Fisher 34 motorsailer

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Ooops! Did a tank test today at my daughter's house "pool". The F34 is already floating to her intended marks! The drive batts are on bord as are the extra keel and 2 kgs of ballast to represent what needs to be the rest of the payload. I am only guessing that the rest of the construction will weigh 2kgs. I don't suppose it matters if it's 3kgs though. The hull VERY round bilge so another kg will probably not 'sink' it much more than 0.5cm. Post a photo if i can.

George

Edited By George Edward Connery on 20/07/2020 17:22:43

Edited By George Edward Connery on 20/07/2020 17:23:30

[geconParticipant @gecon]

After the 'W/L establishing session' yesterday I realised that most of the hull will in fact be below the W/L and will be BLUE. So the hull got a coat today. It's a very dark blue, a bit too dark maybe but I didn't know that until I opened the tin this morning. Hope the trout at the lake like it.

I'll see if I can jazz up the boot top area with a blue stripe or two. That will be automotive (car!) tape.

Depends a bit on where the W/L is when the wheelhouse is built and the masts, sails, anchors, seagulls and crew are aboard.

About 1 kg more than I had on board yesterday should be enough to cover all the extras. I guess that will 'sink it' another 0.5 – 1.0 cm . I feel I've been hogging the forum too much -again- so I'll wait until the hull is done before posting anything more.

George

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi George,

Good to see your making progress there are not enough build blogs on here in my opinion !! I hope that doesn't mean nobody is building ??

I bet your anti fouling wasn't that glossy! but blue and white boats look great.

The online suppliers have never had it so good I'm told by a reliable trade source

Regards Ray

[Eddie LancasterParticipant @eddielancaster]

That’s a great finish you have got there George.

Regards.

Eddie.

[geconParticipant @gecon]

The finish is definately for 2 meter mask-and-blinkers corona-viewing but it will have to do. There is still some more paint to go on which may help a bit.

Ray, the anti-fouling is the very latest in barnacle repulsion. When the barnacles and other underwater 'thingys' see their own reflection in my shiny hull they get a scare, do a 180 and scuttle over to the nearest matt-painted TSB hull they can find. It's also much cheaper than copper plate! In addition, the Fisher is now getting so heavy that the just few barnacles will probably sink her!

I'm sharpening my mini-saw blades today and removing all the non-structural wood I can get at.

Three family birthdays over the next 2 days so painting is forbidden less the cakes should absorb an unpleasant anti-bac flavour.

Regards,

George.

[geconParticipant @gecon]

After a closer look at some photos of the original (full size) Fisher I note that surface of the underwater hull was far from a smooth finish. Either the anti-fouling, or epoxy gel-coat protection under it, had an allmost hammered-metal look on the surface. So, on went yet another coat of dark blue, this time with a 'smooth-finish' mohair roller. The finish, although non-scale shiny, now looks like the original 'hammer-antifouling'!

The mess involved with oil based paints/cleaning brushes etc is not compatable with my building facilities so further painting of hulls or largish boat sections will in future be done in acrylic/water soluble paints. I have bought an airbrush and the white topsides will soon be sprayed with Tamiya or Billing acrylic.

This is yet another detail which I have 'found out' long after everyone else! Photo of Fisher hull will appear when then is something new to look at.

George

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Well, not much new….but a 'new look'. Looking like a Greek fishing boat with this masking tape on it. Should be a bottle of Ouzo on deck but the clutter of rubbing strakes and side cappings make it a bit cramped for a party.

Ship's wheel been dunked in teak stain today due to the hull paint shop being closed. The brass rim is to be applied during the weekend.

Wish all a pleasant, safe, weekend,

George

Edited By George Edward Connery on 07/08/2020 15:37:52

Edited By George Edward Connery on 07/08/2020 15:39:43

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Ships wheel received an allmost-round brass ring and the whole lot dunked in Owatrol D2 varnish and drip-dried.

Hull topsides now silky-gloss after a lot of effort plus helpfull suggestions from a forum member who uses a hull as a shaving morror.

