Having virtually finished the drawings for a future build, the Bruce Campbell Christina 25, and enjoying a bit of drawing associated with the hobby when not building or painting, I thought I'd make a start on this project which I know Bob/Zooma is keen to build. I won't be building one myself as it is bigger than I like to go with my builds, have too many other builds on the go and planned and I tend to prefer the earlier timber Faireys, though I do like the look of some of the post Fairey Marine inspired revivals which were built in fibreglass. Some of these were mentioned in the Future Fairey Projects thread and it's there that Bob first mentioned his wish to build a Swordsman 37, the full rear cockpit version rather than the aft cabin version.
The Swordsman 37 and 40 version were produced by Swordsman Marine between 2000 and 2008 and were one of a number of companies who revived the Fairey Marine style of boats, often with input from the original Fairey designer Alan Burnard, and usually disappeared after a few short years.
Early days at the moment as I'm drawing the superstructure and plan so that I can compare it with the drawings for the timber Fairey Marine Swordsman 33 which was produced as a kit by Aerokits in the 1960s. Plan is to use those drawings as the basis for the hull - I've already determined that the extra 4 feet was added at the stern, so a case of adding another frame and then modifying to produce the full open cockpit. The bow seems to be more sleek than the original Swordsman 33 so that will need looking at as well.
Chris
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Having virtually finished the drawings for a future build, the Bruce Campbell Christina 25, and enjoying a bit of drawing associated with the hobby when not building or painting, I thought I'd make a start on this project which I know Bob/Zooma is keen to build. I won't be building one myself as it is bigger than I like to go with my builds, have too many other builds on the go and planned and I tend to prefer the earlier timber Faireys, though I do like the look of some of the post Fairey Marine inspired revivals which were built in fibreglass. Some of these were mentioned in the Future Fairey Projects thread and it's there that Bob first mentioned his wish to build a Swordsman 37, the full rear cockpit version rather than the aft cabin version.
The Swordsman 37 and 40 version were produced by Swordsman Marine between 2000 and 2008 and were one of a number of companies who revived the Fairey Marine style of boats, often with input from the original Fairey designer Alan Burnard, and usually disappeared after a few short years.
Early days at the moment as I'm drawing the superstructure and plan so that I can compare it with the drawings for the timber Fairey Marine Swordsman 33 which was produced as a kit by Aerokits in the 1960s. Plan is to use those drawings as the basis for the hull - I've already determined that the extra 4 feet was added at the stern, so a case of adding another frame and then modifying to produce the full open cockpit. The bow seems to be more sleek than the original Swordsman 33 so that will need looking at as well.
Thanks guys. Once I've done a bit more on the drawings, which will just be the outlines at the moment, I can compare with the kit drawings and I'll post something up.
You made the right choice with the full cockpit version Bob, as like with other models; Huntsman 31 and the Swordsman 33, it looks the more sleek and attractive design. Fewer were sold at full-size though as folks wanted the additional cabin space. The open cockpit of the Swordsman 37 looks huge, great for parties!
I need to order some 48” long sheets of 1.5mm plywood ready to skin the Swordsman 37.
Although the clue is in the name - I have only just realised that my standard 36” x 12” lengths of plywood skinning that I always keep in stock will not be long enough for this hull !
I've drawn up the outlines and compared with the Aerokits kit drawings for the Swordsman 33 (S33). The plans sit exactly on top of each other with the extra 4 foot of the Swordsman 37 (S37) extending rearwards from that of the 33. I reckon the extra length makes the hull look nicer as it is longer for the same beam and narrows a bit more at the stern, so has echoes of the Huntsman 31 about it, especially with the sleeker bow. The side view is a different story though.
We know that the hull of the S37 was derived from the Fairey Marine Dagger commercial/military boat built in 37 and 40 foot lengths and that that hull was based on the S33 but it seems that in its progression to fibreglass and its use for the Dagger a number of changes were made. Certainly for the S37 the freeboard has been increased to maintain headroom with the lower and streamlined cabin and the bow has a sharper look to it, as I said similar to the H31.
The superstructure could be grafted onto an extended S33 hull but I think it might look a bit of a dog's dinner though altering the bow would help. The S37 has a more rakish chine rail as well.
