Response

Hull progressing nicely!

I hate the idea of having to shape the balsa front ends. I have in the past re cut the bottom skins on 1/16th marine ply and steamed and pinned with small brass . But if that model is all balsa you couldn't do that but if the bulkheads are ply and chine stringers then it is possible.

5 years ago by BOATSHED

Blog

Day Two Springer

Springer build log for website Hello all, Even though I am in the middle of several projects, including refitting two of my boats, I can't resist starting a new one. I am sure that I am not the only one with this affliction, I get bored quickly and jump from project to project. To keep them moving, I mostly work simultaneously. So here goes, my first ever Build Blog, bear with me.... Picked the Springer Tug as it is very simple and it will just be used ss a backup recovery vessel. I intend to build it a zero cost from my parts box and scrap wood pile. I put together my extra props, driveshaft, gearbox, motor, esc and RX. May have to buy a SLA Battery to get descent run time. Started last evening by making a template based on the plan in photo, credit goes to hull designer, see photo. Then I determined my motor location and Drive Line Angle so I could design the stuffing tube. Constructed that the same night using a 3/16" SS steel drive shaft. Bronze bushings from local hardware store and brass tubing from my supplies. See photos... Had the 500dc motor, Master Airscrew Gearbox, drive shaft, coupler and 2" brass prop. More to come..... Joe Day 2 Hello, Next I traced the hull sides on to 12mm/1/2" Baltic birch plywood from Woodcraft store. I nailed two pieces together prior to cutting so as to match. I don't have a scroll saw so I built a table mount for a jigsaw that attaches to my homemade drill press table. Cut them together, but the jigsaw does not cut well in terms of verticality. So I clamped them in a vise and hand sanded till they matched and were at 90 degrees. I showed my simple rig for the sabre saw / jigsaw table. if you need detail, just ask. I also showed my custom made 4 1/2 table that I made because I could not find a scaled down table saw for model making. (Could not afford, I am retired and have a low budget. Glued up the sides and ends tonight with Titebond 3, temporary to help hold it into place. Note: As to any joints whether it be electronic, woodworking, etc., a good practice is to use this both adhesive and mechanical fastener. I swear by these as one or the other will eventually fail This is as simple as using a screw, nail or rod, and the appropriate adhesive. Model building, as most will say is cheaper than therapy. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Response

Rescue Vessel - Springer Tug

Hello, Next I traced the hull sides on to 12mm/1/2" Baltic birch plywood from Woodcraft store. I nailed two pieces together prior to cutting so as to match. I don't have a scroll saw so I built a table mount for a jigsaw that attaches to my homemade drill press table. Cut them together, but the jigsaw does not cut well in terms of verticality. So I clamped them in a vise and hand sanded till they matched and were at 90 degrees. I showed my simple rig for the sabre saw / jigsaw table. if you need detail, just ask. I also showed my custom made 4 1/2 table that I made because I could not find a scaled down table saw for model making. (Could not afford, I am retired and have a low budget. Glued up the sides and ends tonight with Titebond 3, temporary to help hold it into place. Note: As to any joints whether it be electronic, woodworking, etc., a good practice is to use this both adhesive and mechanical fastener. I swear by these as one or the other will eventually fail This is as simple as using a screw, nail or rod, and the appropriate adhesive. Model building, as most will say is cheaper than therapy. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Search light

