K7 Bluebird

[785boats]

I've finally managed to make some progress on the Bluebird & thought I'd start a build log on it here. I'm sure I'm going to need some help along the way so any hints, tips & answers to questions will be accepted gratefully.

stats-
Type... Well it's basically a rigger.
scale...1/8 = 36"long.
ply, foam, balsa & Glass construction.
Motor...580 9l
Batteries... 6s.
ESC... HiModel Gx 200A.
Prop... Starting with M445. (suggestions on this would be good.

In the pics you'll see the bits all cut & ready & then assembled. Foam will be added between the frames, carved to shape & then skinned with 0.6mm ply. Then a light glass over that. The sponsons are also foam with a 0.6mm ply skin. Nose tail & top blocks of balsa will be added & then a light glass. This will be fun.

Cheers.
Paul.

[TDM Racing]

Nice Paul!. Should be a good build to watch.
Where in the world did you find the plans I see in the pics????

[785boats]

Thanks Tom.

Got the drawings on a disc from Fred Blois at the following site. Just scroll down the page until you see them.

http://www.rainbowcoloured.co.uk/shop.htm

Lots of detail, & from the original drawings by the Norris brothers. Ken Norris gave Fred permission to reproduce them. There's some great photos on the disk too. Here's a sample

[Ub Hauled]

I think this looks fantastic... are you going to propel it or just place it on the mantel?
If so, what powerplant?

[ozzie-crawl]

having see some of pauls boats i would say it will be a runner, his scratch built canard runs real sweet
were you going to run this one paul ? 6s

[Flying Scotsman]

This an interesting build with a lot of history attached to the hull and the Campbell family

http://www.sigmapress.co.uk/knowl7662.html

Douggie

[icelert]

Great subject! Looking forward to the completed restoration of the full scale Bluebird sometime soon.

Here are some photos of the Bluebird that a master craftsmen friend of mine built in the 1970's. It has a gas powered inducted fan for power. If I remember correctly he built this from measurements taken from a plastic scale model and scaled it up to 1/8.
Not trying to hijack your build but, just give some inspiring photos for you to enjoy!

Keep posting your progress on this wonderful piece of history.

Bryan

[NitroVal]

Was this the last boat to attempt the water speed record and ended up disintegrating, killing the driver?

[785boats]

Ub Hauled.
Yep. It's a runner. Fiegao 580 9l on 6s is the plan.

Ozzie.
Don't you waggle your finger at me pal. Seriously though, being limited to 4s at our club means I'll run it at North Lakes. It's a bigger piece of water & will allow it to run long & fast. Don't forget this baby wasn't designed to take corners.
Although a few test runs at Boondall will probably be required.

Douggie.
It was both the history & the restoration project that got me started on this.
Plus I wanted to build my first rigger, so why not make it hard for myself & incorporate my love of scratch building scale models too. Answer? The Bluebird.
Great Site you posted there. Thanks.

Icelert.
Thanks for the pics. Every little bit helps. I especially thank you for the second pic because there is a model of the U-95 in the background. I built a 4' model of that boat powered by a Profi .60 many years ago. Wish I still had it. Thanks for the memories.

NitroVal
There's been more than a few who have died chasing that record.

Cheers.
Paul.

[icelert]

That 1/8 scale U-95 is actually a gas powered prototype model built before the actual U-95 touched water. It is built with many amazing features for its time, almost impossible to believe it is a 30+ year old model! It was also built by the same person that built the Bluebird model next to it and is featured in the March 1976 issue of RCM magazine.

Another little tidbit of info I might add. Last weekend our club was racing at a park along the shores of Lake Washington when of all people, Ron Jones Sr. stopped by to look at the boats and discuss much of the history behind them. Needless to say many of the boats in attendance where designed by him and he signed the bottom of several of them. Anyways I talked with him about the Bluebird restoration project and his involvement in getting the Bluebird back on the water. He had redesigned the sponsons for the new Bluebird so that it could get up on plane easier and be able to do lower speed runs(100mph!) for special event displays.

