Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Yachts and Sail => Topic started by: Laker on December 23, 2020, 10:49:16 am
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I’m not able to do much model sailing at the moment for obvious reasons so I thought I would post the build story of my Bristol Channel Sailing Pilot Cutter, Eliza Rose. The model was built between 2008 and 2012 and has since clocked up about 60 hours of sailing at the Woodspring Model Sailing Club and also occasionally at the Cheddar Steam Club. I hope this account makes a good read while we are so restricted in where and when we can go sailing. Also it may be of use to anyone else who is setting out to build a sailing model from a bare GRP hull – this certainly isn’t the only way to do it, but it works well and has withstood a number of years of sailing.
The idea of building a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter took hold with me in 2007. I had moved to the Bristol area in 2005 and I was keen to build a sailing model for myself and also to make a model that would cope better with a variety of sailing conditions than my very delicate Thames Sailing Barge model. Having looked at a range of scale models belonging to other club members I decided that I wanted a model with a nice beamy and deep hull, with internal ballast rather than an external keel, and a straightforward single-masted rig that would lie flat on the model for transportation. The Bristol Channel Sailing Pilot Cutter type seemed to fit the bill – they are typically around 1:3 beam-to-length and there were a number of nice examples in the club that sailed well even in stronger winds.
To start things off, here are a couple of current photos showing Eliza Rose as she is now - one sailing in light winds this summer and the other on the display stand taken yesterday.
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My approach to scale modelling is to aim for a decent level of detail and realism while still achieving a robust working model. My models need to withstand being de-rigged and rigged frequently along with the usual shipping backwards and forwards to the lake and exhibitions. I can therefore use good quality materials such as limewood strip decking, mahogany capping etc. but I tend to simplify or leave off some of the finer details that you might find on very accurate scale models. There is always the possibility to add more fine detailing later on with this approach, and I have added a few items to this model over the years since it was first built.
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In January 2008 I bought a GRP hull for the ‘Dyarchy’ Pilot Cutter from Mike Mayhew at Waverley Models (as it was then). I wanted a reasonably large model and this bare hull is just over 40” long, modelled at 1/12 scale. Only two drawings came with it – a plan view of the deck and a side-on sail plan. The latter was not even for the Dyarchy cutter, judging by the hull outline which did not closely match my hull. These were not sufficient to complete the model alone and I realised that I would need to work from a variety of sources including photographs of real cutters and other people’s models. I also decided early on that I would not attempt to model a specific Pilot Cutter in its original working appearance. Instead, I have attempted to build a model that is representative of the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter type, and finished as you would see such a boat in a marina today, probably converted for pleasure/ cruising use.
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The most obvious change in these modern cruising conversions is usually to add a skylight in the centre of the deck, where the original working boats would have had a plain deck to maximise the room for handling the rowing boat (or ‘punt’). For the same reason, the model isn’t named after a full-size cutter either. My wife came up with the name ‘Eliza Rose’ as a suitable west country name for a boat, given that several of the originals were named after wives and daughters etc. There are also several records of a full-size sailing pilot cutter called ‘Eliza’ on the register of Bristol Pilots with dates from 1856 to around 1894, so there is some precedent for the name at least! Incidentally, this information came from the book ‘The Bristol Pilots’ by John Rich (ISBN 0 9528082 0 X, published in 1996) which gives a very thorough account of the history of the Bristol Channel pilots including a tabulation of over 1000 men who have served as Bristol Pilots together with the names of their yawls or cutters where known.
I’ve included pictures of the bare GRP hull as I received it. Someone had written ‘DYCHARY’ inside the hull in pencil – I’m pretty sure the original cutter was called ‘Dyarchy’ though! Unusually for a Bristol Channel Sailing Pilot Cutter, she has a flat transom rather than the counter-stern extending rearwards of the tiller that you see on original examples such as ‘Cariad’ or ‘Mascotte’. The GRP felt reasonably solid although I reinforced an area of it near the keel where I could see light shining through and I assumed that there was a thinner patch. I used standard 2 part resin and chopped strand glassfibre matting for this.
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An early decision was to follow the advice of several club members to add a metal ‘false keel’ underneath the scale keel on the GRP hull, in order to get a good part of the ballast very low down in the hull for stability. Sailing Pilot Cutters have a very long, straight keel line which slopes downwards slightly to become deepest at the stern. It is therefore fairly straightforward to add a piece of square-section metal bar stock to this keel. I am not keen on melting and casting lead so I bought a length of ¾” square section brass (19mm x 19mm) which I bolted through the bottom of the GRP keel, after gluing in some small hardwood blocks within the keel to support the nuts on the inside. I then faired this brass bar in to the existing hull shape at the front and the back using blocks of wood. There isn’t much to choose between brass and lead for density – lead is 11 times more dense than water and brass 9 times, so the brass bar alone added more than 5lb of ballast. My model is therefore 19mm deeper in the keel than the scale design, but the difference is small and completely invisible when sailing.
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The brass bar and wooden blocks were all bolted to the GRP hull using 4mm nuts and bolts, with the bolt heads recessed into the wood and brass, and the nuts inside the hull. I also put a layer of epoxy glue between the brass bar and the bottom of the keel. The drawn brass bar is surprisingly hard to drill through and my original 4mm drill bit expired in heat and smoke! A new drill bit solved the problem and cut cleanly through.
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The wooden stem was carved from softwood to fit inside the GRP hull and it serves to extend the stem to the required height above the hull. This was glued in with epoxy. The next step was to line the insides of the hull with 1/16” (1.6mm) plywood from the gunwales down to below deck level. Perhaps not everyone would choose to do this with a GRP hull, but I didn’t want the GRP matt texture to show inside the gunwales above the deck level, so I lined it. I suspect any good quality thin plywood from 1mm to 2mm thick would do for this. I extended the plywood liner further down in the midships region to provide some purchase to bolt the chainplates on to the hull later on. I used epoxy for all wood-to-fibreglass bonding. Once this had set, I scribed a pencil line around the inside of the hull to mark the deck level and then glued some hardwood strips to the plywood liners at this level to support the deck.
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Merry Christmas to all - Christmas Eve has arrived and I hope your plans and wishes for the festive period work out well. I'll continue this in a day or two...
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At this point I started thinking about where to put the radio gear, battery and other internal fittings such as the footing for the mast. I started off with the sealed lead/ gel battery (6V, 4.5Ah which gives a useful bit of extra ballast) and drew out a plywood box structure around this. The box serves many purposes – it holds the battery upright, it provides a footing for the mast tube, it has an upright side against which to bolt the bracket for the sail winch and the radio receiver goes in a plastic box on top. The box was was glued and screwed together (white waterproof PVA glue for wood-to-wood joints) and then epoxied to the hull with some glassfibre matting for strength.
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Next I started to work out how much ballast to put inside the hull. The plan gave the weight of the original boat as 24 tons displacement. I assume this means ‘long’ tons (2240 lbs) but I’m not sure – does anyone know what is normally used for boats like this? An estimate of the total weight for the model (at 1/12th scale) is therefore obtained by dividing 24 tons by 12 cubed (12 x 12 x 12). This estimate gave a model weight of about 31 lbs, which has turned out to be quite close to the weight of the finished model which is 28lbs. The GRP hull with the brass bar on the keel and the sealed lead/ gel battery inside only weighed 12lb, so quite a bit of extra ballast was needed. I wasn’t very sure how much weight to allow for the remaining building (deck, rigging, deck fittings and hatches etc) but I made a guess and bought 12lb of lead shot. The next part of the work was very experimental. I bagged up the lead in 1lb and 2lb quantities and marked the intended waterline on the stern and the stem of the hull. Then I filled 10” of water in the bath, put the hull in the bath and started putting bags of lead in. After some shuffling around I found a suitable distribution of lead along the bottom of the hull and made a note of the positions. Other club members advised to leave several pounds of lead in loose bags in the finished model, to give some flexibility on trimming. I therefore decided to fix in only 5lb of lead at this stage. Not being keen on melting and pouring lead I decided to put the lead in as a slurry of roughly 3 parts lead shot to 1 part epoxy resin by volume. This is easy to mix up and pour into the hull and has the advantage that you have quite a few minutes to move the shot around and smooth it before the epoxy goes off.