A working search light seems to be expected on this craft so here goes. Based on Robs build I purchased the lens and the LED from Maplin’s which seemed to fit the bill. The only piece that will be used is the main body that is supplied as a white metal fitting, the rest will be replaced by a brass construction, as the rest of the parts are not substantial enough to support a working unit. First, I need some 3/16 half round brass bar, the easiest way is to machine my own cutting just less than half the diameter away. The half-round bar was annealed before bending round a suitable mandrel to a half circle. I then soldered an 8BA nut on each leg to act as the swivel bearing. Next, I machined the body’s internal bore to suit the lens body and skimmed the outer rim and face, finally bore out a small recess that locates the lens in place. The two pivot holes need to be drilled and tapped 8BA, and then a drilled hole in the rear wall for the wires to exit. As the light is to be both working and rotating the base has is to be made with a centre spindle that connects to a micro servo under the roof. The connecting devise was a bit of a headache trying to make it fit in a relatively small space; I used the supplied servo arm with four legs (shortened) and then machined a mating part with pins that located in the arm that is attached to the body above deck. The LED was modified to fit in the white metal body as it has a heat sink which was too big; as others have found cutting it down didn’t affect the heat dissipation when fixed in the white metal body, this was fixed using a small amount of Milliput. Having already machined the outer flange on the body I turned up a brass-flanged ring to push fit on the body this has to have the TRI form guard added. I made this from a central pinion with three holes drilled to accept the bent brass ; these were soft soldered in position. The TRI form was then located on top of the brass flange and again soft soldered in position At this point all the components will have to be dismantled for final finishing before being painting.

6 years ago by mturpin013

Response

deck planks

On to the railings. I am using striped electrical wire. Free & easy to solder, and different sizes. The only drawback it is a little soft. The hardest job is getting it straight. This is done in vice & between fingers.( fingers not in vice) I also flatten the stanchions where rails cross. The long silver is the flagstaff at the bow, half way along the section being made. Held in a jig to solder, saw cut hold stanchions & stretch rails. The tape was to hold rails against stanchions. This was not needed as I pushed them down with a screwdriver as I removed the soldering iron.

6 years ago by hammer

Blog

54 year old Crash Tender

I would like first to say that this is NOT a restoration. It has always been mine and followed me around all those years, been used extensively on Oyster beds on the Essex coast and Valentine's Park in Ilford, Essex...even the great Victoria Park, of which my Granddad was a founder member. It has eaten its way through lantern batteries out of number which my Dad, who was in the business could magic from thin air. There was always a nook in the boot of the Triumph Town and Country saloon and then the Austin Westminster for another new lantern battery, which the Taycol would destroy in about 20 intermittent minutes of left, centre, right, centre from the REP single channel gear. How I wish I still had that, but it was stolen. The REP, that is, the Taycol remains, restored and cleaned and like new again waiting to go back in the boat. I finally decided I should finish it. My wife bought me a set of white metal fittings by Yeoman out of IP Engineering, so I have no excuse. Not that I need one. It has suffered a bit over that half a century, losing odd panels, but they are easily remade and replaced. First, I had to clean out the insides of the detritus and loft life of decades. Vacuuming, scraping with a pointy thing and brushing with a stiff brush, followed by more vacuuming using a clever attachment that my dear wife thought might be useful and it was, being at least a dozen stiff, but small diameter tubes poking out of the end of a nozzle. It both pokes and nudges the old dirt and dust and sucks it away. After that the old thin mahogany deck planks, my friend thought to add in the late 60s were removed and saved where salvageable as I quite like them for trim on other boats. The deck was rather brutalised with a coarse rasp and any loose punched back in flush or slightly below. Then some way too old, but still good, epoxy (WEST) was used to slar all over the decks and most of the insides, even some of the cabin sides. That will be finished before dark today. I can hardly believe the epoxy still works, but it does, perfectly and so is pressed into use. In this warm weather it set very quickly. I did my usual trick of squeegeeing it on into the grain with an old credit card or Gummi, which is a sample block of silicon. Styrene will also do. I use some spare 2mm stuff I was given (that guy at IP Engineering again). The roofs had already been corrected the other evening and heavily cellulose sanding sealed. The forward cabin removeable roof was unwarped by having a tight fitting diagonal piece of pear pressed in under the top skin and glued. The new hatch on that roof was made and the shape of the roof and hatch runners changed slightly, as per drawings from this site. Here are pics. of the work today. The above resinning, the remade cabin panels a new wheelhouse bulkhead and the tow hook base panel, finally a new aft cockpit rear coaming which it never had but should have. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Forum

LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights

Good morning, guys. I got the pilot house roof off of my boat by using bits of advice from both of you. I looked closely at the seam where the roof attaches & sure enough found a very fine gap. Doug: I trimmed my finger just yesterday so my built-in scraper/screwdriver/seam separator, i.e. thumbnail, is too short to be of use for a while. Ed: Following your lead I carefully worked an ultra-thin blade into the seam & after about 30 seconds I had the roof off without damaging a thing. Excellent! I’m impressed at how well the roof presses in place. Only the paint had “glued” the roof on. Looking at the photo you can clearly see the ceiling bulb (white wires), which is the same kind used for HO scale & larger locomotive headlights, among other things. The blue wires near my thumb (notice the neatly-trimmed thumbnail) run up to the search light on the roof. You can also see the black & red & black & green wires running to the port & starboard side lights. I think I’ll add a multi-pin connector as part of my overall upgrade plan for the tug so that I can completely remove the roof if I want to without risking damage to those fine wires. Thanks again to both of you for your helpful guidance. You’re both awesome! Pete

6 years ago by PittsfieldPete

Response

Port lights in place!

Hmm! I see where you're coming from Ed, but bear in mind that matt paints have a habit of developing shiny spots wherever they are touched! 🤔 Wear and tear,servicing and cleaning etc. I would use the satin (semi-matt) paint and finish off with matt clear varnish for protection, also UV protection! 👍 I use the Lord Nelson varnish for that. http://www.krickshop.de/Products/Paints-Accessories/Paints-for-Shipmodels/Lord-Nelson-Varnish/Lord-Nelson-Klarlack-matt-300ml-Spraydose.htm?shop=krick_e&SessionId=&a=article&ProdNr=80121&p=435 Cheers Doug 😎 PS Sorry to hear about the glue 🤔 Oh well! There's always Sellotape 😉 Or as Grandad used to say "If all else fails - use bl***y great " 😉

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Glue

Hi Glyn, no should be okay, but only use tiny dots of it as it is very strong. Cheers Colin.👍

6 years ago by Colin H

Forum

Glue

Ah thanks Colin. I was going to try the silicone idea today, but I won’t now, thanks. I’ll go for the tape. I was also thinking, after the silicone tip, to try no , as I have some to hand. I’ll test some on pieces of scrap wood and see how it goes.See if it glues ok afterwards. Cheers all.

6 years ago by glyn44

Response

HMCS Sackville - WWII Corvette

Hi gord(on?), so far so good👍 For heaven sakes DON'T GIVE UP! 😲 If all else fails - use bloody great !! 😉 In this case perhaps a half decent brushed motor, the 'Flowers' weren't greyhounds anyway 😁 More power to your boiler, Cheers Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Blog

2nd Gunwhale stringers

Now for the more difficult stringer, this one has already been steamed and set in the jig. The outer stringer has to be put on using glue only and clamps, so no at all since it has to shaped to the profile of the bulkheads over its entire length hopefully using a jack plane (which don’t like ). Clamps at the ready and glue in hand and away we go,

6 years ago by mturpin013

Blog

deck planks

I usually use coffee stirring sticks. But at this scale far to wide. I cut 3/32" strips off a 7/8" plank. Stuck them back together with a mixture of P.V.A. & acrylic black paint. Clamping over the whole length. Next day cut down the opposite way to about 1/16 & sand to a finish. Mark in the joints & with a pen. The planks could be any width required, & the black joints aren't to big.

7 years ago by hammer

Response

Superstructure finished!

I attached the plastic tube that came with the original kit with long brass . You need to just fit them so that you dont squash the tube. I painted the tube with a darkish red Humbrol before fitting. The fore and aft bits are the bulwarks and there is also a small rail running along the edges of the deck, but set in slightly. On the real boat they carried the stanchion bearers and acted as a foot stop. They also need to have washports to allow deck water to run off. I've attached a few pics of my Solent FYI. I agree it was not a scale model but at the time we used IC engines that required easy and large access and this was one of the more realistic models available. Many like yourself have added lots of detail and the finished result will look the part and will be a credit to you. Looking forward to seeing the finished Oxford Blue hull.

