Maine three-masted schooner by Bedford - 1:54 - RADIO

[michael mott]

Bedford your waterline tool brought a smile to my face this morning.

 

Michael

[Bedford]

Michael, where needed I will buy decent quality tools and equipment. I know which things need to be top quailty and which can be decent, I shy away from cheap stuff as it always lets you down. With some things though I know that improvisation is the way to go and there is always something around to make a temporary waterline marker with.

[Bedford]

A little bit of progress.

 

Sometimes when I catch a glimpse of her in the corner of my eye, with the masts standing, she looks like the real thing in for a refit.

 

First a little stern shot, I think the props are a tad small so I might have to go the 25mm ones.

 

 

See if you can work out what I am planning for her. Some may think I'm mad but it's what I do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[captainbob]

Bedford, she's looking better all the time.

 

Bob

[michael mott]

 

See if you can work out what I am planning for her. Some may think I'm mad but it's what I do.

You are going to have the sails raise and lower while she is in the water,

 

RC Reefing

 

Michael

Edited January 9, 2014 by michael mott

[Bedford]

That's it Michael. When I say "A working model" that's what I mean.

 

I have the sheets pretty well worked out, again it means stand-off scale because as Jerry said "you can't put trained squirrels aboard" I have found a 12 turn sail winch servo which will be ideal for raising the sails as I will only need a 32mm drum so once again the plan is for all servos to go in the deck houses which means I can just glue down the deck for the most part as I should never have to get in there.

 

Without a sail on it the gaf raises from the rear due to the weight at the yoke so I will have to make sails before being able to test it properly and iron out the kinks. It will be an added challenge, makes me use the grey matter !

[Shazmira]

Beautiful Steve! As for the mechanics, I can't comment, but just as a piece of art she is stunning!

[fnkershner]

Have you thought about the impact to the performance of your topsails with this rigging? Or are you not going to have topsails? Also what happens to all that loose sail cloth when the sail is lowered? Do you know what a sea anchor is? You are going to need a very heavy gaff.

[Bedford]

Thanks guys. The input and encouragement keeps us all going.

 

Floyd I have thought about that a lot and think I have it all sorted and should be able to control the sail cloth as the gaf lowers. My theory on how to do this was confirmed when I sailed aboard James Craig, where posible I do it the way it was done and I'm hopeful that it will work. She will carry tops'ls, as Jerry said earlier the gaf just becomes part of the whole sail and the tops are controlled by the sails below but they too will be set by remote. The fact that there will be a bit of running rigging on one side of them shouldn't pose to much or a problem as it will move with them. Again I am not out for speed or performance, rather grace and style.

 

If all else fails and I can't get the sails to come down the way I want them to then at least I can motor out and then raise them, only lowering them when she makes birth.

 

I set myself these challenges because as Bob will appreciate, I love a mechanical challenge !

Edited January 10, 2014 by Bedford

[fnkershner]

OK, Now you have got my interest. How are you going to raise & lower the top sails? They need to be hanked to the mast with mast hoops or something similar. I also suggest that if the Gaff is heavy enough to actually raise and lower the sail. The halyard will impede the top sail somewhat. But as you say the gaff and both sails will swing out to which ever side you are tacking. The only problem with be the lack of curvature in the combined sails.

 

Now it sounds like you are going for 4 channels. Do I have this right?

[captainbob]

Because of the comparative stiffness of model sail cloth and rigging I don’t think you can make the gaff heavy enough. 

Have you considered pulling the gaff down?  

 

Bob

[Blademaster2444]

That's a beautiful looking ship so Far wish I could build something like that

[fnkershner]

Blade - Why don't you think you can?

[Bedford]

Yeah blade, it isn't really that hard, I've built a few kits so I now how it all goes together. Being scratch built only means I have to select the timbers and fittings myself and cut everything myself. In this case it helped that I know how they are rigged because there was nothing in the plans about that.

 

Bob, you're the man. That is my plan exactly.

The halyard will be a closed loop so as the gaf is drawn up the slack side of the halyard will run out with the sail, I know there will be a name for the lines that run out across a sail for the purpose of gathering it when it is taken in, somebody? when I haul the gaf down that side of the loop will pull and the sail will be attached to it at several points as it was in the real thing. I am only planning one pull per sail as the forward edge is controlled by its attachment to the mast. I just hope the mizzen sail isn't too big for this to work. I have measured both sides of each pull against my half scale plan and there will only be 20 or so mm variation in the pulls so a single block on a spring below decks on the haul down side of the loop should take care of that.

 

Floyd, the tops'ls will be drawn in and out via a block on the end of the gaf and have the same closed loop as the sails below so they will gather against the top mast. The stays'ls will again employ a closed loop but I am not yet sure how they will go.

 

I am not going to use a commercial rc sail cloth, I have read about a bloke in the U.S. that has a Grand Banks schooner ( like Bluenose) with masts 6 feet tall and uses cotton for the sails. Thats what I am thinking for this, maybe a nylon that is like cotton or even scotch guarding the cotton to try and reduce its propensity to absorb water. Using this kind of fabric will allow sails to raise and lower as well as allow me a bit of colour choice, harking back to the James Craig, her sails are a light grey.

