So, after probably over a year of no activity on here, not that I haven’t been building, a couple of members had been in contact to see if I had anything planned. Well, after managing to source an unstarted MS Tamar kit off EBay last year (I won’t disclose how much!) and having spent a few weeks sourcing the majority of the extras required, I felt ready to start….

First things first like all model kits, read the manual (it’s thick!) study the plans, read again, more tea and read again, make lists of things to do, things to buy ect then onwards.

First job was to make the holes required for the bow thruster tube in the hull, aided by a template included. I had to make the holes larger than the template as my Raboesch bow thruster has a larger diameter tube. Once, drilled filled and ready to receive, the tube was epoxied in and then braced with liquid steel, solid! The outside was then sanded flush and a little p38 filler saw it all nice and neat ready to move onto the next stage …..

Next jobs was to make sure any seams, and bleamishes in the hull gel coat were sanded smooth before marking the hull and keel areas for the prop shafts, rudder posts, skegs ect. Once all measurements had been double and triple checked for accuracy, I then drilled and filed all holes and slots ready to receive the components.

It was decided before the build that I would base my Tamar on the boat based at Tenby in South Wales as we are down there next week and I hope to get some references pictures. Plus Tenbys boat Has a white lower hull which I wanted to include instead of oxide red. I also wanted to add extra scale details over and above what MS had included in the kit.

First extra scale details I made was to modify the slipway skegs which in the kit are based on the prototype Tamar, the current versions have extra lumps and bumps which I have made from styrene sheet, tube and rod and reinforced with brass wire.

All the skegs, prop shafts, P-frames, rudder posts, skegs ect have been epoxied on, filled were required and reinforced on the inside with brass wire, epoxy and liquid steel, these will be visible in the next group of pictures…..

Last job at this stage was to make my usual stand from B&Q tubing glued together with PVC weld….

Once all the external hull items had been fitted and were set, I made styrene covers to hide all the unsightly epoxy joints. Not necessary, adds no strength but is much more pleasant on the eye.

Next was mounting the overlander motors in their posh mounts and using my trusty alignment tube, lighted them up with the prop shafts before gluing and braking the mounts to the hull. These also got plastic covers for neatness.note at this stage I’ve fitted Huco couplings, but these are going to be swapped out for heavy duty radio active couplings which I’ve got on order.

I also made a rudder servo box from styrene built to the same height as the rudder posts and made up the connections from m2 threaded rod and crevices with z bend connection to the rudder output arm. This will all be set up when I get to the radio stage… last June was to make the radio tray supports from wood which were covered in a layer of styrene again for neatness and because I could!

The last couple of days bringing you up to date was to make the radio tray from 3mm styrene sheet with all the battery trays, rx tray, sound card tray ect being made from a mix of 2mm and 1.5mm styrene. In between making bits, I hoovered the inside of the hull, masked everything off and sprayed the inside with red oxide and then gave it a coat of lacquer. Again, just for neatness.

Once I had finished the radio tray having carefully planned where I wanted everything to go, it all got a final sand before spraying with sliver and a coat off Matt lacquer. Once dried, all the various electrical were fitted, wired, and everything tidied up with cable ties ect and then I charged up a couple of batteries and proceeded to set up the radio.

I thought I’d test the motors on the watt meter (in water under load) on 2s lipo and im pleased to say that the resulting jacuzzi in the bath proved that 2S (one battery per motor) is more than enough grunt on 40mm 5 blade scale props. The bow thruster is on its own nimh battery and controlled by the rudder stick on the TX, works perfectly. You may also notice I’ve added the mtroniks Napier engine sound board, switcher unit and speaker which I plundered from my Shannon (I had to reduce weight in my Shannon, so the sound system was sacrificed along with some lead!). The sound is toggled on and off using the gear switch on the TX.

That’s brings you up to date, next job is to start preparing the deck for fitting to the hull, but final fitting of the hull won’t be done until I’ve fitted the new propshaft couplings as it will be easier to remove the motors with the deck off….

The last couple of days has seen steady progress on preparing the deck for fitting and building the Y-boat compartment. Using the plans, the cut out for the Y-boat hatch was carefully marked in pencil on the deck and this was then cut out under sized with the Dremel. This has still to be filed to completion, but I will do that when I’m in the mood as filing fibreglass is not pleasant!

Making the styrene compartment was simply a case of cutting out the parts from the supplied sheets, sanding, then gluing together with Revell and Tamiya plastic cement to the correct dimensions as per the plans and manual. I did beef up the joints with some extra styrene strip for belt and braces as the glueing surfaces are minimal. This was then left overnight to set before final sanding, masking, priming and a couple of coats of Ford Galaxy grey and Matt lacquer. I figured it was easier to paint now before fitting to the underside of the deck.

One decision I have made is not to attempt to make the rear transom door fold down which is how the Y-boat is launched. It does say in the manual that people can attempt this detail, but no instruction is given. My biggest fear is getting it wrong and destroying the integrity of the hull, and also not getting the scale detail right. So please forgive me on this, but I will add other details in lieu!

