Response

The bow blocks & outer keel

Michael. I think the reason for the balsa block method is that you can really only bend ply in one plane effectively, to produce the bow shape of this boat would entail the ply being contorted in two planes, one concave and one convex, to form the curve and even with thin 1.5mm ply you just can't do that easily. The crash tender bow is just a convex bend. Thus the balsa block method becomes the only way to achieve the shape and to be honest it's not that difficult to do with care and patience.

5 years ago by robbob

Blog

The bow blocks & outer keel

The bow of the boat has a curve and to create the shape a single block of hard balsa is supplied in the kit, although in my pre-production prototype this had to be formed by laminating some pieces of thick balsa together to the required size. Rather than laminating up a single block separately I did the laminating and glueing in situ on the hull to ensure a solid tight block, and after the glue had cured I set about shaping it. Initially I used a razor saw to roughly remove the surplus at the sides and bottom and then began the process of shaping it to the final form. My sanding plate proved invaluable for the final stages of making the block flush with the hull sides. The underside of the blocks were very carefully shaped with a combination of the sanding plate and abrasive paper around a series large round formers. I was careful not to just use abrasive paper over fingers as this can create grooves and unevenness in the soft balsa. I had already created a concave shape in the bulkhead former F1 and with the ply bottom skins in place it was relatively easy to extend the contour into the bow blocks being very careful to ensure symmetry on both sides. A line was drawn on the blocks that extended the curve of the hull strakes to define the shape. I also used the outer keel as a template throughout the shaping process to make sure that I was not removing too much material. it would be very easy to remove too much material so it pays to do this slowly and carefully, checking all the time for symmetry. Finally when I was happy with the shape I formed a slight flat on the blocks for the outer keel to sit on, using a back light helped greatly with this, and the whole hull was given a light sanding with a detail sander. The prototype kit was supplied with keel components made from thick balsa which would easily be damaged in use so I recreated this in thick ply laminations to the required thickness and shaped it so that it was completely flat and square on the inner edges and with a curved profile on its outer edges. The keel was checked for fit on the hull throughout so that only a minimum amount of filler would be required to blend it to the hull. It was fixed in place with epoxy adhesive and firmly pinned until it fully set and very little filler used to finish it. The kit, which is available now from VMW, includes a single piece bow block and ply keel parts as standard, which makes construction much quicker and easier. I’m glad that bit is over and I’m very pleased with the result. Next stage will be glass fibre cloth and epoxy resin….

5 years ago by robbob

Response

Spraying Again.......

Mornin' Neville, ."How wet is wet"? Hold the paper under a running tap, warm water, until it goes dark all over. Remove excess water with kitchen roll. You don't have to flood the hull but keep the paper well wetted. For convenience I use the Tamiya sanding sponges. They mould themselves to any shape they are used on which is great for curves. Keep a bowl of warm water handy to re-wet the paper or sponge from time to time and to clean of the residue that builds up on the paper. Also regularly wipe off the slurry that builds up on the object you are sanding with kitchen roll or a damp flat dense kitchen sponge. When you are finished wash off the hull (or whatever) with the the flat sponge and clean water. Dry off carefully with kitchen roll or non-linting cloth. DON'T do a bath test with just primer on the hull as the primer is porous! it consists mostly of finely ground chalk dust or similar in a solvent suspension. Wait until you have at least the first top coat on to seal it. You only have to look at a car with a primed wing, that has then been driven around in typical British weather for a few weeks, to see why!! Don't forget the 'secret ingredient' 😉 All the best, Doug 😎 PS Nearly forgot 😲 Start using a few drops of liquid soap on the w&d from the final preparation of the primer coat through til the end.

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Clyde Puffer

Members might be interested in the preliminary construction details of our Puffer . Shown is the steel laser cut keel with frames slotted in position . I have to make a jig to hold the whole lot in place while i weld it up. The boiler i made earlier and Gordon already has a beautiful engine ready to go. He tested the boiler under steam recently to 80lb and all is well.Will post more pictures as and when. Les Breame

6 years ago by lesliebreame

Response

20th Scale ELCO 80ft PT boat part 10

Not sure your correct when you say ply doesn't bend in two directions. when building my crash tender the roof panels are a curve, I steamed them and let them set in a jig. I agree this will be somewhat more difficult when dealing with a full length skin but with some thought and appropriate jigs and clamps I think it can be done. Ill give it a go on my next build.

