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Author Topic: Seahunter- The Big Refit!  (Read 160239 times)

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #25 on: November 26, 2014, 09:58:01 am »

Back to the rudder mounts. The next photo's are just for comparison, the first photo are the mounts before any prep work, essentially in the rough. The last photo shows them sanded and with a first coat of primer. I decanted primer from a large spray can into my airbrush. The overspray from the large can would have been way too much at this time of the build. Basically I needed just enough to cover the filler and see where I have to go back and add more filler to cover gouges and holes.

The rudders look the part now and as can be seen from the mount in the foreground, there are a few holes close to the actual hull/mount join to fill before it has an overall spray of the red oxide. Now as I can't continue with this part of the buld (no brass tube for the bearing) for a few weeks, I can however move back inside of the hull. Now the rudders are in place I can add the internal rudder arms to servo connections and finally get the internal strengthening structure bonded into the hull, so that will be the next update I think. Or maybe something completely different, I don't know yet. Anyone who followed my sailing smack build will know I seem to go off at a tangent at times!

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #26 on: November 26, 2014, 10:03:36 am »

I just realised I had a reference photo of the bearing housing. So for those who are unsure what I refer to, it can be seen in this pic of the Abeille Flandre. Basically its all the bracketry in front of the Kort nozzle that support not only the nozzle but carries the outer bearing for the propshaft. Also of interest in this photo is the propellor. I don't know the age of this ship but it doesn't have what is recognised at the correct shape of Kort propellor, just the standard 174 style running in a Kort nozzle.

Mad Scientist

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #27 on: November 26, 2014, 09:55:07 pm »

Abeille Flandre was built in Norway in 1978, according to shipspotting.com

Tom
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derekwarner

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #28 on: November 26, 2014, 10:42:08 pm »

Brian56.....could be wrong....but the two marked up blade tips appear flattened ....similar to model Kort blade profile......Derek  %)
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Derek Warner

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Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #29 on: November 27, 2014, 08:37:13 am »

Here's the two styles, its hard to tell whether its a kort or a standard propellor with the tips machined off. But on looking at it more closely they could be kort props, the trailing edges seem straighter than on the 147 style and definately more so than the 174 style.

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #30 on: November 27, 2014, 10:45:47 am »

Until I can get back and pick up the right sized tubing I need for the prop bearings, this is what I am working on for now. Mine won't be as sophisticated as this all independant version. I am thinking I can raise and lower them as two pairs however.


https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=828956517138665&video_source=pages_finch_main_video

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #31 on: November 30, 2014, 01:25:49 pm »

Right this is what I have accomplished in the last couple of days. The towing pins are taking some working out, not the mechanics of it but marrying the electronics to the mechanics!

I'm open to other ideas before I go any further with this but this is what I'm thinking, I have four tubes now soldered to a brass plate, in the following photo's................

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #32 on: November 30, 2014, 01:41:17 pm »

The brass plate is upside down, the tubes will be inside the hull and the plate will be level with the deck. Other tubes will move up and down forming the towing pins raising and lowering.

These will be pushed/pulled by, in my case short lengths of garden strimmer line. the other end attached to a toothed rack, the rack moving back and forth via a small electric motor and gearwheel acting on the rack. Obviously there will be two sets of each mechanism, one set for each pair of pins.

Now this works great for a pair of pins, however as you can see I will have four, 2 pairs, to raise and lower. These could all work together off one set of electronics, but I want the outer pair to raise and once fully extended then the inner pair raise, its the working out the switches to do this that is causing me a headache.

Xtian29

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #33 on: November 30, 2014, 02:35:59 pm »

Hi Brian and Dereck


As you talked about the prop of the Abeille Flandre, I well know this tug from top to prop.  I took this picture of the propeller, off course it's a Kort adapted design





Nice refit for your Seahunter


Xtian
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Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #34 on: December 08, 2014, 01:18:59 pm »

It's been a while and to be honest not a lot has happened. Everything I have wanted seems to be unavailable in Spain, at least that I have been able to locate. The good thing is when we return to the UK end of next week I will have loads of stuff waiting for me.

