Crews reported aboard today.😊
Now they're grumblin' about the lack of fittings and furniture 🤔

Should with luck report on board on Monday😉
Driver, Police crew and Relief crew 😁
Cheers All
Doug 😎

Another Flashback - to 25th May at the Biergarten / lake in the Ostpark, Munich.

Trials vids can be seen here on YouTube.
Pt1: First run with a 3S LiPo.

A quick Flashback to May 😲 Got sidetracked with 'lectrickery' an' stuff🤔

Hull was given a final spray top coat and gloss clear lacquer coat. All flatted back in between coats with 3000 grit Tamiya W&D sponges. Used wet with a drop of liquid soap. Then a few hours of polishing with car paint cutting compound and finally with 'anti hologram' polish until it feels like glass.😊 Same polishing procedure for the decks and cabin sides.
Fitted a few deck fittings; tank filler caps, which also hold the aft deck down, and 'Jam' cleats fore and aft. Both from the 'Riva' range from Krick. Apart from the cockpit she's done! Need suitable scale crew and cockpit furniture now. Ship's wheel I have but that's it so far.
Last pic is a reminder of how the 'old girl' started out last year, after 25 years of neglect in the cellar!
Sea Trial soon. Cheers, All, Doug 😎

This was actually done back in April, somehow it ended up in another thread and I forgot to put it here!🤓
After spraying the cabin white I used the windows 'oles to mark templates for the windows. Which I then transferred to 3mm tinted perspex / acrylglass and cut out on the table scroll saw. Despite careful marking and cutting still had to fiddle about with filing to get 'em to fit right 😡
Pics 1 to 3 show fitted windows still with protective film.
Pics 4 to 5 film removed but still to be polished.
7th pic; Les pièces,
8th pic; ze glue 😉
I chose 3mm 'glass' a) to match the 3mm ply of the cabin walls - makes it easier to get a flush fit, b) could get it in green tint 😊 Think there was also grey and red !!!! Red for a 'Fun' Boat perhaps 😲
Glue used; Deluxe Materials Canopy Glue; "Thick, flexible glue. High grip.
Dries clear. Fills gaps." Here endeth the advert😉
6th pic shows final result after polishing. Maybe sometime, when I haven't got more interesting things to solve and build, I'll make some alu or mahogany frames! 😉
Happy glazing folks😁 Cheers, Doug 😎

6mm lime wood planks from Krick and 4mm tap from Conrad arrived on Wednesday so Full Speed Ahead.
This time formers were made from the 6mm lime so no bending or slitting required, new piece of mahogany cut so that this time no inserts left an right were needed. 😊
Formers attached using Rocket cyano and a bag of clamps and left overnight.
The 'Riva' tank filler caps were tapped 4mm and appropriate holes bored in the deck piece. Neodymium magnets attached to forward edge.
Deck fitted and trimmed in situ for flush fit all round. Transom got scratched during this process so will need a respray🤔
Underside sealed with two coats of EzeKote and sealing / varnishing / lacquering process started on the topside.
Last two pics show current status; So Far So Good.😉
Next step; fit windows made of 3mm green tinted acrylic 'glass', which also arrived Wednesday.
Will now have to start thinking about what to do in the cockpit 😲 All I have so far is a 25mm ship's wheel. Furniture building is not exactly my Forte! First time for everything I suppose!
Suggestions gratefully received!!
Ciao for now, Doug 😎
Almost forgot! While waiting for varnish to dry I tackled an old problem with the rudder. Namely; asymmetric rudder throw caused by the rather bulky connecting rod binding on the rudder arm! Suddenly remembered I still had some E-Z Connectors from old aircraft days. Been hanging around for 35 years or so waiting for something to do! So replaced the old plastic linkage with 1mm spring steel rod and two E-Z connectors. Works a treat 😊

Spent a 'relaxing' day cutting and trimming new parts!
Pics later, off to the GF now for an Easter Dinner 😜
After that - 'Let the bending commence' 😉
Happy Easter folks, 😎

give up and go home! Oh! I am home 😁
Since I need access to the rudder the after deck has to be made as a removable hatch. Would you believe at the last refit (25 years ago) I actually managed to shoehorn the RX and RX NiMH battery in there as well!? Pic 1 shows what it looked like when I started this refit, after 20 odd years in the cellar 😲
Anyway, I wanted the deck to be mahogany to match the cabin roof and as a hatch it was obvious that it would need a subframe. Pic 2 to 5, had to open a new bag of chomp chomp clamps 😉 Trial fit Pic 6. SFSG!
Under side was sealed with two coats of EzeKote and fixings added; neodymium magnets at the forward edge, domed captive nyloc nuts glued into the under frame at the aft edge. Pics 7 & 8. These will then accept 4mm studs screwed into Riva style fuel filler caps to hold it down and (hopefully) keep it watertight.
Mahog was then finished in the same laborious and patience testing process described above (or is it below😲) for the cabin roof and decks. Pic 9 shows it screwed down with normal 4mm 'Camembert' head screws - Why? see below 😆 Finish was OK.. BUT
After leaving screwed down overnight a hairline crack had developed 😡
Pic 10. Also, I didn't like the 3mm fillets between the hatch deck and the main deck, and was wondering what to do about the lip on the bulkhead at the rear of the cockpit. There was a chunk cut out in the middle. This was where in the old days we had a tiller bar to set the rudder for Free Running on a great circle (Radnor Park Lake in Folkestone - side note for Graham P74, probably before he was born😉)
Sooo .... machined the lip away, removed the 3mm fillets, made a cardboard template for the new deck-piece and tomorrow is another day. Wonder what I can muck up then !!?? 😊 G'night all, ciao Doug 😎
Oh yes the Filler caps - drilled them on the lathe for 4mm thread clearance, dug out the tap set, selected 4mm 0.7mm pitch ..... Oh S..t, only a tapered tap which starts cutting at 5mm. Hole in the cap is only 5mm deep.😡 Immediately ordered 4mm parallel machine tap, should be here on Wednesday. No sweat, should have deck hatch Mk. 2 finished by then 😎

