|||
Not Registered
Go AD FREE & get your membership medal
BRONZE
Less Ads
SILVER
GOLD
Ad Free
Cancel
Anytime
ยฃ2.50
ยฃ4.50
ยฃ6.50
Subscribe
Go AD FREE & get your membership medal
BRONZE
Less Ads
SILVER
GOLD
Ad Free
For A Whole Year!
ยฃ25
ยฃ45
ยฃ65
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
    Detailing the cabin โ€“ Part 2. The Roof Rails.
    Some hardwood dowel is supplied in the Vintage Model Works kit for the handrails that would look perfectly acceptable for most builders but as Iโ€™m going a bit overboard with the detailing of my boat I chose to fabricate mine differently to look a little more authentic. This involved selecting some obeche stripwood of suitable dimensions and carefully measuring and marking out the positions of the supporting legs and the spacing between them. Again I used some โ€˜photos of the NMM model as a guide for this. Fortunately I had previously treated myself to a vertical stand accessory for my Dremmel drill and I used this as a milling machine with the addition of a suitably sized sanding drum and an improvised โ€˜fenceโ€™ attached to the base of the stand. After making a test piece I also chose to attach a vacuum cleaner hose to the stand to extract the dust as the process generates quite a lot! Milling out the recesses in the obeche strip was a remarkably quick process but the subsequent hand finishing using abrasive paper glued around a dowel and some abrasive pads took a great deal longer to achieve the final profiles. I was very pleased with the final result and so I applied several coats of Teak stain before hand drilling a 2mm hole in each of the supporting legs to take a
    plasticard
    rod which was superglued in place. These form fixing spigots that will enable me to easily fix the rails through the roof without using epoxy or superglue on the roof surface but on the underside of the roof instead. The legs at each end of the handrails were drilled to take 1mm rods as the legs are a bit smaller. The rails were then laid out on the cabin roof and with the aid of some masking tape the position of each
    plasticard
    rod was marked and then the drilling centres marked with an indent through the tape onto the roof. The fixing holes were all hand drilled through the roof and the handrails pushed into place before being secured with a drop of superglue on the underside. When set the excess plastic rod was cut flush with the roof panel. The finished result is very pleasing ๐Ÿ˜€ as seen in the last pic along with a sneak preview of the searchlight.
    5 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    end of week report LOL
    good week this week, i should of said that there are 2 of us working on this Tug, myself and my father. this means that we are splitting the work up and as he is retired he can spend some more time on the boat than i can. so, (and i forgot to take the "before" photos) we have the wheelhouse and the platform it sits on (as the platform is held above the deck on a number of legs.
    plasticard
    and wood veneer outer cladding with a (removable) roof. going to put lighting in the table, telegraph, binnacle, map table and ships wheel. painted the 4 Cowl vents then we dry fitted (placed no glue) the various parts( wheel house, funnels, mounts) into place on the deck to see how it looks. finally painted the funnels yellow to match the Cowl vents still to do on the Funnel mounts is to paint and place the vents (flat vents), fit the Cowl vents, paint and fit the hatch covers (white hatches with bronze hinges) fit the pipework to the exterior of the funnels drill holes in the front mount for the steam generator funnel and finally mount the funnels to the mounts (so not too much just for those 2 bits)
    5 years ago by barryskeates
    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 Iโ€™m constructing is a pre-production prototype and consequently it does not have the โ€˜laser etched plankingโ€™ feature that has been subsequently introduced in the final production kits on the โ€˜upperโ€™ deck and the โ€˜wellโ€™ 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 โ€˜laying outโ€™ of the deck pattern to ensure that itโ€™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 โ€˜dark redโ€™ when finally lacquered. 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
    โ€˜caulkingโ€™ 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 donโ€™t feel confident enough to do โ€˜real plankingโ€™ 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
