robdurant

So I got most of the structural prototype completed, again this was mostly to check the fit of major components and adjust my cut files.
I ran way behind on schedule due to my machine being down but managed, with the aid of a lot of coffee and loud music, to crank out another set of parts for the prototype that I will begin to build shortly. These are now packed up and on their way back to work with me. 
More updates to come soon.
JJ

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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

Over the past few days, I've made good progress on the bowsprit rigging, including making the "whiskers" on the catheads, which were soldered from 1mm and 0.5mm brass rod, and then sprayed with white primer. The topgallant shrouds were also set up. 
 
I wanted to use black card for the strapping on the cathead whiskers, but also wanted them to be strong enough to withstand knocks and bumps, so rather than simply stopping them at their inboard extent, I have them bending 90 degrees, and fitting into a hole drilled into the cathead itself. This provides lots of strength, and I'm confident they'll withstand gentle knocks... Hopefully I'll avoid anything more dramatic.
 
Adding the "hooks" for the rigging first...

Then bending them to fit... and trial fitting them in the holes drilled in the cathead.

They were fitted before I bent them vertically up, so that I could ensure they both bent up the same amount... and black card was added to simulate the metal straps...

The finished article, once rigged... (rigging required that I make some 0.5mm rope, and then stained it... For those interested (and as an aide memoire for myself, it was made with #100 DMC Cordonnet crochetting thread, 1x thread per strand, 3x strands). The rigging was fastened using #50 DMC Cordonnet thread, and fixed in place with watered down PVA.

And as mentioned at the beginning, I've also rigged the top gallant shrouds... Rather than adding deadeyes, I've copied the way these were rigged on my Ethalion... 

It's nice to feel that progress is being made.
 

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
 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today I made some progress on the transom and frames, including the jig. I’ve been staring at this on my computer
for months in anxiety wondering if this will even make sense let alone work. It did. Some minor adjustments need to be made but I’m very happy with the results. 

the jig is fit to the hull dry and it’s pretty snug in order To keep things lined up properly. There are two pieces of the jig that align all the frames as well as the vertical components of the jig, none of these parts should be glued to the frames otherwise you’re in trouble. There are a series of transverse structure pieces that tie the frames Together and help with QG assembly.

you can also see the gun port framing, this is all laser cut and etched for the gun port sills, they should just slide into place.

The base for the upper balcony was also installed to test fitment and it worked, it’s made up of two pieces one lower and one upper, together they also create the deck camber at the balcony and are a landing for the balcony planking. The notches in the frames help hold their shape and then just clamp the upper on after the lower is dry.



I also ran a test on the longitudinal piece for the gun ports on the lower deck, this also ties all the bulkheads together. On the bottom you will see the etchings for the gunport sills, tomorrow I will cut out the remaining 8 and possibly add
all the sills.

after all the gunport structure is in place and the bulkheads are stabilized, then I can remove the framing jig, the transverse parts of the jig will have to be cut loose in order to lift it out but this shouldn’t be a problem. Another jig will Be made in the center to contain the bulkheads when fairing, I will hopefully build this tomorrow. 
Thanks for looking in! Questions and comments are always welcome.
JJ

I have ordered more balsa wood to use as filler blocks for the stern section. Unfortunately I have no decent sized blocks left. In the meantime I will get back to the Golden Hind and a little more sandinng in between. Just a photo to compare the difference between the two. Thanks for all the comments and likes so far. 

Gangway Gunwales
The next task, according to the build manual, was to add the gunwales to the gangway section of the deck.  The sides of the hull had already been sanded flush to the deck level. The gunwales were glued in place and to ensure they were held in place as the glue cured I found a simple way to clamp them using some short plank lengths. This can be seen in the photo's below.

3D Hull Patterns
The next task was to add the various 3D hull patterns. These consist of a set of 1mm pear wood patterns and a set of 0.6mm pear wood patterns which will sit on top of the 1mm patterns.
 
There are guide lines on the bulwarks to ensure these patterns are correctly positioned. I have added a section of photo's of these patterns in situ.

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.

A New Tool
I thought it may be an idea to get a small mini saw for trimming the hull rails between the gun ports. I ended up buying the Magicrose mini hand saw (from Amazon), which arrived with a selection of different sized saw blades.

With a suitable saw blade fitted I used the hand saw to trim the material over the first gunport. The tool turned out to be a winner, noting the rail edges will require a light sand and the gunport sides will require a paint touch up.

Taking my time each gun port was cleared in turn, using the mini hand saw. You will note that I have also painted the upper quarterdeck gunports.

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.

Just thought I would mention on here - Vanguard Models will be shut From Saturday 23rd September until 7th October. The last date for kit orders is Tuesday 19th September and for small package postal orders, Thursday 21st September. Orders made after closure will be processed upon re-opening.
 
I am being made to take a two week vacation, first in 8 years!

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.

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.

I’m working on assembling the first prototype, this one will be used primarily to test fit parts and it will only be built to accommodate the basic structure. Most all parts are MDF  as it’s better place holder than more expensive woods. I’m hoping to get the bulkheads on tomorrow as well as the longitudinal structure, from there I will produce the longitudinal strakes for the gunport framing. More to follow soon.
 

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

Looks good. My only comment is that the rudder linkage is much farther out from the centre of the servo arm than from the rudder shaft. The servo will hardly have to move to give rudder hard over, which means it would be very "twitchy" when moving the "stick" on the transmitter. Moving the link towards the servo shaft would give a better feel on the "stick", and give more torque from the servo though more is probably not needed.
 
Also not sure why the rudder horn holes are oval....🤔
 
Finally, you would get a smoother action if you employ "quick links" rather than bending the wire.
 
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