6 years ago by mturpin013

Forum

1.5v AA Li-Fe/Li-ion/Li-po batteries

Yes, I'd like to know that too! Please post links where you found them. I'm intrigued by batteries which seem to contradict the chemistry used in them😲 LiFe (LiFePo4) cells have a nominal voltage of 3.2V. Li-Ion have a nominal voltage of 3.6 to 3.85 V, They are a derivative of LiFe, which simply defines the metals used in the positive terminal; lithium + a Ferrous and carbon. Used in electric cars, military and aerospace. LiPo (Lithium Polymer) have a nominal cell voltage of 3.7V. They are also a variant of LiFe. The 'polymer' part simply refers to the material of the separator used to prevent electrode particles passing from from one to the other. it only allows Ion exchange, i.e. current flow. Hence in effect you can regard all of these rechargeable Lithium types as 'Li-Ion' batteries. Used in Laptops, notebooks, mobile phones / tablets etc, and of course RC models😉 There ARE 1.5V Lithium batteries, Li-FeS2, BUT they use Lithium metal as the anode and are NOT rechargeable!! Nominal voltage 1.4 -1.6V. Used as a high current, long storage life substitute for alkaline AA and AAA cells providing about two and a half times the energy of the alkaline. Similar not rechargeable chemistry, using other s of manganese (most common), copper, iron to name but a few, is also used in typical 3V Lithium button cells. 1.5V rechargeable suggests to me an alkaline battery, produced by RAYOVAC some years ago. I still have a few of their C size cells kicking about. Don't have a very good 'power to weight ratio' compared to modern LiPos though.🤔 Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Final Finishing before Sea trials ;-)

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 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 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Roof Skins

Having sorted the windows out, they can now wait until the detailing is finished before final fitting. The roof skins are all curves so they will need to be steamed and formed before fitting as they will definitely have to hold their shape as there isn’t as much to fasten them to in terms of framework. After final fitting I will glass both inner and outer faces which will ensure the shape is retained and also help strengthen them to withstand any bumps /knocks during its lifetime. I made formers out of some softwood to match each of the roof profiles. Each piece was then soaked in hot water for around 5 mins and then clamped on the formers and left to dry for a day or so.

6 years ago by mturpin013

Response

The Saga of the Cabin Roof or - Arrrgh!

Evenin' MT, Thanks👍 Yep I know blooming from my car restoration days. Causes a dull satin effect with some whitish fogging 😡 That's not what happened here, suddenly a patch of yellowish spots appeared under the gloss!😭 Only thing I can think of is that with the last flattening with 3000 grit I used a drop of liquid soap to lubricate the sanding sponge, gives that almost glass finish. Maybe some soap residue was still there and the next lacquer coat reacted with it? The soap is a trick I learned during car repairs. Of course then I could wash it all off with a big sponge and chuck a bucket of water over it! Not such a good idea with a model wooden boat🤔 Re 'Your skins' 😲 I used mahogany 'because it was there' and I suddenly had a picture in my mind what it could look like (Riva style😉) if I could do the job right! I'm pretty happy with how it eventually worked out 😊 Not sure that a mahog roof fits the image of an RAF boat? and painting it would be a shame 🤔 But if you do decide to use it you may have more luck with 0.5mm, mine was 1mm+. What are the 'existing skins'? Re clothing: I didn't do that, didn't want to risk obscuring the wood grain on the outside and the inside I had sealed with two coats of EzeKote anyway. Cloth would have been superfluous. But if you're going to paint the roof anyway then - why not? Would give strength and rigidity. Thicker ply? More than 0.5 / 0.6mm and you may have the problem I had with the curve!!! Cheers Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

The Saga of the Cabin Roof or - Arrrgh!

Hi there, Patience is a virtue, of which you appear to have a lot. AS for your slight "blooming /blushing my only answer is (raining or exceptionally cold or humid weather which often occurs when rapid evaporation of solvent cools the air over the coating below the dew point.) (internet is brilliant) however you've set me thinking now as as you will have seen in my blog having got the roof mechanism working I have yet to apply the skins. I appreciate any thoughts on - 1 Using existing skins? 2 Using existing skins and then f/glass and cloth both sides? 3 I have a quantity of mahogany veneer 0.5mm from memory, three sheets cross grain and glue whilst the held in the curve? 4 use thicker ply?

