|||
Not Registered
Go AD FREE & get your membership medal
BRONZE
Less Ads
SILVER
GOLD
Ad Free
Cancel
Anytime
£2.50
£4.50
£6.50
Subscribe
Go AD FREE & get your membership medal
BRONZE
Less Ads
SILVER
GOLD
Ad Free
For A Whole Year!
£25
£45
£65
Donate
You Will Be Helping Towards:

  • Domain Fees
  • Security Certificates
  • iOS & Android App Fees
  • Website Hosting
  • Fast Servers
  • Data Backups
  • Upkeep & Maintenance
  • Administration Costs

    Without your support the website wouldn't be what it is today.

    Please consider donating towards these fees to help keep us afloat.

    Read more

    All donations are securely managed through PayPal.

    Many thanks for your kind support
  • Join Us On Social Media!
    Download The App!

    Login To
    Remove Ads
    Login To
    Remove Ads

    Model Boats Website
    Model Boats Website
    Home
    Forum
    Build Blogs
    Media Gallery
    Boat Clubs & Lakes
    Events
    Boat Harbour
    How-To Articles
    Plans & Docs
    Useful Links
    Search
    Search
    Blog
    The well deck floor & sides.
    The ‘box’ of the prototype I’m building is made of balsa wood, later production models are produced in ply and have the planking lines laser etched on the floor panels, and as balsa doesn’t take stain particularly well I have used separate obeche panels to line the box internally that can be finished with the Teak stain that I’m using. This does, however, mean that I can apply the deck lines using a black indelible marker pen and incorporate some detail lines around the motor housing. I started by cutting and shaping two obeche panels that join along the centre line of the deck and fit neatly around the motor mount and prop-shaft, then I used some tracing paper over the panels to make a test pattern for the planking lines. When I was happy with the layout of the lines I first applied two coat of Teak stain to the panels, and when that was dry I used a .8mm pen to mark the deck lines, the ink takes a while to dry fully and I found it all too easy to smudge some lines 😡 which had to be very quickly taken off with a dampened cotton bud and re-applied. After 24 hours the ink had fully dried and was impervious to smudging and resistant to removal by any means (except a solvent). The floor panels were then glued down to the balsa floor with an even spread of aliphatic glue and weighted down over all of the area as there was a tendency for the panels to curl and lift. Each side panel was made in one piece and then separated into two parts to make the fitting easier, the join will be covered with a vertical detail strip, and they were also stained before being glued and clamped in place. No lining detail was applied to the side panels as I’ll do this with other surface applied pieces later but only in the area outside of the cabin. All the panels were given a couple of coats of satin
    lacquer
    to enhance and protect the finish.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Painting
    I must admit that the painting process is not my favourite. it takes so long and time is always at a premium due to work commitments. I rush it a bit so that the build can continue. I fitted all of the windows into the deck structure and covered them with the low tack film. I then primed, two coats, painted, two coats followed by two coats of
    lacquer
    . I am quite pleased with the results even though it is not perfect. I decided not to fit the deck until all of the electronics, including the ESC, battery and receiver had been installed. This is because one of the big problems with this model is the lack of room to work in once the deck is in place. Another problem I encountered was the fitting of the tiller cranks onto the rudders. if the instructions are followed, it is almost impossible the adjust or remove them once the deck has been fitted. I solved the problem by reversing the cranks and bending the connecting wire to miss a bulkhead support. The screws can now be reached from the deck opening. I have now completed the majority of the painting and have started to assemble the remaining parts. Currently I am doing the wiring of the lighting and making a couple of circuit boards. There are a lot of wires involved so to reduce the amount I have decided to us e a common negative. (Cannot remember what this is called right now). There are still a lot of wires and they are mostly coming out from the cabin structure. I have decided to introduce some nine pin connectors to make cabin removal a lot easier. This is quite a big job and will take a little while. I really enjoy this bit. The results add that little bit of extra satisfaction when it all works as it should.🤓 The top search light assembly came as a bit of a surprise. it is manufactured from nickel silver plate and requires soldering together. Even though I am a precision engineer, I have not soldered a box since I was at school. Once I stopped burning my fingers with the heat, I quite enjoyed the assembly even though it would have been useful to have an extra hand and took the best part of today to complete.😤 I can honestly say that I have enjoyed most of this build and even though earlier on I was thinking to avoid Aero-naut models in the future, I have changed my mind. They are very cleverly designed. I expect to complete this model some time in March. That would be the first for me to complete in recent times even though I have two others on the go and one new one in its box ready for a Summer start.😊
    5 years ago by MouldBuilder
    Blog
    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
    Response
    The deck planking.
