Makes all the difference Bill, certainly adds to the scale look as well as being stronger.

JB

Evening all.
Moving on from the propellers and shafts I had some time today to work on the propulsion units and their mountings.
I’m using two M400 units taken from the HM Dockyard stores box.
They have had very little use so will do nicely.

I’m not going to bore you with two many words as once again the pictures tell the story.
Suffice it to say the engines were placed in their mounts and screwed to a balsa hand made base.
Lots of trial fittings to ensure the motors and shafts are in alignment.
Once this was achieved then the base motor board was screwed to the internal base board.
I avoid gluing so that I can remove for maintenance.
Both motors removed and base board sprayed.Motors re fitted.

Motors wired and tested.
Job done they work and everything turns in the right directions.
Enjoy.
Take care all.
Regards
Bill 👍

Great camera work. As you say, a picture speaks a thousand words, and oh boy, did you have a lot to tell us ! Really enjoyed following your progress with such a comprehensive collection of photos. 😉

Nice work Bill 👍

I have also made and modified several prop shafts over the years, and as you suggest, it is not too difficult and can be done without the help of a lathe - but if you have to make your own bearings, the use of a lathe is essential.
At the moment, I need to replace the end bearing of an old 2BA prop shaft without removing it from the boat (if possible) as it is well and truly fixed solid in the hull and removing it will cause a lot of damage, so this will be a real challenge☹️

This is going to be yet another great blog to follow. Will be following with interest. All the best with this 👍
Regards,
Chris

Evening All.
Many years ago I bought from an on line auction site an already built Deans kit of HMS Cossack circa 1940.
The builder built it as a static only model and she has never seen water,but the build quality was quite good.
It has laid on the shelf gathering dust ever since,including the resident ships spiders.
I have now decided to convert it to a working model.
Having just finished two refit blogs on HMS Belfast and HMS Verulam I really didn’t want to show another along the same lines as it would be a little too repetitive in my view.
Although it is going to be a total rebuild as she is an empty shell I decided I would perhaps just show various parts of the rebuild.

Please explore the photographs which speak a thousand words.

Propeller shafts.
These were fixed in with a very strong type of glue and the shaft oiler pipes were buried deep in the glue and totally blocked.The retaining nuts were glued on as well.
Having removed the white metal propellers I was able to remove the shafts with gently tapping from a panel pin hammer.

I decided to convert the shafts into a shorter version and make A frames like the real thing.
Having cleaned the shaft up and soft soldered one of the oiler tubes back on I measured,marked and then cut the tube to the correct length for the hull.
I then faced the ends on the lathe and replaced the shaft inner bearings.
The A frames were then fashioned simply by bending some brass strip over two cut lengths of M4 brass tubing.
They were then soft soldered and allowed to cool.
Hopefully the photographs show it in more detain.
The shaft tubes were refitted and glued.
Once set the A frames were offered up and the hull bottom marked,drilled and filed to take the A frame arms.
Happy with that they were glued in place.

I will be using two brass propellers which I took from my stock box and all fitted on a dry run.These propellers are slightly over scale for the model but will give me more control with less revolutions from the motors.

Rudder.
This had just been glued in place and had to be knocked out with the trusty hammer.
The rudder post was only 2mm diameter so I made two copper fillets on the lathe and increased it to M4 diameter.
Once I had turned a new M4 rudder post tube and dry fitted it was glued in place.
In time I will fill in around the new frames and rudder the upon completion will be resprayed.

I hope this gives a little insite on how build your own shafts and A Frames and although a late is beneficial it is not essential as careful cutting and filing can produce good results.
Hope you enjoy.
Regards
Bill.