surfdabbler

OK, I have the plans and am starting on my Volvo 70 sailboat. I've made a wooden model boat before, but this is my first RC project. After researching construction, I now have lots of questions, and I'd love it if anyone can help me out...

I've chosen the Ericsson model, just to pick one. I've seen photos of a few AMRO boats, but haven't seen any Ericsson boats yet. I have scaled down the plans to a 1:25 boat, and taken off 2mm to allow for the hull thickness. 1:25 should still be a decent size, but will take a little less storage/display space when it's not in use than the original 2+metre high boat. My main motivation was to build a display boat, so I plan on really going to town on the details. The RC is just a bonus that will probably get used a couple of times a year. I plan to go the whole way with the canting keel, and even thinking about the knife-boards. We'll see how much I compromise along the way.

1) My original idea was to build the hull in 1mm strip balsa and glass the outside. Then remove the hull from the frame and resin the inside, or maybe even glass the inside as well. Then flip the frame and do the same for the deck, then join them. I used this procedure on a full-size kayak a few years back, so I was just going to scale it down. Having looked on the net, it seems that a lot of people are making more solid moulds, and having a complete glass or carbon hull, with no balsa left in it.

- Will my method work?
- Will 1 layer of glass on the outside be enough, or should I assume from the start that I will be glassing the inside as well?
- Is 1mm Balsa too light to work with this method? Will it support the shape well enough to do the fibreglassing without buckling?
- Will the balsa have problems once the boat is in the water? For example, if the hull leaks, will the wood swell and totally mess up all my hard work? Or is the balsa likely to delaminate from the glass under any circumstances?

2) Looking further forward, I have a carbon fibre round spar (left over from kite building). Will this be the best thing to use as a mast, or can you buy proper masts? Is it going to be a problem getting the right size mast for 1:25 scale?

3) For the sail, I imagine it will be difficult to get ripstop nylon in the precise colours of the Ericsson sail. What do people normally do to get the sail colours right?

4) I think this is a dream, but I'll ask anyway...Has anyone ever made a successful spinnaker reefing system for an RC yacht?

And hey, if anyone else is building one of these at the moment, I'd love to hear from you.

hiljoball

For a building guide downlaod the US1M guide from the AMYA site. It is full of good stuff for any similar sized boat.

http://www.modelyacht.org/us1m/us1mcons.html

I think the 1mm balsa will be too thin. There will not be enough 'meat' for you to sand it fair without going through the hull.

For info on a spinaker system, download the free copy of the AMYA magazine.

http://www.modelyacht.org/my/mysample.html

mfr02

Going off the size, building tips for a 10R or an "A" class might be useful, as well as supplies for fittings. In the UK, Sailsetc would be a first stop.

surfdabbler

Great, thanks for the replies. The AMYA guide has tons of useful info!

wolla01

Hey. i am currently in the pricess of building as volvo 70 aswell. but i am really interested in putting a canting keel in it, if an yone has anyideas of how to do it i would love to hear from you.
any information would be much appreciated cheers. ollie.
[email protected]

surfdabbler

I haven't got to the canting keel yet.

The hull is stripped and glassed on the outside, and the deck is ready for glassing. It will all go on hold for a few weeks, but it is progressing nicely. Pouring the lead keel is the next big step, then when the keel, hull and deck are done, I will start figuring out how this canting keel is going to work.

The build-logs have some good pictures of a canting keel setup, but it looks fairly complicated - I think the builder had access to lots of aluminium and a metal lathe! I will try for something simpler, probably just a simple pin pivot system. This way, the keel can be removable for transport.

One thing to remember with a canting keel is that it's not just about the keel - you need the dagger boards too. As soon as the keel is canted, you lose the main foil holding the boat's line through the water, so you need to drop a dagger board to keep the boat's line. I haven't figured out yet if the 2 can be linked to the same mechanism, so that as the keel cants, the daggerboard is linked to it, or whether this will be simpler with a seperate mechanism.

How far along is your boat, ollie?

wolla01

yea i bhave seen those pictures of the canting keel too. but i like your idea of a simple pin pivot idea, it cant be that difficult. but it most probably will be haha.
i know a guy who used to own a foundary and he has offered to pour my keel for me so that should be very helpful. also the daggerboards are going to be pretty difficult to. im sure there is a way of connecting them to the keel mechanism, it would be very handy if they could be connected. also i know this is going too far but have u heard of anyone successfully connecting an asymetric spinnaker to one? haha
my boat is going along nicely now. i have just taken the plug of my board and am now working on the deck. i should be ready to spray my plug next week. so that should be awesome.
how is yours coming along now??

nigelpheron

The dudes here have got their mech figured out:

http://www.stockmaritime.com/modellb...70/galerie.php

surfdabbler

Yes, someone sent me that link yesterday. They have an awesome setup in their boats, and there's some cool videos of the system in operation. I'm hoping to go a little simpler than their setups. I'm slowly progressing along. If you want to keep an eye on where I'm up to, my build log is [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8076736/tm.htm]here[/link].

nigelpheron

I'll be doing a canter in a slightly smaller scale, with a new design I'm working on.

See here for a bit of info, at the end of the thread: http://www.rcsailing.net/forum1/show...9132#post49132

yachtie2k4

hey guys i have built a 10 rater with a loa of 1.5m and a canting keel http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/ind...pic=9371&st=50 go here for more details. will need to register to see the pics though.
cheers
rob