Last job was to cut out the deck hatch opening again with the Dremel cutting disc and finishing the edges with a sanding drum on the Dremel and final sanding. No requirement for this to be pristine as it all disappears when the cabin is fitted.

That’s it for a few days now, as off to Tenby on Saturday for a few days. I’m hoping that the RNLI station is accepting visitors as I fully intend to get a wealth of reference photos and my one wish is to get shots inside the cabin as there is very little on the web. I shall flutter my eyelids ha ha…..

What a fantastic visit to the station at Tenby yesterday. Managed to get a wealth of shots of external features on their Tamar. Unfortunately no crew were on site so unable to get a shot at getting on board. What is clear is that as fantastic as the kit is by MS, I’ve now got plenty of shots of all the extra “bells and whistles” I can scratch build.

The 2 lovely ex-Yorkshire ladies running the shop kindly informed me that coming back Monday evening when they are due to go out on a practice sortie will give me the opportunity to film the launch process and with crew being about a good chance to get on board.

I shall be there like a geek and hour earlier than the launch time slot!…..

So, back from a cheeky break in Tenby with the Mrs and it’s straight back on it! Having got some good reference shots, I decided to add some extra detail to the Y-Boat compartment which includes some wall panels, step and some pipe work. All made from good old styrene, it adds some interest to an otherwise plane box if left as kit form. This was then painted with various weathering techniques as unlike the exterior of the boat, this area on the real thing is quite grubby!

A few other little jobs included fitting a blue strip of water cooling pipe that had arrived in the post along with fitting the heavy duty propshaft couplings, lipo checkers and the new lipos. I now consider the internal workings about done part from maybe a couple of tweaks if needed.

Tomorrow’s project will be to start fitting the deck…….

Good progress today starting with filing out the hole for the Y-Boat hatch in the stern of the deck. I took the added precaution of supporting the GRP surround with wood and clamps to add strength while filing as I didn’t want a nasty accident accidentally breaking it. It took about an hour of filing and sanding checking often to get a good fit for the hatch which will hinge in 4 pieces later.

Once happy with that I then marked the position of the compartment on the underside of the deck and fitted it with 5 min epoxy and clamps and beefed up the join with a fillet of liquid steel.

Next was to make a 2mm template to mark the inside of the hull where the 3x6mm deck bearers will sit. This was followed by fitting strips of 6x3mm styrene that had been roughened and scored, the first layer being fitted with 5 min epoxy and every clamp in the box! This was followed by a second layer fitted with styrene cement and my trusty clamps again and then once hard enough, a large fillet of liquid steel all around to beef it up ready to fit the deck.

The styrene strips where sanded flat with the Dremel sanding drum and then a couple of hours of fine fettling of the deck before fitting with 30 min epoxy, lots of tape and weights and checking for true before leaving overnight to fully harden. Next job is the sand and fill the deck flush with the hull and fit the steps on the deck…..

The last couple of days has seen the deck set solid followed by all the labour intensive sanding, filling and filling to make good any joins ect. I’m now happy that the deck is a cracking fit around all points of the hull.

Next step was to start making the steps from the lower to upper deck. The kit supplied hideous vacform steps were used as a starting point to assess how to make new steps from 1.5mm styrene. After several hours of cutting, measuring, fettling and many discarded parts, the port side steps were fashioned, glued, filed, sanded and primed to see if any issues stood out. As for the starboard steps, I shall start on them tomorrow as I needed something else to break up the monotony! The manual calls for making the kick boards next, however I didn’t fancy that and they can be made anytime relatively early in the build, so shall possibly look at them Tuesday before work Wednesday!

So, I made a start on the cabin. The main parts are CNC cut styrene and just needed a little effort with a new scalpel blade and steel ruler to free them from the main sheet. The cabin sides are different in that the rear windows are positioned differently, so double checking with the manual was called for to make sure I identified the correct sides! Start8ng with the port side, all windows were cut out and the whole piece sanded. Last job was to cut the base former and cabin. Wall upright , sand and glue together at right angles and leave to set over night. Before gluing the first side to the base, I must ensure that my next modification of cutt8ng out the forward stowage hatch doors on both hull sides as i intend to make these function unlike the kit version which is drawn on, I shall show that when I do it.

So, tomorrow I shall build the other steps and more work on the cabin …

A few hours work today has seen the basic cabin structure built. It’s worth taking the time to cut out the CNC parts carefully, followed by any trimming and sanding all surfaces. This gives a good key for gluing and eventually painting. What we have here is basically a giant Airfix kit and it’s one of the tasks I enjoy most as it gives instant results!

As mentioned in my last post, I am making the forward stowage bins function instead of being marked to represent. Using the paper template included I made a .5mm styrene template and the plans to position and mark the hatch opening. This was then cut out and cleaned up. Once I add the upper facet plates, I shall cut the remaining door positions and then make the bins and line the rims to take the hatches. One thing I haven’t figured out yet is how to make time working scale hinges, so if anyone has a solution, I’m all ears!

Tomorrow I’m going to return to finishing the steps and make a start on the kick boards….