Blog

Ketch Barge ''Pearl of Ipswich''

Hello, As I have mentioned before, I like the workboats from the age of sailing. The sailing barges caught my interest some time ago on one of my stays in the UK and I recently purchased a number of books on them. interesting history, more to it than I realized. Finally decided to build a Ketch Barge that is categorized as a Boomie as well. Several reasons; I wanted to model one of the larger ones, this one is 85', and I like gaff rigged boats with booms. Topsails a must as well and I like ketches. This one fits the bill and who could resist the chance to set 7 to 8 sails! Frank Carr's book tells the story of the barge Pearl and included plan, elevation, lines and sail plans. Nice bit of information, I can build with that. See attached photos. This will probably be a lengthy build, my Falmouth Gaff-rigged Cutter took me two years. I built that one while on assignment in Grand Cayman using only my small kit OD hand . More to come, hope to start this week. Cheers, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Speranza 01

Started on the Stringers and Chines, some of the stringers are Spruce, 1/4" x 1/4" , one cracked on the bow curvature, not immediately it was glued and pinned, but about an hour after, should have laminated these spruce stringers as in 1/8" x 1/4" times 2. Another one has cracked since but they are repairable.. Mixed up a weak solution of PVA and water and painted the rest, hoping this will soften them up and be more pliable. Started on the transom, this is angled with a sharp centre line, but there was a lot of off cuts of Obechie lying around, so it was planked with a curve, first Modelers License applied. A few more dry fits and the bow and transom were assembled up, using stringers as alignment , anything will do in these instances even strips of ply. Some of the upper-works combing has been fitted around the transom area. Muddy....

7 years ago by muddy

Forum

Night Watch

Well Nerys, if Caroline says she can't use my then I get her some she can use, earlier in the year our son needed some welding doing on his Mercedes after a pothole ripped his front suspension out, problem was I only had industrial equipment that was too big to take to the car. So on the understanding that I teach her to weld she bought us a portable gasless mig welder. She can now lay a fair weld with mig, a usable weld with my old stick welder and is now learning to braze and gas weld with my oxy acetylene kit. I may even become redundant in my own workshop as she can already use my combination mill/lathe and pillar drill. She now wants a lightweight router as mine is just too heavy for her modelling, I'll have to ask santa. Cheers Colin.

4 years ago by Colin H

Forum

Workshop

Here's my downstairs man cave, bit untidy as was having a big clean out Bike went to the op shop). Have hand , power , vice, large Taiwanese Lux drill/ mill, welders etc in one end, a large industrial drill and vice down the end of the garage on another bench, (drill painted by my son when he was about 12,)-drill looked a bit sad when we bought it but came up well with a scrub and a bit of paint. Was 3 phase but I converted it to single phase as I don't have 3 phase on the house. I bought most of the heavy years ago as I was making boat trailers, modifying cars etc. The most useful tool I have is an Austrian Emcostar multi purpose machine, (if you ever see one cheap grab it!) it has a bench saw, band saw, disc sander, belt sander, and jigsaw all in one (plus other attachments are available, (ie wood lathe attachment.) You can tilt it horizontal for the sanders and saw, or flip it up and use the bandsaw (and disc sander). All the functions are engaged with dog clutches and everything tilts or adjusts in one way or another. Whoever designed it should have got a medal for being a bloody clever bastard! A guy at work gave it to me as he wasn't using it and it was down the back in his garden shed! My main modelling cave is upstairs in whatever room I want, (missus lives elsewhere😊😊😊) I just do the really dusty stuff downstairs, (painting, sawing sanding etc) Problem is I have to go outside to get there, (pain if it's raining) Aircraft hanger -(ceilings in 2 rooms plus wall rack in another) I used to have one plane left 11 yrs ago, and was very happy until a guy at work started giving me his write-off planes and got me started again, now have 18 + 6 boats and need serious help! -certainly don't need what Martin's on , I'd be 10x worse!

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Aluminium for stables? Perhaps a slab of oak would be more appropriate? I am cutting slices off old oak fence posts for use as coasters and think I can engrave them using the 'boat motor cutter' - so long as the cut is not deep. A laser would be ideal - but the cost and the danger mean that it needs a bit of thinking about. I must look up the Rumba and mega2560. One issue I have with the Uno and GRBL is that the software does not do 'tool radius compensation'. You have to do this in your conversion, and Dfx2Gcode does not do this either. I do not know if there is a GRBL version running on the 2650 which does do this. Essentially you need a GRBL which implements G41/2 commands, or you will have to do the compensation in your original drawing. I am using sub-milimeter cutting for balsa, so the compensation required is negligible and can be ignored, but when cutting ply I may need to worry about it. Your TMC2130s may not need endstops, but the limit switches are also used for homing. You will find that if you want to cut lots of parts out of a single sheet of material, it helps to be able to home accurately. GRBL allows you to have a 'master machine home' and then several subsidiary homes. So, when cutting, I start with the cutter in the master home position in the top right corner, then move it to a secondary home position which is directly over the workpiece top right, then do all of my cutting in relation to that secondary home position...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Having successfully used the machine to make the workholding support for the wood sheets, I started on the final leg - getting the machine to actually produce parts for a model boat. It's just going to be used for EeZeBilt balsa parts initially, until I understand a bit more about cutting and feed rates. I'm not using a 'professional' spindle motor (which can cost well north of £100), but just an old model boat motor with a cheap Chinese chuck and milling head. You can see a couple of examples in the pictures below. The first material I tried to cut was cardboard. I wanted something really weak, because the cutting are very narrow, and I did not know how much sideways force they would take. Turned out fine, though. Further pictures show the first attempt at cutting balsa sheet, a whole sheet of 1/8 balsa being cut, and a couple of parts which have just been cut. Points to make: 1 - you need a high RPM from the cutting motor if you want a fast feed speed. Boat motors work, but a high speed brushless would be better. As it is the edges of the balsa are a bit ragged... 2 - Probably the best way to keep all the parts in the balsa sheet is not to use tabs, but just to cut 90% of the way through. I left about 5 thou on the balsa part, which meant it stayed in place but could easily be pushed out... 3 - you need a soft surface under the balsa sheet in case you do cut deeper by mistake. I thought of felt but that gets caught up in the blade too easily. You could use another balsa sheet, but I used a bit of Correx. Depron would be fine... So there we are. I have now cut a complete kit out of balsa and will start to make it up. I can recommend this machine if you want to just sit and have a beer while all the hard work of cutting parts is done for you...!