    Hi Mike. I chose to use .8mm black plasticard after doing a test pieces with it and comparing it with another using card and I found the plasticard far easier to cut and fix, and it trims very neatly with a sharp chisel. No special primer required at all, the obeche strip is stained with several coats of teak water based stain and finished with a couple of coats of satin acrylic
    lacquer
    . It was great to meet you at Ally Pally on Saturday and compare notes on Crash Tenders, I hope you enjoyed your day out to London. Very Best. Rob.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    The deck planking.
    Once again a piece of precision planking, the end product is always dependant on good planning and preparation, I used black card as my caulking (its available in a variety of thicknesses) and my thought was that it would not require any special pre- treatment other than sanding sealer and
    lacquer
    . Does the plasticard need a plastic primer?
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Blog
    The deck planking.
    The kit I’m constructing is a pre-production prototype and consequently it does not have the ‘laser etched planking’ feature that has been subsequently introduced in the final production kits on the ‘upper’ deck and the ‘well’ deck. This is of no concern to me because I think I prefer to do my own planking anyway but I do have to do a bit of preparatory ‘laying out’ of the deck pattern to ensure that it’s symmetrical and laid in a pleasing fashion. I have chosen to use 1.6 mm x 9.5 mm obeche hardwood strip-wood (from SLEC) for this with a thin black plasticard caulking between the planks. This is what I did when I constructed the VMW Fire Tender and the result was very effective and visually pleasing. Obeche has a pleasing grain, takes stain very easily and is also considerably cheaper than mahogany which I feel would be far too ‘dark red’ when finally
    lacquer
    ed. Because I wanted an outer curved plank around the hull edge I had to cut this from 1.6mm obeche sheet to the correct shape and width as it would be impossible to bend a strip to this extreme curve. These also needed a section trimmed out to allow the bow gunwales to be positioned correctly. Once both sides were cut and shaped I could then form the ply gunwales to the correct curve by my heating and bending process and glued them down to the deck. I understand that on the production kits these gunwales are now incorporated into the side skins which will make the construction a bit easier. The remaining outer planks on the hull edges were made from straight lengths of obeche but required some easing cuts so that they could be bent to the curve of the hull. Hopefully these cuts will not be too noticeable in the finished deck. When all the edge planks were glued in place I temporarily laid out the obeche planking strips with a thin strip of black plasticard as caulking and all held in place with masking tape. The centre plank was arranged to lie over the centre line from bow to stern. The setting out of the planks in this manner confirmed that the layout worked as intended and so I began fixing down the planking from the centre plank of the hull outwards with a fast bonding superglue and the process proved to be quite quick to complete. The side deck planks were equally straightforward but did require some to be carefully shaped in a tapered fashion at each end to fill the remaining gaps. The rear deck was also planked by working out from the centre plank and thankfully the planking layout matched and followed the bow deck planking perfectly. The surplus plasticard ‘caulking’ was then trimmed flush to the planks with a very sharp chisel and the entire deck rubbed down with my sanding plate until it was all perfectly smooth. For those building this model that don’t feel confident enough to do ‘real planking’ will probably want to make use of the laser etched planking on the ply deck panels to achieve a similar result with very minimal effort, but I quite like the challenge of doing it the hard way and the benefit of a slightly better finish.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Response
    Fitting the rubbing strakes.
    Hi All. I'm frantically trying to get the boat to a reasonable state of completion for showing at the London Model Engineer Exhibition next weekend. I've finished painting the hull, just need to apply the white water line and
    lacquer
    the hull with a satin finish. The pictures (taken today) show the current state so there's still a lot of detail to add to the decks and cabin. It will be definitely be displayed as 'work in progress'. Robbob.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Cabin detail part 5 speed control & compass
    Cabin detail part 5 speed control & compass The speed control has two main throttle controls presumably to operate the engines independently. The construction of this piece made it easy to allow each arm to operate independently but to ensure that the levers had some stiffness in the travel I incorporated a spring into the centre screwed shaft. I machined some detail into the body and a recess in each end face to accommodate a dial (AHEAD, ASTERN, STOP, SLOW etc). The circular body needed something to stand on so I made a cradle, which will support it when it is screwed to the framework. I left the whole unit in natural brass,
    lacquer
    ed it to stop any tarnishing, and mounted it with an 8BA screw to hold it in position. The compass again a simple turned piece of brass with a recess machined into the top face to accept a N,S,E,W compass dial. This item is simply glued in the recess on the console.