7 years ago by Dave M

Place

web site

Hi Dave, Thanks for the advice (aimed more at the non-computer guys here I guess 😉), but I was programming computers back in the 8 bit paper tape days! Due to limited storage space (kbytes not Giga or Terrabytes!🤔) I quickly learned to use it sparingly and clear the junk out after every session! Nowadays it's sadly more of a security question. ALL my possible browsers are set to clear cache, cookies, searches, sites visited etc etc on closure. At the end of each session I also use CCleanerPro (formerly CrapCleaner!) to clear out all caches, MS usage logs, temporary thumb Temp files, and deleted files - Waste Basket and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all!. So there can not have been anything in the browser cache - especially on the very first attempt. I agree with your last comment - my interpretation is that when McAfee looked at the site it exhibited behaviour which is classed as Suspicious! I won't be trying it again. Cheers Doug 😎 PS: i suppose I could dig out the site report, but frankly it's not worth the bother, more interesting things to do! ColourCoats paints for the PT boat and T45 as well as LifeColor cammo colours for KM and RN WW2 arrived today. Only ordered 'em yesterday 😊😊

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

DRAGONFLITE 95

Good tip👍 As in "If all else fails use b....y great !" 😉 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

DRAGONFLITE 95

As long as the keel's on the bottom, and the sails are on the top, he should be ok. Just remember to use stainless 6" to hold it all together, as mild steel trusts too quickly 😂

7 years ago by rolfman2000

Forum

Sea Queen refurbishment

Just started cleaning up my dads old Sea Queen. Spent four hours rubbing down hull (one half), as there is a bad layer of old fibre glass tape round the chine line. After cleaning back I found that the oil from inside had got into the joints. A lot of the had fallen out, so I have given a coat of epoxy , it now seems quite stable. Will do the same with the other side. The keel is delaminating so I will inject with epoxy and clamp. Hopefully she will hold together while I do the work so that I can coat the whole hull with extra fine glass cloth and resin. Will have to get more rapid set epoxy from pound shop tomorrow. That's all for now, goodnight all.

7 years ago by Colin H

Response

Secure the hatches and raise the flags !

hi can you help me i have purchased the 46" vosper, and i have looked every where for the brass , i have the brass pins but are no help, can you tell me where in uk i can buy them, i would much appreciate it, i live in australia and ive tried everywhere here, i think your build is out of his world, i only hope mine will look like yours, hoping for reply, colin👍

7 years ago by jaffy012

Forum

Glue

Hi Steve My entire model has been constructed using the following three glues: Poundlands version of no more Poundlands superglue 8 pack West system epoxy All have stuck plasticised to plywood in some fashion. Two are £1 each and the west system cost me £20 for a patch repair kit. Hope this helps Graham

7 years ago by GrahamP74

Response

U47.

Many thanks.Always trying to improve this skill.Real rust from left in water for ever I find the best then painted in satin varnish.Bill.

7 years ago by Scratchbuilder

Forum

Planking

PS To give up now would be a great shame and waste of all the effort, materials and time you already put into building the framework 🤔 To make it easier, especially if you plan to later strengthen the planking with glass fibre (highly recommended unless building a klinker built boat or vintage yacht), use very thin flexible planks or strip. I used 0.5mm 3ply on my destroyer. This is then still stiff enough to give you the hull form you want but not too difficult to bend to shape. For extreme curves steam it to make it more flexible. The kitchen tea kettle is enough for this. ;-) Use clamps rather than pins or small and don't try to do too many planks at once! Patience is a virtue, especially in model building 😉 Glue and clamp the planks on the relatively straight sections first. I used waterproof white woodworking glue without problems. it gives you time for adjustments and remains flexible when set, which epoxy does not! Then when the glue is set, the next day or whenever time or the 'other half' allows 😉 glue and clamp the curved sections (bow and stern). The tip above to make trial templates from thin card, e.g. cereal packets or similar, is also worth it's weight in gold! Just make sure that the card is not so thin that it straightens out the curves! Otherwise your wood planks cut to these templates will be too short 😭 Planking is not really so difficult, it just needs time and patience 😎 These days you can also buy inexpensive plank cutters these days. Mostly used for cutting deck equal width planks but maybe useful for hull planking!? Please post a pic of the framework so far so we can see how far you've got and what the hull form looks like. Cheers from Munich 😎

