Forum

Jersey City Tug

Hmm! have to admit Peter it wouldn't be my first choice. First, it reminds me of NATO olive drab camo paint.☹️ Second, being a 'chalky' finish it will definitely need sealing with a lacquer coat. Otherwise it is probably porous and will absorb water like chalk based primers do. Third, I would go for a lighter shade like the Apple Green anyway. But wadda I know!😉 Cheers, Doug 😎 PS Small tip: if the Apple Green seems a little bright to you - you can tone down a bright top coat colour by using a and a light undercoat of matt black. 👍

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

Painting the hull – Part 1 primer & anti fouling.

There’s no putting it off any longer, I need to start painting the hull before I do any more on the boat so the hull was given a final rub down with a fine abrasive and then the deck and gunwales carefully masked off. I used some panel wipe to thoroughly de-grease all the surfaces and then put the hull in the ‘spray booth’ on my turntable and applied two coats of Halfords . I left this for a couple of days to dry and harden off before setting it on my bench. The next stage involves levelling the hull fore and aft and side to side so that the waterline can be established. Fortunately the well deck floor is meant to be perfectly level when the boat is afloat and at rest and this is the datum I used to level to using a couple of spirit levels. The rough waterline points were measured off the plan and transferred to the hull to be used as approximate starting points for the waterline. For my previous build I bought a self-levelling laser to indicate the waterline so this was brought out for the same purpose. The laser level was placed on another workbench a couple of metres away and gradually raised with packing pieces until the projected line agreed with the rough position marks I’d made on the hull and then finely adjusted until the line was correct and pencil marks made at intervals along the projected line. The process was repeated for the other side of the hull and then also marked across the stern, fortunately the stern line and bow markings joined up accurately confirming that the levelling was spot on. Good quality low tack masking tape was then applied all around the hull and the area above the line masked off with a couple of layers of newspaper. The exposed hull was then keyed with a fine Scotchbrite type pad and cleaned off with panel wipe before two coats of Halfords red oxide primer applied as the anti-fouling.

5 years ago by robbob

Response

Cooling coil

As long as the coil toutches the motor you will be ok if it is NOT touching then simply start agaain as it will b a waste of time.............................................With regards to your painting question simplest way is to go to halfords and buy with is acrylic....if it is a wooden hull then you WILL NEED to use a coat of Halfords or Equivellent car laquer to seal the primer underneath ...rub down with 800 DRY then put your grey on top of it....reason for this is simple the primer is porous so you will need to stop water getting at the wood,if it is GRP then no need for this Dave

5 years ago by Dave J

Blog

Life Rings

The white metal fittings supplied with the kit are somewhat lacking in detail and some are overweight to say the least. I decided to produce some life rings to my specification I had tried to find suitable replacements on the web without success. So how to produce the ring part. I first tried with plywood but the finish achievable was not acceptable (can be seen in the pictures) so I then decided to use Bamboo (Ikea phone stand) for those who have followed from the start the same material as the grating on the foam tanks. First I cut some rough circles out of 10mm bamboo sheet and drilled a 10mm hole so it can be mounted on a 10mm screw mandrel. This allows the piece to machined on one side and then reversed and machined on the other side. The tool I used was ground with a 22 mm radius to produce the shape on one side of the ring and then when reversed and machined again the tool actually “parts off” the ring on the inner diameter leaving the ring free on the now remaining peg, the finish on the bamboo was good enough without any further sanding. The next step was to put a slot in the OD at 90degree intervals to hold the “rope” in position while the rope is bound in four places. The easiest way was to make a jig to hold the ring and to keep the rope in place while it’s glued into ring, it can then be removed and bound in four places each turn being super glued to keep it in place. Next job is to give a coat of sanding sealer that stiffens the rope and seals the wood. The rings are theoretically held to the cabin roof with clamp type brackets so again to ensure consistency I machined a piece with a suitable profile. I then cut radial slices to create individual brackets. The rings will actually be fastened to the cabin roof with 2 x 8BA bolts this is to enable them to be removed for painting of both the ring and the roof. At a later painting stage, I will be giving them two coats of and three coats of white, then hand painting the rope loops with red paint. The finished rings are much lighter and hopefully look more realistic.