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Blog
    Rear deck continued
    The rear deck has a few features that need to be done to finish the deck. 1) The hatch part needs the magnets putting in to hold it in place, which requires the deck to be milled out to accept the magnets. Having milled the recess out in both the base and the hatch in four places the magnets can be epoxied in the base. Now these have been set in place the upper magnets can be placed on top of the base magnets to get the correct orientation and glued in place, but I made sure to place some silicon baking paper between the magnets so they don’t accidently get stuck together (with epoxy). 2) The handles and recess to lift the decks out have to be milled out. Using a 2 mm slot drill I cut a 10mm x 5mm 1.5 mm deep recess in 4 places. Each recess has two holes drilled in the corners to accept the brass handles which will be epoxied in later 3) There are two drains at the rear of the deck. These were made from a machined piece of tube, which had vee groves milled in one end to accept a 1.5 mm brass rod in each, which were then soldered in place. After some cleaning up of the excess solder the underside was filled in using epoxy resin coloured black (with Graphite) to simulate a dark hole. The ends were then machined flat, polished, and finally epoxied into the deck. 4) Finally the foam tanks need to be secured, once again using round magnets this time , they are sunk into the deck and similarly the opposing magnets are sunk into the base of each foam tank, this gives a real sturdy fastening the tanks jump into position as soon as they are placed near their position. 5) The deck has had a number of clear
    lacquer
    coats during manufacture so now for a couple of final coats.
    5 years ago by mturpin013
    Response
    Anteno 2 tug
    Lucky man to have access to a full size booth Dick👍 Your hull looks very good, even though it's a bit of a shame to cover up your super woodwork! I used 2pack on my Sea Scout as well😊 Then polished with fine (anti-hologram) cutting polish. The
    lacquer
    gave her a beautiful hard, smooth finish. And is UV resistant as well, which is good for the deck varnish😉 have a great Christmas, cheers, Doug 😎
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Blog
    Painting
    Well it is nearly Christmas again and time to go to my testing river in Hungary. This boat will not be ready but I hope to complete the Police Launch this trip. I have started the painting process on the Pilot Boat. Very early on I had a dilemma. When is the correct time to paint. As I generally use rattle cans and an airbrush, I think it best to paint prior to major assembly. I am still not sure if this is the correct approach but I am concerned with masking an assembled unit. I hope that the glue does not ruin the paint finish when I put it together. It is a bit difficult spray painting this time of the year due to the fumes. I spray in the garage with the door open but I am always concerned about air temperature. The finish looks good so perhaps this is not of great concern yet.🤓 I will now leave the hull to dry prior to applying the
    lacquer
    . I have completed the insides of the bridge and rear room and will start to assemble this part next prior to masking and painting the outside walls. I have bought a roll of special low tack clear film to protect the windows and frames. I hope this works. I have used the same film to cover the instrument panel which so far seems to be staying on well. I think that these models by AeroNaut are really well designed. it still amazes me that the model looks so natural even though it is made generally from flat thin sheets.😉 I will attach the deck next and then start on the main structures. Happy Christmas to all.
    5 years ago by MouldBuilder
    Response
    aeronaut classic
    Hi Simon, I used the
    lacquer
    on the blue and white as well. it 'flattened' the paint and made it real hard and smooth 😊 The whole time consuming but satisfying process is described in incredibly boring 😉 detail in my blog- 'Jessica - Sea Scout restoration' (or was it renovation ??😲 Go easy with the
    lacquer
    on top of the varnish, not too heavy in one coat, or it may cause hairline surface cracks as it dries due to surface tension. 😡 Motor is a Propdrive 2832, 1000kV driving a 35mm 3 blade brass prop from Raboesch. Running on a 3S Lipo using a Quicrun 30A ESC and Turnigy iA6 RX. Pic attached of 'Engine Room'. Link attached to videos of the sea trials in May this year, Ostpark Lake and Biergarten, Munich. https://youtu.be/b0BWJ3duzDw https://youtu.be/zPgYicA0yGw She's 24" LoA with an all up weight of about 1.5kg. BTW: the
    lacquer
    is also supposed to be UV resistant! 😉 All the best, Doug 😎 PS Here the link to my Sea Scout Build Blog https://model-boats.com/builds/view/28209
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    aeronaut classic
    Evening Sifi, Nice job, lovely woodwork 👍 Tip / Suggestion; to give your decks that 'final touch' how about spraying with a clear
    lacquer
    ? I use one from the auto branch, e.g. used with touch up spray cans (esp. metallics) to melt/blend in to the original finish. Gives the varnish a finish like glass - sea attached pics of my Sea Scout. Cheers, Doug 😎
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Transfers
    Hmmmm!! Waterproof? Have you ever tested that? I'm not so sure, having used them in the office virtually since their inception. Anyway, when they are mounted on the boat / ship they need sealing in with a coat of clear
    lacquer
    or they may sometime 'float' off again. Apart from that have not yet seen any transfer paper made for Laser printers. Transfer paper made for ink jet printers may melt 😲 in laser printers in the final transfer / fixing unit. I can tell you, it makes an 'orrible sticky mess wot ain't easy to get rid of. Doug
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    Spraying Again.......