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Next up were the rudder and rudder hinges. Neither the rudder planking nor the hinge design are to scale. The hinges are also larger than scale as part of my efforts to make the boat robust enough to sail regularly without getting damaged. In hindsight I think I overdid this – they are too big and now I am picturing archaeologists digging them up in a thousand years’ time and wondering what on earth they were used for. I also enlarged the rudder relative to the plan as I was told this was necessary for a model sailing boat. The choices seemed to be either to make a removable rudder extension to fit when sailing the model, or simply to make the rudder larger than scale size. I opted to make the rudder 50% wider (from the stern of the hull) than the scale drawing on my plan. The model has now had many hours of sailing and the steering with this rudder design is good. People who know cutters will see that the rudder is too big but I suspect that most people won’t notice it.
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The rudder itself is surprisingly thick, in order to match the thickness of the GRP hull at the stern. It was built up on a core of 8mm plywood with 1/8” planking on either side, giving a maximum thickness of around 14mm. The plywood core was tapered to be thinner at the trailing edge before planking. The hinge parts were turned from round brass bar with strips of 1/16” brass silver soldered on and the hinges were glued to the rudder with epoxy. The upper hinge pin has a small hole in it for a wire pin to stop the hinge from coming apart again. I bent my own retaining pin from stainless steel wire, but I think they are called ‘R’ clips commercially.
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The rudder was then put away for later and I turned to putting in the remaining internal structures and deck braces. I decided to operate the rudder using a 2-cord ‘pull-pull’ system, so I needed to mount the rudder servo centrally under the cockpit area, as high up as possible under the cockpit floor. After some careful measuring I epoxied in a plywood plate to hold the rudder servo. At the bow end I epoxied in another plywood plate to anchor the bottom end of the ‘bitt head’ posts, which I wanted to extend down several inches below the deck level for strength.
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The deck braces were made from softwood strip. They are fitted in front and behind each of the hatch positions and in one or two extra places such as to next to the mast tube. The finished deck braces and rudder servo mount can be seen in the photo. The two deck braces in the midship positions are thicker than the others - at that stage I was thinking that I might use them to lift the model in and out of the water, as I had seen some other sailors doing with their models. I have never trusted the braces in my model to take the full 28lbs weight however and I have always used a trolley to launch it instead. If you do want to hold your model by the deck when launching (through the hatch) then I suggest to do what I have seen some other modellers do which is to fit woodscrews through the side of the hull and into the ends of the deck braces.
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Before continuing to fit out the inside of the hull I carefully cut and filed out the hole for the bowsprit in the starboard side of the bow. I also primed the false keel and glued some rubbing strakes along the sides of the hull. The strakes were made from 1/16” hardwood strip, with bevelled edges top and bottom created by pulling the edges of the strip over the blade of my woodworking plane, with the plane held upside-down in a vice. The photo below shows the unpainted strakes with three gaps on each side to allow space for fitting the chain plates. I also drilled the holes in the sides of the hull for the chain plate bolts at this point.
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An anchor point is needed on the stem of the hull close to the waterline for the bobstay chain, which runs from there to the tip of the bowsprit. I had to find some 1/16” brass wire for this (I didn’t want any steel fittings that might rust on the outside of the boat). The brass wire is bent into a ‘U’ shape to fit through 2 small holes in the hull and wooden stempost, then the ends are bent over inside the hull and the whole thing secured with epoxy.
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By now I was ready to paint the hull, so that meant choosing some colours! For the original sailing pilot cutters this is easy – the hulls were matt black due to being coated with pitch. I was trying to show a pilot cutter as it would be seen today though, so I looked at some full-size originals for ideas. I particularly like the green and black combination on the full size ‘Pegasus’ and I was able to take some photos of her one time when she came into Portishead marina.
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I don’t have an airbrush so all my painting is brushed. After washing and lightly sanding the hull I started with a white primer followed by two coats of oil-based green paint. I am careful to move the brush along the rough direction that the planking would take, so hopefully any remaining lines in the paint won’t look too out of place. I then painted the hull matt black above the deck level, loosely following the colour scheme of the full size ‘Pegasus’ cutter. Later on I also gave the whole hull two coats of matt varnish to even out the finish across the various painted and varnished surfaces.
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The camber of the deck means that the deck needs to be raised by around 10-12mm at the centreline and at the point of the widest beam. For each of the other beams I reduced the height of the camber profile in proportion to the length of each beam. To achieve the camber profile, I glued firm balsawood strips on top of the deck braces and then shaped and sanded them to give the right shape. I also fitted a piece of plywood between the two beams forward of the central hatch to provide a secure location for the top of the mast tube. The mast tube was made from 22mm copper plumbing tube. The bottom of the mast tube sits on the plywood box in the bottom of the hull.
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Before going any further with building the deck I did as much as possible to finish the radio installation. I have fitted the model with a sail winch for the mainsail and a rudder servo. I considered fitting a third channel to control the foresail and jib but really this isn’t necessary for normal sailing and I decided to leave it out. The ‘pull-pull’ rudder control arrangement and the main sail sheet both require some guide tubes to be fitted to keep friction to a minimum where the sheets pass through the deck. I made these tubes up from 1/8” brass tube, taking care to make sure the tube didn’t get crushed at the bends. The mainsail sheet tube is visible in these photos, pointing up from the deck level between the cockpit and the transom and running down into the hull and then forward towards the sail winch. The sail winch is fitted into a continuous loop arrangement with a spring tensioner. The whole sail winch and tensioner loop assembly was supplied by Waverley models and it has worked reliably to date. I also fitted two sloping pieces of wood just rearward of the rudder servo, ready to hold the two short brass guide tubes for the ‘pull-pull’ rudder sheets.
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Once I was happy with the radio installation, I removed all of the radio gear to protect it while I continued building. I completed the glassfibre reinforcement of the deck beams by applying matting and resin to the joints between each deck beam and the sides of the hull. I also fitted some longitudinal pieces of wood in between the beams to support the hatch coaming.
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I used 10BA brass nuts and bolts to attached the chainplates and bowsprit shroud plates to the sides of the hull. For a working model these need to be nice and secure so the 10BA bolts (1/16”) are ideal. They are available from various UK model engineering suppliers and I find them useful for all sorts of modelling jobs. I put a touch of Loctite on each screw thread to secure the nuts inside the hull as well – I don’t want to have to try to tighten these up again inside the finished model! The chainplates were laser-cut brass sheet parts supplied by Waverley models. Each one needed folding over at the top to form a small loop and then silver soldering and painting. The bowsprit shroud plates were made from ¼” x 1/16” brass strip, filed to shape, folded over into a loop and silver soldered as for the chain plates.
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Then came the lengthy job of sheeting the deck with 1/16” ply. I imagine any good quality plywood from 1mm to 2mm thick could be used for this. The deck has strong curvature in both directions (the sheer line from stem to stern and the deck camber from side to side) which gives the boat much of its appeal but also means that large pieces of plywood can’t be used. I used fifteen pieces of plywood to cover the deck – perhaps others could do it with fewer pieces but using smaller pieces makes them easier to fit. The two ‘pull-pull’ brass guide tubes for the rudder control can also be seen. At this point I was able to fit the rudder and try the pull-pull system with a couple of cords inside the brass tubes and it worked very sweetly (sigh of relief). With this set-up the rudder can be controlled to about 45 degrees either side of neutral.
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Believe it or not it took me 18 months to reach this point – work really does get in the way! In preparation for planking the deck I fitted some 1/16” ply around the edge of the deck. I also fitted the uprights along the bulwarks (these would be the tops of the boat’s frames on a proper built-up hull, but not on this GRP hull). These were simply glued to the plywood bulwark liners.