6 years ago by mturpin013

Blog

Undercoat

Undercoated first with then with white. the top coat colours have not arrived yet. Added a drain plug just in case.

6 years ago by CB90

Blog

Renovating my Aerokits Patrol Torpedo Boat.

Started the long job of sanding down today. I think this is going to take a while. During last week I spent the time removing all of the deck parts still attached. The motor, rc gear, rudder, batteries and prop shaft have also been removed leaving the basic hull and decking superstructures. I have visited my local model shop today to see if I can sort out the paint. I have decided on acrylic but the cans are so small that I would need loads. I also cannot find a suitable red for the hull bottom. I am looking for matt. I was also considering making the main colour Pacific Green or similar. I have found Navy Grey which might have to do. If anybody can help with where to source suitable paint in reasonable quantity I would be grateful. I have purchased the sanding sealer and primer. I was considering air brushing the whole project but not so sure now. Any thoughts?😁 I have taken pictures of the progress so far. A lot of sanding still awaits me.😡 I purchased two Mk 17 gun carriages for the tubs. I cannot believe it but they fit perfectly. A picture of these is also below. One last question for now. Should I brush paint, air brush or spray can. The boat is 40" long. Another long day of sanding tomorrow but with greater care as I am tackling the skins. I remember how thin these were when I originally constructed the model.🤔

6 years ago by MouldBuilder

Forum

Leaking Boat!

NPJ, Dust isn't a problem until you come to refinishing. Do it all outside. I always spray outside and still do it up wind. Sprayed cellulose on my Crash Tender on Saturday and primer and off white enamel on my Chris Craft yesterday in a breeze, so stood upwind of it and all was well. Also rubbed down cellulose sanding sealer, dry. Dust just blew away. There's always a way round stuff. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

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

Here's last night's first spray primer. I like this grey and will use it as the matt finish. Maybe then mask up and use the Baufix Grey for the cabin sides, with, OK, the Baufix white for the tops. I have black enamel primer for the hull and black enamel gloss. When you rub it down it's like soot! Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Response

54 year old Crash Tender

Well I'm blowed, Doug, your Dad must have known the same "bloke in the docks". But yellow? That was a luxury! Here's some more done on the Crash Tender. Excellent from the car paint shop. This weather has hardened it off to the point where it'll not only sand down but scrape too, which is a favourite method of mine. Must be the old clay modeller in me, eh? Cheers, 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 , 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

Deck Colour

Evenin' George, any mid to dark green would do nicely. Suggest a satin / semi matt paint. Something like the Humbrol 131 or 195 in the attached chart. Of course it doesn't have to be the little Humbrol tins (unless you have an airbrush😉) but a similar colour in aerosol, maybe from Tamiya. Type depends on what was on it before!! To be on the safe side give it a couple of thin coats of first. Flat off with 600 wet & dry then apply the colour coats. E.g. acrylic. Where on earth, and when, can you sail up there in the frozen North!? 😲 Good luck, and have fun, cheers Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Sanding down.

Hi Peter, wow 24 ltr tank 😲 mine's only about 10max I think. Yep regulator and oil / water strippers are indispensable for best results 👍 Sounds like you have a nice setup there. Mine is the Revell Master Class with all the trimmings so sort of semi-pro 😉 I also have two 'guns' (one single action and one double action) for large and small quantities and a variety of needles and jets from fine line (without the guts to test it yet😁) to large areas like hulls. If you go to a DIY place that the pros also go to (Building Supplies?) you should find acrylics in half and 1ltr cans. For my 'grey ladies' (up to 1.5m long) I use the 1/2 ltr cans of RAL standard colours, e.g. RAL 1001 is medium navy grey, RAL 7035 is a lighter grey more like the RN hull colour. 1/2 litre thinned to the consistency of milk (low fat😉) does a lot of hulls and you don't want it to harden in the can do you! 😡 A good shop should be able to mix any colour you want. Take the paint chart with you and the mixer should be able to look up the mix code on a computer. if he hasn't got one - go somewhere else!! You should also find the primer filler there (usually only grey I'm afraid), if not go to a pro car supplies shop - you'll find the Protection Lacquer there as well. Cheers 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

