Hello to all, I have just got hold of a Deans Firefloat mk11 it was a seconds hull and needed a bit of repair but is nice and light, I have had one of my plans reduced to the right size and at present I am making the running gear I will post a picture of it soon.
it's going to be twin screw and I have got hold of some small brush-less motors.
I have noticed that on fire boats all the cambers seem the same, deck, rooftops,etc so I usually make couple of good templates out of card, before I start a build.And I usually get a copy or two of the plan and put the original away and cut one up so its easy to look at, and that way you are not fighting with a big plan when taking measurements.

The hull was trimmed to the correct height and some spacers to get the correct width. I decided to fit two bulkheads in the boat the front to form a watertight compartment for buoyancy.
Also to enable me to fit the side decks the rear one is required for the well deck it also helps align the side decks as there is a straight line between the two.
The running gear was adapted from some I got hold of, but it would have been quicker if I had started from scratch, the skeg bracket was silver soldered on, then a plate was soft soldered on. I tend to make a template out of wood or styrene to give an idea on where the prop which is a prop shop 25mm will finish and then a hole can be cut in the hull. I am going to strengthen the inside of the hull to enable me fit the rudder and motor in one, and I have found that this shape of hull with flat panels tend to move and as I am hoping to put a lot of power in the boat, and it may not be a good idea if it beds, the placement of the bulkhead will also help.

31% is the amount the plan had to be reduced from the 34" boat.

The running gear is test fitted so I can work out the length required. A ball race will be fitted on the inside end and oilier.

The two pictures show the test fitting ready for the strengthening strip to be fitted and the way the skeg is going to be held on the inside but with brass pins.

Finished the shafts, you know when you get it all finished and you think "well that's that done" and you look again to find the oilier pipes are on the bottom... drat and a few other words. Anyway on the motor end there is a 7mm x 4mm Teflon shielded ball-race. So its back to stiffener on my 34" I did as per the picture of the 34" tender so it will be a light weight version.

Next step was to make sure that the shaft sat level and parallel
and that there are no lumps in the bottom of the hull a block of wood with some self adhesive sand paper also make sure that the hull cannot flex when doing it,
the small blocks of wood on the side and bottom of the the hull are so that when the bulkheads are bonded in they are in the correct place.

The next step was to draw the supports for the bottom of the hull. I used 1/4 ply for this and milled it out after a rough cut. I use a router cutter for this and the drills sticking out are on the centre line to enable me to place them in the same place, this makes the parts nice and neat and you can also put grooves in it to lighten if required, the ply will end up about half the thickness when finished as it has to be shaped to the hull. it will probably loose over half of its weight but still stay stiff.
A tip I have found when working with ply is to keep it flat and with weights or G-clamps holding it to the bench till its ready to be fitted.
so just a bit of shaping and probably a coat of sanding seal on the top and sides, but not on any areas where epoxy will be used.
I may fit a few captive bolts in the area where the motor will be mounted.

Time to do a bit more work on the motor stiffeners, these take a lot of time (well it does me) to get right, but once they are done a lot of the build falls together. Because they will hold the motor ,prop shaft, rudder and servo and as its only a small boat they have to be right or it wont perform. When I build a boat I like to think the inside is as good as the outside and with a bit of thought it can be, you will see the small blocks of wood have multiplied. These help when it comes to get the epoxy out when they are all fitted all the blocks will come of.
One of the things I tend to do is have a selection of wood blocks with self adhesive sand paper on these help make parts all the same.
Its time for the final check that all is in the right place and lined up, it seems like I spend a lot of time doing this but it pays in the end.

This part requires a lot of fitting and trying and planing a bit more they have to fit when placed as some hulls can be a bit flexible, they look a bit like propellers and are handed, when finished they will be epoxied in. The picture show the motor in the position it will be mounted.
I have tried to get it nice and low in the hull. The motor is a cheap out-runner that I will try, it has the same hole space and size as a 380 so it will be easy to change if the idea fails. The pictures show the amount that comes of so they are not that heavy and when it gets further on you will see the advantages of it all fixed together.

This picture shows a fix I have had to do after forgetting how deep the ply would end up the bit on the skeg with the blue arrow is a brass bolt I had to slot and solder on, I had made them long enough but chopped em off short anyway I did not feel like starting again so this is the fix.
The next picture shows a quick mock up all the red dots are pieces of wood that are only temp and will come of after the epoxy is hard, but they enable you to precisely position the parts each time you try them and when there is epoxy running down your sleeve it helps. The next pictures show the size of the opening that I will have and gives an idea why I went for the bulk heads to hang the deck of and help position it. I am going to try and get some nice up-stands to keep water out, it looks like the opening will be a lot bigger than I thought so I may go down the Aerokits route and have just lids removable. I'll mock it up first (yes I did say Mock) I am also looking at having the batteries between the shafts if there is room I fancy trying Li-Poly to keep it light but it may end up with nim's.

Back to the decking I don't want any timber that can get wet so I may go down the route I've used on my other boat that is to use Fiberglass sheet. They use this to skin wings on model planes and is very light, but tricky to use. I am waiting for a couple of ally motor mounts (hate working ally you get rotten dirty) so they will arrive this week and I can then fix some bits in.

Again the red dots show the bits I will remove, and the size of the rear deck, I have an idea to try and make it waterproof as possible as anyone who has sailed a fire tender will know if you go backwards you get a swimming pool in the back. I have thought of self draining but it started as a simple build so it may end up as a screw down panel of Fiberglas's you can see in this picture the modified skeg fixing the rear of the bearer will be trimmed when the rudder fixing is bonded on. Right just waiting for the mounts and couplings and its "epoxy time".
The other picture shows a mock up of the opening that there will be , so it should be ok to go with just cabin roof lids without having to have the whole lot removable.

So the inside of the hull has been sanded to get rid of lumps and ribs I made shore the outside of the hull was on a flat surface and see how flat the inside is. They can be a bit bendy as they are hard chine, and this one is a bit light weight. So once it had all been sanded the final fitting of the bearers and the fitting of prop shafts and motor mounts a few more bits of wood where tacked on with superglue to enable them to be placed precisely when covered with epoxy (and me). The mounts are marked and fitted I have gone for captive type bolts so if there needs to be adjustment later or change of mounts its easy. I soldered couple of bits of brass rod on the back I also milled/routed the back out of the bearers so as to take epoxy.

