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Building the Cabin. Part 2

Before the front window panels can be added to the cabin structure they need to be shaped to follow the curvature of the front deck as much as possible and then glued together with a reinforcing strip on the back of the joint. Unfortunately I made an error 😡 when shaping and jointing the parts and had to make some new panels from some thin ply that I had to hand using the old panels as a template, hence the roughly cut window apertures in the ‘photos. This was unfortunate but I feel better for the confession 🙏. The new window panel was then glued and pinned to the front of the cabin assembly and left to dry while in the meantime I used my hot air gun to heat and bend the roof panel to the correct curvature. The roof panel was then pinned and glued in place on the cabin framework and when dry was trimmed with a small plane and the front window panel trimmed down to the roof profile. I added some additional framing and bracing pieces at the base of the front window panels and a ‘shelf’ which will form part of the dashboard inside the cabin. I also added some extra framing and an end panel at the rear of the roof and a thin square bead was fitted around the base of the cabin sides and front to improve the appearance where the cabin meets the deck. Before adding further detail to the cabin I used some Z-Poxy finishing resin on the roof panel to strengthen it and provide a better surface for the paint finish which comprised of one coat of white primer, two coats of gloss ‘Appliance White’ and two coats of gloss lacquer, all with a thorough rub down between. When all the paint had dried and hardened I gave the exterior of the cabin a first coat of ‘Antique Pine’ stain. Next I will add some detail to the deck.

5 years ago by robbob

Forum

46Firefloat Mk2 paint

Have started renovating old kit build of the 93/94 firefloat with no fittings. Can someone please help with paint colours, the Red and Black on hull are they both Matt. On the deck is the Dark Grey Matt non slip and are the roofs with the fire monitors the same. The rest of the roofs are they dark grey Matt or gloss. The side are they Matt or gloss light grey. Also has anyone got the main dimensions on the lift davit and the tow hook. Any other info on this build would be appreciated as am copying from two old black and white photos. The model am building is 35” long and I think 16:1 scale.

6 years ago by Elsrickle

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hull

well thats 3 coats of dark green below water line and 3 coats above phots to follow

6 years ago by jacko

Forum

46Firefloat Mk2 paint

Unless described as flat, paint was more often a brighter satin than matt and rarely actual gloss. White will always have been an off white as the components of paints were such that it was not possible to get a really bright white. I know that for a fact as my grandad always made his own and until PEP in the mid 60s (Plastic Emulsion Paint) there was no such thing as brilliant or appliance white. Unfortunately getting an decent off white is not easy these days since Plastikote went acrylic and their previously excellent paints started eating themselves on recoating. I now use enamels exclusively. They are densely pigmented, flexible and modern enamels dry pretty quickly. I am using a black enamel primer on my Crash Tender, which I will then spray with black "gloss" from the same range, which, once thinned with white spirit, will dry a little less than glossy. I still don't have a matt brick red for the undersides, but it can be made matt-ish with a careful rub down with 1000 grit wet and dry used wet and soapy, but be careful not to sand through, so very lightly does it, even 1000 grit can cut well when new. Decks were said to be Cerrux Light Deck Grey, anti-slip, which means a textured surface. That would be darker looking due to the surface texture's way with the light. The cabin sides were described as "smooth", i.e. same as the decks but not anti-slip. The roofs? Well, on Vosper's drawing "white" is crossed through and "Grey" written in. But, some pics do look white, the best pics look darker by a whisker than the sides and the roofs are clearly textured as they show evidence, as do the decks, of filth which will sit in the texture. You choose. NOBODY has yet given us chapter and verse. The fact is, an already very handsome boat looks so very pretty with white roofs. But they too should be off white if you can get it! Good luck. Fittings, btw can be had from SLEC in Watton in white metal. Basically the old Yeoman fittings, masters now owned by IP Engineering who bought them to cast when they owned Vintage Model Boat Company. Now they've sold that to SLEC, but I don't think SLEC have white metal casting facilities, so probably cast by Ivor still. I have just had a set for my birthday and they're excellent. They do need careful cleaning up as in mould lines need to be filed/scraped/sanded to a decent finish and then given good primered surface. No hook though, but it does include nav and riding lights. This site also has masts for sale in plastic, but I made my own in brass as I will the hook and davit. I have also just had a set of crew figures cast from my patterns and they will be available soon...a driver(Helm), a boss with binoculars and a lazy slob laying around in the after cockpit. Needs a roll-up to finish his look. No idea of price yet as don't know how much rubber to mould or resin to cast for a set. Yes, 1/16th scale. All this to finish a model I had 55 years ago! But I reckon it deserves it. Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Response

