Well what can I say about suction hoses other than thanks to Rob for doing all the leg work to a great standard, all the drawings are well done and easy to follow. I’m a retired engineering toolmaker so the components are quickly machined, as Rob says the hardest part of this job is filing the square holes of the underwater part, which has the stainless steel mesh inside.
One tip for drilling the 4 holes around the periphery is to leave the finished component on the parent material, this allows the component to be held in a vice or dividing head on a drilling machine or milling machine table without any damage to the finished surface, they can then be parted off when drilling operation is finished.
I decided to drill the holes to a depth rather than through to make it accurate when fitting the four turn handles. The small handles were machined with a small ball end and parted off to an exact length.
The fitting of the handles was a dilemma; should I solder then in or use an adhesive. I knew solder would be secure but cyno needed to be tested, so a dummy handle and hole were glued and after a few minutes I tried to pull it out, all I managed to do was destroy the handle and snap it. The solder option would result in some amount of cleaning up after with little chance of getting all the visible solder removed without an awful lot of fettling.
I decided to use cyno being the quickest and cleanest, each handle was cleaned/degreased and a drop of cyno down each hole then quickly push the handle home (hence the accurate length of handle and depth of hole).
Finally the stainless mesh was fabricated into a tube to slide inside the body, the end was formed using a 10mm flat bottomed hole, and an 8mm punch, and this was then formed in the press to form a cup. The end was then pressed into the body and both secured with a drop of epoxy.
Now all the parts are finished they all get a coat of spray clear lacquer. Next on the list are the pipes.

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Next in the line of adornments in the aft deck are the ladders, these were made from 2mm mahogany to the plan included in the kit. To make sure that all parts were identical I cut pieces to slightly longer and wider than required then clamped them together and drilled two 0.4mm holes through them all and tapped a 0.5mm brass pins through to hold them all together for machining. I made use of the Lidl disc sander and shaped the sandwiched block to the dimensions/profile taken from the drawing. I now disassembled the four pieces in preparation for drilling the holes which will determine the position of the stair runs. I need only to mark out one side piece so I can set the drilling machine stops to hold (by hand) each piece for drilling a single hole, then reset for the next hole/s until all pieces have a set of 4 identical holes. Next the stair pieces need to be made, again to the correct sizes as marked on the drawing (out with the sander). Having made the hole position of the sides so precise the same needed to be applied to the pre drilling of the stair runs, so I made a small jig to drill the pilot holes, just clamping each piece under the aluminium angle and spotting through each hole. Some final sanding of the individual pieces and then the assembly was put together using cyno adhesive. I wanted to include a brass stair lip on each step, so using some small angle brass, these were cut to extra length and then again using a small jig they were sanded to exact length; (trimming this small section brass is difficult for all the available sections so using the sander and an appropriate jig give a great finish). The brass pieces were stuck on each stair front using cyno. The ladders now need to be fitted in place, I used some brass angle on the rear of each step and then drilled and tapped the rear of the step 10BA. I could now drill a hole in the rear wall to clamp each step in place.

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I have decided that the rear upper deck and the rear aft cockpit will be a one piece unit. After see another boat with a similar set but not both decks were joined. This means that the upper deck and lower deck and the sides of the cockpit will all be joined forming a box. This has a number of benefits these are:-
1. It makes a water tight compartment which can be emptied if required. (except for the removable hatch I did in the initial build, this will have to have an “o” ring type seal)
2. It makes it easier to get to the servo area without taking all the smaller parts out e.g. foam tanks ladders etc.
3. Fitting the ladders made easier with a single 10 BA bolt
Disadvantages
A lot more work!.

Because the individual parts are already made and in some cases painted I need to make sure that all surfaces that will require gluing are suitably abraded before applying any type adhesive. Additional work will be required around the top edge of the cockpit to give a lip to stop any water from entering the servo area. I decide this would look nice in mahogany to match the floor edging, along with some corner pieces in polished brass this edging will also add substantial rigidity to the whole structure.
The mahogany was cut from a spare piece of old table top to 9mm by 6mm and then a 1.5 mm x 2mm deep groove was cut along the length to slot onto the top of the box section. The corner brass pieces were fabricated from 0.5 mm brass sheet and the joints soft soldered with a strengthening piece underneath.

The box section sides were already made and painted so had to have their edges prepared for gluing by removing a 2mm wide strip along each edge. The area where the box fits had to be prepared with spacers of 0.6 mm card and strips of baking sheet to stop the glue sticking to the sides of the boat. This method ensures that the box fits exactly in its hole.
After epoxying the box section to consolidate the Rear upper deck & Aft cockpit deck I could then glue the mahogany rail to the top along with the brass corners this was left to set overnight. The top rail was then radiused to finish it off and a first coat of varnish applied


 

