MAGIC's Craig

Keith: I continue to be amazed at your work on this wee tiny craft! My shaking hands limit the small work I can do, but BILLY really raises (?) the bar . Me 'at off ta youse!

And thank you, John as well! I realized after I posted this update that I have been at this project for 2 years now. Time can certainly fly when one is having fun. Great group of supporters and teachers here.

Thank you, Keith for all of the wowowows!! 😄 Made me laugh - and I'm honored by your praise.

Thank you, Paul for your kind words. I'm delighted the way it came out.

To continue: I decided to begin the main cabin joinery by constructing the galley which is tucked into the the aft starboard corner. The two main components in such a small space usually are the harmonious locations of the stove and the sink. So, I constructed a 4-burner LPG stove with oven, patterned off of drawings available online by the manufacturer of a stove we were familiar with. A block of basswood was carved to the basic shape of the stove. The oven "glass" door was cut from 1/16" poly and 1/16" brass rod was soldered to a brass surround to make the grill top. Pan head screws served as the burner shapes while the heads of brass nails became knobs. Silver paint and touch of varnish on the wooden oven door handle finished it up. Card was used to pattern the galley countertop layout and I found that a copper tubing end fitting could be easily cut down to serve as a 7" deep round sink. With the help from a couple of spare blocks, the layout was firmed up. A template was also made of the various elements around the perimeter of the cabin sole and its necessary access hatch into the motor/battery space below. This hatch required that the stove and the 4-drawer cabinet forward of it be mounted atop a 1/16" ply base as a removable module. The top for the galley cabinet was cut from a piece of 3/32" AYC stock and a forward storage cabinet which would be permanently glued in was built up from 1/16" birch ply, mahogany "doors" and a AYC top. Brass tubing was bent and slightly flared on the end to serve as sink faucets for both fresh and salt water . Foot pumps were soldered up and fitted to the bottom of the sink cabinet while the top-loading hatch to the refrigerator/cold box was delineated and given a simulated button release. The galley joinery was check fitted together on the bench, varnished, masked and then painted before final installation. After some discussion, we decided that when TWILIGHT was to be on display in the house, we would prefer to set her with the port side towards us. In order to make it easier to see the helmsman, I decided to cut open the upper panel of the pilothouse's portside door. Multiple careful passes with the #11 blade finally worked through the glued mahogany panels and the upper half-door was then re-installed in the open position. Varnish followed a few days later. The 2-seat dinette had been designed to fit in the forward port corner of the main cabin, but due to its width athwartships, it also had to be built up as a removable unit because it overhangs the sole hatch. I went back to an earlier design of mine for the layout of some very comfortable seating shapes. The supporting framework for these two seats was constructed from 1/16" birch ply with added panels of mahogany veneer. The slats which will support the cushions were made 3/64" thick AYC. A table made from 1/16" AYC is supported by a pair of 9/32" brass tubes. Some additional detail cabinetry remains to be created in the upper corners of the main cabin and I will then focus on the fore cabin's bunk area. Also, it's probably time to start creating the model's in-house display base. Until next time, thanks again for your interest and comments. Craig

Your meticulous workmanship in building out these cabins is truly an inspiration, though as I work along constructing the interior in my own marine "dollhouse", I realize that there is still a "long way to go" with improving the level of my workmanship to get even close to this quality. However, your work (and that of others on this site) is inspiring, so onward we go. Thanks for sharing the images and ideas, Craig

Really?! A Lotus 7? Cool!

A master class on fitting itty bitty parts properly into crazy small spaces. I thoroughly enjoy all of your detailing, especially since I am currently doing interior joinery in TWILIGHT's main cabin. The ideas and techniques you show are very helpful. Best of the Holidays to you. Craig

Hi, Sal: Your model is progressing well and with very nice detailing! I note that you are running the same motor/ESC combination as I have in TWILIGHT. I would heartily recommend -if you have not yet done it - to do the "Transmitter-to-ESC-to-motor" calibration before you get her into the water again. I found out the hard way that missing this step may lead to the motor going full speed on the very first notch of the throttle and the poor boat trying to emulate PT-109. Twilight ended up surging forward nearly out of control and finally rolling onto her port side leading to downflooding. Fortunately, my wife was able to grab TWILIGHT before she sank, but as a result of the swamping, the electronics below deck had to be replaced. ***** (From my post #113 - "TWILIGHT was placed in the water from a local kayak launch ramp after we had first launched Vicky in her canoe to be the "rescue" craft in case of need. When I gave the throttle control on the transmitter a slight nudge to the first detent of forward, TWILIGHT's stern suddenly dropped down in a swirl of bubbles, the bow popped way up, the sudden torque from the prop heeled her over to port and she shot forward, wildly swerving to starboard. This little displacement trawler yacht was trying to emulate PT-109 😲 I jerked the throttle back to neutral while trying to straighten out her course and she coasted to a wobbly stop. Obviously, something was not right and so, I tried to nurse her back around to head to the launch ramp. However the pulses of power, brief as they were, set up a surging oscillation, rolling the model from side to side. I was "behind the curve" with the rudder actions and TWILIGHT ended up broaching to port onto her beam ends and began down-flooding. By the time Vicky could get to TWILIGHT and grab the cabin top, she was awash. TWILIGHT did not sink and was able to be brought to shore to be emptied out with a minimum of exterior damage. The electronics were, unsurprisingly, "toast" and all had to be discarded. It took a number of days to dry out TWILIGHT and I spent some time this discussing the odd throttle behavior with Nick Scalone, of Harbor Models. Ultimately, we were able to focus upon my failure at that time to re-calibrate the transmitter to the electronic speed control unit which governs how much juice to feed the motor. This left the ESC in a default mode and it went instantly to full throttle. (The joys of electric motors.) New replacement components were ordered, installed and, most-importantly, repeatedly bench-tested." With the current now-calibrated replacement electronics, TWILIGHT enjoys a more sedate and controllable speed. ***** If you were smarter than I and have already accomplished the calibration, then please feel free to disregard this suggestion. 😉 <And I second Ian's sound recommendation!> Craig

Well done and wonderfully crisp execution, Paul. Your photos show some fine ideas you are sharing with all of us (for our future projects!). Craig

Welcome back, Michael! 'Tis a delight to once again see you posting.

Thank you for those kind words, KeithAug. As I contemplate the upcoming construction of the interior joinery for the main cabin, you are setting quite a fine example of what I should strive for with your project. Whew!!

We were lucky enough to visit ARGONAUT II some years ago under a previous owner. Her Gardner is a sweet sounding engine. Also, the former Mission hospital ship, COLUMBIA III, running with a gleaming 60+ year old 8L3 Gardner, still works under the careful custodianship of Ross Campbell as a Mothership for kayak trips in the northern BC waters. I believe that Nick is currently cruising as crew with Leo Goolden on TALLY HO making the passage down the Mexican West coast to Panama. It is a surprisingly close bunch of folks who manage to keep these old girls running. TWILIGHT probably would have fit right in.

Thank you, Keith for the compliment. We are both pleased that the model came so close to representing the craft which we had hoped to own. She probably would have been at home in the Pacific Northwest waters, with that Gardner diesel quietly pushing her along.

Hi, Freeks: I used a similar idea of lowered ballast when I built the model of our schooner, MAGIC.