    Blog
    1-35 Scale Schenllboot By TeeJay
    Hi all for the second blog report on the schnellboot I am going to go over the rudder a propeller shaft assembly in more detail. The first stage was to make the rudders which were made of brass ,and having taken note of what has been said about the increase in size needed for the kit by other members I have increased the size of the rudders by 50% so that they have more effect and hopefully the boat will be more agile .I fitted 3mm treaded rod on to the rudder and in a 4mm flanged tube to reinforce the brass rod. The second stage was to make and fit 5mm flanged tube in the location for the rudders in the boat, these were made to be above the water line and will be sealed in place to reduce the possibility of leaks. These were fitted to a rudder platform inside the boat which was fitted to the kit moulding for the rubbing strip that runs the length on the boat and secured by making resin blocks which were fitted with computer extension nuts. which were then superglue in place to secure the rudder platform. The rudders were then fitted in place and held in position with the tiller collars which were made from 8mm rod and fitted the tiller arms and locked in place with 3mm computer screws and ni-lock nuts, a connecting plate was then fitted to connect the three tillers together, I also fitted rubberised washers to seal the rudder tubes. The third stage was to make the propeller supports. The centre support was a direct copy of the kit part made of brass and fitted to the kit with a plate and screws (this plate and the rudder plate were made from galvanised steel) and will sealed with resin after the I test the boat for leaks. The port and starboard supports were made by taking the kit parts and cutting them in have along the joint line or mould seam this gave me a template ,which I used to make cross-section segments but I did alter the template by increasing the boss diameter to 10mm and extending the support legs so that the finished support could be fitted through the hull (the picture of these show the mk1 version where I forgot to allow for the 4mm prop shaft which has a 6mm tube) any way the boss of these segments were drilled out with a 7mm drill and a length of 7mm brass tube fitted through the boss to assemble the segments, all of which were coated in soldering flux at this stage of the assembly which were riveted at both ends to hold it all together during soldering, after soldering the supports were then filed to the size and shape to resemble the kit parts as close as possible and fitted to the hull using a superglue and talcum powder mix and then I cast resin around the extensions to secure the prop supports in place. The fourth stage is the propeller shaft housing for the centre propeller housing I place a brass rod in a plastic straw and place in position in hull and using resin I sealed the hull with the rod in place this gave me a pilot hole for the centre prop shaft after I removed the brass rod. For the port and starboard shafts I used the kit parts which had hole place when assembled, this when I reinforced the housings ,the centre housing I glue 2mm of
    plasticard
    on each side and for the port and starboard I made a brass tube shroud which covered the housings which left gaps between the kit part and the brass which was filled by casting resin in the gap this increased the diameter to 10 mm so that there were little chance of breaking throw with the drill and finished these off by fill-in the outside with body filler and sanded to shape and finish . I then drilled through the pilot hole in the housings using very long extended drills and a wheel brace ( if I had use a power drill the heat would have melted the plastic of the kit and may have caused problems) I drill the shaft housings out 6mm them filed them out with 6mm file so that I could insert a length of 6mm brass tube. After all this was done I fitted a flanged bush made from 7mm tube and 2mm brass plate turned to 11mm to the ends or the propeller shaft housings. And now it is time I must ask for some help could anyone advise me on the length of propeller shafts, I know I can use a 300mm shaft for the centre shaft, but port and starboard will have to be longer. and I also need advice on selecting the motors, I want to use 4mm prop shaft with 35mm propellers. Any opinions welcome.