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It’s time to start looking at some paint preparation as this is something that can be done alongside some of the remaining jobs. I have spent hours glassing the hull and deck and the cabin roofs and then finishing to a standard for the first coats of primer, this was achieved by progressing through various grades of wet and dry from 400 to 800. This gives a good adhesion surface for the first primer coat. As I have said in previous posts I made as many parts detachable as was practical, so on the forward cabin roof (which is in itself detachable) all parts are removed leaving a relatively flat surface to prepare, the underside was masked and then put in the queue for painting. Mid cabin and rear cabin roofs - again all parts were removed and placed in the queue/turntable,
Spraying is a hazardous process whatever type of paint you use, so it’s essential that some sort of extraction is used and an appropriate face mask ( I use a P100 rated mask because it gives the highest level of protection in the widest variety of situations and will filter out 100% of both oil-based and non-oil-based particles.). This can also be used for most of my wood working activities, however; if this isn’t an option for you then I suggest you spray outdoors. My spray booth is made from an old cooker hood mounted in my workshop with a table below. On this I used plain sheets of hardboard which I made temporary fixings to hold a box together. The extraction element was a piece of old clothes dryer flexible 4” pipe which when I’m spraying hangs out of the window.
Back to spraying, I use a compressor and small spray gun for this size of work so I purchased a litre of grey primer and 5 litres of thinners. I am no professional sprayer but have sprayed a number of cars in the past and I have learnt that once again ”Less is more” so a number of light coats is better than one thick coat that runs, meaning lots of sanding and a repeat performance of painting. First three coats of grey primer applied and I’m pleased with how it’s going. I took the opportunity to spray some of the other parts that were finished while the gun was full of primer. Spraying is one of those jobs which is over before it’s begun yet the preparation seems to take weeks but it always pays off in the end.
Next will be a top coat of Appliance White.

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Been away on holiday for a few weeks so not been doing much but back at it again -

Pulley blocks
The mast has a small pulley block on each end of the cross bar, but I wanted to have a go at making them so using some 0.5mm I marked out the profile and then bent the flat pieces into a channel this was followed by drilling an 8BA clearance hole through both sides. Next I machined the centre pulley out of brass with a 2mm rad to suit the rope I will be using; I also did an extra round dummy pulley in steel to use as the template to file the radius on the frame and use as a guide for the width of the block. Using a smooth file I carefully filed the radius on each piece using the dummy pulley as a guide and trimmed the width, this was followed using wet and dry paper to finish. To fasten the blocks to the cross bar they need a screw fastening on the top, this was done by soldering an 8BA nut on the top. Finally the brass pulley wheel was secured in place with an 8BA nut and bolt, with a threaded stud in the top.


Deck rigging screw eyes - can be bought, but again, I had to have a go, so first I ground a tool to form the end ball which would also part the piece off after it had been turned and threaded. The bar was turned down to the thread o/d and then using an 8BA die the diameter was threaded. I then used the form tool to produce the ball end, this worked OK but could be improved on as the final turned finish wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for, but I don’t have time to spend on this as I only wanted six eyes so the diameters will be finished with a small file and wet and dry. Turned pieces finished, next I set up a gang of slitting saws to mill the flats, holding each part in a split threaded clamp in the machine vice the flats were milled in parallel. Finally using the same clamp jig the ball was drilled with a 2mm hole again to suit the 2mm rope. There’s some final dressing to do before the parts are clear lacquered.

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On the cabin roof is the radio aerial, the kit supplies a base in white metal, but to accommodate my aerial design I decided to machine my own out of brass. I wanted the pole to be tapered and with it being only 2mm dia I found the easiest way was to support the piece in a wooden block at the same height as the Dremel laid flat on the bench. With the piece rotating, I used a smooth file and grades of wet & dry to taper down to 0.75 dia. Next I machined the 2mm end down to 1.5mm to accept the spring, this spring will be soldered to a lower piece which then goes through the base and into the cabin where it’s bolted in position. I decided to incorporate a spring to make sure it does not get accidently bent.
Soft soldering was chosen, as the silver solder would have tempered the spring. The result was really better than I could have imagined.

Loud Hailer
Another heavy item, first job hollow out with the Dremel and then fill with polystyrene and top with Milliput and sculpt the shape –result, the weight was halved. Next I made a frame in the same way as the one I did for the search light – (see search light)

All the cabin furniture has to be mounted on the roof which is curved! I found the best way was to use Milliput. The method was as follows,
1 Drill the hole for each item in the appropriate place
2 Make sure the fastening method for each piece will hold the piece upright (I tapped the hole 8BA)
3 Make a dividing piece from PTFE baking sheet circular for most items but oblong for the mast feet
4 Roughen the surface where the items contact the cabin roof
5 Place the divider on the items base
6 Mix a small amount of Milliput
7 Place a circular amount under each item
8 put some Vaseline on the securing bolt so it doesn’t stick
9 Pull the item down to the desired height and fasten in position then trim around the bases
10 When dry remove the item and the baking sheet, paint as required
11 sorry if this is common knowledge

