Star 45 RC Sailboat Build Blog

The standing and running rigging is now installed!! We can now see what the boat will finally look like. However there are some adjustments that need to be made before the maiden sail (hopefully this weekend). First, the jib needs to be recut. Rod Carr is meeting me this weekend and will make the adjustments. You can see in the picture that the jib boom is virtually laying flat on the foredeck. That just isn't right. Until I get the jib dialed in this weekend I will wait to trim all the rest of the rigging and clean it all up. I've also got to work on the mainsheet control. I've got toooo much movement at full-in and hardly any at full-out. Might need to reverse the drum or something as I'd much rather have the subtle adjustments on the full-in side. Hmmm... will need to read the RMG booklet for this one... However, I did take some pictures of the boat outside as-is and it looks pretty good! More pictures once I get the rigging all dialed in. ...

I've been away from this blog for a few weeks. Went to Paris! And then when I returned I completed the finishing but was so upset about it that I didn't feel like blogging over it. Ugh... The finishing was very frustrating. For whatever reasons I just couldn't get it right this time. My first two boats look better than this one. Just can't get a glossy finish. There are pits too. Just not my best work. But I had to finally just stop trying to mess with it and move on to the rigging. This part so far is going better... phew. Here's the backstay arrangement I came up with. Also finished the mast by installing the spreaders (they're crooked though! Ugh... not doing well lately!) and the upper tangs. Then today I installed the shrouds onto the mast and left them extra long so I have something to work with when I install the bottom hooks to the rack. You can see that I've also glued on the neoprene to the underside of the hatch. We'll see h...

I've been fighting a terrible cold this week and haven't done much at all on the boat. I did manage today though to sand the hull and to add some markings. The sanding went fine and was needed to flatten out some spots where the clear epoxy had some runs and such. Now it's all ready for a second round of clear epoxy. I also added some markings though and I'm now thinking it may have been a mistake. I'll mark it up to delirium brought on by the cold. Ugh. I used transparency film that we used to use for overhead projectors. Just ran it through the laser printer. I made one for the hatch that numbers the holes and gives some measurements. I like the numbering but I'll forever be able to see the transparency sheet under the clear epoxy. I used real epoxy underneath and on top of the transparency and will very lightly sand it when it's dry. But I would need to add a million layers of clear epoxy for the edges to be flush. Also added a name on the tran...

For best performance you'll want your mast to be perfectly perpendicular to the deck. A simple pair of mast calipers can tell you if your mast is perpendicular. To make mine I simply found a straight piece of scrap wood about 36" long or so. I notched the end to match the angle of most decks. Then I drilled a hole in the opposite end for a screw to eventually go through. But don't screw it in yet. Next I ran the stick through my tablesaw and ripped it down the middle. Now just turn one of the pieces over so that the ends are opposing each other like the picture above. Insert the screw at the top and voila! Use the screw point to determine the center. Because you drilled your hole first, it really doesn't matter if that hole is perfectly centered. The screw point will always be in the exact center if you drilled before you ripped.  Adjust your shrouds to center the mast and you're done! Good luck!    _/)

Tinkered together the RC sailboat mast spreaders today for my Star 475 RC sailboat. #2-56 threaded rod, #2-56 washers and nuts, tangs from Long Beach RC , a #2-56 bolt from Bolt-Depot (but you might be able to find them at your local hardware store... ask them to help you). Two 9 cm. pieces of 1/8" x .014 copper tubing are then slipped over the threaded rod and cotter pins are soldered into the ends. If you're worried about the copper tubing slipping off then simply take some needle-nosed pliers and squish the inside ends down onto the threaded rod. That way they stay put but can also be unscrewed off the threaded rod if ever needed to be removed.  You can also add some adjustability to the spreaders by adding a second set of nuts to the outside of the inner nuts. That way the inner nuts secure the tangs to the mast but the outer nuts can be moved to the outsides to give more or less spread as needed. Pretty cool huh?  You'll see it again after it's all mou...

Made an RC sailboat stand for my new Star Salish 475 RC Sailboat. This is the third RC sailboat stand I've made and I'm getting pretty quick at it, if I do say so myself. Went with yellow straps this time. My Star 45 RC sailboat stand had red straps. My first stand, for my Tippecanoe T37 is a similar build but much taller. That rig easily fits under the ceiling even with the taller stand. Also made it shorter than my other Star 45 stand so that the bulb is just off the ground in order for the rig to fit in my ceiling. It's still going to be close though and I'm not sure what I'll do if it doesn't fit! Here's my kiln-dried cedar RC sailboat stand... Notice that the bulb is just off the floor. Fingers crossed that it fits under my ceiling with the rig up. Here are some pictures of the bottom of the hull. Alternating planks of light cedar and darker cedar . The bottom is kiln-dried cedar while the decking is kiln-dried clear fir with a strip...

I've decided to let the first round of clear epoxy paint , and the other colors underneath, cure for awhile before I sand and then start polishing. It takes a week to ten days for it to reach maximum hardness ("sword" hardness) so I'll let it cure that long. Right now I'm not sure if it'll need a second round of clear epoxy. If it does then no big deal as the more layers the deeper the shine. We'll see what happens and how it all looks as I start to sand. In the meantime, while it's curing, I thought it would be fun to see how the whole thing looks when it's set up. So here is the first look at the new, experimental, Star Salish 475 RC Sailboat, hull number 001x! (UPDATE: It is now called the Salish 475 as of 10 May, 2015! Click the link to see the completed boat!) When I eventually finish the 'finishing' then I'll be onto the rigging, and then finally sailing. Let me know what you think so far. It may be a cou...