RC Equipment for a Gaff Rigged Sailing Scow / Need Advice

[Susquehanna River Rat]

I am currently working on a 1/18 scale, scratch built, wooden model of The Chesapeake Bay Sailing Scow "Elsie of Havre de Grace" and want to install RC equipment in the boat to operate everything. I have little experience with RC but with a little help, I am sure I can make this work........can't I ?
So here goes...
Servo 1. Rudder (easy)
Servo 2. Main Boom (Winder type) The main boom will be free floating and operate like the real one. The servo line will let out and bring in the boom to trim the main sail.
Servo 3. Main Sail (Winder type) Raising and lowering the main sail. This line will be attached to the Gaff to raise and lower the main sail. This could also be used to trim the sails. Not sure if it will work or not but it should.
Servo 4. Jib Boom (Winder type) Like Servo 2 but but for the Jib Sail Boom.
Servo 5. Jib Sail (Winder type) Like Servo 3 but for the Jib Sail
Servo 6. Starboard Lee Board. Because the boat is flat bottomed and does not have a keel like normal sail boats, it utilized what are called "Lee Boards". These are mounted on the sides of the boat and only one of them (the "Leeward" or downwind side Lee Board is in the water. The upwind lee board is raised.) I am not sure how to attach them to the servo.
A direct attachment or probably better a belt or chain drive. The just need to go up and down a short way.
Servo 7. Same as Servo 6 but Port side.
Servo 8. Gaff Boom (Winder type) This Servo operates to make adjustments lifting the outer end of the Gaff Boom. This will tighten or loosen the outer edge of the main sail.

Again, this is what I would like to put in the boat. My question is, what do I need to make all of this work. There is enough room in the boat, about 3 1/2 ft long, for the equipment but still, if there are small servos out there, I would prefer installing them. I have added a few photos of the original "Elsie" so you can see what I mean from the description above.
Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Tunedfrog]

I've never built a boat so I wouldn't know where to begin except for a 8 channel transmitter.
Share some pics of your progress when you can. I'm really interested in this.

 

[Susquehanna River Rat]

I've never built a boat so I wouldn't know where to begin except for a 8 channel transmitter.
Share some pics of your progress when you can. I'm really interested in this

 

[tntpoof]

This is going to be a very complex build you knowing nothing about rc.. id go with a larger channel radio more like 10 or even 12 channels.please post pics... servo now a days have a vast range in sweep or degrees they will turn. from 360+ used for winches to linear servos...

 

[Susquehanna River Rat]

I've never built a boat so I wouldn't know where to begin except for a 8 channel transmitter.
Share some pics of your progress when you can. I'm really interested in this.

I will post progress photos. This better work. The Maritime Museum in my hometown of Havre de Grace, Maryland got wind of my project and they want photos and a video of it sailing for their "Elsie of Havre de Grace" display. I just hope I can finish it before it turns too cold here in Germany. Right now, it is all learning by doing and I have made some mistakes but corrected them easily enough. Just very time consuming. This is my second hull due to a mistake I made reading the plans and choosing the wrong type of paint. Could not be corrected so I had to start over. Turned out for the better, though.
Here are 2 photos of the hull from July 28th without the outer planking. When I finish the final outer planking on the bow tomorrow, I will take some more pics.

 

[WickedFog]

There are all different size servos from micro to extra huge lol. If you check in a servo's description, sometimes they will have specs and even drawings with dimensions so you can tell if they will work for you.

What I find that helps me a lot with custom builds is 3d modeling on a computer, and with a lot of servo's you can actually find 3d models of them already done at places like GrabCad, TurboSquid, etc. I know a lot of people aren't familiar with 3d modeling, but I gotta tell ya, it really helps put things into perspective. You can roughly draw up what you are working on and slap the servos in there and take measurements for custom linkages, servo horns, etc.

With the extent of your model building abilities, it is something I would definitely look into if I were you. You would probably pick it up pretty quickly.

 

[Tunedfrog]

I will post progress photos. This better work. The Maritime Museum in my hometown of Havre de Grace, Maryland got wind of my project and they want photos and a video of it sailing for their "Elsie of Havre de Grace" display. I just hope I can finish it before it turns too cold here in Germany. Right now, it is all learning by doing and I have made some mistakes but corrected them easily enough. Just very time consuming. This is my second hull due to a mistake I made reading the plans and choosing the wrong type of paint. Could not be corrected so I had to start over. Turned out for the better, though.
Here are 2 photos of the hull from July 28th without the outer planking. When I finish the final outer planking on the bow tomorrow, I will take some more pics.

Best of luck, I hope it works out for you. One thing I personally would try is a crawler winch or two. Not sure it would work or not but they are pretty powerful.

 

[WickedFog]

Best of luck, I hope it works out for you. One thing I personally would try is a crawler winch or two. Not sure it would work or not but they are pretty powerful.

That is a great idea!

 

[Doom!]

Wow! I hope it all comes together for you. This is way over my head. Sounds really cool though.

