Building Ardent

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

I'm not sure if the following is of interest or help to anyone, but having to look after the pennies I have made my own abrasive tools.

I bought a roll of Norton expert cloth backed sand 'paper' it is 115mm. wide x 5mt. long, (enough to last a lifetime, well mine anyway!) from B&Q it costs about £14.00. It comes in various grades mine is 80 grit, it is easy to cut from the back using a stanley knife to whatever size you need, this is then super glued to a piece of aluminium, the flat piece is 20mm x 2mm. x 260mm. long, the round one is 6mm. dia. tube. I have been using them for the Ardent build and they show no sign of wearing out yet. In the foreground of this photo is the side of the frame for the rear hatch over the rudder.

It will fit into the rectangular hole cut in the rear deck cover, and is curved to the camber of the deck.

Eddie.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

My grandson's new boat, Vic Smeeds Moonglow, ready for it's first trials next week, during half term.

Eddie.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

With Moonglow finished, apart from deck fittings and railings etc. I can now get back to Ardent.

I have now put the sail winch, rudder servo and associated gear back in the hull, with room to spare! I had to remake the original pulleys I had made as the ones from Poland were not suitable, I made the groove for the cord deeper and brought it out to a near knife edge at the rim, this then allowed the cord to stay on the pulley if it went slack for any reason, it all seams to work fine now.

With the radio gear in place I have now started to fix the deck sheets in place, as I have varnished the underside of these pieces I am using epoxy glue.

The next job will be to make the eye bolts for the mast stays ant fit the mast, I will also have to start thinking about a colour scheme.

Eddie

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie

Your Grandson will be very happy with Moonglow, my 12 year old grandson's in the xbox generation, but I'm hoping to get him flying RC this summer. Ardent is looking good I like varnished wood on the deck and cockpit, access is a problem once you've fitted the mast making the cabin roof removable to get at the gear ?

Regards Ray

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi. Ray, I hope he will like it for a change, at 12 years old he too is xbox mad so I am hoping Moonglow will get him out and about.

The mast for Ardent goes through the roof of the cabin so it will have to be removed before taking the cabin roof off.

I have already moved the jib sheet outlet from just in front of the mast to the front of the cabin keeping the cabin roof clear.

I am thinking of mahogany stain and varnish for the deck and a white hull above the waterline and perhaps a light green below it.

Thanks for your kind comments.

Best wishes Eddie

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

I have just bought the latest copy of Classic Boat in an effort to find a colour scheme for Ardent, the mag is full of colour photos of all types of vintage boats, I am more confused than ever now! it shows boats that are all mahogany varnished, decks that are gloss varnished, bleached teak or painted in various colours, deck planking that follows the deck edge and others that follow the cabin sides, so perhaps anything goes? particularly on a model that is not based on a full size craft.

If anyone has any more thoughts to add I would be glad to hear from you.

A confused old man!

Eddie

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Eddie,

First of all, many thanks for letting us follow your very nice and interesting build!

In my opinion you are perfectly right to think that "anything goes" when you are building something generic rather than based on a specific prototype.

Off the cuff, I would therefore say: please yourself! Is there anything in particular that catches your eye or that you find more attractive? If so, go for that!

As far as the deck planking is concerned, if you are planning to plank that with individually cut planks, some patterns are likely to be more work than others; if you are more inlcined to just inscribe/draw a pattern onto some veneer, it makes less of difference (cf. Colin's recent thread about plankning that follows the external curvature of the hull), and if you prefer it painted even less so.

Is there owt in particular that catches your fancy? Or that you've been seeing in your minds eye?

Mattias

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi. Mattias, Thank you for your interest and kind comments, yes I now have an idea of how I will finish it, white hull above the waterline, possibly red below it, varnished mahogany cabin sides and cockpit and a cream or buff painted deck with maybe a cotton fabric covering and a varnished mahogany rubbing rail.

As an aside I like your use of Yorkshire dialect in some of your postings, as above, how come? I was born a Yorkshire man in Wenslydale but have lived here in the East Midlands for most of my life.

Regards.

Eddie.

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Eddie,

That sounds like a very attractive colour scheme, I must say!

As for my (mis)appropriations of owt, nowt and summat, I'm afraid I can claim no better reason that I like the words in question. I don't know why, exactly, but I certainly do! For a non-native speaker like me, I suppose that happily mixing English from different sources it is a sort of privilege to indulge in, or, quite possibly, a trap to fall into … The thing is, you pick up words and expression from a bit all over, and if you like them, you, as it were, give them the magpie treatment, i.e. you pick them up and put them in your (linguistic) nest …

That said, I really liked Yorkshire a lot, the one time we went there, for my 40th birthday, back in 2005: not only a beautiful place, but first and foremost very friendly and welcoming people!

Oh, and I've enjoyed a bit of Yorkshire tonight, in the form of a couple of bottles of Black Sheep Ale from Masham that went very well with my tea …

Mattias

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

your almost a native!

Eddie

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Cabin top frame ready for the top to be glued on.

