I been playing again!
I decided Tini-Titanic Mk III needed proper contoured sails for the best sailing efficiency into wind
Mk II's sails are cut flat and they're okay but I want better
The big boys cut sails from shaped sailcloth panels sewn together . . . . .
We build a hull by first making a form on which to lay planks . . . . .
So I made a contoured form on which to lay my proposed sail panels . . .
Here are all the sail panels taped down ready for the superglue treatment
I made the form from cereal box card supported underneath at maximum chord by bits of wood bonded to the cardboard with superglue.
The form is then taped at all its edges to a flat formica board. Master Hand's screive board to be precise!
I discovered superglue don't like sellotape nor polythene shopping bags so I used both to stop the sailcloth panels sticking to anything but what I wanted.
Here is a shot of the form with a straight stick of wood laid across it so you can see the funished sail shape . . .
By laying a straight edged steel rule so it crossed the form from foot to head supported on battens so the rule cleared the form I could draw seam lines on it (I used the steel rule width for my sail cloth panel widths)
I then took some ripstop nylon and cut out panels roughly and laid them over the form one after the other and taped each in turn over the form. I then traced the seam lines onto the sailcloth panel, when lifted away the seams were slightly curved
I trimmed to the seams allowing a small overlap to the next panel.
I repeated this process for all panels laying one seam over its neighbour as I went from luff to leach.
The cellotape was useful in taping the whole panel to the form except over the seams . . .
this kept the cloth firm and steadied it while I lifted the seam edge poking my fine superglue nozzel into the seam . . . . (I'm using Blue Spot 20 gram bottled stuff bought from Boyes - good stuff for this job
)
Running a bead of glue down the seam, with a polythene gloved finger I rubbed the glue into the seam where it soaked through and set. Rubbing a small amount of water (spit
) into the seam immediately allowed the seam to bond very well
Because the sail is so small I'm not bothering with boltropes, Ive just glued a strip of cloth to each edge first gluing to one side and then folding it over the edge and bonding to the opposite side and I finally added strengthening patches at the corners.
The sail will be attached to the boom gaff and mast in the traditional manner and I will be forming cringles by smiply passing a heated panel pin (cherry red!
) through the sail at their chosen postions . . .
This melts the cloth forming a sealed edge to the cringle - rough but it works
The finished result . . . its a bit rough and my panel seams are a tad uneven but its my first attempt at this method and I'm working on improving the proccess
I used a grubby part of the cloth from the roll to start with because I wasn't sure if my crazy plan would work but I'm pleased with the result.
Now I know it works I'll take more care with the foresail . . . .
Can't wait to set it up on the ship and go sailing . . . . . . but I must wait till I've made the foresail!
In the meantime here's a quick bodge of the sail in place on Tini-Titanic Mk III
On this model I can raise and lower the jaws of the gaff and its head to put shape into the sail and the running rigging for this run to two tiny cleats at the base of the mast!