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Also visible are three scupper holes just above deck level on either side of the hull. On a built-up hull, these holes would be formed naturally by leaving a gap between the planking of the hull and the planking along the bulwarks, and the row of scupper holes would probably have run from around amidships to the cockpit area. On a GRP hull these holes have to be cut out between the uprights and I found this to be a tricky job. Eventually I chain-drilled a row of holes of about 3mm diameter along the line of the scupper hole and opened these out into a continuous slot with small files. I limited this to 3 scupper holes each side to avoid weakening the GRP hull too much. The end result looked neat but at the time I did not realise that it had exposed small gaps between the GRP hull and the plywood hull liner – more on this later!
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The deck was now ready for planking, something that I did over the Christmas period of December 2009- January 2010. I used 1/16” thick limewood strips, 8mm wide, to represent planks of around 3.5” wide at full scale. I believe pine deck planks were used on the originals but limewood is good for models because of the very fine grain and because it cuts so nicely in any direction. I very much enjoyed planking the deck – limewood is lovely to work with and the end result is very pleasing. I’m sure there are many articles on caulking on this Forum so I won’t discuss alternative methods here. For this model I used one of the easier methods – black cardboard glued to the edge of each plank, and between the ends of the planks. My method was to cut 10 lengths of strip wood, each 9” long (for 9’ planks on the original), stack them neatly on top of each other, spread PVA glue down one side of the block of planks and then glue the whole block of planks down onto a sheet of black cardboard. Once the glue had set, the individual planks were separated with a scalpel blade leaving each plank neatly edged with cardboard. I then planked the deck with these strips, working from the centreline out to each side. The photos show the deck fully planked but before sanding down and staining.
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At this point I should mention another oddity of Eliza Rose – she only has two bitt-heads or posts standing up from the deck in the bow area. I understand that most pilot cutters had three bitts in a row, creating two gaps between the bitts – the bowsprit was held in one of these gaps and the windlass was mounted in the other. Following the deck plan for my hull, Eliza Rose has the windlass further rearward on two separate bitts. These were added later.
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Watching on :-)) ....the Olve & Black hull looks magnificient & yes, certainly follows on from the Pegagus scheme
Those steering hawser tubes look to have been extended and overcomes the height transition perfectly. Will you be using a nylon woven rope [similar to the sail winch rope] or pre-blackened woven stainless trace wire from the Fishing/Sport shops"
These folks make some useful accessories ...I have some 'split rings' [just like the full size ones for your key ring] 5.0mm diameter - 30lb rated....a simple and inexpensive method of securing miniature chains or twine or the like [these rings could be doubled up to provide a 60lb working load in tension]
I have used one this size split ring to join 2 lengths of 1/16 scale 'hand' anchor chain...
Finally, what style or type of cover will be installed over the void of the steering hawser tubes?
Looking to progress in 2021
Derek
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Thanks for the post Derek and nice to hear from Australia. Yes the steering hawser tubes extend up through the deck and then level off at about 2-3mm clear of the surface of the deck, angled to point rearwards to the location points on the rudder bar. I have used a model woven synthetic cord for this as you suggest. With this being intended as a working model, I have used woven synthetic cord for all moving/ running sheets and anything else that looked like it might get some wear. I have attached a photo of the stuff I used - it is 1.0mm dia woven polyester cord from Robbe. It seems to have very little friction in the brass tubes and is very hardwearing. For other rigging I found that regular cotton builder's line looks about right - it has a nice twist and looks more natural than nylon or polyester. In the UK I can get this from Travis Perkins (photo attached) but similar line must be available from other builder's merchants. The only exception to this was for the main shrouds that support the mast where I resorted to multistrand brass picture wire and painted it matt black. Very strong, but I have to be careful not to get kinks into it.
Thanks for the info on the split rings. I wasn't aware of those but they do look useful.
You asked about sealing the voids at the end of the steering hawser tubes - the truth is I haven't sealed them with anything and they don't seem to let any water in, perhaps because of the location. The model now has 60+ hours of sailing and there is usually no water at all in the hull after a trip to the lake.
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After rubbing the deck down level to a good finish with fine sandpaper (the cardboard caulking sands down easily) the staining was done using many coats of strong black coffee. Instant will do – no need to make real coffee for this! I dissolved a heaped teaspoon of instant coffee in a small amount of hot water and painted this onto the deck, one or two coats per day, allowing the deck to dry thoroughly between coats. After 15 coats it looked about the right colour. Doing the staining this way gives a nice variation in colour between the individual planks which I don’t think you could get with a couple of coats of ordinary woodstain. I then sealed it with two coats of matt varnish.
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At this point I decided to fit the sail winch and rudder servo. I hope the following photo shows the ‘pull-pull’ rudder servo arrangement clearly. At this point I simply knotted the rudder lines to check out the installation. Later on, I fixed the lines properly using small brass collars with screw fittings. The coaming around the hatches can be seen as well, all from 1/16” ply, including the curved piece around the rear of the cockpit which required steaming to shape.
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There is also a row of four short wooden batons on the deck under the line of the anchor chain running forwards from the windlass. I noticed these in photos of the original Pilot Cutters in Peter Stuckey’s book on these boats. I don’t know whether these provided protection for the deck against damage from the chain, or whether they were footholds or served some other purpose. If anyone knows the real purposes of these then please let me know!
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I was now ready to make some hatches for the deck. For a practical working model, I wanted full access to everything that might need to be replaced inside the hull and therefore I made a number of removable hatches. There are four in total - the cockpit hatch, the companionway hatch, the main hatch in the centre and a small forward hatch by the windlass. I have seen other pilot cutter models made with only the cockpit being removable – probably better for scale modelling reasons but more tricky to maintain the radio installation!
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The cockpit and companionway hatches were the most complicated ones to make, particularly the cockpit hatch with its curved wall. The curve of the cockpit hatch has to fit snugly inside the curved coaming in the deck. I had to steam the 1/16” ply shapes to bend them to this curve. Once the basic shape was built up (all from plywood) I was able to plank the floor and sides of the cockpit. The final job was to cut out and glue on the capping around the top of the cockpit wall. This was made up with three pieces of 1/8” thick mahogany, with diagonal/ spliced joints between the pieces. You can just make out the splices on either side of the cockpit in the photo.
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The companionway is a fairly straightforward 4-sided box in 1/16” ply. I built it up on the deck coaming with the cockpit hatch in place to get a good close fit. One trick I use is to put a couple of layers of insulating tape around the outside of the deck coaming before building the hatch around it. Once the basic plywood hatch structure is assembled the insulating tape can be removed. This provides a very slight clearance between the coaming and the hatch, which allows for layers of stain and varnish etc. to be applied to all the surfaces. The companionway has a curved roof which I made by planking over the curved shape using the same 8mm wide lime stripwood that I used for the deck. I then added a second planked layer on the rearmost part of the roof to represent the sliding companionway top hatch, and some more stripwood edging to model the companionway doors. To access the radio gear, the companionway hatch lifts off first (including the doors from the cockpit area) to reveal the radio on/off switch. The cockpit well then lifts out to provide access to the rudder servo and the pull-pull rudder lines.
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From my observations, the woodwork on hatches and companionways etc. usually looks very different to the wood of the deck on full size sailing boats. The hatches and companionways are often nicely stained and varnished, in contrast to the rougher, more unfinished look of the deck. For that reason, I finished the cockpit and companionway hatches with two coats of antique pine stain followed by two coats of matt varnish, giving a noticeably different colour to the coffee stain of the deck.
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In order to get the boat ready to sail as quickly as possible I made a temporary centre hatch from plain 1/16” ply – just a box shape with a flat top and four sides. I made a replacement for this with proper planking and a skylight later on. The forward hatch is a very simple rectangular box, planked on all sides and the top and then stained using black coffee and varnished in the same way as for the deck. It is shown in the second photo. I still need to make a pair of small brass hinges and a handle to put on the top of it.
