Ok so I cleaned up the dry dock area to begin refit and refurbishment of a schooner.
The hull lines mimic “America” so it will get refit/refurb to that likeness, new hardware, new servos, new spars, new sails, ect…
began the tear down today and started sanding.
Old school airtronics radio that still worked. It looks like the original color under the gloss black was an aqua green. did some sanding and will get some chemicals to begin a chemical strip as well.
I was amazed that the main hull appears to be be shaped out of a solid block of wood with the keel attached… deck is 1/4" luan…
working on a chemical peel…
well I thought I was going to save the deck but when I started laying out the scale bits and such nothing was going line up the way i wanted… so I took the deck off and will rebuild with a new planked deck.
you can really see the scrape marks inside of where it was dug out from a block of wood…
the boat had three servos two for sails and one for rudder. the sail servos were airtronic 1/4 scale. way too big. I figure I’ll just put in one digital hitech 7954 for the sails and a smaller digital for the rudder and run an 1800 mah lipo. I’ve used the servo on my soling, and iom with great results. this should suit the boat just fine…
the original deck was nailed down. with only a small pit of glue in a few spots…
i figure on the deck i’ll go with 1/16 ply with balsa planks
got the deck printed, plywood trimmed and planks cut Next step will be to cut the various hatch opening in the deck and then frame them prior to planking… planks were cut from cedar deck base ply is 1/32.
on a side note… not sure which method I’m going to go on the deck…
this where the planks follow the curve of the sheerline
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/galleries/Installing-a-teak-deck-on-Zatara-GalleryPage/_resampled/ResizedImage436300-12teak.jpg
or this, where the planks travel parallel to the king plank
http://www.sydneywood.com.au/images/Teak-Decking-after.jpg
what do you guys think…
I think the curved deck boards might be more in keeping with the “period and tradition” of this boat. The straight deck boards are easier to apply, but seem more “modern” to me. The curves will be a bit troublesome to attach and hold the curve. Also, After you cut your hatches, let the curved deck beam ends “run wild” and then trim to fit the hatch opening when done, rather than trying to get correct length on each individual beam. Just my thoughts. Regardless - will look like a beautiful boat when finished.
Dick
Dick,
i did my ec12 where the planks followed the sheer
http://www.rcsailing.net/forum1/attachment.php?attachmentid=3894&d=1251891138
and I framed the opening with strips so it looked like this
http://www.russellrennison.co.uk/photos/deckafter1.jpg
my dilemma…every single model of America that I have seen has the planks running fore/aft parallel to the king plank… and no doubt that doing the plank this way would be much much easier and I want build a bit true to the yacht, but I also know what I like…
Ok. Going to go with following the sheer line of the hull. But for a twist. Adding white basswood strips as my “caulk”. So not quite true to the original…
began work on the deck planks…
These deck boards look great. Will make an awesome looking boat. Nice !!!
after looking at it for a while, I should have done a strip of white on either side of the king plank…
working on the deck details. and have the servos mounted. going to make the all important cuts in the deck for the mast support and then work on the sheet fairleads…
I’m in awe of guys like yourself who can do this sort of thing.
Do you have any recommended links/ tutorials for doing planking like that. I found a few on some of the scale boat forums but the more I can read the better.
I was hoping to do an IOM in “Semi-scale” one day with an aged/grey planked deck and stained black hull but I’m terrified. Every hull I’ve done has been hidden under paint so the “whoopsies” didnt matter.
how about this wooden IOM
http://www.usaiomworlds.com/Portals/1007/Images/Newsitem_Julian_Laffin_3.jpg
http://www.usaiomworlds.com/Portals/1007/Images/Newsitem_Julian_Laffin_4.jpg
unmitigated boat porn…
I have never done a planked hull.only decks, but I want to, but like you the oopsies become visible and I’d hate to do all that work and end up with a mistake. I use copious amounts of CA to hold the planks in place. I have heard of folks using epoxy and using pins to hold the planks in place while the epoxy sets up. Other tricks including putting masking tape on the frames so you can remove the frames after the build…
Awesome, thanks!!!
I’ll give those a read through.
Got the deck houses complete. Rudder servo linkage done bowsprit fit, masts cut and temp rigging installed
Starting to look like a boat
Yes those are the booms I’m going to use. And yes they are cut to length. The aft boom is awful long
ok did some more work final coats of varnish on the deck. , so wet sanding and long boarding and have begun the trial workings for the running rigging…
So my option is to go single purchase and have the attachments much closer to the mast. Or if I go double purchase the sheets will much closer to so the original locations but a bit more troublesome on the locations… so I need to decide on all my through hull locations and what to use at turning blocks. simple screw eyes, micro blocks like hales or pekabe, or some other method. my through decks are going to be simple brass tubes bent at 180*
That deck is “sweeeeet” !
If you have room for the blocks, below deck…I would go for a longer sheet line and try to get sheet to booms as close as possible. Obviously, if space is limited, then go direct. One nice thing is you can use a slow winch with multiple turns since you are racing. GWS makes a multi-turn winch - 5 or 6 turns …but I can’t find mine to check on side of box. Rather small and might be able to run two below for the forward sails and one for main sail. Again - if room permits.
Looking forward to seeing it all "decked out’ and on the water. Carry on, Skipper ! 
Dick,
single winch for all sails. I running the 7954 hitec digital with an arm on each side. should be plenty of power. plus being digital I can program a slower speed.
This boat will probably see one or two regattas and then end up in the museum with the 1927 power boat I build last year.
I modified the above drawing… blue is the servo arm. red/black are above deck lines for jib. solid red is below deck jib
orange/black is above deck for the main solid orange is below deck main sheet
hopefully the drawing will make sense…
I though about running everything under the deck, but with the limited access under the deck and the extra main sheets I’d be worried about fouling. Since this will end up in someone else’s hands who would only occasionally be sailing it, under deck fouling would be a concern for me…