Next step is to get all your good tools put away and anything you want to keep as it's always messy. Do a final rough up of the surfaces clean all surfaces, then clean again I use isopropal alcohol. Then when all is ready mix, I use 30 min two ton DEV gives time and is thin I apply with a spatula and finish with a brush. I bolted where the skeg will go and used clamps through the prop tubes. I don't like trying to do to much at once so the shafts will go in next enabling me to do a final alignment. The picture shows some big lead weights and clamps, after about an hour I remove the big weights but leave the clamps and put a steel ruler over the bottom to make sure it has stayed flat and there are no voids as this will not help the performance.
The shafts are now in just the tidy up to do I used stablit for them (god its a pig to use and the smell) I also made the rudder support and fitted it at the same time, I am going to fit a small support at the motor end that will also double up as a battery rack, at the same time the rudder servo mount will go in.
Once the clean up is finished the bulkheads will go in with the deck supports. I'll put the rudders together at the same time I'm going to use the method I have used in the past and have them held by a spring pin with an O'ring seal.

The bits up to now, are the parts that take all the time from now on its going to be a lot faster but I hope this may help someone who is doing it for the first time as I think I have covered most things.

Not a lot today I have smoothed out all the filler, so the shafts are now finished and cured the outside of the hull as well, decided to clean the work room a bit so as to make room for the next stage. So just waiting for the new glue to come in the post so I can stick the bulkheads in and the decks on.

I have done some work on the rudders while I was waiting for some new glue. I like to use a seal if possible and try to use spring pins to hold them together, the blade is done a little different from the commercial ones as they slot the rod and I try to slot the blade I silver solder it as well the picture shows the parts ready to solder and fit.

The rudders are now soldered and fitted I use spring clips to hold the tiller to the shaft that way they can be removed and oiled or a new seal fitted in seconds and they go back to where they where . On the larger 34" boat I have some scale rudders made for display and some similar to the ones on this for running and they are a bit over size. I don't mind compromising the weight a bit to get a boat that will not need maintenance in the future, the second shot gives an idea of the rudder size that is a bit bigger than scale but not that bad, so all the under hull is finished all that is required is a good sand and fill a few scratches.

The props are prop shop 25mm for starters I can go a bit bigger prob up to 30mm if required.

I have gone for 1 extra bulkhead just to hold the hull shape I may take a bit more out of it to lighten it.

The shapes between the motors and shafts are the battery holders, I may put another one in so I can slide the pack back and forward to get the correct balance, I'll be gluing it all in tonight as everything is fitted and fettled.

The bulkheads are now glued in, and the stringer's fitted to keep it a smooth curve you need lots of clamps and have to work fast, so get everything ready dry fit a few times then go for it, and as usual clamps fall on the floor you forget to get a disposable paint brush out etc.

The front deck is going to be a bit different, it is going to be made of 1/8 lite ply and I have had it dampened and bent over formers for some time. There are a few fittings that will be on it as well as the post and I like to have a water tight bulkhead at the front as well as a bit of strength in case it hits something (as if its not going to) so I have tried to make it so that any shock will be transferred down the sides of the boat. I am going to give the inside of the bow a coat of either sanding seal or epoxy.

The lower picture gives you an idea of the deck detail the stringers are 1/32 below the the top edge of the fiberglass. The 1/32 ply finishes flush with the top edge of the fiberglass and the sheet fiberglass goes over it all and finishes on the outside of the hull leaving a "HOPEFULLY" nice clean square edge.

So now its time for plasticard and the SUPERSTRUCTURE.

Yes I know I said it would be superstructure next but I thought I would would just say a few words about the deck, if you use stablit glue clean it of before it dries, as it is a pig to get of, but that is good as it shows it sticks. I clean the area with a bit of acetone before I glue. Anyway it took a full night to clean the excess of that would have taken one minute. So now I can start cutting plasticard. hurrah

This is the way I transfer info between plan / boat / plasticard I use a piece of timber with a block glued on the end, this can hook over the end of the boat or the plasticard or lone up with a mark on the plan by doing it this way you can check a position on all three. The other thing is that if you start marking from a point it can start to creep by even the thickness of a pencil each time can become a few millimetres. The sheet material is 1.5mm and I have glued two together with double sided tape so hopefully they will match. The bulkheads where positioned to line up with parts of the superstructure this will hopefully give it a bit of extra strength, it also gives you an idea of how the plan strips can be used. Just a note on photocopying at home, PC scanners can be very good at copying but they are not that accurate unless you get the right settings, the aspect ratio can give you little fat boats if you are not careful. I had an old scanner and it was great at this but 15 years on and the all in one I have is a bag of ^%$£& at it so beware to check photocopy's before you get a funny shaped boat!

So at last we are cutting plastic "Hurrah" well at least a smile. Anyway after transferring the position of things to the plastic that is two pieces of 1.5mm double sided taped together, its over to the minI mill I use a router cutter, one of the good things about the fire boat is that a few lines will give you most of the superstructure as a lot of it is parallel. I use a ply board that is "T" nutted on to the bed with a wood guide Parallel to the bed I have a couple of quick clamps screwed on to wherever they are needed, I do it this way as my hands don't work very well doing repetitive work. Anyway what you can see in the bottom picture is what can be cut out, so there is only a bit of tidying to do and we will be joining bits together.

Today I have been fitting the deck supports these are needed to hold the sides of the superstructure, the timber used was Parana pine, but I am not happy with it I have a few days to monitor it to see if it bends it may be ok as it is well supported but it would make a mess if it bends the top of the rails just need a sanding to bevel the top edge as they are put in on an angle (have a look at the drawing).

The sides now need a bit of work just cleaning out the windows and there are some eyebrows to be fitted as I am modelling it on No93 the front lite ply bulkhead needs to be trimmed down I left it a bit high so that it could be trimmed when I got the exact size it needed to be, it is just on the bend of the front of the superstructure.

Ok so hear we go with part two. The tops of the rails had a final sand and the decks where fitted, they had to be scribed to the edge of the hull so as to fit in the rebate and finish level with the inside of the rails.and level with the top of the Fibreglass

I gave the underside a coat of epoxy and then coated the tops and clamped them very messy job, just the clean up and then start the fitting of the superstructure sides, I may fit motors first as I think I may have a problem as one of the shafts may have moved. its OK on the underside but a little high when it lines up with the motor I may have to make another mount.

OK a bit more of the superstructure completed I decided to remove the brace near the front and replace with blocks on ether side of the hull,( it broke off this lite ply is not very strong) they give a bit more support to the top that is a bit flimsy at present.
I have got the mid deck in, I left it a bit longer to strengthen the mid section, also the rear tow hook mount and bulkhead has been glued in, I shortened the cabin sides a bit to lighten it, and help them fit in the hull as the deeper they are the wider they are. I also got the eyebrows on the windows finished.
I am going to put the rear of the front cockpit bulkhead in next to stiffen the front, then concentrate on the rear well deck.

Happy new year sorry for the break, but tooth ache put me off working for a day or two.

