No wonder you said you were an ex seafarer in an earlier post.

Nerys

I started on the cargo ships, but soon moved over to the tankers and much preferred them. Stayed on tankers for the next 25 years pretty much. I did a couple of FG trips with FTE. I joined the Speciality in Barbados in 1981. The Superiority was another, went to Italy, East Germany and Sweden. Should have gone to Casablanca but paid-off in Wismar and came home in time for my 21st birthday and to sit my first ticket.

I like your idea of being able to move the leeboards fore and aft. Most model barges have leeboards that pivot, though they are usually left in the up position when sailing. The majority of models have a removable false keel bolted to the hull, more often than not with a bulb of lead on the bottom to impart stability. Some people use what is called a ducks foot keel, that is a moulding shaped roughly like a ducks foot and filled with lead shot as ballast bolted to the hull. Some models have been built with a ballasted hull and leeboards in the down position, but they have not been at all satisfactory, just blowing down to leeward.

Hi Nerys,
Does this model of Veronica have working leeboards or a removable false keel that could be adjusted fore and aft ? On my 12" : foot model the leeboards hinge/pivot on a round bar and I have to slide the hinge assembly forward to get her to balance when I set the jib as well as the stays'l. Lazy skippers leave it forward and trim by heaving the leeboards up a bit, causing less helm but DREADFUL leeway.
Best wishes and a beam reach!
Lemmerhengst

Thinking about the mizzen, if you are going to have a long bowsprit with the big racing headsails, you will probably find that you need the bigger Bermudan mizzen, much though I dislike the thought, to balance the bigger headsails. If not, she could carry lee helm. A friend who is in the final stages of building a Veronica has not given her a bowsprit, she is rigged as a staysail barge so is properly balanced with the diminutive sprit mizzen.

Cheers, Nerys

What am I doing talking about Sara and Veronica, you probably know far more about them than I do if you worked for Everards. Take it you were on their coasters as they had given up on barges by then. Always interested to hear tales of coasting, where you went, what ships you were on, cargoes you carried. I was well out of it by then, so you would be talking a different era.

Cheers, Nerys

Not sure on the Mizzen, we’ll have to have a look and decide soon(ish) though. I was with Everards for 10 years from 1979. Sailed with and worked with a few ex. Bargemen. Some great lamp swinging yarns!

Hi JKM.
Really interesting build.
Not something I know a great deal about, but Certainly Nerys has a wealth of knowledge on your project.
Martin has given some good info on the servos.
Never be afraid to ask.
Regards Bill

Which mizzen are you fitting, the traditional sprit or the enormous Bermudan they fitted to her and Sara for racing? She sprouted quite a long bowsprit and had available all sorts and combinations of headsails. Everards spent a fortune on those two barges trying to win races then eventually broke up Sara and sold Veronica for a houseboat and I think even that has gone now.

Cheers, Nerys.

That’s very kind of you. Thank you very much. We are scratch building her from the plans we got from Sarik. The intention is to go for the big rig with the extended bowsprit.

We are really enjoying the process 😀

Hi JKM,

Are you building Veronica from the Sarik part kit and plans, scratchbuilt with the plans, or from a GRP hull? She is a very popular boat to build and performs well. I remember the real Veronica in her racing days. I have built several Thames barges of various types, but I'm getting on a bit and prefer the 1/32 size, about 30", I find that size easier to handle out of the water.You will get a lot of help on here if you ever need it, and you probably will, and most of us do from time to time, but there is a facebook page that relates purely to model barges, it's the Association of Model Barge Owners. I hope I'm not being disloyal in telling you that. Only too pleased to help if I possibly can.

Cheers, Nerys



Cheers, Nerys

Hi JKM,
Don't forget to post the log in the Build Log section.I am looking forward to seeing it.
If you find you need help then just shout i am sure the members here will help you.

Good luck with the build.

Martin555.

Thank you very much. I have started build log. Being very ambitious and having never built anything other than an airfix model (30 years ago), but it is coming on nicely 😊

Thank you very much. I was considering a servo with a winch drum, being an ex-seafarer it appeals to my nautical sensibilities 😀

Hi JKM,
The information Martin has directed you to is going to point you in the right direction.
I tend to be somewhat haphazard in these matters, I haven't built a Veronica but have built a model barge to the same scale, probably carrying a little more sail than Veronica. I just used a couple of servos I happened to have at the time, a reasonably powerful one for the steering and a bit bigger one for the sails. No problems at all with either steering or sail handling. However if I was building a barge that size again, I would use a winch type servo for the sails.

Cheers, Nerys

Good start, and I'm sure Nerys the Queen of the Bargee's will steer you right with your queries.
Cheers Colin.

Hi JKM,

Welcome to the site.

This might help you in your decision as to choice of servos.

https://www.eurorc.com/page/139/how-to-choose-a-servo

Will you be doing a build log on your Veronica ?

Martin555.