Taylor's R/C Boatyard

Baltimore Clipper Build Diary

The following is my build log of a Robbe Valdivia Schooner kit conversion to a Baltimore Clipper.  Unlike my build log of the Valdivia, I will mostly only post entries where I deviate from the base kit construction.

The most recent updates will be posted at the top of the page.

10/26/09 - Almost done, just a few more details to go;  some pics with all the sails on.  Took a long time to get to this point.

10/25/09 -  Here the Topsail is loosely lashed to the yards, next is lacing the sail to the yard.

10/21/09 - 10/24/09 -  This is the first sail that I've actually made, all the others I just assembled.  You can see in the 3rd pic the sheet with the pre-cut reinforcements, I'm looking for extra material off of it for this extra sail.

10/18/09 - Attached the foresails.

10/14/09 - Lacing the mainsails to the booms.

10/5/09 - Belaying pins in a pin rack, first shows untreated brass pins, the second shows after they have been chemically etched with Blacken-It.  I like the results. 

9/30/09 - 10/1/09 -  Attached the gaff-booms, attached the mast-hoops to the sails and slipped them onto the masts, a picture of the pulley blocks for the topsail yard-arm sheets, followed by nailing the masthead to the mast to prevent it from twisting, and finally, the two main sails attached to the gaff-booms with temporary lashings.

9/18/09 - 9/28/09 - Applied the sail reinforcements and seam lines, soldering the mast hoops.  A before shot, with them nice and shiny new, then after I tarnished them with Blacken-It.

9/9/09 -  Assembled and painted the booms and gaff booms,  darkened the brass hinges with Blacken-It.

8/16/09 - 8/29/09 - Added yard-arm hinges to the upper mast, followed by the yards. The attachment of the hinge to the yard-arm may look a little strange, it's because I used collars with set-screws to join the different materials together. I couldn't find what I wanted that would look appropriate so I went with what might handle the wind loading.

8/9/09 - 8/16/09 - Installed the lines for the Jib Boom, added safety lines.

8/9/09 -  Finished the Mast Stays.

7/26/09 - 8/3/09 - Since the stays can't go all the way to the top masthead without blocking the topsail, I redid the upper mast stays to start at the lower masthead instead.

7/15/09 - Now that there is no wide-spaced spreaders with stays running through them to keep the foremast masthead straight, I've had to lock-down the mast so it no longer pivots freely.

6/27/09 - 7/10/09 -  Tried another mod, added protective bars to the skylights (I'll do the same with the other skylights soon),  painted the mastheads and topmasts,  added hardware to the mastheads.

6/20/09 - 6/27/09 - Received in the anchors, they didn't include the cross-bar reinforcing rings that were pictured in the catalog, had to make my own.  Started assembling the mastheads.

5/21/09 - 6/1/09 -  Attached and "Blackened" the Bowsprit chain as well as the Channel chains,  simulated wood grain on the masts with ( I hate to admit) kitchen drawer contact paper (it's really vinyl).  Looks really good to me, just have to see how it holds up.

4/23/09 - 4/28/09 - All hatches in place, awaiting staining, and after applying Teak Oil to the Cabins / Hatch-covers.

4/13/09 - 4/22/09 - Main Cabin / Hatch cover,  this is where I spliced together what was formally two separate hatches.

4/4/09 - 4/6/09 - Control Stand completed.

4/3/09 -  Realized that I didn't have a picture of the drop-keel attached after everything got painted.

3/19/09 - 3/29/09  -  Started the Hatch covers/ Cabin Superstructure, the cabin in the background is from the completed Valdivia.  I wanted to see if there were any changes I wanted to make to the new one as I was putting it together. I still need to paint the bell mount and stain the wood with Teak Oil.

3/16/09 - 3/18/09  - Rubbed Teak Oil in to the wooden bulwarks, added the dead-eyes and chains to the chain-plates.  The middle picture shows the chain-plate design from the Valdivia, the two pics to the right show my design with chain stays. The last one is just a nice over-all picture of progress.

3/7/09 - 3/15/09 - Added the wooden sections of the bulwarks,  completed the anchor beam and added the wooden build-up on the bow.  A change I made here was to do away with the removable bow-sprite and anchor everything more securely for the jib-boom.

2/1/09 - 3/1/09 - Hull painting.

1/31/09 - Before and after shots of oiling the Teak lining the interior of the bulwarks.

 1/25/09 - Added a bow-sprite chain plate, in addition to the existing tie-down.

1/24/09 - Created a metal stand, making use of the attachment points for the drop-keel.

11/18/08 -  Sanding the outside of the transom,  filling in the inside of the transom.

11/15/08 - Filling the interior of the transom with wood. 

11/11/08 - Attaching the bulwarks to the hull, using plastic filler on the transom joints.

11/10/08 - Gun-ports.

11/9/08 - Assembling the cannons and determining proper height of gun-ports on bulwark.

10/14/08 - Using Valdivia to determine proper location of gun-ports.

10/13/08 - Decided to line the interior of the bulwarks with teak to give better contrast and more wood coverage.

9/2/08 - Bow Sprit and Jib Boom - nothing new here.

8/26/08 - Trimmed back the deck/ hull joint.

