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Author Topic: ULCC build  (Read 35505 times)

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #50 on: January 22, 2011, 04:10:32 am »

More progress has been made.

Last weekend I was able to apply some F/G mat on both the bow and stern areas. Unfortunately I ran out of cloth after I had done the stern area and had to go get some more. Model shops in NZ seem not to carry these products any more, but I was referred to a supplier of all things F/G related who had something appropriate to use, if not the same as what I had before.

That had pretty much all week to cure and last night I started sanding. That has worked out quite well and, maybe because I ended up using a Black & Decker multi-sander on the bigger areas, I was able to get it done quote quickly. 80 grit sandpaper get through it quote quickly!

Due to the epoxy I've been using being bought from a hardware store the cure time on it was surprisingly long. This has meant that even though I kept an eye on it, the epoxy has left runs down some of the surfaces. Some of the areas are a little thicker than others and some a little thinner than others. I've gotten all the high areas out, but where there are bits that I can't sand smooth because they are too low I am filling with body filler. The stern was the easiest to deal with and has given the best result after sanding. The bow needs quite a bit of attention with the filler. That is drying now.



End update :)
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #51 on: January 31, 2011, 05:06:03 am »

This week has been a long progression of bog-work and sanding. Multiple applications of bog have been required to get everything right, but we have finished with all of that.

Some shots of the progress:







You can see from the different colours of the bog the different mixes that have been applied.
Note that the white filler that can be seen is Polyfilla, a typical home-handyman product and it is sealed under epoxy, cloth and more epoxy.

Sanding the bog was done with 80 grit, 120 grit, 220 grit and finally 800 grit papers and its fair to say I went through quite a bit. After the 800 grit paper, the hull is very smooth to the touch and after a weekend away and did all the catch-up mowing and car-cleaning, I was able to wash the hull off with water and a cloth to get rid of all the dust that the vacuum cleaner and brush wouldn't remove.

So that part is all done and now I need to move on to sorting out the rudder and it's construction. I had some inspiration on that front, but it might take a while for it all to come together. When there is progress, I will update.
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #52 on: February 01, 2011, 09:57:15 am »

So, a day off work can do wonders for progress - this was quicker to do than I thought it would be.

As a picture paints a thousand words, here's a picture of the unassembled rudder bits - I hope it's self explanatory (BTW, that pic is slightly larger than my normal, so the detail is visible):



I used a tap and die to thread the hole in the supporting metal strip at the right of the image and then to turn the thread onto the short piece of 1/8th brass rod. I hadn't done this sort of work for quite a while, so even though it's not perfect, I think it will do the job.

The next step will be to assemble this...
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #53 on: February 07, 2011, 08:20:55 am »

So I was thinking about how this arrangement would work and was trying to convince myself that it would actually work. Mostly I was concerned that in trying to get the rudder blade onto the rudder shaft, the rudder shaft would disappear up into the hull where I wouldn't reach it (as it will be buried under the aft deck), as there was nothing to hold it in place. After a bit of thought I decided I needed a circlip on the rudder shaft to stop it being pushed back up into the hull. I even thought I had previously salvaged a circlip from a toy, but couldn't find it - so I had to make one. Unfortunately the photos I took of this were all a bit too blurry to use, so all I have is a photo of the incomplete circlip after I'd tested it on a bit of spare brass rod. I cut down the diameter of the rod using a hacksaw and sawing gently while rotating the rod. The whole thing actually worked quite well!



After I'd gotten started I realised that the circlip could in fact be permanently attached to the shaft, so I ended up soldering it in place which I did with standard solder and a gas torch - the soldering iron didn't produce enough heat.

Here's a pic of the shaft and unfinished rudder:



Anyway, after much fitting and fettling and so on, I got his far:



Notice, if you will, the proximity of the end of the prop shaft to the edge of the rudder... This became a bit of a problem when the prop was fitted, as the Raboesch prop has (had!) a lovely tapered cone at the end. It was either sacrifice this fine piece of metal work or some of the rudder - and given the size of the rudder vs. the length of the model, it had to be the prop... I also added some 16th ply to sides of the rudder and gave it a bit of shape. The end result is this:



By removing the bottom bracket that the rudder sits on, the rudder can come off allowing the prop and prop shaft to be removed. Also the rudder shaft can drop out. With the circlip riding on the end of the rudder tube everything can be reassembled. The end of the prop needs tidying up some more, but that will probably need a lathe (something I don't have) as the end of the prop is now right about level with the tips of the propellor blades make a file unuseable.
In that last pic the rudder tube is also fixed into the hull with superglue at the bottom end, so that is now a permanent fixture.

