That is what I'm trying to achieve. A bit late for some things but there are some parts like sails which were always to be made from scratch. At this stage I'm going to adjust as much as I can. Well, I made a mistake trusting Robbe and now I'm going to have to learn to love Valdivia again.
I'm saving all my energy and passion for Bluenose.

I think I see your problem Andy.
The tack of the staysail and jib appear to be wrongly placed. The tack of the flying jib seems to be OK.
When you study the photo of the real craft you see that the tack of the staysail should be inboard of the bowsprit, and the jib tack about half way along the bowsprit
To change or correct these will involve making new sails to fit the new configuration.
I am not so sure about the position of the spreaders. When comparing photos 2 and 3 I can see that the heights of the masts are different from the original. Photo 2 of the original shows the fore mast and main mast both taller than the respective topmasts. Thus the headsails appear larger in the model when compared to the original.
If you are concerned that your model should more closely resemble the original then yes, you will need to make new masts and sails. I don't see any way around it.
Sorry to be the bearer of such news, but you did ask !🤔🤔

Thank you for the link Ron👍

John, Valdivia had the motor installed originally and fortunately it was left untouched in mine. Makes life easier.
I'm following the manual with regard to rc gear and have the servos ready to be installed. I guessed the travels so far but still need to know those for the foresails.
You mentioned schooners... Any chance to see them?
I need to check out the grp hulls for sure btw. Very intriguing.

Roy, I have to say, fantastic experience. I'd love to able to talk to someone form the development team. I really love that boat, not as much as Bluenose though.
Thank you for sharing.

https://www.mobilemarinemodels.com/schooner-62-c.asp

I am well aware that for some of you builders a preformed hull is your desired way to build, but I don’t like using the type of glue these hulls require. My preference is to build with Titebond III and create my own hulls.

Yes, as with many things in life, there are imperfections, but in the long run, does it matter! It isn’t a museum quality vessel, it is only a hobby with many benefits along the way. Pride of work and seeing it sailing.

My opinion,

Ron 🇨🇦

Hi Andy,

I am just finishing off the building of a two master gaff rig schooner right now. This is one of 3 such schooners within our club; all based on the excellent GRP schooner hulls as offered by Mobile Marine Models of Lincoln.

Due to difficulties installing and rigging sail winches on such "complicated" models, we have all installed powerful sail arm servos. The other recent thread on sail arms verses winches on this esteemed forum refers!

I really feel that scale- sail models are really the ultimate in all sorts of ways. Are you building your schooner with an auxiliary motor or without?

Dr John F Leeds and Bradford BBC. 😁😁😴

Hello, Valdivia is the current name it also had the of something von Altona she has changed owners and names since.
I wrote a short article in Int Marine Modelling some years ago when Chris Jackson was editor. I had been to the Dortmund exhibition and met the Robbie saleman, who'd been on the boat and had lots of photos and it was he who got them to make the model. I believe Billing also came out with a kit at the same time.
He told me some of the above and let me sail her and she needed a bit of power on to get round corners. The jit has the upper masts drop down for ease of transport, he had a Renaukt Clio.
Nice man lovely boat and good luck.
Roy

Dear John. That is a very insightful comment and I agree fully.
What I have to comment on is the simplification. Yes it can go too far however I don't see valdivia as a simple model, well, apart from maybe some details like splicing. I do really think that shifting a sail's anchor point maybe a mistake as well as wrong position of both mast and jib spreaders.
You made me rethink my approach to this project... and life... maybe. ha ha
I'm going to make the foresail correct and keep the jib in a wrong position for now. I'll see how it performs in practice.

Oh and one more thing dear readers. Do any of you own this beautiful vessel or know someone who does? I'm scratch building the control gear and need some info on seets' travels.

Hi Andy,

Although I have not built this impressive model I have examined them at various regards and shows.

Clearly model boats and particularly complex models such are schooners are simplified somewhat when compared against clear photographs of the original. This especially applies to the rigging which would be a veritable "cats cradle" on a 1\32 or 1\24 scale model.

