered from the long pause in dreadnought72 posts as many of us (am I right %) ?). Frankly I fully understand that...
I like the way of building her Andy - nice job!
Jiri, Czech Republic
Something more about me - I run the web site http://www.minisail.cz (http://www.minisail.cz) for a group of scale modelers in my country who like classicc sailing ships - and make working models - for fun and for competition in real regatas. Now I am working on my Colin Archer RS No1 - nice double ender like Racundra is.
-
Dobrư večer, Jiri!
Welcome to the Mayhem!
It's lovely to know that another Racundra may well be sailing in the future.
Do I have any advice to offer? Well - I'm pretty sure the original plans are in the Brotherton Library in Leeds, along with many other items and documents from Ransome's life. I would have preferred to have built from these plans rather than use what I had available. And I suspect there are many more photos of her in the archives, than appear in the usual books - these could answer questions about the boat that I do not have perfect answers to.
Any more advice? Maybe make it bigger. This one is a handy size to work on, at 1/8th scale and 1.13m long, but I think the scale effects that I'm anticipating would be eased if she were larger. Perhaps 1/6th or 1/5th ... or even 1/4 scale if time, space and money were not so important objects.
As to the delays in construction, and updating the build here, I can only say "sorry". Boat building is a hobby for me, and has to fit in with two jobs, my family, and - of course - my wallet. I have wondered in the past if I'll ever get a boat sailing - but Racundra is definitely nearing the final stages, and I will, with some delight, detail her first sail (and the lessons learnt) next year, here on MBM.
Thanks for stopping by!
Andy
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Andy, thanks for your advices!
Well - the plans - I have the Arthur Ransome under sail book a nice one. I know the plan there (and also posted here) is not perfect - but good enaught. From my experience the original plans are often different from the real ship thanks some changes made during ship-build. I have bought some plans from Sparkman&Stephens archive - e.g. deck layout for schooner Brilliant and if you compare it with the real ship photographs you can find many changes ... But it is always very nice to have a copy of original plan in your hand... So, I fully agree it would be nice to have them for Racundra.
Make it bigger %) a nice idea...
But one limit is my car and the second limit is the weight/displacement. Most of our ships we sail here are 8 ... 16 kg. This is good to put them on the water when you are alone on the shore. Only few ship here is more than 18 ... 20 kg. And the only one (S/Y Lulworth) as far as I know is 27 kg! The owner had to built even a special troley to be able to sail her. It is a very nice moment when he is waiting for the ship, standing in the water with the troley in front of him and with the radio in his hand to control the ship till the final moment. He is excellent.
BTW the LWL above 1m is another >rule< for succesful navigating ship on our ponds - so you are 100% OK :}
Hope you will find enaught time to bring Racundra on the water next year. I cross my finger for it.
Yeaah it is only a hobby - and I nearly stop it for last two years because of changing my job. I was able just keep my webpage running for my friends and time to time see them and talk to them. So as I wrote I fully understand.
Let's continue
Ahoy
Jiri
-
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0091.jpg)
Coaming complete - and the traditional detritus left by a lazy carpenter!
The eyelet in the tiller and coaming sides are for the rudder control lines which are going to have to be run into the cabin. A servo with a matching (long) arm is in place to drive the movement, though I'll only get about +/- 25 degrees this way. Will it be enough?
Bollards are resin, courtesy of Chylds Hall Model Shipyard (http://www.chyldshallmodelshipyard.com/) - a perfect size for this boat.
More next time!
Andy
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Good to see your Racundra build progressing Andy :-)) .... don't worry about the wooden shavings appearing in the pictures....but those chippies <*< should at least bin the used sand paper before the camera reappears {-)
The +/- 25 degrees with such a small rudder surface area does appear to be marginal.......but as you said......'we'll see ....following sailing trials early next year'
Derek
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The submerged rudder area is about sixteen square inches - surely that's quite a bit for a 44" hull? - so an experiment is definitely called for. A secret motor/rudder test in some nearby body of water will be happening shortly.
If it needs more area, I don't mind adding a non-scale extension. More throw? Then I'm maybe scuppered.
Andy
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Today? Up to my elbows in PVA. I'm making the mast hoops.
I'm using a similar technique to the one Greg wrote about in 2009 (http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,20365.msg196656.html#msg196656). Long shavings of pine are extracted from my plane, smeared with runny PVA, wound around a non-stick mandrel to a depth of about five layers, and then clamped until dry.
These wooden Hula Hoops are then cut into rings using a Stanley knife, by eye to a depth of 3mm, and lightly sanded top and bottom.
The result? Perfect circles, with a width of 1.5mm across the laminations - and surprisingly tough. :-))
I need five for the mizzen, and eight for the mainsail (bigger internal diameter). Then it's off to raid the bead-box for parrels, and rigging will commence!
