Amazing work, Ray! I'm subscribing to this thread to follow. Please keep the updates coming. I'm anxious to see how it all turns out.

Sunscribed myself. WOW, this is going to be amazing. I've been drooling ove rthat website for about two years now hoping someone would do a build article.

While waiting for the special varnish I ordered to arrive so I can finish the deck furnishings, I have started on the hull. I have some doubts about working with fiberglass as I have no experience with it, and I have read that it can chip and burr if you don't have the correct tools. They recommend drills ground to a 90 degree included angle, and say that tools dull very quickly. Well, I am still waiting for my drills to come back from the sharpening shop, and I am about half through already. Instead I have used metal working center reamers as drills, which work great, and normal metal drills, but start with small holes and open them up with a sucession of slightly larger drills. I bought some cheap files from Harbor Freight, and they cut fast and last well. One thing though, don't use much pressure and just let the tool cut at its own rate to get a smooth cut. The fiberglass cuts quite fast, like wood.

My hull came with the gunports cut out with a laminate trimmer, and all I had to do was square the corners with a square file. The corners are not exactly 90 degrees, so some care and a triangular file were needed to get sharp corners.

Fitting the bowsprint looked to me like the trickiest job to be done on the hull. You have to make a 7/8" hole right through the stem, rail, and fore deck of the bow at the right angle for the bowsprint to lay flat on the bowsprint rest, while fitting into the bowsprint bits at it's correct location on the deck and keeping the bowsprit lined up with the centerline of the hull. The directions have you install the fore deck and bowsprint rest first, but are silent about how to get the hole cut accurately. The first thing that occured to me was that the fore deck would block access and visibility to the work area and greatly complicate the operation, so I decided to fit it after the bowsprit was in position. I installed the bowsprint rest with #6 hex head sheet metal screws from below, so I can remove the rest as necessary instead of permanently gluing it to the deck. I found some small washers with neoprene bonded to one side to seal the hole. There is plenty of space under the deck to get a socket on the hex head screw, so it is easy to install them even though you can't see them. I think I will use this method with #2 or #4 screws instead of pinning and gluing for all the deck furniture. I like the idea of being able to remove things for modifications, maintenence, refinishing, and especially correcting mistakes.

I drilled a 1/4" hole in the front of the prow where I thought the bowsprit should come through, then another coming down from the top of the top rail just to get rid of some material and make less filing. But now, how to inlarge the hole to the right size and angle. I decided to make a 6" rod the diameter of the bowsprit with a tapered end that would rest on the bowsprit rest that I could slide up into the hole to guide my filing as I opened up the hole. This worked very well, and only took me 1.5 hours to do after I made the rod. I had to correct several small problems. The bits ended up too far back from its correct position, so I put a slight groove in the top of the rest to lower the bowsprit end and bring the bits forward. I got the hole slightly off center and had to adjust it and patch one side with epoxy putty. The other thing still puzzling me is that the bowsprit should have been at a greater angle so that it came out farther back on the fore deck. All the parts and positions check with the plans. But the bowsprit rest would have to be 1/2" higher at the front to have positioned the bowsprit correctly. This poses no operational or even aesthetic problems, but mystifies me.
xsparsx xbuildx

Nice build!!

Beware of Harry Assistant's and sailboats!!

Your build log of the S,C&H brig is extremely informative. I am in the process of ordering this ship and your experiences have helped my purchase decision. What additional assembly did you have done by S,C&H? Looks like they installed the deck and bulworks for you. Did they pre-cut the gunports? Are there other additional steps that you would recommend that they do?

I am really glad to hear that you are getting one of these beautiful models! I really am enjoying my build. Philip is always very helpful and very quick with his responses. I think you will enjoy working with him, and the quality of the kit is exceptional-no scrimping here. I had them build up the kit through installing the deck, which Philip said was rather tricky, and had to be done right the first time. Since this was my first ship model and I don't have any experience with fiberglass I had them take it that far, which includes the servo blocks, mast mounts, cutouts and holes on the deck, hatch seal, and the stern tube. In order to correct a problem resulting from the deck install, they needed to cut the gun ports too, which saved me a lot more time. Everything else so far has been reasonably straight forward once I understood what had to be done. I am glad you find my log usefull. It should help speed up assembly for you, and I hope the pictures clarify the supplied instructions.