I need to get the framework installed but I can't do that without the rudder arms, something else that I can't locate. So what I have done is rough out the deck onto the frame and cut the access hatches that I need. The rear hatch will carry all the electric/electronics for the towing pins and sharks jaws.

The first photo is the access hatch with the towing pin guides epoxied into it. The framework for the sharks jaws is resting on the top in its approximate location.

The next photo is the underside of the sharks jaws showing the makeup of the frame. This frame took me 8 hours over the last week to complete. I had sat down with paper, protractor and set square to work out the angles, after a couple of failed attempts I managed to locate a line drawing of an actual unit on a manufacturer website, then it was relatively plain sailing to scale down and fabricate.

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #35 on: December 08, 2014, 01:38:02 pm »

So towing pins what are they? Basically just a set of or in this case two sets, of bollards that can be raised and lowered into the deck. Sharks jaws on the other hand are a pair of plates that fold upwards to trap a chain or cable between them, effectively holding it so that other work can commence.

In operation a chain is brought aboard guided by the towing pins, once the anchor is brought over the stern roller the pins are lowered so the anchor can come inboard, once the anchor is  past the sharks jaws they raise from the deck trapping the mooring chain. The anchor can then be detached from the chain in safety. This is a simplified version of the work but gives an outline of what will work on my model.

So the sharks jaws framework, as can be seen in the next photo the underside is soldered together in a 'W' shape. Then I had to make up two flaps, this was done with sheet brass and tube, this was then held in place like a hinge with a pin through each side. These will sit flush with this framework when its inserted in the deck- the last photo shows it resting by its hole in the deck and a closeup of the internal hinge mechanism.

None of this metalwork will be seen in the final model, being covered in plasticardt to simulate the metal deck surface. The towing pins will raise up from sitting flush with the finished deck, as will the shark jaws. The shark jaws here are just a rough framework to carry the actual jaws which will be neatly! made in placticard. The flaps still need a small amount of work, the underside requires a fixing to allow them to be pushed up and pulled down to the deck. So that's all for now and barring some miracle happening, this will be the last update on it until the new year, when I can get back with boxes full of parts.

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #36 on: January 08, 2015, 05:03:59 pm »

Back in Spain four days and I've got a little work done. I've continued with the sub deck planking this is something I began before our UK holiday, it was the only thing I could get on with. So the first two photos show the development of that. The planking is my tried and true coffee stirrer method cut to length with black card shwoing the joins. Its fiddly doing it this way and has taken up quite some time as only a couple can be glued into place at a time.

In the second photo you will see the white plasticard which represents the steel part of the deck, this also runs along both sides of the deck as well but that isn't in place yet. The clamps are holding one of the access panels in place for the photo's. The keen eyed will also have seen that the starboard side has one more row of planks than the port. This isn't a mistake but is how it is shown on the plans.

As I now have more parts this can go on the back burner for now, just add a row in between doing other stuff.....

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #37 on: January 08, 2015, 05:13:20 pm »

So other stuff.....

I have begun the bearing housings for the prop shaft ends, I found some plumbers pipe reducing fittings that were exactly what I needed. These I have soldered to some brass tube so that a support bearing can be inserted in the 'big' end, the brass pipe needs shortening to size. But this means I can progress and get on with the external hull and finish it off.

Last up some electronic gubbins that I want to begin installing before the rear decking is fastened into place. From left to right are Action twin relay switch, two Action  twin fuse holders for the four motors, two main drive, one bow and one stern thruster. Then the biggie is an Arduino Due. ( http://arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardDue ) This is basically a miniature computer that you program to carry our a myriad of commands from your transmitter. Its complicated for me to explain but I have hopes that this unit is going to carry out a lot of the onboard stuff for me. Some modellers have these units programmed to control everything, with the addition of a gps unit to the Arduino, a ship can be made to sail a preset course, the Arduino adjusting all drive motors to keep it on track!

Thats all for now, next week should see real progress on finishing the prop shafts...

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #38 on: January 13, 2015, 06:15:46 pm »

I've got a bit more done over the past couple of days. First photo is a general along the work deck to show how far I've got with the planking, this is tedious as I can only glue 3 at a time so they can be clamped whilst the glue sets, these will terminate at the last pencil line across that forward access hatch. Don't worry about the wonky black lines on the last row, I have been giving them a rub down after they have set up, so I can see how they line up, that set of planks haven't been sanded yet, so the black paper is proud of the wood. This also has the plasticard 'metal plating' dropped onto the rear hatch but it is not fixed yet as there is still work to do.