Andy
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Today: mast hoops cut, sanded, varnished ... loops added to mast hoops ... sails bent ... sails temporarily rigged to masts ...
... And all of a sudden I'm looking at a boat. :o
A real, live, saily boat, for the first time in "several" years since the plans first caught my eye.
Wow.
It even looks like the original.
This is a stunning evening. :-))
Andy
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pictures, pictures, pictures, please, please O0
-
Where has this topic been hiding, you've had most of the problems I've come across in my build a couple of years before I got to them!
I'm surprised you got the wood shavings to work, mine failed miserably, maybe it is down to scale size? Mine were only 12mm in diameter and were faar too soft when the glue was set to have any strength.
-
Pictures? I'll be plugging a USB cable to the box brownie tomorrow. Expect some by lunchtime!
Mast hoops - maybe it is the size. Checking one of the spares here, I've five laminations on a 21mm ID circle. The final ring material ends up as 1.5mm wide and 3mm deep.
I can compress the ring between thumb-and-forefinger, and could squash it, but it wouldn't be super-easy, at all. Medium-tough, say. Given I've eight of these on the mainmast taking the force of the sail, I suspect I'm a long way off damaging them in normal use.
Andy
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I'm on another forum where a regular cry is "This thread is meaningless without pictures".
And so, without further ado:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0100.jpg)
Notes: the mizzen's set a little high here, the main and mizzen gaff outhauls aren't in place and the jib's a little low. But she has sails - albeit ones held in place with thread and blue tape.
Length 44" (112cm), height 48" (122cm).
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0101.jpg)
I've the cabin roof to finish, clean up and paint the hull's sheer, a splash of paint on the cabin and that's about it. Mrs Andy just asked "How long?" I suggested twenty hours. :embarrassed: Then it's off on an applied course of Practical RC Sailing.
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/rac0102.jpg)
That formerly bizarre-o super-rotund hull now doesn't look so bad with some height above it. Oh, and the cotoneaster has done really well this year!
Andy
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Beautiful :-))
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"What about the dinghy?"
Oh gawd. Forgot that.
Now, it was possibly this dinghy that spawned Racundra. Arthur Ransome approached a Riga boatbuilder for a small, lugsailed, fishing boat around 1920, and got a dinghy made. Feeling super-confident that anyone who could make a small dinghy could build a 30-foot boat, he offered the plans of the cruising yacht to the same builder.
Eventually (and 92 years and a day ago) Ransome took Racundra, half-finished, from the boat builder in order to get some sailing in. The boat builder (referred to as "the swine" in Ransome's later letters) was seemingly happy to never finish the yacht, and simply fleece Ransome until he ran out of money. Thus, by a sort-of theft, Racundra's First Cruise was written, and Ransome started to earn a bit of cash.
But what of the dinghy?
Well, she was short enough to store on board Racundra - perhaps 8' or 2.5m long. She was clinker built. And that's about all the info I have. And so...
Scaling down the plans for a Chapelle dinghy of the early 20th century, laminating a kelson of ply, and moulding the strakes in 1mm ply (and blimey "lands" are tough in 1mm) I now have this:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/dinghy1.jpg)
and this:
(http://www.thefreckledfish.com/racundra/dinghy2.jpg)
It took about four days from start to finish. Length = 1 foot, beam 5 inches. Surprisingly symmetrical! Should be finished by the end of the weekend.
Andy
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I've looked hard into the deepest depths of the internet for my photos. And lost. But I can tell you there's some weird stuff in there. :o
Ok ... so this thread requires a brief photographic reminder.
