Polar 8 Project - Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker

Guard-Officer · Feb 21, 2009, 10:42 AM

Here is my scratch built model of the Polar 8, proposed name "CCGS John Diefenbaker", a prototype icbreaker developed by the canadian coast guard in the 80's. It is 66" long, has a 6" draft, and displaces 90lbs or so in salt water. The Scale is 1:100

I have most of the model near completeion so far, so these pictures are of the build and will eventually catch up to my current state of build.
i have seen the caliber of some of the scratch builds on this and am blown away by your guy's detail. i dont think i can match that, but am sure that no one else has a model of this ship, let alone a working R/C one!
enjoy and feel free to comment /criticize..

patmat2350 · Feb 21, 2009, 11:42 AM

Neat- can't wait to see more!
What are your plans for sealing the wood grain on the superstructure?

Ghost 2501 · Feb 21, 2009, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Superstructure coming together. looking for smoke generator to install in stack compartment

try here http://www.marksmodelbits.com/ they use atomized water to produce "smoke" so won't dirty the model and won't be an amp hog like the oil smoke units

Kmot · Feb 21, 2009, 12:09 PM

G-O: 1st, welcome to the forums.

What a neat project you have. Looks awesome. It is going to be a brute with those three gearbox systems and massive propellers.

For a smoke system, have a look at Harbor Models, USA:

http://www.harbormodels.com/site08/m...ges/smoker.htm

Guard-Officer · Feb 21, 2009, 04:04 PM

Hi All,
Thanks for the links on the smoke generators, i'll check them out. I had one i wanted to order, but i was apparently discontinued. I sealed the wood grain on the SS with generous amounts of an exterior wood filler compound. can be sanded, painted and is safe to use in wet environments (ie outside...) i either picked it up at Canadian Tire, or the home depot, can't remember at this point because that was in '07.
thanks for the comments, keep em coming

Guard-Officer · Feb 22, 2009, 04:40 AM

Here are some more pictures of the ship as it went through some construction and a sea trial in an ice covered harbour. its breaking through 1/4" ice with only two working engines and was even able to do it on one engine. didnt have a speed controller for the third at the time. the hull form worked great. i had to add a lot of ballast to get it down to its load line. you can see the two lawn mower batteries in it for power. they help with the ballasting. will keep posting pics as i get the time. Currently i am working on functioning cranes on the aft deck, one on either side. but have to catch up with all the construction photo's first.

Kmot · Feb 22, 2009, 12:23 PM

Holy smokes! Now that is incredible. A real, working ice breaker ship that is r/c! Too cool!!

BTW, I once was in "Soo Saint Marie", in 1974. Driving across Canada I passed through. The month was mid May and Lake Ontario was frozen still for three days of driving around it.

A-37 · Feb 22, 2009, 12:35 PM

There's no end to the creativity on this forum.

A big, heavy, icebreaker model that breaks ice. Now, that's something different. An impressive, well-engineered project.

Ed

Umi_Ryuzuki · Feb 22, 2009, 12:36 PM

Great work,
If we got more ice around here I would build one too..

Guard-Officer · Feb 22, 2009, 01:48 PM

Yeah, haha, thats a big lake, and it hold the cold in it for a long time! good a spot as any for a model icebreaker. this spring i am going to try to break up some of the ponds as they thaw out. lets see how many shaft couplings i eat!

heavyhauler · Feb 22, 2009, 06:18 PM

Cool build, G-O, when where the water shots taken? I would have to think the water would be a little harder then that this time of year up there. I am from the other side of the river, living near Detroit now.

Guard-Officer · Feb 22, 2009, 07:18 PM

thanks for all the compliments,
These were taken two years ago in Sydney Nova Scotia while i was in college. I havent been able to go icebreaking with all three engines working yet, (pictures are of only two working engines) so looking forward to breaking ice this spring with it in the soo.

