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[Andy M]

I decided to fit one of the side skins to see how it looked, I still have access to fit my radio gear from the other side. It should all fit in through the cabin, but I like to leave myself the option of better access while I can.
 Nice looking little yacht, my recycled balsa looks pretty good, I am still not sure what to do about a sailwinch. Someone mentioned not using sail control but I am not sure how this would go, has anyone else had experience of rudder only?

[roycv]

Hi Andy for a small yacht rudder only works well and you could use a 9 gram servo here.  A standard servo mounted on one side with an arm on will easily adjust the sails, if necessary a pulley would double up the throw.
I agree she does look very nice,  I always thought the usual size version was rather tubby.

Regards
Roy

[Andy M]

Hi Roy, thanks for the reply, I will have to check if a standard servo will even fit, its pretty low on space inside. If rudder only will work ok, I may just go for that, sail control would be good, so I wont give up on that just yet.

[Andy M]

Here is what a standard size servo looks like, it would fit if I cut the lugs off and some of the deck sheeting that is inside the cabin. It looks giant though, and this is a metal geared version too, very heavy. I thought my Hitec Hs80 might be easier to fit in, although it would obviously be weaker. Still not decided yet. The 9g servo is definately going to be for the rudder.

[Andy M]

Seeing how big a standard servo looks compared to the yacht has shown just how small the yacht actually is. Fitting a receiver, a battery and at least one 9g servo is going to fill up the available space pretty quickly. I will be using a voltage booster so that I can run it from one 3.7v cell, so I need to find space for that as well.
 On my recent plane builds, it didnt matter too much if some or all of the radio was hanging out in the open.
 On boats it is best to keep all the radio bits inside in the dry.

[Andy M]

I temporarily added my deck fittings for the rigging and had a trial fitting to see how it looked. I have altered it slightly from the photo so the line attaching the jib to front mount goes back up through the loop on jib and back to the cleat on the jib, instead of running across the deck as shown in the photo.
The tape I used to mount my lines on the sails is starting to peel off so I need to think of a better method.

[Andy M]

I have worked out what I am doing with the radio, fitted mounts for it and glued on the right hand skin. First pic shows how deep the fittings go, these have now been superglued in place and are very solid, hopefully. Hull has a little sanding still to do.
  It has ended up a tough wee thing, 1/16 balsa skins are more than enough. I used quite firm balsa though. Still got a lot of varnishing and (maybe?) painting. I may leave it as just varnished, the wood looks pretty nice and I havent made too many noticeable mistakes or big glue splodges.
 I still have a cabin roof to make, which is actually in 2 bits, front one supposed to be glued to cabin with the mast down through a slot. The rear one is the removable hatch. I really need to still make 2 bits, but have them both removable so I can get the radio in and out. I will probably have the front section screwed on and   a normal type hatch on the back.
  The winch servo shaft is in a position where it has go up through the rear hatch. Or to make it easier, I may extend the front part back far enough to allow the winch hole to be in that bit and leave the rear bit easy to take off without having to pop the servo arm off every time I want to change or charge the battery. Only thing is that would reduce the size of rear hatch quite a bit.... I still have time to think about it, there will lots of time while varnish is drying. I still have to make and add  fittings for the lines from the winch to go through on their way to main boom and jib.

[SteamboatPhil]

Its looking really cool 

[Andy M]

Thanks, its turning out to be a nice little build, theres a bit more involved than I first thought, it has all of the same steps as the full sized model build but a lot more fiddy, and gaps show really easily.
 I made up my plug for casting the lead keel bulb halves, I just need to find the tin of sand I used to use for this purpose, it isn't where I thought it was. I will find some though. I want to get the casting done soon, theres not a lot of the model left to do really, mostly thinking about how I want to do things before I proceed. Main bits are the cabin roof/hatch, sailwinch/sail arrangements. And of course the lead bulb halves. I cast some long ingots for my u boat a while back, I did a fair amount of them, just need to find them again. 2 or 3 of them will be plenty.
 At least I hope so... I have used a fairly thick (heavy, well, relatively) bit of solid cane fishing rod for the mast, I didnt want to use the thinner end of the section I had as it bowed a bit. I used the thinner, slightly curved bit for jib and boom as they are a lot shorter.
 I also didnt want to try sanding it down a bit and try keeping it hexagonal. Anyway, I am sure it will be fine.......just a bit heavier than I would have liked. I can always make a superlight balsa mast if the fishing rod one turns out to be too heavy.
 A little bonus feature of using the bottom of the section is that it keeps a bit of my Dad's original thread binding at the base of the mast as a reminder. Its green and the rest of my bindings are dark brown, black once superglued. Never mind, it adds character.
 The cabin, deck, sides and transom have all had 2 coats of varnish now, while varnishing the first coat, I noticed I still had a little bit of sanding I had missed, so the lower half was left bare balsa until the varnish had set and the sanding was done.
 Its all had at least one coat now, so I am quite happy with how it is looking, will need to give it all a fine sand once the varnish has set up. I have it sitting quite near my stove so shouldnt take too long, hopefully. 😁
 At least this one cant melt, I have underestimated the power of my stove when I sat my tiny tug close to dry the paint faster, my icecream tub plastic upper sides melted so bad I had to make new ones, was not happy with myself.
 Anyway, the build is progressing well, still unsure whether it will get any colour on it.
 Years ago when I had finished building my man carrying giant size Starlet, all shiny varnished wood and gleaming brass fittings, my wife said it looked like a coffin! Cheers!
 Maybe I will paint at least some of it one day, maybe just the roof or something though, I do still like its varnished wood look.
 One thing I was wondering was that on the original starlet plan, the sails were not sewn/looped? to the mast in any way, but I have seen other models that have semi loose stitching to keep the sail to the mast. Is this necessary?
 The big version and standard size ones I built didnt have any stiching down the mast or on boom or jib. It would make changing sails a bit of a job. Maybe just stick with my 3 ropes per sail attachment system, it should work ok. I can always experiment later.
  I cut out a second set of sails, a sort of fishscale patterned piece of vector 'board' this time, they look very nice as well.
 I am going to cut another set and try painting them, maybe spray paint for lighter weight. I will have to remind myself to attach the lines before I paint the sails though.
 