    6 years ago by teejay
    Forum
    Pretend deck planking
    I don't want to build the deck up too much so have been looking at 0.5mm thick planks. Scale wise they need to be 5mm wide. And as Doug said 10:1 plank/gap so I'm planning to use 0.5mm black
    plasticard
    as the caulking. On a full size cabin cruiser what would be the normal length of a plank? I've been on Google to see if I can find any info but the best I found was an advert for planks that were 1220 long which seems rather short to my mind. Steve
    5 years ago by steve-d
    Forum
    Pretend deck planking
    Hi Steve, What went wrong? ๐Ÿ˜ฒ 1. Drawing on deck planking, i.e. on a veneer or thin ply- Why/how did it go wrong? Surely since the planks are all 'parallel curves' all you need to do is make a curve template in
    plasticard
    from the plan. Then at a few strategic points along the plank length mark the widths of the planks. Set the template along these points and 'Bob's yer Uncle - Fanny's yer Aunt' ๐Ÿ˜‰ Mind you; doing it that way the 'curious grain of the planks' would betray the fiddle๐Ÿค” 2. 'what type of strip wood - Any very close grained type. Possible source- http://www.slecuk.com/index.html 3. How to glue it!? Any thin, spreadable waterproof wood glue! 4. Gap? Max 0.5mm perhaps. Ca 10 to 1 ratio. 5. 'How do you secure the bent planks whilst the glue dries? Modelling pins at strategic points along the plank. Assumes planks are pre-shaped by steaming!! See 6. ๐Ÿ˜‰ 6. 'Do I need to steam the planks? - YES! As mentioned above; make a template defining the curve required. From this make a jig of ca 5mm x 10mm in which you can set the steamed planks to cool and set to the shape required. To allow for the so called 'spring back' make the jig with a slightly sharper curve than the actual deck curve. When fitting the planks to the deck it's easier to 'push them out' than to try to increase the curvature. Finally; mark on the deck base the plank widths at strategic points along the plank length as alignment points. Glue planks alternately left/right (OK port/starboard๐Ÿ˜‰) using modelling pins to hold in place until the glue is fully cured. For the 'gaps' There are various solutions in Build Blogs on this site. One that I like is the use of thin black card. When the whole deck is planked and properly cured sand lightly (ca 240 grit). 7. 'weathered teak' there are various suppliers of teak stain and also deck weathering stains; e.g. Jotika stain, Lifecolor Washes for Hulls and Wooden Decks, set part no. LP04, which includes Wooden deck darkener and Shadower, amongst other useful weathering pigments. http://www.astromodel.it Google Lifecolor and you'll surely find some UK distributors. Enough answers for enough questions!? ๐Ÿ˜ Hope this provides some inspiration, Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Directory
    (Naval Ship) HMS Cadiz
    Scratch built other than a fibreglass hull, built by my father over about 5 years using a mix of balsa,
    plasticard
    , ply and wire. He never sailed it but when I inherited it I was determined to complete it ready for it's first "sea trials". I've completed the RC installation and adjusted the ballast and it's now had two successful outings at the local boating lake. (10/10)
    5 years ago by landie
    Media
    RMAS JOYCE A193
    This is one of the limited edition Sirmar kits that was produce in the early 1990โ€™s.this model was made by a friend of mine whoโ€™s a dockyard fitter and turner it was made about twenty eight years ago. Based on a tug that I worked on in and around Portsmouth harbour. This model has a working voith unit opening engine room skylights. Working lights, removable deck hatch to get at the unit like the real boat, the superstructure and gun whales are made from
    plasticard
    . The fender was made by a friend to the same type as used on the tug. The wheelhouse is copied like for like. The towing hook is copied from photos and slips like the real one. in all my years I havenโ€™t seen another one like this . Sirmar made twenty numbered hulls as kits .
    5 years ago by Nutbourne
    Blog
    1-35 scale S100 schennllboot
    Hi all for the second blog report on the schenllboot I am going to go over the rudder an propeller shaft assembly in more detail. The first stage was to make the rudders which were made of brass ,and having taken note of what has been said about the increase in size needed for the kit by other members I have increased the size of the rudders by 50% so that they have more effect and hopefully the boat will be more agile .I fitted 3mm treaded rod on to the rudder and in a 4mm flanged tube to reinforce the brass rod. The second stage was to make and fit 5mm flanged tube in the location for the rudders in the boat , these were made to be above the water line and will be sealed in place to reduce the possibility of leaks. These were fitted to a rudder platform inside the boat which was fitted to the kit moulding for the rubbing strip that runs the length on the boat and secured by making resin blocks which were fitted with computer extension nuts .which were then superglue in place to secure the rudder platform. The rudders were then fitted in place and held in position with the tiller collars which were made from 8mm rod and fitted the tiller arms and locked in place with 3mm computer screws and ni-lock nuts, a connecting plate was then fitted to connect the three tillers together, I also fitted rubberised washers to seal the rudder tubes. The third stage was to make the propeller supports. The centre support was a direct copy of the kit part made of brass and fitted to the kit with a plate and screws (this plate and the rudder plate were made from galvanised steel)and will sealed with resin after the I test the boat for leaks. The port and starboard supports were made by taking the kit parts and cutting them in have along the joint line or mould seam this gave me a template ,which I used to make cross-section segments but I did alter the template by increasing the boss diameter to 