Anyway the top picture shows a view of the full size 93 boat, note NO fire hydrant connector behind the bridge and also on the 93 boat they had individual eye brows over side windows, But the reason I put it on was to show the sliding perspex windows at the rear of the bridge, from what I can gather they where just rebated timber with perspex panels so they could slide and the helmsman could talk to the people operating the hoses.
I did not have any small angle but had some black "T" section that I could cut down. The black stuff is horrible and is very difficult to glue I had to use super glue.
I have it fixed now and also a brace in front I have left the ply up stand as it can act as a breakwater. I have connected the rear and put a floor in. The next thing is to bend the front of the sides in, and start building the bridge or helmsman position or whatever it's called.

Right so I have started to glue plastic. The sides have been trimmed to fit I have half lapped them to fit over the bulkheads. I have still not decided weather to have the whole top removable or just the lids, as my hands are not very flexible I may stick to the lot removable but that gives a small problem in that with the sides being tapered (narrower at cabin roof) the widest part is below deck, I don't want to trim to much of the bottom as it is giving it a bit of strength, and it will weaken the window frames
anyway I have fitted the eyebrows to one side of the windows, they just need a clean up while I'm just getting going with the glue I have a small rubber/neoprene block on the end of my brush, it's light but will hold the paint brush that I use for the glue(top picture). if the brush is left on any plastic it makes a mess and up to now it's been handy, but this is only the second time I have used plasticard so its still a learning curve. The picture below is of my 34" boat and the type of detail I am going to try for, but I am not going to use any wood as I have put the boat on a diet weather it likes it or not as it was starting to creep up a bit. (I'll call it it's new year resolution).

I started at the rear tonight and finished the tanks at ether side of the well deck. I was not able to get the deck as low as I wanted but a lot lower than on the plan from the hull manufacturer.the tanks where just 0.5mm plasticard I then removed all excess weight from behind the tanks, I have still not decided on the roof material, but am leaning towards Fibreglass as it will not sag and is lighter than the 0.5mm I am using for most of the build.

To the front:

I bent the sides in by a saw cut in the back part on the bend line part way through, then warming the joint and I had a template so both sides where the same.
I have put a plate between them and took as much out as I could. The reason it goes so far back was to bridge the bend as it is not as strong as the rest of the sides and I find some plasticard a bit brittle. There is now a good base for the rest of the front to hang on to.

I have now started to think about fittings I have the hand rails and life belt's, the windows are just staying plain on the sides and I may make some ally frames for the front depending on how thin they will be. I am looking about for some vents and the mushroom vents can be turned from plastic I will prob make the cleats out of brass, same goes the rear flag pole and the mast will prob be brass and plastic. The crane, I have not decided but getting an idea's at this time gives you time to think about their construction. One thing I am after is some very small grating? for on top of the tanks.

Not much today I'll prob add to it and make a bumper issue. Anyway the hardest part is now done (Yea) just needs some sanding to lower the front corners and a bit of fitting on the underside to deck, I thought I was doing it but the glue was allowing it to move a bit so I gave up the two bearers running from where the windscreen will fit need to have a slight round as well then I'll cover it all in three pieces not forgetting to leave an overhang and drill for the port hole.

The marks on the deck look bad but because I dampened it and put it in a gig to bend (three G cramps and a bit weight) and its a compound bend the wood had to go somewhere and when you put a straight edge on it it's nice and flat, this was one of the reasons I went for a thicker deck so it could be sanded to the shape I wanted.

Ok tonight just a bit more of the bridge the front deck supports were sanded and the three pieces of deck fitted, the roof supports are now in with a bit of extra support so the mast has something to attach to. One thing I have learnt about using this stuff is that it needs 24/48 hours to properly dry probably because I put to much glue on, then wipe the joint again, (I like to see a bit of melted material when I push them together) I'm not shore if that makes it brittle but it's hard to get apart when dry, I'll try and get a better picture of the front tomorrow to show the overhang and there is one at the sides of the screens as well. When it's all about finished I'll give it a rub down with some wet and dry sand paper.

Last note is that the roof supports above the centre window at the front needs to be sanded to give the roof a bit of shape.

Gosh part 27 already. The front windows where cut out and sanded, but still need finial finishing off and shaping, I cheat and cut them out on my minI mill it saves a bit of time and my hands wont allow me to cut out small holes these days and as I set up the mill for the sides it's just as easy to do this, the same can be done on a pillar drill and a cheap cross slide, anyway I have only the roof panels to do and the main structure is furnished and then its down to finish the decks off.
The lower picture gives an idea of the small gussets and ribs and angle I have used to hold the parts together and keep it stiff.
I need to put a couple of stiffeners in the roof where the hydrant's will go as they may be a bit flimsy.
On the full size boat there is a bead that goes down the edge of the superstructure this will hide any gaps that are there on the last boat I gave all the plastic a sanding with 1500 then 2000 wet and dry sandpaper, finishing with it wet but you still need to keep it on a block most of the time. Another handy thing to do is take templates of the windows on a bit of thin card so when you come to glaze them they "should" fit.

If you have any comments or feedback can you put it on the message board below, or questions even.

Well we are getting to the end of the superstructure. I have cut and shaped the roof panels after I got the sheet of Fiberglas out it was a no brainier, it is 0.042mm bit thicker than paper but so strong and about a 1/4 of the weight of 0.50 mm plasticard and is a lot more rigid and will not be effected by the droop you can get with sun on card, there is also no etching when glued.
You do have to use superglue though and wash your hands every so often or it gets a bit spiky it is a product used on model aircraft for skinning wings, I have been using it for deck covering for that they recommend one of the polyurethane foaming glues that you HAVE to wear gloves for or be removing for at least a month. (been there got the tea shirt and the messy hands) never again, but it is even waterproof and is very quick drying. 5 min but must be kept under pressure for that time of the foam effect expands and gives a lumpy Finnish, but you will see that when I do the decks, anyway it called pro skin and I will ask Stephen if I can add the site I get it from, I was going to try and build the complete superstructure from it when I was going to use a single motor but decided on this format.
the front hatch only need a stiffener for the hydrant and the cabin hatchway. The rear requires the service lids and then the hatchways as well, under the edge of all front/rear of the main hatches there is a stiffener on the under side of the full size, I have put one on the back of the bridge, or whatever its called you may be able to see it. One final point when working with some sheet materials, especially the ones with hard surface is if you are doing a cut out as I had to on the rear cab drill a half a mill hole on the corners it provides a stop for your knife and also helps stop any tears or cracking in the future as well as enables you to score accurately from both sides.

Not a lot tonight, superglue takes time to dry with fibreglass and I got a bit fed up de-bonding myself from the boat. The only thing is the hatches on the lids, and a small pair of doors, I have put some of the doublers under the hatch ends.the lower picture is of the glue used for plasticard.

Well the decks have had there top coat, I think I'll use 5m epoxy next time as polyurethane glue is messy and not the nicest to use you have to wear gloves, I started with the front deck, one of the problems is you have to cut it oversize as it moves (slides) if you are not careful and it did, but it will not cause a problem as I had left enough in case, it will also not bend in compound curves and I thought I had sanded them out, but there must have been one part that did still have as it was very difficult to get flat, I mask before I start and as its gong off put a bead of supper glue around the edge to wick in.