54 year old Crash Tender

Boaty, it's amazing how many people HAD Taycol motors, but don't anymore, apart from our chum Doug in Munich. And I'll pick his brains later maybe for info on controlling the Taycol Supermarine in the Crash Tender. Then again, I might just set it off on one pack for slowish and switch in another for faster. I ain't into reverse. Boats don't go backuds. I've had enough real ones to know that! Two of those didn't have any gears. One had a clutch and the other didn't even have that. it starts, it goes, quickish! Always had a paddle handy in the Albatross! I'm not really into the boat club festivals of steering round stuff or backing into docks, so why trouble myself with ESCs which seem to fail often still and weren't around when I had the boat originally. I have gel cells, but the damned things have all gone dead on me, so I might see about Nimh packs when the time comes. I went to get some one shot cellulose putty to fill the cracks and grain bits and the old nail head dips. But my favourite auto paint shop said they hadn't sold it in ages and offered me some acrylic crap in a tube. Not a bloody chance!!! "Gimme the thickest brushing primer you got and it better be cellulose". Yeah, got that, he said. "So why ain't you got stopper?" No answer. Anyway I get this stuff home and it's thick, cellulose (skin forming after 3 minutes) and bang on the right shade of light grey for a Crash Tender. I shall experiment with my Chinchila dust next for the non-slip areas and mix a pot of the primer with a bit of white to do the cabin sides, when I finish spray. For the moment, I very quickly slapped it on with a brush and will leave it for today to harden then start a very big, dusty, rub down session tomorrow. OK a litre of primer ain't cheap, but it's cheaper from a car paint suppliers and it's bang on colour. it'll also do a LOT of boats! I have a black primer in enamel for Vanity, which will also go on the sides of the Crash tender, followed by black gloss enamel, but's a way down the road yet. Talking of old stuff boaty, the white enamel my dad insisted on painting the boat back in the early 60s is hard as rock! He used to get it by the 20 gallon can from a "mate on the docks". We had docks in those days. Dad called it ship enamel. We all knew what he meant. Our entire house was shades of pastel tinted ship enamel! Tints courtesy of another mate on the docks. He had a lot of mates on the docks. it was difficult to be a Cockney family and not have mates on the docks! Pics later of the slapped on grey primer, which, I should say, argued a bit with the sanding sealer. Nuffin' a good rub down won't sort out. Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Forum

Warped wood

Hi Martin, Yes I'm very happy with it. 😊 Not the cheapest but very good. I use the whole range from Base coat Pore Filler (Sanding sealer) through matt, satin and full gloss varnishes. in both brushing tins, for small part brushing, and spray cans for the bigger stuff like hulls and decks. The cans don't reveal what the base is but the thinners is white spirit or any of the usual 'universal' substitutes. It's made in Holland, supposedly specially formulated specifically for model builders! But it's available all over the shop, I get mine here from Krick. Just Google Lord Nelson varnish and you'll find loads of outlets, and Hotels 🤔! For Sea Scout I used all spray; 2 base coat, 2 coats of satin varnish, as undercoat! Then 2 coats of Gloss varnish. Needless to say thin coats! And left to harden under a 300W halogen lamp😉 Lots of 'flatting' back in between culminating with 3000 wet & dry, wet with a little liquid soap. Final polish using two stage paint cutting / polishing paste from the Petrol Head world. See pics. Full details (including the bloopers😡) in my Sea Scout Build Blog. Have fun with it, cheers, Doug 😎 PS Shame about the Lupins😡, that hybrid sounds fantabulous! 😉 BTW: if you use the brushing stuff thin with 10 to 20% white spirit, otherwise you'll find, as I just did with base coat sealer on the deck of my PTB, that it takes yonks to get the brush marks out 😆

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Gloss Varnish?