Next photo is on to the next stage of the propshaft 'A' frame/bearing housing, in this photo I have added the two uprights, next up for these is to add the two legs that run horizontally to the hull.

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #39 on: January 13, 2015, 06:29:34 pm »

This next photo is not too clear but it shows the shark jaws in the raised position, I have soldered on two triangular sections that act as the opening pivots for rods to push them up from inside the deck, the triangles can be made out with a small hole drilled in them. The next stage for these is to fabricate the plasticard jaws to bond over the brass opening mechanism.

Now on to what has become a thorn in this build, something I wanted to do but now wished I hadn't! The four stern towing pins that raise from the deck. My first problem has been caused by an interfering shop owner in the UK! I went in and selected all the K&S brass tubing I needed to last me a while. He comes over and takes it all from me, because I had selected the pieces on card backing, which was his new stock, he wanted to sell the old loose stock first. I left him to it and he brought back to the counter 'his' selection. Stupid of me not to check, but I put my faith in him. I've now found that the 5mm tube that stopped me before xmas and which I had selected, he had picked out 6mm, aarghhh!

So hunting around the shops here in Spain for something I could use, I came up with 5mm knitting needles 'plastic' so the pack said, except on dropping one it sounded distinctly metallic, they were plastic coated but hollow aluminium tube! So a bit of fiddling but I have now got four towing pins ready for the next part of the build.

In the next photo you can see the shaped tops of the pins, I soft soldered together four pieces of brass sheet, then filed them to the correct profile, then reheated and pulled them apart.

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #40 on: January 13, 2015, 06:35:49 pm »

Now this is where it got fiddly. I had the four tubes that slide into the deck, I had the four caps, but brass cannot be attached to aluminium tube. So I cut four lengths of 4mm brass tube and soldered those to the caps, then coating this tube and the inside of the aluminium tube with epoxy glue I slid them together. This can be seen in the next photo.

So the next photo show one raised and one in the lowered position in the deck plate.

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #41 on: January 13, 2015, 06:41:46 pm »

So on to the last two photo's for now. The first one shows all four towing pins in the deck plate in the raised position on the workbench. In another topic I was asking about springs. They fit over the tubes on the underside of the deckplate to 'push' the pins back down after the servo that pushes them up returns to its 'resting' position.

Then the last photo is along the deck from the stern roller, two pins up and two retracted, the shark jaws in front of them in the raised position.

Now that I have the parts to complete the propshaft 'A' frames I can complete these and get them attached. Then its a proper sanding of the hull and it can be painted in primer, so this may or may not be the next update.

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #42 on: January 13, 2015, 06:57:50 pm »

Despite all the problems you've had getting the materials this is going to look really good in operation, I'll keep watching.  :-))
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Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #43 on: January 14, 2015, 07:40:26 am »

Thanks for the words of support Joe. I hope it turns out as well as your tug did.

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #44 on: January 20, 2015, 11:51:29 am »

Well, things never go as planned!

I had hoped to get the hull at least into primer by now but not so. The deck needs to be attached first before that can happen. The reason being that when the old deck was pulled away it actually broke away some of the moulded in rubbing strake from the hull. To rebuild this the best way is to attach the deck and then build up filler between the hull and under deck edging.

So the deck planking continued...... there are 334 deck planks and as many strips of black card sandwiched between them. Each plank is 5mm wide and 33mm long so a scale length of 2 metres. Only three planks could be glued at a time so they could be clamped down until the glue dried, this has taken a good few weeks to do!

The first photo is all the planking completed and with the access hatches dropped into place, you can see the recessed towing pins at the stern and then the sharks jaws in the raised position in front of those.

The next photo (from the bow end)  is with the plasticard glued to the subdeck to represent the steel plating. I had on recommendation bought some UHU Acrylit glue for this purpose- it failed spectacularly, even though I followed the intructions exactly by measuring out the glue and powder. I resorted to good old Evo Stik. In the UK this is now a crappy substance that is water based, no noxious fumes to get high on anymore. In Spain however it is still available with the solvent base, this helps because it dissolve the surface of the plasticard helping attain a really strong bond to the ply subdeck.