6 years ago by mturpin013

Blog

The Saga of the Cabin Roof or - Arrrgh!

Typical of Aeorokits the cabin roof skin was made of two thin pieces of ply < 1mm. Over the 50 years or so the overhang corners had started to curl up and crack 😲 Pics 1 & 2 show the 'off the shelf' condition after 25 years of neglect 🤔. First I tried to correct this by soaking in hot water and flattening under a car battery (flattens most things😉). So far so good. Then some super glue in the cracks and back under the battery. After a day or two it just curled up again. Ho hum! Pour a glass of wine and back to the thinking board. Seconds Out - Round Two! Thought, OK make new pieces from the 0.6mm ply I still have and paint it - then my eye fell on some 1mm mahogany sheet (Ouch 😭). Tried to make the whole roof skin in one piece of this but the curve defeated me. The skin was steamed and soaked in hot water and clamped across the roof frame. Next morning - Arrrgh! Had started to crack along the centre line 😭 More thinks!! Carefully cut down the middle and glued and clamped the separate pieces; pics 3&4. Getting the two pieces to match in the middle was a tedious ***!!! Pic 5. Then mucho sanding. followed by 2 coats of Lord Nelson sealer, sand back with 600 grit sanding sponge. Then two coats of Lord Nelson matt varnish, sanding with 1000 grit in between. then two coats of Lord Nelson gloss varnish, sanding with 2000 grit in between. Pic 6. So far so good, pic 6. 3rd coat of varnish and - Arrrgh 2! 😡 Pic 7. No idea why! Sand off and start again, pic 8 😭 Treated each side separately, pics 9 & 10 and flatted off with 2000 grit. Then applied three coats of clear protective lacquer, sanding with 3000 grit between coats. Finally cutting back with auto paint restorer / cutting polish and finally polishing with anti-hologram finishing polish. Pic 11. Now I'm happy 😊 Pic 12. Only took a week 😉 Next week in this theatre - "I love you too Flash but we've only got 15 minutes to save the world"! or 'Will I ever get this hull finished?" 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Sail Winch Servo Identification

Hi Ed, welcome to the club! 😊 In my case it's lacquer fumes, despite the extractor/filter in the spray booth - and guess who forgot his face mask 😡 Anyway the (I hope) final lacquer coat on the cabin walls is presently hardening under the halogen lamp, then polishing with cutting . Getting there😉 BTW: Odd, I get notifications of yours and my post but nothing else!!?? Cheers Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

3D sanding discs.

Hi all, I'm really struggling to locate some new sanding discs for my BOHLER 3D Sander. It takes 1.5" doughnut discs with the felt backs for quick change. I would like 120/240/400 grit. Anyone know of where I can get some from. I've located some in the USA, but much too costly. Thanks guys I really miss this tool as it's perfect for curves on small hulls. Cheers Colin.

6 years ago by Colin H

Forum

Too Powerful Brushless ?

Hi I use 4mm stainless steel shaft with a brass or roller bearing at the motor end and a Teflon bearing at the bottom. Grease I use Dow Coring Molykote 111. A squirt in each bearing and install the shaft with a finger over the inner bearing( the air escapes via the oiler tube) and cap off the oiler. I the picture is the shaft support on my Huntsman which is a slide fix for the prop shaft tube. Canabus

6 years ago by canabus

Forum

Spraying/hand painting

I have used Halfords acrylic when restoring an old Aerokits Fireboat. However, it was not the easiest paint to work with and only got a good finish when everything was stripped down to the bare wood. I applied sanding sealer followed by Halfords primer then built up several coats of acrylic , leaving 3 hours between coats. When finished I used rubbing to get a good gloss. I am sure there must be better methods of painting model boats especially vintage ones that have already had coats of paint in the past.😁

6 years ago by boaty

Forum

More Prop Shaft

I'm reading the chat about stuffing boxes & shafts lots of guys in the club I'm in drill a hole into the stuffing box & solder a small tube over the hole to add oil or grease into the box . I goofed when I built my Sea Commander as I had no stuffing box but I had a shaft so I just used a brass tube for the shaft & lubricated the shaft with Sil-Glyde Lubricating a Silicone based grease I also use rudder O-Rings to help stop water getting into model through stuffing box. Kind of Mickey Mouse but it works .Except on first run out of water it does squeal a little but in the water it's fine.