The top fitted, and rails for hatch added, I am hoping to make the hatch operational so that I can switch the radio on and off without removing the whole top, if that does'nt work, plan b is to connect a wire to the switch and bring it out through the back of the cabin, perhaps making the end look like a door knob!

I have now got to start thinking about staining, varnishing and painting, and what needs doing first, before assembly.

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie

Here is Wild Duck, a Yachting Monthly design I had published as a feature plan in MB's last year, and is a pretty standard colour scheme, I use International deck paint for the cabin roof & fore deck as I have some left over from a dinghy refurbishment, but Humbrol matt looks the same from a distance. comes in light grey,blue & beige. White topsides seem to fade to off white after a few years. The hatch slides for access to the radio switch. She has a removable fin and bulb keel and sails well with Nylet sails

Regards Ray

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi. Ray, That looks good, I think I am going for a buff coloured deck over a cotton fabric that looks about right, the cabin sides and cockpit I will stain mahogany and varnish with a white cabin roof. Wilco's have a range of traditional paints for outdoor use so I will use that. I am off down to my friends at Broadstairs next week so boat building will be at a standstill for a couple of weeks but that will allow some of the paint and varnish to harden before I start on the hull, by the way the hatch does work, I did not get glue where i didn't want it!

Thanks for your interest and info.

Eddie.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

I was not happy with back of the cockpit, the back is formed by the last frame that is 5mm. thick, the half round coming on top is 8mm. wide which was going to leave an unsightly overhang, had I spotted this sooner I would have added a thickening piece before I built the cockpit so I decided to add it now, it consists of two pieces of 3mm. light ply, this is easy to cut with a stanley knife to get a good fit.The first pieces that I cut I regarded as a pattern for the final ones that fitted to my satisfaction, it had to be in two pieces because of the mainsail sheet tube The thickness of the cockpit back is now the same as the coming and should look much better, and the tube is within the back.

The piece in the backround is the second half.

Eddie.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Eddie

Had you thought of a horse across the back of the cockpit ? I think this gives the mainsail better geometry when tacking, and need less kicker to keep the boom down on the run ??

Regards Ray

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

No, being new to this boating lark I have lots to learn, but you are all being good teachers! Do you run the sheet from the winch under the horse and up to the boom?

Eddie.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Just been to Dunelm, it's Thursday so that means coffee and toasted tea cake! found these, 35ml. pots with srcrew top, ideal for paint mixing and storage 1.99 for 4.

Eddie.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

I don't think you can get half round mahogany strip so I had to make some, the drawing specifies 8x 8mm. half round but I could only get 10x8mm. I planed this down to 8x8mm and added 150mm to the end as 36" was not long enough, I then planed it to roughly half round and then finished it with my home made sanding tool,

This is a piece of 12mm OD aluminium tube cut in half length wise and then a piece of 80 grit cloth backed emery glued inside, I then used this to get the final shape.

This has now been fitted to the hull ready for final prepping before varnishing.

Eddie.

[Derek BradleyParticipant @derekbradley32270]

What are the correct measurements for Ardent? The Plan Data in the original article in MMI give the length as 1005mm and beam as 225mm whereas Sarik give them as length 900mm and beam 260 – quite a considerable difference.

Eddie, I have PM'd you.

Derek.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi. Derek I have just replied to your PM another computer skill learnt!

The dimensions I am working to are different again to the ones you have been given! the length overall is 900mm. but the beam over the hull sides is 305mm. and I have checked two or three times and in imperial.

I think she is a nice looking boat with nice lines, I only hope I can do her justice with my build.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I am with friends at Broadstairs with the drawings and some sail cloth, I am hoping to get the sails made by the resident seamstress whilst I am here.

Regards.

Eddie.

[Derek BradleyParticipant @derekbradley32270]

Many thanks for the correct measurements, Eddie. Also, I found your PM very interesting – if anyone else is intrigued by this, it was about our mutual connection to God's county and in particular Wensleydale (nice bit o' cheese, Grommit).

I would love to start building Ardent but, at the moment, I am well involved with Dave Milbourn's Fairey Huntress from the Winter Special. If I live long enough I might have a go.

Derek.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

It sounds as if like me you have so many projects to do or finish that you will have to live to at least 150!

Eddie.

[Derek BradleyParticipant @derekbradley32270]

Well, one can but hope. Seriously though, the Huntress is the only one that is 'work in progress'. I have 3 completed boats at the moment – a 'civilianised' TID tug, a fast patrol boat and a fast fishing boat, all completed from GRP hulls, but having sailed full size yachts and built and sailed model yachts in the past, I still fancy another one and certainly like the looks of your Ardent. Better stop there as I seem to be hi-jacking your build. Keep up the good work – thoroughly enjoying it.

Derek.

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

Hi, Derek, don't worry about the 'hi-jack' that is what this is all about, sharing thoughts and info.

I have 3 finished at the moment, Varmint from last August MB, a Racing Sparrow a New Zealand design, and a Vic Smeed Moonglow for my grandson.

Eddie

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Derek – you can always start a build blog, Fairey builds are a bit thin on the ground at the moment!

Mine have stalled over the last couple of weeks due to friends stopping etc. and working (albeit part-time) but should get cracking again this weekend.

Chris

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