10mm and extending the support legs so that the finished support could be fitted through the hull (the picture of these show the mk1 version where I forgot to allow for the 4mm prop shaft which has a 6mm tube) any way the boss of these segments were drilled out with a 7mm drill and a length of 7mm brass tube fitted through the boss to assemble the segments, all of which were coated in soldering flux at this stage of the assembly which were riveted at both ends to hold it all together during soldering, after soldering the supports were then filed to the size and shape to resemble the kit parts as close as possible and fitted to the hull using a superglue and talcum power mix and then I cast resin around the extensions to secure the prop supports in place. The forth stage is the propeller shaft housing for the centre propeller housing I place a brass rod in a plastic straw and place in position in hull and using resin I sealed the hull with the rod in place this gave me a pilot hole for the centre prop shaft after I removed the brass rod. For the port and starboard shafts I used the kit parts which had hole place when assembled, this when I reinforced the housings ,the centre housing I glue 2mm of
    plasticard
    on each side and for the port and starboard I made a brass tube shroud which covered the housings which left gaps between the kit part and the brass which was filled by casting resin in the gap this increased the diameter to 10 mm so that there were little chance of breaking throw with the drill and finished these off by fill-in the outside with body filler and sanded to shape and finish . I then drilled through the pilot hole in the housings using very long extended drills and a wheel brace ( if I had use a power drill the heat would have melted the plastic of the kit and may have caused problems) I drill the shaft housings out 6mm them filed them out with 6mm file so that I could insert a length of 6mm brass tube. After all this was done I fitted a flanged bush made from 7mm tube and 2mm brass plate turned to 11mm to the ends or the propeller shaft housings. And now it is time I have to ask for some help could any one advise me on the length of propeller shafts , I know I can use a 300mm shaft for the centre shaft but port and starboard will have to be longer . and I also need advice on selecting the motors , I want to use 4mm prop shaft with 35mm propellers. Any opinions welcome.
    6 years ago by teejay
    Forum
    Painting
    Good luck Steve! I see your problem ๐Ÿค” Don't know how you want to do that with calipers๐Ÿ˜ฒ The radius is not constant so how do you progressively adjust the caliper / compass to match!? I would make a brass / alu template (min 2mm) to match the deck edge curve. Then you only have to mark the plank widths, at both ends, to be able to set the template for the next plank. The elegant 'T' piece on the bow I would first mark and scribe using a card or
    plasticard
    template taken from the plan. Bon chance mon ami! Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    5 years ago by RNinMunich
    Forum
    LED Tug Mast Navigation Lights
    Mornin' Pete (it is in Germany anyway!) I agree, there are lots of details and 'standard equipment' missing from the basic model. You can see the winch and Life Raft canister in one of the photos of the original I posted above. Re Mast wiring; don't fiddle about putting a divider in the mast. it'll just get in the way. Attached is a pic of my modified mast. I used a 0.5mm brass wire on the right-hand side for the earth return. Wire is better than rod cos it's flexible (can be pushed into the corner). I glued it in with gel Gluper Sue WHEN all connections were soldered and tested. The LEDs are standard domed lens types. I ground the tops flat and painted the tops with several coats of matt black until it was opaque. After testing I closed off the mast with some
    plasticard
    and fitted ladder rungs made of copper wire. I also added the missing antenna cables to the bottom of the VHF IMM antennas, 0.5mm brass wire. (Some time I'll also fit the missing GPS antenna and anemometer.) Then painted the mast matt black. I then turned my attention to the searchlight and red/green NAV lights. First I stripped the wheelhouse roof and painted it white as in the original. On my model it was grey๐Ÿค” Then I drilled out the searchlight to accept a 5mm Bright White LED. You won't have to do this cos you have a later version with lights, mine had none ๐Ÿ˜ญ Then had to paint the searchlight with several coats of matt black. Otherwise it just glowed all round! Pics show construction stages and finished lighting effect. All wires inside the wheelhouse roof I super glued to the ceiling and ran them down inside the funnels (stacks to you guys across the pond!๐Ÿ˜‰) ready for connection to a switch board in the hull. While I was at it I rubbed the false Southampton name off the cabin using a 1000 grit Tamiya sponge and am preparing inkjet printed decals with the correct Wyeforce name and logo. Have fun getting all lit up Pete,๐Ÿ˜ Cheers, Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž PS Attached some pics showing the original 'Southampton' ๐Ÿ˜‰ and making obvious what's missing on the model ๐Ÿค”
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Blog
    Devils in the detail
    after another week of work and in-laws visiting, ive managed to get a couple of days of detailing work done on the wheelhouse structure. The local model shop parted with several bits of
    plasticard
    , plastic rods and strips of various sizes after I parted with a few quid! after alot of photo studying, I have made a fair start on adding all the detail inside the wheel house. its not a 100% acurate, but at this scale and once painted it should show a fair representation of the Waveney class wheelhouse. There is still quite a bit of detailing to go, before I remove the major components for detail painting. Ive started to build the seat for the Coxswain. There is also alot of roof detailing to go, but all in good time!