[RST]

I may be a bit late to suggest but have you thought of a 17g(?) Servo? I have a few since lockdown started but obviously not used them for real yet. They seem allot more torque / more robust than 9g servo in something nowhere near a standard size or weight.  Not too expensive either.  Like I said, largely untested yet but if memory serves one of my models has one buried previously and works well.

[Andy M]

Hi, pretty much decided on the '9g sized' one with metal gears, no idea what it weighs, good bit more than 9g plastic geared version but space was really restricted or I would have used the slightly bigger servo I have. I have the servo mounts fitted already. If its not up to the job, I will try a bigger one. I have the Hitec HS80 shown in a pic earlier, it must be nearly same size as the 17g ones you are talking about.

[roycv]

Hi Andy / RST, I use the 9 gram servos for rudder in a 22 inch loa fishing boat and I think the metal gear version will do the job. 
The 17 gram metal gear servo could well be able to operate the sails though, if there is room for an arm to be attached.
Regards
Roy

[Andy M]

I managed to get some sand, so I ended up casting my keel bulbs, I overfilled one so it is a bit heavier than the other one, I dont know whether to attack it carefully with my belt sander, or just try casting another one. Save myself some sanded fingers. They turned out not bad, bit of a lumpy surface finish but it seems to sand up ok. I will have a go at casting a couple more then choose the best pair.

[Andy M]

After some semi dangerous belt sanding and some tidying with my converted powerfile, I have now got the keel bulb halves to within 0.5g of each other. A final light sanding will finish them off then I can bolt them to the keel and get some cataloy on to fair them in.
I still want a couple more coats of varnish on the yacht before I fit them.
Getting there slowly.... 😁

[Andy M]

A couple more coats of varnish then I got the keel bulbs fitted. Rather than use nuts on the machine screws, I drilled the right hand bulb mounting holes a bit undersize and self tapped the screws into it. Good solid fixings, ready to get some cataloy on to fair them in a bit. Still got a couple more coats of varnish to go on, hopefully be nice weather for doing that tomorrow.

[tarmstro]

Don't sand lead - that find powder is toxic!
Use a wood rasp first (slowly, let grains fall down, not fly around, and don't let the lead melt) and then finish with a coarse sandpaper slowly by hand (again, let the grains fall down).
If you place plastic on your table, you can then collect all grains and melt them again.

[Andy M]

Too late, already finished, but thanks for the advice anyway. I was careful not to inhale any particles and was wearing gloves.
I faired in the bulbs with chemical wood, like cataloy but a brown colour. A bit of sanding then another small amount of filling/fairing and some more sanding then the first coat of black gloss went on. Pic shows first coat but I have since painted on another coat. Looks good enough for me now.
I still have to work out what I am doing with the cabin roof, I would like to use 1/64 ply but not sure if I have big enough bits left, it will need pretty small bits, but my ply scrap box has very little 1/64 left. I want to get another couple of coats of varnish on the hull and cabin, then it will be time to fit some windows.
Really enjoying this little build, very pleased with how it is turning out so far.

[Andy M]

I did a test float, on the end of a bit of thread to see how it looked. It had 2 servos, a receiver and a battery aboard.
 No mast.,jib or boom, no sails, no rudder or servo linkage yet. Also no arm/mechanism on sail wing servo..oh, and no roof. I am working round to doing these bits. I had to jon 3 bits of 1/32 ply to get a big enough bit for the roof. Just dont have much of that at all.
 Lots of bits not fitted/finished/made yet. They will add some more weight. Doesnt look as if its sitting too deep just now, a bit more shouldnt look much different.
 I did notice it moved easily when pulled on the string and kept going for a fair bit when I stopped pulling. I also made a very simple stand after thinking about it for a good while. It works perfectly.

