And so the story begins.......

A few days ago on the 'Jolie Brise' forum topic I stated "I have a plan". Well I meant this literally! While searching the Web for inspiration for my next model, I found a plan for a Pilot Cutter. I was searching for schooner plans, and came across this plan and was hooked.

The plan was ordered on line (on my birthday) and was delivered electronically within a few hours (nice birthday present 👍). It comprises a large A0 sheet, six A2 sheets plus seven A4 pages of build instructions. All for $15 US. I had the plans printed using an on-line print shop (during lockdown). The printing cost was more than the plan cost 🙄 I could have printed at home by 'tiling' the large sheets onto multiple A4 pages and then glueing them together but didn't want the distortions that would inevitably occur using that approach.

The plans are very detailed with most parts being drawn full size. The build instructions are comprehensive. Time will tell how good they are in reality, but initial indications are promising.

The Cutter has a full suite of sails, mainsail, main topsail, stay sail, jib and jib topsail. There are two winch servos, one to control the mainsail and one for the foresails.

The plans do not have a lot of scale detail. Gary the designer states in the build instructions " This boat practically begs for more scale like detail" I intend to take him up on that challenge.

I'll let Garry Webb the designer tell you more about it in his video.

Graham93

The hull is constructed from ply bulkheads covered with ply skins. The plan calls for 1/8th plywood for these parts. I have some salvaged 2.5mm ply which should be suitable. This ply is only smooth on one side, which is mahogany veneered and french polished.

The large A0 plan sheet has full size drawings of the main hull components. Rather than having to trace these onto the plywood, I had two copies of this sheet printed. One of these sheets was cut up and the pieces were stuck to the ply using a glue stick. It was then a simple task to cut to the outlines using the bandsaw.

There is only one template for the hull side panels so once the first panel had been cut, this was then used to mark out and cut the second side, making sure that the second panel was a mirror image of the first. These two panels were then stuck together with double sided tape and the edges trimmed to ensure the two sides were identical. The same method was used for the two bottom panels, although these do not need trimming to be identical. They will be trimmed to size once attached to the hull.

The outline of the deck was cut on the bandsaw and then the holes for the hatches, and other deck fittings were cut using a sharp craft knife and a steel straight edge.

The plan has two options for the transom, flat or curved. I've opted for the curved version as it is more representative of the full sized Cutters. Following the plan instructions, two pieces of the 2.5 mm ply were cut and epoxied together in a simple jig. They were left clamped in the jig for a couple of days to give the epoxy plenty of time to set. The transom template was then glued to the curved panel and the panel cut to shape using the bandsaw.

Next job, cutting out the bulkheads....

The plans suggest that the bulkheads are made from 1/8th ply the same as the hull skins. As the ply I've used for the skins is thinner than 1/8th and quite flexible I decided to use some thicker ply offcuts I had available. These are supposed to be 6mm but actually measure closer to 5mm.

The full size templates were glued to the ply to minimise waste and the parts were then cut out using the bandsaw. When positioning the templates I didn't think about the cutting lines which made separating the parts with the bandsaw a bit tricky, but I managed it in the end.

Four of the bulkheads have internal cutouts for the winch sheets to pass through. These were cut using the fretsaw. I bought this saw secondhand off Gumtree just before lockdown in February and it has been so useful both for the rowing boat and now for this model. The holes drilled in the top corners of the bulkheads are for routing cables to the servos.

Several of the bulkheads have bearers attached to support the winch servos. These were cut to the dimensions given on the plans and glued in place. Stainless steel M3 nuts were epoxied into a couple of the bearers to allow the winch support components to be easily fitted and removed later in the build.

Unlike the full sized Cutters, this model has a fin and external keel to help keep it upright in the wind. This can be a bit of a 'weed catcher' but the alternative is to build a lot more weight into the bottom of the hull.

Construction of the hull starts with the Keel box. This houses the top of the fin and allows for it's removal. Two sides for the keel box were cut from 3mm ply and then covered on one side with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin. The inside of the keel box is a 'wet' area when the boat is on the water and it has to be sealed now as access will be impossible once the keel box is assembled.

Once the epoxy resin was set, the two sides were assembled with spacers and more epoxy resin. Cocktail sticks in 2mm holes were used to hold everything in alignment. Two battens were also attached, one either side of the keel box at the top. These reinforce the top edge where the fin will be attached. The assembly was left overnight to set, and then the cocktail sticks were trimmed flush and the edges of the box were cleaned up. The two holes in the reinforcing strips at the top of the box are for locating pins which pass through the box, and the top edge of the fin, holding the fin in place on the hull. Removing these pins allows the fin and keel to be removed easily. Although not suggested on the plans, I fitted 6mm I/D brass tubes as liners to reinforce the pin holes.