    6 years ago by Skydive130
    Response
    The Anchor.
    Hi Molly. The planking is 7mm x 1.5mm Maple and the caulking is 0.7mm black
    plasticard
    . Have a look at the 'Planking' sections in this blog to see how it was done. Robbob.
    6 years ago by robbob
    Blog
    Lady T
    Dropping down aft from the boat deck are the tow hooks, why there are two hooks, I have no idea, but that's what is shown on the drawing. Taking the dimensions from the drawing the main part was made up of
    plasticard
    and bits of brass tube, the two hooks were made from brass sheet and soldered together, the hoop that these run on goes through the superstructure and is fastened with nuts on the inside. To the side of the tow hooks is an exhaust with silencer, this was made out of aluminium on the lathe with bits of brass tube, also on this platform are two coal hatches, again made out of
    plasticard
    and wood with painted staples as handles.
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Blog
    Aft mast
    The aft mast was made out of a teak curtain rod turned down on my metal lathe (what a mess it made, wood dust all over the place ๐Ÿ˜ฑ) it was made in two pieces with a hole drilled up each piece to take the lighting wires. The bit to take the boom, never sure if it is a swan neck or a goose neck was made out of bits of tubing and
    plasticard
    . All the other bits and pieces came out of the scrap box. The boom was just made from a piece of dowel and stained.
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Blog
    Funnel
    The funnel was made out of 40mm plastic waste pipe, let into a piece of 3mm
    plasticard
    , thin strips of
    plasticard
    super glued around to simulate the sections. The hatch at the back made with
    plasticard
    , hinges and handles again made out of
    plasticard
    . There are four stop cocks at the front, the bodies of these were made out of aluminium on the lathe, with 1mm rod and some hand wheels out of the scrap box. There are four stays to hold the funnel and one at the top that goes to the aft mast, small hand rail knobs were used for this job. The funnel was painted (no it isn't pink, its the flash from the camera that makes it look pink) small brass tube to the steam whistle and the whistle made out of a bigger dia tube, a ladder added out of the scrap box and the completed funnel ready for fitting
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Blog
    wheelhouse amd bridge
    I don't have any photo's of the building of this, so I will try to explain. I cut all the pieces for the wheelhouse out of 1mm
    plasticard
    , the pieces were then fitted together with masking tape to make sure that they all fitted neatly together. The windows were then cut out of Perspex and their positions marked and put aside. The floor of the wheelhouse was planked along with the rear wall, the five side pieces were then wooded (for want of a better word) light oak for the frames with teak for the infills, the windows were checked to make sure they still fitted. The whole lot was fitted together with masking tape and glue run down the seams with a small brush. After drying the outside of the wheelhouse was wooded ๐Ÿ˜ over lapping the windows by a couple of thou, the windows were glued in place with canopy glue. Aft of the wheelhouse are the battery boxes, these were made out of
    plasticard
    with doors made out of wood, kiss buttons used for the door knobs. Two sliding doors were made out of wood, small plastic channel for the runners. The bridge was made using the same principal as the boat deck.
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Blog
    Billings Waveney Class LifeBoat
    Have managed to get some
    plasticard
    from a local model shop and have put a strengthening bar at the front of the hull where the floor was cut out that will also act as a locating tab for the control room.