Forum

PT109 Refit

Hi Dave, Welcome back! Thanks. Yep I believe you're right. Originally it was allegedly dark sea grey all over. But by the time of the 'big crunch' with IJN Amagiri in August '43 she was apparently so called MTB Green, a much lighter green! With so many possibilities it's another case of 'yer pays yer money and ......'. The lighter green may be easier to see on the lake! 🤓 Anyway, just bought some from italeri 😉 Revell also seems to think she was light green. Not so sure about a white lower hull though🤔 Thought they were all so called copperoyd!? More or less red/brown primer colour. At least 'as built'. Of course in the field a lot of 'make do and mend' was going on. One thing she definitely wasn't is Zebra dazzle pattern. Ain't doin' that no which way, too much like 'ard work! Think I'll go for MTB Green and a typical brick red lower hull. (Got lots o' that 😉) Or maybe sky-blue-pink with purple spots😲😉 Cheers Doug 😎 PS on the Revell kit the depth charges are missing!

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Finishing

Hi Martin, Bin round the Talisker ? 😉 @stwdv; ignore what comes next, go to the last paragraph 😎 The scale effect (as I understand it) has nothing or little to do with shine! It refers to lightening / fading the colour to fool the brain into thinking an object is further away than it is, and therefore think it is larger. Look at any landscape photo or 'in real', hills or forests further away look lighter or more grey than the green ones in the foreground. There are pros and cons to both as Dave says. Cellulose is history, except from some nitrated cellulose solvents. in the car restoring days of my youth I remember getting crinkling if I used cellulose thinners from a different manufacturer than the paint 😡 @stwdv: if you do it veeeery carefully in very very thin misted layers (barely wet) you CAN put put a different paint on others BUT you need flat of and prime the old paint first. Pay a bit more for your primer (universal types) and ensure that the coating is absolutely complete and totally dry and hardened. Some combinations work better than others. But essentially it is better not to mix and match. it's essenentially the thinners that does the damage, less is more sometimes! Try to avoid cheap aerosols, paying a bit more avoids a lot of heartache and extra work, or throwing things in the bin 😡 They tend to have a fairly wide spread on the nozzles which wastes a lot of paint through over-spray. They also tend to be a bit thick and difficult to control the flow which can cause 'orange peeling or even runs and 'splodges' if the spray stutters. To counteract this one has to spray thinner; i.e. back off more from the object - which causes more over-spray. 🤔 The little spray cans made for modellers are much better than this in all respects than the cheap jumbo cans from the hardware store. Get a decent air brush for the big bits, then you can control the paint viscosity, flow and size and shape of the spray cone. takes a bit of practice but is worth it if you intend to build more models. But I suspect you wanted tips on the preparation! So let's cut to the chase😉 Sanding and filling are the buzz words. Checking the surface very lightly with your fingertips is much more sensitive and accurate than relying on your eyes. 🤓 When you think you got it right put on a THIN coat of primer (matched type to the finishing paint!) and you will soon see the spots you missed! So back to the filling and sanding. Use a very fine filler at this stage. Prime again and flat it off with 240 to 400 wet'ndry. Take off the residue with a damp sponge and dry!!! Go round this loop a few times and when eyes and finger tips agree you are ready for the finishing colour coats. Thin, let dry. Check for blemishes. Fix if necessary, flat off -> next coat. ALWAYS take note of paint can drying / hardening notes. Don't rush or you'll end up doing it again 😉 Hope this helps, bon chance mon ami 😎Doug PS my larger model (mostly warships!) I use resin based paints in half litre cans from the DIY shops and an airbrush. They are hard wearing, come in all colours (RAL codes) and finishes and are easy to mix and thin with turps or white spirit. They take the enamel for detailing with no problems. Snags: take longer to dry, but they are hard wearing and cheaper than millions of 14ml cans 👍

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

The foam tanks.