7 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

Ketch Irene

The cunning plan for the sails. Heming & stitching is difficult to get anywhere near to scale, unless the scale is large. So I experimented with the flying jib, worked very well. Except I have the bolt rope on the wrong side. I had tried this on glass before but the glue puddled showing badly. Using the Paper pattern cut out the cloth ( I use ticking) With at least 1/2" all around. Mine was washed & ironed. This was because it has been folded in a drawer since the last boat. Cut 4 Teflon blocks & drilled 2 holes ( Teflon cut from an old chopping board). A panel pin through holes one up one down. Place paper pattern on a board, nail the blocks so the nail sticking up is on the point. The other nail is clear of pattern, this will allow the block to pivot. Wind a string that has been soaked in PVA (water resistant type) around the . The cloth is slightly dampened with a spray, not to much or it will be to heavy & also the glue could run. Push the up through the cloth letting it sag again not to much. When dry remove it from board, cut off the excess cloth as tight as possible to the string. I then mark the panels with pencil. I do this on both sides, after the first side I tape it to the window so I can see & get them the same. Then give sail a coat of very watery coat of PVA, some mixed with acrylic paint. Seen on my model Flying Foam I had over done it a bit.

7 years ago by hammer

Forum

Make your own wood stain

Thank you, I have rusty 😁

7 years ago by John2

Response

work on solent lifeboat

Hi Dave /pins or brass i think? I dont think they will rust be cuz i fiberglass over them I but 2 layers of fiberglass on the solent Hull . cliff

7 years ago by Mataroa

Response

work on solent lifeboat

If those are /pins I can see on the hull I suggest you remove them all before you cover all over. if you don't they will rust when they get wet and spoil all your work. Dave

7 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Useful reference photo

Thanks, for reminding me yes it drives as well as screws.

8 years ago by hammer

Response

H.M.S. BULLDOG / BEAGLE

Splendid looking model and with your tweaking she will give you hours of pleasure. The last two pics are only showing as thumb for some reason but your previous pics are great. 😀

8 years ago by Dave M

Response

stanchions

He was certainly a character and a hard task master, he served in the Gloucester Regiment in WW1 he was a sniper. but apparently when he came home from war he never talked about it like so many others. when I was little he used to use his "tommy hard hat" to dip in the water butt to water the plants and cut his trench boots down for gardening. He spent some of his service in Ypres and they had it rough there , I have only learned how bad since my dad died and I came into possession of my Granddads "small book" and diary, his time and his muckers was horrendous. As you say though, he was a character !!! They don't build them like that anymore !!! Hard as !!! But very pationate about life.

9 years ago by Ballast

Forum

Getting wiring to be neat

HI Edward The 8mm studding was used as it was easily available. You could use thinner, especially if you are using two studs, and if this goes into a metal sleeve it will provide sufficient support for the keel if you use my method of providing a lip on the keel to match with the hull. You can add wood to the inside of the keel where the studs enter and this will make a very solid and stable mount. Glad to have helped, I wasted much time with my original keel. You will need to plan how big you make your keel. it is important you resist making it too long to avoid the steering problem. You can probably make the bulb a bit fatter which will help your larger sails stay upright. Although Brian made a mould he was using for several similar models, for a single model I would be tempted to make out of sheet lead held together with with the studs well affixed and covered with cloth tape to see how it works. When you are happy you can then fibreglass all over and make a proper job. Sailing was disappointing as the wind was swirling all over the lake. At least I wasn't the only one affected and the rain kept off. thank you. Cheers Dave

9 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Rivets

Think if it was mine I would use rivets, brass dolls house or brass dress making pins, depending on scale, as yours is 12th scale I would go with rivets, just my thoughts. You can get some rivets from here http://www.rbmodel.com/index.php?action=products&group=018 It's a firm in Poland, I have had stuff from them including rivets, no problems Alan

10 years ago by AlanP

Forum

fireboat update

I don't see what the problem is with wives, mine is the same. What's that stink? What are you using now?, Why can't you do that outside? I don't complain when she paints her every few days. That smells, it also smells when she burns the dinner. But do we complain, No, we just keep quite and bear it. On the brass pin subject they definitely won't rust if they are brass, and should not ping out. I used them on a Aero Kits Sea Hornet back in 1977 and they are still in place, and have not rusted. I still have the boat now. You can check they are brass with a magnet if they stick to the magnet then they are only brass plated. Hobbies in Raveningham in Norfolk sell brass pins that are brass.