[785boats]

Icelert.
I can't remember, but if the plans were printed in the 1976 RCM, then that's when I built it & they were the plans I used. Was it that long ago? Again I say "wish I still had it"
I think it's fair to say that Ron Jones knows boats, and anything he says would be well worth listening to. What a stroke of luck for you and your club members. I hope you invited him back. He'd have some stories to bend your ears all afternoon.
All the best.
Paul.

[Ub Hauled]

that's a good looking boat (U95)! I had not seen it before...

[icelert]

Paul,

Thanks. Yes that issue has the plans that my friend obtained from the U-95's owner Jim Clapp.

We enjoyed our visit with Mr. Jones and hopefully he will be honoring us in the offseason with one of his wonderful lectures. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed! Here's a photo of him with his favorite hull, the 73 Pak!

I don't wish to sidetrack your Bluebird build any longer, but I'll be anxious watch its progress.

Best Wishes

Bryan

[785boats]

No worries about sidetracks here mate. It's all interesting stuff to me.

I've glued on the foam blocks & roughly shaped them. A bit more shaping to do & then the skin goes on.
Cheers.
Paul.

[785boats]

Long days at work & too tired at night so progress has been slow.
I've concentrated on the sponsons & have got them to the final filling/sanding stage.
The outrigger booms were fashioned out of some 1/8" ply for the base & some T section aluminium. Once these are all epoxied together & the leading & trailing filler blocks glued in I think they will be pretty strong.
The motor arrived from OSE a couple of weeks ago thanks to Ray at our club.
Man, a 580 9L is a big motor compared to the 540 sizes that I'm used to.
1800 Watts of power. That's only about 80Amps on 6s if I prop it up to draw that amount.
Well here's a couple of pics of the workings.
Cheers.
Paul.

[785boats]

I need some opinions /suggestions from those experienced in running riggers & hydros.
In the attached drawings you will see a planing wedge in the center of the transom as opposed to the small sponsons attatched to the side of the hull we see on most R/C riggers.
Obviously required for a jet propelled version.
As I'm building it as a surface drive version I was wondering if it would upset the water flow to the prop. Or would it be best to leave it out? Bear in mind that I'm attempting to build a 'scale' replica.
If it were to remain what sort of strut depth & angle in relation to the wedge do you think would be a good starting point? Should it be shallower in depth maybe?
Any insight would be most welcome.
Cheers.
Paul.

[785boats]

I dragged this old thing out from storage the other day, with the view to finishing it off. Good Lord. It's been 7 years since it was started.

Somewhere in that 7 years I had put the side skins on it so here is how it looked when I dusted it off.

Also, the first thing I noticed was that I missed out cutting the edges of the planing wedges on the sponsons at 45 degrees. So that was the first job.
Simply planed them off & epoxied on a piece of 0.6mm ply, then sanded them flush.

[785boats]

The next job was the front deck & cockpit area. A simple piece of 12mm balsa does the trick. I had a pilot & a perspex canopy for it somewhere. The hunt is on.

Then on Friday night I cut the urethane foam blocks for the cowling & got them all glued in & roughly shaped.

Last night was the final sanding & shaping.
Once that was done I cut the ply formers & removed the center section. This needed to be shortened each end slightly to allow a piece of 0.8mm ply to be epoxied on for strength & to keep the shape.
It all just needs glassing now.

[srislash]

Hey this is a nice build. A nice classic!

Shawn

[boredom.is.me]

Talk about a blast from the past!

[785boats]

Yep. She's a famous old boat.

[785boats]

A bit more progress over the last couple of days.
I removed the front two pieces of foam so I could epoxy in the spars for the sponsons, and add a couple of bracing blocks on the sides. I even added a piece od old carbon arrow shaft onto the spars for extra strength.
The bottom of the rear spar had to be cut out so I could slide the batteries up under the cockpit, hence the bracing blocks.
But the top aluminium spars met in the middle so I epoxied a piece of 1/8" ply top & bottom of them across the join to brace them. And a piece of carbon arrow shaft too. It's all pretty solid.
Then I glued the two pieces of foam back into place, & fiberglassed the three cowl sections.
Another coat of resin tomorow & then some sanding & filling.

