Corsaro 2 by FreekS - FINISHED - Corel - 1:24 - RADIO

[FreekS]

Hi all,

 

After completion of my submarine Auguste Piccard, I started on my long delayed Corsaro 2. I bought the kit about 12 years ago from a model shop that went out of business. Price on the box is 288 UKP, but I bought it in Holland for less. Looks complete but someone made some pencil scribbles in the manual before returning it. 
 

I intend to make it radio-controlled. Never built a sailboat before but I understand I will need to build light (I.e. take weight out of the hull where possible), likely need a deep add-on keel with lead bulb, enlarged rudder, and much more I don’t know about yet. 
 

Started sawing out the insides of most of the frames and the keel”plate”, before mounting the frames.

 

 

One of the difficulties with this model is the curved deck needing to be glued to the frames right away. So access to the interior is very difficult. I cut out the deck under the deckhouse, and will make the deckhouse detachable.

 

I did think of putting a first coat of varnish on the frames and keel before planking, and ensuring water coming into the hull can find its way to the lowest point. Then started planking the hull. The manual is short but highlights the important steps such as planing the frames and adjusting the width of the planks.

 

also made sure I drilled out a cavity for the rudder-“axle”. The wooden keel and rudder seen here need work much later but I can mount a “sailing keel” on it later. Both are of course not attached yet.

so after about a week the hull has a first planking. Instead of the second planking, I intend to sand - epoxy - putty - and cover the hull with glass-fabric and epoxy. That requires some time, stuff to be ordered, and anyway, the holiday is over. Later more. All suggestions of course welcome!

 

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful yawl. Thank you for doing this very unusual model.

Yves

[FreekS]

After planking of the hull, the wooden keel has been shaped and glued to the hull. The first sanding, coating with epoxy resin, and using epoxy putty to smoothen the hull has been done. The whole was sanded with 100 grid sandpaper, before applying a second coat of epoxy resin and a 160g/m2 glass-fabricagerekening, followed by another epoxy layer. There are some air blisters under the glass layer, and there is some visible overlap in places.  I think with more sanding and epoxy putty I should get that fixed.

I’ve actually only made a hull this way once, and that was my submarine O-1. The cigar shape of that hull made the glass fabric stage easier to do.

[FreekS]

While the hull needs another layer of epoxy, I took the boat on holiday and worked on the deck planking. The “kings plank”, deckhouse and well are hardwood, and then 4x4 mm white wood are used to plank the hull. I interspace the planks with 0,3mm black carton (hope it sands well later,….). It’s a lot of work and will need a lot of sanding and finishing later, but a fun job.

[FreekS]

Over the last months I’ve worked mainly on the technology. The deck is finished and coated with epoxy. It looks nice but could have been better… the outside still needs painting.

 

 

Never built an rc sailboat before and so there is a lot of testing. First the rudder, the rudder “shaft” comes up under 45 degrees angle, and after many sketches I used two conical gears located under the helmsman’s bench to be able to connect that to a servo via a bowden cable. Tested but then removed again.

also a shaft was drilled for the prop axle - it will be a 1mm axle, leading to a small motor I had lying around.

 

for the mainsail and mizzenmast sails will be controlled by one servo with a long arm, the sheet is “doubled up” to provide enough length, and would normally be in the left side position, traversing to the right to sail “into the wind”. Hope the servo is strong enough, …..

main problem seems to be the two jibs, which will need relatively high sheeting length -especially the front one that needs to be pulled forward of the second jib to tack. Found some nice concepts on-line which I’m trying to realize with a “sephamore” servo pushing two arms, and a sail winch powering an above-deck circular line for the forward jib. These I’ve built a test rig to test the 3D printed arms for the servo. Generally I’m having too much friction.

So regularly going back to the drawing board, this boat is just like a submarine with very limited space and severe weight constraints! and I just burnt the sail winch. Not a great confidence builder….
 

 

[FreekS]

Painting the hull with white hull, red (darkened ral 3016) underwatership and a black waterline. Needs some touching up.

 

Some of the deckhouses are being painted and finished as well. Mainsail and jibs now work well on the testrig.

 

A prop was 3D printed and the motor fits as well. I’ve got Carbon tubing for masts - and start working on standing rigging - I hope to do that in a way that the masts can easily be removed for transport.

 

making a sailing model from a kit does require lots of modifications!

[FreekS]

the Netherlands are the only country in Europe with a lockdown (recently somewhat relaxed) so lots of time for modeling! I’ve worked on the two masts- the kit comes with wood at make them from but to get some rigidity and since I dont really know how strong the wood is (after an unknown number of decades since the kit was produced), I’ve replaced them with carbon tubing, and messing pieces to attach the rigging to. All the different mast elements and the zalingen were glued and the two masts should be ready tomorrow.

 

 

 

The rudder is now connected to its servo via two conical gears and a short bowden cable. The helmsman’s bench hides the gears and can be removed if I need to change the gears. 