    Agreed Boaty 👍 With a plastic or glass fibre hull it's a slightly different kettle of fish. However I'm still wary of the primer absorbing moisture.🤔 Sealing with a matt or silk
    lacquer
    seems to give an extra knot or so as well😉 But here we were discussing wooden hulls. Cheers, Doug 😎
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    Spraying Again.......
    Mornin' Peter, Red primer can be a good match for some anti-fouling paints. If you are happy with the colour - fine. BUT!! Seal the primer paint with several thin coats of matt or silk clear varnish for the reasons mentioned to Neville above! Primer is porous!! Flatten the primer with 1000 / 1500 wet n dry until your fingertips tell you the surface is good. Apply the varnish in several thin coats, flattening lightly with 2000 / 3000 w&d between coats, until you have a good sealed surface. The varnish (or
    lacquer
    ) will also give some extra protection against knocks and bangs 😊 Cheers, Doug 😎
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Painting
    If you intend to stain the wood don't use sanding sealer first as the name suggests it seals so your stain won't take. as for simulated planking I suggest you sand the deck as smooth as possible (down to 1000 grit paper) and the using a scalpel type blade score the deck lines, but be careful as any slip will show on the final deck. After scoring the lines use a stain to rub over the deck and immediately remove the excess with a cloth, the stain will have more effect in the scores thus showing deck lines. When dry remove any excess with white spirit and leave to thoroughly dry, then sand again. This should leave you with a planked deck look which can now be sealed followed by coats of
    lacquer
    - Halfords do a clear
    lacquer
    . I suggest you try on a piece of scrap ply first. good luck
    6 years ago by mturpin013
    Forum
    Sadolin
    Hi Gardener, Don't know the Sadolin stuff, I use Billing Boats stains meself, BUT whatever you use, esp on balsa, apply a coupla coats of sealer first. Then at least one or two coats of clear satin varnish; e.g. from Lord Nelson range from Holland. THEN AND ONLY then, apply your stain til you get the depth of colour you want. After that seal with matt, satin or gloss varnish /
    lacquer
    according to taste😉 That's the way I did my Sea Scout 'Jessica' renovation, see blog on this site for results!!! Coupla sample pics attached. The whole process is described in the Blog. Otherwise the balsa will soak up all your stain and still not look right 🤔 A 'preserver' as such is not normally necessary if the wood is properly treated inside and out; sealer, stain, varnish etc! Or just EzeKote resin inside. Stain no needed inside of course. Good luck and above all have fun with your endeavours. 👍 Keep us 'up to date' ('on the running' as my German friends would say; 'auf den Laufenden'!) 😁 Cheers, Doug 😎 PS I like Danish Blue meself 😁😁 On the other hand; I wouldn't have used balsa for speedboat deck in the first place. I use a close grained marine ply 0,8 or 1.0mm. Takes the stain better and looks more realistic. Balsa is too coarse grained for stain and varnish on scale speedboats. Thick coat of paint ... OK. On the cabin roof and after deck (which I had to renew) I used 1.5mm mahogany veneer. If I had to do it again I would use a close grained 0.8mm marine ply (birch or pear) and cherry stain (also Billing) as I used on 'Jessica's deck.
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Brass bashin' Chris Craft deck fittings...
