How to retrofit remote control into an SB/5 Western Star with later brass rudder.
**WARNING** Do not under any circumstances try performing this procedure on a working complete yacht as to ruin an original Star Yacht is the subject of nightmares.
It took a long time to find a donor yacht but worth the wait.
For this conversion of an Western Star, I will be using a 1967-72 version with the rounded stern. Overall the yacht was in good condition, my donor had a damaged deck, superficial damage and snapped tiller arm.
First of all, I balanced the hull between a couple of fingers and adjusted the positions until I had a good balance and then marked this spot (Arrow below) on the hull side with a pencil, this is to give a datum line to position the additional R/C parts so that the yachts balance is not affected when completed and sailing.
PART 1 - The Strip Down.
Being in a good condition, the deck furniture was removed easily and stored safely in a container. Screw-eyes, washers, sheet-horses, brass rings, screws and the circular mast mount.
Once the deck furniture was removed, it was necessary to remove the broken tiller arm, as it was to be replaced to make things easier I used a hacksaw to cut off the bend of the shaft just above the rudder tube sticking out through the deck. If the tiller arm had been complete I would have put heat on the rudder blade to pull it off the rudder shaft.
Next was to split the deck from the hull, starting at the stern using a flat paint scraper, I eased the deck away from the hull, the deck is secured in place by glue and panel pins. All the pins pulled through the decking to be left sticking out of the hull edge, these were removed easily with pliers. The deck was already damaged and de-laminating so it will only be used as a template to make a new replacement.
The split hull, note the strengthening panels under the deck for the mast mount and the brass tube for the rudder shaft. The Western Star is unusual as it has a deck brace fitted amidships because of it's size, smaller models do not have this.
The side rubbing strips were removed as one was broken, new ones will be fitted after painting. The rubbing strips and keel lead weight had been painted blue which in this for this version should have been gold, this was later repainted gold.
That's all that is needed for this strip down, now for the hull preparation.