Thoughts?
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I've drawn up the outlines and compared with the Aerokits kit drawings for the Swordsman 33 (S33). The plans sit exactly on top of each other with the extra 4 foot of the Swordsman 37 (S37) extending rearwards from that of the 33. I reckon the extra length makes the hull look nicer as it is longer for the same beam and narrows a bit more at the stern, so has echoes of the Huntsman 31 about it, especially with the sleeker bow. The side view is a different story though.
We know that the hull of the S37 was derived from the Fairey Marine Dagger commercial/military boat built in 37 and 40 foot lengths and that that hull was based on the S33 but it seems that in its progression to fibreglass and its use for the Dagger a number of changes were made. Certainly for the S37 the freeboard has been increased to maintain headroom with the lower and streamlined cabin and the bow has a sharper look to it, as I said similar to the H31.
The superstructure could be grafted onto an extended S33 hull but I think it might look a bit of a dog's dinner though altering the bow would help. The S37 has a more rakish chine rail as well.
Chris have you considered using sandwich construction for the bow blocks.
I remember that my father took this approach with his swordsman using either obeche or jelutong, I don’t remember which
Ed
@EdW Hi Ed, no I hadn't, I should have for my own Swordsman build, would have saved some weight! But that was one of my first builds and I didn't know that much then. Never used sandwich construction so still learning!
I'm progressing drawing up the frames, once done, I'll see what they look like and see what Bob thinks.
Bit more progress. Decided on the number and position of the frames, going for 8, can't believe that the Aerokits Swordsman 33 only had 5! Did the job though.
As you can see from the side view in the previous post I had the line of the chine but don't have it for the plan view, I need both to be able to draw up the frames. But from looking at photos and experience of other Fairey hulls I've drawn the chine on plan which I think will work. Not as extreme as the Huntsman 31 but much sleeker than the Swordsman 33 (performs well though!) - see the green/purple dotted lines. So now I can progress with drawing up the frames.
Bob, I assume you are sticking with a single motor?
Chris
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Bit more progress. Decided on the number and position of the frames, going for 8, can't believe that the Aerokits Swordsman 33 only had 5! Did the job though.
As you can see from the side view in the previous post I had the line of the chine but don't have it for the plan view, I need both to be able to draw up the frames. But from looking at photos and experience of other Fairey hulls I've drawn the chine on plan which I think will work. Not as extreme as the Huntsman 31 but much sleeker than the Swordsman 33 (performs well though!) - see the green/purple dotted lines. So now I can progress with drawing up the frames.
Bob, I assume you are sticking with a single motor?
@zooma I wouldn't know where his prop shafts are positioned but I have had to advise one or two folks doing Fairey builds with twin props that they are not positioned mid-way between the chine and keel which would seem the obvious position. On the full-sized boats they are closer to the keel.
Also full-sized models don't have the excess of power that models tend to have and are used in a different way. They spend most of their time running pretty straight and rarely make sharp turns under full power. Models on the other hand are often run faster than scale and are constantly turning, especially on smaller ponds/lakes.
All my builds are single prop but sort of wish I'd made the Swordsman double but it was an early build started.
@ChrisF. That is a good point that you mention Chris.
By positioning any twin shafts that are going to be used to power a model boat that has a deep "V hull form closer to the keel, makes a lot of sense as the further way from the sides of the boat they are, the further the model can be leaned into a turn before they begin to lift out of the water.
As a matter of interest, when driving a single shaft deep "V" hull, it is still possible for the propeller to lift out of the water during a high speed turn!
This has never happened to me when I have been driving my LesRo Rapier, but it has happened to me plenty of times when I was racing my Swordsman !
You made the right choice with the full cockpit version Bob, as like with other models; Huntsman 31 and the Swordsman 33, it looks the more sleek and attractive design. Fewer were sold at full-size though as folks wanted the additional cabin space. The open cockpit of the Swordsman 37 looks huge, great for parties!
Chris
I need to order some 48” long sheets of 1.5mm plywood ready to skin the Swordsman 37.
Although the clue is in the name - I have only just realised that my standard 36” x 12” lengths of plywood skinning that I always keep in stock will not be long enough for this hull !
Bob.