This is a kit from Clyde Model Dockyard of Swallow - from the stories of Swallows and Amazon

https://www.clydemodeldockyard.com/shop/p/clinker-boat-model-kit

It could be argued that this is the most famous dinghy in the world? The kit is very well designed and manufactured. However, there is minimal advice about making it into a RC sailing model which I want to do. The kit was featured in the April edition of Model Boats magazine here in the UK - although the model was well made in the article it was not a sailing model.

The planking is complete - used "superglue" but didn't rush and did it over a couple of days. Some observations :

You can never have enough clamps - a variety of sizes
Holding the planks down on the transom needs thinking about - I used a small "sash" type clamp
Getting the planks to hold in tight at the bow is also difficult found it best to do one side - let it dry - then the other.
Replaced the risers with one piece of spruce

Next job - use some West Epoxy in side the transom and bow to make a strong joint. Also create a small fillet on the out side where the planks come into the stem.

Although not local to myself - I have relatives near by - can recommend Al's Hobbies in Milton Keynes - a real model shop with a good range of materials, especially small section wood in 900mm lengths - plus lots of other "stuff"

https://alshobbies.co.uk/

Used a card template to make some sides to the benches out of thin ply - to make lockers to house the batteries and receiver. Theses should be glued in place and I think the door under the rear bench will also be permanently fixed. The bench top will be removable - haven't yet decided how these will be fixed down.

The rudder servo fits in the rear locker and will use a rod to control the rudder. The rear bulkhead will have some slots cut in it so leads can be run between the different components.

Have added some West epoxy in the both the bow and stern.

Used lengths of spruce - which bent around the gunwale without the need for any "steaming"

The idea is that the mainsheet is operated via a servo housed under the thwart. This housing is designed so it is easy to remove. The sheet is run through the eye in the boat and servo arm so to give a 2:1 ratio and this seems to give enough travel, also the servo seems to provide enough power to hold the sheet quite tightly.

Although the housing is not waterproof - it should keep the servo reasonably safe - this is not going to be a "heavy weather" boat.

The photos show how the side benches have been boxed in and the rudder operation, which is via a link - 2mm dia plastic rod - to the servo which is under the rear bench.

Here's some snaps after the hull has been painted. Still need to add the wear plates for the rowlocks. Have made a start on the removable fin keel. When this is completed I'll add the RC equipment and spars etc, before doing a float test in the bath to make a judgement about how much ballast is needed.

Have still to decide what to do about a waterline or different colour for the underside.

The original Swallow was a sailing boat, so I wanted this model also to sail. This does bring some problems, as its not possible to scale down wind and waves. The rudder is to scale and possibly too small but will initially leave it and see how the boat sails, if needed I'll just make another with a larger blade.

The model instructions suggests the long keel can be "metal", so I made this from a piece of 1/4 by 1/2 inch brass. This does give some weight low down but not enough for the boat to sail. An option would be to use another piece of brass the same size and attach this to the bottom of the boat and with some ballast inside the boat, under some boards could be a solution but possibly wouldn't work that well.

Next option would be a dagger board case, in front of the central thwart, as found on a Mirror dinghy, then make a removable keel from some 3mm aluminium sheet, with the lead cast on the end. Another idea would be to fit a piece of brass tube through the keel and thwart, so a keel could be held in place. This design is widely used on model yachts. Both these ideas would really need to be considered at the start of the build and also change the inside appearance of the boat.

So the final design is made from a piece 1/4 inch sq brass, with two 3mm dia brass rods, threaded each end. The keel is made up of separate pieces of wood, with two thin pieces of ply that on the outside that are a tight fit over the boat's keel, which has two M3 tapped holes, so machine screws can be used to hold the assembly in place.

The ballast weight will be cast lead and this will be drilled so it fits over the extended lengths of the brass rods. The benefit of this design is that its fore and aft position can be adjusted as can the lead ballast so the trim of the boat can be adjusted. Certainly sailing downwind, there is a requirement to prevent the hull from nose diving. The design also allows for the keel to be removed and for the boat to still look as the original. The next task is to do a test float in the bath and judge how much ballast is needed, as well as the boat's trim. The keel seems quite secure on the hull - see photos.

Hope this all makes sense !

This is a paper template - may need to explore the need for a parrel loop on the gaff.

Finished installing the RC equipment and this all seems to work, the on/off switch is a bit of a fiddle to use as its in a tight corner, but I can live with that. The sail is made from an offcut of sailcloth.

Did a float test in the bath and added some weight to see how it floats. Around 1Kg seems an ideal weight and this will be cast from lead shot and then bolted to the fin keel. The boat only weights 1.2Kg, so its almost 50:50 ratio, so should sail well. Will also look at making a removable balsa wood block that fits in front half of the boat - just in case the boat gets swamped. This would be held in place by the mast which could pass through a hole in the bouyancy block.