The plast photo is from the stern showing how I have left a decent overlap to build up the edge of the hull with filler/resin to reinstate the rubbing strake. Once I have done this it can be trimmed down to size. For now the subdeck and the planks etc are still loose on the framework as I have to install the prop shaft A frames- on to the next post!

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #45 on: January 20, 2015, 12:12:03 pm »

So before I get on to the A frames, the shark jaws,  though they are completed mechanically, they are getting removed. I'm not happy with the way they pivot, when I made up the frame work for them they were great, I had forgotten to calculate the thickness of the finished deck into the build and now the two jaws foul the deck edge at the pivot, in essence the hinge part is set too low in the deck. I'll have to remove the hinge part and rebuild them.

So the prop tube A frames. I had begun them in an earlier post. The idea being just to make the A frame and bearing housing, the original boat had an exposed prop shaft from the hull to the bearing. I had intended doing this, however instead of just two bearing one at each end of the tube, it would mean four, one at each end of the hull tube and one at front and rear of the A frame housing, just two extra points for the shaft to bind on. So I have decided to join the A frame tube to the hull tube with sleeves. The two photos show the starboard A frame completed, the rear most face of it with a shaft bearing in place and the space around it filled with milliput. Next up is the port side to finish and then they are ready to be bonded into the hull and the tube to be epoxied to the existing tube. I would have preferred to solder these however one tube is brass and the tube in the hull is stainless, so not a possibility there.

So hopefully once again, the next installment will see the hull in primer! {-)

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #46 on: January 25, 2015, 04:59:58 pm »

Another update and still no paint, but we are getting close!

People that know me know that I like to work in a clean uncluttered workplace. The office staff always sat and watched that I would clean up my desk each morning before starting, and even wipe down my screen and keyboard during the day, putting away items I had used ad didn't need for the next undertaking.

So to show the next couple of photo's shows I have been banging my head against a wall trying to solve problems!-- I give you my workbench, tool cabinet and the worst of all sacriliges my wife's art bench ( i did move her brushes and stuff to the back :} )

Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #47 on: January 25, 2015, 05:19:03 pm »

What has caused this turmoil?

The workdeck! I cut into it three access hatches, the rear two are finished, the third one would have been under the waterfall winch and inside the winch house, seen in the first photo (hole in the centre) This would have been accessed via a lift out panel in the lower forecastle deck, reaching through this and lifting out the waterfall winch to get to the inner hull.

On studying the plans and then photo's of the ship, it became clear that the upper forecastle deck actually projects over the lower (forecastle) deck from the starboard side and over the centreline of the ship. This has given me headaches as the upper and lower forecastle decks need to be in situ so that the hull can be prepped for paint. Eventually after much measuring and re-measuring I worked out where the inner wall of the winch house would be in relation to the deck head and packed out the sides of the bottom access hatch accordingly.

 The problem caused by the upper deck can be seen in the next photo. Originally the upper deck was one piece from the bow to the rear edge where its held up by the clip. I  marked a rebate from port to starboard in this deck seen by the pencil marks on it and then cut it away with a craft knife. This will let me insert the lower forecastle deck and do the painting. Later on the upper forecastle deck can be re-attached and all the deck surfaces covered in plasticard.

 I had wanted access to this area as it was what I had allocated for a tray to contain all the electronics, I do have access but not enough space for what I wanted so a rethink on that is coming up. I hope I've explained that but if anyone is confused let me know and I can offer further explanation.

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #48 on: January 26, 2015, 08:34:30 pm »

Nice hull, got something similar tucked away in the loft somewhere,
am watching with interest :-)).
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Brian60

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Re: The Seahunter- the big refit begins....
« Reply #49 on: January 27, 2015, 09:15:44 am »

Nice hull, got something similar tucked away in the loft somewhere,
am watching with interest :-)) .

I hope I can act as inspiration for you.

The lower forecastle deck is currently gluing and once done I can then begin to clean up and prep the outer hull for primer, so there is a glimmer of hope to begin this before the next update. :embarrassed:
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