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robdurant

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Everything posted by robdurant

  1. robdurant
    Glad to hear you managed to remedy the situation.
  2. robdurant
    That deck looks great. Thanks for sharing this build, I'm enjoying following along.
  3. robdurant
    Aah yes.... I seem to remember they were called "Bob's boards", or something similar... and my Tamiya Grasshopper II had one in it... Back in the days when you had a race to use the RC before both transmitter and car ran out of charge. I seem to remember it had a ceramic heat sink to get rid of all the wasted power (not a sign of great sophistication!) Something like this... ? Times have certainly moved on That brings back memories, for sure! Many a happy time was spent zipping it round the garden and collecting wet grass all over it until it crawled to a stop!
  4. robdurant
    @rwiederrich - It truly is. I had a good day yesterday working on Stefano - I've added the mast hoops to the Mizzen topmast - these 9 hoops were formed from brass wire and chemically blackened. Then they were put in place on the mast and thread tied to them ready to attach the sail. I added the running rigging holding this sail in place, and then went on to add the spanker sail. Now that these fore and aft sails are in place, I can add the backstays. So far I've added the starboard foretopmast backstay. Thanks for looking in, and for your kind words and encouragement. Getting to this stage is really spurring me on to complete Stefano, but there's still a fair bit to do. Rob
  5. robdurant
    Thanks @Ian_Grant - yes, I need to source some light fibreglass cloth. I'm hoping to get a really smooth hull before I fibreglass it, so that the tidying up after is as limited as possible. I've gone through a few more rounds of filling / sanding, and it's really starting to look quite neat - these photos are from half way through the process. In-between filler and sanding, I put on a coat of grey primer so I can see where the peaks and troughs are... The new speed controller arrived, so I've set up all the electrics and tested them. They'll do the job nicely. Things have moved on since I last made a radio controlled model, and this clever speed controller works out which way is forward based on the first direction you push the throttle stick on the radio control! Clever stuff! I had to solder a new receiver plug onto to the servo for the rudder, but otherwise, all very simple and easy. Rudder is channel 1, and Throttle channel 2. I tested the motor with an AA cell before I soldered on the speed controller to check that the prop would rotate in the correct direction - (clockwise as you look from the stern). It ended up as shown below. I've also been looking at what colour to put on the hull... I don't want a bright blue, but something a little more towards the teal end, and somewhat more subtle... To that end, I've been experimenting... I need to re-run these experiments on grey primer, as I suspect the mix will need to change, but the picture below gives some idea of the colour I'm looking for... It's a 1:2 / 1:3 ratio of Vallejo blue/green and Vallejo blue... I tried Andrea Blue but it was too light. I'm looking for something like the top left tone... Admittedly that tone will look different on each screen that displays this, but I've been looking at this in daylight and under daylight bulbs, and I'm pretty happy with the tone in real life. Having a 1:2 / 1:3 ratio makes it very easy to replicate should I need to. I just get the appropriate number of bottles and mix them in their entirety. Big thanks to everyone for looking in Rob
  6. robdurant
    Some nicer photos of Stefano with her stay sails attached to the stays...
  7. robdurant
    After a very enjoyable day off, more progress has been made. I've been attaching the stay sails... These are attached with tiny rings which are opened up one by one, and threaded between the bolt rope and the sail... The sail is then lifted into position and the rings closed one by one. I've found that a pair of tweezers is essential for holding and opening the rings, then a pair of pliers with grooves helps to grasp the ring to close it (a smooth pair of pliers won't stop the ring pinging round flat, and that led to considerable frustration at the beginning of the process. I've got quite good at it now. There are two staysails waiting to be attached. I wanted these in place before I added the backstays, so that I still had easy access to the centreline of the model, where all this takes place. I think that's proven to be the right approach. Thanks for all your comments, and for showing an interest Rob
  8. robdurant
    I would be very interested to hear that. Hope it proves satisfactory they're hulking great models when they're rigged (of course that's part of the appeal)
  9. robdurant
    Sadly, the cost of cases is prohibitive for such a model - last time I looked it would cost over £500, and the companies I talked to were unwilling to take on the work - it being of too large a scale for them to want to try delivering the case once it was made... Time will tell, but I do have a willing recipient, so I suspect Stefano will end up on display out of a case... I haven't got Ethalion into a final case - she's behind a perspex screen so that I can see her, at the end of my boat building desk. The enjoyment is absolutely in the building for me, so if someone comes along, admires her, and wants to put her in a case, I'd probably be tempted to pass her on
  10. robdurant
    So... it seems like something of a crime to cover up planking, but I've used some car body finishing filler (polyester-resin) to begin making the hull watertight... and now begins the sanding... and more sanding... and then filling... and then sanding... and (you get the picture...) First comes the filler... Then, after 20 minutes it's set enough to be sanded... and it's worth sanding it sooner rather than later, as it only gets harder... I'm using a very coarse paper glued to wood to ensure I don't sand peaks and troughs into the hull... This is most certainly a job to be done outside, with a mask on, and with the door inside shut... the amount of dust is considerably... It's a start. And it suggests that I will, indeed, end up with a watertight hull. Thanks for looking in and for the likes and encouragement Rob
  11. robdurant
    Thank you for your kind words, David.
  12. robdurant
    Thank you Andrew and Rob for your kind words. It was good to make some progress. Rob
  13. robdurant
    It's been a while since I posted an update, but today I managed to get the remaining forestays, and some of the main stays set up. Here are a couple of photos of progress, since the weather was playing ball... Happy building, all Rob
  14. robdurant
    I've reached a milestone - the hull is closed up. I've also cut out the beams where the deck opening is to give space to access the motor, rudder servo, battery, etc... Thanks for looking in, for the likes, and the encouragement Rob
