martno1fan

well after recieving some help off some of the guys on here ive finally got my sail boat started heres a couple of pics of her for you guys.shes 34 inches long and the mast will be 43 inches high from the deck.the plans were of the luna rosa which i downsized slightly for ease of transportation.im not planning on racing this boat its just for a bit of fun at weekends ,feel free to offer advice or comments on the boat so far.[img][/img].the sails will be home made too im using a carbon fishing rod for the mast and boom etc the sails are red rip stop im not making paneled sails just one peice sails for now .the sails will be stuck using double sided tape.in fact ive allready made the sails but need to get some pics taken of them.ill try and do that later !!.i hope you like what ive done so far ,by the way the stem will be made from balsa block ang glued on to the former just in case you thought she looked a bit blunt lol.

martno1fan

no comments guys?oh well more pics coming tomorrow.

Guiri

Your plankining seems better than mine. My constuction technique, rather than plank on frame, would be better described as filler on frame

martno1fan

the planking was easy enough .i had a problem getting the hull off the formers but its done now without too much damage.im going to use fibreglass matting 124g for the hull using epoxy.she wont need much filler in fact none ill just fill any gaps with balsa dust and zap it ,heres a few more pics of the finnished planking.[img][/img]let me know how shes looking guys?.

scottrc

Is your hull all balsa / glass construction?

Looks good.

Scott

Al Stein

Looking good!

When you refer to filling gaps, if you mean the little slits between planks, the glass will bridge them OK, so you don't really have to fill them. The reason I mention it is that the fill material will be harder to work than the planks and the uneven hardness will tend to make uneven shaping... so if that kind of gap is big enough to need fill, a shaving from the edge of a balsa sheet will give you a filler much easier to work with. But like I said, that kind of gap usually doesn;t need to be filled at all.

Are you going to shape the nose (oops, I mean bow) before you glass it?
I try and do all the shaping I can before glass so I can shape nice, workable balsa or cedar instead of nasty, tough epoxy.

You're doin' great -- keep it going!

martno1fan

thanks for the compliment guys ,yes its all balsa and ply construction that im covering with glass.there arent really any gaps to fill as such i just zaped between what gaps there were and sanded the hull filling the gaps.i havent attached the bow section yet that will be made from balsa block and sanded to shape then ill attach it before i glass the whole hull.im wating fo my resin right now so cant do it as yet plus i got a little distraction called the world cup ,hopefully for three more games (if were lucky) lol.as soon as i start the glassing ill post up a few pics of her,im glad you like what ive done so far im quite happy myself i hope i feel the same when i get her glassed(1st attempt).cheers guys(come on england) sorry getting a bit exited about the game today (portugal in quarter finals of world cup).

spindrift

looks great,
Sorry I didnt chime in earlier - Ive been gone for a few weeks. I used lightweight wall spakling for my filler - worked great - it dried fast and was just as easy to sand as the balsa. I think some of the earlier links I gave you have some hints for fairing and painting after you FG. If you cant find them let me know and Ill try to direct you....
spin,

martno1fan

cheers mate ill be sure to check out the links again before i glass the hull,im glad you like what ive done.bit depressed at the minute (i hate penalty shoot outs)[:@]!!.

martno1fan

well i finally got round to glassing the hull i think she looks pretty good for a first attempt,a bit of light sanding and she should be ready for painting.[img][/img].im still undecided on the keel and which way to mount it yet.the bulb will be a lead one coated in epoxy so ill need to make a mould for it 1st.does anyone think plastecine like kids use would make a good mould?maybe if i line it with tin foil that would work.or do you think plaster would be best?.

Al Stein

Some stuffs that we call modeling clay on this side of the Ocean are actually petroleum based and can burn -- and genuine Plasticine brand plasticine is actually one of those. Lead melts at something a bit over 600 F; petrolatum (which is used in Plasticine) has a flash point somewhere above 500 F... so a pot of melted lead may well be hot enough and provide a big enough heat reservoir to get a lump of plasticine burning. You might want to experiment a little before you commit too much effort to making a really nice mold out of it.

If the stuff doesn't catch fire, it ought to be great.

If the plasticine won't work, you'll find plaster pretty easy to work with. Just be sure that a plaster mold has had a chance to dry really well before pouring hot lead into it (dangerous lead splatter is possible/probable otherwise).

Al Stein

Oh, and one other thing I forgot to tell you -- It's amazing what adding the bow section does for the hull: she's looking great!

martno1fan

thanks for the tip Al thats why i was thinking of using the foil in the mould,might be worth a try if not ill get some plaster and make a mould from that.ill be sure to let it dry out for a day or so before i use it .glad you like what ive done so far any help is allways welcome ill probably need some when i get to the point where i need to work out where the servos need to be and how to connect what to where etc.

Leopard A4UK

Hi there,

Looking fantastic, you might want to contact a company like sails etc (they have a web site) as they might be able to supply a fin and lead bulb for you. Are you going to have a long fin like on the one metre boats as a boat this big will be quite powerful. If you do you will need to glass in a fin box to house it and allow easy removal of the fin in case it gets damaged. Are you going to detail the deck or leave it flat cos if you keep it flat you can glue a pot into the deck to take the reciever and batteries and then put the rudder and sail servo in the boat on a peice of ply wood glassed into the hull. Marquettes sell sheet exits etc for the deck to allow the jib and main sheets a clear run. You might want to put a deck pulley in the bow section of the deck and another inside the boat towards the stern to allow the sail arm to control the sheets from inside the boat with only 1 line comeing out of the boat which you attach the sheets to. It is very simple but very effective.

