Graupner Sydney Star build thread.

[Ghost 2501]

today, I was at a trade show in Northwich, sitting on the stall was the lit i have been waiting for since november 2004, the Graupner Sydney Star.

over the next few weeks I will be working on the kit, and though as it stands now there are some parts i still need to get, such as esc's and a couple of servos.

First impressions:
the box is some 12"x12"x5 feet (ish), the contents are quite comprehensive, the hull itself is a bulbous bow type, though the bulb is a seperate moulding. the propshaft and rudder holes are pre-cut as are the thruster appertures in the hull.

much of the superstructure work and decking is pre-cut and punched as well, so this will save plenty of time in the build, with each pannel of the superstructure being a seperate piece.

it looks like its going to be a good kit to build, so expect plenty of pictures :)

[Ghost 2501]

here are the first pictures, as yet nothing is installed..

[Aerominded]

the box is 5 feet-ish!!! Now that is one I couldn't sneek past my wife!!! :eek:

Wife: "What's that?"
Me: "Uh, what?" slowly walking backwards up the stairs, hands behind my back...

:p

Looking forward to the build! Are those bow AND stern thrusters I see? looks like it will be fun to drive around!

:)

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Turn on the lights, we want to see it... :D

Are you building the MV version, or the container carrier version?
I am beginning to truely believe you need a dock and a container crane. ;)

[Ghost 2501]

umi, MV sydney star simply means Motor Vessel, and yes she will be having containers on her :)

all i have done is renamed it as it is going to be part of a themed fleet :)

Aerominded, yep dual thrusters! should mean that she is a doddle on the steering courses. added to her central stiffenners that are pre-cut, they will become watertight bulkheads once she is ballasted

by the way, umi a container dock, what a good idea, something for 2007 :)thanks for the idea :)

[Aerominded]

Neat! Dual thrusters! Yer gunna put the tugboat drivers outta business! ;)

I like the 'night skys' theme... :)

[Ghost 2501]

Aero, the real ACT5 / Sydney Star had them when she was built (i think), though she was decomissioned in 2003 after a long service that began in 1976.

and i may even fit lights to her

[Aerominded]

I imagine it did! :) I believe a lot of freighters were designed to be completely self sufficient so that they could operate in under developed ports

With the thrusters, they essentially bring their own tugs and many have their own cranes for loading and unloading... :)

You have to have lights! :)

[Ghost 2501]

right, there is a railway show next weekend, i know what that means, 12v lights :) may be a swich as well :) also wires.

[Aerominded]

Hee hee, these shows are bad on the wallet, aren't they? ;)

[Ghost 2501]

not that bad
i gotta get the escs yet ! shes not finished for all the bits

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Hmmm I got the impression that MV designated a motor vehicle carrier, or automobile transporter. Ahh well, ... Caaaargo crane, and daaah-ck. :P

[Kmot]

I turned on the lights for you! :D

[Ghost 2501]

thanks kmot

monday i get my epoxy and begin to do some of the installation of the sringers ans internal stiffeners,

[Ghost 2501]

one thing that I think im gonna need, 1/200sc figures, any ideas.

Railway N-scale is near as damn it to 1/144 (ish) so there tooo big,

[Kmot]

0.36" tall. Good luck finding them!

[Rex R]

N=1:160, Z scale is 1:220...

[Ghost 2501]

work continues on the ship.

her rudder tube is now installed, as is the propshaft, the motor mount is tacked in place, but will need to be secured, and the bridge is comming on

[bluesy]

Ghost....

Don't know if you've seen this website but I just came across it.

http://www.bluestarline.org/sydney1.html

hope it helps a bit.

doug

[Ghost 2501]

thanks Blue, but i have already been there, :) thats what made me get the kit!!

Work continued until 02:30hrs working on the 3 decks.

for the picture, the plywood supports were dropped into rough positions, minus their horizontal runners.

running gear has yet to be installed and there will be more work to come. her masts are yet to be done, and the funnel needs work

[youyou]

Nice boat Ghost keep up the good work :)

[Ghost 2501]

12:28

Bulbous bow installed, blending started on the hull :) strengthening bars cut out :) they will be installed later on

[Aerominded]

Looks like it is going together really quickly!