The location of all servos is fixed, and are built into two 3D printed mounts underneath the cabin. The cabin is detachable aftersliding the hatch door sideways, and has obtained a simple seal to keep water out. The electrical system was still missing, so I made a sketch how the RC system will work. Power will be supplied by a battery ( 5x eneloop) near the main mast, and I’ve foreseen in a mains-switch, a charging cable, and a transformer so battery can be changed in future.

ive started soldering the cabling, getting close to a first weigh-in. The boat should be around 3,4kg (fully loaded) and I hope most of that can be in a lead bulb/false keel, to be used only when sailing.

[FreekS]

Hello all, an update on my radio controlled sailing Yawl. 
 

The controls have all been built into the boat, and the transmitter set up to control rudder, jib/flying jib and mainsail/bezaan, as well as (in emergencies) the motor.

as it’s an Italian vessel, I glued an Italian euro to the keel for luck. 

 

 

The sheets pass through the hull hidden inside brass winches, and today I mounted all the standing rigging - a fun job. The kit is equipped with two sizes of functioning turnbuckles (well after more than a decade in storage they needed some oil), and the shrouds come in three thicknesses. I mounted everything that I think will not get in the way of the moving booms, sails and sheets. Still a lot to do - stanchions, some smaller hatches and air inlets etc. Main future job will be making sails and a lead bulb keel.

here is what she looks like today. There is a winter post-COVID meet of my model club this weekend and it’s soooo tempting, even without keel ballast and sails!

[Ian_Grant]

Very nice!!  Did you happen to provide a drain for the cockpit? I recently took my old M-Class yacht and restored it more like a real one and discovered my poor helmsman sitting up to his bum in water after voyaging on a choppy sea 🙄.

 

Also what kind of winch are you using? I kept my 70's drum winch but maybe it should be replaced.

[FreekS]

Hi Ian . I thought about a drain for the cockpit. I can still do that but decided to wait and see how she sails. I use a drum winch (5 turns of a 30 mm drum) for the flying jib, and a servo with 10 cm arm for the mainsail. 

[FreekS]

Hi all, thanks for the likes and comments on my project - it’s getting interesting now as the kit contains many nice details, but these add weight on top as well as provide the chance for the sheets to tangle while sailing.

 

First test in a bath showed that the boat is watertight, but very unstable. There was of course no ballast in the keel and the motors and battery, while at the lowest point, don’t counterbalance the masts.
I had counted with this, and the keel contains 2 M4 threads to provide the boat with a n extra build keel. 
I printed the keel and filled it with 1.2 kg of lead (the boat is 1.8kg). The bulb is mounted 30 cm under the waterline and the boat is reasonably stable - I had to add another 165gram lead forward of the main mast to bring the boat level and on the waterline. We will see what happens with sails and wind….

 

 

 

[yvesvidal]

Great use of the tub !!! 🙂 The boat is doing well and seems to be correctly ballasted.

 

Yves

[Ian_Grant]

She's beautiful!  Looks like you cut sheet lead to fit; how did you cut it? I remember trying to saw lead once and it was near impossible. And lead shot is now rare.

[FreekS]

Hi Ian, I used metal shears which are great for cutting messing and other metals. Then just hammer the lead pieces flat. Once I know the amount is OK I will glue them to protect against moisture

Edited February 8, 2022 by FreekS

[FreekS]

I decided to start making some sails. Sailboats need sails, but also I have a worry that on this “kit turned RC-boat” the loose hanging sheets may tangle in the deck details (stancions, anchorwinch, air intakes, …). Those that are potentially in the way of the sheets are made, painted but only “dry fitted”. So now sails are needed to see what details can be on the boat and which need to stay in the box.

 

im making sails with 1-4 panels, which are taped together to obtain a curve in the sail. Never done it before so no doubt will have to be repeated.

 

mainsail is in progress with 4 panels. Flying jib is mounted and has 2 panels and for the bezaan I stuck to just one. 
 

we’ve had a week of gale force winds in the Netherlands and I’m happy to report ….. (not).

 

Edited February 21, 2022 by FreekS

[Ian_Grant]

Curious as to what material you are using for your sails............🤔

[FreekS]

It’s a sheet from Amati - meant for sails.it’s clearly woven polyester, I cut it with a hot soldering iron and the edges melt nicely.

[FreekS]

Now, where was I?

 

oh yes, sail making. 
the mainsail came out reasonably well for a first time user of the showing machine (might be too much tension on the thread in the sowing machine).

 

Played around with a fan in my workshop to set the sheet lengths and servo settings on the transmitter.

 

Then brought it to my model sailing club for a first spin - at sunset and in near windless conditions. When she did catch a breeze she moved quickly and heeled a bit.

Next attempt was in a quiet arm of a local river in similar light conditions. Pics taken from a movie so resolution is not well. As usual need to do some repairs but I’m reasonably happy. Cleaning the hull is also needed!

I think I’m going to consider Corsaro-2 finished - apart from testing with more wind and the consequences that may have. I deepen the bulb for stability for example.

[FreekS]

Today there was some wind at my model sailing club in Netherlands. Not very much and the trees make voor quite variable wind, but I managed to get half an hour of relaxed sailing, learning how the boat reacts. Happy with the result!

 

 

[ccoyle]

Nice! She looks very stately out on the water.