GRP Hull

My first attempt at building a scratch model from French plans was very satisfying and a steep learning curve. I photographed every stage so please use my ideas and let me know of better solutions.
The main problems are the rear shape of the hull is wrong and there is insufficient room to house servos to control the sails.

So my next stage is to build a half model of just the hull to get the shape correct, then build a full male mould to produce a GRP hull.

I found a drawing showing the lines of the Jolie Brise taken off the actual hull in the 1920's by Jack Laurent Giles in the book "Jolie Brise - A Tall Ship's Tale" by Robin Bryer. They were enlarged to match the 1/20 scale. This is the fun bit. I produced my own set of drawings using both sets of plans and photos in the book.

The Plans

The only 1/20 scale plans I could find are in French so the first job was to translate the terms. Luckily I had built the 1/50 scale Artesania Latina Kit and all the parts were in English and French, so I thought I could use this. No chance!
They used different French words for the majority of the terms. Even though I have built two real sailing boats (27 and 36 feet), I did not know the corrrect English terms for the parts or where they were on a old Gaff rigged boat. An online French/English helped a little but it was the usage of the correct English terms that has caused me the most problem.
The two Glossarys I have found most useful are Seatalk and Marinewaypoints.

Now to the plans, There are errors and ommissions so don't think you can use them immediately. There is no parts list. It took me about three solid days to product my own then came the problem where to source the parts, as you will need to modify the design to use available parts/materials. That took more time.

One of my objectives is to sail this model so modification will have to be made to have a removable deck section and a compartment. I was told that many modellers use a heavy lead/acid battery as ballast so this will have to be chosen soon. I have looked at controlling the rudder by an arm/lever attached to the rudder shaft between the hull and deck but there is little space. The angle of movement needs to be about 40 degrees about the centre. (measured off the Artesania model). This is a problem that has to be resolved befor the frames are fixed to the deck.

In hindsight, it is proving to extreamly valuable that I made the Artesania Latina model first. I modified the method of fitting the rudder by ignoring the three brass hinges and replacing them with a simple pivot pin at the bottom. It looks much nicer anyway. Look at their picture, the brass hinges and chainplates distroy the beautiful lines. Notice that they give this model the lowest level of difficulty. You need to be able to read technical drawings!

The slotted method of construction of the keel and frames has advantages for producing a strong true shape especially for the deck as it curves in all three directions. The Modelismo Naval - Pady5 web site shows the step by step construction of the Artesania Latina Kit, useful source of ideas. Try a Google translation from the Spanish for a giggle.