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Back to fitting out the hull now. The capping rail was cut from 1/8” mahogany sheet, three pieces for each side, plus a length to go over the transom. Full size practice is to join the capping rail sections with Z-shaped splices – something that is quite fiddly to achieve at model scale. On Eliza Rose I have simplified the Z-splices into straight diagonal splices at each joint. Once sanded and varnished these are sufficiently neat that they are not noticeable unless you go looking for them. To get the right shape for each piece of mahogany I turned the hull upside down and traced around the gunwale onto cardboard. The cardboard can then be cut out and laid onto the mahogany to trace out the required lines. I allowed an extra millimetre on each side of the capping rails when cutting them out and then sanded them down to the required size after they were attached to the model. The mahogany was flexible enough to glue down onto the gunwales without steaming, but the shape over the transom is much more curved and this piece had to be steamed. Once the pieces were all glued in place, I was able to drill through the capping rail down into the stanchion posts beneath and glue in some short lengths (~1cm) of cocktail stick. These wooden ‘pegs’ give some extra strength to the capping rail and none of it has come loose to date. Finally, out came the sanding mouse to sand the top and both sides of the capping smooth and to round off the corners. I applied a single coat of dark woodstain to darken the mahogany before varnishing it – this also has the benefit of staining the cocktail stick peg ends to the same colour as the rest of the capping.
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I’ve included a close-up of the cockpit and companionway area to show how these two hatches fit together. It also shows the capping over the transom area which was the most difficult area to fit.
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At this point the hull was largely complete barring some deck equipment, so I turned my attention to the mast and spars. I have seen some models built with snooker queues for masts but I choose to use pine dowel. The method (from Mike Mayhew) is to lay the length of dowel on the workbench and clamp it down at the end which will become the base (and which does not need to be tapered). A pencil cross is then carefully drawn in the centre of the top end of the dowel. Using a woodworking plane, cut a strip off from halfway along the mast to the top. Undo the clamp, rotate the mast by 45 degrees (half of a quarter turn), clamp it again and plane another strip from halfway along to the top. Repeat this until eight strips have been planed off, all the way around the mast. This process is repeated, taking strips from different positions along the mast, up to the top, until the right taper is achieved. At this point the mast will be octagonal in cross section, but this is easily made round again by sanding. I tapered two more lengths of dowel by the same method to make the bowsprit and gaff. The mainsail boom does not need to be tapered. The mast and spars were finished with antique pine stain and matt varnish.
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The mast has a stepped joint a few inches above deck level that is hidden by a metal sleeve, to which the boom is attached. Sliding the sleeve upwards allows the mast to be unstepped and laid down on the deck for transportation. There is a lot of detail to making up the boom hinge joint, rigging and fittings that I haven’t covered here. I'm happy to answer any questions on them or add some more photos if needed. The blocks are fitted with brass ‘sheeves’ or pulley wheels and I bought some white metal castings to make the deadeyes.
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The bowsprit has a couple of pieces of metalwork. I turned a fitting from aluminium for the tip of the bowsprit to provide four locations for the bobstay chain and three other stays. This is painted matt white. I also made up the gammon iron fitting from ¼” x 1/16” brass strip, bent to shape and held to the stem with two small woodscrews.
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Hiya, thank you for posting these pictures, a really nice model. I have a 1/15 Cariad pilot cutter hull, but due to life and health issues its been on hold, seeing your pictures has certainly rekindled my interest. The next job is to fit the rudder, I like your means of lowering the mast for transport. Did you make your own rigging blocks? I 've been looking for block kits, Waverley models used to do them but they are no longer trading.
Keith.
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Hello Keith and thanks for the encouragement! Glad to hear you are going to complete your Cariad - I have seen at least two Cariad models on the water and they sail as well as any. I built up the rigging blocks from kits from Waverley models - the kits included laser cut wooden sides and the brass sheeves. As you say, that particular kit is no longer available but there are other UK suppliers. I don't have allegiances to any particular shops but a quick look on the Cornwall Model Boats website showed several pages of blocks and block kits in various sizes, so I hope you can find something to suit your Cariad from there (go to https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/index.html and then enter 'rigging blocks' into their site search.). The method of stepping the mast with a sleeve over the joint is very commonly used in the Woodspring Model Sailing Club. I could do a sketch/ cross section of it and post it here if anyone would like it.
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Hiya, thanks for the link, the last time I looked on CMB there was'nt any block kits. There used to be a website called Modeling Timbers which used to do ready made blocks but they are no longer trading. The last thing I did on Cariad was to cut a section of the keel out and make a mould of it then cast it in lead which will make it handle a lot better.
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[/size]Keith.
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I have just spotted my spelling mistake above…it should be ‘sheave’ not ‘sheeve’. I have got too used to having a spell-checker! I’ve got a few photos of the mast joint and simplified roller-reefing gear to show how it goes together. The step in the mast joint stops the upper part of the mast from turning around. The metal sleeve keeps the stepped joint in position and the brass pin stops the sleeve from moving up and down.
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At this point in the build I thought it was worth checking the ballast and waterline situation again, so I filled the bath up and moved the bags of lead shot around to achieve the right waterline. It only just fits in the bath now. The draft is about 8”.
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I understand that the full-size pilot cutters had about 2 miles of rigging on them, or about 3500 yards! At 1/12 scale that would mean about 290 yards of rigging for this model. I don’t even know where most of this would have gone, so the rigging for my model is very simplified. I think it has 30 yards or so of rigging on it in total and that seems like plenty when standing the mast etc. up at the lakeside!
Most of the rigging is made from cotton builder’s line which is very economical and it has withstood eight years of sailing now. For anything that needed to be more robust (e.g. the mainsail sheet) I used some scale woven polyester line as mentioned above. For the forestay and main shrouds, I used multi-stranded brass picture wire, sold as 'medium weight'. This doesn’t stretch as much as cotton or polyester and it allows secure joints to be made by crimping short lengths of 1/8" copper or brass tube around the wires and then soft soldering it all together. None of these joints has given any trouble since. It needs to be painted matt black when completed and I do have to touch up some of the black paint on it from time to time.
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It is actually quite easy to get the mast standing upright and secure. It is only held in place by the forestay and by the three shrouds on each side. The mast position is easily adjusted by tightening and loosening the cotton lines (‘lanyards’) running through the pairs of deadeye blocks that secure each shroud. Once the mast is in the right place and the lanyards are properly tensioned, the mast has very little movement. The shrouds don’t need to be under enormous tension in order to make the mast secure enough for sailing.
The mainsail boom and the gaff both require some metal work to make the fittings that hold them to the mast. For the boom, the original cutter would have used an Appledore Roller Reefing Gear. The system includes two separate hinges to allow the boom to move from side to side and up and down. I have reproduced the basic layout and hinge arrangement but without the gear wheels etc. I made this up from copper sheet, brass strip and some pieces turned from brass rod, all silver-soldered together where necessary and then painted to match the various metal colours.
At the throat of the gaff there is a hinged saddle arrangement that is seated against the mast with a leather pad (I was given some very fine leather for this by another club member). The saddle is held to the mast by a ‘parrel’ which carries a row of small wooden parrel beads to help the saddle to run up and down the mast. This hardware was straightforward to make up from small pieces of copper and brass again.
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Hi laker, your build is quite inspiring, I have a smaller Pilot cutter hull and plans for Cariad, given to me, but barely started. It is a kit from Chris Brown eng, maybe 24 inches hull length. I have stored some of your images on my Laptop for later reference. But Cariad has now moved up several places on my to-do list.
I have a dinghy drawn on the plans stowed on the port deck. Will you be constructing a dinghy as well?
The scale is just right for some nice woodwork and fittings. I was wondering about the roller reefing of the mainsail, I enquired of Chris Brown and he no longer has any fittings to suit so I will have to see how near I can get or just compromise.
I did find on another yacht an alternative way of making stays for the mast rigging. I used brass tubing carefully hammered flat and drilled for the rivet holes into the hull.and the hole for hook or wire location. Then file each edge until the tube falls into two pieces. Then soldered a small washer to the hook/wire hole to strengthen it. You then have 2 identical stays. I used small round head rivets pushed in place and glued on the other side. Been in place a couple of years and still holding up the mast.