    Hi folks, I've been filling in spaces in the Vincent epic with making deck fittings for the Chris Craft Special Runabout. I can't find or, probably, afford to get them nickel plated, so I will give the brass fittings to a chum who does casting of white metal, then I can a) get more than one of some and b) burnish them to look like chrome and then
    lacquer
    them. I'm assuming there might be a measure of interest in how these are done. I'm afraid I can't tell you how to do these without a lathe, because I've always had or had the use of, a lathe. They can be bought for a fraction of the price of a kit, off ebay. My No 1 son bought a lathe exactly like mine (a Peatol, which is same as the Taig), only on a huge base with a nice big motor, a tool rack to hold every supplied, additional tool they make for it and even the book on how to use it and make even more tools for it, virtually unused, for £200. Similar small lathes can be had for even less. It's the brass that costs these days! Anyway, the trick is to break down the shape to that which can be cut, turned or bent. You can do all those things, so all you need to be able to do is silver solder and soft solder. If you can't yet, learn, sharpish. Silver soldering has enabled to earn a living till I retired. It helped me bring up a family of 5, so it's clearly very useful. I won't describe it in boring detail as these days there's a Youtube for every damned thing if you can tolerate that ghastly delivery that so many of them have. I can't, so I'm happy to answer questions if anyone wants to be told straight what to do. Golden rules....make it totally clean with a Swiss file, have sufficient heat, use the right flux. In silver soldering, just sprinkle the powdered flux on, don't bother making a paste, it'll just fizz and shift your little parts. For this part, one of the various patterns of deck lights/flag pole holders that Chris Craft used, I started by turning the main shape of the bulbous bit to be rather like a thimble. I then cut gaps out of it in the vice with a junior hacksaw, so that it had three legs, oversized for now. Then make a teardrop shape out of 1/16th" sheet and cut a hole in it to match. Why the hole? Well, if this is to cast successfully, I don't need any undercuts or "hooks " in the mould so it has to be hollow. Also, I need to put the light lenses in after it's all finished as these units had riding or nav. lights in them. They also had a small jack staff in the top with a burgee or even a national ensign attached. To make the rather art nouveau-ish back end I made a cardboard pattern of what had to be cut from 1mm brass sheet to be folded, hammered a bit and rolled a bit to fit onto the back of the thimble section. I silver soldered the thimble on first, to make it easy to fit the back rolled and folded bit, which was itself then silver soldered on. After that, it's all down to filing to shape, then as you can see from the pencil lines, cut out the teardrop shaped holes in the back which leave a central spine shape. I would first drill a 3mm hole and then, with the piece in a vice use a dental burr in a minidrill and hand mill it out, but PLEASE make sure it can't slip or you could be the owner of a grooved thumb or worse. Finish with files and papers of various grades. More anon when I do the next bits, although you're already further on than I am! Cheers, Martin
    6 years ago by Westquay
    Forum
    Brass bashin' Chris Craft deck fittings...
    I was just searching for a model car pattern I made months ago for some mods and I found all the lovely etchings I'd done years ago, pre computer, for Riva and Chris-Craft models. These two pics show two brass patterns for the Riva vents and two of the white metal cast vents, one polished about 20 years ago, one done just now, to show that a well burnished casting will stay looking chrome even without
    lacquer
    . Then the two Chris Craft tread plates I had the great, good forethought to draw when I found I had a bit of space on the Riva fret. They are perfect, as are the Chris-Craft side flashes and all the Riva badges, even though they were done from hand drawn artwork, proving that Vector images are NOT essential as the pootah people will tell you. I shall mount these two on the typically wedge shaped base and have them cast. I also found a FUEL engraved cap cover which will go on my Chris-Craft filler. it happens to be bang on size wise! I'm cock ahoop! I knew I had these, but had no idea where to start looking. Thanks Mel for getting me started on the search for your Tecno F2 car, but sorry, couldn't find that devil. I have made some more Vincent bits, been to son's to play on his new steering wheel and pedals racing game ( I managed a whole lap of the proper Silverstone in a Lotus 25!) and dined out with the lady wife. What a great day. Martin
    6 years ago by Westquay
    Forum
    Brass bashin' Chris Craft deck fittings...
    If you want it to look like metal, use metal. That alclad is OK, but still looks like paint to me and having to do it in black first (and that coat has to be perfect apparently) is too much of a faff for me. Hammer, as you can see from the response (or lack of it) taking more pictures (never easy for my shit camera) would hardly be warranted and the description says it all really. I have a few more to take, or rather the wife can take em with her Klevafone for me. Filler and cap, exhaust outlet and windscreen supports have been added. Just the bear paw vent to go when I get a bit of 1/8th" through the post. I have 1/8th", but it's that horrible yellow gooey stuff, so I've splashed out on a small bit of CZ120, hard brass. Also called leaded, silicon or engravers' brass. MUCH better to cut and shape. The equivalent for rod, strip and section is CZ 121, extruded. These will all be available to buy once my chum has cast them in white metal and then you just have to burnish with a crewel needle (darning) and you have chrome (
    lacquer
    to taste). Martin
    6 years ago by Westquay
    Forum
    Brass bashin' Chris Craft deck fittings...
    Interesting Mark, 👍 I'll have a sniff round my local art supplies shop. Can get a variety of woods, profiles, stains,
    lacquer
    and resins an' such there as well! Cheers, Doug 😎
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Brass bashin' Chris Craft deck fittings...
