FreekS

Boat has been ballasted with about 1 kg lead plates - glued with epoxy. Motor mount and rudder are functional. I made the boat 3cm smaller than it’s static predecessor - to allow some room for the rudder. after planking the foredeck and aft deck I could test where to put the mounts to hang it in the Davit. The not has 5mm rim in either side but swings out nicely. In place of the hooks in the decks will come two electromagnets that can each lift 2.5kg and consume 250mV at 6V (visible in foreground).

I’ve filled some of the gaps with small pieces of wood and a bit of “liquid wood”. then applied an epoxy layer with a layer of 80g/m2 glass fabric. This was followed by another two layers of epoxy and one inside the wood filled did discolour a bit with the epoxy, but I think I will leave the hull as it is instead of painting it. I installed a small brushless motor, a couplet and the axle connected to a 40 mm diameter brass prop. rudder is made from two sheets of hardwood glued together and shaped with file and sandpaper. I’ll need to make two small holes in the hull to drive the rudder from a small servo. that will be the time for a wet test to see how much current the motor draws, how much ballast to add and if the boat is watertight…

Hi great looking boat. Note the ballast scales to the power 3! So your 940kg ballast becomes 1,5kg at scale 1:8! you need to get that weight as low as possible in, or even below the keel with a “false keel”. See my Corsaro 2 build log for example. You also need to build the whole boat and especially the rigging as light as possible!! ill definitely follow this!

After first sanding of the outside I’ve cut the boat off it’s build plank to sand the inside. Surprised to weigh in at only 200 grams! The planks are only 2 mm thick (before sanding!) and the sun shows how thin it is!! I connected the tops of all frames with two more sets of planks - looks OK and strong. Plan is to use filler, epoxy and glasfabric for strengthening - not sure yet of the order!

Here is the frames on the build plank, and the start and finish of the planking. Lots of sanding is next, and coating with epoxy

This winter I’m working on a “grandfather” repair and renewal project. My grandfather was shipbuilding engineer, and was drafted in WW1, spending the war in neutral Netherlands on one of the fortresses of the defence of Amsterdam. That’s where my last project came from. From the 1920s until the end of WW2 he worked in Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) for a shipping company. In 1947 after repatriation to Netherlands he filed a patent on a method to launch a lifeboat from a davit through a clever use of a pivot. Two crewmembers each rotated a handle over 180 degrees, which swings out the lifeboat, descending slightly under its own weight. Then lines are slipped to defend it to the sea. To help him sell the patent, he had a demo model built, published an article in a trade journal, and even made a “cartoon movie” from a set of cards to show the operation. I think about a dozen ships were equipped with the system. The demo model survived the past 75 years or so, but was in somewhat of a state when I received it from a cousin before Xmas. The boat is solid. Just needed a paintjob but is unsuitable for radio control. My plan has three phases - repair the model - build a RC controlled new lifeboat to be launched from it - possibly make the Davit RC as well the repair was fairly straight forward, involved re-soldering the brass and copper past, new paint job and polishing up the blocks and brass parts. in the last photo, the solid wood boat is half painted, I decided to make a new boat using “plank on frames”. The new boat will be slightly shorter with room for a rudder, and will have a prop obviously. To obtain a plan of the frames, I marked out frames on the keel of the boat model, and used a home made measuring device to measure out the shape of each frame. from that I drew the frames on a 7mm pine plank, and the keel on another one (slightly shorter and with opening for the prop). also the planks themselves were sawed from pinewood, and I’ve just started mounting the frames and keel on a build plank for planking. TBC…

FullSizeRender.MOV Finally the chance for some serious testing, spent a few hours in a pool in Lichtenstein. Found a quiet spot to practice dives….. I think I need to move about 10 gram ballast from aft to bow (Kind off one passenger walking inside..). More testing tomorrow, followed by a 10 hour drive home…. IMG_0571.MOV FullSizeRender.MOV

Today there was some wind at my model sailing club in Netherlands. Not very much and the trees make voor quite variable wind, but I managed to get half an hour of relaxed sailing, learning how the boat reacts. Happy with the result!

Ok the boat did get wet today and I got a few pictures! I had a 1.2 kg lead bulb as „fake keel“ in addition to the daggerboard and rudder. Total weight was 2,5 kg and it seemed to give reasonable stability. The technical installations (two small winches, a rudder servo, battery and receiver) were inside a “fake ammunition chest” in the centre of the boat. A small amount of water came into the boat but nothing to worry about. However the sheets got hung up the first time the winches pulled them in and pulled the tensioning springs of the sheets apart. Learned something - and apart from a pair of springs no damage done. But as a result I could not let the boat go - just had it drift around in the harbour where still the wind would occasionally move it nicely. Look forward to the next attempt. Might reduce keel ballast weight a bit.