    6 years ago by NickG
    Directory
    (Naval Ship) S10
    Built from a Vic Smeed plan in 1986, fibreglass hull, wood and
    plasticard
    and
    plasticard
    superstructure and various plastic, wood and metal fittings. (Motor: Graupner jumbo 540) (ESC: Mtronik) (5/10)
    6 years ago by Will-I-Am
    Blog
    Cabin windows again
    Having remade all the front cabin window frames I then decided to fit the acrylics into the opening (nice tight fit) all done! Or maybe not, someone then said how about โ€œopening windowsโ€ itโ€™s been done before. So would opening windows be a problem with water ingress? And would putting foam seals solve this problem? Iโ€™m not convinced. Having given the problem some days thought, how about going with the windows as planned which are now 1.5mm thick and inset into the surround. Then fitting an over window frame 1.0mm ply/
    plasticard
    with another thinner (1.0mm) acrylic window and hinging this above each window. This would solve the issue of water ingress and also give the appearance of opening front windows. Looking at how one other person approached this, it looks like the hinge was a brass tube across the majority of the window top and then a shorter piece the same dia tube at each end with an internal wire for rotation these short pieces are then fitted to the body of the inner window frame. These additional window frames can be added at a later stage and this doesnโ€™t hinder the final finishing of the roof skins. So final fitting and adjustment and then pin and clamp in position the forward roof skins. When these are dry the window frames can be finally trimmed and then pinned into position and checked for fit then removed and then to each one apply the aliphatic glue and fit โ€“pin and clamp in position
    6 years ago by mturpin013
    Blog
    Building the Control Room Part 1
    Haven't had time to go to the model shop to buy some
    plasticard
    so I decided to keep the project moving by starting to build the control room. Firstly I carefully cut out the plastic base and plywood pieces before using some Deluxe Material Roket glue to glue everything together, however some sanding is going to be required once the glue has set to make all the edges smooth.
    6 years ago by NickG
    Blog
    Preparing the Hull Part 3
    I have glued the hull to the deck and smoothed all the outer edges to a smooth finish. Now it time to start work on getting the middle of the deck to fit back to the main deck so it's off to shop for some
    plasticard
    .
    6 years ago by NickG
    Forum
    plasticard
    I am a returner to boat building after 45 years and have always used marine ply for the construction of all parts of my models. I am currently building the 46" crash tender ( I have a current Build Blog) and whilst browsing this site I see many people using
    plasticard
    for their construction, can anybody list the pro's and cons of this material eg 1 cost 2 ease of cutting plasti V ply eg circular saw, filing, knife cutting, bending/forming 3 gluing issues 4 paint preparation 5 gluing to other materials 6 overall which do people prefer
    6 years ago by mturpin013
    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
    Roof Skins
    nice job, I just cant work with wood, it hates me๐Ÿ˜ so used
    plasticard
    , here is the hinged front windows on my pals 3 foot boat. I planned to do this, but the refurb was taking so long I decided to accelerate and get it finished, meaning I didn't do the opening windows. it will be a nice unique and accurate touch if you fancy doing it!
    6 years ago by pmdevlin
    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. ๐Ÿ‘
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Blog
    Doors
    Here is a photo of the doors for the main superstructure, made out of a thin piece of Oak with a surround made from
    plasticard
    , brass portholes and dolls house knobs. The watertight doors made from
    plasticard
    and the hinges also made from plasticrd with the aid of a magnifying glass ๐Ÿ˜ I bought the two sets of portholes from MMModels as it wasn't worth the trouble of making them all, lazy I know ๐Ÿ˜œ
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Response
    Superstructure
    plasticard
    ! ๐Ÿ˜ฒ That's cheating ๐Ÿ˜ but I can more than appreciate why, being in the middle of renovating a 60s built wooden boat! I also separated the bridge and deck houses on my destroyer to hide various switches and sockets๐Ÿ‘ BTW: if you're using LiPos DON'T CHARGE THEM IN THE BOAT PLEASE!!!๐Ÿ˜ก Charge 'em in a LiPo Safe bag! Cheers Doug ๐Ÿ˜Ž
    6 years ago by RNinMunich
    Blog
    Superstructure
    I have made the superstructure out of
    plasticard
    as it is much easier to paint, no filling in of the grain as there is with wood. The main superstructure and the engine room structure are supposed to be as one, I am keeping these separate in the hope that I can house the switches and charging sockets under the engine structure. I only have the two photo's of this stage I'm afraid.