[Ghost 2501]

yep, though there will be a "stall point" soon, as tomorrow i go back to work. also I need ballast.

to date:
Bow and mid-ship supports installed Bow set in place.
Fore-deck glued down.


next to be done is the add more filler to blend bulbous bow.
soldering of the motor suppressors,
installation of the servo and connection of the rudders.

Future work:
Construction of deck hatches, custom made, rather than the use of containers, as she is to be a Nuclear industry ship, NOT a container ship.

fabrication of custom made masts for the bow and cabin.
The mast at the bow of the PNTL ship, with its yellow dual post design is the type that I want to make, with the antennas in the middle, rather than the single pole design of the original Graupner

[Ghost 2501]

Wednesday 18:30
All deck supports in place and glued down.

3x esc's recieved off westbourne models, servo arriving sometime tomorrow all being well.

[Ghost 2501]

Servo installed.

rudder bar fitted in :)

no pics yet, i cant find my camera

[Aerominded]

Sounds like good progress, Ghosty! :)

[Ghost 2501]

thanks aerominded.

well things are moving along now, her bow and stern thrusters installed, as is the main drive motor. all are wired up as well now, :) as you can see the bow is in place and filled.

need some more connectors made up now.

then there comes the flood test :) after that some minor filling around the deck then Celestia will enter the paint shop.

[Kmot]

Ghost 2501: How are you going to control the thrusters and main motor? I mean, how will your radio be set up?

[Ghost 2501]

as Long as the wires and motors are wired in right it should work as follows

left stick up = forwards
Left stick down = astern
left stick left = left rudder
left stick right = right rudder

right stick up = Stern thuster left-turn
right stick down = stern thuster right turn
right stick left = bow thuster left turn
right stick right = bow thruster right turn



thats the plan :)

[Ghost 2501]

further work completed, as you may notice, her masts are now installed, and ooh, shes red!

hatches are underway now, so it wont be long before her maiden voyage. batteries should arrive sometime before Friday, then there is the loom to be made.

3 esc's, 2 batts ALL in parallel!

[Aerominded]

Cool! what is the length of this model? :)

[Ghost 2501]

aero, about 1130mm :)

next is to spray the deck and upper hull :)

[Kmot]

Lookin' good! I hope you don't get cross-eyed when you are figuring out all your controls!! ;)

[Ghost 2501]

K, i will trt not to :)

the cabin mass is going to be fun to do, as the bridge is glazed already, not a problem though, the hull will require a couple more coats though.

next to be laid down is the Pacific blue. then the deck gets painted. after that, the mast gets done at the front with her railings.

[Aerominded]

Metric??? :eek: we tried that here in the 70's and it didn't stick! :p ;)

Works out be 44.5 inches... :) that is a nice size! :cool:

Thanks! :D

[wingnut163]

:) :)

[Ghost 2501]

Thanks wing nut :)

Even when I get to the lake to sail the others, I still find time to do somre work to the boat...

next to paint is the main deck, (after being fastenned down with the internals installed), cabin structure and masts.

will not be long before her maiden trip

[Aerominded]

That is looking great, Ghost!!! (and going together quickly!) I wonder if we can get those in the States?

:)

[Ghost 2501]

aero i think its avaliable stateside, though it will be a container ship, making the hatches is simple enough though.

[Ghost 2501]

decks painted now and the bridge is 90% done. need to paint the decks grey to match the rest of the boat, thiough unlike the main part, there to be hand painted.

[Kmot]

Nice!

[Ghost 2501]

Right, batteries aquired, lower deck placed in. additional gear installed. just needs to be wired up now and an X-tal fitted to Rx, yey !!!!!!! and added a cradle to hold battery in place, and a smidgen of lead ballast to go in.


I christen this ship Celestia, may every voyage be successful!
by heck she is a heavy sod!

[Ghost 2501]

as it happens, only one battery was needed, putting two of them in her made her unstable, however, for now, the drive motors are lead gel driven, the bow thrusters are ni-cad driven

[wingnut163]

:) :) :) :p

[Ghost 2501]

she ruuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnsssssss!!!!!! :D

[Shaun Hendricks]

WhoooHoooo! Cool Beans... now pictures- assuming maiden soon! :D

[green-boat]

Ya, but does it float. That is the real question.

[Ghost 2501]

green, yep, all nice and level. shaun, yep pics to come of her maiden, though i need to get the battery placed in and the deck sealed down,

[Ghost 2501]

everything in place now :) the arrangements of the esc's at the back that control her thrusters needs changing, and a little bit of lead in her bow is needed, then its the water!