Here is an aerial photo of the fort - part of the “stelling Amsterdam” (now a Unesco world heritage site). That would be the canal/river that my grandfather would have sailed on. Good place for wind - no currents, might get choppy but no long swells. The hull is complete and painted in the main colours the army would have available in 1914 (green and black). I cannot discern any standing rigging on the one picture I have, and for ease of taking the masts and sails off for transport I decided to forego it. The Carbon masts are stiff enough without it. One mast has a cross brace for a Latin sail, the other will get one plus a boom for another Latin sail. belaying pins hold the running rigging, which secures the mast while sailing, and the three “daggerboards” built can be secured in their housings with messing pins. winches, rudderservo, receiver and sail material have arrived for the next steps.

With the hull made, I made two “sword holders” and the three “daggerswords” that my grandfather experimented with, one just a rudder, one just a sword and one a sword with rudder. The hull has got bulkheads fore and aft onto which the mast holders will be mounted. All reasonably easy work - drawing directly on the hardwood and using a manual jigsaw mostly. In the centre of the hull is a small piece of hardwood onto which the lead bulb-keel will be mounted when I test her out. next steps will be basic painting in WW1 Dutch army paint (basically wherever they could lay their hands on) and then I can stark working on the deck. from the description and sketches I cannot determine if the boat had any standing rigging at all - need to try that out!

1914. Only photo I have - Build log just started!

Started on the hull - as in the description these consist of three planks for a flat bottom and two sides perpendicular to that. Found some hardwood that fits that which drove the scale to 1:5,3 at 115cm overall length. next will be to prepare the hull for the masts, rudder, keels and a “false bulb keel” in case I need it. this is becoming a “why spoil it with a plan/drawing” type of build! regards Freek

Nice model - and very useful info for my just started build of my grandfathers “sail canoe/ferry” for which I only have a few images! Nice!

I intend to make a model of a 6 meter barge/sailboat that my grandfather designed and built when stationed during WW1 on a fortress of the Dutch “water defensive lines” around Amsterdam. As the Netherlands (thanks to this defensive line of fortresses) remained neutral in WW1, the troops stationed there had much time on their hands. My grandfather was studying shipbuilding at Delft engineering school when he was called up into the army. in attached article (which first appeared in 1914 in magazine “de watersport” which went out of business in 1937) he describes building a footferry that doubles as sailboat on the shallow canals and lakes surrounding the fort. the name of the fortress (and his own name) were withheld in the article! I would like to build a radio controlled model of this “boat” if I can. At first glance, at 6meter long, 0,7meter long, and 0,25meter high (freeboard plus draft), the boat could be quite unstable. Masts are not that high (3 meter), and sails not that big, but it’s nearly a canoe! At 1:5 scale it would be easy to transport (150 cm long), but still very narrow (14cm) and shallow (5cm). I’m estimating the allowed weight including ballast at 1:5 to be about 2 kg. Given the design, I don’t thing a deep “central false keel” with lead bulb (as I did on Corsaro 2) would work on this boat and I need to put most of that weight into the sword and rudder. Any thoughts on scale, stability, tricks and tips are very much appreciated before I get going!! Hope the attachment is readable, here are some of the images Sailboat - Ferry WW1 -english.docx

Now, where was I? oh yes, sail making. the mainsail came out reasonably well for a first time user of the showing machine (might be too much tension on the thread in the sowing machine). Played around with a fan in my workshop to set the sheet lengths and servo settings on the transmitter. Then brought it to my model sailing club for a first spin - at sunset and in near windless conditions. When she did catch a breeze she moved quickly and heeled a bit. Next attempt was in a quiet arm of a local river in similar light conditions. Pics taken from a movie so resolution is not well. As usual need to do some repairs but I’m reasonably happy. Cleaning the hull is also needed! I think I’m going to consider Corsaro-2 finished - apart from testing with more wind and the consequences that may have. I deepen the bulb for stability for example.

It’s a sheet from Amati - meant for sails.it’s clearly woven polyester, I cut it with a hot soldering iron and the edges melt nicely.

I decided to start making some sails. Sailboats need sails, but also I have a worry that on this “kit turned RC-boat” the loose hanging sheets may tangle in the deck details (stancions, anchorwinch, air intakes, …). Those that are potentially in the way of the sheets are made, painted but only “dry fitted”. So now sails are needed to see what details can be on the boat and which need to stay in the box. im making sails with 1-4 panels, which are taped together to obtain a curve in the sail. Never done it before so no doubt will have to be repeated. mainsail is in progress with 4 panels. Flying jib is mounted and has 2 panels and for the bezaan I stuck to just one. we’ve had a week of gale force winds in the Netherlands and I’m happy to report ….. (not).