6 years ago by GARTH

Forum

Varnish

Not on a Riva! 😉 If you only want 'satin-gloss' leave out the T-Cut, or any other cutting / paste. Whatever floats your boat 😉

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Nitro Glycerine.

Nitro Glycerine is made by the action of Nitric acid on Glycerine. I'm pretty sure adding Nitromethane to Glycerine won't create an explosive .I could be wrong of course so I'll put my tin hat on and get into me trench. In fact if it creates an explosive the best place to be Eh?👍

7 years ago by onetenor

Forum

Varnish

Try polishing the varnish once it is good and hard. Use a good polishing as used on cars and plenty of water don't use an angle grinder they're too fast and will burn the varnish.You might be able to sort out something using a Dremel type tool, but again not too fast, to get into the smaller spaces on deck etc. it is possible to do it by hand but takes longer.Done properly you get a finish like glass. A lot of car painters rub down wet first with very fine paper then do the polishing. Go to a car painters and watch them and ask them to show you what they use.Really educational. You could learn lots. Cheers John .

7 years ago by onetenor

Forum

Sea Queen refurbishment

PS "1,1,2-Trichloroethane From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 1,1,2-Trichloroethane 1,1,2-TCA vinyl trichloride beta-trichloroethane Chemical formula C2H3Cl3 Lethal dose or concentration (LD, LC): LCLo (lowest published) 13,100 mg/m3 (cat, 4.5 hr) 2000 ppm (rat, 4 hr)[2] US health exposure limits (NIOSH): PEL (Permissible) TWA 10 ppm (45 mg/m3) [skin][1] REL (Recommended) Ca TWA 10 ppm (45 mg/m3) [skin][1] IDLH (Immediate danger) Ca [100 ppm][1] Related s 1,1,1-Trichloroethane; Trichloroethylene 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, or 1,1,2-TCA, is an organochloride solvent with the molecular formula C2H3Cl3. it is a colourless, sweet-smelling liquid that does not dissolve in water, but is soluble in most organic solvents. it is an isomer of 1,1,1-trichloroethane. It is used as a solvent and as an intermediate in the synthesis of 1,1-dichloroethane. 1,1,2-TCA is a central nervous system depressant and inhalation of vapors may cause dizziness, drowsiness, headache, nausea, shortness of breath, unconsciousness, or cancer." You have been warned! Not surprisingly it's use and production has been banned since 1996. Doug Oh and it is an ozone killer - contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. I'm not a tree hugger, but my name isn't Trump either! 😉

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

How do I resolve my varnish problem?

Agree with your generally used methods for varnishing, but these narrow vertical planks with all their joints will never go away. They will crack if it gets hot they will crack when it's cold and damp. Ask me how I know! They all need to be bridged by a single surface. I will be using J-Cloth and epoxy on my yacht as J-Cloth is very strong and cheap as chips. The only other method is to cover the vertical planks with a single horizontal layer of veneer, but that might be difficult to cover if any curves have crept in at the bow due to sanding of blocks or whatever. But somehow those joints have to be covered. Filling won't work. Martin

7 years ago by Westquay

Forum

Sea Rover planking

Not liking to see a thread unfinished, here are the photos as promised of the finished planking. Lime planks (Ikea blinds) glued with super glue, black card for caulking, Teak edging, several coats of Halfords spray lacquer, wet and dry in between coats. Final coat rubbed down with 1200 wet and dry then cutting , and polished with car polish. Alan

7 years ago by AlanP

Forum

Small plastic joinery glue

If you have any plastic that needs glueing and waterproof and only has a small contact point the stufff to use is something called plexsis acrylic comes in a 2part and mixed in the nosel as it is squeeze out. It's the best thing out there. I build super yachts for 20 years now for the rich and famous and we use a lot of it on boats that are in the 20 to 30 million prise range . There are some different types rock hard. To ones with a bit of flexibility all dry with in 10 to 15 mins thanks for reading and I do hope this will help people with problems ..... master b Wright

7 years ago by Hybrid

Blog

Part 2. The searchlight optics.

