HMS Voyager - Upgrade

I first built the original version of this Meccano model sailing ship in Autumn 2013 and was recently about to dismantle it when suddenly I hit upon the idea to upgrade it instead. What if, I thought, instead of it being a static model I could somehow bring it to life? The idea suddenly got my mind going and instead of taking it apart as I had planned to, I found myself thinking of ways I could make the ship seem like it was out on a voyage and have it tilting up and down as if sailing in turbulent water far out at sea. With this idea now fixed in my mind, determinedly I started taking apart the base and struts that were supporting it, and went ahead with the upgrade.

I decided to build a rectangular base as a case that was long enough to support the full length of the boat and also deep enough, so that with the help of a mechanical device, the hull could be made to go up and down as if at sea. The base came together more or less as planned and once it was built and some allowances made at the top to accommodate the full length and proposed movement of the ship's hull, I used flexible strip plates to panel it up.

I then designed a gearing system and attached a motor using a rotating crank to pull a cord through a series of pulleys which would pull down on the bow of the ship. To counteract this action, at the back I used two tension springs as a counterbalance which then reversed the movement pulling the ship back the other way and vice versa.

With the desired ship on waves feel achieved as planned, I decided to modify other parts of the ship mainly for aesthetic purposes. Suddenly I felt rewarded by a model that I had initially been about to dismantle.

I find the motion of the ship to be very therapeutic and with variable speeds the movements can be made to simulate gentle calm waters or even a ship in the most stormy of waters too.

The Voyager – setting sail whatever the weather.