I need to make the foam tanks as two separately removable items to allow the deck to be removed for access to the rudder servo etc. The most intricate part of the foam tanks is undoubtedly the gratings that go over the top of them, fortunately there is a ready-made grating available that makes their construction unnecessary 👍👍. I bought this from modellingtimbers.co.uk, the grating ’WG7’ that they supply is dimensionally perfect for the job and can be easily assembled into the shape required. The casing for the foam tanks was made from a combination of materials, the base is 4mm ply, the back is 2mm ply, the front and sides are 2mm plasticard and the top is 1.5mm plasticard. The grating panel was assembled to the correct length and width for the scale and bordered with some 3mm x 4mm mahogany strip, the grating does not run the full length of the foam tanks and there is a plain section to the rear which will be a plasticard infill. The wood and plastic panels were all cut by knife and only needed the edges trued up with a small plane. All the joints were fixed with superglue with a reinforcing piece on the inside of the joint for strength. At all stages the assembly was checked for square and size and dry fitted in the deck well to check for fit. The grating panel was sanded to a smooth finish and a light mahogany stain applied to just the outer mahogany frame as I quite liked the contrast between the light and the dark woods, they were then sprayed with several coats of satin lacquer and set aside to dry. Before glueing the tank tops in place some short bracing pieces were fitted for rigidity. The tanks were given a rub down with fine abrasive paper as a key and sprayed with two light coats of and then a final paint finish of BS631 RAF Light Grey, the same as the rest of the superstructure. The two infill panels were painted the same and then epoxied into the grating panels. Before fixing the gratings to the top of the tanks some mahogany trim was applied to the tank sides. I need to devise a method of holding the tanks in place on the deck, probably with some of those small but tenacious little magnets that can be let into the bases of the tanks and concealed on the underside of the deck panel. I’ll need to make the suction hoses soon and that will involve a bit a brass turning by ’you know who’ so I’d better get busy with some engineering drawing for the man with the lathe 😉

7 years ago by robbob

Blog

Painting the deck & superstructure.

Although the colour of the and that of the textured finish look quite good together I am committed to use the custom colour paint that I had mixed for the deck finish. The masking process took a while to do thoroughly as I didn’t want any overspray problems at this late stage but once I was satisfied I applied the first light coat of the ‘BS631 RAF Light Grey’ finishing coat. After a 20 minutes or so the second light coat was applied and then left overnight to harden, two coats on the deck is sufficient as I don’t want to fill the texture finish and ruin the effect. The deck was then masked to leave the cabin sides and superstructure exposed so that I could put a third and fourth coat of the colour on those areas. The resulting gloss finish looks quite good and will be a good contrast to the textured decks that will be finished in matt lacquer. The masking on the decks was then removed and the cabins and superstructure masked up to just expose the decks to receive two light coats of the Halfords matt lacquer. Everything was left for a few days to harden before all the masking was removed to reveal the final result of the painting process. The overall result is very pleasing and was well worth all the time and materials used to achieve it. The custom colour has a slightly 'greenish' hue in contrast to the that I have been looking at up until now and took a while to get accustomed to but I can say that now really like the colour scheme and that it is reasonably true to the prototype 😁

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 , 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

The fire monitors

The fire monitors are supplied in three pieces that need to be assembled, there is the pedestal, the main body & handles and the discharge nozzle (my descriptions, they may have a proper technical term!) 🤔 Before assembly all the parts were filed smooth, and cleaned with my ‘suede shoe brush’ to remove flash and blemishes and to give a key for subsequent paint. I felt that just glueing the main body and discharge nozzle together would not be sufficiently strong so I bored out the centre of each and inserted a 4mm threaded stud to pull them together, some threadlock on the stud and then some filler at the join produced a good result. The hole at the end of the discharge nozzle also looks more authentic. The pedestal was also bored out at both ends, the lower end for a 3mm stud and for a 2mm threaded stud at the upper end. The arms need to be carefully bent to the correct angle, you only really get one attempt at this as the white metal will not stand repeated bending and will probably fracture quite easily. I also added a small 'lever arm' feature to the bottom of the pedestal that appears in some photographs of the real item, this was finished with a hand turned brass knob. The finished parts were sprayed with one coat of grey etch primer, a coat of white primer and finally two coats of Halfords ‘Toolbox Red’ acrylic gloss. I assembled the two pieces when the paint had hardened and put a dab of red paint on the top fixing nut. The handle ends will also be detailed with some black paint or perhaps some black heat shrink.