    Thanks Martin, I'll look out for that👍 Yeah, the Lightning is cool, I had the 1/72 version back then. I recently bought the 1/24th kit of the Mosquito, another cool kite! It's a MONSTER and I haven't had the guts to start it yet😉 I recently found on the Krick site some chrome "Racing Paint for Polycarbonate Body's" made by Ghiant Aerosols in Belgium, branded 'RC Car'. Comes in two 150ml cans; chrome spray and a
    lacquer
    / fixer. Haven't tried it yet, will report when I have. Cheers, Doug
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Brass bashin' Chris Craft deck fittings...
    These are going to be cast in white metal as near to pewter as damn it, so you can burnish them to a nice chrome finish. Then
    lacquer
    . I'll turn you some Perspex innards for the light and you can put some clear coloured paint over the Perspex. There's just the bow piece to go, but I can't have the cutwater cast, so that will have to be either aluminium or foil covered brass as it needs to be thin. Cheers, Martin
    6 years ago by Westquay
    Forum
    Billing Boats St Canute Update
    Looks good but yes sand till flush and seal 3/4 coats sanding between. Then the same with
    lacquer
    or varnish. Good look with the hull.👍
    6 years ago by onetenor
    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 compound 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
    Forum
    LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights
    BTW: if you go for the glass
    lacquer
    don't apply it with a brush, dip the LEDs and hang 'em up to drip dry! How do I know? Learning by doing!! 😉
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights
    OK will do👍 Since you've already got a 'lifetime supply' of white LEDs (and I know their spec now👍) it makes sense. In the dim and distant past I used glass
    lacquer
    on the old 3V 'rice grain' bulbs to good effect on my destroyer. It might be more difficult to get a decent red and green effect with
    lacquer
    though! Suck it an' see before you rush off and buy coloured LEDs 😉 Doug
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights
    Thanks, Doug. I really like the idea of simply using the exact same white LED for everything, including all of the colored LEDs currently on the boat. Coloring each LED the appropriate colors is the ideal solution. Glass
    lacquer
    is a great idea, plus Tamiya makes a translucent or semi-opaque acrylic paint available in many colors. Paints are ideal because I can control the depth of color simply by applying more coats. Another plus is that I can replace the somewhat cheesy looking port & starboard sidelights with more realistic ones. I like it! Will you please rework things as necessary to account for white LEDs as I’ve described? Things are coming together beautifully. Thanks, Pete
    6 years ago by PittsfieldPete
    Forum
    LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights
    Hi Pete, the wiring diagram as such will stay as it is, but after my test results I will revise the resistor value (upwards) to reduce the power requirement without reducing the perceived brightness. Also to damp down the whites a little and bring up the yellows, otherwise I reckon the white mast lamps will be blinding and the yellow deck lights will look oddly dim. I would be tempted to use whites for the deck lights, maybe put a dollop of yellow glass
    lacquer
    on them to tone 'em down a bit. Apropos Fletcher Class; I have 1/144 kit I intend to convert to RC. My H class destroyer 1/72, HMS Belfast cruiser and Graf Spee pocket battleship 1/128 are also all about 4&1/2 to 5 feet! Don't know how much longer I'll be able to carry them to the lake so I'm considering building a trailer, like I've seen here on the site, and using Jessica's old RC beach buggy to haul them 😊 Also have a 1/96 kit of the fast cruiser / minelayer HMS Manxman which is scheduled for the next winter build. Also 4 foot something 😲 Cheers, Doug 😎
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights
    Those LEDs will be fine Pete, now you just need a few red, green and yellow, or use 'Glass
    lacquer
    ' on a few of those!? I know that cable, correct several 'wires' in a bundle = a 'cable', it's what my internet phone / fax is hanging on since I extended the system from the entry point in the cellar. Still works fine even with my internet connection on it 😊 Still got about 50m of it left. The wires are in twisted pairs to minimise induced RFI/EMI. Ciao, Doug
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Blog
    Rear Deck assembly –(upper tow deck)
    I propose to make the rear deck and the deck which carries the tow hook all as a complete piece that lifts out in one. Although its going to be in one piece the full assembly still has to be made as separate components so first job is to cut the individual panels again using the card inserts to make sure the end assembly has clearance. The tow hook deck is the first piece to be dealt with and epoxied as a sub assembly. Having completed the wooden frame I then took a break and did some more planking, first a mahogany boarder and then glue a black card calk around its inside edge, next cut and sand each plank to fit in the space left, these could then be glued in place with a black card calk between each plank. After a period of drying I sanded the whole surface level. Next I put the nail holes in again using the jig I made to ensure uniform spacing and then gave a coat of sanding sealer. When the rest of the subassemblies are complete they will all be
    lacquer
    ed together before final assembly.