The reflector that I originally used for testing came from Maplins and was not a particularly good fit and it also produced a broad diffused light, but I found another lens from the same supplier that could be adapted to fit and would produce a much narrower 10° beam. The lens body was too long to fit into the searchlight body so I 'ground down' the lens on some abrasive to a size that would fit using progressively finer grades of wet & dry paper. The lens was then polished with some cutting/polishing to restore the optical clarity.🤓 The original and modified lenses are shown in the 'photos. The lens now fits perfectly into the searchlight body and produces a much narrower and focussed beam of light. I cut and shaped a piece of 1mm clear perspex to form a protective cover over the lens to hold it in the searchlight body and make it waterproof. The searchlight on the real boat has a 'tri-form’ protective cage with a centre boss (my description, there’s probably a proper name for it ), this part is not supplied in the white metal kit so I constructed one from some 22mm copper plumbing pipe, some brass pins and a hand turned and drilled brass rod for the centre boss. These parts were ‘soft soldered’ together as silver soldering would be quite difficult because of the different heat gradients. Before final assembly I will paint the parts gloss grey and secure the optical and protective lens with some canopy glue which will form a flexible seal and won’t ’fog’ the lens as superglue would, and then epoxy the 'tri-form' cage to the front. Hopefully the end result will be well worth the effort and do justice to my brother’s lathe skills!😎

7 years ago by robbob

Blog

Spraying the hull black.

Now that the red oxide has dried and hardened it’s time to mask it off in preparation of spraying the upper hull black. First I had to very carefully flat back the ridge in the red oxide paint left by the edge of the masking tape that might prevent the new masking tape laying flat. I chose two types of Tamiya tape, the first is the very thin and flexible type to get the sharp edge and this was then overlaid with the wider flexible variety. Once this initial masking edge was established all round the hull and at deck level I could mask up the rest fully. As an experiment and to prevent any possible bleed through of solvents through regular newspaper onto my lovely red oxide anti-fouling I chose to mask with some ’Bacofoil’ which actually works very well for this purpose as it is quite strong and easily folded and formed to the hull shape. I didn’t use too much of this from the roll, and my wife never noticed it’s absence from the kitchen whilst I was nicking it …result ! The hull was thoroughly wiped over with a tack cloth and panel wipe to remove any traces of contaminants that could spoil the paint finish and then it went into the booth. The pre-warmed paint went on very easily but at one point I noticed a bit of blooming on the surface in a few places but much to my relief this soon disappeared. Even after only one coat the finish looked very smooth and glossy. I left this first coat for a day or two to fully harden before wet flatting it down with an 800 grade abrasive. The second and third coats were applied in the same way, each left to harden for a day or more before flatting with a yet finer grades wet & dry paper. With the final coat on the finish greatly exceeded my expectations 😎 The masking tape and foil was very carefully removed to reveal a very sharp line where black meets red although this will be covered with the white ‘Trimline’ tape I bought from SHG Model Supplies at the Bristol model show in the summer. After a further couple of days drying and hardening I gave the black paint a bit of a polish with some Halfords cutting/polishing . I’m extremely pleased with this finish and at the same time frightened to death that I’ll ruin it in some way with a clumsy knock or in the lettering and lacquering stages 😓 …

7 years ago by robbob

Response

Spraying the ‘anti fouling’

😎Hi I used the Halfords red primer on my 34 inch Crash Tender, built it up over three coats and when dry rubbed it down lightly with Meguiars Ultimate . it gave it a nice shine. The Meguiars is also sold in Halfords. its not cheap but it has a lot of other uses like removing fine scratches not only on vehicles as I had used it a couple of times on model boats. Boaty

7 years ago by boaty

Forum

Curl in a wooden sheet of 1/8'' ply

Hi Ed As regards keeping the wood straight remember it was a living material and will absorb any dampness in the air and take on a new shape unless held in place. This is important if you are using a water based glue. in the case of curves on skins I have used temporary placed shaped balsa behind the skin to ensure the contours are maintained. Dave