In my experience it also particularly applies in kits of sailing models where some manufacturers take simplification far too far when compared to the plans of experienced modellers.

Indeed that is why we see a totally separate class for kit-built models against the more complex (and frequently more accurate) scratch or plan-built models of the same subject.

Kits have to sell and that means they must be simple enough to be built without undue difficulty by "average" modellers. They must also be simple enough to be economic (and hence profitable) to produce.

It must also be said that kits also vary widely in their quality. However, we must never assume they are correct in all respects until the completed model is checked carefully against builders' plans and\or photographs of the real thing.

Dr John F Leeds and Bradford. BBC 🤔🤔🤔

My schooner was made along with many suggestions that Gary Webb uses on his designs. It is best in light to moderate winds.

This model is 30” w/o the bowsprit. Gary’s schooners are 54” and have 16” fins with bulbs. Mine doesn’t, I screw on a steel 5” fin to the keel.

Gary adds no internal weight, all lead is in the bulb. Mine has lead shot glued inside the hull.

I do agree on the open cockpit problem. Water as we know can get anywhere; hard to live without it, hard to live with it sometimes. What a force.
I stopped worrying (let's say) after my cutter developed a leak. Very old, crappy epoxy glue simply disintegrated around rudder which caused flooding and in result the electrics failed. I had to go into the water to save my boat. Fortunately the day was warm enough and only 2 onlookers. That taught me a very important lesson - I'm not sailing my boat in winter or any other cold season.

You have way more experience than me, but yes, between you and me, you have sparked a conversation. I do that on this site from time to time too. Thought I would get some chatter about the St.Pierre Dory which I hope to scratch build after the garage is warmer. My band saw and other tools are out there.

This is my scratch build of a Wianno Senior I did in 2018. It took two summers to work through getting the ballast right where I felt comfortable sailing it out on the lake. The original ones have a large open cockpit which looks nice, but not practical for an RC model. I glued a clear plastic cover over it which keeps water out of the cockpit.
Sometimes with a model, alterations need to be made to achieve the desired result. I am more thinking about having a good sailing vessel where I don’t need to be thinking “is water getting in the hull” when the model is out riding the waves.

I use a clear tape that seals potential water from getting into the boat. It doesn’t damage the finish but gives me more security.

Ron

The link you found Ron is the one. Wow. I think I found a different one before with some of the pics shared. ....wait IT IS the same site😀

Before I built my cutter I read The gaff rigging handbook which gave a lot of insight. Hey, I even rigged grand turk in 5th scale.
What boggles my mind however is why the heck the kit is so incorrect. My thinking is they moved the anchor points of the sails in order to make them easy to control and pass each other. I have no clue. Just trying to ignite a discussion.

It will mean making two new sails or altering the ones you have created. But, yes, if you are trying to make it look like the original, then the model will require changes.

Did you carefully look at all the photos in the site? A couple show where the spreaders are located on the masts. Are these different than your model?

Are you suggesting that I should scrap the idea of following robbe's questionable ideas and do it correctly? I'm thinking of moving the foresail's mounting point to its correct position, I must admit...🤔

There are several views here showing spreaders and various sail configurations. Hope they might help you.
http://www.tallship-fan.de/cgi-bin/tallship_e.pl?ACTION=DISPLAY&SCHIFFSID=433

Copied from the same link:
“ further she changes the owner 4 times, before "Vanadis" came to Germany in 1956 and was renamed the "Valdivia", 1956 fitted with the first engine.
1978-81 restored true to the original abstaining any luxury.
she was based in Flensburg then belonging to the local museum port
2003 sold to a shipyard owner of Rendsburg who intended to overhaul her, renamed the "Vanadis" again”

Also a couple photos of cutters

Ron, the length is 140cm and the boat is the actual Valdivia. There was also a Vanadis but I'm not sure if it was a different vessel or just a different name for Valdivia

What is the hulls length w/o bowsprit? What is the name of the full sized vessel seen in the photos where people are on board. I want to do some research.