Greek Bireme by bensid54 - FINISHED - RADIO

[bensid54]

Tape placed sticky side down, I then greased the top of the tape with engine rebuild tape and wiped it off for easier separation.

[bensid54]

Epoxy applied and plank clamped into place.

[bensid54]

The end result with a tight seam and deck easy to remove.

[bensid54]

More pictures now it time to smooth out the hull and then start on the mechanics.

[Omega1234]

Hi Ben. Wow! She's really powering along nicely. The second to last shot shows her off beautifully; almost like something completely out of this world!

 

Can't wait till she hits the water.

 

All the best.

[bensid54]

Thanks Omega! It is starting to look like something now I spent about three hours sanding it tonight and I'm pleased with how it's coming along. I post pictures once it's sanded.

[bensid54]

Rough sanding done but still need to do some finishing. Next I start on building the mechanics.

[Omega1234]

Hi Ben. I've said it before and I'll say it again...."looks brilliant!!"

 

Well done!

[bensid54]

Thanks Omega! Now it's time for the part I've been looking forward to, the oar mechanism!

[bensid54]

Making the oars, raw material cut to size. Paddles 2 by 3/4 inch hardwood and the dowels 5/32 cut to one foot lengths.

[bensid54]

Machining the dowels to fit the paddles.

[bensid54]

Test fitting of all 44 oar assemblies.

[bensid54]

These two items will become six sprockets and four drive chains in the very near future.

[Omega1234]

Now that's what I call progress!  

[michael20]

Hey Ben, I fell across your build and I will say that it is a fine example of craftsmanship. I am looking forward to seeing how you get all those oars motivated.

 

Happy Modeling,

Marty G.

[bensid54]

Thanks for the compliments, next I will be finishing the oars then making the drive will begin.  I had to have the oars done first so I can make sure they go to the right depth and plan the arc the oars will need to take when entering and exiting the water, that is going to be the meat and potatoes of this build..

[Louie da fly]

It's looking very good, Ben. A lovely, elegant shape.

 

Steven

[bensid54]

Thanks Steven I will post pictures of the finished oar assemblies later today.

[bensid54]

Oars and their assembly, next the finishing.

[bensid54]

Drilling Oar ends and installing eyes into the ends of the oars at 90 degrees to the paddles. These ends will slip over bamboo dowels which will be installed on the moving rack. All sorts of fun still to come.

[Bedford]

As some will know I do enjoy a mechanical challenge so this build is really getting interesting now.

[bensid54]

Rings installed on all oar ends now to finish boring the oar ports.

[bensid54]

As in the previous posts you can see how the two halves of the ship met, I was trying to drill in that location but my choice of wood however did not want to co-operate. The result was too much repair work was needed if I carried on down that path, so I came up with a new plan. Like the kit models I ran a solid plank down both sides of the ship, epoxied it in place then drilled for better results and much less repair work. A little side note here that may interest some, I rarely build from a kit, I rarely build something that isn't RC and I never have a set in stone direction as to how my builds will progress. During my builds I normally think three steps ahead and have often had to change direction, normally for the better but not always, those ones are the projects I scrap. So if you wonder where my builds are going, most of the time I have an idea where I want them to end but a whole lot of different paths on how to get there I just don't always know which path I'll take.

[bensid54]

All the work done in this post and the last is going to be scrapped! I'm not happy with the looks of this so I'm starting over in a more precise direction.

[bensid54]

Not going to scrap the work I've already done just going to make some alterations.

[bensid54]

Oar ports under going alteration.

[bensid54]

Oar rack with newly installed pivot pins. Oar rack with pivot pins with soon to be driven member.

[bensid54]

The oar rack and how it will function, the pivoting rack will lift the oars in and out of the water, The oars will swing back and forth by pivoting on the vertical rack pins. The pivot pins at the ends of the rack will have the ability to be removable by spreading the drilled tabs at the ends of the driven member and allow the complete set of oars to be lifted out.

Edited December 6, 2014 by bensid54

[bensid54]

Oar ports are undergoing another change I'll post pictures later and explain why I'm making these changes.

[bensid54]

The existing oar ports would not allow the oars to go deep enough into the water so I removed them, the next oar ports are going to be removable. If you are wondering about the shiny patches on the hull that would be epoxy I had left over that I rubbed into the cracks between the planks. I think I'm going to get a fast boat to play with this summer coming because I'm starting to wonder if I will finish this on time for summer.