Comtesse Sailing Yacht by Krick Ro-Marin.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

These guys are very good as well. Give them a ring and tell them your requirements and price range and they will suggest the best servo for your needs. Very helpfull and very knowledgeable.

Servo Shop Link

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Hi again Chris, correction to above, the winches I have in the Comtessa and Fisher are more powerfull than neede for the Comtessa. Ref Comtessa instructions.

Neither Servo Shop nor CMB seem to have a winch in stock. Krickshop in Germany and aslo Graupner.com have sail winches but they are not cheap. They don't send direct to Norway because we are not in the EU, but they may still send direct to UK.

The advantage of these units for the Comtessa (and SOME other yachts) is that there is no need for spring tensioning of the sheets to each sail as the winch drum is enclosed and the sheet line cannot fall off the drum. Even with a winch mounted sideways the sheet will not stay on an open drum (ie. Hitec winch) without tension.

There may be some sailers on the forum who can offer a solution to this -or even know of another servo with an enclosed drum. Not sure if I have close-up photos of in the Comtessa or Fisher albums but I probably do.

You can see the Graupner 5217 on http://www.graupner.de under "servos" then "boat servos". This is more powerfull than you need.

I'm ranting on a bit now, but for info' the mizzen sail on my Colin archer will be operated by a 4-turn Krick winch titled 1004MG. This does 4 turns which is probably OK for the Comtessa.

I see now that the winch in the instructions is the 1006MG which has 6 turns. article nr. 79073 This costs 28 Euros. They are in stock at http://www.krickshop.de

Phew…

George

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

Thankyou to everyone for your help and advice. I have found that Howe’s models do a range of winch servos and I think this would be the one to go for. They also do them in 2 and 4 turns with metal gearing and optional shrouds.

King MAX 6 Turn Standard Size Drum Sail Servo Winch – SW4805-6PA

Any thoughts guys?

Chris

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Wow…for just a 'tenner'. Buy a reserve as well!

You can't even buy the plastic drum from Graupner for that price! Go for it….but buy a spare too. That ensures that the first one will not faulter! I'm not known for my optimism.

George

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

Hi George,

They do a metal geared version at £15 so I have ordered that one.

Now trying to sort out the sails, So far a bit of head scratching. I will let you know if I am stuck.
Cheers,

Chris

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

I have now completed the sails and almost all of the rigging. I am finding that tricky as the yarn supplied frays so easily. Any suggestions on how to stop that so I can thread it through quite small holes more easily.would be appreciated.

Thanks everyone. You’ve been a great help, esp George.

Chris

[Stuart Z 1Participant @stuartz1]

Hi

I know your pain.
Possible solutions I use are

1) sewing threader from haberdashery counter

2) dip thread tip into superglue, when set make a cut across glued thread with scalpel

3) jeweller thread burner

All methods I use.

Good luck

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

As Stuart mentioned the spot of thin cyanoacrylate before cutting with a scalpel works very effectively. You only have to wait a few seconds to cut so it doesn't even slow you down.

[geconParticipant @gecon]

I think the sails are to be constructed using the supplied doublesided tape. But for those who like to sew….why not

George

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

After two weeks the double sided tape is failing so I think a request to my lovely wife for assistance with sewing machine is needed.
Progress now halted as rigging completed. Superglue trick worked well with rigging cord.Next will be painting and intend to use airbrush so I shall wait for some warmer weather.

Thanks to everyone who chipped in with helpful advice and a Happy Christmas to one and all.

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

After two weeks the double sided tape is failing so I think a request to my lovely wife for assistance with sewing machine is needed.
Progress now halted as rigging completed. Superglue trick worked well with rigging cord.Next will be painting and intend to use airbrush so I shall wait for some warmer weather.

Thanks to everyone who chipped in with helpful advice and a Happy Christmas to one and all.

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

Sorry admin, shaky finger syndrome created two entries!

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

After about 3/4 months I have returned to my workshop to try and complete my Comtesse. I am in the process of painting the hull and fitting some of the additional parts which can only be done after painting. All the pictures I have seen of this model have a blue/turquoise series of what appear to be transfers on the deck. I have checked what was supplied and I only seem to have the transfers for 6 windows and one for the hatch next to the mast foot. Should there be more in the kit or do you have to create your own for the deck?

Any guidance appreciated and George from Norway especially, if you can remember that far back!

Thanks, Chris

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Hi Chris,

My Comtesse is in the cellar store room and not readily to hand. If you look in on my build log for the Comtesse you can see the the ports are all dark blue. I don't think I used transfers.

The deck markings for non-slip 'treadmaster' are probably just in the pictures for show. I made mine with 1200 grit wet&dry sandpaper (waterproof).

George

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Hi again Chris, painted my windows dark blue. Added one to the hull sides which deffinately looks 'add-on' as it's not recessed into the hull. Neither are the supplied kit ports. Not noticeable under sail though.

Lots of photos on my album where you can see my 'wet and dry' efforts.

George

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

Thanks George for your help once again. Not been able to progress much as it is my wife’s birthday today and preparing yesterday and having family around today has put any thought of boats to bed. I did however spend a pleasant half hour with 2 of my grandchildren and a recently completed Tamiya Hornet. The youngsters seem to take to it like a duck to water.

2 final Q’s please. How did you stick the sandpaper on to the deck and did you seal it over the top? I am spraying Billings boats paints and they do a gloss and satin or Matt finish.

I will try and not other you further but there maybe just something you can help with

Best wishes,

chris

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Hi Chris, it's no bother, but be aware that on occasions it can be a few days between each time I 'look in'. Especially now that I have a pile of wood flooring stored in every room in the flat. I'm actually about half way through the job…going a bit faster than I expected.

I glued on the 'treadmaster' with water proof wood glue! The stuff I use is called 'Hard Head' and is used by joiners on outside jobs. I've used it on my Fisher 34 model and presently on my Colin Archer RS1, You can also use '506 Canopy glue' but it's more expensive, a litle bit thicker, and cures rather rapidly and gives less time for adjustment of the treadmaster if that is necessary.

I would advise a test-glueing on a peice of scrap plastic from the Comtesse kit.

I made a few very light razor cuts in the deck surface just to give a 'key' for the glue, A light sanding would also be OK, but be sure to keep in inside the perimeter of the area of sandpaper to be applied.

Any wood glue which oozes out kan easily be washed off (without delay) with a wet sponge or cloth.

George

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

Very many thanks George. I have some canopy glue in stock and be careful to get it right first time as I know how quickly it cures, so I will use that.

Good luck with the flooring, Chris

[Chris Stevenson 2Participant @chrisstevenson2]

Last week I was pleased to take my finally completed sailing boat, the Comtesse along to Sheringham boating lake and enjoy the experience and challenge of model yachting. I thoroughly enjoyed it after a nervy start and look forward to future sailings.

A huge thank you to everyone who has helped me through the building phase, which has taken longer than I had hoped, and a special thanks to George for sharing his experience of this model and guiding me through.

I have been unable to download any pics but will try to do so.

Happy sailing to all, Chris

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