Today I finally made my first attempts at casting lead bulbs and ballasts, and it turned out well! Over a month ago, I made some female molds out of refractory cement. They are now fully cured. One mold was for torpedo style bulbs for the Sun Winds and Rip Tides. It has two slightly diffferent-sized bulbs in it. The molds I made seemed to just miss the sweet spot. I made one slightly smaller than the other in the hopes that one of the two molds would produce a 4.5 lb. half-bulb for a 9 lb. total bulb. The smaller mold turned out a 3 lb. 5 oz. half-bulb, and the larger one turned out a 4 lb. 14 oz. bulb. However, I think I over-poured the larger one, and if I take better care in my pouring I think it would make a 4.5 lb. half-bulb. So I'm really close! Yes, I made "half bulbs" instead of a solid bulb with a slot in it. My system for mounting the bulbs is to have an thin inner-core of plywood that the two halves mount onto.  I also made ballast halves for the Wampum...

Great news! Laser cut frames are now available for the Sun Wind HF!  They are cut by National Balsa . The price is a very reasonable $175.95 which includes the materials, the laser cutting, and the shipping. It took about a week for the first set to arrive. It includes all the frames, the keel parts, the servo tray (with two different bases for two different types of switches), and all the fin and rudder parts. It also includes a building board and the servo swing arm parts. It even includes the hatch covers if you choose to use them. It does NOT include the boom parts. Nor does it include any of the other wood or parts that you will need to build a Sun Wind HF. This is NOT a kit... it's only the frames and such. Please email Jessica at balsabug1@aol.com , and ask for the " Sun Wind HF Sailboat Frames ". They have the file saved and will cut a perfect set for you. Here are two images from the set. They are perfectly cut and engraved.  If anyone out ...

The Sun Wind HF Vintage Marblehead RC Sailboat The original placement of the rig was way too far forward. The boat wouldn't point at all. I initially used the original plans, but in converting to RC the rig then needed to be moved. Ended up moving it about two inches aft. That necessitated covering the first holes as best I could. Some you can still see, but overall I think it looks pretty good! Here's how it looks now with the better placed rig: Peace!

I'm in the process of thinking, yes... just thinking, about making my own ballast for both the Sun Wind Hf and for the upcoming Wampum III, both Vintage Marblehead sailboats, but using two different styles of lead ballast. The Sun Wind HF takes a torpedo style bulb. I 3D modeled one in Sketchup Pro 2017, and from there exported an STL file that I used in one of our 3D printers at school (I'm a teacher and the CTE teacher actually printed it for me). Here is what we ended up with... two identical male molds: Here is what the bottom of one of them looks like: 3D prints are a bit rough, and if I used them straight they might stick to the cement too well. So I'm coating them with thickened epoxy and will then sand them down. I'll then wax them before using them. The idea is that I will sink these into a container of refractory cement and let it harden, will remove the molds, and then let it cure for a long time (weeks). The concrete will probably also take a t...

Tuh da! I present to you the resurrected 1949 wooden Sun Wind HF Vintage Marblehead radio control sailboat! This Vintage Marblehead sailboat, despite being called "vintage", is a brand new boat based on the original 1949 design, but updated to the newer VM rules. Original Designer : Gus Lassel Year : 1949 Original Class : Marblehead Current Class: Vintage Marblehead (VM) "High-Flyer" Division Resurrection Designer (converted to RC and to the "High Flyer" ("HF") rules: Steve Deligan 2017 LOA : 50" Draft : 16" Displacement Ready to Sail (including batteries, servos, etc...) : 16 lbs. 14.5 oz. Ballast : 10 lbs. made by Jeffrey Gros Sails: Carr Sails Hull : Western Red Cedar on laser cut 1/8" plywood frames Deck : Alaskan Yellow Cedar with Mahogany trim It took five months to build, but much of that was down time, so not really that long. If I build another one, it will take much less time. For much of this build, ...

