Eric Nordevall II

[petzon]

Some week ago I started the design phase of Eric Nordevall II in scale 1:20. Eric Nordevall will be my second scratch build but my first R/C

By Boberger. Photo:Bengt Oberger (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Some history:

Eric Nordevall was built in 1836-37 at Hammarstens docks In Norrköping Sweden. She travelled Gothenburg-Stockholm in the Göta channel for many years but in June 4 1856 she run aground in lake Vättern. Two days later she was taken off the ground but sunk during tow. The sinking place was forgotten but in 1980 the wreckage was found by two amateur divers at 45 meters (150 ft) depth in a surprisingly good condition, one could say that Eric Nordevall is the paddleships' Wasa: A lot fo nice underwater photos are found at: http://www.ericnordevall.se/en/

In 1995 the work to build a sailing replica started in the village of Forsvik some kilometers from the wreckage. The replica was named Eric Nordevall II and was finalized in 2011. A lot of information including photos of the build http://www.nordevall.com/se/gazeti/hem

Eric Nordevall is a fiddle-ship, i.e. the paddle wheels are recessed into the hull to maximize the ship size but keep her narrow enough to pass the tiny locks of Göta channel.  The main dimensions: 
Length 26,5m (90ft)
Max width: 6,4 m (21ft)

The profile above water line is quite low giving her a low center of gravity that I think will make her a stable model.  I 1:20 I think she will be an impressive model with plenty of space for R/C. Models dimension will be:
Length 143 cm ( 56 inch)
Width 32 cm (12,5 inch)
Height including mast approx 80 cm (31,5 inch)

I will build a traditional plank on frame construction with double planking. I will rip my own planks, inner planks of fir from an old ceiling from my house, outer planking maple that I cut down in my garden about 12 years ago. Deck will be from the same maple. I have got a copy of the frame drawings that was converted to model drawings last week. There is no good drawing available for the complete ship; I have got a scale sketch that was drawn before the replica was finalized. I have found that sketch contains some errors. The hull height is too low, but I am now almost sure that the error is below waterline and can quite easily be corrected. A lot of details are also wrong but as I took a lot of photos when I visited the ship two weeks ago I think I will handle those problems too. At the moment I am making the hull drawing in the CAD- program Solid edge, I will need some more days until I can start sawing the frames. I think I will make a mockup of the hull in cardboard first, just to make sure that I did not make any mistakes in the CAD.

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's & hullo again Martin

Now you have this thread posting as the correct title Eric Nordevall II you could ask a moderator to merge the previous postings on Eric Nordevall ....then the build thread here would be off to a good start 

By committing the hull lines & frames to Solid Edge you should easily pick any faults  ......was the error you note from the deck level down to the keel?

Your proposed build @ 1:20 scale will produce a good sized model  .......have you considered calculations for final total displacement?
[L x B x water line draft x block co-efficient]...I am guessing approx. 14 to 18 kg total displacement...you should really complete this estimate so as to provide you with a clear understanding of what you can & cannot do 

Maple can be a beautiful timber to use......but  it has many species & certain grain sizing & can be difficult to steam  ......... have you sampled your 12 year old aged tree?.....is it double diagonal  X planking you propose?

Any build questions where a recommendation may be helpful.......just ask away....there are many well skilled model boat builders here on PD's who are only too happy to offer constructive comment

Anyway please keep us posted with  of your build .....Derek 

[petzon]

The error is mostly  from waterline to keel, not too hard to correct in CAD but takes time as I am a beginner in CAD.

A rougth calculation gives a displacement of 21,7 kg

Regarding Maple we only have Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) in Sweden. As I only will use thin material as second planking I do not think the steaming will be an issue.

I have ripped the maple log and it looks really nice, some cracks but easy to cut away.

I am not sure what is ment by double diagonal X planking.

Of cause I will keep yyou posted with my progress and mistakes.

[andy]

Hi,

the 21kg, if true, will be enough for a steamer! have a look to my avatar of the PS DIESSEN model, shown as well here in the gallery. Hull made of brass 0,3mm soldered with 2m length and only 5 kg. steam engine made by myself with about 1,8kg- a lightweight- and the bolier with 3kg including water and fittings.. So- if you know how to construct the model and the hull very light, give her a model of the steam engine, too. the double- crossed planking was a good thing to make an hull with only a few skeleton parts!

Andy

[petzon]

21 kg i s a very rough estimation, will see if it's true or not. My model will electrically driven, I do not have the knowledge and equipment for steam build yet, maybe I will rebuild to steam later on.