With the keel box completed it is time to start building the hull around it. At last, it's time to see all these parts come together 👍

First bulkheads 2 and 3 are glued and screwed to the keel box. Both the bulkheads and the keel box have been marked up with locating lines as shown on the plan to ensure everything goes together in the correct place. Care is taken to ensure the two bulkheads are square to the keel box, and the assembly left for the glue to set.

The mast step, to locate the base of the main mast is constructed next. It sits on a protrusion at the forward end of the keel box. The assembly is glued and pinned with cocktail sticks. Once the glue has set, it was cleaned up. All the corners are rounded off to reduce the risk of the rigging sheets passing through the hull becoming snagged. The hole in the top of the mast step is to locate the foot of the mast.

The hull sides and the transom are taped together. The inside faces of the panels have been marked up with the location of all the bulkheads. Small support blocks are glued along the deck line. The keel box assembly with its attached bulkheads is then placed between the side sheets and positioned using the marked bulkhead locations. The top edges of the bulkheads are aligned to the line showing the deck level. Once in the correct position, the bulkheads are tacked to the side panels with superglue.

The hull is supported on blocks to lift the keel box clear of the worktop taking care that everything is level and square and the remaining bulkheads are positioned on their locating marks and fixed with superglue. I managed to fit them all the right way round!

Now I get chance to stand back and realise just how big this model is 😮

Next, fitting the bottom panels...

To continue with assembly of the hull, the deck panel was trimmed slightly until it would fit in the hull, resting on the top of the bulkheads and the support blocks that had been glued to the side walls. Very little trimming was needed to get this to fit, which is a testament to the quality of the plans. Stiffeners were added to the underside of the deck and it was then clamped back into position - but not glued. The hull is not yet rigid so clamping the deck into position helps ensure that everything is maintained square.

With the deck in position, the hull was inverted and supported on a flat surface so that the floor skins could be fitted. The skins needed to be trimmed to fit, especially around the protruding fin box. This took a while as I did not want to remove more than necessary. It was difficult to hold both skins in position and to tape one down while trimming the other to fit. Eventually an acceptable fit was achieved and both skins were tacked in place with superglue. The seam along the centerline and around the fin box was filled with epoxy.

Next the hull was turned the right way up, the deck was removed and all the internal seams reinforced with thickened epoxy resin. Finally, once the resin had been left to set, the bottom panels, and the protruding fin box, were trimmed flush.

Now that the basic hull is complete, a simple stand was constructed on which to place the hull for the rest of the assembly.

With the hull safely on the stand the first task was to add Gunnel strips to the top edge of the hull side panels to strengthen them and avoid damage during the remainder of the construction. A 20mm x 3mm strip was cut from the edge of a mahogany board. This strip was then split to give two gunnel strips, each 6mm x 3mm. These were glued to the hull side panels with waterproof PVA and clamped in place until the glue set. No joints were needed as each strip was long enough to fit as a single piece along either side.

A simple cutwater made from 3mm ply was added to the bottom of the hull and the shape flared in with two part wood filler.

For the Stem itself, a 3mm piece of brass was cut and drilled to form the two eyes which will be needed to attach the Headstay and Jib stay. The brass was let into a piece of oak which was sandwiched between two more pieces. The whole assembly being glued and trenailed together using more cocktail sticks. Once set, it was cleaned up ready to be fitted to the hull. The location of the stem was marked on to the hull sides and that section of hull was carefully removed by sawing with a tenon saw (sorry no photo - I was concentrating too much on this and forgot !). With the hole made in the hull, the stem was tacked into position with superglue and then the joint reinforced on the inside with thickened epoxy resin.

Finally, two brass tubes were installed below the stem for later attachment of the bobstay fitting.

I hadn't been looking forward to cutting the hole in the hull for the stem, but it worked out OK in the end.

Time to take a break for Christmas. Whilst we won't be seeing family tomorrow, I don't think my wife will be too pleased if I disappear into the workshop for the day.🙄 Hopefully Santa will be bringing my winch servos so that is something to look forward to 😀.

Hope you all have a great day, stay safe

Graham93

To support the rudder, a sub assembly comprising the rudder support block and servo mount was first assembled on the bench. According to the plans, the rudder shaft is supposed to run through a hole drilled through the support block - the assembly to be greased to protect the timber from water ingress. I decided instead to line the hole in the support block with a length of 6mm I/D brass tube. The bottom end of the support block was cut at an angle to match the hull shape.

