Schooner MAGIC by Magic's Craig - scale 1:8 - 1993 cruising schooner - Radio

[MAGIC's Craig]

This is my first scratch POF R/C work. I designed the original full-sized 40' LOD MAGIC for my wife and myself as a cruising home and she was professionally built by Bent Jespersen and his crew in Sidney, B.C., Canada.  We were fortunate enough to sail her for some 25,000 miles over the course of nearly 20 years. She currently sails out of Maine and the Abacos under her current owner.

 

In November, 2019, I embarked on this project to create a working 1/8th scale model of her. The original 3/4" = 1' scale plans had been digitized and so I took my files to a local copy shop and had them printed at 1-1/2"= 1' (200%).  Like many in the forum, progress was not always steady, but we are close to being finished.  If the posting of her past photos is acceptable, I  will build this blog to bring the project up to date.

Photo by Michael Berman

 

 

Once i figure out to get the next few photo rightside up, I'll continue...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MAGIC's Craig]

The model was built inverted with frames made from glued double futtocks of basswood,  located on the stations. Frames #2 and #8 also incorporated 3mm ply bulkheads to create "watertight" compartments in the bow and stern.  The deck beams rest atop the corresponding station molds and are held in place with small friction-fit wooden clamps

The photos from here on out are by me unless otherwise noted. 

Fore-and-aft temporary blocking locked the stations vertically. Once all of the stations were situated, blocking for the transom and the inner stem were set up.

A transom blank was laminated over a curved form, the inner stem was glued up around the lofted profile piece and port and starboard harbins were scarfed together to be fitted at the level of the bottom of the deck.

Next chore was to laminate in place the keelson atop the frames.

 

 

[MAGIC's Craig]

The keelson was made up from 4 layers of basswood and one inner layer of meranti. After the glue cured, the keelson was scarfed to the inner stem and mortised into the lower forward face of the transom.

[MAGIC's Craig]

The model building time during the winter of 2019 - 2020 was a time spent carefully fairing the hull framework to prepare for planking as well as fitting the clamps into notches in the frames and gluing what would be their upper edges to the underside of the harpins.  (Bent Jespersen, the builder of MAGIC, followed this West Coast practice with nearly all of his cold-molded hull builds.)

 

[MAGIC's Craig]

Planking was done using 1/8" th. basswood, spiled as necessary and edge-glued to the adjacent planking and frames.

 

Knowing that the hull would ultimately be painted, I elected to start planking on the easier, "flatter" runs of the bilge. I realized that the reverse tuck near the deadwood/keel as well as the tumblehome in the quarters would be challenging..

 

 

Planking from the keelson "down"

Working towards the sheer:

 

 

 

[MAGIC's Craig]

My next step involved laminating up the deadwood from 1/2" lifts of basswood and getting out the outer stem from some lovely, tight-grained old growth Douglas fir.

More fairing followed of the deadwood and then it was time to build a new cradle to hold the hull "right-side up".

[MAGIC's Craig]

May , 2020 With the model upright, work began on additional deck framing, fitting the breasthook and the bowsprit bitt, mast partners and mast steps.

Planking and fairing were completed on the hull and in preparation for the sheathing of the hull with fiberglass cloth set in epoxy, the future ballast keel blade slot was cut through the keel and a trunk epoxied in place. Using this trunk, a piece of scrap wood was slid through amd supported the hull on blocking when she was turn on her beam ends.

The glassing of the hull was done with a light aircraft cloth wet out with marine epoxy, both side received two coats to fill the cloth weave. Once cured, this was given a light fairing coat, sanded and then 2 coats of primer before the initial coats of gloss were applied to the hull.

And somewhen in this sequence, I laminated a thin veneer of African mahogany onto the transom, sealing it with 3 coats of clear epoxy. We then painted the hull, topsides and bottom with some contrast to see how mini-Magic was looking.

And that will be enough for today's updating...

[MAGIC's Craig]

The summer of 2021 contained various interruptions to the building process, however some progress was made.

