America by J. Rothwell - Revell - scale 1/61 - PLASTIC - RADIO

[J. Rothwell]

I thought this would be a good time to dust off this great kit, Revell's "America", circa 1969 edition. The hull is cast in black plastic and the sails are more usable than the vacuform sails that are in the newer released kit version. The surface detail is fantastic, both on the hull and decks. The scale is not perfect and it is not 1/56 scale...not even close...it is 1/61ish and the boat is 1/4 inch too narrow on the beam. Still, it's close enough that it is still pleasing to the eye.

The instructions state that the model can be sailed on a pond (as a free-sailor) if certain steps are taken, so adding some radio gear should make it that much more fun! Instructions for free-sailing are vague on making this happen, but two steps are clearly stated.

One step in making this a pond boat is to add 15 ounces of a birdshot/modeling clay mixture to the bilge from stem to stern. This is great news... you could put all the radio gear you need for sail and rudder control and still have to add lead ballast to come up to 15 ounces.

The other is adding the furnished clip-on fin that attaches to the keel to help tracking and minimize leeway. I'm going to improve the sailing characteristics by following suit, but with a larger copper fin that will help by putting more weight lower and improve handling. I know this is a deviation from the prototype, but the model is too small to rely on just the hull. Also, I'm going to use as much of the kit parts as possible, but will bend the rules for ease of sailing/building sake. In other words, this should be a fun build.

Before welding the hull half's together, it's a good time to paint the interior bulwarks white. Rattle-can primer and color coats for this. Taping was tedious but pays off when peeled away. This would be harder to do if the half's were joined, but still possible.

The plastic parts respond very well to solvent (a medium hot type was bought at Tap Plastics) and are almost impossible to separate after it cures...about 5 minutes! This is one of the attractions of building this model, the ability to weld everything together with solvent.

The cap rail is painted a rich brown to simulate Mahogany. I'm using artist oil paints for most of the detail and though it takes a long time to dry, I really like the results.

Joe

[J. Rothwell]

I found a couple of drawings of the "America" on eBay...this is what the ad said...

"I had the wonderful opportunity to attend an auction offering the lifetime collection of an engineer who spent every free hour(or so it seemed) building highly complex and extraordinariliy detailed maritime models of all shapes and sizes. He had passed away some fifteen years prior, at the age of 88. He had a degree in civil engineering, and was a veteran of WWII.
There were people from all over the world, including owners of various tugboat companies, vying for one or several of the many treasures he had acquired or built throughout the many years of his life. I was quite ecstatic to come home with the vast collection of plans he used as a reference for his many tremendous achievements in the exclusive world of precision, large scale modeling. Most of these plans were garnered through correspondance with various countries/companies/museums including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the HMSO(On Her Majesty's Service), The Gore,Basildon, Essex as well as various Tugboat and Railroad Companies. Many of the plans appear unused and/or very well preserved.

OFFERED HERE IS THE FOLLOWING: Two Plans(1852) drawn up at the request of Admiral John Wentworth Loring, Royal Naval College, Portsmouth for the 19th c. Racing Yacht "America". The same legendary yacht that beat out all contenders in Britain the previous year(1851). Unfortunately for Loring, 1852 was also the year he passed, so not even sure if he was able to do anything with the finished plans. I'm sure England got some use out of them, though."


I think he is still selling plans of incredible boats on eBay.


 The two drawings were being sold together, as is, and it was a 'buy it now' scenario instead of a bidding situation. $75 for the pair...

 

So one could argue...

Since these drawings were done a year after her win, during a dry dock in Portsmouth, England, they may be the most accurate renditions to date. When the 'America' was built to a set of plans in the U.S., the ship builders would have tried to stay true to the plans, but boat building is more of an art than a slavish endeavor to copy the plans. You could say that these drawings are more of a representation on how the 'America' turned out and would better show the boat that spanked the poop-deck of the Brits, right? The measurements were taken directly off the finished boat is the argument...and before all the overhauls she would get over the years...

 

...sorry about the bright spots...they still blow up nicely...

Joe

[J. Rothwell]

The newer release (in the 90's) does have the same clip-on fin and in addition, it's the Civil War version of 'America', which is different from the 1851 racer (1969 release). She carried more sail and had a couple of cannons slapped on her deck. But the amazing part is she served in both Union and Confederate navy's during the conflagration! It is just as cool as the 1851 version. I have a 2016 release from Poland and the fin was cut off the tree and not included...not mentioned in the assembly instructions either... 

The vacuformed sails can be replaced with cnc-sewed sails from eBay and they are made for the Civil War version for the relatively cheap price of $60 or so dollars. Same company does a wood deck and wood blocks for this model. I don't think the deck plank pattern is correct, though, but it still looks great. I like the pattern on the kit deck and the raised grain looks fine for me. It is missing the plank butt ends and these could be etched in by the builder, but I'll pass on that.

