[Ian]

I'm new to this forum but I thought some people might be interested in a scratch build I finished last year.
I managed to document most of my progress with photos so here goes.



Soon after discovering the lines drawings in a book I found out the current owner kept her in Looe a few miles from where I live and was shortly to sail on an extended cruise in Europe. I hurriedly headed for Looe camera at the ready. attached is one of those photos.

I then had to create my building plans, so the lines drawing from the book had to be enlarged and stretched slightly in the vertical direction to enable the hull to stand up under the rig when she went on the water. That done the frames were cut out and set up on the building board.

[SkyFire]

Wow. Well done and a great looking vessel. Your model is looking good so far.

[SkyFire]

Mum is asking do you know if there is any difference bewteen a Looe Lugger and a Mevagissey Lugger??

[Ian]

Thank you. It was good fun working on her.
To continue the story...
Once all the planking was applied the frames were cut off the base board and trimmed flush with the planks. A couple of coats of paint were then added.

The deck frames were then shaped and inserted at each frame. The gunwhales were also strengthened to provide a larger landing for the sub deck

[Ian]

I'm afraid I have not been able to determine the technical difference between Looe and Mevagissey luggers. I suspect it is quite minor because the two places are so close together.
At a guess it could be that one has a larger proportion of the hull decked over, or possibly just the length of the vessels. I know someone who might be able to tell me, a Looe fisherman, who has actually sailed in the Erin since she has been converted into a yacht. I'll let you know what he says.

[SkyFire]

I will have to get some photos of the Erin, (if she is in Looe) when I visit next year.

Nice seeing shaped deck beams, just a pity the partwork ships don't come with them done this way, possibly the Black Pearl has a bit of shaping on its deck beams though.

[Ian]

Perhaps you could have a go at modifying the part work to include the cambered decks?
On with the story.
I felt the deck beams needed reinforcing in the region of the masts to help transmit the power in the rig. Mast steps were also put in. The electronics which included servos, batteries etc were also tried for size. These had to be dry fitted before the deck went on and access became restricted.
    
The sub deck was next. This consisted of 0.8mm plywood and provided a waterproof join between the hull and the topsides. This will be completely concealed in due course.

[SkyFire]

How will you remove the battery for charging, or will it stay in the model?

Not sure the Black Pearl can be modified with the way it is done, they are using thin planks for the deck supports.

[Ian]

The battery pack stays in the hull and there is a charging lead which comes off the the battery side of the "on/off" switch which enables charging whilst the electronics are switched off. The battery, and all the other bits and pieces can be removed from the finished model if you have to, but it can be very fiddly.
Onward.  The proper deck was then laid across the ply. This was 1/8" cedar strips as used in the hull and cut on my band saw. A piece of black sugar paper was stuck between each plank to give the effect of caulking.

Holes were then drilled to take the gunwhale stanchions and filed out to be square. The stanchions were then cut, cedar on my trusty band saw again, and glued ito place.

The gunwhale was then added, same cedar planks as everything else, and a capping rail added to disguise the tops of the stanchion posts.

[SkyFire]

Your doing a great job with her, but I am now wondering how you are going to attach things to the servos.

I assume the one with the long arm is for the sails, which would leave the other one for the rudder.

[Ian]

Your guess re the servos is correct.
On this model I went slightly away from convention and attached both servos using fine nylon line. It's actually the finest Roman blind cord that I could lay my hands on. It has a very fine diameter but is still pretty strong. I inserted some fine plastic tubing from a dummy plate just inside the hatch and brought them out a little above deck level, a bit crude I suppose but it does give a good free lead for the cord. I haven't had a problem with tangles etc.

You can also see the cords from the steering servo heading aft before passing through more tubing which passes through the transom to the rudder stock.

Back to the story. Once the bulwarks were finished I created an "upstand" over which the coach roof would fit to keep water from finding its way into the electronics.

[Ian]

Next came the coach roof and some of the spars.



And then some more deck fittings and some more spars.
 

Then came the really fun part, trying to organise the spars at appropriate angles with sails attached. I made sails out of paper first to see what would
look right
 

[Ian]

Finally, it was time to sweet talk my better half into getting her sewing machine out.
By this time the coachroof had received a coat of paint and the spars had been tapered a little to make them look a little less like the lengths of oak dowel that they were.


Finally the big day arrived and she went on the water. She sailed very well in a moderate breeze with a little weather helm and she does tend to put her lee gunwhale under
if it freshens too much. Overall I was pleased with the result.

[SkyFire]

Well done on building her and she sails very well. Is that the Looe river she is sailing on?

[Ian]

I belong to the the Looe Model Boat Club and we sail on the boating lake next to the main Looe car park. The lake is what remains of the old mill pond which is besides the confluence of the East and West Looe rivers. We meet most Sunday mornings, weather permitting.