The weight of this product is only 33gm a square foot so the decks weigh in at less than that including the glue and the grain will never lift and it takes paint well.

The deck is now all trimmed and is not bad, I have done better but it will be ok I have a picture to post as soon as I find it if not Ill take another.

I rang up to find out about some fittings as there is a set available, just the white metal ones are £40 so as I hate them any way as they are so heavy and I usually make my own, the idea of making the build a bit quicker so you all don't get board with the blog just flew out the window.
So as I usually try to buy vents "IF" they look right I had a good look around to see what I could find, they where either to big or to small or ugly, so for the first time I decided to try and make some, I spent a night cutting up some styrene ones I had to try to make them look the job ended up with a bag of styrene bits for the bin.
Attempt two.
Brass I had bought a Doming block some time ago to make the fire hydrants for my 34" fire tender but didn't get around to use it so I thought I would give it a go, so as I don't have a sphere turning tool I had to cheat and do it with a file and spinning it and a bit of wet and dry, anyway made a few punches and found that if I did it to the larger size first then did it again on the smaller size it seemed to work best, but my wrists may not work for a week. Anyway I got eight good ones made and trimmed them down and flattened them out on a file then wet dry paper and they came out ok. The tube is just a bit of K&S tube that I cut at 45 degrees then got my only half round file and for once it was the right curve and rounded the cut, I decided to silver solder as it does not show as much as lead solder and if I decide to make them so they can be bolted on, I can soft solder the base without it all falling apart.
The top picture shows the parts, on the top the brass block and some of the punches I made and below the stages to make a vent.
I wanted the vents before I preceded with the hatches so I can place them in the correct place as I had a problem last time with spacing for the vents and opening hatches, and it is sometimes an idea to be able to place some fittings and be able to move then the odd 1/16.

At last there done...... Phew. Last set of them I'll try and make, they look ok, but will look better with a coat of white paint on them, the top picture shows the cut, I first cut a 45 degrees cut then with a half round file scalloped it out. I tend to make jigs for most solder jobs I said in the previous part that I was going to silver solder them but I could not find any fire bricks to rest the bits on and the heat proof mats where melting so I went with soft solder and a dab of superglue to hold the base in, the bases where turned to fit inside the tube and have the flanges at the bottom I drilled them and taped them 10ba as I like to try and bolt fittings on especially if I have spent some time making them.
The bottom picture shows the finished items, to me they look too big, but according to the plans x2 I have and measurements of pictures they are actually a bit small, so when the paint goes on and the fittings go on around them they may blend in, on the picture you can see the decks finished with the Fibreglass sheet.

Now I have the vents I can start on the hatches, the front hatch slides so it does not need clearance above as the others do, and is bit wider it also has a pair of doors on the lower bulkhead so it all has to fit together I put the top frame on first top picture then cut the recess out for the doors, they where made on a thin piece of plasticard and will have a few grooves put in to look like boards at this size hinges would not show. The final part is to slide them together as in the lower picture, so its just a few supports and the brass hand rails and then on to the next hatch.
In the pictures you can see the doubler's under the edge of all the roof tops, these can be seen in the picture of the full size boat, and does Improve the look as well as the strength.

Still not happy with the vents I may lower them a mill or two as they still don't look what I want.
This is why my tug is in to its 8th year and rebuild four or five and my other tender is on its second re fit without it seeing paint.
But this will finish soon!

Not a lot today, but a lot of time doing it! I made the front hatch above the steering position, another sliding hatch, but it has to be able to have the mast lay flat on top of it so you have to mock up the mast to make shore it does clash. I found out the hard way on my 34" boat it would not go any lower than 30 degrees at first. I made a few brass wire handles at the same time.
One of the other jobs today was to start the prep for paint as I go. I had not fitted the deck at the very back so that was fitted, and some filler as the transom was a bit tatty on the hull I got at the top so I left it a bit long and used it as shuttering (didn't need that much), and at the same time filled the joint where the beck's join, this is the first bit of filler( cosmetic) as I try not to use any and a bit of extra time spent fitting can pay dividends later. there is a red arrow on the picture pointing to the extension to the hatch that was spotted on the picture of 93 I posted, This one original picture was blown and studies for hours when I built my last boat and it gave me so much information, and still is, I printed it out blown up and set about it marking all the detail on it. Then listed it, time spent thinking what you are going to be able to achieve, and how with some sketches. I tend to have a good stock of shaped styrene and brass. One because I don't get out but it's handy to just place bits together to see if it will make up a particular shape you are trying to make a particular part. An example of this is the tow hook I made for my 34" boat it is in the main K&S brass of different sizes and it was made with simple tools and the drill was just a minI craft 12v with stand it just takes time. (lower picture 34" tow-hook ) the one for this boat probably will be a bit simpler and not a working model.

Ok tonight it's sort a problem time, when I was fitting the shafts I spent a lot of time lining things up and putting stops so when I bonded them they would be in the right place, well it didn't work... for some reason and I think it was down to the plate that fits to the hull on the skeg was at the wrong angle, so when I tightened it with the Stablit it lifted the inside end a bit, so now the motor does not line up! I had been lazy and ordered a pair of motor mounts then set about altering them to fit my motors, so I decided to make new ones, the top picture shows a method to get the mount lined up, I use a spare long shaft and a brass boss drilled to be a tight fit on the shaft, slide it to the mount and you can see if the angle is wrong, it was a mile out and the hole for the motor was too low.
I made a new bracket and the end of the shaft has a point that marks the centre of the motor I used the brass boss to align the angle first. it's then down to drill for the motor and finish.
The next part has a picture of the finished mount it may give you an idea what I was trying to do, it seems to work well and the motor is now spot on, just need to check the other.

I also did a bit on the superstructure, I needed to put the bead around the superstructure to try and make it a bit more watertight and to set the exact height of the superstructure above the deck now it is finished, it's just a simple mitred bead, you can see the deck a bit in the picture and the amount of filler I had to use to get the transom flat.
Also there is a picture of the first cleat I will tell how they are made in the next part.
It's the first and last cheap hull as it was more trouble than it was worth, I spent a bit of time going over the hull and superstructure with wet and dry. The idea is to keep it as near finished as possible so when it comes to paint there is not hours of sanding that gets rushed so you can paint.
The updates may now be every other day as some of the jobs are a bit fiddly and take time, so you would probably get bored if I did them in detail.