I started my build with a cardboard mock-up to check that I have got the frames correct. Found a few minor problems that easily were corrected.


Some of the cut outs for the frames had to be done manually as my band saw was too small


My 8 year old son holds up the dry-fitted keel and frames. Model is longer than him


Frames and deck beams glued. Deck beams made from three thinner planks glued together to avoid a heavy steaming job. All gluing with Polyurethane, dries rapidly in the damp conditions we have due to heavy rain at the moment.

Hull has very interesting shape due the fiddle shape. Think there will be some challenges when planking

Tonight frame sides are sanded and filler blocks mounted in the front. Tries blue foam blocks for filler blocks instead of balsa this time. Have some pieces of blue foam left over, seems to be as easy as balsa to shape but cheaper. Photos in next update

[Spankbucket]

Hi there

It's really looking great....congratulations!!!

I shall follow your build with close interest. I like the idea of the foam blocks rather than balsa......probably a lot easier to shape etc.

Cheers........Bernie

[Paddleboat12]

A Great start, It will make an excellent model.

[petzon]

Thank you for all encouraging comments
Slowly the hull gets shaped. Blue foam works excellent as filler blocks but sanding smells like BBQ grandma’s knickers. Started planking from keel, maybe it should have been better to start from top. Hull shape is a real nightmare it curves in all directions at the same time. Not really happy with the look of the planking but I’m doing my very best.


I fond out that the front frame was wrongly positioned, had to be moved 22 mm to front. Just to press Ctrl+z and cut away some parts of front planking. Took me two nights of extra work.


To steam the planks I use a camping coffe pan. Works fine, but I burnt my fingers several times.


This Friday the planking was finalized, looks quite bad but sanding and some filler will for sure make it look nicer.


Sanding was a tough job, pine is really hard to sand by hand. Tried several power tools until I found that a big sanding cylinder in the cordless drill was the right tool. Some hours of sanding gave me this result


Two tubes of filler and a lot of sanding finally gave an acceptable result.


A quick test in my model boat test tank (my wife insist of naming it “bathtube”) verified that my calculation of a displacement of 21,7 kg was not that bad. In the test I added 20 kg of garden stones and waterline was approximately in the correct position, a little high but the weight of frames and planks is 3,7 kg. Next step will be to start with the decks and then the second planking.

[petzon]

I suddenly realized that it was quite some time since my last update. I am affected by something called work that is stealing too many hours of valuable building time. When choosing between building and updating my log I tend to prioritize building. Well I have made some progress with my model:

To handle the hull on my bench I needed a cradle; a quick and dirty design from some scrap pieces of plywood and some scrap timber.


The rear deck has to be removable to access R/C equipment. I have spent some weeks thinking of how to hide the screws but finally I found out that the bollards could be mounted with magnets and hid some screws. Other screws could be hidden in the deckhouse that could get a removable roof. Prior to mounting rear deck it looks like this.


The deck is made of 3 mm plywood and screwed to the deck beams. I quite rarely use my full size screw gun when building model ships


The deck is unscrewed and the deck beams cut with my razor saw. A piece of 15*15 mm birch timber is mounted for hull strength and shape.


The free part of deck beams is glued to the deck and the screws are carefully matched into the old holes. Scratch building is like flying to the moon while building the rocket during the trip. One can think of a problem for several weeks and suddenly the solution is found. I feel quite confident with the final solution.


The front deck is a bit tricky it is wider than the hull and not easy go get into shape. I spent one full night with the CAD to make the drawing, got some scaling problems that took time to work around. But finally I managed and could print four A3 sheets that were spray glued to plywood and sawn.


Deck beam assembly will be cut out as for rear deck.


Deck beam assembly screwed to deck, not glued yet as I will need to remove deck for final trimming.


The hull was coated with glass fiber and polyester when the weather still allowed outdoor jobs. The hull shape is really a nightmare; one could think that the design was made after a pint or two.


To mark for the cut out of windows I made a simple master from plastic, giving correct size and spacing. A piece for scrap wood was sanded to exact dimensions 24*24 mm, a wood screw a handle and the gauge was finalized. Window openings were sanded until the gauge could just be pressed through.


Second planking started at the rear end. The maple from my garden gives a really nice appearance. Just a shame that it will all be painted black


Second planking of hull sides is almost done. Hull bottom will be covered with cupper sheets. Hull shape is really tricky. Will need some filler also for the second planking.


Inside hull two pieces of 10*10 mm pine is mounted in the bottom to enable good fixing of motor and battery.