There's a rubber grommet the needs to be sandwiched in where the rudder post goes through the hull when the hull halves get welded together. My 1969 model's gasket was still sealed in the plastic pouch and was just as pliable as the day it was released. The kit plastic rudder post spins in this grommet, not really a good idea. A copper tube was cut that has the same diameter as the plastic rudder post and inserted into the grommet for a bushing. A copper rudder post slips inside this and all wear is on the bushing and not the grommet.

The lower bushing is made from sheet copper that was bent to fit the width of the keel and the same size copper tube as the upper bushing. The end of the rudder post rests nicely into it. One screw on each side locks it onto the keel.

The faux rudder hinge straps were soldered on the oversized rudder (I copied the shape from the Sterling Models kit of this boat) at the appropriate spots. The plastic hinges on the sternpost were cut away first, of course. The original rudder is shown in one of the pics...as you know, click on any image a few times and it blows up nicely...

The rudder servo is mounted to fine grain Fir timbers that I milled out of surveyors lathe. Most of the wood we use at work is useless for modeling, but every now and then, we get a bundle that has a few tight-grained wood stakes. I grab it right then and toss it the cab of the truck. Interestingly, it's not only stronger, it's lighter in weight. High dollar Sitka Spruce has the same qualities.

The ends of the planks are carved and sanded to match the curved hull. It doesn't have to be perfect; epoxy putty (JB Weld) will fill in any gaps, but you want it close for sure. The plastic was rough-sanded and then scored with a exacto blade at the spots where the timbers touch the hull. Then, wiped with denatured alcohol and finally, epoxy the servo mounted to the timbers, all in one piece, last. The white paint inside is where the painting got away from me and I ended up with some overspray on the inside...nothing got on the outside. This is critical because I'm not planning on painting the hull black...it's already black, it just needs a flat sealer coat.

Z-bends on the pushrods are fool-proof, but it takes a few tries before you get it right. The transom is so close, a diagonal approach solved most issues with travel. A wheel collar on the rudder post makes the whole thing adjustable.

This is stout. This will take a lot of abuse to un-hinge it.

Joe

[J. Rothwell]

The problem of a loose-footed foresail with considerable over-lap has been a bit of a stumbling block on this model. Mainly, the model is so small and the kind of equipment needed for a cross-over maneuver is too large. But, shortening the foresail foot is out of the question, so...

The smallest winch I could find was a GWS S125 1T. These are made all the way up 12T, that's 12 turns. But I could only find the 1T ( 1 turn) on the net, only $20, shipped. The drum pays out a little more than 5 inches on one turn. The distance from the fairlead anchor point to the mainmast is 3 inches. That winch is perfect for this model!

Trial fit showed that this was a lost cause, no matter what position was tried, the winch was too tall and poked above the deck. This was trying to keep the drum parallel with the deck. Then trying a counter-intuitive approach, the drum was oriented perpendicular to the deck and perpendicular to the centerline of the boat, thinks started to look promising. After cutting off the mounting tabs on one side of the servo and laying the winch into the hold, the drum only protruded into the deck 3/16ths of an inch.

OK, so the fairlead anchor points for the foresail sheets are perpendicular the skylight box...'and therein lies serendipity'...the drum is in this exact spot and fits in the extra space the skylight box affords...well, I had to relieve the inside edges a bit to get about 1/16th inch clearance, but now it is perfect. And if that's not enough, the drum is almost the same diameter as the distance between the fairlead anchor points, letting the sheet lines reel/unreel almost square to the deck grommets. It's as if this was custom made for this boat!

Same mounting practice as the rudder servo with the addition of some down-riggers to help dissipate torque. The vee-shaped hold keeps the bottom of the winch from twisting.

Another stumbling block on this model is access hatches. The plan for this model is to cut the deck in half at the area where the deck has a step. The rear half will be screwed down along the edges and the front half will be semi-permanently welded down. The battery and the switch harness will be the only items in the fore and all the running equipment will be in the stern half. It will not be easy to service the boat, but a compromise has to be made somewhere...still, the boat will be serviceable.

And, btw, I can't believe GWS saved the day...good 'ole GWS...

Joe

[J. Rothwell]

The mainsail and jib have the same kind of movement so one servo will move the two. Solves the 'space' issue. A Hitec HS-225BB was very cheap and has great torque. Has metal gears, composite gears, ball bearings and is still small enough to fit under the deck.