I took a couple of centimetres of 4mm x 4mm Brass and milled some slots in the middle 3mm long, then turned it in the vice and used a couple of brass rods to get it level then milled flats between each one, top picture, followed by a slot in the centre of each as in the lower picture.
This was all done by eye as near enough is all I can work to, and they are going to be cleaned up with a file to get them to the final shape, if I had some bullnose cutters it would of saved a bit, but as there are only four and they are spread out they don't have to be spot on. The lower picture in the previous section shows one that still needs a bit of work to finish it I like to drill hole's to fix them with some kind of fixing even if it's just a pin soldered to them so that it can be fixed in case it gets knocked, if I have spent an hour making the fitting I don't want to loose it, as making one replacement takes as long as making four.
I have made these with just a small Minicraft drill, they just take a little longer. What you have to do is look at any fitting and break it down to several steps.

Morning my fire boat friends,
I have no pictures today as the batteries are flat and it wont run of dry cells very well, but I will take some and add.
I finished of the cleats, that took a bit longer, if I had spent more time when machining them it would have been quicker, anyway they seem to me two sizes according to the pictures I have the rear ones are a bit bigger. So I have done that and drilled some holes in the ends for fixing. When you see them on the deck they are flat but because of the finish of the deck is a bit like glass it looks like there is a gap, the same for the superstructure beads (good excuse).
I have made the mount for the mast and fitted it, just a simple flat piece of brass band with the ends bent at 90 degrees and a hole for the mast to bolt to this is fitted from beneath with a bit of plasticard to hold it.
I made a pair of inserts to hold the foam monitors, these will be fitted in the front and rear roof's. I got some conflicting info on where they go so they are not fitted yet, the front one is off centre and towards the rear, but the rear one is central, but is shown towards the rear in one source and central in another so that is what is to be sorted, I am going to put some stiffeners around these mounts and will use a long rod to get them upright when fixing. By fixing them this way the hydrants can be removed, fitted later, or changed to a different pattern, it also gives me the option to make them work and move.

Ok hear are the pictures I only did an hour today fitted the mounts for the hydrants, and put a bit of support in. On the front lid you can see the mark I made to fit it originally, that was shown on the Vosper plans, but when you look at the pictures it's a lot further forward, in practical terms it was probably moved during the re fit it had, as the operator would not have been able to stand behind it pointing forward in the plan placement.

I find that life belts you buy look very toy like, but with a bit of work they can be Improved.
I start with a standard ring and cut the cord that is a moulding off, then get my knife and clean as much flash of as possible, followed by a wet and dry sand (wet) with 2000 paper to take the glaze of and give it a mat look and remove any cast marks,
then with a steady hand and a fine drill, just drill through the rope holding bands. The last hole can be drilled on an angle to come out the back (bottom of the ring).
Start at the one that has the extra hole to the back and I find that if you put a drop of superglue on the cord and let it dry then cut at 45 degrees when dry it is easier to get through, the end then goes through to the back. I have found if you space it out and then pull it back a fraction then a spot of glue and pull it in to the band to hold it, put the glue on with a pin or knife as you only need a spot as it "wicks" down the cord.
The bottom picture shows the before and after. I think it's an Improvement on the standard for 10 min work.

Sorry about the break, but the jobs took time and not a lot to show for a lot of work, a lot was finishing bits off, I made some inserts for the bottom of the vents and at the same time I shortened them a few mills, they where taped 10ba so they can be bolted on, in the top picture you can see the end of the bolts showing I will shorten them after the vents have been painted and ready for the final fit. I have fitted the scramble net brackets and the life raft holders and the last two hatches, you will see why you need all the fittings before you can drill for the vents as they all need to be spaced, the hatches on the rear roof open upwards so vents need to miss them, its a bit tight, I think the vents may be a fraction bigger in dia than they should be but they are staying as they where a pain to make.
I have fitted the brass hand rails they will be bolted on in the end and I may leave them un-painted as they are very small and thin and paint could loose all the shape of them.
A hint on the way I fit them is some people superglue the rod in them but I like to solder as they are so small, but I only solder one joint at the end, that is enough and you don't have to worry about the spacing.
There is not much to do on the two mail hatches just a few vents and some filler caps, the mid section needs the crane mounts fitting and I have them ready and a few fuel caps on there as well.
The roof over the steering position needs the ant mount search light and horn plus the mast rest, but they ALL need the mast fitting first so I'll have to get on to make shore they all miss each other as with it folding down it can be a bit tight.
So on to part three, lets have some feedback.

Well my Fire boat chums, Part 41, well so much for a quick blog! The pictures show where we are up to.
I have made the mushroom vents and the fuel caps, also the floor drains in the rear well, the mount for the tow hook.
The vents where made from some off cuts I had from cutting down the vents from my 34" boat it turns magic and is light.(picture at the bottom of page).
I had to make some plasticard rings the way I make them is to drill a hole in some squires of card and put a bolt through them and then sand them in a drill, you need to use course paper so as not to heat it up and fuse them together. The fuel caps are just brass rod turned with a small spigot to hold them, I have used a hard scriber to mark some detail on the face.
Brass hand rails, the way I do them is to just solder one ball on the end, that way you don't have to worry about solder getting every where and you don't need to think about spacing.
So that's the two main hatches finished, just some wet and dry to tidy. There are a few goose neck vents on the mid deck to make and the mounts for the crane.
There is lots to do in the rear well deck, lots of small items.
I am going to try and finish the superstructure before going on to the deck fittings, that way I can start the paint process (that I hate).

Sorry no up date for a few days as it's fiddly bits time. I had made the mushroom vents and some washers to make the base. they are simple to make as described in the last post, but make a difference in looks. I like to stick them down and use a bit of extra glue to soften them up so they finish flat and look flared in. The cleats on the front deck are made from hand rail brackets and some brass rod soldered in. The rope post on the deck was just a bit of rod turned with a short piece of rod soldered in. The port holes where commercial ones. The front deck cleats need to have some wire soldered in so that they can be fixed to the deck. I have started work on the tow hook and some pictures will follow. I do have an anchor but cannot find it so it will need mounts for it. The rest of the deck house cannot be finished until I have made the mast, and I am still thinking about how I will make it as I normally take a very long time to build normally and spend a lot of time contemplating how to do things. There are not a lot of fittings to make now there are four cleats for the deck house roof rear, mast, two foam monitors a crane and the tow hook, oh and the rescue hoses and filters, most are virtually models of there own. One thing to watch out for on the likes of the front section of the boat is the placement of fittings getting them spaced and square.

Brass time
Rear deck. 1st thing was to make the hook support two pieces of brass tube and a bit of brass strip, it would have been made from styrene but I did not have any the right size so brass it was. Just a simple cut and soft solder and a couple of 12ba bolts.

