1/15 Colin Archer Billing Boats

[Arjan]

Last year I bought a second hand BB CA kit that had already been partially built and painted. I started by building the masts and booms, the bow sprit had already been built by the previous owner of the kit :

 

 

I modified and repainted the bow sprit because it didn't look right :

 

 

 

I added bollards and cat heads :

 

 

The windlass had already been built and painted but I wasn't happy with it so I removed the paint with oven cleaner :

 

 

I added the pin rail and some other parts :

 

 

A 1/15 figure to give a sense of scale :

 

 

The line thrower and some other parts :

 

 

I cast a lead ballast keel consisting of separate pieces so I can adjust the weight and trim the boat . According to the building instructions 6kg of ballast is required but I think that's probably a bit much.

 

 

Last week I repainted the underwater ship. The underwater ship should be red brown and the previous owner had not marked the water line correctly :

 

 

This morning I made these pics :

 

 

 

I'm going to use this motor and esc :

 

 

Arjan

 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Arjan

[beefy66]

Nice refurbishment work there Arjan  👍

 

beefy

[longshanks]

Coming together nicely....

 

Kev

[Arjan]

I have been thinking about the steering setup for a long time and I've finally decided to mount the steering servo in the cockpit and to use fishing line rather than a rigid servo rod. The fact that the CA model has a rudder behind rather than under the hull makes the steering setup more difficult and the pointed stern doesn't help either. This is what BB suggest :

 

 

I don't like this particular setup because a rigid servo rod would mean one has to make a sizable hole in the stern. Also the position of the servo restricts sail winch mounting options and access in general.

 

Some solutions other modellers opted for. This builder connected the servo to the tiller and not to the rudder itself, I do like the position of the servo here :

 

 

The connection between the rod and rudder looks rather awful here :

 

 

This builder here opted for a flexible cable :

 

 

My solution, I did have to remove the mounting lugs of  the servo to fit it into the cockpit (I often have to remove these mounting lugs for my projects) :

 

 

I also started work on the sails by colorizing the red circle and black letters/numbers in the sails. I used waterproof paint markers for this job :

 

 

Arjan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Arjan]

In the mean time I have fitted the dead-eyes of the main mast , I installed the motor and made the mainsheet traveller detachable. I used jewellery fittings to fix the dead-eyes so the mast can be removed easily. I mounted a spring underneath the mast foot to keep the rigging taut. I hope captain Bjørn is satisfied 🙂.

 

 

Arjan

Edited May 26, 2021 by Arjan

[Arjan]

This afternoon I have tested the model on the water to see how the rudder and motor perform and also to get an idea of how much additional ballast is required. The sails will be made later by my sail maker.

 

I added small springs to the rudder lines to eliminate the play caused by the rigidity of the fishing line. These springs proved to be very effective since there is no longer any play on the rudder.

 

 

The motor and prop combination results in a perfect scale speed. I also applied the Colin Archer decals which are probably some 30 years old. To my relief they were still perfectly usable.

 

 

At least one kilo of additional ballast is required.

 

Arjan

 

[Arjan]

In the mean time I've assembled the anchor and fitted the sails :

 

 

Arjan

[longshanks]

Looking stunning Arjan 

 

I like the steering / servo arrangement 

 

Kev

[dnl42]

Excellent work on completing this model! 

She looks very good on the water.

[beefy66]

Looks amazing is that a young Arjan I see working on the deck.  

 

Stay Safe

beefy

[Arjan]

Thanks gentlemen ! Beefy: I did have a sailing dinghy when I was young but it was much smaller 🙂 (4.70 metres). Still,  it would be nice to have a  3d miniature version of myself for my rc models ..... Unfortunately, these 3d copies are still far too expensive so I will have to make do with 5 inch action figures. The figure in question is from the ghastly Walking Dead tv series, I once watched an episode and I found it was excruciatingly boring.

 

Regards,

 

Arjan