The Swedish post is getting a good income from all my material deliveries. 2 m of 0,01 mm cupper foil , 1 m of 6 mm stainless axis and finally some gear belt and wheels  together with some ball bearings were received from three suppliers during just two days

[petzon]

The rear part of the hull has visible nails above waterline. I purchased some 0,5*10 mm nails from Cornwall models boats and spent one night of putting 200 of these into the hull. One does not have to be crazy to build model ships but it surely helps


The rudder was built from 10 mm plywood and a brass tube. Not as easy at it ooks. The two first rudders were moved inot the wastebin, but the third one got acceptable. The rudder will be using a 10 mm brass tube for bearing, some grease between the tubes will give a smooth and water tight mounting.


Hull painted black with spray.


A closer look


As said earlier the hull bottom is covered with cupper plates, I make these from 0,1 mm cupper foil and emboss the rivets with  gear wheel. Cupper is expensive, total cost for the cull plating is almost £50


Some nights later one side is finalized. I have on purpose rotated some cupper plates and mounted some with the backside out to give some life into the cupper surface.


Cupperplating finalized, totally about 500 g cuppe. Some polish and removal of excess glue and finally a number of clear coats. I am using ZAR Ultra satin 20, a polyurethane coat for floors. Have used this for coating benches in my house and got in love with it. Floats very easily gives no brush marks and dries fast. The shape of the hull again gives some problems, some drops of the coat is were rinning, I will have to do a selected wet sanding later to solve this.


Now it is time to start making the paddle wheels. Sides will be cut from 0,7 mm brass sheet metal. I start with some CAD work to get a drawing that is spray glued to brass sheet. To get the sides exactly in the same shape I took two sheets of brass end riveted them together with some fine brass nails. Then some drilling (121 holes) and then hard work with a fret saw.


After filing and separation I have two sides.


Without access to a lathe I have to braze the hubs, Had big problems and ruined my paddle wheel sides until I realized how to make a simple fixture. I left some “ears” of the hub sides and drilled them 3 mm. Cut a piece of aluminum tube to 30 mm and cut to C-shape.


Assembled I got this nice “packet”, just to braze.


Removing screws and Al-tube and “ears” offcut gave me this result.


As paddle wheel sides were ruined it was just to do some more fret sawing.


As I got some severe pain in my arm from the sawing I continued with some other work. Dry fitting for ball bearings. They are really tiny, just 10 mm in OD. See the match as reference


Axis cut to rough length, seldom a full size angle grinder is used in modelling


In full size the oak floats are secured with iron clamps that are treaded at back side of float and mounted with nut, this will not be strong enough in 1:20


I decided to go for floats in 1,5 mm brass (Could one call floats made of brass for floats or will they become sinks?)and solder them to sides. Made some tests with the ruined sides and some pieces of scrap brass, looks promising. I had to order a 200*500 mm sheet of 1,5 mm brass,  just £70.


I found some nice M1 brass screws and nuts at RB model in Poland. Ordered a sufficient number of them to use on my paddle wheels.


Finally the soldering job on the first paddle wheel was finalized


Some screws did really add some nice details to the hub of the wheel, mounting was a bit tricky.


The hooks that hold the floats are made from brass wire and a M1 nut is soldered, I do not think one will see that the treads are missing on the hook end


Finally the first wheel is complete at one side.

[Harold H. Duncan]

Very nice.
You are one very patient man.
Keep up the good work
cheers
Kiwi

[derekwarner_decoy]

petzon....

1. that is a brilliantly constructed & beautifully scaled wheel set..........
2. are you going to age the brass naturally or use a chemical agent?........it would be a shame to paint the wheels & loose the clarity or crispness of detail
3. I think these are the most professionally home constructed wheels I have seen 
4. what type of glue did you use for the copper sheathing?
5. the ball bearings.....I see they are flanged....are the ZZ [sealed both sides]?
6. if the ball bearings are 10mm OD, is the shaft 5mm?
7. if the rudder profile is to scale........you may experience poor steering........many models require over scale length or surface area to achieve steerage

Excellent work.....please keep the images coming.....Derek

BTW.......I have gone down a slightly different path & purchased miniature plummer blocks complete with 4mm ID grade 304 stainless ZZ sealed bearings for my paddle shaft

[Doonie]

Top Job Mate.   Very interesting.

Doonie.

[Spankbucket]

Fantastic work...really impressive....I just love the copper plating!

[R.G.Y.]

Very good work.