This again is brass its a part I like making, the main part is the 1/4 in square tube and some brass strips. They are three pieces equal to internal opening. They are shaped and silver soldered. I silver solder the first parts so the next bits can be soft soldered without it all falling apart. I will post a few pictures at the bottom showing some of the stages, I don't know if I will be able to make this one work as I did for the one on my 34" boat the lower picture is a picture of my 34" one blown up to A4 size the box below it is a packet of leds for my compass its about a 3/8 square the parts in the foreground is the new hook for this boat so you will get an idea of what I am making. As I have said this part will be a bit slower as the parts take that much longer.

The tow hook is now finished, so on to the crane.

The hook was made of K&S brass material and was all made with just a small minicraft drill and a small stand that go with it, it's just a case of sticking bits together with solder to form the hook. Unfortunatly this one does not work as the larger one did, but the hook does swivel and if I get around to it in the future it may get the cam mechanism to allow it to work. When it is mounted I will put a bit of the roof material (fiberglass) under the hook to strengthen the mount.

Ok not a lot tonight just fitted the hook and put some Fiberglass sheet below to strengthen it, the last thing you would want is for it to fall of, I also did the second life belt I have been going to do it for some days.
I spent some time looking at the plans and the pictures and I did a bit of a rough drawing for the mast. Also had a play with some tube trying to make it oval so I will have a go at the mast next (probably). I was going to start putting some primer on some of the parts but it is too wet and cold to do in the garage and I will not paint in the workshop as it is part of the house and the smell goes everywhere, I am still working out how to do the foot rails on the deck, I am thinking of pinning them on by drilling very fine holes to align and then Glueing them as they are going to be hard to get right, there is also the lifting hooks but it should all only take a night and the hull is ready for paint.

I have used the normal K & S brass tube the first thing I did was to fatten out some tube to form the legs, this gives it an oval look. They where then cut on an angle and with a small round file made the ends fit against the upright tube I then drilled the upright centre tube to take the cross bar and used my razor saw to cut a slot so the brace plate could be inserted in the legs also needed cutting the same way, you can just see the plate in the top picture, it helps hold it all together while you solder. I like to make a jig of some sort to hold parts while I solder it help keep it controlled so you are not rushing and pushing bits back together you only have to use a board and some pins. it also helps you check the fit as its not all moving about.
The mounting feet are just small brass strips shaped to fit, they allow the holes for the mounting holes to be offset the same as the full size mast this allows the mast to lift at the back so the mast clears the hatch when folded down. When completed the mast will be bolted and the rod in the bottom picture is just to enable it to be removed easily. it now needs the small rest at the front peek of the roof to support the mast when down, there is a row of cleats (4) to be fitted behind the mast. The spotlight and the Ariel can now be made and fitted as they are close to the mast and now we know the arch of the mast. There is a picture in the last page of the mast from a distance.

I have now made the mast rest, lower picture and a ring for the rigging to the mast, and I have put a ring through the mast to form two rings for the rigging to attach as well.

I fitted the cleats, they where held on with 3/32 brass rivets and will have a spot of superglue on them when finally fitted or if they are going to be painted I will fit them sooner. The full size boats had lifting brackets (six off) three on each side. These where so the boat could be craned out of the water for repair or shipping. They are on the edge of the deck (lower picture) and will have the foot rail against them. The way I have fitted them is to drill the deck right through and fit a length of brass strip with the end bent at 90 deg, it was then fed up from below and marked to give the correct length then removed drilled and cut to size, it will then be slid back up and epoxied in. its a right fiddly job to get them in and out and on such a small boat you need small hands that bend, that's 0 out of 2 for me but my small dental type mirror is handy. A little bit more about drilling the deck, I drilled a row of holes and put the drill bit in the drill with only a small amount sticking out so it was stronger as it is only 0.08 drill and they break and bend easy. I'll post a picture when its finished.

So the lift hooks are finished, they where a pig to do.
Trying to get them in after they where bent was a problem and they had to go in and out about 3 times each! They have just had a dab of super glue for now and will get a coat of epoxy next time I do any work on the inside, but the main thing is they are in and in the right place, I started work on the foot rails, but I have run out of med superglue and only have thin, thin is a pain, I never use it as it goes everywhere, and it did, so there is some clean up to do. I spent some time with a photo marking things to do, I find it handy this way as opposed to a list as it stands out when you are working on an area you just look at the picture and there they are. One thing that needs to be done before the foot rails are fitted is to make cutouts on the under side to match the full size boat these where so the water could drain of the deck and not be stopped by the rail.
I usually take a picture and scan it and then blow it up by a grid, then look at each area and mark on the picture details I have spotted, you get to notice lots of things doing this, one thing you do find is that No 93 and 94 where very different from the side windows to the hydrants to the rear bulkhead above the tow hook and lots of small differences also they had two re fits so there are difference depending on the time you are modelling. Anyway I spotted seven notches on the foot rails to be cut before fixing there also needs to have a drain from the mid deck so it can drain to the main deck, this is handy to know as it then sets the height of the deck, as some plans have it a lot lower when in fact it is level with the outer deck. I have looked at using hardwood for the foot rail but it will make painting a pig and as I hate that anyway I don't think I will do it. Only thing that needs doing is a pair of Ferrel's on ether side of the boat by the mid lift bracket for the rescue ladder, when I was looking at the deck rails I noticed that the bead I had fitted to the superstructure is a bit high at one point so a section will have to come off and be replaced.
Just a final point my wife came in to the workshop and saw me working and commented "so you have have fitted the melon ballers then" my brass vents. I had a break and bit my lip.
The Lower Picture shows the kick rails finished, I was able to just superglue them. in the past I have not been a fan of superglue and have only ever had luck with medium glue, but as I had run out (I ordered the wrong glue) I tried it with the small tube it came with, I don't know how you are supposed to use it but I just cut it in half and stuck it in the end and it was OK it did not go that far, just a few runs. I did notice that it dries a lot faster than the medium, and bonds fingers better, I did however glue the nice cutout's I had made in the bottom of the rails up, so will have to drill them out.
Anyway on to another job.

The top picture shows the hawser pipe, this was made from some 4mm brass pipe and I put some "kerf" cuts in it very close together about half way through. Then carefully bent it around, the picture does not show how tight the bend is so I'll probably replace it to show it.
I then silver soldered the cuts up, I used silver solder because it is finer and it is stronger and looks like brass, and also cleans up better. I then cleaned it up and soft soldered a brass washer on to it to form a flange, it should look OK when painted.
The portholes on side of the boat are different design to the ones on the front, I don't know which I like the best, what I have done is taken the outer up stand of the one on the left, the pictures I have seen show very slim looking portholes, so any comments? I have just remembered that I need navigation lights, these are a bit like the lights you would see on a 40s car wing for sidelights, I now think the £40-45 pounds may have been worth it now for the fittings kit. I seem to have lost the one fitting I had for it the anchor, will keep looking.

The lower Picture is interesting and shows why the fire floats are fitted with lifting rings, it looks like the boat was being lifted out of the water and the strops where in the wrong place or the wrong type and they have cut in to the hull full story at www.newson.co.uk/boat/spitfire. There is a lot on interesting stuff under previous work.