I hope that you are not finding these posts to wordy - I seem to have this need to explain what it is I'm doing along with the pics...
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #54 on: April 09, 2012, 09:51:07 am »

Dear-o-dear, how time flies - last post was just over 14 months ago... Good grief...
At least in that time I've built one other boat (the Hibbard) and also fitted out a fibreglass hull for my sons first boat too.

So I started looking at what the next steps were and decided that, with all the lead that was going to be permanently in the hull, I needed to get everything under the waterline sorted out before the lead went in - I didn't want to be turning the boat over once the lead was put in and risk it falling out...

Looking at the hull, I realised that there were quite a few little pinholes in the epoxy covering that needed to be sorted out. So I took the hull outside and sprayed grey all over it - the idea being that once sanded back I would be able to see the highs and lows in the hull:





After sanding back, I started with the filler. The light grey is the Tamiya filler. It works quite nicely:



After several days of doing that, the hull is actually quite nice and, from that perspective ready to paint.

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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #55 on: April 09, 2012, 10:04:59 am »

Arrgh - just hit the wrong red X in the top right and closed Chrome down in the middle of composing my post.

One of the things I was waiting for inspiration with was the kort nozzle. I couldn't figure out how to do it. I made several attempts to make it our of plastic strip and these all ended up as irregular ovals rather than nice circles. My sister-in-law solved the problem for me by getting a new boyfriend who works at a company that make carbon fibre fittings and bits and pieces for superyachts (southernspars.com - could be a useful chap to get to know?!) Anyway, he provided, after several reminders, a couple of suitable bits to use. After a bit of mucking about we ended up with:



Not totally as per regulations, but sufficient for the purpose. I attached to short lengths of 0.7mm brass wire to it top and bottom to locate it to the hull - the grey on the nozzle is the filler I used to smooth the glue (epoxy) out.

With prop in place (not location of the securing nut (lol):



Both of these photos were taken after dark, so the detail is not stellar...
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #56 on: April 09, 2012, 10:37:36 am »

The other bits that I felt needed to be sorted out prior to paint were the bits what were the anchors go up to - not the hawse pipes themselves (if I even have that term right...) but the big fat bumper bits on the bow where the anchor rests - these bits:



I have no idea what these are called, so if someone can tell me I will have learnt something else today!

Anyway, they needed to be made. I considered several approaches including gluing or soldering several washers together to make them and molding them with epoxy as I had done with other bits. But I couldn't find suitable washers and neither could I figure out what to make a mold out of.

Several weeks went by and then on Good Friday I was looking at all the crap I have on my shelves and spotted a plastic container of solder. "Hmm..." I thought, "there may be a use for that" and there was! So I took the remaining solder out and cut the tube into pieces then hot-glued them to a bit of play to use as a base:



I then mixed up the remainder of my epoxy and poured it into the tubes and let it set.
Today (Easter Monday) I removed the hot melt glue, prized the tubes and epoxy off the ply and cut the tube. Fortunately the epoxy didn't stick to the tube at all (I was counting the fact that it might not), so once the tube was cut, it came away quite easily:



I then drilled a 5/32 hole through the centre of each bit, into which I put a 5/32 screw and fixed that in place with a nut. This I then placed into the drill in my drill press and, having marked out the length I wanted, proceeded, with the drill running, to use a small hacksaw, held horizontally and still (the drill turning provided the cutting motion, all I had to do was adjust the depth of the blade continuously), to cut away the excess:



Half an hour or so's work with, sandpaper, chisel and rasp allowed me to shape and profile the cured epoxy to what I wanted - more or less:



Since this last photo I have removed some of the excess of the smaller diameter length as it was too long, and now, to my eye, it looks good. I may revisit that again, and I still need to do the other one too.
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Alister

rmaddock

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #57 on: April 09, 2012, 10:45:47 am »

That was a very cunning bit of construction....if I may make so bold.  :-))
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AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #58 on: April 09, 2012, 09:30:21 pm »

you may - and thank you :)
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #59 on: April 14, 2012, 02:05:07 am »

And now a pair:



which are waiting to be fitted, which may well take place this afternoon, all things being equal.

Anyone going to tell me what they are called?
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Alister

michael 1979

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #60 on: April 14, 2012, 02:44:32 am »

I  believe that the main reason for these fixtures is to allow the Anchor to clear the Hull at the Bulb. If the Hawsers were flush to the hull the Anchor would scrape the hull everytime they let it go.
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AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #61 on: April 28, 2012, 02:32:58 am »

Hi Michael,
 
Thank you - I'd figured out what they were for, but wondered if they had a specific name. Never mind...

