7/13/2022: More loop-de-loops

A test run of the loops went pretty well, but I felt it needed some suspension in it, so I figured I'd put a pair of blocks connected by a spring in the middle of the system. Thinking some more, it seemed tensioning the two loops together like that wasn't a good idea, so I decided to mount a post on the fin trunk and hang the blocks on separate springs from that, keeping the two loops independent.

I rigged up one loop this way and ran it back and forth hauling the weight of a can of spray paint up and down, and it seemed to be up to the task, though I did wind up switching to a harder spring than I had started with.

The tensioning blocks will use the same pulley model I used for the idlers, and I made some slab sides to hold them, then printed all that together with a barrel and a propeller I found on Thingiverse.

The barrel is modeled with wood banding instead of iron, so I need to see if I can change that on the 3D model. The circle visible on the end is the plug for a drain hole so it wouldn't have liquid resin trapped inside when printing. Pride had three of these on their sides in front of the house blocking the hand-pump. There was sometimes a 55 gallon drum lashed in there as well, but I don't recall that being there when I was aboard. The prop with be just for show, and be screwed on so it'll spin as the boat sails.

Remodeled the barrel with iron bands and chocks, as well as resizing it. Now to see how it prints.

7/15: Well, they printed great, except the ends didn't print. Seems they were too thin. The size is right though the iron bands could be a little more pronounced.

Editing the file from Thingiverse wasn't going to fix it, so I made one from scratch and modeled the flap that covers the access hole on this one.

7/16: While I waited for the new barrels to print, I wondered what to do with the open ended ones - I thought maybe using them as napkin rings. The new barrels printed fine.

7/27: The Cat's Cradle With the control loops in place and operational, I have to figuring out the fairleads, through-decks, and where things were on deck on the real boat. Also, how I want them to operate on the model. For instance, things like the mainstays ran aft so the winch could be used to tighten it up. Should I have my thru-deck aft, of forward and pull the other end of the tackle? A lot of this I'll have to temporarily rig up on the model to try out and see what works, and looks, best.

Here's a draft diagram of the controls. The braces for the squares aren't on it yet, nor are running back-stays for the main top-mast.

7/31: Deck Boxes From the beginning, Pride had a pair of deck boxes, port and starboard that served as steps for people coming aboard. By 1981, the shorter box seems to have gone below and only the taller boxes stayed on deck, along with a pair of woven rope mats. I guessed at the size for my 3D model by the other items in the photos. The printed models have no bottoms so there's no issue with draining.

7/31: Winch Drums and Roll-Bar The riding bitts at the main mast have had a rod installed for the winch for a long time, now it's time it got it's drums. Off-hand, I thought I could just reprint a pair I made for Mark's schooner Cliodhna, but they're too different a style, so I 3D modeled them from Pride photos. These are on the printer as I type this, so I'll update here when they're done.

Apparently the weight of the mains'l, boom, gaff, et al, on the topping lifts pulling at the head of that highly raked main mast was a concern very early on, so a frame was built for the boom to rest in when the sail was down. It was made of welded steel tubing, and because of it's shape, was referred to as the roll-bar. It was installed on the boat in late 1977 or early 78 from what I can tell from photos; it was certainly on board in 81.
I was planning to make the model's from brass tube, but I 3D modeled it more as an experiment to see if a resin one would be up to the job. I printed it in two halves so it would fit in the printer, and "glued" it together with some resin and a zap of UV light. If I'm careful handling the model, it might do alright, but it wouldn't take much to break it on a working model that will be handled a lot. On the other hand, a brass one, if damaged would be a major job to repair whereas a resin one could simply be reprinted and replaced. A brass one might cause other damage to the model, like bulwarks and rails, where a resin one would likely be the only thing damaged - there's something to be said for that. Again, this is more of a test print, a finished version will to have all those turks heads they seemed to tie in arbitrary loctions around the thing, and be sized to sit on the boat davits with the fairlead pads at it's feet.

6/08/2023: I expect the model to be as wet as the real boat, so I got this impellor bilge pump.

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