Greek Bireme by bensid54 - FINISHED - RADIO

[Michiel]

Very nice movie, can't wait to see those ors moving... 

[bensid54]

Thanks for the compliments Omega1234 and Michiel they are always appreciated.

[bensid54]

More planking and shaping.

[bensid54]

Bottom planking done!

[bensid54]

Bending of the wood for the raised parts of the stern and bow. Sorry about the cannon in the picture but I couldn't resist showing some of my other builds!

[captainbob]

Starting to take shape and looking good.  How many sets of oars will there be?

 

Bob

[bensid54]

22 per side making a total of 44 oars Bob. I've been mulling over how to make them detachable for transport because with the craft being over two feet wide and 42 inches long I want to minimize the possibility of damage when transporting to the local pond. I have been thinking of making the oar rack two piece, bottom half to stay in the ship and the top half to be removable that will contain the oars.

[captainbob]

I understand wanting to make the boat smaller and less fragile for transport, but 44 oars?  That’s a lot of assembly and disassembly just for a little time in the water.  I would rather mount it on a large, 3 feet by 3 feet or so, board and figure out how to fit it into the vehicle.   I know when I was sailing RC I wanted to be sailing, not putting the boat together.  Even my one meter was transported with the sails up.

 

Bob

[bensid54]

Good point Bob, I have a Chevy HHR that will have no trouble transporting it however it will mean myself and only one passenger. I will be using it at our complex pool a fair bit so I will need to make a proper carrying case for it, looks like another project for this winter. 

[captainbob]

I don’t know how much room there is behind the last seat on the HHR but with proper support you should be able to angle it between the seat back and the hatch door.

 

Bob

[qwerty2008]

Probably a stupid idea but as a ship in bottle builder I feel that I should suggest it, you could make a mortise and tenon hinge on each oar then just hinge all the oars up to where the ends would sit on deck. This next suggestion is probably the more practical one, you can make the oars swing back farther then they would need to for normal operation so that they sit closer to the hull for transport.

 

 

 

Lextin.

[bensid54]

Actually Lextin the last idea sounds very good regarding swinging the oars back further, I'll see if I can figure out how to do that with the configuration I'm planning. Bob I darn not try to angle that ship into my car, I'm way too clumsy to risk that and I can picture me wrecking it in a hurry, but that is an option for another project down the road. 

[Bedford]

My two bobs worth....

 

It won't be very tall if you make it so the mast can be dropped which would be much easier than dislocating 40 oars.

Build a shallow crate, like a big flat suit case, out of ply. Make it so you can secure the ship inside by keel mounting screws or clamps. Put it in, close the crate and you can tip it any way you need to and nothing can get to it.

 

As for sweeping the oars further back than normal, I'm not sure how your set up will work but perhaps mounting the drive system on a sliding seat like that in a rowing boat would allow you to lock the drive mechanism in either of two positions, one for working and display and one where the oars are swept in for transit.

 

Whatever you do I am keen to see her in action!

[bensid54]

I intend to be able to drop the mast too, I have to give that some thought too because I plan on making the sail operational. I plan to have the sail furl and unfurl by RC plus have it change the angle to trap more wind, this I have been pondering but have yet to come up with anything concrete. But first the hull needs to be complete then the really fun part starts.  

[bensid54]

More planking progress, I decided to take a picture of my build and the Amati size build side by side to give you an idea of the difference in size. Every chance I get I'm working on this build just can't leave it alone for long.

[Omega1234]

Hi Ben.

 

That's a great job you've done on the planking; especially around the prow of the ship.

 

Not long to go now, dare I say?

[bensid54]

Thanks Omega I feel the build is coming along well. I have a long way to go still though. I hope to have it in the water by next spring or summer.

[bensid54]

More progress! This is now a two piece hull that will be aligned with bamboo dowels now I have access to the mechanics once I get them built. First the hull has to be completed.

[mtaylor]

Very ingenious to have the hull open up like that.  It won't cause any problems with water getting in will it?  Or do you have a way to seal it?

[bensid54]

Never thought of that, thanks for the suggestion I'll figure something out. Shouldn't be a lot of splashing if my mechanics work the way I plan on. 

[Omega1234]

Hi Ben. That's pretty impressive. I'd be concerned about water ingressing as well, but, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Can't wait to see your ship in the water, as I'm sure you are, too.

 

Well done.

[captainbob]

It’s not your splashing you have to worry about.  We used to run our boats in an indoor swimming pool in the winter.  There were still plenty of waves.

 

Bob

[bensid54]

Thanks guys! I could use ebony to block water at the rowers vents that would black out those areas and stop water. At the oars they can go through foam that way I'll have oar locks and a water tight hull with a good seal on the oars. The bow will take a bit of thinking, right now I have a bunch of different ideas going on so I'll settle on one soon. 

[bensid54]

Dowels glued into place, next trim and fit them.

[bensid54]

Sorry I forgot to add the picture in the last post.

[bensid54]

With dowels in place and parts put together this is a picture of the seam where bow meets deck.

[bensid54]

The start of where the rudders will be.

[bensid54]

When I began I used plans that were donated then blew them up to double in size which resulted in some distortion of the bulkheads. I wanted the planking to be single due to the thickness of the material I had to work with so I had to come up with a way to keep the lines smooth and flowing. What I did was stitch the planks together using the same material as the planking, I do not always contact the bulkheads but I catch enough to make this work.

[bensid54]

more progress pictures.

[bensid54]

Before placement of the oar hole planking.