Thanks for your quick response! I think that I might request similar work done by SC&H becuz I don't have experience or tools for fiberglas work, either. Sure glad you decided to do a build log on this project - I would have been totally unaware of these details.

This may be jumping the gun a bit, but i am curious as to what you plan to use as a radio transmitter for your brig, assuming that you plan to sail it. Seems that there are only two radios commercially available that have three controls to run this multimasted craft in an appropriate manner, as far as i can ascertain....The ACE Nautical Commander and the Robbe F-14. These are the only ones that have three control stix. Just curious, have you heard of any other solutions??

xradiox

I have a Spektrum DX6 transmitter that I am using on my Voyager. It is a spread spectrum 2.5Gh twin channel unit with two dual sticks, giving four channels between the two sticks. I will take the springs out of two of the sticks so all three sail channels will stay where I move them.

Sounds like you are serious about getting one of there great models. You won't regret it.

Work on the hull is progressing well. I should have a new section to post soon.

Ray

beneteau3 :You don't really have to have 3 sticks to control lots of channels. I use a Futaba 9cap for a sub and other complex r/c boats. It allows you to control servos from a variety of knobs, switches, ect. Many of the multo-channel computer radios used for aircraft have interchangable frequency modules. This way you can use the same radio for planes, boats, whatever. Computer radios allow you to adjust servo endpoints from the transmitter, and give you all kinds of mixes between channels. (great for square riggers, for example) These radios also have multi-model memories. Once you try one you will be spoiled!

Ray C : I too want one of these ships badly, but am not buying yet. I am thrilled to see your build posted and eagerly await each installment!

The Spektrum DX6 is meant for aircraft and has 6 channels. Since it operates on 2.6 Ghz and automatically selects an unused band of some 80 available, there is no problem with using the same band as other users. No more checking out what bands are in use at a meet! It actually transmits and recieves on two separate channels to provide a redundant signal to defeat any interfearance from other signal sources. It is $200 for a Tx and Rx, about twice as expensive as a regular system, but well worth it to my mind.

Ray C

Thanks for your responses! I am still a newbie at rc, and have no experience with radios with more than 2 functions, as I use on my old C914 sailboat. Gotta admit that I am totally enchanted with the SC&H squareriggers, and have already ordered the Brig. Philip Roberts seems to swear by the ACE Nautical Commander, which has the three joystix, but they apparently are not available. The people at ACE in California have told me that the foreign source manufacturer has a new version in development, but has failed to come up with a date for availability, which has been going on for 2 years or so. They have no idea when these radios will be available for sale. So any alternatives, such as you mention, are of interest to me. The Robbe F14 does not seem very common, either, and is pretty expensive. I will definitely research the DX6 and the Futaba 9cap. Meanwhile, I will continue to drool on myself watching the SC&H CD until my Brig arrives..........

xradiox

By the way,Ray, I was curious as to what area of the country you are docked? My brig will be SC&H #C022, located in Minneapolis/St Paul MN. I guess there is one other SC&H ship in MN, but does not have any interest in contact. A really low number of ships for a state with 10,000 lakes. Has anyone heard of any other websites involving these ships besides the two mentioned in the SC&H website?

I am in Albuquerque New Mexico, land of 10,000 mud puddles, most of them dry! The city has just opened a nice sailing pond, which is the reason for my new found interest in r/c boats. Unfortunately, they did not put in a launching ramp, only steps. Will be a challenge getting the brig in and out of the water. I have not found any other web sites. Just not many of these ships out there yet.

It is great you have ordered one. When is it supposed to ship?

Check these square riggers out that are ready to sail from the UK... www.rchobby.co.uk go to yachts and check out the HMS Victory etc...ready to go.