 

[Greywolf74]

I look forward to seeing progress on this as well. definitely gonna need a big radio, At least a 10 channel like TNT said.

Just out of curiosity what do the lee boards do exactly on a 1:1?

 

[tntpoof]

lee boards reduce side waves so boat stays on track

 

[Susquehanna River Rat]

Greywolf,
On normal sailboats, there is a keel along the centerline of the bottom of the boat. This not only provides a counterbalance when the wind fills the sails and it starts to lean over but also works like a fixed rudder. It keeps the wind from pushing the boat sideways and keeps her on course
Lee Boards are used on boats that need to work in shallow waters like the "Elsie" I am building so she can not have a fixed keel along her centerline. When she is under sail, and let's say the wind is from the left (Port). The right (Starboard) Lee Board will be dropped in the water to prevent the wind from blowing her sideways. The Port Lee Board will be taken up and secured. It would be useless anyway when the boat leans to the right. It would be out of the water. So, overall they act as a brake to keep the wind from blowing the boat sideways. Always drop the downwind (Leeward) side and raise the upwind (Windward) side. Through this design, the "Elsie" can easily sail in 4 ft of water.

 

[Greywolf74]

Oh wow, thats cool. I had no idea.

 

[Susquehanna River Rat]

There are all different size servos from micro to extra huge lol. If you check in a servo's description, sometimes they will have specs and even drawings with dimensions so you can tell if they will work for you.

What I find that helps me a lot with custom builds is 3d modeling on a computer, and with a lot of servo's you can actually find 3d models of them already done at places like GrabCad, TurboSquid, etc. I know a lot of people aren't familiar with 3d modeling, but I gotta tell ya, it really helps put things into perspective. You can roughly draw up what you are working on and slap the servos in there and take measurements for custom linkages, servo horns, etc.

With the extent of your model building abilities, it is something I would definitely look into if I were you. You would probably pick it up pretty quickly.

I have always wanted to do 3D modeling on the computer but thought a person would need almost need CAD skills to do it. I will check in to that. Thanks for the tip!!

Best of luck, I hope it works out for you. One thing I personally would try is a crawler winch or two. Not sure it would work or not but they are pretty powerful.

I will have to look up what a crawler winch is, what is does and just how far it will crawl........I wouldn`t want it to fall out of the boat !
Seriously, If they move slow, that is exactly what I want. The movement of everything should be to scale and not fast. I didn't know about these. I will check them out. Thanks.

 

[WickedFog]

I have always wanted to do 3D modeling on the computer but thought a person would need almost need CAD skills to do it. I will check in to that. Thanks for the tip!!

I will have to look up what a crawler winch is, what is does and just how far it will crawl........I wouldn`t want it to fall out of the boat !
Seriously, If they move slow, that is exactly what I want. The movement of everything should be to scale and not fast. I didn't know about these. I will check them out. Thanks.

Yeah, the winches are very low geared motor assemblies. They are used in the RC crawler trucks to pull them out of tough spots. They reel in the cable very slowly. I would think if you mounted it in a loop you could operate those Lee boards easy enough, and they would take 10-30 seconds to fully extend/retract, depending on where you attached the cable to the board (distance from fulcrum).

As far as the 3d modeling goes, there are hundreds of thousands of people that have gotten into 3d printing over the last 10 years or so, and there are tons and tons of videos on the various 3d modeling programs out there. Blender is one of the more popular, albeit complex programs, but is extremely powerful, even when compared to really high end expensive software. And it is totally free (open source). If I had the computer to really run it and ability to sit at a PC more than 20 minutes at a time I would learn to master it. It is a beast!

Other software people use is Google Sketchup. TinkerCad, and a few others that are more geared towards entry level modelers. The models generated reflect that, but if you are just knocking out reference views to do placement and fitment of parts, it would be a great fit for you to try these programs.

If you need any more help, feel free to ask. Hope this helps, because this sounds like a killer project to watch come to fruition.

 

[Susquehanna River Rat]

Photo Update:
Finished the final planking today and started the painting / weathering process.

 

[Greywolf74]

Good stuff! Keep it coming!

 

[Monster Slash]

Sounds complicated to drive...

 

[Susquehanna River Rat]

Sounds complicated to drive...

A lot of people say that sail boats are slow and, well, kinda boring. Everybody has "A need for speed". I have had RC cars and, yes, watching them tear through the landscape was fun.
Sailboats like the one I am building maybe slow but it is the challenge of you against the wind. It is complicated to drive one. Everything on the boat has to match up wind conditions at hand. Having the sails set right to push the boat in the direction you want to go. Tacking, (zig zag course) while traveling against the wind And constantly adjusting the sail to keep her moving along the course you choose.
It's that challenge that I enjoy. Also the peace and quiet of sailing the boat. Kinda like the lazy summer days of fishing on the river in my youth.

 

[Doom!]

My father in law loves sailboats, he feels the same way you do.