The center section of bulkhead 5 was cut away to make room for the sub assembly. This part of the bulkhead had not been reinforced with epoxy fillets, and the bulkhead was partly cut through before hull assembly to make removal of the center section easier. A hole was drilled through the bottom of the hull and the sub assembly was then glued into place. A length of threaded rod, together with the offcut from the bottom end of the support block were used to clamp the assembly into position while the glue set. A piece of polythene was used on the outside of the hull to prevent the offcut sticking to the hull.

Once set, the brass tube protruding through the hull was trimmed to length and a flanged brass collar added to give a flat bearing surface for an o-ring seal. A similar flanged collar was added to the top of the tube inside the hull. All the glued joints were reinforced with thickened epoxy resin.

The rudder itself is constructed from a piece of 3mm ply and a 6mm aluminium shaft. The top end of the shaft was threaded for an M6 wingnut. 3mm aluminium cross pieces pass through holes drilled in the shaft. The profile of this assembly was traced onto the plywood and cut out so that the assembly could be glued in place. Both sides of the rudder were then filled with a two part wood filer and sanded to shape.

The completed rudder, together with an o-ring were trial fitted to the hull. Inside the hull, a second o-ring is fitted to the top of the rudder shaft followed by a tiller arm held in place with a wingnut. The threaded end of the rudder shaft has a flat filed on it, and the hole in the tiller arm was filed to a corresponding 'D' shape. Using a wingnut to hold the rudder in position makes it easy to remove for transport, if necessary.

Finally, the rudder servo was tried in position. The push/pull control rods are still to be made.

I decided to plank the deck for several reasons. The recycled ply I've used for the hull and deck is too dark to represent the typical deck found on Pilot Cutters. It is also too dark to be able to draw imitation planking on it. Finally, I like a challenge 😀

The first task was to add a contrasting border round the edge of the deck. I used mahogany for this. To follow the curve of the deck, I used three strips 3 x 2 mm glued side by side. This was easier than using a single wider strip which would have to have been fitted in multiple pieces each cut to a curve to follow the hull shape. At the stern, a wider strip of mahogany was cut to match the shape of the transom.

I am trying to build this boat using timber I have available in the workshop rather than buying any more. There is no point in storing it and not using it.🙄 For the deck planking I decided to use lime, and I just happened to have a large block of lime left over from the time, many years ago, when I took up wood carving as a hobby. This block is around 20" in length which, at the scale I'm working at, would give scale planks around 20 ft long which seems reasonable. With a heavy coarse blade fitted to the bandsaw, several boards were cut from the block. The bandsaw blade was then changed for a new fine cut blade and the planks were split down into strips measuring 7 x 2 mm.

With the raw material prepared, and the deck clamped in position on the hull, a start was made on the planking by fitting planks to frame the openings in the deck. A 6mm piece of oak was shaped and glued in place to reinforce the hole in the deck for the mast. Next, strips of black card were glued to the edges of the planks to simulate caulking. Map pins holding the card in place while the glue sets. A wide plank was then fitted in pieces along the centerline of the deck to represent the king plank. The straightedge was used to ensure that the pieces were in line.

Finally a start was made on fitting the planks. Each plank is trimmed to length and glued in place with waterproof PVA. Once the glue has dried, a strip of black card is superglued to the exposed edge of the plank, and then the process is repeated. This is going to be a long, slow job.

Planking continued working outwards by adding planks either side of the king plank. Initially short lengths of plank were fitted between the hatches. Some careful cutting and shaping was needed to fit around the hatch trims as the hatches turned out not to be exactly central on the deck. This probably reflects the situation on full sized Cutters as planking like this shows up every little discrepancy. (at least, that's how I convinced myself that it looks OK 😉)

Once the planks around the hatches were complete, I could move on to fitting longer lengths which speeded up the process somewhat. Where the ends of these longer planks reach the mahogany edging strip, the edge strip was cut to form a 'joggle' for the plank to fit into.

I had to butt joint the planks for the full length strips. Reading an article on-line about deck planking, the day after I had completed laying the deck, I discovered that I should have staggered the butt joints more than I have, ensuring that each joint is over a different bulkhead. Too late now! ☹️, but at least I know for next time (will there be a next time I wonder 😊)

Once the planking was all in place, my trusty block plane was used to flatten the surface followed by sanding with progressively finer paper from 80 grit down to 240 grit.

Looking at photos of full sized Cutters, the deck planks are screwed or bolted down, with a matching wooden plug covering the bolt head. To simulate the appearance of this, I made an embossing tool to mark the planks to imitate the wooden plugs. This tool is simply a length of steel rod hollowed by drilling with a center drill. The outside of the rod was then tapered on the lathe to form a cutting edge. The (imaginary) bulkhead positions were marked on the deck with a pencil line and then the tool gently pressed in to form a ring in each plank.