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Response
    Devil in the detail!
    Nice job on the struts.Wouldn't have thought of using
    plasticard
    . I've always struggled with totally brass.You're coming along great with this model.
    6 years ago by Donnieboy
    Blog
    Devil in the detail!
    Today has seen the prop shafts and motors installed, all nice and straight and bind free. Once all That was epoxied in and set, I made a pair of prop shaft struts from
    plasticard
    and tubing, not that it provides a huge amount of support but adds to the scale appearance. I also fashioned some approx scale sized rudders using standard off the shelf rudders, removing the blades and making new blades with 0.8mm brass sheet, pinned and soldered and painted in oxide red primer. Last job of the day was to start building the cockpit floor and to give the hull another coat of resin.
    6 years ago by Skydive130
    Blog
    Bulwark supports
    The deck and bulwarks were given another coat of paint, after this had dried the wash ports and rope hawsers were masked off and the hull given two coats of red primer, the water line was marked using a pencil on a block of wood, bottom part of the hull masked off and the top part given two coats of satin black. Starting to look like a boat now. The rope crate was made out of
    plasticard
    to be a good tight fit on the coaming. The bulwark positions were marked with pencil on the top of the bulwark. After cutting them all out of
    plasticard
    , each one was sanded to fit it's position, then keeping them in order and sticking them to upside down masking tape they were sprayed with paint. All the supports were glued into position with super glue, a toothpick and my best glasses.
    6 years ago by AlanP
    Directory
    (Life Boat) brede lifeboat inner wheel
    built all from cardboard, copper wire for railings, and
    plasticard
    . the plan I drew my self so semi scale. all coated in resin then painted . I have sailed this regular and had no issues with it sail brilliant. just putting 2.4 ghz into it (ESC: mtronics) (10/10)
    6 years ago by jtdavid
    Response
    Chine stringers
    Its all material I had lying around in my workshop, I never throw anything away so you can imagine the amount of "stuff" I have in my basement. The Yellow angle brackets are made of old neighbourhood watch signs they are made of 1/4"
    plasticard
    6 years ago by mturpin013
    Forum
    happy hunter
    Spitfire With
    plasticard
    it helps to heat in warm water when forming curves. Make a wooden (Balsa) template heat the
    plasticard
    , bend to shape and hold in place until cool. I recommend you use MEK plastic adhesive with
    plasticard
    , the merest touch will allow capillary action to carry the liquid between the joints, I use a fine (old) paint brush. The glue is quick drying and actually welds the joint. Like superglue a little is best, too much and you risk melting the whole job.
    6 years ago by Dave M
    Forum
    ยฃ4'' RAF Crash Tender Window Frames
    If you have a decent vinyl cutter you can use use it with the correct knife to cut up to 1.5mm
    plasticard
    . For window frames this works well and I have seen a complete wheelhouse cut using this method. You may need to use a scalpel to free some of the cuts but it does produce very accurate results and is repeatable.
    6 years ago by Dave M
    Forum
    ยฃ4'' RAF Crash Tender Window Frames
    I was lucky with my 4 foot boat, I had a milling machine, but with thew 3 footer, I used
    plasticard
    and cut out by hand with a sharp knife. The problem with the earlier aerokits boats, the windows are never quite the same boat to boat, so you end up with a thick profile frame to cover over any discrepancies, if you know what I mean. The fitting set at slec looks a bit expensive at ยฃ35....๐Ÿค”
    6 years ago by pmdevlin
    Forum
    ยฃ4'' RAF Crash Tender Window Frames
    Paul, thanks for the reply - I was hoping to avoid the "fiddly" but guess I am going to have to give it a go. Thanks for clarity on No. 93 only having eyebrows over cabin windows - so many pics "models" on the website seem to show frames on all windows ! Now to the nitty gritty - I don't have milling capability so do you think I can get a reasonable result with fret saw/file and
    plasticard
    ? What thickness should I use? Thanks - Peter
    6 years ago by pmdent
    Forum
    ยฃ4'' RAF Crash Tender Window Frames
    Hi Peter, its only the wheelhouse that has frames, sides, screen, and the two rear windows. The cabins didnt have any, other than brows over the top of the front two, the style differs depending on it being 93 or 94. I made my own from
    plasticard
    , very fiddly but worth it
    6 years ago by pmdevlin
    Response
    Al KHUBAR 2
    Yes but the centre part of back deck on the Al Khubar is removable so you can get to the rudders and motor couplings. The instructions suggest a close fitting sheet of
    plasticard
    will suffice. Didn't for me as the deck get very wet even in calm waters. Hope you have better luck than me.