  15. robdurant
    Thank you for these suggestions, Ian. I've moved the linkage in from the end of the servo arm to be approximately the same distance from the pivot as the on the rudder horn. I agree that this is a more sensible setup. As far as the rudder horn holes, I'm not sure why they'd be designed like that, but that's how the Billing Boats part came (unless I've just misidentified the part, and I'm using something that's meant for another bit of the build, which is entirely possible! 😂) I'm not too concerned about a small amount of slack in the system, as this is a scale fishing boat and not a high performance motor launch, so I'm not anticipating I'll need to be doing any precision manoeuvres at speed. It feels remarkably secure, and there's not a lot of slack in the system, so I'm happy enough. It helps keep the budget under control, and it's how I've always done it in my other RC boats There's not a huge amount of "interesting" progress to show, as I'm essentially just planking the other side of the hull to close her up... but I have planked vertically around the stern to bring the planking out to the same level. I've used offcuts of the planking strips to do this. And, planking on the starboard side, so far... I can normally get between three and five planks on in a session... The first nine planks from the bottom of the hull are full width... It won't be beautiful when it's finished, but it will be a solid base to fill and smooth. Planks are glued to the bulkheads, and edge glued to make it as solid as possible. The clamps towards the centre of the hull are to help the planks to glue nicely edge to edge, and to avoid clinker, as the bulkheads have quite a distance between them.
  16. robdurant
    Thank you for the words of encouragement, @Ian_Grant. Yes, the prop-shaft and prop are from George Sitek - I've always been really impressed with their product, and that's no less true on this occasion. The rudder servo tray is constructed, with the servo mounted and fitted... I've also installed the motor on its own tray and mounted that between two bulkheads. Everything's screwed in place so that it can be removed as necessary through the access hatch above. The receiver will go next to the rudder servo. A bit of brass wire has been used as the linkage between the rudder post and the rudder servo. This is bent so that it doesn't hit the bulkheads as it passes forward. Altogether, I'm quite please. Here are some pictures of progress so far. I'm really glad I decided to do all of this before planking the other side closed... it's made life WAY easier
  17. robdurant
    Thanks for the likes Planking continues... Port side is now planked, and starboard side well underway... I'll leave the serious sanding until I've got the whole hull planked. Also, the right parts for the universal coupling, along with a new motor arrived...
  18. robdurant
    A few more planks on the starboard side, and the sides added to the centre part of the keel.
  19. robdurant
    A quick update... I've added the first three rows of planking on starboard and port, and also filled in the stern between the bulkheads with balsa. To get a nice curved shape, this seemed like a necessity, especially as this model has only a single planking layer.
  20. robdurant
    Thank you for all the likes. The new prop arrived (38mm instead of 32mm, but with the same 4M (4mm) thread for the propshaft), and I'm much happier with how it fits the prop cutout at the stern. These George Sitek props are beautiful, and really lift the whole model. The Sitek props on my model of Cottesmore have taken on a beautiful patina with that deep bronze colour instead of the bright brass, and I'm sure this one will do the same over time. I've begun the planking process... this starts with the transom piece, which I pre-bent using the rib-bending iron. Then the uppermost planks were added (the top row is a 10mm strip, then the following strips are 7mm), lining up with the tops of the bulkheads. I love this stage where the hull lines begin to appear.
  21. robdurant
    Well, one very enjoyable holiday later, I'm back, and this evening I decided to sort out the rudder post, where it sits in keel as it extends aft. The instructions don't say anything about the base of the post, and I was concerned that if it simply sat in a wooden hole it would a) wear loose over time, b) provide a way for water to get to the plywood over time. To avoid this, I ordered some 3.2mm brass tube, and I've used a 3-4mm length of it to create a socket for the rudder post to sit in. The hole for it was drilled using a drillbit on the end of a brass tube that was put through the rudder post to ensure it was lined up well. Once the hole was drilled, the brass tube was glued in place with Araldite, along with some araldite to hold the other rudder and prop tubes in place. In the photo below, the post dropping down is the rudder post provided by billings. The brass tube is beneath it, and the drill I used for making the hole is lying on the building board to the right. And here's the finished article. Once it's all in place, (and once planking is complete) I'll trim the rudder post at the top back to the hull, but it's helped get everything lined up neatly. Thanks for looking in
  22. robdurant
    Welcome aboard 😀
  23. robdurant
    That's really helpful, thank you
  24. robdurant
    Hi HOF Yes, a prop shaft, plastic propellor, rudder post... nice, brass fittings. There isn't any help in the instructions to guide radio installation, and the mistake I made was waiting until after I'd assembled the frame before I cut out the channel for the prop shaft. I'm planning to use fibreglass resin, but to use the planks themselves as the 'glass' structure within the resin. I may change my mind... we'll see Rob
  25. robdurant
    I had a little time to spend on Nordkap today, so here's an update. I've added access to allow the tiller arm to be maintained without ripping up the deck, and begun installing the prop shaft and rudder shaft. A little fore-planning is required for the prop shaft, as I didn't want to install it and find that the motor was in a ridiculous position inside the hull (especially to find that it had to be mounted too low...) the flat surface where the prop shaft exits the hull gives some idea of the angle required. I replaced the prop shaft with a 5" M4 shaft from George Sitek, along with a brass prop... I mistakenly ordered a 32mm prop when I realise now I need a 38mm one (so the 32mm prop looks a little small in the photos)... but the updated prop has now been ordered and will replace the smaller one when it arrives. Here are some photos of progress... The tiller access... And the prop shaft... The next job will be to add doublers on either side of the tubes to strengthen them, and fix them permanently in place with epoxy. Thanks for looking in Rob

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