Bristol Pilot Cutter by michael mott - 1/8 scale - POF

[gjdale]

That looks fabulous Michael!

[Omega1234]

Hi Michael. Truly magnificent and the colours set it off beautifully. Incidentally, do you have any idea how much she weighs now and how much ballast is required to get her to sit at her waterline? Also, it's interesting to see how small your stand is, because it only cradles a small portion of the actual hull. Are/where there any issues with the hull potentially toppling over, or, is she nice and secure in it? Just curious.

 

I'm really looking forward to the rigging and then sailing.

 

All the best!

[SJSoane]

 

Hi Michael,

 

Fabulous color choice. Looks terrific. We don't need to be afraid of color, color is our friend....

 

Mark

[newbuilder101]

 I've been checking in once in a while and hitting the "like" button but I absolutely have to comment on this update - she looks wonderful!  The paint really brings her to life. 

[michael mott]

John, Druxey, Lextin, Grant, Omega, Mark, Sherry. Thank you all for your encouragement with all you positive comments. thanks to all those who added likes.

 

Well I needed to get this next part out of my system, so Jude and I went down to the lake with a bucket of used wheel balance weights and the cutter. to get an idea of what I am dealing with, so this was a test not an official launch.

 

 

it took a while to add them all 60lbs a few at a time, the folk on the beach must have thought we were nuts.

 

 

We ran out of weights so I will need to get another bucket or two.

 

Took a few pics of it floating.

 

 

 

and this is my favorite shot of the day.

 

 

A number of lessons learned

 

1. It will be very heavy because I need a lot more weight to get it another 2 1/2 inches lower in the water

2. the weights will need to be set up so that they can be easily added and removed.

3. I will need a launching vehicle with small bicycle wheels to launch after the weights are added.

4 it was not pleasant lifting the boat out of the water with all the weight in it.

5. the weight was more forward than I expected it to be.

6. total weight was 66lbs with the stand

Tomorrow I will empty the weights out of the hold.

 

Michael

Edited July 13, 2014 by michael mott

[Omega1234]

Now that's one heavy boat. Imagine the bow wave that she'll create once the winds fills her sails!

[DSiemens]

At the very least you know with that much weight it would take a very heavy breeze to push her completely over.  Also props to Jude to getting into the water to help out.  That's very nice of her.    

[Jim Lad]

Oh, man!  That is going to look so nice on the water under sail.

 

John

[Yambo]

She looks fantastic in the water Michael, where she is meant to be. 

 

Looks like a launch and recovery trailer is necessary unless you build a dock and RC crane down at the lake.     

[Mirabell61]

Congrats Michael,

 

to the first watering test. The displacement of 66 lbs will easily climb to 75 lbs in total I guess. When that mass is in Motion it will nock everything out of the way on her cruise. Are you planing to have all the ballast-weights at low Point inside the hull, or with external Ballast as well ?

 

The cutter already Looks great on the lake as is...

 

Nils

[gjdale]

Fantastic Michael! You must have been tickled pink to see her floating. Can't wait to see her under full sail!

[Bedford]

Love the colours Michael, she looks bang on. That shot from the waterline is excellent, all it needed was a mooring line to a bouy and you would never know she was a model. Just guessing from my experience with the schooner, your 66lbs translates into roughly 13.3Kg and looking at the waterline I'm thinking about another 8 to 10Kg or 36 to 45Lbs.

 

Given that I am looking at her from the other side of the world I will, of course, stand correction.

 

I have just shown your build log to my 23 year old son and he is every bit as amazed and impressed as I am at your building skills.

 

Steve

[AndyG]

...your 66lbs translates into roughly 13.3Kg....

 

30kg, Steve. A launching trolley will be required!

 

For my Racundra (same scale, smaller boat - and therefore a mere lightweight at 15kg) I melted down divers' weights into lead pigs of about 300g each. These were sized to fit between the frames. I've "glued" them in with a blob of mastic, just in case they ever need to come out again.

 

Andy

[Bedford]

Yeah, don't know how I stuffed up that calculation, I still guess about 10 Kg extra, maybe more!

[dgbot]

That is a lot of weight.  What you need is a couple of kids who play football to do the heaving for you.  Unless you have a system for getting the ballast inside easily.  Only if I were 30 yrs younger.

David B

[captainbob]

Ah.  She’s a lovely boat and looks great in the water.  Now that I see her I agree that black was the way to go.  

