Minerva got masts and yards test-fitted today. I'm presently on a 10-minute break from fitting sails to said yards. In the pic below, I slid the masts in, but they're not fully seated yet, which explains the 3 different angles for the 3 masts. The Bentinck booms haven't been fitted yet, either, but that has been remedied since the pic was taken. Also, the spanker is on the mizzen, which is way cool Still waiting on the sail winch servos, but I hope that they get here tomorrow, I'd love to sheet her and take her sailing sometime soon! On the plus side, I have the rudder servo (a beastly big thing, it is!), so I can work on the rudder this weekend if the wenches don't arrive. (Or the winches, either) I am not truly happy with how the build has progressed, but it IS my first AoS boat, which imposes distinctly different requirements on the structure than motorized warships do, and more importantly: The 'better' is the enemy of the 'good enough'. I need to get on the water with a ship, and take my time planning the follow-on vessel to be more betterer... (not necessarily bigger, either)
Very nice Tug, Is the Minerva close to the same size as Mike's Le Requin cebek. or what's the difference in size(when and if you get a chance to explain) Skippy
Man, that hull looks huge! The Minerva is longer, wider, and deeper hulled than the Requin. The Requin's hull is only 31" in length, 8" beam at deck level, and an average 2.5" hull depth. The Minerva is about 50% larger (Tug can post dimensions).
Minerva is roughly 45" long, 9.5" wide, and about 9.5 tall, not counting masts. The mainmast towers 40.5" above the keel, and the main course is 19" wide and 8" tall. With only 1 of her 3 jibs flying, Her Majesty's Ship Minerva will hold aloft over a square yard of sail. They may outmaneuver us, but by God they shall not outrun us! God save the Queen! (This is what happens when Tugboat watches the Beeb while sewing sails. And YES, that very-impressive sounding square yard of sails involves a LOT of sewing. If I ever do a first-rate, I will definately figure out how to use a sewing machine! @Mike, I switched from the OD-green looking ripstop to a kind of tan poly-cotton that doesn't stretch enough to notice. Looks the business
Tugboat, be sure to include a way to cut back on sail area. Otherwise, you will be limited to sailing in only zephers. The real ships did not fly all their sails unless the winds were light; models must do the same since the physics is the same . I just remove yards and their attached sails when the wind picks up. My yards are hung on pairs of screweyes (closed eye on the mast, eye twisted open a bit on the yard). This makes reducing sail fast and easy. By reducing sail starting from the top of the mast, you will achieve results and a look that mimics the real ships. For super authenticity, installing sail-less yards to replace the ones removed will work. But, I never bother with that refinement, myself. If someone complains (no one ever has), I'd just tell them that the yards had been struck down below, ie. removed from the mast. This was a legitimate sail handling evolution; upper yards were always struck below prior to rounding the Horn, for example.
I read your posts and that's how my yards go on! I had been meaning to ask you a question, though. I've thought about slaving the mizzen mast square sails to the mainmast's sails (direction-wise), but it seems that it might be a good idea to have the spanker independent of those sails. Since you've got the experience, what's your opinion on that? (Fore mast sails controlled independent of main & mizzens)
My experience with 4 masted Pamir is that slaving the main, mizzen, and jigger on one servo worked fine. The foremast and jibs were on the 2nd servo. Thus, slaving your main squares, mizzen squares, and spanker on one servo should work fine. To really get directional control out of the spanker, it has to be pretty big, I think. When I rigged Aldebaran as a brig, I had the brig's spanker on a separate servo (easy to do, since I had 3 sail handling servos on the Aldebaran rigged as a topsail schooner). I did not see much directional control from the servo'ed spanker on the brig. My spanker was a little smaller than scale (I mis-measured). Now on the topsail schooner and brigantine versions, a separate servo for the "spanker"(= fore&aft mainsail) was mandatory. So, if your spanker is very big, then a separate servo will be helpful, but if the spanker is scale-sized for a 3 masted ship, then I'd say simplicity is more important .
Thanks for the guidance! I haven't finished laying out my modified transmitter, but I think you'll like it. I'm converting the stock 9-channel transmitter from sticks to a facsimile of a plan view of the ship. To move the foremast sails, you turn the plastic 'sail' of the foremast to the direction you want. Ditto for the mainmast (and associated masts' sails). I was thinking of having the rheostat for one of the stick channels work with the spanker, just basically a lever at the stern of the ship's outline. I'll post a pic when I get the rheostats mounted to the wood platform that screws to the face of the transmitter. I can do electronics work esasier than I can remember which stick does what The spanker is pretty big, but my winch servos haven't even arrived yet, so I've got time to get the sails hung on the yards so that I can take a pic for you to advise me on particulars before I worry too much about controls. It's really nice having someone who's sailed scale squareriggers on the forums (if I haven't said it before)
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attachmentNew.php?attachmentid=4543745 A nice picture showing one way to add tensioning to sail winch servos, an important feature for controlling square sails with a winch.
I use polyester carpet thread for my braces and sheets. It is slippery enough it does not wear too fast, say a season or 3 goes fine. Running rigging must be replaced periodically, just like on a real ship. Polyester carpet thread is very strong; I can't break it by hand, myself. The only downside is that the slipperiness makes it hard to get regular sailing knots to hold. I've had better luck using fishing knots. I also may put a droplet of CA glue on the knot, eg. the squaresail sheets. I also smear a droplet of CA on the end of the sheet too, making a needle. Since I have to thread the sheet through the yard every time I reinstall the sail+yard, the needle helps a lot. For standing rigging, I use spectra fishing line. This is low or no stretch line, which is advantageous. Spectra has a high coefficient of friction. It'd not be my choice for running rigging. Knots are fishing knots; they definitely are easier to work into proper form if I spit on the knot before drawing it tight (fishermen already know this trick). For other rigging, I use cotton-wrapped polyester carpet thread. This is much better at holding regular knots than the above materials. The cotton wrapping will abrade, though, so it requires more frequent replacement. I use it on the RC tiller ropes (last about 1 season), and fore&aft sail halyards (never had to replace it). Note: squaresail sheets on my models don't actually move (unlike braces). So, this thread would be suitable for the squaresail sheets. It'd be much easier to work with than pure polyester thread.
Not worrying about it because under AoS rules (As they stand) there is no penalty for declaring, and you are not required to build the ship so that it sinks fully. We based this on the history; very few ships in that era sank, and many were captured after declaring and the crews ransomed back to their own side. One of the ships of Minerva's class was captured back and forth 5 times!