8/7/08 - Bowsprit; not much different here, except I plan to relocate the ship's bell elsewhere. Also plan to change the original layout of the removable jib boom and lock it down instead.

7/31/08 - Joining the deck to the hull. Nothing really new here, just wish I could find a better plastic epoxy, what I used holds OK but if enough sheer force is applied, the whole thing could unzip along the seam. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything with a long enough working time that would weld the plastic stronger then the epoxy I used.  I barely got everything aligned before the glue set as it was.

7/30/08 - Decided to pour glass epoxy into the bottom of the keel, to seal the lead bars in and reinforce their connection to the hull. (sorry, the camera focused on the foreground items and not down where the epoxy is.)

7/23/08 - Completed and painted the anchor winch. It looked good enough painted that I went back to my previous Valdivia and unbolted the winch on it, which I had originally left unpainted, and painted it.  Next you see the winch for the Clipper mounted on deck.

7/18/08 - All the Sheets gathered above deck, starting on the anchor winch. 

7/16/08 - Radio and wiring layout; securing the wires to the underside of the deck, mounting the antenna below deck. 

6/21/08 - Preformed a water balance test in a small inflatable pool with the keel bulb attached; needed a little trim weight in the bow to even things up.

6/10/08 - The brace attached to the underside of the deck, with the Topsail fairleads mounted in place.

6/8/08 - With the Main sheet winch attached to the underside of the desk, there was no way I could slide the sheet loop arm under or around the braces for the detachable keel, so I cut one side out.  And replaced it with a removable brace that won't be in the way until I join the deck to the hull.

6/7/08 - The thru-deck fairleads for the Topsail sheets

6/4/08 - Adding traveling blocks to the Topsail sheet loop

6/3/08 -  Revised earlier version of Topsail sheet loop; decided there was not enough travel in it and came up with a alternate to lengthened it. (I'll talk about the cut braces shortly.)

5/26/08 - The original plan of having a engine nodule with half the keel ballast in a detachable format has been scraped. Instead, I am going with a simple weighted detachable fin.

3/11/08 - Before and After applying Teak Oil finish 

2/25 - 3/5/08 - Before and After sanding the deck 

1/26 - 2/24/08 - Completing the planking

1/15 - 1/24/08 -   Started deck planking; small change from kit - I framed around the hatches before continuing with the regular pattern.

5/19/07 - Finally got a casting that I think I can work with. Using the hand tools I have, will mill it down to spec. Just need to get the plastic drop clothe down for all the lead shavings that are going to fly everywhere.

5/18/07 - This is attempt 3 out of 4, everything went right except I missed on the volume calculations. The last picture shows what happens when you run out of lead too soon.

5/13/07 - Cut-down the thickness of the box, should be easier to cut the right size sprue and vent holes thru the sand now.

5/12/07 -  2nd attempt, made the sprue (pour) hole too small and the mold box was too thick; lead cooled before it ever reach the inside of the mold, it all piled up on top of the box.

4/26/07 - Added my loop for the Topsail winch and added some bracing to the backside of the winch.

4/21/07 - Some of the running hardware I picked up at the Toledo Show.  I'll need to cut-down the drive shaft and stuffing box to what the final dimension is for the aft section of the pod, but I think the motor is going to fit quite well.

4/14/07 - Went to the Toledo Weak Signals 53rd R/C Expo today, shopped for some needed hardware, spend several hours walking around the booths and taking pictures of the competition models.

4/5/07 - Finished shaping the wooden fin insert between the pod and the hull, cut the rods to length and fitted the retaining nuts.

3/18/07 - Plumb bob for vertical placement of hole in lead bar, checking alignment with the through-hull rods. Notice the over-sized holes in the lead ballast - the rods will be conductors for the motor in the ballast pod, so I will be sealing the thru-hull points with epoxy and not making contact with the lead to prevent shorting out my power buss. Next you see the brass tubing that I will seal in place and that the rods will pass thru.  I flared the tube end over a washer to give myself a larger gluing point to attach to the hull. The final two are of the ballast that I am keeping for the internal keel support.

3/17/07 -  Temporarily bolting the deck in place, simple tool to measure the internal hull dimension for the cross-braces, cutting and bolting the braces in place.

3/15/07 - Here I am following up on a idea by another builder. Pat Matthews suggested reinforcing the glued on girders with screws thru the deck.

3/08/07 - Anchor points for the cross-braces for the drop keel.

2/25/07 - Actually got around to poking some holes in the hull.  What you see here is a small plumb-bob I'm using to align one of the supports for the detachable keel.

2/24/07 - The Shop is starting to fill up.

1/30/07 - Smoothed out the stern section with White Putty. You can see the Keel Bulb taking shape in the foreground - the wood and styrene are just forms for the sand molds later that I'll be poring the lead into.

1/10/07 - (Sorry for the long break, end-of-the-year Holiday Madness and all that.)  Again, for this log I'm only going to put things that deviate from the original kit up here.  First pic is were I'm replacing the thin plastic rudder pivot with a sturdy brass one. Next you see the fill-in for the propeller notch w/ rudder.  The last two are of the additional sail winch for the top-sail; this is taking the place of the internal aux. motor.

 11/12/06  -  Filled in the propeller notch on the stern: 

11/11/06  -  Reorganized the Shop, unpacked the kit.

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