Blocking was glued in belowdecks for the chainplate attachments as well as for the R/C sheet and rudder controls. The extra glue in the interior of the hull was scraped/sanded away to prep the hull to be sealed and painted.

 

After a final bit of fairing of the deck structure, the 3/32" Baltic birch ply deck panels could begin to be glued down.

The compound curvature required of the plywood did require additional clamping efforts:

After the clamps, etc., were removed, the deck was  given a light sanding and then glassed over for watertightness.

 

 

 

 

 

[Roger Pellett]

A beautiful and successful design and a gorgeous model!

 

Roger

[MAGIC's Craig]

Thank you, Roger for the compliments.  We are hardly objective about her, but grateful for those who appreciate such as MAGIC.

Edited July 19, 2023 by MAGIC's Craig
mis-spelled name

[Tony Hunt]

I loved MAGIC when I first read the story of your build of her with Jesperson. It's great to now be watching the model of her happening, so many years later!

[Mirabell61]

I love this build !

A beautiful rigid lightweight POF design mate. A true boatbuilder skill is showing here. The lines are very impressing, and your measures to make her watertight for radio controlled sailing are wonderful, well done.

 

Nils

[MAGIC's Craig]

Tony :  Yes, that article was a while ago!  I hope you will find this build interesting as well.  Thanks for checking in.

 

Nils:  Thank you for the compliments.  I appreciate them especially in light of all of your modelling experience.

[MAGIC's Craig]

The deck covering was given a couple of coats of epoxy to fil the weave of the cloth, a light coat of fairing and then detailed along the sheer.

The chainplates were glued and pinned in place below decks and they emerged inboard of where the bulwarks would be (mostly).

The bulwarks were built up from 1/8" lifts in a similar manner to how Bent Jespersen laminated up the original's 1-1/2" lifts in 1992.

Once the bulwarks were scarfed together and sanded, they were lifted off of the deck and given a layer of FG/epoxy on the inboard and out board faces before being bonded in place with a coved radius to the deck on the inboard face.

To check

 

[MAGIC's Craig]

Hawses were drilled, filed and cut out from brass flat stock, then located on the bulwarks according to the outboard profile plan. Once bonded in place, the openings in the bulwarks were drilled out and sealed.

A bowsprit of tight-grain Douglas fir had been previously fashioned to permit a careful fit with the bulwarks at the bow.

[Jim Lad]

A beautiful model of an obviously much loved boat, Craig. Thaks for sharing your build with us.

 

John

[MAGIC's Craig]

Over the next month or so, the bulwark was primed and painted, the bottom repainted with a bottom paint color, and a friend with a decal machine kindly made up the 2-color decals for the transom and bows.

At the bow, I fitted a bobstay attachment fitting which had been cut out and filed from a scrap of 1/8" thick silicon bronze.

The stem was morticed to take the tang and additional shear pins were fitted when the tang was glued in place.  ( While the photo is upside down, it seems to make more sense in this attitude)

 

The "deck furniture" began with the construction of the forward, curved-top scuttle for the forepeak access. This was built of bits of the 3/32" th. plywood, basswood and meranti.

The main cabin began with the fitting of the plywood sides to the deck carlins and cabin beams (most of which would later be cut away).  A rear bulkhead was attached to the lower bulkhead and to the cabin sides with shaped corner posts. Forward, vertical staving pieces of basswood were glued together, fitted to the curved deck carlins forward and the solid blocking at the upper edge. The elliptical port openings were cutout prior to assembly.

 The cabin top was planked fore-and-aft with 1/8" x 3/8" basswood strips

And then sanded fair.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by MAGIC's Craig
correction to text and missing photo

[FlyingFish]

A very handsome boat - that sheer line is very perky. Your skills shine through!

[MAGIC's Craig]

Thank you, Andy. Long way to go, yet, but I'm enjoying the model building.

 

[Jim Lad]

Coming along very nicely. That transom looks very specky!

 

John

[MAGIC's Craig]

16 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

Coming along very nicely. That transom looks very specky!

 

John

Hi, John:  "Very specky!" is a new expression to me. Thank you (I think)...what does it signify?

