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[barriew]

After Paul's generous offer I ordered one of these kits. I suppose these are really 'short kits' as they contain no mechanical parts.
Here are the kit contents





Two sheets of laser cut 3mm (lite ?) ply and one of 0.5 mm ply, plus some strip wood, some 3-D printed components and a sheet of acrylic with templates for windscreen and windows.


The laser cutting is excellent and the parts released cleanly from the sheet. After some light cleaning to remove excess burnt dust, the parts were dry assembled. All fitted perfectly and were then glued using Aliphatic glue rather than super glue as suggested.





At the moment I am unclear as to how much space there is for motor and servo installation. I hope this will become clear after the deck is fitted and I can see where the prop-shaft will go.


Barrie

[SteamboatPhil]

I fitted micro servo's and a micro 2.4 receiver to my sea urchin, the biggest lump was the battery pack (6 x AA) 

[barriew]

Thanks Phil. As there are no plans with this, I'm not sure where the prop shaft will come out. There must be room for a micro servo, and The original had a 2000KV brushless apparently. I will be using a LiPo probably a small one as I never sail any boat for more than about 10 minutes


Barrie


Mods - this should NOT be in the R&D section - my mistake please move.

[barriew]

Now the deck is on it is easier to see what space is available for motor servo and battery.



It is just about possible to fir a mini servo. That is not the motor I will be using, but it gives an idea. Before fitting the lower keel I opened up the hole for the prop shaft



I am using a shaft that I had. I have fitted the two halves of the lower keel, and some of the supports - and come across the first snag with the kit. One of the supports has to fit against the keel doublers but has not been cut to do so



a minor problem easily rectified once the keel has dried and the doublers been fitted. This is the current position - waiting for glue to dry. I have ordered a motor and some brass rod and tube for a rudder from CMB.



Barrie

[barriew]

The remaining keel supports have been fitted. The prop-shaft is approx 8mm diameter; the keel with its doublers is about 7.5mm . So I added more doublers. Before gluing the original doublers I took a sanding drum to them to open up a channel for the tube. After further work with files after the glue had dried I managed to get the tube installed. Its final position will depend on the motor when it arrives.]





Next to the transom. There were a couple of problems with this - apart from it being too stiff to bend. Firstly it was too small, so I made a new one from Liteply.


]


Secondly, the support was the wrong shape, so again I cut a new one from Liteply.





Apart from gluing this in place I am waiting for the motor etc to come from CMB.


Barrie

[barriew]

Yesterday I glued on the transom. I also applied some EzeKote resin to the surfaces under the 'floor', which will be inaccessible once the sides and bottom are on.


My motor arrived today and I have mounted it. It had to go further forward than I would have liked. This means finding a new place for the battery :roll: The 'coupling' is for alignment only. It will be replaced.





I also drilled a hole for the rudder shaft and strengthened it and around the prop tube with P40.





Next job is make the rudder and work out the battery, esc and Rx mounting. I want to get these sorted before adding the skins.


Barrie

[barriew]

Its slow going at the moment. I'm trying to get the rudder linkage working.  Its very tight with little access. I rather think that I need to start again. If I can lower the rudder tube I may be able to get the servo on its side which would allow me to have access the grub screw on the clamp.





The pencil line indicates the space available once the rear well is in place - except it is too near the transom. There is another centimetre or so available space.


Barrie

[barriew]

I had another go this afternoon, and I think that lying the servo on its side will work.





I need a new fitting for the tiller, but it should work.


I also constructed a holder for the battery. It is over the UJ so will have to be removable. The base will be screwed to the supports.





I can almost start fitting the skins, when the servo is fixed and some holes cut in bulkheads for wires. I should have sufficient access to finalise the rudder linkage.


Barrie

[barriew]

The servo is screwed and access should be OK if it needs to be removed  . The battery box has been modified to take a slightly larger capacity battery, and the prop shaft coupler made and installed, so the battery box has been screwed down, again allowing for removal if needed.
The ESC sits alongside the motor and the Receiver will mount on the bulkhead behind the battery allowing its aerial to stick up into the cabin. I think I can now return to completing the model by fitting the skins.


Barrie

[paulhakits]

Hello Barrie, I am sorry you have found a couple of faults with the kit, I have sold over 30 of these kits and no-one has mentioned the faults. I will look into correcting them, they require only small modifications. By the way, the propshafts i stock are 6mm dia. Thanks.

[barriew]

Paul,

Thanks for your comments.

I used a propshaft I had to save money. If I had had to buy one it would probably have been a 2mm one which would have fitted easily.
The transom and its support problem may have been my misunderstanding how it is intended to fit. I assumed it went on the ends of the upper and lower decks. In this case its too small. If it is meant to fit between the decks, then it and the support are probably OK. I still think it is too thick to bend to shape, although presumably 30 other people have managed it 

I am really enjoying the build although trying not to go too fast as I need it to keep me busy for quite a while

Barrie

[barriew]

The second hull side piece is now on. The main components of the superstructure are also glued together. I did try this in the hull and it was very tight, so will require quite a bit of sanding i think, especially as it still has the be painted.


Barrie

[barriew]

The glue on the two sides has now hardened.





There is a bit of a problem at the bow where I was not very accurate so I have added some P38 well pushed down into the gap which I hope will hold.





As you will see. there is quite a lot of sanding required before the bottom skins can be fitted.


The Cabin wall in the aft well had some of the construction joints showing so to tidy it up I used a bit of spare thin ply to face it. Later I will add a door and a console to take instruments and a wheel.





I struggled a bit fitting the cabin front - I think this is correct, but wont know until I come to fit the roof.





and this is what it looks like now!





Barrie

[barriew]

The cabin roof has now been fitted, and I wasn't happy with replacement transom - the grain was very prominent - so I cut another from thin birch ply..


My handrails have arrived





but I think they are a little heavy. I will have to see when I can try them on the roof.


I started building the seats for the aft well and came across a couple of problems. One is an error in the build diagrams, the other is that a couple of the pieces appear to be too small. I will be emailing the supplier.


Barrie

[barriew]

As I thought - these don't look right to me, so ......





...I made these. Thanks to those who offered to make them for me, but I decided I really had to have a go myself.


I spent most of today's session sanding back the hull sides ready to add the bottom sheets. This is going to be a challenge, not least because of the distance between our kitchen (for steam) and my workshop.  These have to fit well as there is limited material for them to glue onto, and no means of reinforcing once glued. I was hoping not to have to cover the hull with glass or paper tissue and resin, but I think it will be necessary.


Finally I started on the seat boxes now I know that the diagrams were wrong.

Barrie

[barriew]

I thought I would post a phot of the finished model.


   


I enjoyed building this kit - a couple of issues but nothing serious.


Barrie

[Martin [Admin]]

Nice job!