Hello everyone, Does anyone out there know of a gloss varnish that is “clear”, l have used in the past “yacht gloss varnish” but it leaves a very slight brown tint when applied to a white surface. Is there anything out there that leaves a nice clear crisp gloss varnish? Thanks guys Richard

6 years ago by Richard7

Response

The Lone Ranger Rides Again or Hull Finishing ;-))

Hi Mark, here's the link to the manufacturer website. http://www.kwasny.com/en/products/ Forgot to mention, the I used is also from them, from the 'belton' series. The Primer Filler and Protection Laquer are from the 'Auto K' series. Don't know if they can send paints to UK🤔 Maybe they have a British distributor? look forward to pics of the Puffer 👍 Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

The Lone Ranger Rides Again or Hull Finishing ;-))

Hi Mark, thankyou 😊 The paint is, not surprisingly for me, from a German manufacturer: Peter Kwasny Gruppe. They also make the pro car paints I sometimes use. It's article number 320 078. Königsblau / Royal Blue. The can top is darker than the finish actually turns out! To me it's lighter than Royal Blue but I'm happy with it. I also used - the white primer from the same company; article number 320 411, before that light grey filler primer, # 233 032, and finally clear high gloss protective lacquer # 633 017. The blue and the white primer I found in a local building supplies store under the name 'Hit Color Decospray'! They are specified for indoor and outdoor use; emission class A+. 👍 You might find something similar in your local DIY shop. I think your Puffer would look superb in this colour. if you want a darker shade you might try a thin coat of matt or satin black after the primer? The primer filler and lacquer I bought online some time ago as part of a Pro Scratch Repair kit for my last car. Now what can I do with the rest of the Toyota Navajo Red ??? I sent them the paint code from my car registration and they mixed up an absolute perfect match and delivered in about 10 days 😊 I'll dig in the archive for the web link. Ciao, Doug 😎 PS I think you're right, I'll go for Gold (😉) and hope I don't mess up the hull! Tamiya tape should help.

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

The Lone Ranger Rides Again or Hull Finishing ;-))

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 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Main deck and cabin walls

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 , 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 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Lacquering the hull.

Now that the self-adhesive vinyl lettering and hull markings are now applied and correctly positioned…😉 I can now spray the lacquer finish on the hull. The gloss black areas will have a number of coats of Halfords clear gloss lacquer and the red ‘anti-fouling’ areas finished in Halfords clear satin lacquer. I started with the gloss lacquer first, so the all the deck area and the red ‘anti-fouling’ areas were masked. As I wanted the white waterline to be sealed with the gloss finish I masked below the line. After a thorough wipe over with some panel wipe the first coat of gloss was sprayed followed by a further two coats at 30 minute intervals. Fortunately it all went on without any runs or blemishes so I left it for a week to thoroughly harden after removing the masking. The black area was then masked from the bottom of the waterline, the area cleaned with panel wipe and sprayed with three coats of Halfords clear satin lacquer. With all the masking removed the boat was them put aside and left for a week for everything to dry thoroughly and then I polished the black area with some ‘T-cut’ polish to remove any surface blemishes and bring it to a full shine. All the hull marking and lettering are now firmly fixed and sealed and I’m very pleased with the final results. The next job will be to spray the deck and superstructure with the BS631 RAF Light Grey and then the majority of the paint process will be complete 😁

7 years ago by robbob

Response

Wheelhouse roof detail....and a paint problem !

Hi Javro. I tend to use light coats when painting but rattle cans dispense a volume of paint quite rapidly unlike an airbrush that is far more controllable. The paint system on the roofs is three coats of sanding sealer, one coat of grey primer, one initial coat of white primer and a further one over the additional details, and then two coats of gloss. At all stages the coats are flatted with wet & dry and there's usually at least a couple of days between coats and any solvent completely flashed off. The Halfords white primer was definitely the cause as it was dispensing more solvent than pigment and that, I believe, is what caused the underlying layers to split. Perhaps I'll look to getting a decent airbrush before I tackle another project. All part of the learning curve as they say !

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 compound. 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

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Painting the wheelhouse & forward cabin roofs.

Back to the painting now, starting with the wheelhouse and forward cabin roofs that need a couple of coats of white primer over the grey primer which has been flatted down. The two coats of white primer were also flatted down and left for a day to harden before the first coat of Halfords ‘Appliance White’ gloss was sprayed on. This initial gloss coat is to see how the gloss goes on and to reveal any surface defects. I still need to drill more holes for some white metal fittings and make some tapered circular spacers for the searchlight and aerial bases so the final gloss coats will go on after that. After the first gloss coat dried I could still see some wood grain ‘grinning’ through the finish so I expect I’ll need to put on a few gloss coats with a thorough flatting down between before I achieve the level of finish I’m aiming for.