1/ Boats need a hull:
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/J3xRT1fo44-cRqlh-dqxwFANLFKvuyCwD5PCWOpzECAIMjkrYQbENsjcDyOPub7OzsQmK3yrtjDRWtM=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/wNMTXcGm1YgD5zOvYHG2xLiBCAYqXn2rVi318Yo3Tg3hP-lj2NJCFNNrq3qOmqZWhVXKGUba1OwEAUs=w1212-h517)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/cqVL82JecqrOqGNZzyfomHRDvf-pQFkBSqei3XPVol-8B4b0WwLJ10vclTVf1wgoJJk6aw0_69j4UfM=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/A67VIDgoyD0pdkVG0Q-Yp58AG2UKKoKSgTBsMXQtEx1Zg9JuuKXfdemw2HdIg4WDfmx0lT-TTFfE9ws=w1212-h517)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/c3CfS-X-RQ2VBUfHl4Yq8V5rVoMAo6yqwO5WvLXs03Yl62u5RXKo4dkL_FA8LbolScpkTIO3QHvWUZs=w1212-h517)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0vN-527mL08H9cGPpP9zv6K6YVMBbGuOYOd2WTNIuP3N1uajQWmezu0ppifKu_d9HkmfvodR8MQ5_QE=w1212-h517)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A04a5nzs-jF6sN67RLHXWX6Tr5twXroW9lO6-ffnNC0NJ3uUCMUJiGDKKyJMH6SMTabibHVoKQub180=w1212-h517)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/BktafZk8gaJKy_QQFtkydmNW8F61-gucTL1vNsbKNTw8tBduCDANrs1y_ZMEVxvQm1_cyVORFMC3QPA=w1212-h517)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/s6v6yHy2pYskcUA5Aqac1TdffY1GOfrn7EutuzhXKlrUJrLDIjIqkgTQEfcNy6Ra8k1ZVmu2pYIOZjo=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/g0mKYGWaqxEX2teOkEg2gQyMLnx1rizPLG06TCtQ7jlinhwmoTtq1y8no_XnMjhbhStQR5sgz9QeZYM=w1212-h517)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Pktb2vC3VHZVm1MT6niXZSSt93WH6IVJadp1fxs9oBy8V-JeKIcSECR5X2OX1m_v5qyFCEWo68SHeUA=w1212-h517)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/HEkzluMw_d3TLI1Mh1JJUjVTsyzcZwa8z8KHGYVp9uIVyNPWSdEOOZsiD0RPhdiGEKMYC90v-BvbPfQ=w1212-h517)
2/ They also need stuff inside them. Details are good, and wires obligatory.
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/k7qGfcevh6jrwt9B9EkS3EJ1Tim-vPXCbrnGUMiSPzrhn93EyZTs82S_KLdjpSPivQFwWiB_J6ZTZDo=w1212-h517)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/VUwO0mF_aBZrr5g8Yo-uW6vrs3pHrpD8S6Yb4cFkYkV3wZzSnINzbTaQxJesLgz3Ysl4ex_dgEbqoWM=w1212-h517)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/EHA4ptriz_Ee1gzld1eRHseSHtUB0JQU0C_rxt2W0f_arNGvFNAuUqtbWUstcBYmn9B5xiw3mZMUPuo=w1212-h517)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/3h3XfUaN75nD3qFc9GDtkOpqf9IXZnWy80Ur1kUNWXZml0au90X7IHWv8MWtPHHpwMikFXBftRzkX6g=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/vmxDwtT42Jgsm4_QHX5lbvskw2xr4LxCD-dTfjYGCxlinYElrVgHBwrkzvOBgA4WbJi4BqFqPMPRRpY=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1gLAvbK0EYpZd8d6lgeZBCKuvMySI7jh8hTuGQgNDT3wO_oXCtfUApqJTaIkFQfuvV7xCC6F9nwChp8=w1212-h517)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/I5oy5OKFy5LZpHCJkIx0LYuUNZDLDVIhdFoCSFJbRmGMaivc9uOdBukEGmdggqfhocopwn0sEOgvmOc=w1212-h517)
2a/ Ballast helps keep things the right way up.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rILcqXrlbdSYimiVmnghORQOxBtGJm6oEEczoHulCvDHb7ZjeKVy1BModJ5Tb9AU0fsFUlxeGxNWwA4=w1212-h517)
3/ To keep the wires dry, some sort of lid is in order.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/8TmRLBtrX7lefXllBhQxfAcXiQDRsHXhEY8UQ12OcNvouW-o_AYdTzIACZY4kA7AezLDW753slvwnt4=w1212-h517)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/GhsLCFzWZSvTGsEDl8fmNdyJIPpsPQwPjmL7gMycvEq9vxeGhvX8I4eBS7GorAO1yF036irs25CByJ4=w1212-h517)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/KJ_I3GKbwsSebfB4Sd3JQBL7djHK7tfH6M_Pn4s1gGshbvLGVm4LDIJjbqVBnvP3PGMU9x6KTSTHLaA=w1212-h517)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/AJeb4KR9cMZ1Dbs8PJfkeiKE1mew-xUQ36ExEJNd6s3n-p3S3FPHcfgPbPP3HDxKkNESGhGRZcQNFEk=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/jaN9yv17B8Shu8OUWTrrhS50UcteJhKHLhmFge85eT-nvOhKs8lCjfcp3bhKvuYTXK-d-S7oApvw6rw=w1212-h517)
3a/ Little lids are particularly cute. This could get soggy:
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/hnl46DOLV3HJ2mUHRl7XI0UtJigmJalZeqiId_q2kre830F-sYdmS9XKBZYrPojNtQE0OphpMBMEkCA=w1212-h517)
...but not with this:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/MjfLGKSfyZZFsghDiE9yBfZ3gTAzVOQ15H-oDRC7qhIrkUimda5YpsRA7NIVyoC6jsanfEisIWKUVDk=w1212-h517)
4/ The little things. All boats need the little things.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/y8QPI94VyAcmhjyT6BqZ6COEMgrMxobGhJFSIDjwMPlDe_-D2EEp5PeLfbJmMSGHhJQRkEw7_8JOTNY=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Rp8U3VRqKsc3u5FGKqWTw96S2cOYXcCs5eWglgmEX3RtbzHPakFIn-c6rdhDsHabncfk5Ry8oc3CRZc=w1212-h517)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rQBxc9HdLTL8ErbcDOWJdYMq9mz4sveJMZ_x9g8xu4al_l-rtY4DZKWN6Ct94g_E9QcZnL8MRJuaseM=w1212-h517)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/wCP_IIRXlXbC6L_d26hCIYBT0-cej8gp3ome-TeZ5RyGt2I_iB_t26IIQph_iQRVo17Q7OUg-6bw8hU=w1212-h517)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/n5zJleD6Hi3YQ19z2Q3h0dKBzXTvxtGoYT7hkt_EdcRh42GwUxvx29_tCsoVZ5YjCC3Gh46jsyrmNOk=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/EHJK79d6s3A_gdAwmYwiBBiDe0kJGOVQeY6MGcHFNRWlxvG_gTD5jQxnsmq8i2A0ykG9reZTrQZjvGk=w1212-h517)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/y1cE8qx_3nh1obsuryD1n_BqH7_HEcmkEz8tJkisZS095Op_6rQoPFej0w58LizBMiyWQpkeIUm50UY=w1212-h517)