7 years ago by robbob

Blog

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 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

Blog

Priming the hull.

Again, not a particularly exciting stage of the project so there's not too much to say here. 😑 The hull is ready for its primer coats, but I first masked off the hull around the water pickup tube flange, skeg and propshaft and gave them a coat of etch primer to ensure that subsequent paint layers stick properly and after that had dried I put down the first coat of Halfords after pre-warming the spray can in a bucket of warm water. The second coat went on about 20 minutes later. I will leave the primer to dry and harden for a few days before I flat it down in preparation for more paint. In the meantime I'll start doing some work on the white metal fittings, hopefully that will be more interesting to read !

7 years ago by robbob

Blog

Spraying the deck and superstructure.

As the spray booth seems to be working as planned I next decided to put some primer on the deck and superstructure. Not much to say about this really, it's not a particularly creative or rewarding process but as this is the foundation of the paint process it's as important as the final coat and thus worth getting right from the outset. After masking off the various openings and the hull I put down the first coat of Halfords . I pre-warmed the can in a bucket of warm water for a short while and gave it a thorough shake for the prescribed two minutes and it seemed to go on very easily with an even coating. The booth is quite roomy and very easy to move the can around to get into the difficult areas without removing the boat from the booth to turn it around. A second was applied after about 15 minutes and the whole thing left to dry in the booth. I'll tackle the hull next but first I need to mark out the transom for some detailing and drill a hole into my precious hull for the water cooling outlet. Last picture is yours truly, first and last time you'll see me, much better looking with the mask on I've been told 👋

7 years ago by robbob

Forum

What Colour?

Hi Steve, also a possibility is , if you want a matt finish Mark

7 years ago by jarvo

Forum

Aeronaut Pilot Boat

Builders discretion for the colours. I mentioned Volkswagen Orange which I had a look at earlier today. Looks a pretty good match to the pictures on the box so I have bought a couple of aerosol tins. I will be sanding the hull tomorrow and hopefully giving it a coat of . I will keep you updated.

8 years ago by cormorant

Forum

Fireboat Paint

Hi Alan, thanks for the info about the textured grey, will nip in tomorrow, Cliff, sounds like a paint reaction, did you use enamel paint??? with the gelcoat that will act as a barrier, but if you use acrylic paint you will be ok, just get a good key to the surface. don't sand to hard as you will go through the epoxy, if needed use the primer surface, then sand smooth, its all down to how good the base is when you put the gloss coats on Mark

8 years ago by jarvo

Response

RAF CRASH TENDER

HI Boaty, it only seems to be the thats affected, I am told its all gery not just Halfords. An over coat with clear stops it happening again Mark

8 years ago by jarvo

Response

RAF CRASH TENDER

That's a bit of a bu**er Boaty. I would guess that you have missed some small bits of old paint, probably where the old paint has soaked into the wood and is now reacting with your new paint. I think if it was mine I would probably strip the deck back to the wood again and then give it a thin coat of Z Poxy, this will seal the deck, a couple of coats of , a light coat of Halfords textured grey paint (non slip deck ) and then a couple of very light coats of Halfords clear lacquer. But again that's what I would do. For all my boats I always stick to one make of paint, and that is Halfords car spray cans, so I cant really comment on other makes of paint. Alan

8 years ago by AlanP

Response

RAF CRASH TENDER

HI Boaty, my understanding is that absorbs water so causing cracking and also blisters in the paint, the only way to stop this is to seal the paint with a coat of clear finish. Have this problem with my tug, need to sand back to good paint then respray and seal, all the info came from a pro body shop, only occures with acrillic paint, celulose bonds with the undersurface Hope this helps Mark

8 years ago by jarvo

Blog

RAF CRASH TENDER

Two years ago I totally restored an old Aerokits Crash Tender believed to have been originally built circa 1962. Results appeared to have been very good and I used Halfords Grey Acrylic Primer for the decks and cabin sides. However I have noticed that the finish on the deck has started to crack a little with some small blisters around where the deck joins the superstructure. I thought that by using acrylic with a whole model that was stripped down to bare wood this would not occur. I have heard some people say I should have used Car Plan acrylic but I have not seen a shop selling it for ages and the only other similar paint I know of is of course Humbrol Acrylic in aerosol cans that are readily available at the majority of model shops who sell plastic kits. Has anyone else come across this after painting their boat with Halfords Acrylic paint? Regards Boaty 😊