Some mahogany and varnish will appear eventually in the form of capping rail, bulwark cladding and rubbing strake.

gecon

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Last bit of masking tape removed today and boot top stripes added. They weren't very sticky so hope the tape will stay on the hull….allways the optimist!

gecon

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Side cladding added today.

gecon

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Rubbing strakes added today. Quite tricky -for me at least- to bend them to suit the hull curves. Photos not in album yet.

gecon

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Weekend activities:

Doing quite a bit a 'head-scratching' in the scratch build dept. recently. Previously painted brass portholes don't seem to want to have humbrol enamel sticking to them. Must admit that I didn't think to sand/degrease them before painting. Anyway didn't really like the look of the Humbrol aluminium (56?) paint. It seemed a shame in the first place to paint over that lovley brass but the 1:1 Fisher did not have brass ports. Maybe the 1:12 will?

Need also to make simulated bolt heads for the porthole surrond. Used pinheads but not sure if they'll survive the scrutiny of the 'paintshop inspection' team either. May now have to use heads of brass planking pins or just blobs of brass/gold paint?

Varnishing of mahogany bits is coming along OK but one of the rubbing strakes came away from the hull at the aft end (with some layers of paint attached). Zap-A-Gap put it all back (including paint!) but under some bending stress, so we'll see how that fairs in time.

Might need a break soon to avoid being tempted to make quick-fix solutions.

A bit foggy here this morning but if it lifts by noon one of the grandchildren (24 years old!) is going to film the Comtesse from his Mavic drone.

George

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi George,

Rivets round the portholes I'd use pva applied with a cocktail stick, looks pretty good when painted 👍

I used this method on 1/6th scale Hawker Hurricane wings must have been thousands of them 😀

Regards Ray

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Hi Ray,

Many thanks, I was considering blobs of 5 min Araldite but PVA will be much easier -and cheaper. Can you mix gold or brass acrylic paint with the PVA do you think?

Regards, George.

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Tried the PVA solution (ah, sorry!) but I can't make that resemble the bolts used to secure portholes. I see though that respectable 'rivets' can be made with PVA blobs.

I'll get back to the drawing board and work on my pinheads I think. Or maybe just fill the holes around the porthole flange with paint and hope nobody notices.

Here is a photo of the pinhead jobs -the many of pins loosened when I cut the legs off and I could not cut them off close enough to the underside of the flange. I'll maybe try again and cut before glueing. Pity I didn't do just one for a test. Now I have 6 ports to do the rehab' on. Off to raid the Admiralty sewing-supplies dept.

George

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Progress report:

Mounted the rudder yesterday, though I have not yet sealed the hole around the rudder tube. Do that with epoxy resin I think. It has to be carefully poured in around the outside of the top section of the rudder tube which needs to be sealed off below -where it exits at the top of the rudder.

Also had a go at setting up my first ever sailwinch control run. Decided to try a spring tensioned 'endless loop' on the winch drum Though it's not really 'endless'; the ends are fastened to the two anchor-holes in the grooves on the drum. After a bit of tensioning of the spring and servo travel adjustment it seemed to be OK. Will be fitting a brass guide tube to lead the sheet up through the deck and wheelhouse to the end of the main boom….I think.

Never done any of this before but I think I have the theory right so I'll just have to try it out and see. The main boom sheet is the easy one, next is the two servos for genoa control. Will try to add photos soon.

George

Edited By gecon on 20/08/2020 18:48:10

Edited By gecon on 20/08/2020 18:48:44

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Testing out some ideas for the wheelhouse and cabin top. Will have to make facilities for removeable top sections for access the the hull. Cabin and wheelhouse sides will be glued to the deck for watertightness but the 'roof' sections will have to be removeable. Sheet for the main boom is to be routed through the aft edge of the wheelhose roof and some of the standing rigging is to be anchored to the roof too so the whole wheelhouse roof cannot be made removeable -starting to think aloud now, sorry.

Thought of using small magnets and/or velcro or small hatch fasteners. Haven't yet found out what will be best. Probably a combination og methods.

Is there any particular 'favourved securing method' among the learned?

George

Edited By gecon on 22/08/2020 08:37:23

Edited By gecon on 22/08/2020 08:38:03

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Removed all the 'test' superstructure and started on the sail control runs for the genoa. The radio control gear is new to me and I have spent a few hours trawling through the huge instruction book to allocate two genoa servos to sliders on the transmitter. As usual, I don't really know what I'm doing but I'm doing it anyway.

Rudder tube has been sealed (I hope) and the rudder connected to the servo and it even turns the same way as the Tx rudder stick!

I hate to brag, but I've actually exceeded myself today….almost impressed even! Probably just beginners luck.

