It's been bugging me for two years since I finished my Wampum II Vintage Marblehead RC sailboat... the rig was too high. The rig just didn't look right. Looked too "toy boatish" even though it is a toy boat. So today I finally stopped staring at it and cut 1.125" off the bottom of the mast. Then I redid all the stays and such. It looks better now. Will try to get it on the water in the next week or three to see how it sails. It's a little hard to see in these pictures, but the boat looks a lot better now. Phew! Cheers! 

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!

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!

In my previous boats, I've always used an aluminum mast (and a carbon fiber one on the Tippecanoe T37). For this Vintage Marblehead High Flyer Sun Wind II though, in keeping with the tradition of the 1940's/1950's, I thought it would be fun to attempt a wooden mast. This is my first try! People on the innertubes seem to agree that spruce is the best. So I went to my local lumber yard (NOT a big box place either... but one that knows wood better), and bought two sticks of what they said was spruce. However, once I started milling it, I'm now not totally sure what I bought. I think that it probably is spruce, but after reading online about the differences, it may actually be pine. Even if it is pine, at least one smart guy online says that he prefers it for his mast anyway. So... whatever! I'm calling it spruce. It has some very small knots in it, and is very whitish. The pine I've used in the past has been a bit more yellow. I milled out 8' strips that ...