Best regards
Roy
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Hello Roy. Good to hear about your Cariad - perhaps if this column encourages a couple of people to finish off their pilot cutter models then it will all be worth the effort! The scale that you mention for your model should be very handy for putting in the car and for lifting in and out of the water. It reminded me of a smaller scale pilot cutter model that I saw sailing a few years ago at the Cheddar Steam Club here in Somerset - I have copied in a picture of it. That particular model had an external keel with a lead bulb, which might be worth considering. At 1/12 scale the pilot cutter models seem to sail OK within internal ballast. By the time you get down to 'footy' size yachts the external keel seems to be essential.
I do have a dinghy or 'punt' on the port deck of Eliza Rose and I will post some pictures later on (actually you can just see it in the first two pictures in this column). It's built up from a plastic vacuum-moulded hull. I would like to build up a proper planked one in time but haven't got there yet...
Thanks for the alternative way to make chain plates too - sounds well suited to the smaller size of hull. Good luck with your build, and it would be nice to see a few pics of it on the Forum if you feel like starting a new thread?! :-)
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The busiest area of rigging on Eliza Rose is near the mast-head where there is a ‘throat halyard’ to raise the gaff throat/ saddle and then an arrangement of blocks for the ‘peak halyard’ and bridles to support the rest of the gaff. Both of these halyards are led down from the blocks to deck level and tied off on belaying pins, so it is possible to lower the gaff in the same way as on the full-size boat, but there isn’t really any reason to do it.
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Hi Laker I contacted Chris Brown to ask about fitting a keel to my Cariad and he said she will sail with just internal ballast. I have a Graupner Norderney fishing boat including topsail and I have the very small pivot keel permanently down but ballasted inside only. She drifts a bit to the side but when there is a good wind she drives on without that slight see saw action of a pendulum keel. It is just a case of getting used to her ways and sailing her accordingly.
Best regards
Roy
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Hello Roy - OK, sounds like your Cariad must be large enough to manage with the internal ballast then. Good to have the confirmation before you finish the build anyway. I hope it goes well and enjoy the build!
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With the mast and spars now standing in place it was time to start to think about the sails. This was the part of the whole project that puzzled me the most, having never made any kind of sail before! The sails made a good indoor project over the winter of 2010. I started by cutting out paper templates and attaching these to the model with masking tape. I adjusted them until I was happy that they matched up with the sail plan. I had decided to make only the minimum number of sails to get the model on the water at this stage, i.e. just the mainsail, foresail and jib.
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Choosing the right fabric for the sails wasn’t straightforward. Fine Egyptian cotton was the advice from other club members, so I eventually bought a length of this by mail order from Nylet sails. This cotton fabric certainly looked the part but it turned out to be unsuitable because it shrinks by at least 10% in both directions when it is washed, and then shrinks further when washed again. If you don’t intend to wash your sails after making them then this cloth is probably fine, but I wanted to make sure that my sails would be washable. Eventually I decided to use an old cotton bed sheet, knowing that this had been washed so many times that it could not possibly shrink any further. I lightly dyed this fabric with a ‘Stone’ coloured fabric dye to take away the bright white appearance before cutting out the sails.
I borrowed my wife’s sewing machine to hem the edges and to make the lines of stitching up and down each sail. A few trials were needed to get the stitch size and width of the hems correct. I sewed the lines of stitches along each sail first and then hemmed around the edges. My technique is to make a narrow hem by folding the edge of the sail over twice and ironing this down, and then to stitch along the hems to fix them (I’ve attached a PDF of my notes in case anyone finds it useful). This method seems to be pretty robust and I haven’t had to repair any of the sails since I made them. I have not hand-stitched a cord or rope around the edge of each sail, although this does make a very nice scale finishing touch if you have the time to do it.
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Where the mainsail attaches to the mast, a set of mast hoops is needed. The originals are laminated up from several layers of wood and riveted together. I know some modellers have managed to reproduce these wooden hoops in miniature by winding up laminations of fine hardwood veneer. I had a go at trying to do this but the only thin veneer that I had available was mahogany, and this wasn’t suitable. I decided to overcome my dislike of plastic at this point and I finally made up my hoops from strips of 0.5mm plasticard (styrene). This is very simple to do, using a suitably-sized round wooden former. Cut some narrow strips of plasticard about 10-12 inches long. Paint a thin layer of styrene solvent or cement along one side and then wind this around the former so that it builds up a hoop with three to four laminations. Tape or clamp this to hold it until set and the result should be a pretty sturdy hoop, which shows some nice lamination detail at the edges. I painted these a suitable matt colour.
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Finally, I was ready to attach the first three sails to the mast and spars. Each sail is stitched to its attachment points using white cotton thread.
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I have not set up radio control for either the foresail or the jib. My interest is regular ‘social’ sailing rather than racing and for that purpose these models sail very nicely with the foresail and job on fixed settings. The sheets for each sail run through deck attachment points to the samson posts by the cockpit where they are tied off. The clew of each sail has a brass wire loop sewn on which can slide freely along the sheet. These are non-scale fittings and the full-size arrangement is different. The wire loop allows the foresail and the jib to blow from one side to the other when tacking. The setting of the sails is adjusted by tightening or loosening the requisite sheet at the samson post, as per the full-size cutter.
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By the Spring of 2011 I could see that I was getting close to being able to sail ‘Eliza Rose’ and I had a list of the remaining jobs to get her ready. Most of this concerned finishing the radio installation including setting up the ‘pull-pull’ cords for the rudder servo. The latter job is a balance between having too much play in the lines so that the rudder control is sloppy and having the lines so taught that the servo binds at one extreme or other of its travel. When adjusted correctly there is around ¼” of play at the tip of the rudder.
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When the radio was set up correctly, I put the model in the back garden on a windy day and operated the sail winch control to pull the mainsail fully in and then fully out ten times or so, to make sure that nothing snagged or caught. The only remaining job to be able sail the boat was then to make a launching cradle or trolley. I already had a luggage trolley with two ‘fork-lift’ arms fitted to help launch my Thames Barge. I removed these two arms and made up a wooden cradle with two webbing straps to support the pilot cutter hull. I find this trolley a lot more convenient for launching and recovering the model. It’s not that the weight of the model is too difficult without a trolley (28lbs), it is more that it is difficult to get good handholds on the hull to lift it in and out of the water directly.
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Finally, all was ready and so on 31st July 2011 I took Eliza Rose down to the lake grounds at Portishead. The photo shows her being pushed off for the first time. At this point she had no topsail, dinghy, or anchors etc., and only the temporary centre hatch, but it was very encouraging to see her sail away steadily and to find out that she responded to the controls very nicely. There were no problems with the radio control set up and she sailed for about an hour and a half that day.
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Hi laker very nice thanks for all the detail. These days I suppose if you lived in the row of houses overlooking the lake you could say you were out for your constitutional and try and hide the tranny. My wife and I were moving house 16 / 17 years ago and we did consider living there!
Regards
Roy
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Yes, I'm lucky to live in Portishead with access to a really good model boating lake. Normally I keep sailing through the winter on good days but not this year. Hopefully better times to come...
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The only problem of any kind that I found from the first few sailings was that there was up to a half-inch of water in the bottom of the hull by the time I’d finished sailing. This was a puzzle until I spotted the gaps between the fibreglass hull and the plywood lining that I mentioned when I described cutting out the scupper holes previously. When the model heeled over in the wind, water was able to come in through the scupper holes and then down between the fibreglass side and the plywood liner, into the hull. It wasn’t hard to seal these gaps up with white silicone sealant once I had spotted them, and since then she hasn’t let in any water at all.
Knowing that the model sailed well I now felt ready to tackle the remaining details to finish it. There was still plenty to do:
· A proper main hatch including a skylight and planking
· A dinghy (or punt) with oars and cradle for the deck
· Windlass, anchor and chain
· Stove pipe
· Samson posts
· Tiller bar
· Topsail, topsail yard and topsail halyard.
· Nameplates
...and many further items that I eventually decided against, such as navigation lights.