7 years ago by robbob

Response

Priming the hull.

Hi Paul. Yes I will be spraying a textured finish on the deck, another Halfords product, and then the custom colour BS 381C ' Light Grey 631 over that. The deck and cabin sides etc. will then get a final coat of satin lacquer. I have done a test sample of this on some scrap and the effect is quite pleasing. 😊 I'll keep all the roofs as . Right now I'm looking for some wood strip to plank the tow hook deck and rear cockpit. I think 6mm should be the right size but I want quite a light colour to contrast with dark caulking, any recommendations on that? Rob.

7 years ago by robbob

Forum

Antifoul lookalike paint

If you can find a gloss paint of the right colour then you can make it matt by adding chalk or china clay. Adding a white powder may make the paint a shade or two lighter but I have not ever noticed a difference. Test it out with a small tinlet of paint and see for yourself.

9 years ago by Haverlock

Blog

Info for Vosper Crash Tenders and Air ea Resue

Some Information for all those "Fire Boat" guys. For the superstructure colour which can be described as RAF Barley grey (don't quote me on that, could be something else) I have used a variety of paints In the past. The best I came up with Involved using Dulux house hold paint and mixing It to match the colour but the nearest match In the modelling world would be Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey, the second nearest Is Humbrol 64. You may require a semI gloss varnish to get an closer match. There were only two Vosper crash tenders ever built were numbered 93 and 94, and these numbers were painted white. One final note which I have noticed with other RAF vessels In model form, the roundel on the bow of a crash tender should not have the yellow outer ring, the yellow ring signifies an air sea rescue boat In the RAF air sea rescue service not a marine craft section boat to which the crash tenders belong to. Hope this helps. The two boats In the class 93 & 94 of the 46ft Crash & Rescue tenders were constructed by Vosper Ltd of Portsmouth In1952 for the R.A.F. The hulls were of double skin mahogany on birch plywood framing. Powers was from two Rover Metorite engines of 375 hp each, This was a 8 cylinders V type engine of 18 litres Drive was to 2 X 3 blade props (both rotating the same way) Giving a top speed of 28 knots Fire fighting was from two 3.5' fire monitors that could spray water of foam. The power for the pumps was from a Ford V8 engine to give 5-600 g.p.m. This pump was also be used as a salvage pump. For rescue work she was fitted with a spring tow hook, line throwing equipment and rockets, stretchers and a portable davit. The two craft were taken Into service In 1952-53 at Calshot. They spent many year as experimental craft for It Is alleged that they were designed to complement the SARO princess flying boats that spent many years at Calshot. The craft were reported to have startling acceleration and could stop In there own length once the automatic 7 sec time delay came Into effect on the reverse gear. They had a turning circle of three boat lengths at 28,5 knots. Both boats were sold from service In 1958. The two boats In the class 93 & 94 of the 46ft Crash & Rescue tenders were constructed by Vosper Ltd of Portsmouth In1952 for the R.A.F. The hulls were of double skin mahogany on birch plywood framing. Powers was from two Rover Metorite engines of 375 hp each, This was a 8 cylinders V type engine of 18 litres Drive was to 2 X 3 blade props (both rotating the same way) Giving a top speed of 28 knots Fire fighting was from two 3.5' fire monitors that could spray water of foam. The power for the pumps was from a Ford V8 engine to give 5-600 g.p.m. This pump was also be used as a salvage pump. For rescue work she was fitted with a spring tow hook, line throwing equipment and rockets, stretchers and a portable davit. Both boats were sold from service In 1958.

10 years ago by MAXTON

Response

46 Inch aerokits fire boat

HI Whatsy Firstly welcome to the forum, much more hassle than cars!!!!! in your first post you mention hard resin on the waterline is that the grey stuff in pic 2? If so it looks like body filler, back in the 60s it set like stone, very difficult to sand!!!! It might have been built with Cascamite, powdered resin glue mixed with water, again set like concrete. Like Shawn said, have a look at different forums, the basic colours were, Gloss red lower hull, Gloss Black upper hull, with a white waterline separating them. Wheel house and cabins were . Some show decks as planked, some with Matt Grey. Long way to go but what a reward at the end Regards mark

10 years ago by jarvo

Forum

Paint for Fireboat Restoration

HI Graham, The true colours as listed on Vosper Thornycroft drawings are shown as BS631 Grey gloss for cabin sides, BS631 Grey non slip deck coating, the rest I cannont make out now as the drawing is faded but it is White cabin tops, AntI fouling red below water line with a white water line, most places that do paint mixes now should be able to mix the paint for you, the non slip deck coating might be your problem, but you could easily get away with matt on the deck of a 34 inch. Regards Pete D.