10 years ago by BOATSHED

Blog

part 3

I said no rebate in keel & stem. But should have cut a groove with a Dremel disk in both. Had to take off the ply. Put back then tried card strips to check the shape. Moving the formers alters the shape. Ticked the best, fixed the frames here. Thats all till Monday, 6 year old grandson coming to stay. We will be in the shop hammering , sawing, & drilling any stray bits of wood.

11 years ago by hammer

Response

Inshore fishing boat

I cannot tell a lie, the are made with a very hard, sharp pencil 😯 Alan

11 years ago by AlanP

Response

Inshore fishing boat

HI Alan, do I see holding them planks? if so where did you find them let alone nail them so neat Roger

11 years ago by shavings

Response

Aerokits 46'' Fireboat twin screw brushless conversion

I too have that picture and have to say had never noticed before, but as you say if you look closely it appears the cabin sides are lighter than the deck and also the roofs of the various cabins look to be other than white. Having spent ages carefully drilling out the white metal monitors I will stay away from that discussion. On another note did you make the scrambling nets yourself and if so how. I have some thick cord and was going to make a jig up with some and scrap wood and where the cords crossed each other just add a dab of cyno.

11 years ago by Flack

Blog

Feathering rods

Brass tube this time with eyelets bent up from brass wire. Soldered up on another technical jig ( same wood same ) 😁 Gimp pins and a small alI washer ( a square with a hole) Fix the rods to the king rod, which is cut from alI sheet. Solder the end of the pin & cut of. Grease on the brass wire eyelets helps to stop the solder sticking to the brass. The same method used on the rods to feathering arm joints. This method was used on the Glen Usk (except from the turned hub) and have worked with no trouble since 2001. I am sure you are glad this is the last post on wheels. 😭

11 years ago by hammer

Blog

floats time

The hinge incorporates the feathering arm. First a pattern is made and strips of alI cut. Drill one hole ( to fit pins) in 4 or 5 strips, rivet together, do the same at other end. Drill the rest of the holes. Shape the blanks to the pattern with a file, remove the rivets and repeat until until all done. I made a jig ( 2 with heads removed in a piece of wood) to bend them to shape. Remembering to make a left-hand & right-hand set. in this case the floats are of wood, made to a pattern. The brackets are then riveted to them with those gimp pin. A photo of the prototypes floats show notches where they had been hitting the frame. So I did the same.

11 years ago by hammer

Blog

Paddle wheels

My method for making the wheels. Only hand tools needed, although I did turn the hubs on the lathe. Previously I have used brass tube, 4 cuts down each end then bend back to form lugs, rivet on the wheels. That was the first attempt, being all brass they were to heavy & did not help the stability. So now I use aluminium the disadvantage it does not solder. This can be turned in to an advantage, see later. first mark out on alI sheet about 3/32" thick. Cut 4 pieces well away from outside diameter. Stack together & drill centre & bolt together. Now the hard part, finding 1/2" gimp pins, (small wire used for upholstery not the cut variety). Drill a hole through the pivot point of one of the floats (paddles) to take pin. Push a pin through & cut off leaving a length about the size of the diameter protruding, place on a anvil ( big hammer ) rivet over the end with a small hammer. Repeat at two or three other pivot points. Drill holes at the corners to form radius & cut out with a coping saw. Leave the outer cut till last. File off the rivets & separate & clean up.