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Like the temporary main hatch, I started the ‘proper’ main hatch by building a box from 1/16” plywood. On top of this I built the four sides for the skylight, again from 1/16” ply. The rest of the woodwork was all built up using limewood strip, as for the deck planking. The two windows are glazed with clear plastic and they are protected by the brass bars (cut from 1/16” brass wire for the model). The skylight was stained with pine stain to match the cockpit and companionway and the remaining planking was stained using coffee as I did for the deck. The whole thing was finished off with two coats of matt varnish. I also made up a small forward hatch using the same materials. I still need to make some small metal hinges and a handle for this little hatch. I probably didn’t need to make the front hatch removable – all I tend to use it for is that I take it off for a few days after sailing the model so that any dampness inside can escape.
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That Tar caulking looks very realistic indeed :-)) .... Derek
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Hi Derek and thanks for the feedback. I was pleased with how the planking and caulking came out.
Before the first sailing I also took the time to do some electrical checks on the radio installation. I fitted a 5A fuse in line from the lead acid battery to the radio receiver, because the large batteries in these models are quite capable of starting a fire if they short out. I also wanted to check that if the rudder servo or sail winch became stalled, the current wouldn’t be sufficient to fuse the radio out. I tested this with a multimeter and I needn’t have worried – the loaded current for the rudder servo is around 0.5A and the sail winch takes up to around 1.2A when stalled (this was actually quite hard to do – the joints in the sheets will probably give way first!). I have therefore left the 5A fuse in place to protect the whole installation and it has given no problems.
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Along with the GRP hull, Mike Mayhew of Waverley Models also supplied me with a moulded plastic hull for the dinghy or punt. This is the only other piece of plastic that I have used in fitting the model out, after the plasticard mast hoops. I have never been quite sure how the punt was held on the deck of these pilot cutters. For my model I decided to make up a small cradle from 1/16” ply and balsawood. This holds the punt in place on the deck and is largely hidden from view in any case, once the punt is in place.
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Fitting out the punt was a nice little job. The vacuum-formed hull did show some clinker-style planking but it looked very bare inside. I decided to fit a set of ribs cut from styrene sheet and then a kind rail around the sides of the hull, to support the benches. I then painted the interior matt white. Next was a small set of footboards made up from left-over decking limewood and then some benches from 1/16” plywood. I also carved a couple of oars from some scrap oak. I’m fairly pleased with the end result, but I would still like to replace it with a proper built-up planked punt model at some point in the future. To my eye, it is always very apparent when someone has gone to the trouble to build up a small boat from scratch and I would love to do the same eventually.
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I usually sail Eliza Rose with the punt sitting on the deck, however if the lake isn’t crowded then I can tie the painter to one of the samson posts and tow the punt behind the cutter, as shown in the second photo right at the start of this series.
The windlass assembly is largely as it came from Waverley Models, tweaked a little and stained to suitable finishes. The two anchors (an Admiralty anchor in the bows and a small Kedge anchor in the stern) also came from Waverley models – these are white metal castings.
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Talking of the samson posts, these were also carved from pieces of oak. I wanted then to be fixed very securely to the deck, so I put each one in the lathe and drilled a hole into the base to accept a wooden dowel. I drilled a similar size hole into the deck for each post and then glued the dowels into the posts and into the deck. The foresail and jib sheets are tied off on these.
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The tiller bar can also be seen in the photo above. It plugs into a brass socket at the top of the rudder post. I put the tiller bar in place for display but it has to be removed for sailing because it would foul the mainsail sheet. The tiller arm was carved from 1/8” mahogany. The brass fitting is made from ¼” x 1/16” brass strip bent into a U shape around the tiller bar. A brass pin was silver soldered into the brass strip to provide the fitting into the rudder socket.
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At this point I also got around to making up a topsail and topsail yard. This is removable and can be used or not for sailing depending on the wind strength. The cloth and stitching method are the same as for the other sails mentioned above. The topsail halyard passes through a hole near the top of the mast and is then led down to the deck and tied to a belaying pin on the starboard pinrail. This is the main fixture to hold the yard in place. The trailing edge of the topsail has a loop that slips over the end of the gaff, where the full-size cutter would have a running topsail sheet. Finally, there is a length of rigging (the ‘tack’) attached to the lowest corner of the topsail. When this is tensioned it ensures that the topsail yard stays upright and keeps the sail taught. This tack also leads down to the deck and is tied to another belaying pin.
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I won’t go through all the other remaining little bits and pieces one by one, but the name plates are worth a mention because I struggled to find out how to do these. These cutters seemed to have their names painted onto boards that were mounted towards the rear of the hull. Making up a pair of wooden nameplates to the right size was straightforward and I painted these matt black. My initial attempts to paint the white lettering by hand were laughable though and I quickly painted them over again. I then looked around for white lettering kits (transfers or sticky letters) but nothing was available in the right font and size. Finally, I played around on the computer to get the right lettering and size, and printed out ‘ELIZA ROSE’ in white letters on a black background onto good quality photo paper. I then cut these out and stuck them onto the wooden nameplates. I sealed the paper onto the nameplates with a couple of coats of matt varnish. The varnish seals them up watertight and thankfully it doesn’t seem to smudge or loosen the surface of the print. These nameplates have worked fine so far, although they are just starting to fade a little due to sunlight after nearly ten years. I may eventually need to print out some new ones and replace them.
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Probably the final additions were the two sheer poles that run along the tops of the deadeyes on either side. They are a nice detail and they help to keep the deadeyes facing outwards as well. I found that household bamboo skewers were the right diameter, as well as being lightweight and strong, so I cut some of these to length and stained them with a suitable dark woodstain. They were then sewn on to the rigging above each deadeye.
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Hi Lakar I am really enjoying this thread, right up my street. I agree the deadeyes with the sheer poles look good.
Thought you might like this anecdote. I was on a dive boat in Thailand 4 years ago. The Captain had a third share in the boat and was French but spoke English. The boat was a fishing boat and he bought it part built on the stocks and had it lengthened by a third, for passenger accomodation.
There were just 12 of us passengers and 14 crew on the boat for a week in the Andaman Sea, so lots of contact with crew. After getting to know him and finding out the origins, the boat was new but 'aged' with old fittings. I drew him to oneside and said all his 'deadeyes' were upside down.
He said they do not do anything, just there to look pretty. His words were to 'Add Character'.
regards
Roy
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Thanks Roy and it sounds like you had an interesting trip. Strange about the captain not realising the deadeyes were upside down, and it sounds as though the shipyard that built his boat didn't know either! I like anything on a model that works like the full-size article and it's nice to be able to tension the shrouds using the lanyards and deadeyes. I have a model Thames Barge in 1/24th scale which has much smaller deadeyes, but they are rigged the same way and work just as well.
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Many thanks for sharing this. It looks a superb model and like your approach to make it practicable for sailing. Am new to model boating and am considering a Marguerite hull from Sarik
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Hi Laker quite a few years ago we had a very very long running series on building the SS Great Brittain with all those masts. When the guy had finished the rigging he realised he had put all the deadeyes in wrongly. He was frustrated but to undo so much work was not going to happen.
As it happened we were preparing our own club stand at the ME exhibition when he arrived to show the model for the first time and I went across to help him move it on to his stand very nice model and most would never know the error.
I sometimes wonder how much time should be spent on a model and where to draw the line. There used to be a stand off scale competition and I would subscribe more to that. With your Eliza Rose there is nice crisp woodwork and simple presentation. She looks good on the water and responds well.
Maybe an ancient looking gent at the tiller would add a little character but that is all. After that you would have to choose wood which had the same grain effect as the full size and then it all gets a bit obscure.
From what I have seen of clothed figures on model boats they are best avoided.
Most people get the ropes wrong if it is not in use put it somewhere safe.
A couple of years ago I was sailing with my son and we were coming into moor up at his jetty sails down with the 40 HP engine and against tide and wind. We were on his 40 foot yacht I was at the starboard side by the shouds ready to catch a loop around the wood pile support for the jetty. About 10 feet away the engine stopped and would not start. He beared away and quickly unfurled the genoa sail and we picked up speed across the rather fast running tide.