So I did indeed glue "them" on and then puttied them up with some of that good Tamiya stuff. After a bit of sanding they come out like this:





Once I had done that I decided to get a bit of undercoat on it:







This is the hull as it is now, with two coats of good quality undercoat/primer/sealer on it (Dulux brand if anyone is interested), but not rubbed down in between. What I found was that, like Bryan Young (at least I think it was Bryan!) once the paint was on and I could see it in daylight, what I thought was smooth was most definitely not. I figured two good coats would help fill some of the smaller imperfections up a bit, and given that there is no detail on the hull, I wasn't going to be hiding anything.

So there we are, awaiting some sanding, which I hope will be today.
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Alister

derekwarner

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #62 on: April 28, 2012, 05:20:08 am »

Guys....yes they have three functions....... :o

1. to make the take up point outboard of the hull
2. to provide a wear band [ring] so the anchor chain doesn't wear the hull away
3. as a structural reinforcement so the anchor doesn't burst through the hull plating before the anchor winch relief valves open.....when hauling in 

%) Derek
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AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #63 on: June 30, 2012, 03:59:41 am »

So there was indeed more sanding and filling to sort out the highs and lows, but we got there eventually.

After a bit of a lay-off, caused by tripping around the place, including visiting St. Evenage (or something like that...) and recovering, I went in search of some paint. I liked the idea of representing the Jahre Viking as she is (was...) in that really rusty red-orange finish. It would I suspect have been relatively easy to go with the Seawise Giant colours of green and black - but anyone can paint a tanker those colours and call it real, so I thought this was more interesting.

Well interesting is one word, but it culminated in spending about an hour in the local Bunnings at the paint desk. Bunnings in NZ is a hardware, tools, wood, gardening, landscaping type place, not quite the same as they are in Aus I understand. Anyhoo, I took a couple of scanned photos in and said what I was after, and to the credit of the staff they took a real interest in getting a good colour for me. We ended up with a true red base with a heck of a lot of orange tint in it. It's actually a gloss that I got, so the top coats will require a light sanding to remove that finish. Thus far two coats have been applied by hand and left for a week. Today I was able to get a bit of wet and dry done on the hull to see how it comes up.





Not too bad all said and done - needs a few more coats however and I may resort to using my airbrush - I just need to decide whether that will make life easier or not.
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #64 on: August 19, 2012, 04:27:41 am »

So after all that I did resort to the airbrush... The first attempt worked quite well, but the second didn't and I took quite a long time - in excess of 30 minutes each time. I think I had thinnned down the paint too much and I just wasn't getting the coverage. Bored with that I went and got an automotive touch up gun. Which worked much better, but prefers a thicker paint consistency and doesn't require much thinning. The only downside to this is the orange peel effect which I have been sanding out...





Yes it is wet - it's hanging up to dry.

The other thing that was done in between painting and rubbing down was coat the inside of the hull, particularly the plywood areas with polyester resin to water proof it.
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Alister

AlisterL

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It Floats!
« Reply #65 on: August 17, 2015, 05:32:10 am »


After lots of mucking about with various things, we find that not only does it float, but the pumps now work.


Video url: [size=78%]https://youtu.be/By8uTcFMbEg[/size]
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Alister

Brian60

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #66 on: August 17, 2015, 08:22:15 am »

Blinking Eck Alistair. Talk about long duration build!. When I saw the title I thought 'not noticed that topic before' Then I saw the date it began :o :o

I now need to go back and read it all from the beginning, but glad to see you are back on it, hopefully it'll be finished before 2020 {-) {-)

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #67 on: August 17, 2015, 10:39:23 am »

it'll be ready for the scrap yard by the time he finishes, lol  :}
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AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #68 on: August 17, 2015, 10:43:05 pm »

Haha - maybe before 2020. Good thing the ply was treated however :)
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Alister

AlisterL

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Internal Layout
« Reply #69 on: September 19, 2015, 01:35:33 am »

After some mucking around - quite a bit actually this is the layout internally.
[/size]
[/size]First the aft section with the RC and Drive gear in it:
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]Fairly standard except for:


[/size]1: the relay and switch that powers everything on - bottom left.
[/size]2: servo used to power the pumps (forward and reverse). This controlled from a 3-way switch on my Turnigy 9x (I knew that would be useful eventually!)
[/size]
[/size]Aft ballast tank:
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]Notable for all the pipes running through it that carry power cables in various direction. Also notable for the leak that I hope I have now fixed.