[cdog46]

Ghost-nice job Do you happen to know what is in the "accessory kit" as listed on their web site but it gives no description of what is actually contains? Seeing I paid an extra 61 dollars for it-curious what it contains

[Ghost 2501]

Cdog, i figure it will ne the motor and thrusters, which i brought seperately, didnt buy the graupner accessory kit!

[Ghost 2501]

SOUTH SANDS NUCLEAR titles now applied :)

[Kmot]

Nice!

[wingnut163]

:) :) ;)

[Ghost 2501]

got her on the water for the first time today :) only adjustment was needed was a tweek on the rudder trim. :)

sails perfect :)

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Well done, and quick too. My builds should all go so quickly...
My builds should someday actually finish... :rolleyes:

I'll add this to the Build ups and review sticky.

Congratulations Ghost!! :cool:

[Ghost 2501]

more pix from the maiden.

[Ghost 2501]

thanks Umi :)

she has the finer details to be added now :)

I plan on adding a deck crane and catwalks next, though her name is now needed. :)

[MILLERTIME]

Nice pictures, looking good.

[Ghost 2501]

After initial sea trials proved successful, one item of note came up, the rear nicad packs that powers the cross-keel thrusters were interferring with all the wiring, snagging on them everytime they were being placed in the model.

So i made a change to them. two electrical connectores and 4 leads, creating a 1 into 3 lead. the batteries were replaced by ballast weights, and the model subsequently re-trimmed.

next sail : sunday

[Aerominded]

Oh man!!! I could almost hear the five horn blasts in the bow/waterline shot!!! I wanted to move out of the way for sure! :eek:

Very cool, Ghost!!! :)

[Ghost 2501]

Aero i have some similar shots of Gemini as well. next is the name on the hull

[Ghost 2501]

and if you thaught that last pic was close to the bow.....

[Shaun Hendricks]

Naw... she's not even pushin' water... :D

Would be an awesome shot with a camera that had good macro capability and maybe a light fog on the water behind her to obscure the trees... would look fairly real! :eek:

She looks great Ghost...

[Ghost 2501]

thanks shaun,

the reason she is not pushing any water, she is actually only a foot or so off the sides, so i had to cut the power otherwise the ships bulbous bow would hit the wall hard and as its a seperate moulding to the ship, i dont want to accidentally bump anything toooo hard for obvious reasons!

[Ghost 2501]

.....You have to have lights! :)

looking at it aero, lights may im going to try and get some micro bulbs, or LEDs however they are still probably tooo large for her, the lights on Gemini are way too big for Celestia. they are touch and go whether they are right size on Gemini

[Shaun Hendricks]

A trick to LED's.... they can be 'cut down' to just about any size you like. Most of that dome on a normal LED is just clear epoxy. It can be milled down to whatever size you want, and if you don't 'polish' it back to transparent, it actually diffracts light more like a normal incandescent. You can also buy lower powered, small LED's in micro sizes or that have very small epoxy lenses on them and they have a larger diameter base to 'glue' to the bottom side of a drilled hole- just big enough to fit the lens through. Very useful for small applications of lights.

I haven't seen any of the MCD LED's down in the microsizes yet. If you are looking for that 'spotlight' effect from a scalish size light, you may have to machine down a full size LED to fit.

[Ghost 2501]

thanks Shaun, I will have a look at that possibility :) and at 1/200sc, they will need to be pretty small

[Shaun Hendricks]

Ooooo, forgot to add... fiber optics works very well for micro scale operations. Put the LED in the hull and run the fiber line up to the 'exit' point.

[Ghost 2501]

now that IS an idea worth trying :)

[Ghost 2501]

Umi, i remember you mentioning building a crane and dock, well hows about this, I have started a gantry crane. she is at the moment just placed on the deck not fastenned down, however the "track" is fastenned down

[Ghost 2501]

one deck crane :) modelled on one of the PNTL ships

[Ghost 2501]

Video of Celestia :)

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=514671

[Kmot]

Xlnt! :)

[Shaun Hendricks]

Very cool. Hard to tell from the video, perhaps it was just the lossy compression, but she really doesn't have much of a wake or bow wave. I'm impressed. Smooth as silk. :D

Great work Ghost.