Bottom of rear spar with carbon shaft & support blocks.
m_001.jpg

Spar cut flush with support blocks to allow batteries to fit.
m_003.jpg

Top of rear spar, & bottom of front spar added.
m_005.jpg

Ply doubler & carbon shaft added across the join of the top spar sections
m_006.jpg

The three cowling sections all glassed up.
m_008.jpg

[785boats]

A bit more work done last night & today.
Firstly I added a couple of pieces of 0.8mm ply to the edges on the hatch opening for the hatch to sit on. Then trimmed the glass on the cowlings to fit.
I epoxied on the front deck, & sanded it to shape. Then I cut a shallow groove for the top section of the front spar. That was then epoxied & screwed onto the hull.
It's recessed a bit below the finish surface, so I can add a skim coat of some auto body filler over the area to bring it flush with the deck.

The next project was to start on the cockpit. I found some good photos to help with that. Even a drawing of the dash board. So I can make one of them to fit in to it too.
I found the perspex canopy. It was for a P-51 Mustang. So I cut that in half & with a bit of heat at the rear part it should bend around the rear frame.
The pilot is still missing in action. I'm sure I'll find him though.

The ply trimming to the hatch opening
m_004.jpg

The cowling all trimmed & sanded.
m_003.jpg

The cockpit & canopy started. The top front spar section glued & screwed to the deck.
m_001.jpg

Canopy & splash guard details.
Donald-Campbell-credit-Paul-Allenby.jpg

The dashboard.
bluebird-k7-005.jpg

[NativePaul]

Very nice Paul.

Have you seen Mark's 1/7th K7 over on AStec Models? http://astecmodels.myfreeforum.org/v...php?f=11&t=533


I know it is the wrong Campbell and wrong Bluebird, but this is me in my younger days at Campbell Lake.

[785boats]

Hi Paul. Thanks for posting that.
No. I hadn't seen it, but it is a truly beautiful piece of work. And a good read.
I was convinced, by everything I had read when I started this model, that the inlets were way too small for an EDF to get the boat up over the hump & onto the plane. Unfortunately Marks problem has confirmed it. With the improvement of batteries & EDF units, since I started this boat, I was considering trying one. But I will definitely stay with a normal prop set up now.

I was actually born & lived in Crawley until we moved out here to Australia. I was about 5 years old I think. Apparantly we didn't live far from the Norris brothers' workshops.

Smooth looking dude in your younger days eh!

[785boats]

Starting to look like the real thing now.
Made the tail fin from some 1/8 ply & balsa
I also carved out the air intakes for a bit more realism, instead of just painting the bulkhead black.
Still in the process of filling & sanding.

[modvp55]

Looking good. Talked with Ken Warby awhile back, he was asked to drive the boat once restoration/rebuild is complete. I only know Ken because my father was part of the Hustler crew and our business did some repairs to the Hustler 20 or so years ago.

[785boats]

Well I'm going to ask you for a big favour then.
I've decided that after I finish the Bluebird, I'm going to build a few more WWSR boats.
I'm currently sketching up some plans for Kens' Spirit of Australia from some simple line drawings found on the net.
But LeeTaylors' Hustler is definitely on the list after that one. If you, or your father, can track down any line drawings or plans showing the bulkhead sections & elevations etc, that I can draw up some plans from I would very much appreciate it. I can't seem to find any.
Here's a few others that I am hoping to build. I have drawings for the Crusader, & Miss Britain III so they will be easy.

[modvp55]

I am going out to Ca in a couple days so will ask dad if he has anything. I know Rich Hallet built the hull but he has passed, his son lived in Lake Havasu last I heard. I can do a little checking for you.

[785boats]

That would be fantastic.I really appreciate what ever you can turn up.
Thanks.
Paul.