8 years ago by boaty

Forum

Another RAF Crash Tender restoration

HI Emma, Had a few issues with paint myself and ended up biting the bullet and starting again. Rubbed it down with wet and dry and then applied several coats of Halfords (£7-49p for a reasonable sized tin) letting it dry between coats and rubbing it down with progressively finer wet and dry. Used the same Halfords red and black paint as top coats, am quite pleased with the resulting finish but it was long winded. Shaun

10 years ago by Flack

Forum

Another RAF Crash Tender restoration

HI Emma Give the hull and all other areas a good sanding to get it smooth, if its fairly smooth already you can use scouring pads to rough the area. Spray with Grey acrylic primer, just a light coat, this will highlight any highs and lows in the finished area, sand with 1200 wet and dry used wet with a few drops of washing up liquid in it. Spray again lightly and sand back. You should now have a nice smooth hull to apply your top coats of colour. I assume Black with Red lower hull. Spray the red first overlapping onto the black area, mask the red and a light spray of clear over the masking tape line red to black, to stop any creep under the tape edge. Spray the black, final coat peel the masking away while the paint is still tacky stopping any splitting as the tape pulls away. Paint supplies. I use Simonize acrylics, of ebay, £3.00 per tin, also available from Eurocarparts. Halfords is another supplier but is twice the price. if you have a company near you that supply the car refinishing trade you can get your supplies from them. As a guide this should get you started, any probe or worries let me know. Mark

10 years ago by jarvo

Forum

Aerokits Crash Tender

HI olly, not sure about all those paint numbers, Paul will probably tell you the correct one, myself, I am about to use an Halfords and then give a coat of clear lacquer. Alan

10 years ago by AlanP

Forum

Airbrush

Hey Roger, If you are referring to H*****l I know the feeling have had a few myself. I am using a combination of Humbrol acrylic and enamel, the acrylics for the large areas and the enamel for the fittings and small bits, mainly because of the cost of thinners. I bought a large (750ml) of grey acrylic primer from Wickes for the base coat. Alan, Please don't go there - I can get myself in enough trouble without you helping me 😉 Shaun

10 years ago by Flack

Response

Aerokits 46'' Fireboat twin screw brushless conversion

I had the BS631 grey mixed, used plasticote for the red (as I already had it), and bought the black from a local motor parts place, I dont really like halfrauds, its expensive, and does not like mixing brands, in the experience I have had. The yellow colour, prior to paint, was "Halfrauds" filler primer, it had no filler properties at all, and why do the cans stiop working before all the paint has gone, not enough propellant! 👎

11 years ago by pmdevlin

Blog

Glenn Aerokit 36'' Mk2

Painting went quite well, the only snag was the red which kept bleeding through the black. The white line was I think successful, although a bit of a fiddle to get flat over the chine line, doing It on a hot day helped. The upper deck looks OK too, but the first coat of acrylic laquer was a bit flat. I then used poly-urethane laquer for alloy wheels, miles better, the hull especially Is like glass. It Is slow to dry but well worth the wait. Usual stickers from Cornwall model boats, used 94 as most people seem to favour the more photographed 93! I just need a bit of time to fit the deck out with the model slipway stuff In the winter, but the latest test post re-assembly was fine, too much rudder travel was easy to remedy and everything else was good for me. This was finally at my local pond, Norwich and I had the place to myself, probably because It was raining! It seemed very big after Sheringham but as I say It was empty, I will have to join the club and visit on a Sunday morning actually with a boat rather than as a spectator.