8 years ago by Dave M

Blog

Fibreglass & resin tests

Whilst researching finishing techniques for the hull I sent off for some samples of woven fibreglass material so that I could choose an appropriate gsm weight. I settled on a 100gsm woven glassfibre twill cloth that is particularly good at conforming to curves. The same supplier also does carbon fibre and Kevlar cloth and they are prohibitively expensive but a narrow strip could be good to further protect the bow and keel I suppose. The resin I have chosen has a 'pot life' of 95 minutes so work can be done at a reasonable pace, the alternative is a 'fast' hardener that has a 17 minute pot life which might entail rather frantic application! I ordered 3 metres of 1m wide cloth, a 1kg pack of resin & 'slow' hardener, some mixing cups and sticks and 10 disposable brushes for £45 including shipping. When it all arrived I thought it would be good to do a test piece before the real thing. The resin and hardener are mixed in a 100:30 ratio by weight, hence the electronic scales in the picture. I found that the easiest way to use this stuff was to apply a thin coat of resin to the surface, lay the cloth onto it and gently stipple the cloth into the resin, a further thin coat is then brushed on then set aside to cure. I found it best not to overwork the resin into the cloth, it's definitely a case of 'less is more' as you can easily ripple the cloth and having done so it can be made worse by trying to flatten it. No need for plastic cards or such to smooth it out, it self-levels nicely. I left it to cure for a couple of days and then experimented with sanding, a detail sander with an 120 grit pad achieved a very good flat surface without going through the cloth. Two further coats of resin with a rub down between, each with finer grade abrasives, resulted in a glass smooth surface that when keyed would be an ideal surface for the paint system. Encouraged by these results I decided to do the thing for real 😰 The supplier for these materials is www.easycomposites.co.uk if anyone is interested.

8 years ago by robbob

Blog

Boiler and steam engine.

The power for this boat comes from a three cylinder steam engine and boiler made by the Japanese company Aster, better known for their Gauge 1 locomotives. The engine is double acting but it's 'simple' not , and is identical to the engine they fitted to the three cylinder 'Shay' type geared logging locomotive. The boiler, which I will eventually lag and clad with timber, was originally fired by an Aster metholated spirit burner which relied on the heat from its own flame to heat and pressurise the meths tank and push meths vapour out of a tiny jet, and make a 'blowlamp' type flame which entered the flue. I found this extemely touchy and difficult to use and despite years of experimenting (I bought this in the early '80's too!) I gave up and bought a ceramic burner from Maccsteam which works well.

9 years ago by Lauriem

Blog

125ft 1st Class Torpedo Boat, 1885

Off we go again on another build, this time a Victorian 125ft First Class Steam Torpedo Boat. HMTB 75 was built by Yarrows on the Thames in 1885. these vessels carried 4 single tubes designed to handle the new Whitehead Locomotive Torpedo, designed by Robert Whitehead in 1866. They were 125ft in length and 13 ft in the beam and only 8 ft draught, these little vessels could maintain a speed of 19 knots for up to two hours, steam being provided by a locomotive type boiler with refinements by Yarrows. total heating area was 1200 sqft with a grate area of 30 sqft, producing steam at 123psi. Engine was of the type, and produced top speed at 376 revolutions. they originally carried 5 torpedo guns, one in the bow and two either side, but the bow tube was eventually removed, They also carried a Hotchkiss 6pdr quick firing deck gun and 2 Nordenfeldt double barrelled machine guns, also removed. The lack of the distinctive 'turtle' fo'castle made these boats both wet and uncomfortable, their crews of 16 (mostly stokers) certainly earned their 'hard lying' money. The model is based on a glassfibre hull, plan and some fittings from Chylds Hall Model Shipyard, 870mm long and 85mm beam, electric powered on six volts. So, lets make a start. First job is to sort out the shaft, this requires a 150mm tube and a 220mm shaft, so an 8 inch x 4 mm shaft was altered to suit. Cut the tube to length, minus the thickness of the bush, knock out the bush from the off cut and refit into the tube. Cut the shaft to 220mm and replace in tube. Also needed is an A frame, this was made from a 1/2 inch length of brass rod, drilled and reamed 4mm for the shaft and reduced slightly in diameter make the bearing part. two 'legs' were then silver soldered into slots cut in the bearing. The hull is now drilled to take the stern tube, which is lined up and tacked in place with superglue. The A frame legs need cutting to size and fitting into slots in the hull. That is the progress so far for day 1, more to follow. Today I fitted deck supports and cut deck from 1.5mm plastic.