We were positioned about half a mile from the 'Rip' bridge where the water nearly doubles its speed and the mast is too high to go under the bridge. We were being swept down towards it but we were making ground and getting across the tide, we tacked twice just on the fore sail and then he sailed us exactly to where I could catch a loop again. It was an expertly done bit of seamanship!
This all happened because someone up stream carelessly let a 40 foot polythene mooring rope fall off their boat! His Beneteau yacht has two rudders so that an entangled propeller does not affect using the rudders, if it had been a single rudder we may well have lost the yacht as it smashed its way under the bridge!
The next day at low tide he donned his face mask and with a sharp knife cut away the rope which had stretched and melted to quite a thin shape until it was all done. We then had two unequal lengths of good quality rope.
I found some whipping twine, trimmed the rope and whipped the frayed ends and presented him with one decent mooring rope and a shorter one which we never found a use for. So ropes are always secured even when about to use them and mooring ropes are stored in lockers.
If you want to identify the area, it is in Australia, north of Sydney at the Broken Bay entry leading to Brisbane Water which is under the bridge. The water is about 250 metres wide at this point and a strong tide runs up and down. We have to time our arrival as the draft of the yacht needs a full tide to navigate the winding channel to the sea. I would be there now but for covid!
Best regards
Roy
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Just to reply to Andy - great to hear from someone new to the hobby and I hope you continue to build a cutter model. I took a look at the Marguerite on Sarik's site and it looks an elegant hull, with the more traditional counter stern. I met David Alderton once too - his models are quite well known, especially here in the West country.
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Hello Roy and thanks for the feedback. It's funny how after spending so long looking at a model you stop seeing things. In my case I'm sure I intended to tidy up the loose ends of the rigging at some point but I have never got beyond coiling them up on the deck. I will look into it and perhaps fasten them to the pinrails.
Likewise I did intend putting a figure in the cockpit (perhaps a removable figure, because my wife isn't keen on the idea!). I too am wary of figures fitted with real cloth clothing. I will have another look at the mouldings available but I will need something fairly lightweight. It's certainly true that people notice the crew models on boats and ships when they're sailing.
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I think that pretty much brings us to the end of building ‘Eliza Rose’. If you have made it this far then thank you and I hope you have enjoyed it! She has turned out as well as I hoped, making a pretty model to display and sail although not finished to a museum standard. She has proved to be robust enough to de-rig and re-assemble many times over and she has been displayed many times at various model exhibitions in the West Country. I think she has been sailed about 50 times now and she’s clocked up about 60 hours on the water, sometimes sailing for a couple of hours at a time.
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I’m very much looking forward to sailing again – hopefully we will be allowed to use the lakes again in the Spring? I will try to get some better sailing photos of Eliza Rose to post here when the opportunity comes. I have quite a few photos of her on the water like this one from May 2013 but most of these are more what I would call ‘floating’ than sailing. This is probably because I had to take the pictures while I was sailing her and holding the transmitter. I will see if I can get some help with photography, in which case hopefully I can post some pictures of her heeling in the breeze and making some wake. In the meantime, it’s Valentine’s Day so I suppose I should finish this and pay some attention to my wife! All the best everyone and keep on building.
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Many thanks for a detailed record, it’s very useful, helpful and encouraging
I’ve ordered a Moonbeam kit as my first build and once learnt through this, will then look again at a Pilot Cutter hull.
Reading through various articles/posts many people mention “epoxy” but never confirm which type. I currently sail a “full size” boat and have had good success with West Epoxy for wood to GRP but wondered what others use?
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Hi Andy you have a PM.
Roy
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Hello Andy - probably the best advice is to look under 'Technical, Techniques, hints and tips' on this Forum - there is a whole section there on GRP and Epoxy with dozens of threads. When I did the glassfibre reinforcement of the deck braces etc. for Eliza Rose I used "David's Fastglas Resin and Hardener" which probably came from Halfords. It did the job and none of the joints have failed but I seem to remember it setting quite quickly so there wasn't much time to work with it. If I was starting again now I would probably buy one of the specialist modelling 2-part epoxy mixes that are available. For smaller epoxy tasks such as gluing the brass hinge fittings onto the rudder I used Araldite - I used both the 24hr and quick setting versions on this build in various places.
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Thanks
Advice much appreciated
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I've been meaning to come back to this thread and post some more sailing pictures to show the model with a bit more wind in the sails - sorry it has taken a while! Anyway I have been able to go sailing a number of times over the summer with this and some other models, so things are looking up again. On 22nd August I spent a very enjoyable Sunday at the Warminster model boat club's lake in the Warminster pleasure gardens. The lake is fantastic for model boating and the club is lively and very welcoming, so thanks again to the organisers. Early on I sailed the model with the topsail in place but as the day progressed the breeze got up to maybe 10-15mph and I took the topsail down again. This is when I took some photos and I did at last get some pictures of Eliza Rose heeling and making some progress. Not easy with the transmitter in one hand and my phone in the other!
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And here's one zoomed in a bit closer. The rowing boat (or punt) sits on a cradle on the deck just by the companionway. On calm days I sometimes tow it behind the cutter instead, but it was too breezy on that particular day and it can also be a bit hazardous if there are too many other models sailing nearby. I once had a bored seagull take a peck at the rowing boat as Eliza Rose towed it past at Portishead lake, but that's another story...
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Looks great
Very impressed
Was looking at Sarik’s Katie hull and bought the drawings
Looking back through the thread I wondered if it’s the same as yours ?
Did some web searches but found few references apart from some photos on the Sarik website
Thanks for letting us see your finished model
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Hello Andy,
That's an interesting observation about Sarik's 'Katie'. I took a look on their website and I agree with you, the shape of the GRP hull and the sail plan both look very similar. Looking at the hull dimensions, they quote 33cm beam which matches my model and 103cm length. My hull is 102cm long - slightly less but not much.
My hull was supplied by Mike Mayhew of Waverley models in Clevedon, and the GRP is a yellowish colour inside. Sarik's Katie hull appears to be white. The name 'Dyarchy' was handwritten inside the hull when I obtained it. I believe that Mike Mayhew and David Alderton were not on good terms at that time either, so I very much doubt that Mike obtained the GRP hull from David.
I also tried to research 'Dyarchy' at the time I was building this one. All I could find were these two entries on www.woodenboatvb.com (http://www.woodenboatvb.com):
(1) "The "Original" 41 foot Dyarchy was indeed a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter - built in 1901 at Pill by Cooper. In 1937, her owner commisioned Laurent Giles to design him a new boat - and the name "Dyarchy" was carried on to this new design, which is one of the finest examples of modern gaff-rigged sailing craft. The original BCPC was broken up and no longer exists."
(2) "Most of the original Bristol Channel Pilot cutters were typically in the 49 foot + range on deck. A few smaller boats with transom sterns were built as well. One typical of this smaller version was the 38 foot 'Dyarchy' built by Cooper at Pill in 1901. The boat has long since gone, but you can still buy 'study-plans' for it from the Greenwich Maritime Museum in the UK (they also have a website -try a search). These are only sufficient to build models from though."
Based on this I believed that my model's hull was indeed based on the 'Dyarchy', one of the shorter transom-stern pilot cutters described above. From the 102cm length of my hull and a scale of 1:12, the original would have been 40' and 2", which lies in the range quoted above for the original.
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Thanks
Very informative
I did a search for Waverley models but notice that the most recent reference is in 2018 and wonder if retirement has come ?
I suppose I’m not looking for an accurate reproduction but “in the style” off and influenced by, would be suitable.
Although my Moonbeam is not yet finished, there are thoughts about what next and a traditional working boat appeals. They look like they would sail well and that is an important criteria, as I sail in full size boats. Not really interested in racing and certainly don’t ask me about the latest America’s Cup craft! Nothing on the original J class.
Your contribution here is most appreciated as it answers several questions about how to do things which I was uncertain off. The plans for Katie contain some information but maybe more suitable for the experienced modeller. But feel I may order a hull . I’ll let you know . I’d like to explore how to use a second winch on the jobs.