11 years ago by fid2b

Blog

Paint your wagon

OK, been a while since I could do much but I am a little surprised to find how much I have missed not having the chance to take her for a turn around a pond- other things get in the way. I removed all the internals except the prop shaft which is unaccountably stuck to the aft U/J, might as well leave it there for now, and started sanding, which was a fairly painless process. Then a little P45 and more sanding, you know how it goes. Then came the paint choice- no-one really seems to be able to say 'these boats were this colour' and to be honest I am not worried about the perfect shade, all the photos of the originals look slightly different anyway. I first put a coat of car acrylic primer over everything then used an epoxy two part light grey for the interior, very hard and waterproof. I liked it so much I carried on above decks as it seemed to be going so well. A couple of days later I did the hatch tops white and hmm, not much contrast with that grey so it has to be over coated- makes a good solid base though. The hull is traditional red and black with white stripe to split them, car paint again and a self-adhesive pinstripe, we'll see how well it stays on after a few coats of laquer. The grey above the deck will be plain car primer, it seems the right shade and will be shiny once laquered also. So there I am, half painted and not in the least laquered but that should change in the next week, then a while for it all to harden fully and I will fit the old girl out again, and post a photo and maybe video if I make it to a pond- I am keen to try my local pond at Norwich where I might get more than 2 seconds at full chat!

11 years ago by fid2b

Forum

grey paint

fellow modeler's Can anyone tell me where I can get the deck grey paint for my raf fireboat, I have used a oil based primer, but cant find a suitable 750ml or 1ltr brushable paint. The small tins of humbrel would not be cost efective. Thanks for any helpfull replies martin

11 years ago by gooner68

Response

Tiny motor torpedo boat

Ply parts are router cut, as you see them in the build photos. Only the hull formers are balsa and you cut them out with a craft knife. 3mm balsa. Hull skins are 0.8mm ply and deck and cabin is 1.5mm ply. Gun bits and torpedos are provided as plain dowels so you have to do a little bit of scratch finishing. Comes with a very basic motor about 200 size and a simple tube, prop shaft and prop. For a little boat it has a lot going for it. Didnt glass hull, used ordinary PVA, sanding sealer, spray car high build primer, spray and gloss.

11 years ago by wombatjames

Response

Stickers are on!

HI Geoff, I went with Halfords for the uppers and finnished with 2 light coats of Halfords clear laquer to give just a satin effect and not too glossy. Below waterline I went for Halfords Vauxhall Burgundy which was reccomended by another member and I think is a much better match than the brighter red that I was looking at. Hope this helps. Dean 😎

12 years ago by Stonemonkey

Forum

Fireboat colours

Hi, I have 4 Fire Boats all painted the same. For below the waterline I use Ford Burgundy car paint spray from Halfords. Although most boats were painted in a red coloured antI corrosion/ barnacle resistant paint which when new was almost the same colour as red primer, sea water actually turned this paint to a wine colour. Many members at my club have agreed the Burgundy is a good shade. I also use Halfords black spray paint for upper hull. For the super structure I use Halfords and the roofs are white -- appliance white from Halfords is very good. For the decks I use hum roll RAF blue no. 96. I then spray with a light coat of clear coat(Halfords again) to give a satin finish. Hope this helps.

12 years ago by tompallister

Response

A little more progress . . .

Gregg 👍 Yeah - I'd forgotten about that - I have some from the same manufacturer as the white, I shall use that. I had been relying on the old fingertip test and light reflecting off the painted surface - to be fair as it stands (and partly because of the very simple sheeting on the hull) there aren't a lot of low spots. Richard

12 years ago by richald

Blog

priming the superstructure

Now that all the holes are cut and finished in the superstructure, its time now to apply its white primer coat. The was purely to make it easier to spot any blemishes in the mould and alsoits an easier colour to work with, when making alterations or repairs. White is too bright a colour to spot defects in. Firstly, the antI slip coating was applied to the roof and engine cover area. For these areas I used a sheet of emery cloth, 300 grit. I first cut a paper template to the roof shape, remembered to cut out a section for the roof number and then mixed an ample supply of epoxy resin, coated the back face of the emery with the glue then carefull placed on the roof, making sure to gently smooth all the air bubbles out. I then cut similar templates for the engien covers and hatch tops and glued them on too. yes, I do know there are aerosols available to put this type of finish on, but being as this is a flat surface, its just as easy to do it this way and less messy having to do loads of masking off. Once the grit paper has had a coat of primer, then a couple of coats of top colour, the roughness smooths out a little, but leaves the antI slip effect visible. Don't what ever you do, use a hogh number grit paper, or once you have applied all the pain coats, it will be too smooth as you have filled all the gaps up with paint, be brave and use a low number grit! You will notice in the latter pics, the orange top coat has already been applied to the hatch openings, prior to them being masked off for the top coat to go on.

