Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length.

[meatbomber]

Hello shipmates :)

i`ve started another square rigger model. his time i felt it`s time to start with a type of build i have not tried and even dreaded before... a planked hull.
i didn`t feel confident enough to start soemthing completely from scratch so i was looking for a suitable static model kit for a conversion. I have for a long time fallen in love with the british Cruizer class Brig sloops, and lookign for a kit of it i not only found a Cruizer by Lotika Ltd but also teh Ship rigged HMS Snake, which shares the same hull and only differs in the rig. Hard decision... i love them both, but the final decision was for Snake as the kit had been recently updated.
When i got teh kit i was very impressed with teh quality and comepleteness of it`s content :)

From Jotika:
"The Snake class were ship rigged sloops. This class was very business like with a flush deck and nine cannons or carronades each side, they were very fast and seaworthy. As originally built Snake had a full ordinance of 32 pounder carronades. Carronades replaced the carriage guns because at close quarters the short range carronades proved devastating to their opponents. Class dimensions were: length 100’; breadth 30’6”; displacement 382 tons with a crew of 121."

The Scale of 1/64 allows for a model that should be well suitable for a RC conversion. a direct scale down of the 382ton displacement gives an estimate displacement of the model of 1,4kg, which should be doable... with 200g of RC, 500g of ballast and 700g for the ship.
The RC side of the ship will be 3 channels, a rudder servo that will be hidden under the small poop deck, and 2 sail winches in the hold.
I´d like to run the headsails and foremast square sail braces of teh forward winch and the main and mizzen braces as well as the spanker sheet from the second winch. Currently i have got 2 GWS single turn winches, which if possible i`d like to stretch with a servo stretcher to several turns... to get more travel, if that doesn`t work (can only be mechanical reason inside but i doubt it) i have to look for other winches or maybe go to servo arms.

now here`s a question for Jimmy james and all the rest of you guys :)
I´d liek to use not onyl braces but maybe also bowlines for the squares, in teh style of jimmies system on Firedragon. Jimmy do you have an idea on how to incorporate that with below deck winches instead of above deck capstans ?

well the answer to this has some time... i`m currently doing the second layer of planking on the hull so until i get to the point of radio installation it will be some more time  

[pugwash]

Looking pretty tidy so far - keep up the good work.

Geoff

[meatbomber]

stbd side 2nd planking completed.. on to port side

[Jimmy James]

Phillip
 Nice model  To make her sail you will need a false keel    As for Bowlines the simple way is from the crows foot on the starb'd side (Fore topsail ) through a block lashed to the forestay (Topmast) and back to the outer end of the foreyard on the port side You can also run it down to the port tack of the fore course instead of the yard
Jimmy


Not a very good diagram but I did it in a hurry ,,,,,if you want I can do a better one

Freebooter

[Jimmy James]

This is the way I rig the crows feet
Jimmy

[meatbomber]

got the other side done and also the bullwark inner planking done. Now it`s filling all the gaps with wallnut filler and sanding.
I made some floating test in teh tub to see how accurate my displacement estimates were and it seems i gained about 100g so i have about a total displacement of 1500g :) The hull now at this stage already weights 440g but thank god only teh deck planking to be finished, then pretty much all the structural weight is there. How much the masts and deck furniture are going to weight i don`t know yet..

[Nordsee]

Lovely work! But I cannot imagine how you are going to get all the RC gear and winches inside!

[meatbomber]

Yea that will be interesting won`t it

it`s only 2 winches installed in the hull, one under each hatch and the rudder servo will sit niext to teh tiller under the poop deck. i`m thinking of maybe adding 2 small servos (8g each) for the Jib sheets and the spanker sheet, but that depends on the weight when i have all the structure completed. 

[Jimmy James]

I'm Looking forward to seeing the results
Jimmy

[meatbomber]

got some more done with teh hull... she got the main wales and a bit of paint. m also starting to install the coppering

[meatbomber]

got some more coppering done. it´s quite an effort, but i hope teh end result is worth it : )

[dreadnought72]

Looking great!

If this is a success, I can imagine a fleet of 1/64th scale Nelsonian ships would look awesome.

Andy

[pugwash]

Very impressed - especially the copper sheet. How is it done and how have you made the sheets - is it real
copper or the stick on copper sheet like the tape you put round plant pots to ward of the slugs.
Geoff

[meatbomber]

Thanks guys :)

There is real copper plate that comes with teh kit, 0,15mm thick But i didn`t use the plates from the kit due to weight considerations. Searching for a lighter substitute i finaly found an aluminium foil that is copper coatedand has teh same thickneshe. I tested with 30 plates of both material and found the aluminium foil to be only 30% of the weight ! So instead of 115g of weight only about 35g at the end.
I made a jig with 10 of the original copper plates that i use to print through the nail pattern onto strips of the alu foil. goes pretty well. Afterwards i found self adhesive copper tape of exactly teh right width that would have made installing the plates far quicker and would have spared me the need to cut strips from the sheet at the same width  but with the CA i use to stick them on now i`m at least sure they are going to stay on.

[pugwash]

Thanks for the explanation.
Geoff

[Jimmy James]

A picture is worth a Thousand words
 Well done Phillip
Jimmy

[meatbomber]

I completed the first half of the coppering... on to the next 500 plates...

[Jimmy James]

Coppering can be a real pain in the neck to do, but when you are finished it looks superb, and when it starts to weather and turn green there is no hull finish like it
 I used to copper my hulls years ago but no longer have the patients, but I applaud any one who will do it
Jimmy   

[meatbomber]

it IS a lot of work i have to say.. but ilike the end result :) coppering finished. pending clean-up of ca spills and where my sticky fingers took teh copper off

[Edward Pinniger]

The coppering looks very impressive! I'll have to look out for some of that copper aluminium foil myself, previously I've used real copper tape which is rather expensive and, as you say, heavy.

[meatbomber]

Jerry Tod on RCG had a great idea of using aluminium tape (speed tape or instant airplane in aviation) it sticks extremely well, and is light, and after you`re finished you spray it copper... seems to be to me the cheapes and easiest sollution! i`ve got 2 1/24 scale models on the stocks as well that will need coppering and i`m wondering if just making teh plates with no fake nail patterns isn`t already enough

[Little Rascal]

That's bloomin' gorgeous!

Nicely done mb!

[tigertiger]

Great job.

Question, did copper bottoms turn green after a while? Just curious is all.

[meatbomber]

They should, but it would be a pretty mottled green i guess

[Jimmy James]

Did copper bottoms turn green?......The answer is yes...However in the North Atlantic it used to take several months.... in Tropic waters it took less time to turn green
 the shade of green depended on the grade of copper and if it was wet or dry...Ive served on 2 vessel (Both large sailing vessels) one of them was freshly coppered and just out of dry dock when I joined the sheets above and just below the water line and most of the plates on the bow had to be replaced, this had to be done every 2 or 3 years as this area gets the most wear and tear, other plates would last 4,5,or 6 years but it was inspected at least once a year..
 Jimmy
Freebooter