Model Boat Mayhem

The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Yachts and Sail => Topic started by: rmaddock on May 31, 2020, 12:43:27 pm

Title: Nobby - Morecambe Bay Prawner - PART II
Post by: rmaddock on May 31, 2020, 12:43:27 pm
Hearts of Oak is back on my build table!(http://robertmaddock.com/images/HO_002.jpg)

It's SIX YEARS since I last posted!
GULP!
Since then, little has happened until recently. Life eh?

But, I finally managed to get the ballast out with only minor breakage (now repaired) to the floor timbers. She was always floating too deep and certainly much too low at the stern. Low enough that I was concerned that the top of the rudder tube could well be below the surface. So, with the aft ballast piece out I sawed a chunk off one end, filled the bath and tried again. It was still low. So I stuck the little piece I was getting rid of in without the big piece and it's all good. She's also lighter to carry around now.
(http://robertmaddock.com/images/ballast.jpg)
Another thing that had been getting in the way of progress was the foresail sheet controls. I'd intended to implement a little microcontroller to work the two winches. It was needlessly complicated but very cool.
Since then, for "other rc hobbies" I have acquired a Jumper T16 transmitter which has many, many bells and whistles. These include two proportional "sliders" and I suddenly realised that I could just use these so work the jib and head sail winches - a post slider and a starboard slider.
I shall try my best not to leave it another six years before posting again.
Title: Re: Nobby - Morecambe Bay Prawner - PART II
Post by: rmaddock on May 31, 2020, 12:46:34 pm
The original (long) thread is here: https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,30888.msg305095.html#msg305095
Title: Re: Nobby - Morecambe Bay Prawner - PART II
Post by: rmaddock on June 01, 2020, 10:21:02 am
It occurred to me that my project might not be fresh in your minds so here's a recap:
Hearts Of Oak
(http://robertmaddock.com/images/Hoo.jpg)
"Hearts of Oak" is a Morecambe Bay Prawner, or Nobby as they were colloquially known.
Seen in the picture above with the white/grey hull racing alongside "Rose" during her 100th birthday celebrations off Peel Island in 2012.  She was the last boat built in Ulverston - the town I happen to live in - and is now maintained and operated by a trust.
I decided, on a whim, to build a scale model of her. She's had a long and varied history including stints as a pilot boat and air sea rescue boat but I chose to model her as she was in 2012 for ease of research - i.e. I was allowed to clamber all over her with a camera and tape measure.
I suppose that she's really a semi-scale model.  She's built on a GRP hull made by Mike Mayhew of Waverley Models. The hull is authentically of type and close enough in shape not to matter unless you're a pedant.  She's fitted with a 540 electric motor with belt driven reduction to a single, offset prop. The rudder is worked below decks by a fiendish closed loop system of My Mayhew's devising which allows for a working tiller on the counter stern. The model is fitted with three Hitec sail winches in the forecabin. One for the mainsheet and one each for port and starboard foresail sheets. All the sheets work from hidden, closed loop systems below decks with the working parts coming up through the decks via cunningly concealed fairleads. There are three winches as I wanted her to look scale - not to have jib booms and the like.
Yesterday evening, under cover of taking my wife for a swim in the lake, I took Hearts of Oak to Coniston and motored her around for a bit. There's a little video of her HERE (https://youtu.be/rPv1PCKA14k) and below are some photos so you can see how she stands right now.
(http://robertmaddock.com/images/coniston1.jpg)
(http://robertmaddock.com/images/coniston2.jpg)
(http://robertmaddock.com/images/coniston3.jpg)
Title: Re: Nobby - Morecambe Bay Prawner - PART II
Post by: justboatonic on June 01, 2020, 12:04:23 pm
Nice one! You're not alone, I started conversion work on my 1\72 scale Type 42, HMS Newcastle, a couple of months before the London Olympics. I stopped to watch the Olympic festival of sport and didnt re start the work on Newcastle until last August!
Title: Re: Nobby - Morecambe Bay Prawner - PART II
Post by: rmaddock on June 01, 2020, 01:02:08 pm
Nice one! You're not alone, I started conversion work on my 1\72 scale Type 42, HMS Newcastle, a couple of months before the London Olympics. I stopped to watch the Olympic festival of sport and didnt re start the work on Newcastle until last August!
There's a secret world of us out there.