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Santos Dumont No. 18 Hydroplane 1907 by Greg Davis - Scale 1:16


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Fantastic Greg!  I learned a lot following your techniques for making the different sized hoops.  Looks like you've got a Alberto Santos-Dumond theme going.  You might enjoy the book "Wings of Madness" about Dumont and some of his projects and eccentricities, like his 8ft tall dining table so guests could dine in the sky.  I'll be following your project with great interest.

 

John  

Wawona 59

John

 

Next Project: Gifts for friends:  18th Century Pinnace, Kayak 17, Kayak 21

 

Indefinite Hold for the future:  1/96 Flying Fish, Model Shipways

 

Wish list for "Seattle Connection" builds:  1/96 Lumber Schooner Wawona, 1/32 Hydroplane Slo-Mo-Shun IV, 1/96 Arthur Foss tug, 1/64 Duwamish cedar dugout canoe, 1/96 Downeaster "St. Paul"

 

Selected Previous Completed Builds:  Revell - 1/96 Thermopylae; Revell - 1/96 Cutty Sark, Revell - 1/96 Constitution, Aurora - Whaling Bark Wanderer, Model Shipways - 1/96 Phantom, AL - 1805 Pilot Boat Swift, Midwest - Chesapeake Bay Flattie, Monitor and Merrimac, Model Trailways - Doctor's Buggy

 

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"Got up the nerve"

I know the feeling well.... and also the satisfaction and surprise when it actually works  :o.

Alan O'Neill
"only dead fish go with the flow"   :dancetl6:

Ongoing Build (31 Dec 2013) - HMS BELLEROPHON (1786), POF scratch build, scale 1:64, 74 gun 3rd rate Man of War, Arrogant Class

Member of the Model Shipwrights of Niagara, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada (2016), and the Nautical Research Guild (since 2014)

Associate member of the Nautical Research and Model Ship Society (2021)

Offshore member of The Society of Model Shipwrights (2021)

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19 hours ago, Wawona59 said:

Fantastic Greg!  I learned a lot following your techniques for making the different sized hoops.  Looks like you've got a Alberto Santos-Dumond theme going.  You might enjoy the book "Wings of Madness" about Dumont and some of his projects and eccentricities, like his 8ft tall dining table so guests could dine in the sky.  I'll be following your project with great interest.

 

John  

John -

I'm glad that you are interested in the project and I really appreciate your support.

 

Noting your list of builds (and location) I have a Slo-Mo-Shun kit waiting in the wings - last year I was out to Seattle to visit my son and we went to the Hydroplane Museum in Kent to see some of the classic hydroplanes and then saw Slo-Mo-Shun IV in the museum near Lake Union in Seattle. Such a cool boat!

 

I have obtained and read the book "Wings of Madness" as part of the background research for this project. It is certainly an entertaining book and I learned a good deal from it; however, I was really disappointed when noting that the author did not seam to understand that the No 18 Hydroplane was actually a watercraft / boat as opposed to an aircraft that could take off / land on water.

 

Greg

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I now have one nacelle nearly done - it still needs the cross bracing wires to be added.

NacellewithHoopsandStringers.jpg.0ed91ecd362f001ae6d8ad83e34bb835.jpg

Constructing the nacelle has been more work than expected. The main pontoon was quite a bit easier for me, probably due to the larger size of the hoops. Nevertheless, progress is being made; hopefully the second nacelle will be easier given the experience of making the first one. After I had added the hoops I didn't like the envelope of the nacelle. The middle hoop was a little too small in diameter to present a nice outline. I made a set of middle hoops, increasing the diameter by 1.5mm, and now the shape looks good to me. 

 

When making the new set of hoops today, I tried out an alternate method for making a hoop. This time, on a lathe,  I turned the hoop out of a solid piece of wood. First the exterior diameter was turned and then the interior was cut out before parting off the hoops. This method doesn't take much time at all to make very well dimensioned hoops that seem quite strong. The resulting hoops don't look bad at all, but I think that the laid up ones look better due to the grain direction and are probably closer to the way Santos-Dumont had manufactured the ones for his boat.

HoopTurnednotLaidUp.jpg.e3fa791de10b6e2bccba713180a00d7c.jpg

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The second nacelle has been going together quite well. Waiting for tip filler blocks to dry so that I can form the two ends of the second nacelle. After that the cross-bracing will go in both.

NacellePairNearlyDone.jpg.59975b3eb7e8ee6dc4d9d83bbb0b24be.jpg

Got a new shop addition also - a larger stand alone router table. Still need to add a safety switch before using. Looking forward to using it for case fabrication among other projects!

RouterTable.jpg.5e8b96c8b6bef4d89a1dad9076b87e83.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Decided to give a go on the hydrofoils today. I cut a piece of boxwood 1/4" thick, a bit wider than the chord (~ 2cm), and about 2 feet long. The main hydrofoil is about 15" long the rear one about 4". After marking the foil shape on one end of the slat, I repeatedly ran it across my table saw to 'mill' the basic shape. The extra width of the slat allows the slat to sit flat on the table saw for this operation. Now I will sand the final foil shape, except for the leading and trailing edges - they will be shaped after parting the mostly formed hydrofoil from the extra material. I hope this works!

HydrofoilShapeMarked.jpg.c69a90b233048d4f92b02551d9b93ad0.jpgHydrofoilBottomMilled.jpg.c4e3090f48e339dd94a4a1d7d38c35ee.jpgHydrofoilReadyforSanding.jpg.a60bcff62a64bb0821dce70a7f63fbda.jpg

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All looking very good Greg. I remember some years ago viewing an early hydrofoil developed by Alexander Graham Bell in Baddeck Nova Scotia. Its wasn't quite as elegant as your replica but would make an interesting model. I particularly liked the Venetian Blinds foils. Screenshot2024-08-30at19_34_12.png.684bdcd6c4ae327f92356edfd551b87e.png

Keith

 

Current Build:-

Cangarda (Steam Yacht) - Scale 1:24

 

Previous Builds:-

 

Schooner Germania (Nova) - Scale 1:36

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/19848-schooner-germania-nova-by-keithaug-scale-136-1908-2011/

Schooner Altair by KeithAug - Scale 1:32 - 1931

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/12515-schooner-altair-by-keithaug-scale-132-1931/?p=378702

J Class Endeavour by KeithAug - Amati - Scale 1:35 - 1989 after restoration.

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10752-j-class-endeavour-by-keithaug-amati-scale-135-1989-after-restoration/?p=325029

 

Other Topics

Nautical Adventures

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/13727-nautical-adventures/?p=422846

 

 

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4 hours ago, KeithAug said:

All looking very good Greg. I remember some years ago viewing an early hydrofoil developed by Alexander Graham Bell in Baddeck Nova Scotia. Its wasn't quite as elegant as your replica but would make an interesting model. I particularly liked the Venetian Blinds foils. 

That is quite an 'interesting' looking machine! I just watched a couple of videos of it on the water - amazing!

 

thanks

 

Greg

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