Sooo ... Happy with the cabin and main deck so onward and upward with the hull. At a previous stage the hull was already sealed, primed and two coats of gloss Royal Blue, or at least what passes for Royal Blue in Germany - seems a little light to me but I like it anyway.
Over-spray from other operations was sanded off with a 600 grit sponge.
This revealed a few imperfections around the bow that needed sealing (EzeKote) and re-flattening. No one's perfect!😉
These areas were re-primed using a primer-filler from the pro auto branch, flattened off with 1000 and 1500 W&D and the whole hull given a quick blast of Royal Blue again and flattened with 2000 grit wet. Pic 1.

The finishing coats were then applied: 3 coats blue and 3 coats protective lacquer (contains a UV filter😎). Flattening with wet 3000 plus liquid soap between each coat.
Finally cutting polish and finishing polish, as for cabin roof and main deck.
Polishing might give her an extra knot or so, scale of course😊

Results of all this can be seen in pics 2-6.
After removing all the masking tape full effect is shown in pics 8-10.
Minor Arrrgh!: the masking tape on the main deck had been on too long and the white on the cabin walls had hardened, so when I removed the tape some paint came with it 😡 No sweat! I'll trim the cabin with a mahogany moulding 😁

BTW: the W&D used here are all Tamiya sanding sponges. Not the cheapest sort of W%D but I'm so impressed with how they work and their longevity that I've acquired a modest stock of grits from 240 to 3000😉
Only slight disadvantage; it's virtually impossible to get old colour out of them, unlike W&D paper, so you need new sponges for a new colour!
E.g. I didn't want to use sponges I'd used on the blue hull for the white cabin walls!! Big advantage: you can use them wet on raw wood without staining the wood black!

So, that's how I've spent the last two weeks, what have U lot been up to??? 😉 Happy painting people, cheers Doug 😎

Sorry the advertised Flash Gordon reel has gone 'walkies' so you'll have to make do with this boring description of how to occupy a day or three and stink out the house!😁
After the eventual success with the cabin roof I continued with the main deck using essentially the same process. First I had to extend the planking (engraving) from cabin leading edge back to the transom. Dad had only done the foredeck. Pic 1 shows starting point. AKA Square One!
Pic 2 after initial staining, pseudo planking and sealing. Plank engraving was done with a fine hardened steel scriber / centre punch and a steel rule clamped at 7mm centres. Rule was aligned so that the wood grain pushed the scriber against it. Don't ask how I realised that that was the way to do it (minor Arrrgh!)😡 Anyway, worked out in the end.

I had started with cherry wood stain but it came out too bright red so from Krick I obtained some Jotica mahogany stain (also some Oak stain for the decks of my Prince of Wales and Bismarck - but that's another pair of Sagas to be.)
Using basically the same process as for the cabin roof: two sealing coats, two matt varnish primer coats, two gloss varnish coats, two protective lacquer coats, polishing with cutting polish and top gloss polish, and lots of patience and elbow grease (this time an italian Lugana😉) pics 3 to 5 show the result. I'm 'appy with that 😊 Note: to remove build up of sanding residue from the 'planking caulking' I had to resort to an old toothbrush or nail-brush from time to time. The sponge couldn't hack it.
The aft deck 'hatch' is still the temporary bodge-up I made 25 years ago to quickly get the boat going for my daughter. Think the ply (ca 4mm) came from the back of an old bureaux!
Haven't decided yet whether to make the new one from the same mahogany as the roof or thin ply and stain like the main deck.
Suggestions welcome please.

After the deck time to turn my attention to the cabin walls, looking pretty shabby and full of over-spray - pic 6 😲
Step 0: masking off, pics 7 & 8 'All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go'🤔
Step 1: mucho sanding starting with 180 grit and working through to 600 ensuring removal of all traces of blue as I wanted the final finish to be Arctic White (not Ice Blue!)
Step 2: two sealing coats, flattening with 600 grit.
Step 3: spraying with Revell white primer, not impressed, gave a rough dusty finish🤔
Step 4: sand off Revell muck, flat back with 1000 and 1500 grit sponges, respray with two coats of pro white primer, flattening with 1500 and 2000+ soap respectively. Much better 😊 like the proverbial baby's ...!
Step 5: two coats of gloss white, same make as the primer!!!, flattening with 3000 grit sponge, wet + a drop of liquid soap.
Step 6: two coats of protective lacquer as with the varnish. Flattening with 3000 and soap between coats only.
Interesting effect with this lacquer and the paint (as opposed to the varnish); it seemed to 'melt and fuse' with the paint surface and smooth it out.😊 Just had to be careful not to apply too much at once in case it all ran down and took the paint with it!
Step 7: finishing with cutting polish and anti-hologram polish.
Results: pics 9 - 11. Final effect makes it look and feel like plastic or fibreglass, almost forgot that there is wood underneath😁

Next in this theatre "Hi Ho Silver Awaaaayyyy!" (Sponsored by KiOra!) or 'I'm gonna finish this hull if it kills me!'
(sorry Flash reels got lost in the post😡)
Cheers Doug 😎