George

Edited By gecon on 22/08/2020 17:04:37

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi George,

I shall be watching with interest your Genoa control system 😀 I never thought it was worth the bother of dragging the sail forward and round the mast onto the other side for the opposite tack, good luck with all those lines under the deck !! If you can keep the standing rigging away from the wheel house that may simplify things?

Regards Ray

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Good morning Ray, -and of course, anybody else

I too shall be watching with interest! Certainly for a model of this type there is probably only a small performance advantage in utilising a scale-ish genoa. Had I not owned a 1:1 version years ago, I would not have bothered with the genoa hassel. Had I thought about the cost early enough I would deffinateley have reconsidered! Using a small foresail and refering to it as a "working jib" would suffice. Wouldn't even need a servo on it!

The foresail on Ralph Stockton's F46 was a 'working jib' and he even had electric roller reefing on it! Ralph was an engineer. I'm just a glutton for punishment. I am going to try to make a manual roller reefed genoa so that all sail area can be reefed /stowed to allow for motoring with the sails still visible -but reefed- on the boat.

Some standing rigging will probably have to go onto the aft edge of the wheelhouse roof. I have a plan for this -which is too boring for members to read about- so I'll post a photo when it's done…in 2-3 months or so?

Posting a pic of Ralph's F46.

Regards, George

Edited By gecon on 23/08/2020 08:15:04

[geconParticipant @gecon]

The 'test elastic' has now been replaced by 1mm dacron and steel springs on all 3 servos. Adjusted for direction and travel. Next is to attatch the sheets and make guide tubes to lead them out of the wheelhouse and aft cockpit.

George

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

All clever stuff George.

I think when I build my motor sailer I will just set the sails to an optimum position and not adjust when underway. The main motive power is the motor anyway. We shall see.

Chris

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Hi Chris, I'm not yet sure if it's 'clever' but it's getting complicated -I'm sure of that.

I must admit that my lack of experience is the reason for the complexity of this project. Had I worked out the cost and complexity vs user-enjoyment equation prior to starting I would have simplified the build. I would however not 'learned my lesson'. I have no regrets though, my grey cells have been put into action and I am more pleased with the results as each hurdle is crossed.

The Fisher 34 to me is a sort of 'labour of love'. So I hope there will not be a 'divorce' before she's launched! Neither from the Fisher nor the Admiralty!

I have sailed the Comtesse yacht a few times during the summer and my experiences with that indicate to me that some form of sail control is more or less essential. The wind often changes in strength and direction over the lake and I would say that it's deffinately desireable to have – at least the largest sail on board- controlable.

A free 'working jib' and mizzen sail -if fitted- would be OK tethered by round elastic but it think but a large mainsail needs to have a winch on it to give some user participation! You will need a good motor and a large rudder if you're going to be able to overcome the the power in the sails if the wind picks up.

Regards, George

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Eyebolts for the main and mizzen mast now added. Guide tubes for the genoa sheets epoxied in place and cockpit decking fitted with clear silicon to permit 'surgical removal' if necessary. Servo-hatch in cockpit centre will need to be sealed in some way to allow easy removal + access to the rudder servo.  Maybe silicon and plumber's tape?  Trial fitting of genoa sheet  blocks on capping rail.

Edited By gecon on 28/08/2020 07:03:29

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Posted by gecon on 25/08/2020 07:06:51:

Hi Chris, I'm not yet sure if it's 'clever' but it's getting complicated -I'm sure of that.

I must admit that my lack of experience is the reason for the complexity of this project. Had I worked out the cost and complexity vs user-enjoyment equation prior to starting I would have simplified the build. I would however not 'learned my lesson'. I have no regrets though, my grey cells have been put into action and I am more pleased with the results as each hurdle is crossed.

The Fisher 34 to me is a sort of 'labour of love'. So I hope there will not be a 'divorce' before she's launched! Neither from the Fisher nor the Admiralty!

I have sailed the Comtesse yacht a few times during the summer and my experiences with that indicate to me that some form of sail control is more or less essential. The wind often changes in strength and direction over the lake and I would say that it's deffinately desireable to have – at least the largest sail on board- controlable.

A free 'working jib' and mizzen sail -if fitted- would be OK tethered by round elastic but it think but a large mainsail needs to have a winch on it to give some user participation! You will need a good motor and a large rudder if you're going to be able to overcome the the power in the sails if the wind picks up.

Regards, George

Thanks George, I will need to do some thinking when the time comes!

Chris

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