Olscuzbut · Feb 22, 2009, 10:27 PM

That explains it. I thought I spotted one of the NewFoundland truck ferries in the background, and couldn't figure out what it was doing in the great lakes at the Sault.

fooman2008 · Feb 23, 2009, 02:24 AM

check out silenthunters PHM build thread he is using coupling with an elastomeric star coupler that takes some of the shock off the shafts if you hit something (as you are bound to do).
Here is the link to the individual post:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=111
Foo

Guard-Officer · Feb 23, 2009, 03:27 AM

Thanks Fooman,
I have seen these before in Bobcats, never seen them in this small a size! they would deden the blow for sure, but right now the couplings i have act as weak points as well. the spider couplings would be a little too robust i think. i have popped these u-joints apart before, and so far they go back together with little hassle, as long as the yoke doesnt go missing from the U-joint.
here's a couple of bow shots and a good shot of the whole ship shortly before it was ready for paint.

Feb 21, 2009, 10:42 AM	#1
Guard-Officer Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ontario Posts: 138	Polar 8 Project - Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker Here is my scratch built model of the Polar 8, proposed name "CCGS John Diefenbaker", a prototype icbreaker developed by the canadian coast guard in the 80's. It is 66" long, has a 6" draft, and displaces 90lbs or so in salt water. The Scale is 1:100 I have most of the model near completeion so far, so these pictures are of the build and will eventually catch up to my current state of build. i have seen the caliber of some of the scratch builds on this and am blown away by your guy's detail. i dont think i can match that, but am sure that no one else has a model of this ship, let alone a working R/C one! enjoy and feel free to comment /criticize.. Attached Thumbnails initial framing and keel cut out. 1/4" plywood, 59.8 KB · Views: 188 clamping and glueing framing together. keel is three layers of 1/4 ply laminated together and 1 1/2" deep. Built it robust. 71.5 KB · Views: 134 5'6" long, or 1.67m long, pop can for scale reference 70.7 KB · Views: 219 stern - smaller framing used to shape out the stern. all original ship's drawings used. (work for the Coast guard, have access to these things. 66.1 KB · Views: 149 plating the hull with 1/8" model grade ply. 3 ply for areas requiring bending, 5 ply for strength areas 65.0 KB · Views: 195 Fiberglassed hull. Double layer of glass on bow fow strength in ice. 44.6 KB · Views: 171 decking being cut and fit. machinery in place 62.2 KB · Views: 219 three Mack Marine 12 volt motors. seperatly controlled, 4:1 gear reductions, 3/16" shafts 61.8 KB · Views: 164 Stern fiberglassed, tricky to do the wing bossings (outboard Shafts) Ice island protects the centre screw and rudder 46.7 KB · Views: 203 33 hull plates 78.1 KB · Views: 145 sanding, smoothing, sanding smoothing, sanding, smoothing, ...... 57.6 KB · Views: 164 3" four bladed props, X3 48.5 KB · Views: 213 next to same scale 240' patrol cutter (CCGS Leonard J Cowley) 39.7 KB · Views: 223 Superstructure coming together. looking for smoke generator to install in stack compartment 47.3 KB · Views: 170 9 decks above water line, three below 46.3 KB · Views: 156 49.4 KB · Views: 132

Feb 22, 2009, 04:40 AM	#6
Guard-Officer Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ontario Posts: 138	the next installment Here are some more pictures of the ship as it went through some construction and a sea trial in an ice covered harbour. its breaking through 1/4" ice with only two working engines and was even able to do it on one engine. didnt have a speed controller for the third at the time. the hull form worked great. i had to add a lot of ballast to get it down to its load line. you can see the two lawn mower batteries in it for power. they help with the ballasting. will keep posting pics as i get the time. Currently i am working on functioning cranes on the aft deck, one on either side. but have to catch up with all the construction photo's first. Attached Thumbnails turning in ice with ease 42.7 KB · Views: 216 wide angle, turn in ice - the hardest manouver for long length hulls in ice is turning due to ice friction 30.8 KB · Views: 220 31.7 KB · Views: 169 62.2 KB · Views: 206 36.0 KB · Views: 141 36.0 KB · Views: 130 66.4 KB · Views: 199 70.5 KB · Views: 208

Feb 22, 2009, 06:18 PM	#11
heavyhauler Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: westland Mi Posts: 124	Nice job! Cool build, G-O, when where the water shots taken? I would have to think the water would be a little harder then that this time of year up there. I am from the other side of the river, living near Detroit now.