11 years ago by hammer

Blog

Detailing continues on RMS Olympic - Windows and Rigging

The outside window detail was copied from the plans and transferred to overhead projector film and printed using a laser jet. Each window was cut just around the printed detail and fixed to the correct window using clear canopy glue. The water jet cut windows are consistent size so everything matched up perfectly. Took three days to print/ cut and fit all the windows. The catlines up the fore and aft masts were drafted onto a sheet of paper which was pasted to a piece of wood. were used to secure the verticals and the horizontals were made by cutting slots in the wood and wrapping cotton into and round the wood. White canopy glue was used to paste all over having waxed the template to protect the jig. When dry I used a sharp knife to cut off the surplus leaving some nice relatively self supporting ratlines. As I sail the model rigging needs to be easily removable. For fore and aft running lines I attach small springs which clip to hoops at deck level. All other mast rigging is fixed to each mast and I have used small berylium (ex brushless motors) magnets superglued to the bulwarks. A small metal tab attached to each line can then be place over the appropriate magnet and adjusted to tension. The aerials run from fore to aft and I used shirring elastic as this keeps everything nice and tight and is self adjusting as the temperature and humidity changes.

11 years ago by Dave M

Forum

Polystyrene sheet and plywood

G'Day Tall Paul, If all else fails I use "Liquid ". it sticks anything to anything. I use it on all my boats in one part or another. Check out your hardware store! it is waterproof and once stuck it stays stuck. if you happen to use a little too much it wips down with water, giving a very smooth finish. hope this is of some use mate. Taffy

12 years ago by taffy

Forum

The COROMANDEL

Thanks Dave for the comments, your project looks somewhat more extensive than mine but will be very Impressive when finished. Together on the water they will be something worth seeing. On to the Coromandel, as I had not built a planked hull before I just followed my nose and decided to cover in hardwood strip. As it was fairly obvious that it would be very difficult to pull the planks around the overhung stern I decided to carve this and as I got into the planking to also do the lower half of the bow with solid blocks. I used a single section plank of lime 8 mm * 2 mm. This was OK and easy to do on sides and flat bottom of the hull, but on the curved parts on the frames it would have been better if I had bought a selection of section narrower planks. I found it difficult to fix the planks when being pulled around the curved parts and only a pair of planks could be done at the same time, so it was quite a long job. I did not use any permanent in the assembly but removed any used to hold the assembly after the glue had dried. As I went along I made various clamping jigs and it would have been better if I had thought these out a bit more earlier in the build. I filled the various gaps in the planking with car repair plastic filler and sanded the outside of the hull. The attached pics show the various stages and the motor installation and meccano gear drive. Eventually I completed the covering and shaped the bow and stern blocks using a Lidl detail sander which was very effective.

13 years ago by nasraf

Blog

More Tests and Construction

Motors now installed and tested. Working well with 12v 7Ahr gel cell. Comes on plane easily and giving over 45 mins run times. I have corrected the waterline and the hull is painted to deck level. Made the two exhaust ports with working lids but not yet fitted. Work now started on the cabin. Reworked the back as I am not fitting the gantry, and will model the vessel as fitted with the later rear launching ramp for the Y boat. Filed all the moulded windows flush and am contemplating Speedline fittings. Cabin rails commenced. Am using 4mm aluminium rod fitted and secured with cyano and brass pins fitted into drilled holes in the rails and stanchions. Any gaps filled with plastic padding. Finished result is painted white. I have fitted each stanchion into a 3mm hole drilled into the cabin top. I turned 1mm steps for 4mm on each stanchion so the final result will be strong. Started work on the riveted angle around the top cockpit. Using 1mm litho plate with rivet effect created with rounded tapped into back of plate. Made 3 lifebelts from foam board turned on lathe and sanded to profile. I may make a mould so I can cast more as 1/12 scale is becoming a favourite for me. Nearly forgot I have sources stanchions and fittings from Model Slipway and 12ba hex bolts/nuts from Macc Models so I can now really make progress.

14 years ago by Dave M

Blog

Part two

I've spent the last few days wetting and bending the spruce chine stringers so they take on the form of the boat and make the construction easier. All I did was trace out the rough line of the stringers and transfer the line to the building board... a few on the line and I had a 'form' to work with. The bulkheads have gone in tonight, and the keel... The transom bulkhead was the only one that needed some 'easing' (I was expecting at least one) as I've had to draw them from the plan and side view.

16 years ago by Toesup