    6 years ago by Dave M
    Forum
    plasticard
    boats
    Hi Welcome to the site If it's
    plasticard
    using fibreglass or paint stripper may cause it to melt. What is your intention for the hull? Can you post a pic? If the hull paint is sound you may be able to rub it down with fine wire wool and overpaint.
    7 years ago by Dave M
    Forum
    plasticard
    boats
    a job lot i have acquired contains a boat that has been constructed out of
    plasticard
    and painted red, whats the best way to recover the
    plasticard
    hull, d o I strip it or just rub the paint down cover it with fibre glass๐Ÿ˜ก? (never come across the card build before) *** Thanks will try the paint job***
    7 years ago by dave-of-the-yard
    Response
    Progress!
    I was wondering how long it would be before someone spotted "sammy dog"! He loves watching ha! Temp workshop is now back to conservatory mode now before "mrs H" gets home! My workbench in my workshop was designed for aircraft modelling, in the conservatory I can 360 degree around the boat for ease of working. Last thing tonight was to temp fitrudder (will be shortened, widened, and will have scale strakes fitted. The rear bollard was made from scrap box
    plasticard
    and plastic tube, cost -free!
    7 years ago by Skydive130
    Forum
    Graf Spee 1:20 !! All aboard ;-)
    Hi Wayne I was not underestimating the capabilities, just pointing out that the hobby machines are small and not intended for printing large flat areas. Wood/
    plasticard
    and Fibreglass are far better suited and much quicker for such jobs. If you really wanted such a job it would be better done professionally on an epoxy type industrial machine, might be a bit expensive, but then again at ยฃ20 per reel your costs must be escalating. Looking forward to the finished craft Dave
    7 years ago by Dave M
    Forum
    Glue
    I want to cover the plywood deck with 0.5mm
    plasticard
    . What type of adhesive should I use please? Steve
    7 years ago by cormorant
    Forum
    Glue
    Hi Graham Thank you. it's amazing how the apparently cheap and cheerful stuff works. Since my original post I have been trying Wilko's Heavy Duty All Purpose adhesive. it's a spray on contact adhesive and costs ยฃ5 for a 500ml can. Tests show that it sticks like the proverbial and doesn't affect the
    plasticard
    . Steve
    7 years ago by cormorant
    Response
    Proceedings so far
    Milliput &
    plasticard
    , it's the future๐Ÿ‘
    7 years ago by Midlife306
    Blog
    The Anchor.
    I had previously assembled and primed the anchor, having added a little additional detail to the white metal castings, as described in a previous blog update. I subsequently added some
    plasticard
    pieces to the arm of the anchor to thicken it slightly so that I could fit a small brass shackle as a finishing detail. The final paint finish is Tamiya gunmetal metallic to match some other deck fittings. The anchor is held in place on the foredeck by a small double sided adhesive foam pad beneath the anchor base and the mounting pad it sits on. The base and arm is also retained on two other mounting pads buy couple of โ€˜staplesโ€™ that were formed by heating and bending some thin
    plasticard
    rod into shape and they are just a push fit into some holes drilled into the mounting pads. The fixings are quite secure but as with many other items of deck furniture it can be easily removed for maintenance or repair. Sorry this is not a particularly exciting or interesting post but the next will be the suction hoses and fittings which were quite a challenge and will hopefully be a great deal less boring ๐Ÿ˜œ
    7 years ago by robbob


    About This Website
    Terms of Service
    Privacy Policy