On a slightly wider note, interesting that there isn’t more interest in building traditional sailing boats. Model boat magazine has limited coverage of sailing and the MYA seems all about racing. I look through the various forums and the Thames barge enthusiasts seem to meet up but in a wider context non racing boats that actually sail seem to be in a minority. Boats need to be seen on the water actually sailing! Apologies to those who build wonderful accurate scale models.
If I’ve missed something I’d be happy to be corrected!
Thanks
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Hi AndyB.... We think the same I have a pilot boat, passed on to me part started and I would love to get her going. The scale type yachts and working craft look good on the water as you say.
I have a Graupner Norderney fishing boat with a full gaff rig and she looks a treat on the water. Contrary to the kit instructions I use internal ballast and a full rig and she sails a bit like a pig but I am the only one who knows! ( well maybe you as well now).
I have to reassemble another sailing fishing boat as well but that has been hanging around for a while now.
Regards
Roy
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Hi Andy here she is sailing.
Roy
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Hello Andy,
Sorry, I should have mentioned above that Waverley Models of Clevedon ceased trading a few years ago. It was back in 2008 that I bought my 'Dyarchy' hull - quite a while ago now. The 'Katie' hull that you have found seems almost identical though so I would be very confident that it would make a good model to sail. I hope you decide to go ahead with it - as you say it would be good to see more scale sailing models on the water these days. You mentioned the Model Boats magazine and I'm a subscriber too. Did you see Neville Wade's 4-masted ship models?
I decided against fitting radio control to the foresail (or the jib) but it should be easy enough if you would like to do it. I think I would use a strong servo with a lever arm for the sheet to control the foresail and/ or jib, rather than a second winch. The mainsail only needs a winch because the travel is so much greater (about 18" movement on mine) and because the mainsail is so much bigger.
I hope the Moonbeam works out well. I have seen one sailing at the Woodspring club and it was quite fast, at least in comparison to the scale cutters and barges.
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Hi with regards to the foresail which is relatively small I run mine on sliding fixed loop so it moves across when tacking. On a later yacht I improved on this still using a sliding foresail, but bring the end of the loop to a standard servo with a 2 inch arm and this operates from a 3rd. channel, and tightens or loosens the sail. This works very well and you can see the increase in speed as it is tightened up and the air flows better on the jib.
Regards
Roy
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Sorry to add to this thread but I have bought a Katie hull from Sarik. It came quickly and they did check if I wanted the drawings but it was easy to explain that I'd already purchased these. It arrived via DHL and was quite well packed, with a piece of expanded polystyrene in the hull to stop it being crushed.
Beam is 13.5 inches and length 40 inches. The moulding looks good, but does not have a smooth gloss finish. Its very slightly rough but this could reflect a wooden surface, once finished. I won't be starting it the near future as there are a couple of other projects to be finished first. But will think about sail control etc. Hopefully there will be enough space so the rudder can be operated directly from a servo, using two "push pull" rods.
Then there is the sails - I'd like to control both the mainsail and headsails. Might think about adding a boom to the inner jib (not totally true to full size boats) and control this with the mainsail winch. The front jib could slide on a loop and the tension of this loop controlled by another servo. The final option would be to use two winch servos, but the one operating the two jibs would need a long travel, so it could let out the windward sheet enough, so the leeward sheet could be pulled tight.
Was interested in the system used in the Flyer design by [size=78%]BOATS (bearospaceindustries.com) (http://www.bearospaceindustries.com/boats2.html)[/size] Think some paper/card models will need to be made to see how much travel will be needed. Any thoughts and advice would be welcome.
The hull has quite a large volume and think it will need quite a bit of ballast to load it down to the waterline. The drawings suggest 14lbs to 16lbs of lead, perhaps a test in the bath will be needed. I've got some photos but can't work out how to load them - will have a read (there must be some instructions somewhere) and try again later.
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Hello again Andy and I'm really glad to hear you have gone ahead and bought the Katie hull. It might be an advantage that the hull isn't glossy smooth, at least in terms of helping the paint to adhere.
I haven't looked at the Bearospace website for some time and so I hadn't seen the 'Flyer' design. Its a pretty boat and looks to have a lot in common with these Pilot Cutters, although with a hard-chined hull.
Interesting that you received some guidance on the amount of ballast to use in your hull. Mine didn't come with any information like that and I had to find out by experiment! I think their guideline is about right though. My 'Eliza Rose' has about 15lb of metal ballast (made up of about 5lb of brass bar on the keel and the remainder in lead shot as described on the first page of the thread above). I only fixed about 11lb or so of it into the hull as I was building it though, not being quite sure of how much weight I would add with the deck etc. and whether I would need to trim it fore and aft. The remaining 4lb of lead shot is sewn into cloth bags which lie in the bottom of the hull and which can be moved around or even taken out to change the trim. Using cloth bags for ballast is quite well known in the local clubs here and it works well.
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Thanks, I’ll look into the idea of the extra bags. It’s suggested for the Moonbeam I’m currently building, which is approaching being finished, as I’m into the rigging now but keep having different ideas about how to attach “things”, the balance between keeping things practical and robust for actual sailing and making it look authentic.
I’ll certainly follow your idea of the brass keel band and also the way you used thin ply around the gunwales. Both excellent pieces of advice. Sorry I haven’t added any photos of the Katie hull, can’t work out how to do it !
Computers !
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Dear Laker,
Just finished reading your entire thread and I must say that I am very impressed. The timeless beauty of a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter is something to behold. Your workmanship is top notch and beautifully executed. You must be very proud. You have humbled and inspired me and I thank you for sharing.
Best regards, Dennis
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Hello Dennis and thank you for the kind words. The Forum is great for sharing these build stories around the world it is nice to be able to put something back in. By the way, I am following your Cutty Sark story and looking forward to see it taking shape. Many years ago I had the Revell plastic kit of her - the smaller one at 1/220 scale, but that has long since gone. Yours will be much more impressive I'm sure.
Andy - if you are still reading this, I hope your 'Katie' model build goes well. I would be interested to follow it if you choose to start a new thread for it on the Forum.
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Thank you kind sir. Oh yes, the Sark will be the kind of challenge that I need. She will be a slow build for sure. Already, there are many scale upgrades I will have to make to bring this kit up to representing this fine vessel as she needs to be. So fortunate that there is now a ton of detail info on-line with pictures and authoritive books. It should be a fun build. I know that I'm doing over-kill with the balsa filler between bulkheads, but I have found this to be the best method for gaining a sound substrate for the single planking that I will be doing. Someday, I would like to build a Bristol Cutter and even own a full size one! I think that will have to wait until Heaven. Be well, Dennis
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Hi - building Katie
I’ve “book marked” this thread, as it’s going to be an invaluable source of information.
So far I’ve bought a HS645S servo for the rudder and one HS785MG winch. I’m wondering if there will be space for two winches, one on the port side and the other on the starboard side. This would give a longer travel, as the winch system will be able to go up the side of the mast towards the bow. This hopefully will give enough travel for the front jib sheets, but aim still considering a lightweight easy to remove boom for inner jib. There must be a correct name for the two jibs rather than front and inner.
I’d like to make a winch system which is easy to remove/maintain, which might mean making the access hatch slightly larger. I think things will start off with some cardboard templates to mock up the rudder etc.
I’ll take some photos but need to finish the Moonbeam first and also learn how to upload photos here.
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Hi Andy, you can make a winch system that is separate from the boat. You construct the winch end and then use a half inch wide dowel of what ever length you want and the return pulley is located on that. You can then push the pulley end in to a peg to locate it in the bow.
Have loops or hooks on the wind in part of the string and attach the sail sheets with a small adjusting bowsies. Make sure the sail sheets go over small pulleys so that they travel down the length of the winch line.
The winch end should have a locating screw to take the strain of the sails. The other end does not have to be accessible perhaps a guide to firmly locate the end.
Good luck, hope it helps.
Roy