[roycv]

Hi which batteries are you using?  I am using old technology 27 and 40Mhtz.  Just wondered if you might want to try smaller batteries I sometimes use AAA cells but was contemplating using some old camera LiPos.
regards
Roy

[Andy M]

Hi Roy, I have a wide selection of small lipos from my recent micro plane 'phase'? s, a few turnigy ones but also about 200 e cig cells at 280mah. I need to use a voltage booster if I use 3.7v though. I could use 7.4v and use a small 10 amp speed control to use its bec. Easier to use voltage booster and small 3.7v. I am pretty sure a 200 or 300 cell will power two micro servos for an hour.

[roycv]

Hi Andy Components shop do a very cheap and very light in weight voltage step up or down.  It has an accurate LED voltage read out. I suggest 2 LiPos and the voltage step down.
Roy

[Andy M]

Hi Roy, I would probably just use the speed controller as it is pretty small and has an on/off switch as well. The main reason is that I have it already. So far, I havent had to spend any money at all on this build, apart from  superglue, which my wife gets me, and is included in the weekly shopping budget rather than my (empty) modelling fund.
Picture shows how many models can fit in a rucksack if you build or buy small. And a flask of coffee.

[Andy M]

After a few days for varnish to dry properly, I fitted my servos, I had to raise the winch servo on 1/16 ply spacers to give me as much servo 'hub/drive?' sticking out as possible.
As you can see, there is not much room.
Also shown is my simple but effective stand, still to be painted as previous project lines are still visible on the liteply.
I also fitted spruce blocks in the cabin for the roof screws to go into. I will show these later as I forgot to take a photo.

[Andy M]

I make mistakes sometimes, I am sure everybody does. Normally I would remake the part, in this case though, I cant start again as I dont have any more ply of the right size. The problem is the roof, made up of 3 bits of 1/32 ply, just big enough to make the roof with barely a millimetre spare front and back. I was being careful but still managed to get the servo hole 2mm from where it needed to be.
 With no chance of making a new bit, unless I make it by joining 6 or 7 bits, I decided to make a 1/64 ply washer, 13mm diameter with a 7mm hole for servo arm boss to pass through. I broke the first attempt while sanding the edges of it, so I made a new one, being extra gentle on it for the sanding phase. It covers my mistake well, and is actually close in appearance to the anti tangle plate shown on the Starlet plan.
 I had drilled and filed the hole first then cut round the outside with sharp scissors, as I had tried cutting it on my Spiralux fretsaw with little success. Next job was to screw the roof in place, 6 tiny screws hold it down. I was then able to fit the ply washer in exactly the right place, this also showed that my mast hole needed extending back a tiny bit. Careful filing sorted this out nicely.
 I am still not sure what to do about the winch/servo arrangement, I have come up with a solution, but putting it into practice will need some more thought. I have small brass pulley wheels that I will mount on the servo arm ends, one slightly closer to the centre for the front sail, which doesnt need the full travel I will have. Here is the bit I have to think about... the lines will go slack as I turn the boat and the sails swing to the other side, allowing the possibility of them falling off the pulleys. How do I keep the lines in place?
 I am still thinking about how I can manage this, or if I can come up with a better version, as it looks a bit out of place on the boat, the servo arm's black plastic isnt really in keeping with the rest of the boat.
 No rush though, I have several boats that I can work on while thinking about this. Maybe painting the roof black would disguise the servo arm a bit, but I was hoping to just varnish the roof...
 I am pleased with how my micro Starlet has turned out, just a few parts left to work out.
 I made up a new set of sails using the kind of fish scale looking vector foam, this time I have fitted the lines better, no peeling tape this time, just a shaped piece of vector foam superglued on top of each line.
 Definately looks better and should be slightly stronger too. I ran more superglue down the pockets each side of the lines and gave them a good press as they were setting.
 I am happy with these and cant wait to get them fitted. I went for black lines this time, this is strong thread I was going to use for a battery cover for my ebike, I can always get more later... 😁 hopefully.
 Anyway, thats the progress so far, time to do a bit more on my Edita motor yacht until I work out my winch arrangement.

[Andy M]

I have rudder control! Yeehah! A brass wheel collet from glow plane days, a small bit of flat brass and a ball linkage from a dead micro heli made up the tiller arm, 1mm carbon rod with paperclip end bound on with thread and superglued sorts out the servo end. Works nice, plenty of movement. Next job is the sail winching arrangements, just waiting on 3rd coat of varnish drying on my roof, might need one more coat then I can start working out what I am going to do with the winch servo pulleys. I have 2 eyelets to fit for the jib and boom lines, need to make sure they go in the right place first time, cant afford to make any more mistakes on the roof. The radio gear looks a lot to fit in the tiny hull, but it does fit, just a bit fiddly to get it in there. I used a voltage booster for testing purposes but I may use a 7.4v cell and a 10a speed controller  which has a switch, I can mount it poking through the rear of the cabin, so I can switch it off without having to remove the roof, which would involve removing the winch arm assembly, rigging and mast. Not a huge job but there would be a good chance of losing the screws