    6 years ago by mturpin013
    Forum
    Windows, stoopid question.
    Evenink Martin, On ABSOLUTE NO ACCOUNT fit windows before prepping and painting 😡 I did all the painting and
    lacquer
    ing first (see 'Sea Scout' Build Blog). Then used the windows 'oles to mark templates for the windows. Which I then transferred to 3mm tinted perspex / acrylglass and cut out on the table scroll saw. Also answers your second question, only mine were green tinted not grey. Despite careful marking and cutting still had to fiddle about with filing to get 'em to fit right 😡 Pics 1 to 3 show fitted windows still with protective film. Pics 4 to 6 film removed but still to be polished. 7th pic; Les pièces, 8th pic; ze glue 😉 I chose 3mm 'glass' a) to match the 3mm ply of the cabin walls - makes it easier to get a flush fit, b) could get it in green tint 😊 Think there was also grey and red !!!! Red for a 'Fun' Boat perhaps 😲 Glue used; Deluxe Materials Canopy Glue; "Thick, flexible glue. High grip. Dries clear. Fills gaps." Here endeth the advert😉 Last pic shows final result after polishing. Maybe sometime, when I haven't got more interesting things to solve and build, I'll make some alu or mahogany frames! 😉 Happy glazing 😁 Cheers, Doug 😎
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Crash Tender davit info...
    mturpin, if you would like to try contacting those organisations/people it would be wonderful. I would do it, but I'm in and out a lot lately and can't seem to settle to anything more than half an hour. So if you would take on that task there would be a lot of grateful people. I've even read recently that one such person claims the decks were bare and the cabin sides were a bluish shade! I painted my removable roofs today and I can see why people choose white! it would look a bit too grey, but that's going to be a purely aesthetic consideration. I have found a method of producing non-slip, using Chines five spice powder! Hate the stuff, but it goes onto some Lidl's coloured
    lacquer
    , available for 2 cans for a fiver(!!!) which is proving to be lovely resin rich enamel paint. I'm off back tommorrow to get some white, just in case. I have white cellulose, but can't use that over the enamel. The Baufix paint dries very quickly for an enamel with a lovely finish. I have some excellent matt varnish if needed. Please let us know how your enquiries go. Cheers, Martin
    6 years ago by Westquay
    Forum
    Crash Tender davit info...
    Martin. The textured spray I used came from Halfords and was applied in very thin layers to build up the required texture, bear in mind that the finishing colour will 'fill' the texture to some degree. I also applied a satin
    lacquer
    to seal the final surface. Sprinkling pixie dust (or crushed chinchillas 😱) onto wet paint sounds a bit hit & miss to me 😁. Whatever you do is acceptable as 'modellers license', and why not be individual with a two-tone grey scheme👍👍. Doug. I think I saw these books and others on Amazon UK when I doing my initial research but concluded that they probably wouldn't have any specific info or 'photos on the flying boat crash rescue tenders which are the subject of the discussion here and I didn't want to shell out on the off-chance that they would, but certainly very useful for the other RAF boats. RAF Hendon museum is very close to me, I could walk there in 20 minutes if I was feeling energetic, and it could be worth asking to see what 'photos and documents they have there. Robbob.
    6 years ago by robbob
    Forum
    Tamar deck colour
    Hi Alan, Ford Polar Grey looks about right 👍 See pics of original here http://modelslipway.com/tamar/tamar_fullsize_arles_gallery/index.html Maybe a final coat of matt or semi matt
    lacquer
    to tone down the gloss a little? Spigots are a good idea. For the small deck cleats on my Sea Scout I drilled 1mm holes using my mini milling machine as a drill press😉 Then Loctited 1mm spring steel rod into them. Deck was varnished and polished before fitting with Deluxe Materials Roket gluper sue! The larger tank filler caps on the aft deck I drilled and tapped 3mm fitted studs with Loctite and glued domed nuts into the frame underneath, cos I need to be able to remove the deck for rudder servicing. Happy spraying, cheers, Doug 😎
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    Nautic
    Nice job👍 Beautiful decking! Crazing on the white hull looks similar to the problem I had with the clear
    lacquer
    on my Sea Scout. Surface stress?🤔 What did you use for paint /
    lacquer
    ?
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    Spray painting hulls.
    Well done Westquay, you spotted the deliberate mistake. No seriously it should have said
    lacquer
    , but was written whilst on brain numbing pain killers, my personal favourite paint was always cellulose. Although recently have been experimenting with thinned down Gel Coat, sprayed over extra fine glass cloth. Will let you all know when I get it right. Cheers Colin.