Regards

Mike

martno1fan

thanks for the compliment mike im not sure on the controls yet at all im a complete novice at this do you have any pics or plans of the setup you described would be much appreciated.the fin on this boat i was told by someone wasnt quite long enough to handle high wind so im lengthening it a bit .im also making some diff sails to handle more wind too.as for mounting the fin on the boat its either going to be a bolt on type with a short trunk or a full one depending on where im gonna put the servos etc.i was thinking of using an arm type servo.any help on setting up the controlls etc would be appreciated .building im good at (i think) as for the technical side ermm pass.

mart
ps where in the uk are you im in blackpool!!.

Guiri

A couple of days might be insufficient for fully drying your plaster mould. I made sure it was the first thing I did when making my latest. That way (espercially at the speed I build) I can be certain it's dried out.
Your boat's roughly the same size as Thunder Tower's Victoria and you may be able to get a dealer to order a lead bulb for you.

martno1fan

thanks for that mate but i like building so ill have a go,im in no hurry as ive said its a slow proccessas i have limited time at the moment.

Leopard A4UK

Hi Mart,

Im on the south coast near Brighton. Re sail arm servo, dont buy one from ebay, buy one from a model shop cos you cant trust electronics from ebay and its essential that you dont lose control as you built the boat.

Sails, On all my boats I have 2 or 3 sets of sails. They get smaller as the wind increases. I.E. I have a huge set for the 6 metre boat for light conditions and a stupid lookin small set for storms. In between is the working rig which can be used in anything from a force 4 upwards. What are you making your sails from. Draughtsman film is a good and relatively cheap form of sail material. Also have a look at www.sailsetc.com as they have loads of parts and often offcuts of sail making material that they will do a deal on for you.

As for the deck the easiest way to get access is to cut access holes i.e. a hole above both servos and then once the deck is finished you cover the holes with self adhesive waterproof dacron so if you need to get access you peel it back. Its great.

Have a look at the 1 metre organisation on the web and you will see boats with white decks and patches of a contrasting colour. Also put a google or yahoo search in for the "Mandarin or Mallard" 1 metre yacht and you may find some usefull info.

I will have a look at home and see what info etc I have and then contact you for an address to post it to.

Regards

Mike

martno1fan

thanks mike much appreciated man ,yea i was thinking of an ebay shop not second hand i know all about conmen lol.also i made a set of sails out of red ripstop kite material just used dbl sided tape etc.mite try sowing some later on.

martno1fan

well i finally managed to make a mould for my bulb i made a bulb from balsa and used plaster for the mould.then i poured in the led, it worked quite well the question i have is the bulb weighs in at 800g about 1lb 12 oz does this sound about right?.ill post up some pics when i get chance .any tips on how to attach the bulb to the fin much appreciated thanks.

Guiri

The ballast weight varies with the fin depth. I'm currently doing an old 36r class that had a very shallow fin and needs a ballast of over 3 kg. However, http://www.losveleros.8m.com/palo/pl...illa_timon.pdf shows a longer keel for a shorter boat (about 26inches) RG 65 class whose ballat weighs in at 500g

Guiri

Attaching the ballast to the keel if the balast isn't slotted to accept the fin can be a bit awkward. Leave a length of 2mm or 3 mm thread protruding at the bottom of the fin of a length equal to the ballast diameter. Drill the bulb through to accept the screw and bolt on the other end. The hole diametre on the side opposite the fin will have to be opened up a bit to accept the nut. For belt and braces, put a smear of epoxy roud the fin/bulb union.

martno1fan

cheers for the help mate i guess ill try it as the orriginal plans said the bulb weighs in at 2.6 kg but i downsized the plan a bit .ive also lengthened the fin a cpl of inches to help with windy conditions as it gets pretty windy here.i guess ill just try it and see how it handles.oh if mikes reading did you find those plans for me ? if so contact me and ill send you my email much appreciated.

martno1fan

well heres a few pics of my progress ,the sails arent attached properly yet but i couldnt wait to see how shes going to look.the deck needs attaching also ,i made a hatch to cover the electrics so i can remove it to get to everything.im also going to put a small hatch above the rudder too.both hatches will be sealed using tape and a switch will be fitted for the battery so i dont need to take the tape off to turn things on or off when im at the lake.let me know how shes looking guys.[img][/img].as you can see if your familiar with the plans ive changed a few things at the transome,i decided to keep her high rather than steping down at the stern as in the plans.im going to give the hull one more coat of resin then leave her as is apart from the fin and under the waterline where ill paint her red .the deck will just be varnished i like the planking detail on the hull so im keeping it so you can see the work i put into it.all i need to do is get the thing rigged up and my rudder attached so hopefully she will be ready to launch in a week or two depending on how much time i can put in on her.

martno1fan

oh well if anyones interested heres a cpl more pics ,ive just added sail battens i used double sided tape and thin see through plastic from my sons box from his model battleship and i think they work well.[img][/img] please feel free to comment on how shes looking .seems like no ones bothering to comment i hope thats not because she looks like s**t oh well !!its nice to feel people appreciate my efforts and my taking the time to take and post pics .hello anyone there????[].