The last day or two has been spent tidying up the hull, I think there is just the exhausts and water outlets and generator exhausts on the transom and a flag mast that has to be removable, I have finally got the transom looking half way decent so I can go ahead with them now I am thinking of drilling the transom and making them quite deep so they look a bit better than what would look like portholes stuck on.
The other thing I have been working on is the rear tanks in the well deck, they have a grating on part of the top, so I got some kits to make some up. I don't know if anybody has made any but I hope I don't have to make any more, the kits where 33mm x 33mm and I want 55mm by about 20mm so you have to join them together, they are a pig to do and I have only just started. There must be an essay way to do them but I am stuck with a dish of yellow glue and a stick you have to trim the ends of the ones you want to join.
I had to alter the tank tops as well to take them, the races I had left were not deep enough. This build is getting more and more like my 34" build that I started as a quick build and ended up trying to detail it, I think the next boat I build I will start with the idea I am going to detail it and then I might do a quick build!

right the lower picture shows the finished grating, and the small panels I have made to go alongside them.the grating is made of boxwood and is very hard , it is not nice to hold if you have sanded it on a disc sander as it becomes very sharp and cuts in to your fingers as you try to sand the sharp edges. I am going to make a false floor for the well deck so I can line it and mark the hatches on I will use very thin plasticard and have it so it can be painted then fitted Ill try and fix the ladders to it as well, and they will be attached to the strip I have attached the tow hook tube strengtheners to .talking of the tow hook you can see now have removed it the elongated holes for the bolts, only two are used to hold id down the rest are for show, but they all have nuts on the bottom hence the slots to clear , you can just see the piece of Fiberglass through the holes that strengthens the platform.

I decided to try doing them a bit deeper so they look a bit more realistic, they look like they are a lot deeper than they are, (about 10mm in total) the water outlet is less but when they are painted black inside and out you will probably have trouble seeing them. I have not secured them yet as I want to get a coat of primer on the transom first and see if it is OK. it looks a lot better than it was, all I will do is epoxy from the rear to hold them in, but I will do that before the main coats of paint they look a lot better than the ones I put on the larger boat as they just look like portholes on the transom (I can see some changes on the other boat soon).

Rescue Ladder.
This is fitted central on the side the boat via deck tubes, they are constructed from 1.6mm brass tube and 0,8mm brass rod, I said to myself I would not make another one but... anyway the problem is drilling the steps with a 0.8mm drill and getting the holes to line up. I could not use a centre punch as it would flatten the tube so I used a three cornered Swiss file put a mark and then part opened my small vice to rest it in and went for it. The steps still require spacing then soldering and the top bent to hook over the side.
I have made some tubes to be fitted in the deck on both sides, fortunately I only need one as it normally stored in the mid well deck by the winch.

Picture one shows the ladder about to be soldered. I always try to use a jig to hold the parts as you solder. it stops the rush when things start to move about. Anyway it is now soldered and the jig can also be used to do the bends at the top by trimming the wood at the top and then bending the wire over the top, then another piece of-tube is fitted as a spacer. Clean all solder with a copper wire brush or an old hush puppy brass brush. Then a bit of 1500 wet and dry. The deck fittings where 25mm long with a 12ba brass washer soldered on and set in the deck I crimped the bottom over so water could not come in via it bit of super glue to hold temporary and I'll epoxy them when the under deck is epoxied.

As I cannot find the one fitting I had, so here we go I have made one before, but it was bigger, I made the main part from a piece of box section. There is a picture of it at the foot of the page. I decided as this was small that I would try and mechanically fix as much as possible.
So I put tabs on the side of the plates as can be seen in an extra side piece that I made. I made a jig as I normally do to hold the parts and it is soldered in one go. The bar at the top is a tube and I was able to put some rod through to keep it straight, this will also be the way to fit the bar on to it. The lower picture shows it finished but needing some mounts and a bit of fiddling and cleaning up, it may need cutting down a bit as it look a bit wide, I have already cut 2mm of the sides but I think it still looks a bit big, I have googled danforth anchor and came up with some different shapes some are quite pointed and slim so I need to find what was used at the time mid 50s, I have cut it down a bit and out a short chain as it seems they have this before the rope is fitted.

Sorry about the hold up but I have a few problems this end, I did weigh the boat and superstructure and it seems quite light.
Superstructer with some fittings 197gr and with hull 670gr so it's quite light, I'll do a trial with everything soon, as soon as it's warm I'll get some primer on it, that has been the biggest hold up as the remaining fittings have the mounts installed so wont stop the paint.

well I was able to do a few bits this weekend on the boat first time since the last post, I have started to mount the steering servo, for a long time I have used this methoud to mount servoes from my days in 12th cars, I find it is neat and makes changing a quick job, cannot stand it when people use double sided tape or just glue them in , I think they need to be secure but with a bit of play in the link,not a lot 1/16 " thats all , I also think you have to be semetrical to get equal throw .anyway hear is the mount Ill try and fit it and put a picture of that on as well I have made the rudders and link and will take a picture of that as well

well got a bit more done today , the servo is Finished. and removed so I can give the area a coat of epoxy, I am coating all the wood with a thin coat to seal it, it will also hold the ally tube that will hold the gaiter/rubber thing to keep it waterproof, anyway hear are a few pictures of today's work showing servo mounted , it is in a strange place as it was the only way I could think of mounting it without having a very long rod, these can cause radio problems as the metal to metal contact is not recommended. I also wanted to stick with a large servo so it would not go under the rear deck and I want the space between the shafts and motors for the batteries. there is a picture with a bent paint brush, this just shows how I give the underside of the decks and hull to deck joint a coat of epoxy

I have been doing some epoxying tonight , the idea is to protect the wood, the ply I used for bulkheads is light ply and it does not like water that much, nor does the birch ply I have used for the mounts as there is a lot of edges showing, so I have given it all a coat of 30min Z epoxy it will also stiffen up the lite ply as it is very soft.
Ill post a picture when is dry and I can handle it

well it was time to start fitting things in I had worked out where I was going to fit batteries , but am now not to shore.
they may need moving forward a bit so I am going to make it so they can be slid forward down the centre line of the boat, I have tried to keep the weight symmetrical if possible up to now it seems ok, the way I have placed the speed controller's will have to be changed to the sides, they where just there for a test fit to see where bits will go . I am going to use stick batteries 4.6 AH X 9.6v as they will double up for the other boat that will use two sets, anyway a couple of pictures to bring it up to date

I decided I would fit some water cooling in case I need it in future, the motors I have fitted are out-runners and people say they stay cool also the speed controllers are 50amp so they should have plenty in reserve . I wanted to fit the type that fit flush to the hull and do not get in the way of props and loose flow, this type are used by fast electric and fast IC boats and only work at speed , if it is not used it can just be linked and there is no power losse, I think they work by the water rushing past the inlet and the low pressure zone created by the hole sucks the water up if anybody knows different let me know please. anyway there are four pictures one shows the underside of the hull another is of the top of it I have used some new to me flexie epoxy the black stuff the jury is still out on it !! there is a spare inlet on the deck so you can see what it looks like. the other two pictures are the outlet one shows the transom both the two exhausts and the outlet for the generator, the inside shows the pipe I used copper as I can bend it better, going to the outlet . it enters at the bottom and so it will not squirt straight out but hopefully more of a splatter effect. I hope I will epoxy it in tomorrow when I am happy with the fit.