Feb 23, 2009, 03:27 AM	#15
Guard-Officer Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ontario Posts: 138	Thanks Fooman, I have seen these before in Bobcats, never seen them in this small a size! they would deden the blow for sure, but right now the couplings i have act as weak points as well. the spider couplings would be a little too robust i think. i have popped these u-joints apart before, and so far they go back together with little hassle, as long as the yoke doesnt go missing from the U-joint. here's a couple of bow shots and a good shot of the whole ship shortly before it was ready for paint. Attached Thumbnails Profile view - Polar 8 50.3 KB · Views: 194 Bow On, Polar 8 49.3 KB · Views: 104 Semi-Spoon Bow, an amalgamation of a melville bow and a spoon bow - Polar 8 59.7 KB · Views: 162 breaking a track - polar 8 54.0 KB · Views: 226

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Feb 21, 2009, 11:42 AM	#2
patmat2350 5 copies for my mother... Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Motor City Posts: 5,975	Neat- can't wait to see more! What are your plans for sealing the wood grain on the superstructure?

Feb 21, 2009, 12:09 PM	#4
Kmot Grumpa Tom Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 5th & Main, Los Angeles, CA Posts: 13,706	G-O: 1st, welcome to the forums. What a neat project you have. Looks awesome. It is going to be a brute with those three gearbox systems and massive propellers. For a smoke system, have a look at Harbor Models, USA: http://www.harbormodels.com/site08/m...ges/smoker.htm

Feb 21, 2009, 04:04 PM	#5
Guard-Officer Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ontario Posts: 138	Hi All, Thanks for the links on the smoke generators, i'll check them out. I had one i wanted to order, but i was apparently discontinued. I sealed the wood grain on the SS with generous amounts of an exterior wood filler compound. can be sanded, painted and is safe to use in wet environments (ie outside...) i either picked it up at Canadian Tire, or the home depot, can't remember at this point because that was in '07. thanks for the comments, keep em coming

Feb 22, 2009, 12:23 PM	#7
Kmot Grumpa Tom Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 5th & Main, Los Angeles, CA Posts: 13,706	Holy smokes! Now that is incredible. A real, working ice breaker ship that is r/c! Too cool!! BTW, I once was in "Soo Saint Marie", in 1974. Driving across Canada I passed through. The month was mid May and Lake Ontario was frozen still for three days of driving around it.

Feb 22, 2009, 12:35 PM	#8
A-37 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cortland OH Posts: 330	There's no end to the creativity on this forum. A big, heavy, icebreaker model that breaks ice. Now, that's something different. An impressive, well-engineered project. Ed

Feb 22, 2009, 12:36 PM	#9
Umi_Ryuzuki Sea Dragon-Lover Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: PDX, OR Posts: 5,886	Great work, If we got more ice around here I would build one too..

Feb 22, 2009, 01:48 PM	#10
Guard-Officer Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ontario Posts: 138	Yeah, haha, thats a big lake, and it hold the cold in it for a long time! good a spot as any for a model icebreaker. this spring i am going to try to break up some of the ponds as they thaw out. lets see how many shaft couplings i eat!

Feb 22, 2009, 07:18 PM	#12
Guard-Officer Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ontario Posts: 138	thanks for all the compliments, These were taken two years ago in Sydney Nova Scotia while i was in college. I havent been able to go icebreaking with all three engines working yet, (pictures are of only two working engines) so looking forward to breaking ice this spring with it in the soo.

Feb 22, 2009, 10:27 PM	#13
Olscuzbut Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Kamloops BC Can. Posts: 198	That explains it. I thought I spotted one of the NewFoundland truck ferries in the background, and couldn't figure out what it was doing in the great lakes at the Sault.

Feb 23, 2009, 02:24 AM	#14
fooman2008 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,814	check out silenthunters PHM build thread he is using coupling with an elastomeric star coupler that takes some of the shock off the shafts if you hit something (as you are bound to do). Here is the link to the individual post: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...&postcount=111 Foo