10 years ago by Nickthesteam

Forum

fireboat update

So, back to the fireboat after refurbishing the boat with no name. The forward cabin roof was painted about six weeks ago with two coats of sanding sealer, about four coats of primer and four coats of gloss, rubbing down between each coat and I was very pleased with the finish, but now on close inspection I could just see the grain of the wood showing. 😭 According to a chap that knows more about painting than I will ever know says it is often called creeping, he explained that every time you put a coat of paint on, it softens the paint underneath in order to key in, this allows the paint to creep into any defects underneath, and so it goes on with each coat, so if I rubbed it down and resprayed it would end up the same 😭 So, I have rubbed it down with 1200 wet and dry, then cutting , then Teecut and finally car polish. I now have a very smooth and shiny cockpit roof. 😀 Also made one of the hatches for the centre cabin roof out of plasticard

10 years ago by AlanP

Forum

Crash Tender Water Monitor

HI Stephen I have some detailed drawings kindly supplied by Peter Dimberline. They are called monitors on the official drawings and were as you surmised in two flavours. The drawings I have show the type you refer to as the later type. The monitors were driven by a single Ford V8 petrol engine driving a Sun Engineering vane pump delivering 2250/2500 g.p.m. of foam or 500/600 g.p.m of water. The two foam tanks had a capacity of 50 gals each so I assume this was mixed with water to make the foam. The pump was connected to both monitors and the two deck connections behind the main cabin. The pump input was either sea water from a connection in the hull base, a connection in the rear well for the salvage hoses or foam, controlled by a valve system below decks. Both vessels were originally intended to support the Sunderland (Princess) flying boats but as this project was abandoned they were used mainly as experimental craft by the RAF. This could explain the changed monitors if more efficient type became available. 😀

10 years ago by Dave M

Forum

fireboat update

PAINT IT, no way, polish and maybe a light coat of clear lacquer. The stepped front of the lens cut easy and polished clear on the lathe, but I think I had the speed to high while parting off and it started to melt, I had to finish this side off with wet and dry and then cutting until it was clear. Ought to get on with the boat now, so that I have somewhere to put all these bits 😁 Alan

10 years ago by AlanP

Forum

fireboat update

Inspired by Paul I have had a go at the search light for the fire boat, the lens cut from Perspex on the lathe polished up clear with some car cutting .

10 years ago by AlanP

Blog

more plating

I forgot to say with this method rivets can be shown by punching from the back first. But on this type of boat counter sunk rivets would have been used. I did indulge and show some in the rudder. The stern was the only problem beating thin material around the curve was tricky. To re leave any boredom when a repetitive job is being done, I will do something else in between. it this case made the funnel, more cans rapped around a former. (curtain pole) The join behind the steam pipes,

11 years ago by hammer

Blog

Aerokits 46'' Fireboat twin screw brushless conversion

Ive now had another play, its time to take all the gear back out again, inspect for anything unusal that should not be happening, and paint, boring! My paint process for the hull, reclean, sand with a block using 800grit, its already primered, paint the red, 2 or 3 coats, flat with 600 then 800 wet/dry, clean off, another 2 coats of red, wet/dry detail sanding, then clear laquer, two coats, flat again same way down to 800 grit wet/dry, then using a cutting polish buff it up, and then a less abrasive polish, then a creamy polish to finish, hoping that I have not gone through the paint. Same process with the black, but for some reason the black is always harder to do, and as the hull sides are more noticeable it has to be good. Hardest part is getting the flippin line straight. it does not go up at the front, its dead straight, but almost Impossible to do> 😟 It is red, not pink, like it looks in the pics, no particular attention to paint codes here, red is red, and black is black, but I did want a nice deep finish, so probably did more coats than was necessary 😉

11 years ago by pmdevlin

Response

Aerokits 46'' Fireboat twin screw brushless conversion

Just a thought, did you try polishing the lens after you had used the cutters on it, say with polishing and then brasso. Alan