[/size]All the screw holes are for the 2mm HIP styrene sheet cover that goes on it.
[/size]
[/size]Central battery and pump space:
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]I think i mentioned in previous post that the pumps are windscreen washers. It turns out that the orginal motors that they were attached to were slow and, as one had a leak, prone to rust. I removed the motors and discovered the pumps used a gear mechanism - yay. In order to make the now motorless pumps work again i resorted to the arrangement you see, turning the pulleys out of some nylon rod on my (new to me) very old Sherline lathe. This, in testing, seems to works well and quite quickly.
[/size]
[/size]I have also abandoned the 12v SLA battery as too heavy and unable to support the current draw for the pump motors, which runs to about 9 amps while running. 2 x 2200mAh LiPo's are now used. It also means 2.5g's that I no longer need to lug around.
[/size]
[/size]Forward ballast tank:
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]Similar to the aft, but fewer pipes for wiring.
[/size]In both tanks I had set the aluminium angle bar on the side of the hull - then realised that this gave me no room to remove the styrene sheet covering for each tank should I need to - which I will as the pumps don't quite empty the tanks. So these were rebuilt to inset the sides by about 20mm.
[/size]
[/size]Forward pumps:
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]
[/size]Same principle as the centre pumps.
[/size]
[/size]
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Alister

AlisterL

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Deck Layout
« Reply #70 on: September 19, 2015, 01:48:57 am »

Sorry about the HTML tags in the last post - they didn't seem to want to go away...


So, having sorted all that out I needed to figure out how the deck was going to work - particularly around access to the various spaces in the hull.
Having previously purchased some 2mm HIP styrene sheet for the purpose, cut some to length and width and stared at it for a while.
This morning I have been using the card model I purchased and started as a reference for laying out the major items on the deck in pencil.


Aft superstructure section:





With any luck you will be able to see the pencil marks.


Centre-aft section:





Centre-forward section:





You can just see where the deck starts to turn in to the bow.


This is still loose at the moment - not glued in place.
My thoughts are to cut out a section from the aft end of the superstructure around the long structures that run along the length of the hull and then to the end of this sheet. This would provide one big removable section that has the superstructure and most of the pipework on it allowing access to the hull - rather than many little bits. This would also allow assembly of the pipework and stuff off the model.


At this stage I'm not sure whether I will cut this section out entirely before affixing the outer edge of the deck or if I should score the removable section, but leave it still attached during the gluing process to make sure that it all stays aligned properly.


Decisions, decisions...
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Alister

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #71 on: September 19, 2015, 02:38:21 am »

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AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #72 on: October 25, 2015, 12:02:19 am »

One of the things that I thought that I would not do was put a curve in the deck across the width of the hull. For various reasons I decided that this wasn't necessary. However, having cut the deck out and looking at it sitting on the hull it seemed to me that it needed to be there.


Using the card model as a template I was able to figure out what the radius of the arc needed to be - it turns our that there is a mathematical formula that can be used to calculate the radius of a circle for a known length of chord and the height above it. My radius was about 1.12m.


I scribed out the arc on some plastic strip and cut them roughly to shape and glued them in place with 5 min. epoxy. Once in place I used a 600mm straight edge ruler to find the highs and lows, and it turns out the edges of the straight edge were sharp enough that I could use it to scrape the pastic, peeling a then strip of each time and get them to a regular shape.


Aft view:



Fwd view:



You can also see above the ballast tanks and the centre battery compartment where I added extra support at the sides to support the curve in these places. These support are made out of several thicknesses of the 2mm styrene glued, together then to the hull. They cannot go all the way across the hull as I want to be able to take the plastic top off the tanks.
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #73 on: October 25, 2015, 12:10:25 am »

I needed then to make sure that the curve of the deck was carried onto the removable centre section. Instead of using styrene for this I used pre-shaped 12mm square pine lengths that I cut as neccessary for the width - as the width across the centre section does vary. I decided to use pine as I felt that the plastic would be likely to twist along its length and not offer the support i needed, especially when it was off the hull. I offered the pine up to the nearest and/or most appropriate plastic strip previously shaped and traced it onto the pine. I then shaped the curve on the pine with a spoke-shave. This seemed to work very well - after I sharpened the spoke-shave :)


These pieces of pine were then glued into the appropriate place under the deck with 24hr epoxy thus:


Aft:



Forward:



When dry and sitting in place on the hull we get this:



So the next - and big step - is to glue the deck down onto the hull. I may procrastinate about this for a while... And yes I know the bench is a mess!
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Alister

AlisterL

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Re: ULCC build
« Reply #74 on: December 05, 2015, 09:20:30 pm »

A quick update.


I put the deck on - 24hr Araldite did the trick.


I had the deck on for about 3 weekends and during that time increasingly came to the realisation that the top edges of the hull where the deck was glued down were not as straight and level as I had thought. I presume that when I was sanding the top of the hull down that I introduced this wonky-ness to it.


So the deck came off - surprisingly easily I have to say - it just pealed off with minimum effort.


And now I am trying to address the problem...


Hopefully another update not too far away.
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Alister
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