Charon Boatman of the River Styx by bensid54

[bensid54]

Builder: Bensid54

Engineer: AEW 

 

I've started another head as you can see in the pictures, I've got an outline of what I'm going to make in my head and hope to start it this weekend. It will begin with his torso from there I'll build and mount his movable neck because those are his only moving parts, the rudder will come into play once I start building the boat.

[bensid54]

Builder: Bensid54

Engineer: AEW

 

My art ability could be comparable to that of your average soap dish, which translates into no talent. What is in the pictures is the start of the Ferryman and what I want to know is do you think the proportions are correct? I plan on using dowels etc. to round out his limbs and keep in mind everything except his face will be under a cloak so he doesn't have to be perfect. Another question is how should his stance be? Should he stand with his feet together or should the be apart as in braced to paddle? I'm thinking to have his feet slightly apart because he won't be rowing very fast. All input and opinions are welcome, thanks in advance.

 

[CaptainSteve]

I would imagine that even the Ferryman of the Underworld would need to brace against wave motion - after all, it wouldn't be very dignified for him to be falling over all the time.

But I would also think that his cloak would hide his feet/sandals.

[bensid54]

True enough Captain and the other good thing about his cloak is it will hide some of my screw ups!

[Roger Pellett]

Another idea for a boat- a Venetian Gondola. They are pretty creepy as is and are specifically designed to be rowed (not poled or paddled) with the gondolier standing up. Designs are readily available. The heavy figurehead at the bow balances the weight of the gondolier in the stern. The boats are made deliberately asymmetric to offset the turning effect of the gondolier always rowing on one side.

 

Roger Pellett

[bensid54]

I'll Google that Roger maybe there are some building plans on the net. Once I get the basic boat I can creep it up.  

[bensid54]

His body so far with both shoulder servos installed and one of the two head servos installed. 

[bensid54]

Testing the electronics.

 

 

[bensid54]

More work on the electronics

 

 

[bensid54]

Work on the arms now, I've grooved them both to fit the servo horns one level the other 15 degrees. The reason one is 15 degrees is because his left arm has to cross over his chest then his elbow will be bent to make up the rest of the distance. The right arm will have a free pivoting elbow but the left elbow will be pinned or set screwed to not bend once I have the final setting. When I make the hands the right one will have the ability to spin and pivot whereas the left one will only be able to spin. Next I will be machining the servo horns to fit the shoulders.

[bensid54]

Fitting the servo horns, in the one picture you can see the approximate spacing and angle to each other the upper arms will be.

[bensid54]

Charons friend that will reside in the bow of the boat. This skeleton came with three sets of hands so I'm debating about rebuilding Charon to work with one of the pairs of hands. So far the mechanics have been troublesome so hopefully the electronics can be sorted out, if not there is always plan "B" which I know can work.

[captainbob]

From what I've seen so far, you can get past, "troublesome mechanics".

 

Bob

[bensid54]

Thanks Bob and you are right a difficult hurdle has been cleared. The electronics work and this is so nice because between Charons Electrical Engineer and myself (the later doing the least) we spent in the neighbourhood of around eight hours just getting this thing programmed to work. Now time for the video!

[BANYAN]

Hi Ben, you'll have to start feeding that passenger soon, they're nothing but a bag of boners  

 

Great to see you've sorted the electrics.  A question though.  i don't recall if this will be a floating/working model.  If so, how will you get the oars to lift out of the water on the forward stroke so that it doesn't counteract the after stroke (propelling forward)?  If it is a working static, won't be an issue.  I am sure you have some clever system worked out with Arthur.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[BANYAN]

Ahhh! that makes sense, thanks Arthur.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[bensid54]

Builder: Bensid54

Advisor/ Electrical Engineer/ Patient person: AEW

 

Scrapping the first set of arms and will be starting on the replacement arms. I predrilled the elbows without realizing they need to be drilled at 120 to 130 degrees instead of the 90 degrees that I drilled them, so they are now scrap plastic. The reason I'm using Nylon over wood or metal is I think Nylon will give a bit of flex at the elbows and I think that will better represent the properties of ligaments and joints on the average person.

[bensid54]

I need to find pictures of wrecked and beached wooded boats. I want the hull to appear weathered, beaten and something neglected so close up shots of beached or wrecked boat sides would be good. I have a picture in my mind how I want it to look based on the look that you see with Viking ships. Broken boards that are poorly repaired would be part of the look I'm after too.

[mtaylor]

Ben,

 

There's a well weathered model of a sponge boat that might help...  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10558-sponge-diving-boat-trechandiri-tirhandil-by-mhmtyrl-mehmet/page-1?hl=sponge

[RichardG]

I need to find pictures of wrecked and beached wooded boats. I want the hull to appear weathered, beaten and something neglected so close up shots of beached or wrecked boat sides would be good. I have a picture in my mind how I want it to look based on the look that you see with Viking ships. Broken boards that are poorly repaired would be part of the look I'm after too.

 

Try these:

 

http://www.shutterstock.com/s/derelict+boat/search.html

http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/wrecked-wooden.html

http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/wrecked-wood-ships?excludenudity=false&family=creative&phrase=wrecked%20wood%20ships&sort=best

http://www.istockphoto.com/photos/wrecked+wood+boat

 

Richard.

[bensid54]

Cool stuff guys thanks! Does anyone know how to give a wooden boat that weathered look?

[Canute]

Stain the wood a weathered light gray and let dry. Dab rubber cement in spots on the hull and then paint over the whole hull in your next color. When that dries pop the rubber cement off the hull and you should have bare spots and peeling paint. Used it on some structures; works good.

[mtaylor]

Ben,

 

Look to the model railroad types also.  They use weathering powders and other trick for wood structures.

[bensid54]

Thanks Ken and Mark those will be helpful, I've never built anything weathered so this is going to be a challenge. One thing about it though I'm sure screw ups could add to the weathered look.

[Canute]

Dings and splits would be appropriate in the wood. Just don't get too carried away.

 

Check out this Pan Pastels link: http://www.modelingcolors.com/

 I like them because when you over-spray, they remain in place and don't fade. Most other chalks & powders do.

[captainbob]

Google "derelict boats" and go to images, you will get tons of pictures.

 

Bob

[bensid54]

Thanks Ken and Bob those are helpful tips, I'm sure I will be able to circle in on what I would like the finished product to be.

[bensid54]

I was thinking of making a water tight thin hull then adding weathered and rough looking planks to the outside and inside for effect. That may be the route to go because I want it to be water tight yet look unseaworthy, any other ideas that may be a better way to go?

[captainbob]

You might leave gaps between some of the planks, like a dried out derelict, and fill the gaps with clear epoxy.  I'm sure whatever you do it will look great.

 

Bob

Edited April 25, 2016 by Cap'n'Bob

[bensid54]

Thanks for the compliment Bob. That would work it would be tricky to do, I'm thinking build the nasty looking hull then use scotch tape inside to support the epoxy while it dries. I could do that if I'm very cautious but the more I think about it the better I like your idea.