I've decided to change the name of the boat to the Sun Wind HF . "HF" for being in the Vintage Marblehead "High-Flyer" division. It sounds cooler too. All the deck hardware has now been installed, and I'm just waiting for the sails to arrive. I decided to go with all brass for this boat. The hardware is from Model Yacht Fittings . It's a one-man shop out of Florida by a guy named Roger Cousineau. He makes lovely brass parts, and he has an entire kit for just Vintage Marblehead's. He also does parts for the huge J-Class boats and other classes. Check out his website. Here's the jib rack: The mast step and jib fairlead: I went with eye-bolts for the shrouds, but many people would opt for a rack here instead. Yes, for you very observant folks, I forgot the washer on the left eye-bolt, but they were such little shits to install that I'm not taking it back out just to put on a washer! Mainsheet fairlead. Yes, I know it's not...

Before quitting last night, I put a clear coat of epoxy on the main hatch. Today I sanded it smooth and it's now ready for varnish, but I'll let it cure for another 24 hours before doing that. Here's how it looks now. Keep in mind that it will look better with varnish... so will the deck. Some may look at this first picture and say that the hatch is too slanted up aft. I agree that the picture make it look that way. However, in real life it doesn't. I saw this picture and thought, "That looks odd...", but the real thing looks good.  This is a more realistic image of what the hatch looks like. Rarely will you see the boat from directly on the beam. Next step... varnishing the hatches and deck. I would have set up all the rigging first, but my sail guy is unavailable for two weeks, so I'll just proceed with the varnishing and then drill holes through it when needed. No worries... Aloha!

I've been working on the main hatch for the past few days. Today I did the big glue-up for it. The first step was to line the inside of the hatch opening with thin strips of wood that would extend up above the deck. Mine extend 5/8" above the deck, but I just chose that length randomly based on how it looked. The hatch cover is held down by magnets. You can see the inner magnets in the picture above. They have been embedded in the fore and aft strips of wood. I used a 1/2" Forstner bit to make the holes, and then epoxied them in. When epoxying them in, I set the strips on plastic so that the magnet would be completely embedded in epoxy and wouldn't come out. It also smooths the side of the wood. Next, I got to work on the hatch cover. It too will have a piece of wood both fore and aft with matching magnets. See the picture below. Then on the outside of those pieces, I will epoxy a nicer looking piece of cedar. In the picture below, you can see the plasti...

It's sanded! Thank God... Finished with the planking and tonight I was able to sand the deck of the Sun Wind II RC Vintage Marblehead sailboat. It looks pretty good. This weekend I'll do some finish sanding, and then probably put some epoxy along the hull/deck joint to fill it in. Then will fiberglass the deck. Aloha!

Only one job to be done tonight, and that is to install the inner sheer rails. I couldn't also install the stringers because the rubber bands that are clamping the inner sheer rails need to use the stringer notches. The sheer rails are composed of two laminated strips on both sides of the hull where the hull meets the deck. The frames have notches for both the inner and outer sheer rails. The idea is that you epoxy on the inner sheer rail to the notches on the frames one day and let it cure. Then the next day you run epoxy down the entire length of the inner sheer rail and then laminate on the outer sheer rail. It's the lamination of the two rails that adds so much strength to the hull. The lamination also permanently holds the two rails together in the proper curve. Later on during planking, you will actually add, essentially, a third sheer rail when you laminate on the first plank. In this first picture, you can see the inner sheer rails on Frame 0. They are held toge...

Big step today! I assembled and epoxied the frames for the Sun Wind II RC sailboat! First, I drilled out the rudder tube hole with a 5/32" bit. The gap that is designed into the aft rudder tube keel assembly easily guided the bit through the slot and simply widened the sides a tad. You can now see that the rectangular opening is now a circular hole. The 5/32" brass rudder tube will easily epoxy into it later on.  Then started on the frame assembly by epoxying the frames down onto the strongback. Then added epoxy to all the slots on both the frames and on the fin and keel assemblies. They all slipped together pretty well after a little adjusting and persuasion. Here is how it all looks while it cures. In this image you can see a rubber band holding up the half-frame (Frame 4.5), otherwise it would slip out. The planks clamped to the sides are to keep Frame 4.5 aligned with the other frames. In this image you can see the first use on this boat of the rubber ...