Well we are up to 60 posts and still not finished, the hull is not far off though , just a platform for the speed controllers and receiver to go , one of the things I anything to do is build the boat in a way that it will last, that tends to add weight though so its a trade off, the other thing is that I want to protect radio and speed controllers and the way I have fitted the superstructure that leave a problem as water may well be able to get between the deck and superstructure joint and drip on anything below I will have to make a shield for anything below the joint. I hope the boat will be fast enough to splash about. so there will be some water on the decks.
I did another mount for the batteries tonight this will allow me to slide the weight forward or back to get the best performance.

I have finally finished the rear mast , this has been holding me up a bit . the reason I did not have a 7Ba tap and dia for the bottom of the mast as it has to be removable to tow. anyway I have taped the holder and soldered a washer on at an angle to fish it off and made a mast by putting a thread on both ends and screwing a small bass piece on the top.

You will see in the boat some Black epoxy , this is a Flexie product and I have not used it before, I did feel 5 min after putting it on "HOW DO I GET IT OFF!!" and it takes a bit longer to dry than you think and they say and it smells and is a bit runny BUT it seems to be good stuff. I wanted something a bit more flex for the water inlet and outlet as the area they are in are flat panels and flat thin fiberglass panels do flex and some of the epoxy's don't allow any movement at all. so this should be ideal . now it is dry it seems good but it takes a good 24-48 hours to fully cure.

I did a bit more on the inside clean up sand and Finnish of the epoxy coating.I am now happy that I should be maintenance free for a few years.
I have given the hull a sand as I feel it ready for paint, I am going to do it first so I can have a test run to try the system out so paint time this week AT LAST .

OK so there is some paint on Primer and how much better it looks, all my fears of it still looking rubbish have diminished, for now. I have only primed it a couple of coats put on thin , I will flat it again and see how it is , it seems to have covered the filler ok that I had to use to straighten some of the hull, the deck now looks ok , with it being thin glass fiber and it being wet and dried with 2000 grit it polished up a bit so became a bit translucent so you where looking through the deck cover and it looked a bit rough , but the paint stops that and it looks ok. I have left most of the fittings off and will do them separate or not at all have not decided if they will look ok left in brass any way a few pictures and one of the before to show how good primer is to hide rubbish.

A few more fittings finnished, not many to do , the Aeriel is designed to be screwed Ion so it can be taken of for transport and so I can fit a longer one when sailing for the receiver, at 5 foot you cannot see the longer ant . they are made of fine piano wire with heat shrink the bases are brass taped to fit through bolts I have drilled and soldered the wire in. the brass part is fitted on a thick plastic washer tapered to the roof so the ant and also the spot light look straight. I have made a horn for the other side of the roof, the pictures show it looks like a large car horn , I have made a base out of a bolt drilled for wire and a disk on the top.

Well got some paint I will post the details when it's done, needless to say the primer went on OK, the first coat of black did not, it bloomed. now black will do that if its a bit cold or its damp etc, but this looked like I had painted it white..so not a happy bunny. have flatted it and its OK the paint went on OK no runs or orange peel even though I did try to paint the bloom out.
this is the reason I had been waiting for warm weather, but the fun day is looming and I have two boats to paint so it had to be done.the original boat was painted with BS361c paint and I have found a link to some chips of it
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk/bs381c.html

http://www.e-paint.co.uk/BS381%20Colourchart.asp
so when it gets some Paint that a certain member of this site does not laugh at, I will post a picture.

After a long break and lots of other projects I have decided to Finnish of the fire boat, as I have said I hate paint that is why I have 4 boats that need just the paint to Finnish them of so I have decided a concerted effort is needed to get them done , after the paint blooming the first time I decided to take my time , I was over coating to soon and trapping in solvents, so hear are my efforts so far the hull is now finished I put the last few fittings on tonight but have not taken pictures yet so will post them soon . the hull seems OK needs a good polish yet but it will do , it takes so long to paint things . I decided to use stripe tape that has the centre removed so you can paint , but because of the curves of the hull it took hours to do just one side but I think it is worth it any way a few pictures

I have fitted the deck fittings and the rudders I like to have fitting well and truly fixed after the work that goes in to them , the ends of the cleats are drilled and 1/32 rivets fitted to hold as well as glue the other cleats where made from handrail stanchions and so have a nut underneath,
the superstructure req a lot more paint to sort it out I had a few masking problems when I first did it but I think I can work around that and will post when finished, I have been painting all the fittings of the boat the brass work is clear coated so they don't tarnish to much

well I still hate paint, the superstructure has been painted 3 times now , first time the masking tape decided to mark the paint even though it was a week old, then I found the MATCHED PAINT was not, so it was new paint and re do it all again. . if I ever do a small boat again I will think about where colours have to be masked ,so the next colour can go on ,
anyway moan over its not far of it now it needs polishing to get rid of the White marks where I have T cut it . most of the fittings are now on the hydrants , crane and some nets plus the hoses, there is some rigging to do on the mast and a cable on the anchor all small jobs, the internals are finished so I will try it this week if I get a chance

tonight I gave it a test run , it was a bit hurried and things where not as good as they should have been I had planed on using one pack for both motors but I did not have a Y lead so it req two sets of cells which where a bit heavy at the front so it ploughed a bit till it jumped on the plane then it went like a demented dog, it was not easy to control as the speed ctr where not perfectly set, I don't like auto set up and because there was also a servo Y lead it needed both servos to be set up at the same time, I will mix the Chanel's on the tx as one was lagging behind a lot so it was running on one motor then the second came in and it shot of. anyway it was a short run with lots of water over the decks . But it is very very fast.
more to come.

well have decided to put some different motors In I have gone for 480s and a mtronics twin speed ctr I have also got hold of a helicopter case and cut It down to size (thats fun) so I don't knock It to bits In the car and makes storage a lot better I have been waiting for some decent weather to try It so as soon as we try It Ill post, I was after some slow speed control that I did not get with the brushless It was stop or go and as Its a small boat you need to sale In sheltered pools and It was just uncontrollable I have moved the batteries forward as well.
I could not get the motors to sync so we will see.
a few pictures