[Shaun Hendricks]

duplicate post... darned timers! :( :o

[Ghost 2501]

thanks shaun n K, it didnt have much of a bow wave as she was just poodling along, mind you, those bulbous bows do wonders for that! Gemini produces more of a wave than Celestia

[Ghost 2501]

name plates now added :) when i get some batts in the camera i will post pics:) work is halted at the mo as i getting ready to have a holiday

[Ghost 2501]

holiday over, :) and now its time to get the bits for the catwalks and hatch covers, then its into the workshop for more work

[kingofthewaves]

Haven't read all the post, But looks like she could use a bit of lead up front...just a thought...peace..

[Ghost 2501]

king, when you actually see the model sitting still, she is actually level, i have balanced her with by measuring her on the waterline :) the raised bow and deck are actually level, just her bulwarks are deeper at the extreme bow, making her look like she is sloping backwards :)

thanks anyway :)

[Ghost 2501]

more photos of Celestia

[Ghost 2501]

more details to Celestia :)

[Massey]

This ship looks great Ghost. I have been looking for a ship like this for a while. I model an intermodal yard on my HO scale railroad. I love watching how they unload and reload these huge ships. I am researching now if I can get this ship in the US.

Keep up the good work I look forward to see more.
Massey

[Ghost 2501]

massey, she avaliable in the states im sure, http://www.hobby-lobby.com/scaleboa.htm only have the neptun on the web page, but im sure they could get it for you. if you are willing to pay extra shipping, try westbourne models in westbourne, UK, they may ship overseas

[Massey]

I just called HobbyLobby and they can get this ship. The cost USD is $300.71 with an $8.00 (rounded up) shipping to anywhere in the US. The biggest drawback is that this ship will take 6-8 weeks to get here :( . I guess if anyone really wants it (raises hand) we will just have to wait for it. Good things come to those who wait I guess. Time to save up some money now :)

Massey

[Ghost 2501]

I just called HobbyLobby and they can get this ship. The cost USD is $300.71 with an $8.00 (rounded up) shipping to anywhere in the US. The biggest drawback is that this ship will take 6-8 weeks to get here :( . I guess if anyone really wants it (raises hand) we will just have to wait for it. Good things come to those who wait I guess. Time to save up some money now :)

Massey

I heard about the sydney star in nov 2004, was told by a retailer "due ion the uk june 2005" then "november 2005", in the end i waited almost 2 years as it was easter 2006 when i got her!!!

[Massey]

Looks like your wait will be alot longer than mine will. (if I can get the wife to let me have this one.) She wonders if we have room for that big of a ship in our apartment. I think we do :P

Massey

[Ghost 2501]

you should have seen my face when i saw it on the sale stands at the show where i got it from, remember "doom" on the PS2, the dudes face when he picks up a the BFG9000, well that was my grin when i picked up the Sydney star!

[Massey]

:) I can understand that. My jaw dropped and I got all sorts of excited when I seen yours. These are my favorite ships next to the WA St. Ferries and tugs. Actually they all rate about the same. I would have picked the Sydney Star over my Zee if they were on the shelf together. Now to get my hands on one myself.

Does the kit come with the thrusters or do they need to be purchased seperatly? (Im planning ahead here I have the radio now I just need the rest)

[Ghost 2501]

Massey, the kit DOES NOT INCLUDE the two stern thrusters or main motor, they must be purchased seperately.

my battery is a Yuasa 6v 12ah, perfectly adequate for the model, though you could use ni-cads and extra ballast

[Massey]

OK got it... need thrusters too. Does the motor get hot enough to require cooling? I cant tell what type of motor you are using in the pics. It looks to me like either a 380 type or a 540 type with cooling. Great job on it hope to see more pictures of it in action, putting the local tugs out of action :)

Massey

[Ghost 2501]

the motor that drives the main prop is a Graupner speed 500E, though any 500 will do as long as its not a racy one, a 540 may be too revvy, its best to use a low revving 5-pole motor.

the two thrusters are from Graupner, and have motors pre-attatched, in their case speed 400s . for both motors, NO COOLING needed. I pushed a stricken boat 100m using the trusters!!! they were cool :) the main motor runs all day fuss free :)

what radio do you have? (# of channels - not make)