 

Well there you go, I have given away all my secrets !

 

Floyd, thanks to your input I have reduced the number and type of servos I will use to :- rudder, sail tacking, stays'l tacking, halyard, tops'l halyard, stays'l halyard and motor control.

I will need 7 channels. Due to the length of throw that will be needed I have opted for a drum winch servo to tack the sails while needing a horned servo to tack the stays'ls, this will go in the forward deck house which should have plenty of room for it. The rest will go in the rear deckhouse depending on available room in the forward one after setting up the stays'l control.

[JerryTodd]

setting and brailing sails remotely almost always involves drums and winches which means there must be a full loop with constant tension or something will snag and jam or break - ie: downhauls pulling as haliyards let out equally.  There are ways of dealing with all of this, but it requires an increasing amount of mechanisms below to do the job, and this model just isn't that big and has a lot of structure in it taking up space and weight. Add to that designing deck access to get at and service those mechanisms that's watertight.

 

If it means that much to have this feature, you might attach the tops'l to the gaff and it's haliyard hauls gaff and course together, and they come down together.  It won't be scale and eliminates the gaff throat and peak haliyards (the tops'l itself replaces those functions), but it would get the job done simply and efficiently.

[michael mott]

 

I know there will be a name for the lines that run out across a sail for the purpose of gathering it when it is taken in, somebody?

The lines are called Lazy  jacks.

 

Michael

[Bedford]

Jerry, it's all about the challenge my friend so I will try and make her work the way I want. There will actually be 10 to 12 litres worth of space below decks and all I have to put in there is two motors and a battery pack. I can cut out rib sections as required but won't have to do much I think. it is just a matter of guiding some halyards etc and remember her displacement will be 5.7Kg so weight is of no concern at all. As Donald Sutherland said in Kelly's Heroes "Have a little faith Moriarity, have a litte faith"!

 

Michael, thank you I knew someone would help me with that one.

 

Steve

[Bedford]

There are two reasons I chose this type of ship.

 

One, her lines, who can argue?

 

Two, SYMETRY. All masts are the same height and rake, I am going for standoff scale so all gafs are the same length and set at the same angle therefore all tops'ls are identical and can be controlled as one. I will set all booms at the same angle as well and as long as I attach the sheets and lazy jacks at the same distance from the mast on all of them then they will all be identical as far as controlling them goes so they will be controlled as one so I don't have to do a lot of adapting and tensioning, I will only have to do it once for each set of sails. Not sure about the lazy jacks for the stays'ls yet but I'll sort them out one way or another.

[Bedford]

Building has come to a grinding halt as I wait for hardware to turn up.

 

There is always painting to do though.

 

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Just catching up after a week away, mate!

 

She's looking the ants pants - can't wait to see her with the deck on.

 

John

[Bedford]

Just a very brief tangent from the thread, this is the veiw out the back of my house at the moment. That's bushfire smoke.

 

I have no idea how far away they are but there are a bunch of men and women out there doing it pretty flamin tough at the moment trying to get it under control.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sailor1234567890]

Hopefully it's both far and under control soon. My uncle lives in Australia and I heard stories of the brush fires a few years ago. Not a pleasant predicament. 

[augie]

Stay alert......and best of luck.  Looks all too familiar.

[Jim Lad]

Keep a watch on the RFS website - they have up to date information on all current NSW fires - the link is:

 

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id=683

 

John

[mtaylor]

Being where I am, any wildfire and heavy smoke rolling into the area makes me nervous.   My hope is the same as Sailor1-0. That it's far away and under control quickly. 

[Shazmira]

Stay Safe

[Bedford]

Australian bush fires are like no other because our bush is designed to burn, a lot of it has to burn to release seeds. Trouble is the greenies won't let the required controlled burns be carried out as much as they should like the aboriginals have done for 40000 years so when a fire does break out there is so much fuel on the forest floor it is like hell.

 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, no updates because I am still waiting for hardware.

[Blademaster2444]

I'm on my first kit right know it's the hms pandora by constructo. I'm sure I will get to the point that a lot of models are at. But right now I don't have a lot of the right tools doing most my work with just a hobby knife. I would love to make the Jackdaw or Aquila from Assassins creed games

[Bedford]

Blade you don't need a lot of tools, they just make it easier, My first was done with a hobby knife, a set of small files, razor saw which is a small saw like a tennon saw with a very thin blade, a small mitre box for cutting 45deg angles and the most useful tool of all I reckon, a razor plane.

 

 

Oh, a handful of different grades of sandpaper too

Edited March 30, 2014 by Bedford

[Bedford]

I wish I had more to post but between starting a new job and feeling drained because of it and hardware not showing up I have not been able to do much. I have received wooden stairs and gratings from an ebay supplier in the UK, better quality than I have had from model suppliers for a more money so I am very happy with them.

 

All I can do is dry fit things and see how she will look so here are a few new pics.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2014 by Bedford