Byzantium by qwerty2008 - Scale 1:20 - RADIO - based on the Pride of Baltimore

[JerryTodd]

This seemed the quickest way to get the spar dimensions to you...

 

 

 

 

[qwerty2008]

Thank you so much my measurements were way off.

[qwerty2008]

I made the mainmast step. The main mast is actually an inch two short but it will have to do.

 

Lextin AKA qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

this is my 100th post on the new forum

   I stepped the fore mast and setup some mockup rigging so that I could take some pictures showing its full size.

   Sorry about the messy house we are still in the process of moving in. Once the new toilets are installed and we can get the refrigerator in the kitchen it will look a lot cleaner.

 

 

[qwerty2008]

Not much progress since my last post. Today I made a mockup deadeye.

 

 

 

 

Lextin aka qwerty2008

Edited June 3, 2013 by qwerty2008

[michael mott]

Good to see that you can find some time to continue the build. Moving is always a messy business. the deadeye looks fine.

 

Michael

[qwerty2008]

I know its way too early in the build to be making deadeyes but I couldn't resist I made a shaping tool out of a razor blade then I turned them on the drill press and drilled the holes using a piece of wood with a deadeye size hole in it to hold them wile I drilled the holes for the rope. I still need to make 12 more large deadeyes and several smaller deadeyes.

 

Lextin aka qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

today I used the bandsaw for the first time since I moved   and recut the hull formers into there final shape. Also I made a portable stand from using the legs from an old folding table.

 

 

Lextin.

Edited July 31, 2013 by qwerty2008

[mtaylor]

Nice to see you're able to get back to this build, Lextin.   The new formers look to give you some internal bracing.

[JerryTodd]

That's a lot of thick ribs in a hull that even at that size, doesn't offer a lot of space.  With the outside glassed and the inside given a coat or two of resin, you really only need a couple of those.  I kept one to brace the dagger-board trunk, and one for the motor mount.  The thing that really made the hull solid was the deck clamp and beams.

 

What ever you decide to do, remember to make it possible for water to get through fore and aft.  Water WILL get in, if only a little, and you want drain holes in any bulkhead so it all goes to the lowest point where it can be pumped and dried out - otherwise you get mold in there and that gets really disgusting really fast.  It'll be a very hard hull to reach into and clean.

 

Consider too keeping the hull as light as you can.  That gets more weight onto the removable ballast which is deeper and stiffens the boat more, and allows you to trim her easier with internal ballast.  It also makes handling the model a easier if the 20-30 pounds of sailing weight can be shed when she's not sailing.

[qwerty2008]

the main reason I recut the formers was to make deck supports. I weighed the model and it currently weighs a little less then 9 pounds (hull 4 pounds bulkheads 2.5 pounde mast 2 pounds deck a little less then half a pound, when I floated it (just the hull) it took all my lead (30 pounds) to bring it down near the to the waterline. It is overweight but I will make a deep keel to help with stability. 

as I was writing this post my dad found a 4 foot long coachwhip outside so I went out and caught it. I took some pictures then let it go back under the house.

[qwerty2008]

I decided to take Jerry's advice and cut the out the frames leaving just the deck beams the pieces that I removed weighed abought 1 ¹/₄  pounds. I glued some scrap wood to the sides to support the beams. This didn't do much for weight but it freed up alot of space inside the hull. I will work on making them all even so the deck will sit flat on top of them.

 

Lextin.

Edited August 4, 2013 by qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

I found a piece of plywood that looks like a good size (9.5 inches by 5 inches) for the main hatch. I will use the plywood as a guide for framing in the main hatch.

    I was wondering if I should add bow and stern chaser cannons if so would the stern chasers get in the way of the tiller? and how would I mount the bow chaser(s)? also there is alot of unused space towards the stern should I increase the broadside?.

 

Lextin.

[JerryTodd]

These boats didn't rely on firepower, but on speed and the ability to sail close to the wind.  Most were armed with 6 pounders, or a single 18 on a pivot amidships, and maybe a swivel or so on the rail.  They carried large crews not to board and fight, but to send onto captured merchant vessels to take back in, each prize crew depleting the schooner's crew - the more men they carried, the longer they could stay out and capture prizes.