11 years ago by AlanP

Response

Propulsion

The boat was completed in December 2012, trying to replicate the Meteorite engines was a no-no, there simply was not enough room after fitting micro servos for the water pump and lights and then the 12v 7ah PB battery along with fuses for each motor's esc. initial runs were carried out at Sheringham pool but it was too small to accommodate the boat's speed, otherwise all was ok. Ships Gear includes the folding stepped casualty boarding ladder, Scrambling Nets, Davit (of course), working lights and monitors, Hard Suction Hoses and complimentary fittings to scale, 2 Suction Wrenches, Foam Tanks, Deck Filling points for Petrol, Water & Foam , Tow Hook, Engine oil tank fillers. The Sick Bay is furnished with bunks,blankets and pillows, floor standing table with fiddles, drawers below bunks, First Aid Cabinet, hatchway steps. Wheelhouse is fitted with Blumels type wheel, twin throttle controls, instrument panel and Kent Screen. The wings that caused the delay in completion of the boat were long ago completed and the plane has done many flights and is always ready for good weather windows. Foolishly perhaps I kept an expenditure log on the 46" Fireboat, some £1300 were spent, and well worth it I think as it is a Museum piece added to my ever growing collection. Photos? Some I've already uploaded to the site but there are 20 in all best suited to a CD or Stick. Jim

11 years ago by Aeronut1

Response

Slow and steady progress.

Hi. Firstly I need to correct a typo, I meant to say "additional Marking of parts" not making. Also, my pal re-advised me that, it was the front SIDE skins and not the bottom fronts that required major reshaping. The bottom fronts, as you said, were fine requiring minor fettling to fit. The curves were an issue but he managed to resolve by heavy duty clamping.May post some pictures when figured out how to do so!

11 years ago by Willy

Response

Slow and steady progress.

I found that the front skins do need trimming to size and shape but in reality it is better to have things bigger to cut, than too small. I felt that wasn't a problem. I did however find that the front lower skins are quite hard to form the three way curve over the bulkhead and cut a thin 'v' on the upper side, along the line of F1 and that allowed a nice uniform curve in all directions. I have moved on with the skinning so will be publishing a bit more to the blog soon.

11 years ago by wombatjames

Response

rivarama

HI Brian, it looks like the real thing, and I think the build quality is as good as ever they were. What type of finish will you be putting on her. My personal choice would be Le Tonkinios Gold. with about 8 to 10 coats rubbed down with ever finer paper then for last 2 coats, it gives a really deep glass like finish and is totally weatherproof, have used on full sized skI boats for use on sea and also on an old broads cruiser that my dad owned. neither needed any retouching for at least 5 years, just hosed off and waxed at the beginning of each season. Now used on all my boats with visible woodwork and all my wife's dolls house furniture and woodwork.Good luck with the rest of build, following with great interest. Best wishes Colin.

11 years ago by Colin H

Blog

Mirium Moran Build

The shapes for the bottom skins were then transferred to 3mm ply and cut out, where there are curves in the hull the ply was under stress if I tried to pull it into shape so I soaked it in very hot water until it was plyable (excuse the pun ) the skins were the clamped in place and left to dry. once the clamps were removed the skins stayed in place with no stress at all, so they were then pinned and stuck in place, the same procedure was use for the side skins and the chine pieces.

11 years ago by modeltugman

Blog

polishing and finishing

the sanding and polishing took around 6 to 7 weeks,I used a very fine liquid polishing to get the high gloss I wanted but not a silicone based polish as the graphics I would put on would not stick very well.

12 years ago by hydroman

Forum

34'' Fireboat

Hello Dave, Looking at the condition of my boat -the Hull & interior wood both look sound -however I have not yet done a 'bath' test to verify it is waterproof. I would like to know what is this resin you used inside hull as I too have obvious fuel spillages doing whatever to the wood! I would feel happier to reseal the inside with this resin and as you say better now than when all completed. I might even take the plunge and strip all paint off the Hull. Did you remove or fill in the holes at the stern where the exhaust was situated. I also have a small dia pipe protruding from hull next to the rudder which will have to be sealed/reomved too. I will post more pics as I progress - next week I buy the Motor, Esc and battery when I have decided what type to go for. What motor did you decide on? PeteG

13 years ago by PeteG

Blog

The deck

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 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.

16 years ago by Peter HS93

Blog

Roof supports

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 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.

16 years ago by Peter HS93