    6 years ago by Colin H
    Forum
    Bristol pilot cutter mascotte
    Back to the main hull Have finally got the hull sprayed today with this heat it has been drying faster than I can spray it on 😄 Firstly the hull was sanded with a 200grit paper to sand of the shiny coating to give the paint something to key too. It has had three coats of undercoat sanded with 2500grít wet and dry paper between each coat.the undercoat used was Halfords rattle can plastic primer. Then the lower hull colour was sprayed on again three coats sanded with 2500grit paper between each coat.colour used was Halfords rattle can ford arctic blue. the top half of the hull was sprayed with two coats only with it being black plus I didn't have enough paint to give it a third coat😋 colour used was Halfords rattle can satin black. Finally the hull was sprayed with Halfords rattle can clear
    lacquer
    three coats sanded with 2500grit paper between each coat.
    6 years ago by kmbcsecretary
    Response
    wooden ladders
    Yes, I think it was Fred, they were given a couple of coats of clear
    lacquer
    after sanding to finish them off.
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Blog
    Bits n pieces arrived / Aft Deck Mk 2 built ;-)
    6mm lime wood planks from Krick and 4mm tap from Conrad arrived on Wednesday so Full Speed Ahead. This time formers were made from the 6mm lime so no bending or slitting required, new piece of mahogany cut so that this time no inserts left an right were needed. 😊 Formers attached using Rocket cyano and a bag of clamps and left overnight. The 'Riva' tank filler caps were tapped 4mm and appropriate holes bored in the deck piece. Neodymium magnets attached to forward edge. Deck fitted and trimmed in situ for flush fit all round. Transom got scratched during this process so will need a respray🤔 Underside sealed with two coats of EzeKote and sealing / varnishing /
    lacquer
    ing process started on the topside. Last two pics show current status; So Far So Good.😉 Next step; fit windows made of 3mm green tinted acrylic 'glass', which also arrived Wednesday. Will now have to start thinking about what to do in the cockpit 😲 All I have so far is a 25mm ship's wheel. Furniture building is not exactly my Forte! First time for everything I suppose! Suggestions gratefully received!! Ciao for now, Doug 😎 Almost forgot! While waiting for varnish to dry I tackled an old problem with the rudder. Namely; asymmetric rudder throw caused by the rather bulky connecting rod binding on the rudder arm! Suddenly remembered I still had some E-Z Connectors from old aircraft days. Been hanging around for 35 years or so waiting for something to do! So replaced the old plastic linkage with 1mm spring steel rod and two E-Z connectors. Works a treat 😊
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    After Deck / Hatch - If at first you don't succeed ...
    Thanks mt, 😊 have now built the Mk2 and spent half the night preparing it for
    lacquer
    ing 😲 More later with pics, ciao for now, Doug 😎
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Blog
    Boatdeck bulwark & boatdeck planking
    I haven't posted for a while as I have only been running on three cylinders, but all four firing now, so off we go. An edging is glued around the boatdeck, this then allows a thin piece of plasticard to be glued in place for the boatdeck bulwark, after the glue had dried, planks cut from a sheet of veneer were glued inside and out and the bulwark and finished with a teak capping. A cardboard template was made for the boatdeck overlay planking, this was then transferred onto 1mm ply for the planking to be laid on. Using planks cut from a sheet of veneer and cotton thread for the caulking, Aliphatic glue, a tooth pick and my best glasses the planking was completed. The finished planking was given several coats of clear
    lacquer
    rubbing down in between coats to give it a nice finish. Planking at this scale with fine thread as caulking is definitely a labour of love.
    6 years ago by AlanP
    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 ;-))
    Thank you Boatshed, much appreciated 😊 All the materials used, and the sequence, are shown above with some links to the suppliers. Secret ingredient is patience! What makes the big difference to the final gloss is the protective
    lacquer
    from the two part system used on cars these days, followed by two stage cutting back and polishing - WHEN the
    lacquer
    is fully hardened! I use a halogen lamp to speed up the hardening a bit😉 Big difference from what I started with - see pics!😁 Happy
    lacquer
    ing, Doug 😎
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Response
    Doors
    Hi Colin, I think the wood for the doors is about 2mm thick, a thin strip slightly wider than 2mm of plasticard is super glued around the edge, then using wet and dry sanded flush front and back. After drilling the hole for the porthole, the whole lot was given a couple of coats of Halfords clear
    lacquer
    and the knob stuck on. 👍
    6 years ago by AlanP
    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 gloss white, 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
    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 compound curve!!! Cheers Doug 😎
    6 years ago by RNinMunich


    About This Website
    Terms of Service
    Privacy Policy