Ian Vickers has decided to sell the file to create laser cut frames for his well-liked V8 IOM RC sailboat so that you can build one at home! He's selling the plans for the V8 along with the file that you would send to a laser cutter. He is NOT selling the actual laser cut frames. And you are only allowed to make ONE boat from the plans and the frame file. It's a fair deal. If interested, go to his website and check it out. Once you pay for the plans and file, he will send you an email confirming that you agree to only build one boat, and then he will send you the file. You then research a laser cutter in your country and have them cut it. Here is a purposely blurred image of the DWG file that you will receive and send to your laser cutter. (It's blurred and low-resolution to protect Ian's intellectual property.)  The file is ten sheets of plywood, all 12" x 24". If you're not in the States or Canada, then you'll probably display that in mill...

I've been slowly tinkering away on the V8 IOM RC sailboat. Here are some other shots of the fin box, the transom drain plug, and internal frames. Lots still to do but I'm too lazy tonight to describe it all. Here is the start of the drain plug project. I used greased 10-24 metal bolt in thickened epoxy to make the threads, but then will use a very lightweight nylon bolt and washer for the actual plug.  Here's my IOM fin alignment jig being used to set the fin and bulb on the Vickers V8. Here are a couple shots of my fiberglass fin box that I made to perfectly fit the trimmed fin. Be sure to rub some petroleum jelly on the tape as a release agent. I used 6oz. cloth that I had laying around from a kayak build. Ended up doing two layers of that which is overbuilt. The red is thickened epoxy to fill the top bit. 2 degree bulb cant. Here's my mast well and fin box support ready to be epoxied in place. Here are all the internal bits. Th...

Finished laser cutting the Vickers V8 IOM frames today. They look great.   Next I need to source some nicely colored Western red cedar and let it acclimate inside for a week or three. Then to milling. At that point I can start planking, so don't hold your breath on this build! Cheers!

Taking some time away from my fantasy IOM design that I've been working on, I thought it would be good to actually start making something again instead of just working on the computer. Today I was finally able to find some time to start cutting the V8 frames today, although I only was able to cut two of the eight total sheets. As a reminder, Ian Vickers graciously allowed me to use his original CAD file to create a file for laser cut frames. This means that the frames are exactly (to about 1/10 mm accuracy due to the width of the laser beam and such) as Ian drew them originally. They are offset by 2mm to allow for planking and shaping. I finished the file over a month ago but haven't had time to get to the laser cutter at work. Here is what I was able to cut today... Will hopefully finish tomorrow or early next week so I can get them set up and start planking. More later as I find time. Aloha!

I finally finished drawing the Vickers V8 frames for laser cutting and have sent the files to Vickers Sailing for inspection. I might make my own personal hull in the next few months, but I'm also considering getting into my own design too, so who knows where the wind will take me. There were three sets of frames that I sent in. The first includes only the basic frames that will plank an empty hull. This is the file I promised to deliver, and it uses Ian's original lines, so perhaps they might release this for use in the future...?? You'll have to ask him.  One set included all of the internal frames and bits that I'll use on my own boat. I'm not sure if they will ever release that because it does rearrange some of the interior parts that Ian originally designed. But it'll work for me.  Then I also made a "Fore-deck Framing Set" to make a separate planked foredeck. I haven't tried it but it should work well. Again...

Lots of progress has been made on the Vickers V8 IOM (International One Meter) R/C sailboat. I'm about 80% finished so far. Will probably just sit on it for most of the summer and get start actually building it in September or October. Here's how it looks so far: While I have agreed to make the laser cut frames for the hull, I have no expectations that Ian Vickers will choose to use my internal bits. I have made some decisions for my own version of the boat, but if he ever decides to release the files I'm not sure if he'll allow my internal bits to be released. He'll probably just release the laser cut frames for the hull. That said, I've made some decisions for my own version, which includes a scoop deck. I'm also dumping the plastic pot because I just hate the look of those things. My boat will have deck patches which I've found to work quite well. Here's the scoop deck: The scoop deck will allow a full-sized vang to swing...

A few weeks ago I emailed Ian Vickers to inquire if he might send me a DWG file for his very highly-regarded IOM, the V8. He agreed! So now I'm working on designing a laser-cut frames file so that I might make the boat later this fall. I've already started. Here's what I have so far: So far it's going well. My next steps are to design a main bulkhead, a mast well/fin box arrangement, a rudder frame, and on and on. But in the end it should be a nice way to build a V8. My problem though is that I also now have the original digital computer files for two Frank Russell designs too... the Goth Mk4 and his newest IOM, the Ellipsis... In addition, I have the paper plans for the Alternative by Brad Gibson. I'll almost certainly do the laser cut frames for all three, but which one to build first?? Aloha!

Well after a couple months of considering, 3D modeling, and pondering, I've finally started to plank my Corbie 5 IOM. I'm using western red cedar that I milled myself to 8mm x 3mm x 1100mm. There's an accent strip just below the gunwale of Alaskan yellow cedar. My biggest unknown is how I'm going to taper the planks. The manual suggests that I use a small plane, but I've never had much luck with them. My go-to has usually been my stationary sander. So for these first three planks, I simply ran each set of two planks over the sander many times until I had what felt to be a decent taper. To be sure, I'll have to monitor and adjust how it's going, so fingers crossed! The manual also suggests that I use carpenter's glue. While I like Titebond, it's working time isn't long enough, and it's not as waterproof as I'd like, so I'm using epoxy (WEST System 105/205) instead. Epoxy has a much longer working time, it's completely waterpr...

While I'm starting the frames and planking process on the Corbie 5 hull, I also wanted to experiment with some foredeck ideas that I have spinning around in my head. It was suggested by Ian Dundas that I should do this, and it's a great idea. To get a head start on the foredeck, I've 3D modeled an exact replica of just what the foredeck frames would be. I'll laser cut these parts, put them together, epoxy on two gunwales, and then start working out some of these ideas. Should be fun! Aloha!

Started the Corbie 5 IOM build today! For real, as opposed to in 3D on my computer. This week I made the strongback out of 3/4" MDF. It's about 8" wide (exact width doesn't matter too much as long as it is as wide as the boat) with sides about 3" tall that have been screwed to the top. To that I aligned and glued the base alignment jig pieces. I used weights and pins to hold the pieces flat while they dried. Just used Titebond II for this process. The alignment jig is designed to hold the frames in exact position relative to each other. The spacing between the stations is exact, as is the horizontal and vertical alignment. You can also see that the slots for the frames are all different lengths. This is so ensure that each frame will only fit in a very specific slot. Frames that must be faced a specific direction so that port and starboard are correct, have two different sized slots and can only fit the correct way. Pretty cool, huh?! This is the inte...

Finally started to laser cut the Corbie 5 IOM frames and alignment jig today! So far, they look great. I was only able to cut the 1/8" (3mm) Lite Ply parts, and will need to cut the remaining 1/16" (1.5mm) parts later. But these Lite Ply parts make up the bulk of the formers. They also make the alignment jig which you can see the frames sitting into. Next I will need to complete the laser cutting of the remaining parts, and then build an MDF strongback. After that, I can start building! Aloha!