IMPORTANT: you will need 3x speed controllers, if you are using a battery eliminating circuit, so therefore just using the 6v battery, rather than seperate rx battery... take out the red (middle) wire out of the rx plug on two of the esc's FAILIURE TO DO THIS MAY DAMAGE RX

I have taken feed from the main battery, and run it through an auto block to power all 3 esc'sa photo is in this build log

[Massey]

my radio is a 6 channel so I am good to go with that part. And thank you for the advise on the ESCs I would have never thought about doing that but it makes perfect sence. I found the thrusters today they are not going to be a problem to get. I like the Idea of using the seprate battery for the thrusters. I just need to save up a few more pennies and I will have mine comming in the mail soon :)

[Ghost 2501]

.....I like the Idea of using the seprate battery for the thrusters.....

using an auto connector block and a 6v12ah battery, there is no need to use a seperate battery for the two esc's for this purpose I use a 4-arm spider conector, 3 tamiya connectors to plug onto the esc's, one tamiya type to link to the battery (which also has a tamiya connector) see build log pics

[eskiserkan]

I purchased my Sydney Star but I'm still waiting for to receive it . This is the 24th day of the shipment and I haven't got my package yet . I bought ;

Sydney Star kit
Graupner Speed 500 motor 1x
Graupner 1785 Bow thruster 2x
1x Rudder Servo
1x 4 channel receiver .

I'll use an 12V lead acid battery . But I couldn't decided which escs to buy . Do you have any idea ? Also , how can we plug the escs to the receiver ? Both bow thrusters and main motor require esc and this makes three escs in hand . We will connect each of them to the main battery (?) . And than we will plug the escs to the channels of the four channel receiver .
My receiver has Battery , Channel 1 , Channel 2 and Channel 3 . I will connect to main motor esc to the battery on the receiver (B) . I will connect rudder to the channel 1 and two remaining escs (which are from bow thrusters) to other two channels (3 and 4) . I think this will ruin the escs and receiver... This part will be very complex I think .

[Ghost 2501]

eski, have patients matey, it will arrive in good time :)

personally id go for a 12v battery, oh is your motor the 500E? if its a normal 500 it will be racy as hell, the E is slower revving with more torque.

"... This part will be very complex I think" you say. id disagree there!

the B line in the RX is common to all points, so your main motor esc on ch3 is perfectly suited to take the battery power, even though ch1 is marked up as "1/B". I have 3x Viper 15A esc's rated at 7.5v, though they are happy on 6v :). on the two esc's for the bow and stern thrusters, it is important that you REMOVE the middle wire if the escs you buy have BEC.

to connect them to the battery, I got a two slot connector that joins auto wires together, what i did then was to make a loom up, using a trio of Female tamiya plugs with about 8" of wire on each and one male tamiya plug with 8" of wire.

put the red wires of two of the female wires in one hole of the block and the black wires in the other, then screw down. From the other side, take the remaining female connector lead and the male lead, put the red wires in the other end of the red pipe and screw down, then repeat with the black. this will leve you with a loom with 4 red wires linked to gether and 4 black wires linked together.

take an old ni-cad, cut off the wire and tamiya plug and bare the wires that went into the battery, put on a set of female spade connectors then put them over the contacts on the battery, red to red black to black. get your lead acid charger and put a ni-cad charge plug onto it.

look at the pic with the connector in it for how.

for set up of the Tx.
1 and 2 are thrusters
3 throttle
4 rudder.

[Ghost 2501]

more pics

Celestia after some successful sailing has been back into her dry dock. the dry dock work this time is minor and merely cosmetic as work on this leviathan nuclear industry cargo carrier continues.

This time, new sign work has been applied to her super structure in the form of a no smoking sign. other work has been the further work on her deck hatches.

A red band has been added to the waterline, this hels even the paintwork up at the stern and hide the dredded bleed through of paint under the masking. the red band is infact automobile trim line, ya know those "Go faster stripes".

Finally, the hatch covers that are plywood, have had their catwalks added and some covers between the catwalks, though there is still more detailing to be done to the covers yet.

I am thinking about making a display hatch as well, that when on the ship looks like one of the hatches is open revealing a cargo of nuclear fuel canisters, for ease of working, it will most likely be the hatch at the rear of the main deck, as it has the deepest compartment. though as the ship is not due for any major displays this year, they can wait. sound a good idea?

[Kmot]

I just love how this keeps getting better, and better, and better! :)