12 years ago by Pete D

Blog

It's Sheeted!

Pic 1: Sheeting almost complete - just the difficult bit to do . . . Pic 2: Rudder, prop, and propshaft skeg. Pic 3: Sheeted Bow - chine line is a bit 'freeform' at the moment but I intend to attach a 2x2mm spray rail from bow to stern, it should help to define the chine line around the bow & act as a painting guide. Pic 4: Full hull and cabin The sanding sealer has arrived, so next big job is sealing, sanding, and filling any dips in the hull. Still have't really settled on a colour scheme yet current thinking is : bottom of hull black, white separator then gold and dark blue up to the deck. Will probably cover deck in varnished mahogany planking, finally cabin will be

12 years ago by richald

Forum

paint

HI Olly I've simply used Car-Plan Acrylic Plus formula Car sprays on my Fireboat, Satin Black for the Hull, Grey Primer for the deck & Cabin sides & for the Cabin Roofs. I have however used clear varnish on the rear well and decking between the Fore & Mid cabins ( probably not true to scale but it looked right to me! ) If you don't want to leave the Grey Primer I have overcoated it with a clear satin spray on my seaplane tender which also looks OK ( just trial the two sprays together somewhere else before using on your model! ) Good luck Chris

13 years ago by chrislang

Forum

Fire Boat 34'' Laser cut Window kits

hints and tips for fitting the window kits... remove the blue protective film from the clear window panes(pic 1). lightly sand round the edge of each pane (both sides) with some 400grit wet and dry paper to remove any burrs left by the laser and to help adhesion to the cabin sides (pic 2). the white window frames have a matt and a glossy side, make sure you keep them the correct way round with the matt side facing outwards, they can be painted grey if required using acrylic or enamel paint or just left white like the photo's. again lightly sand the gloss side to remove any burrs to aid adhesion. I stuck the frames to the panes using that really thin brush on adhesive for plastic model kits (pic 3). I stuck the windows to the hull using 5 minute epoxy (pic 4).. Important (hindsight bit) fully degrease the cabin sides and lightly rub down around the window aperture before glueing (I didnt and the several layers of "Mr sheen" I had used to clean the boat helped the windows to come unstuck!) overheating... now I had run my boat with open windows with the water cooled speed 600 for ages no problem! first run with the windows fitted and everything was smelling really hot in there! so I have cut two cooling holes in the deck tween forward and aft cabin compartments to let a bit of air in/out which seems to have cured it for now the four port holes.. I assembled as above then painted the back of the clear pane black and glued them on, so didnt bother drilling holes to look inside at erm... nowt! hope this helps happy fire boating db

13 years ago by dbninja

Blog

the primer Is on

so... a week later and a huge amount of work, glass-cloth has been the main event this week and lots of it! new cabin roof's both fixed and removable have just stolen the hours away, today the white primer was applied, so its all moving along apace, the base is next then lots of re-masking before the colour and lining go on. if all goes to plan it will be "on the water" at the Southport meet on the 1st August db

14 years ago by dbninja

Forum

Paint Colours for fireboats

HI nasraf rescue net retention rails white, jury out on hand rails, but most popular is a metal or alluminium finish, although I have heard they where brass, which would be fitting with RAF? Deck and cabin sides where 2 differnt shades of grey (I found out after painting mine!), I am sure HS93 on this forum knows the paint colours, I got mine from him supplied from original sources, deck was darker than sides, and was in a non slip finish, not gloss. I just used a roll of different width white waterline markings available from most model shops, and picked one that looked the best. If you buy decals where most are from, becc model letters, they do A Fireboat kit, but in some old stock you dont get the 3rd rear number, check on this before buying, and you have to get the depth markings seperate 😟 Barrys model lettering ( I think?) will do a bespoke set, but again not the depth markings they are too small for him to do, but a little expensive cleats etc are grey, same as the deck colour But...itysd your boat, so you may want it to be personal to you, hope that helps

15 years ago by pmdevlin