 

With all that weight as ballast make sure to cradle her well when you lift her from the water.  Boat hulls are designed to take pressure from the outside not the inside.  I have seen weights open seams.

 

Bob

[dgbot]

Michael, just make sure you eat your spinach everyday.

David B

[edmay]

Hi Micheal, I concur with David,a case of spinach is needed. The paintwork is just Brilliant,Edwin

[pete48]

WOW !!!!!!!! Awesome Michael,  She sure looks great in the water, Very nice work

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[qwerty2008]

Wow 60+ pounds my largest model only needs abought 20 pounds. You may want to make a bolt on external keel to hold at least half the ballast so you can remove allot of weight for ease of transport then bolt the keel back on just before launch. You would also gain added stability from doing this. I made some rough calculations for my Byzantium awhile back and found that if I were to cast a 1.5" square bar of lead every inch added to the length will add approximately 1 pound.

 

 

 

Lextin.

[Mark Pearse]

I like the way you have scaled the paint finish - it seems that glossy topsides in a scale model need to be a bit satin to look right. If you look at a 1:1 yacht at a distance it's very hard to see evidence of gloss.

 

amazing work

[mtaylor]

Nice work and she looks sweet in the water.  Props to Jude for assisting.   Should we assume that we'll see a tandem trailer setup so you can her and Maria to the lake at the same time? 

[druxey]

Oh, my. She looks great in the water (and Jude does, too!). You are going to either get insurance against a hernia or, more reasonably, build a rolling launch cradle.

[popeye the sailor]

so true on the tip for the masking tape......the paint won't leave an obvious line {ridge}. not to mention the chips that will come with the tape, should you wait too long very nice paint work Michael....you had a hard choice to make {I liked the green}......she looks real sweet in the colors you've chosen! can't wait to see all the bobbles and bling on her.....we will see her total splendor!

[popeye the sailor]

there I go.......commenting on one page, without viewing them all.......I hate having to play catch up! congratz on the water test.....she looks great in the water! ah.....hem....I mean the Bristol have you given her a name yet?.....naming her after the admiral will give you some serious brownie points

 

I can just imagine the smile on your face, when you finally saw her in the water.......I can't even get my admiral close to a pool! :D

[michael mott]

Omega, Daniel, John, Yambo, Nils, Grant, Steve, Andy, David, Bob, Edwin, Pete, Lextin, Mark Pearse, Mark Taylor, Druxey, and Denis.

Thank you all for your very encouraging remarks.

Andy said

 

30kg, Steve. A launching trolley will be required!

Druxey said

 

You are going to either get insurance against a hernia or, more reasonably, build a rolling launch cradle.

This is why I have this.

 

 

 

I had anticipated that even 60lbs would need a trolly but I know that with the extra weight I will need to support the model properly as it enters and exits the water.

 

I am going to melt down the tire weights into some triangular section bar stock (Angle Iron mould) that will be more easily placed and removed from the hold., I need to go get some water today so will drop by the tire shop and see if I can get another bucket of used weights.

 

 

You may want to make a bolt on external keel to hold at least half the ballast so you can remove allot of weight for ease of transport then bolt the keel back on just before launch.

Lextin I do not want to have the issues that doing that would entail

 

 

I like the way you have scaled the paint finish - it seems that glossy topsides in a scale model need to be a bit satin to look right.

Mark yes I agree, Scale finishes are something that we need to pay more attention too I think.

 

Michael

 

[michael mott]

Thanks for all the likes.

I stopped by the tire store and showed the owner the pictures of the boat in the water and told him that I needed some more weight and could he sell me some more.

 

We went out to the balancing machine and he asked the chap if they had any used weights, yes they had a bucket. I backed up the van and the young lad put it into the van. I asked the owner how much did I owe him $30 dollars he said. When I got home I went to lift it out and was stopped dead in my tracks...the bucket weighs in at 90 plus pounds.

 

 

first thing was to rig up a mould.

 

 

after a quick sweep under the wire wheel the ingot cleans up nicely this one is 2 lbs

 

 

This will be a lot easier to place in the hull.

 

Michael

 

 

[pete48]

Hi Michael , Thats alot of weight

 

Best Regards,

Pete

[captainbob]

Nice looking transport cart. Now you're just having fun.  Good for you.

 

Bob

[Bedford]

I reckon you'll have enough left over for your next project Michael.

I wish my schooner had enough draught to just add ballast internally. You'll have her under sail well before my schooner I think.