The arms are 2 inches long, not the best, but still within reason. I can get a little more swing by increasing the servo 'end points'. The radio must be programmable, though, and not an old style. The end points on my radio can be increased to 120% on both ends, giving a total swing distance of a little more than 4 inches. Downwind will be affected a bit, but this an acceptable compromise. The two indentations near the center of the arms are there so it can clear the main mast mounting socket protruding under the deck...that's how tight things are...

The main-sheet line will travel reward on the starbd' side, just under the deck and on the outside of the downrigger, keeping it clear of the drum-winch. This opens up the port side to run all the electric wires.

The jib-sheet will travel forward down the port side. This will open up the starbd' side for battery, charge jack and switch harness.

The main concern here is when the line goes slack under the deck. Careful design eliminating snag points is the goal. Some line guides attached to the underside of the decks will help shepherd towards this goal.

Both exit the deck on centerline and through a brass eyelet.

Everything is exposed when the rear half of the deck is removed for maintenance. That's it for sail and rudder control machinery! And I still have 9 ounces to use up for ballast.

Joe

[J. Rothwell]

Some heavy styrene sheet, 40 thousands, was used for the tray. Stiffeners were welded to the bottom...they do not touch the hull when the tray is flipped over, just the outer 'v' edges touch the hull sides and this is welded.

Double-sided tape holds the receiver down. The antenna is fished forward and the excess is woven through another 'v' shaped styrene tray welded to the sides. Plenty of room for a battery and switch harness between this and the main/jib servo.

All the wiring is on the port side, leaving the starbd' side clear for the main-sheet line.

The gap between the receiver and drum winch is about an 1/8 inch or so. Enough to service the line...

Joe

[J. Rothwell]

The receiver is rated to operate from 4.8 volts to a max of 6 volts. The boat got a 5 cell, 900 mAh, 6 volt ni-cad. I went with ni-cads because I didn't want all the problems Lithium comes with. Once the deck is sealed, I want a battery that will last and take abuse for years...ni-cads are tried and true and practically fool-proof. Voltage demands for this boat are negligible, so that's another plus in the ni-cad column. 6 volts also speeds up the servo's a bit and gives them a bit more muscle.

The battery sits in the 'v' shaped hold and has some styrene braces welded about mid-point. A cover was welded to cap the whole affair...there are no snag points for the jib sheet to hang up on. JST connectors were soldered on...I would usually solder the connections and forego connectors as this is error free, but I need to put on and take off the foredeck during construction, so it's easier to disconnect and set the deck aside. I didn't get a picture of the batt before the cover was welded down...I was on a roll...

Switch harness occupies the forward hatch and consists of an on and off switch and a charge jack. This is close to the jib sheet exit grommet and poses a snag risk, so a cover was welded over it and the cover also sheppard's the wires to the starbd' side, clearing the port side for the jib sheet. Before the cover is welded down, some No-Ox is rubbed on the solder connections and charge jack, as this environment will be a bit damp from time to time. A curved cover is more friendly to the jib sheet and should be snag free.

I also welded on a line guide on the fore-mast mounting socket which should prevent the jib sheet looping around it whenever it gets slack.

This completes the equipment installation and now actual boat stuff can be worked on...Yay!

 

Joe

[J. Rothwell]

The main sheet line starts on the port end of the servo arm, near the hull. Then it goes aft to the deck-exit grommet, right behind the rudder, on centerline. This has problems all over it...the rudder post and its parts are a huge snag point and it also has to deal with the cockpit indentation. If we could route it away from the rudder post and the protruding cockpit, then things will be more workable.

Something round and smooth that would ease the line around the rudder and to the grommet...there it was all the time, the cockpit wall makes a perfect line guide. It just needs something to keep the line from slipping off. Again, taking advantage of plastic welding solvent, a tunnel was cut and welded to the inside bottom of the deck.

It exits almost on top of the grommet. I still need to round over the grommet, but I lack the proper punch. I have one (3.5mm) on order, really cheap, but shipping is slow right now. Can't install the deck till this chore is completed. No problem yet, as I said, there are still lots of things to do.

Joe

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by J. Rothwell

[J. Rothwell]

[J. Rothwell]

Instead of spray paint, I used artists' oils to stain the deck, as I've mentioned earlier.

The deck on 'America' was yellow pine, according to my data source.

The model has nice plank detail and scales to about 3.5 inches, which is probably not bad, though I don't have definitive data.

Yellow ochre was the base color and minor additions of other browns were added to get what I felt was a warm pine deck.

It was brushed on really dry...almost no paint on the bristle brush...too much is no problem, it wipes off when fresh. A smooth coat was not wanted, but more of a splotchy look.

One drawback is the time it takes to dry. The next day is possible, but better two days. Even then, it is still a bit soft, but workable.

The raised wood grain pattern on the planks is fine, but no plank butt-ends are found etched into the deck. This could be further enhanced if wanted.

Joe