Hi Ian, I used metal shears which are great for cutting messing and other metals. Then just hammer the lead pieces flat. Once I know the amount is OK I will glue them to protect against moisture

Hi all, thanks for the likes and comments on my project - it’s getting interesting now as the kit contains many nice details, but these add weight on top as well as provide the chance for the sheets to tangle while sailing. First test in a bath showed that the boat is watertight, but very unstable. There was of course no ballast in the keel and the motors and battery, while at the lowest point, don’t counterbalance the masts. I had counted with this, and the keel contains 2 M4 threads to provide the boat with a n extra build keel. I printed the keel and filled it with 1.2 kg of lead (the boat is 1.8kg). The bulb is mounted 30 cm under the waterline and the boat is reasonably stable - I had to add another 165gram lead forward of the main mast to bring the boat level and on the waterline. We will see what happens with sails and wind….

Hi Ian . I thought about a drain for the cockpit. I can still do that but decided to wait and see how she sails. I use a drum winch (5 turns of a 30 mm drum) for the flying jib, and a servo with 10 cm arm for the mainsail.

Hello all, an update on my radio controlled sailing Yawl. The controls have all been built into the boat, and the transmitter set up to control rudder, jib/flying jib and mainsail/bezaan, as well as (in emergencies) the motor. as it’s an Italian vessel, I glued an Italian euro to the keel for luck. The sheets pass through the hull hidden inside brass winches, and today I mounted all the standing rigging - a fun job. The kit is equipped with two sizes of functioning turnbuckles (well after more than a decade in storage they needed some oil), and the shrouds come in three thicknesses. I mounted everything that I think will not get in the way of the moving booms, sails and sheets. Still a lot to do - stanchions, some smaller hatches and air inlets etc. Main future job will be making sails and a lead bulb keel. here is what she looks like today. There is a winter post-COVID meet of my model club this weekend and it’s soooo tempting, even without keel ballast and sails!

the Netherlands are the only country in Europe with a lockdown (recently somewhat relaxed) so lots of time for modeling! I’ve worked on the two masts- the kit comes with wood at make them from but to get some rigidity and since I dont really know how strong the wood is (after an unknown number of decades since the kit was produced), I’ve replaced them with carbon tubing, and messing pieces to attach the rigging to. All the different mast elements and the zalingen were glued and the two masts should be ready tomorrow. The rudder is now connected to its servo via two conical gears and a short bowden cable. The helmsman’s bench hides the gears and can be removed if I need to change the gears. The location of all servos is fixed, and are built into two 3D printed mounts underneath the cabin. The cabin is detachable aftersliding the hatch door sideways, and has obtained a simple seal to keep water out. The electrical system was still missing, so I made a sketch how the RC system will work. Power will be supplied by a battery ( 5x eneloop) near the main mast, and I’ve foreseen in a mains-switch, a charging cable, and a transformer so battery can be changed in future. ive started soldering the cabling, getting close to a first weigh-in. The boat should be around 3,4kg (fully loaded) and I hope most of that can be in a lead bulb/false keel, to be used only when sailing.

Painting the hull with white hull, red (darkened ral 3016) underwatership and a black waterline. Needs some touching up. Some of the deckhouses are being painted and finished as well. Mainsail and jibs now work well on the testrig. A prop was 3D printed and the motor fits as well. I’ve got Carbon tubing for masts - and start working on standing rigging - I hope to do that in a way that the masts can easily be removed for transport. making a sailing model from a kit does require lots of modifications!

Over the last months I’ve worked mainly on the technology. The deck is finished and coated with epoxy. It looks nice but could have been better… the outside still needs painting. Never built an rc sailboat before and so there is a lot of testing. First the rudder, the rudder “shaft” comes up under 45 degrees angle, and after many sketches I used two conical gears located under the helmsman’s bench to be able to connect that to a servo via a bowden cable. Tested but then removed again. also a shaft was drilled for the prop axle - it will be a 1mm axle, leading to a small motor I had lying around. for the mainsail and mizzenmast sails will be controlled by one servo with a long arm, the sheet is “doubled up” to provide enough length, and would normally be in the left side position, traversing to the right to sail “into the wind”. Hope the servo is strong enough, ….. main problem seems to be the two jibs, which will need relatively high sheeting length -especially the front one that needs to be pulled forward of the second jib to tack. Found some nice concepts on-line which I’m trying to realize with a “sephamore” servo pushing two arms, and a sail winch powering an above-deck circular line for the forward jib. These I’ve built a test rig to test the 3D printed arms for the servo. Generally I’m having too much friction. So regularly going back to the drawing board, this boat is just like a submarine with very limited space and severe weight constraints! and I just burnt the sail winch. Not a great confidence builder….