12 years ago by Gregg

Blog

hull repriming

Following on from the additional items being fitted and filled to blend in with the main hull, time now to give it a further coat of . I use as it shows any blemishes far better than using just white primer, this allows me to do any remedial work very easily and quickly, so once this final job is done, a couple of days drying time and I can apply its final/top coat of white primer before the white top coat/gloss goes on.

12 years ago by Gregg

Blog

Hull prep.

Firstly, NEVER rely on the manufacturer to supply you with a perfect hull finish. ALWAYS give the hull a light sanding, remove the sanding dust and apply a coat of . THEN inspect the hull for blemishes. I have found that trying to inspect and refinish a hull "in white" is a difficult task and rarely 100% reliable. Whereas if you paint it a darker colour first, even just a single coat, this will be just enough to highlight and rework areas you need to look at first. its too late once the paint has gone on, so far better to sort all the kinks out now, whilst its only time you are adding and not the extra cost of paint and materials when you spot something later.

12 years ago by Gregg

Blog

first steps

The hull needed a good, but careful fine sanding to remove the mould Imperfections and releasing agents. then it was given a couple of coats of , purely to show up any pit holes or Imperfections and trying to see all these on a white background is very difficult, so I always prefer to spray grey, get the base right, then give a final coat of white primer last.

12 years ago by Gregg

Forum

Where do I start

HI Tony I suggest you look in http://modelfireboats.com/rc/setups.php on this site. To answer your questions, I suggest: Motor - Graupner 600 Battery - 8.4v NiMh 3300 Ma + Charger - NiMh charger Paint - Please see below Speed Control - Mtoniks Viper20 Fittings - Try Model Slipway. Windows can be obtained from a fellow Fireboater dbninja - see For Sale in Forum. Suppliers: Component Shop (Battery/Charger); Mtroniks (ESC); Howes Models (motor). All the above have web sites. if you have difficulty finding their webs sites please em me and I will provide their URLs. Paint - depends on what is already on your hull. Most original Aerokits were glued and rubbed smooth before being painted. Some were sealed with sanding Sealer (dope), possibly also covered with fine tissue, before being painted. After several years storage (possibly in an attic) the wood and glue split along the glue line, water then enter the fine crack and soaks the wood inside. Your hull may be sound in which case a light sanding to provide a key should allow you to use some car Acrylic spray paint. I used Red Oxide primer for the base, Satin Black for the hull sides and for the deck. I buy from a stall in the local market. Good luck and kind regards Dave

13 years ago by Dave M

Forum

paint

HI Olly I've simply used Car-Plan Acrylic Plus formula Car sprays on my Fireboat, Satin Black for the Hull, for the deck & Cabin sides & Gloss White 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 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

Blog

Hull prepared for display

We have now managed to get one hull (RMS Titanic) ready for our display at the Malpas Yesteryear vintage steam rally on Saturday and Sunday. The rudder and props are installed and decks have been shown with the rough templates we have made to progress to the next stage of the build. Due to the size it is the best way we have found to identify what goes where and ensures we will be able to dismantle the model for transportation. Funnels and lifeboats are displayed but the model is in overall which has accentuated the join in the hull - it was much less obvious in black, and we have resined the end plated inside the join and need to sand the faces flat which will Improve the fit. RMS Olympic can be seen in the background - upside down. Dave & Bill

13 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Fireboat

Hi, with regard to paint, I have used Halfords finished off with a clear coat on my 3 fireboats and also my Model Slipway Kawkab. This seems to be a good match. On the Davit front, Model slipway do a complete fittings set at 1/16th scale but don't sell the parts separately. if the Davit is all you need, I suggest you make your own. I did this for my 1/24th boat from plastic sheet and brass rod with good results. Good luck.

13 years ago by tompallister