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The supplied mast is of white metal and although OK it has a number of minus points for me.
1- The mast does not lend its self to being hinged.
2- It really needs navigation light on top and the supplied casting is not suitable for this.
3- wiring needs to be hidden, not easy with the casting
4- it’s quite heavy
Having said all that it’s ok if you don’t want my wish list. So on with the manufacture of a replica, I chose brass as the preferred material because it’s easy to silver and soft solder.
The main legs are made from 6mm round tube, which I squeezed in my machine vice to an oval shape to look like the castings, each of the ends were then squeezed again at 90 degrees to allow then to join to the cross mid-section. I made some brass inserts for the hinged end from 2mm brass sheet, which are bent by 25 degrees to allow the hinge mechanism to sit at 90 degrees to the cabin roof, these are drilled and tapped 8BA. These pieces actually block the end of the oval tube and need to have a 2mm slot milled in them to allow the wires to exit the tube; these are soft soldered in place later. Two feet were made from two pieces of 2mm brass plate the base plate being slotted to accept the upright and finally silver soldered together.
(A point here for silver soldering is to use as little solder as possible and allow it to flow with the heat around the joint this means that no filing is needed. I find it’s also good practice to quench the part when nearly cool to break the glass like residue of the flux then just steel wool is required to clean the parts).
The feet upstands were then drilled 8BA clearance and the base fixing holes drilled the same size. The cross mid-section is made from 1mm brass sheet and is bent through 360 degrees whilst placing a 6mm round bar in the centre to create a hole for the top mast. A small wooden former was used as the piece was pressed together in the machine vice, this was then silver soldered to give stability and then filed to shape. This piece has to accommodate the wires passing through, so again a 2mm slot is milled from each leg location to the centre to create passage up to the top mast. The top mast is just stock tubing which then has a turned top with four 5mm holes machined at 90 degrees to accommodate the LED. This is a 5mm Flat top wide angle LED this will direct the light out of the four holes. Finally the cross piece, again stock tube with small ball finials at each end soft soldered in place and tapped 10 BA for the pulley blocks.
All pieces now made, it’s time to assemble the parts using a combination of soft soldering and epoxy resin. The wire that I used was silicon sheaved, and when I soldered the legs to the mid-section and lower hinge piece I made sure there was enough wire to pull through to check if the process had damaged the wire, but it hadn’t. So having soldered the LED, the top was epoxied to the upper tube and the tube epoxied to the mid-section. Finally the mid-section was filled using Milliput but first putting some Vaseline on the wires to avoid them being stuck should I ever have to rewire the unit. Next the cross beam was added and epoxied in place. The bottom of the legs looked plain compared with the cast version so I have made some thin gauge brass covers with mock bolts as per the original. The whole assembly was cleaned up ready for a first coat of etch primer, and white primer, followed later with a final coat of appliance white

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Servo mount
I have looked and better looked for a decent servo mount but could not find one that suited the position I wanted to put the servo, so I decide to make my own. I bought some aluminium channel, which would act as a platform and base for the standard servo. Space in terms of height is at a premium and so some material had to be removed from the keel area to make sure the servo arms did not catch on the underside floor of the rear deck. As the space tapers in height from stern>forward then the best position for the servo would be next to the forward bulkhead

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I had from the beginning I had intended to hold all the hatches down with Neodymium magnets however as you work on, these things seem to get forgotten, so now it’s time to do some of the not so exiting tasks. I had bought some 10 x 5x 1.5 magnets so I need to machine the slots into the roof cabin quadrants. These needed to be mirrored by a quadrant that can be epoxied into the corners of each cabin area. Using the trusty Lidl disc sander I produced 12 quadrants and then after making a simple jig to hold them in place I machined the corresponding slot in each one taking note of left and right hand variants. The next job is to glue all the magnets into the roof spaces and then when they are set glue the magnets into the quadrants making sure the orientation is correct. To make sure the magnets are set into the cabin sides at the correct depth I made a temporary balsa wood frame around each cabin to rest the quadrants on while they set.
Another small job complete

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Cabin detail part 6 panel light
The panel light presented a difficult challenge in that I assume the real one has a tubular light fitting in it, difficult in 1/12 scale. However, creating the tube assembly was not difficult using some annealed 1/8” brass tube and making a bending jig, (simply a 1/8 grove milled using a ball ended slot drill into a piece of hardwood I formed the tube into the required shape. I used the back of the jig to hold the piece while I filled the tube half way through along it top inside edge @ 45 degrees this is where the LED tube will fit. The LED tube is from one of the new type LED garden light bulb that use a small solar panel to illuminate it during the during dark hours. Smashing the bulb leaves 4 filaments which can be used independently, these are very delicate and need the wires attaching very carefully finally feeding it into the brass tube and then after all this fiddling, if it still lights, epoxy it in place. The next job is to make some brackets to fix it to the instrument panel. The bracket was made from 1/8” bore tube and some 0.010” brass shim I drilled some holes in the sheet prior to cutting to size, this was done using only a 1/8” dia centre drill and then enlarged with a clock makers reamer until the tube fitted snugly through this was then soft soldered in place. The whole unit was then epoxied in place on the instrument panel. All the wiring for the panel LEDs can now be completed ready for connection to the random flashing circuit board. (this came as a kit for just £3:90) The circuit board is fastened to the panel with a sub-board made from a scrap piece of ply with PCB supporting pillars in the corners, when this is completed I will post a video of it working.
The LEDs on the circuit board are only for testing and will be replaced with the panel LEDs.

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