4a/ Some Little Things, like the above, need even Littler Things:
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/G8ZNY5IEayN0_TbelBoJ67mrF6uCeIO3dVRLvqkpjivCsZiZiIWMX6N8OkzBdHsxvMXxtANmSHHMhNY=w1212-h517)
And the boat's even got a little friend.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/MC-NJ34Ct4ebzKjhid7-o4lWZqKOdw876xs_5nezW6TQB88ooiACQGp76wotpx9iKpAQfFhQJeRRF4M=w1212-h517)
5/ Last Summer:
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1SqdBot5kR2AsiI412I9S9nEA4VJypsMgE2-fcLtM03Bi7Mhxp83XxtjH6fxcJSzGzkXFFTaj22_C2A=w1212-h517)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/V8HE4eyEVO-PeOp4vKtIBJoif7HxIdiFGTYTYflhQ3HDwhu4SEHCPXwZxhDn2GNqNTKddUBlMe5tLhw=w1212-h517)
6/ This Spring:
(To be continued)
Your Google images do not show.
ken
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Last fortnight Racundra went for a motor on the Forth and Clyde canal.
Her batteries were charged and, requiring assistance, I was ably assisted by an assistant.
She motored for the best part of an hour, though in reality the best part was only her outer hull got wet.
Her top speed under power is a moderate walking pace: it feels about right. There's not much effective braking from the prop, but I see this as a bonus, since it suggests there's not a lot of drag from the prop, either. Tracking is great - that long keel means she drives like she's on rails, with no tendency to turn off a straight line with the rudder centred. She's almost rubbish in reverse.
Steering? With +/- 25 degrees of rudder, and no unscale extension, I thought it might not be enough, but she responds well to her helm and has a turning circle of about 3m. I can see this being a lot less with a small centreboard down to pivot around, and - by backing the jib - she should be able to tack well. There is no steering in reverse, but then she hardly goes in reverse, so that's not an issue.
She needed a pile of lead to hit her waterline - I guess the hull's about 15kg (two and a half stone) when fully loaded, which gives her loads of inertia and momentum. Small waves were shrugged off with a "mind? I'm coming through" attitude that's quite endearing.
I brought her in a few times during her run to measure battery charge and check for leaks, and have to report that the battery's phenomenal: plenty of life in it for a good few hours under power and, I think, all day under sail. Not a drop of water in her, with the propshaft quite dry. The big Buhler motor not at all warm.
Next up? A secret sailing test at a secret location, before I report back.
Andy
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Hello,
HOW do we view the pictures ??????????
John.
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Hmmm. This worked on the preview option. And on a browser on the same PC with no access to that google account. There's something wrong, I think, with my use of the 'share' settings on Google's Drive. :embarrassed:
Will kick it tomorrow night: got to be up for work at 4am. <:(
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This might work. %)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac001_zpshhnipu8w.jpg)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac004_zpsbntluhp3.jpg)
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(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0039_zpsw4zgojma.jpg)
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(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0073_zpsqp8luive.jpg)
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(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0070_zps9yegblva.jpg)
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Thanks, Photobucket. Take that, Google Drive.
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0100_zpslepzeobf.jpg)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0102_zpsgg1xa9k7.jpg)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0201_zpso1qrh834.jpg)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0200_zpskr35rt5t.jpg)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0204_zpsucivbluf.jpg)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0206_zps1joztgkt.jpg)
(http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q579/andygoddard15/rac0205_zpsdnpsmdy2.jpg)