Craig

[MAGIC's Craig]

The cabin top was covered with the thin fiberglass fabric, set in epoxy and when this cured, it was lightly sanded.  The layout for the locations of the necessary servo access hatches and the mainmast partner followed. Corners for the cutouts were marked using a #55 drill and connecting lines scribed.

A fine-tooth pull saw was utilized to carefully cut out the hatches and the necessary carlin framing was fitted from the underside. The mainmast partner was carved from a block of basswood and glued to the underside of the cabin top.

The skylight coaming was fashioned from basswood and glued to the cabin top. The teak skylight structure was glued up  and would later have acrylic panes fitted.

The after end of the house with its off center companionway, "turtle" housing for the companionway slide and the pieces making up the curved dodger mounting came together. Blocks were added for the future Dorades cowls and the chainplates for the main forward lower shrouds were mounted to the inside faces of the cabin sides. A laminated, half-round teak "eyebrow" was fabricated and glued to the cabin side just down from the intersection of house and curved top. This detail was designed to minimize the visual height of the crowned cabin top as well as to incidentally provide a edge for the color transition between house side and cabin top. 

During this phase of the build, the cockpit was also built up. The next post will go into that project.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2023 by MAGIC's Craig

[Reggiemon]

She is looking good!

I'm glad you're enjoying the model building. It can be very satisfying.

[MAGIC's Craig]

Reggiemon: Your steam launch is exquisite!  And the operator is one of the best figures I have seen.  Much impressed I am.

 

Thank you for the complements on MAGIC!

Edited July 19, 2023 by MAGIC's Craig
spelling

[MAGIC's Craig]

Before the house could be glued down, it was necessary to bend and fit copper tubes from the aft bulkhead up and through the deck near the future winch locations for the mainsheet, foresail and jib sheets to slide through.

The cockpit is a removeable structure to permit access to the rudder and its servo.  I strove to make it a watertight unit with a tight fit to the deck lip.  The depth of the cockpit could not be scale directly down from the original schooner's "pit" due to clearance issues between the bottom of the cockpit and the rudder servo on the model.  This also meant that the wheel needed to be slightly smaller.

I took the inspiration for making the binnacle from Michael Mott's work on his lovely cutter, hammering this out from a copper plumbing cap and then finding a properly scaled marble to serve as the compass. Here it awaits a final positioning once the cockpit is finished. (She Who Has Steadier Hands is shown painting.)

The rudder needed to be built and fitted up through the rudder trunk to check clearances:

The topcoat-to-primer lack of adhesion can be seen above right.  I eventually had to strip off the white top coat and a hard automotive grey primer before re-painting with a marine primer and topsides paint. So we learn.

 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by MAGIC's Craig

[Jim Lad]

Craig,

 

'Specky' - from spectacular - very special.

 

John

[Tony Hunt]

Who needs a real boat when the model is this good? 😀

[Tony Hunt]

53 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

Craig,

 

'Specky' - from spectacular - very special.

 

John

It's an Australianism Craig. Don't worry, it's a sincere compliment.

[MAGIC's Craig]

Thank you all for your kind words.  Makes me almost want to do this sort of thing again... 😉

 

[MAGIC's Craig]

The next task in our sequence was to permanently glue down the house and work in a cove to transition from the deck upwards to the sides of the house.  We also started painting the house and scuttle lid.

Deck mounted winch bases were glued to the deck and a couple of "instrument" boxes were added to the aft face of the house. 

A rudder gudgeon was bent up and secured to the heel of the keel. And a mysterious box arrived from a cousin containing a selection of Barient-style winches which just needed a couple of coats of "antique bronze" paint.

I decided that it made sense to refinish the topsides and bulwarks before we got too much further along, since the following step would be the installation of the bulwark cap rail.

Prior to the refinishing, though, I took some time to fabricate the teak bulwark cap rail.  This was scarfed together, shaped and then set aside until the sanding and painting was completed.

 

These next two images show Magic in late February, 2021, with the cap rail in place, the deck painted "Alaskan yellow cedar", the plank seam lines inked on and a few extra bits of installed hardware.

More to follow another day.

Craig