[JerryTodd]

BTWY: You should resin the inside thoroughly before attaching anything inside the hull.  Deck clamp, mast steps, framing, etc can all be epoxied in after, but if resined after attachment, there's a place for water to get in.  If water gets in, even a small amount, it will swell the wood causing joints to open, the glass to separate, and make more places for water to get in.

 

Holes in the hull, for prop shafts and the like, ought to be over sized, filled with epoxy and redrilled to the correct smaller size to prevent any wood from being exposed.

 

You might consider painting bare wood with Ethylene Glycol (automotive antifreeze - not Propylene Glycol).  Glycol soaks into the wood and crystallizes which doesn't allow in water or mold which causes rot.  All my models get this treatment.  Allow it dry thoroughly and then resin it.  If you look close you'll see the wood has little sparkles in it because of the crystals.  A lot of wood objects recovered from shipwrecks are preserved this way it keeps out water without shrinkage.  Be very sure to follow the safety precautions on the container, I had a neighbor whose dog lapped up a puddle of it from a leaking bottle and it later died as a result - they thought it was rabid until it was tested.

[qwerty2008]

The mast steps and deck clamps are already glued in place but the deck beams will bee left out until I coat the inside with resin. 

[qwerty2008]

I have coated the inside of the hull in fiberglass resin thinned with acetone and test fitted a strip of wood to build up the inside of the bulwarks.

 

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

You're making some nice progress, Lextin.  Have you sorted out your RC rig yet for sail and rudder control?

[qwerty2008]

You're making some nice progress, Lextin.  Have you sorted out your RC rig yet for sail and rudder control?

No not yet but I will probably build a mock up on sketchup then possibly make a small scale mock up to test the movements. My Tx/Rx is really cheap and doesn't allow full travel on my servos so that will make things interesting.

[qwerty2008]

I added the wales and cut two chase ports in the stern (the gunport lids are temperarily hinged with some tape) I also temporarily attached the stern davits.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I framed in the main hatch and reinforced around the mast with some scrap plywood then I lowered the whole deck 1/4 of an inch this caused some problems with the chase ports (I knew that I should have waited) so I reshaped the stern to cover up my mistake. I also made a mockup stern lantern (probably a little too small)  to see what it would look like.

[qwerty2008]

I made the supports for the servo tray and cut the gun ports. I decided not to build up the bulwarks as thick (I still might go back to my old plan if so that was a wast of Bondo) and smoothed the inside with some Bondo. I also changed the angle of the bowsprit to make it more accurate to the period that I am shooting for.

 

 

Lextin.

[JerryTodd]

It's your boat.

[qwerty2008]

I went back to my old plan to build up the bulwarks and reshaped the stern again. I also made the rails and made the catheads from the old stern davits which were too big.

 

Lextin.

 

[qwerty2008]

I made the new stern davits also I have been working on the size and location of the smaller hatches and skylight.

I found some plugs for the ships boats one is a boat from HMS Victory and the other was a unfinished model of HMS surprise that I made some modifications to I still need a larger one for the barge.

I have decided that the flimsy deck that I made a ways back has to go and will be replaced with one cut from a single sheet of that fake wood (it will be coated in resin to prevent water damage) that is almost like really thick paper.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I pulled a hull for one of the ships boats off the smaller (shiny one) plug. This was the best hull yet although it has 9 strakes on the starboard side and only 8 on the port side. The first hull (made over a year ago) that I made was bamboo it didn,t turn out so well the second was newspaper layered then sanded it was to smooth and looked weird the third is strips of card with a wood stem and bamboo keel.

 

 

Lextin.

[michael mott]

Well the third one looks good,

 

Michael

[texxn5]

Really like the scale, very nice....

[rwiederrich]

Looking very good.

 

Rob

[qwerty2008]

I made the new deck and did some work on the deck beams also I sprayed a quick coat of white on the small boat. After seeing a video that Jerry posted on a different forum I realize that I will need several small boats that are significantly larger then the one that I already made which is still usable but will be the smallest boat on board. 

 

Lextin.