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Response

Enclosing the controls.

I dunno how they do it either!, and I think that some, if not all their , are made in Germany and not cheap far east tat.

5 years ago by robbob

Response

Cabin detail part 3 (instrument panels)

I look with amazement at some of the work that these people do on here. I visualise things in my head but do not have the or the nerve to even attempt doing them. No lathe or decent soldering iron or good enough workshop or the money to start with. How I envy the work they do. And as for some of the electronics< i'm lost. Awesome springs to mind on it all.

5 years ago by BOATSHED

Forum

Mclaren Clockwork Submarines U50

"... I dare say that with the necessary computer skills it probably would be easier,however it would be quite difficult for me to hold cardboard templates against a monitor screen. The whole ethos of what I do is somewhat Luddite in nature,to use basic ,free materials and as little technology as possible...." I'm not sure where the cardboard template comes in? if you want to put it into a computer you use a scanner - if you want to take it out you use a printer. They are usually the same machine... I'm not dissimilar to a Luddite - the KK EeZeBilt sites are all about making things from raw materials and using household detritus to create fittings. But computers are just another tool - and can be as basic as you like. I still lament the passing of DOS, because I felt that you should understand how work before you use them, and Windows made it impossible to know where all the bits were going... One advantage of computing technology is communication. You are illustrating this at the moment. All I was thinking was that your skills, experience and work could reach a much wider group of people. There are, for instance, kids in Australia building EeZeBilts because the data to do so is on the web: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAHJbJieV0o

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

Mclaren Clockwork Submarines U50

I dare say that with the necessary computer skills it probably would be easier,however it would be quite difficult for me to hold cardboard templates against a monitor screen. The whole ethos of what I do is somewhat Luddite in nature,to use basic ,free materials and as little technology as possible. As we spiral towards a total reliability on technology and computers I want to demonstrate what can be achieved with basic inexpensive stuff that most people throw away. Am I living in the past? dreaming of days when things were simpler? absolutely,I exhibited at Makers Fair in Newcastle in 2018, of over 300 other stalls there was only a hand full of us that actually made anything, everything else was technology based and made in China. Cheers.

5 years ago by mactin

Forum

Being Sociable.

I have the same issue...cost / budget. I enjoy mechanical devices and have though about steam for years. But cost is high and I do not have machinist quality to scratch build. Are there low cost solutions out there! Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Blog

Paddle Tug Iona - the hull

So... here is a compressed build blog of my paddle tug Iona... and I'm playing catch-up as the vessel is 95% complete and has been sailed already, but there may be some interest in what I've done. Iona was scratch-built off plan and has turned out to be the cheapest build so far out of 3 I've made, mainly because I was able to source materials from the leftovers box! it's a 'mixed-media' boat 😜using traditional methods of plank on frame hull, with paddles made on my 3D printer, and other parts turned on the lathe. So starting with the hull, frames were drawn out, transferred to some scrap 9mm ply and cut out on my bandsaw, along with the keel. These were assembled on a build board with some right angle brackets / measuring and test fitted before being stuck in place with epoxy. This was quite difficult as the shape of the hull is critical and comes right at the start of the build. I did remake 1 frame to correct alignment. The deck stringers need to bend in 2 directions, so some steaming with a carpet steam cleaner attached to some tubes worked and the wood clamped in place to dry. Outboard sponsons (?) were fitted to make a frame for the paddle boxes to fit on. Then a large sheet of ply forms the bottom of the hull, and the only job left to complete was the (tedious) planking. This was my 1st plank on frame ship... and it took ages. I think it came out reasonably OK but I'm not a perfectionist and I know if I'd spent more time it could be better... but I didn't! Next blog will feature building the paddle boxes and superstructure.🤓

5 years ago by Harvey Kitten

Response

San Pedro by Harbor Models!

Thanks Joe, I have thought of building a sail boat. Or even a sail barge. like what your currently working on. But, I don't have the or the space required! As a matter of fact. My next build will have to be my last! As I only have space in my hobby room. For one last model! Maybe two if I squeeze thing's! And I have elected the Tug San Pedro to be the last build! I'm also interested to see how she works. Using a Z Drive at her bow. Should prove to be very maneuverable! When I worked on tugs in New York harbor. I never got the chance to use a Z Drive! It should be a lot of fun! Cheers, Ed

5 years ago by figtree7nts

Forum

Good buy from Lidl

The Lidl disc size is 125mm whereas the tation ones are 150mm. No doubt they can be cut down.

5 years ago by Nerys

Forum

Good buy from Lidl

replacement sanding disc's can be found in tation booklet page 397 and include 150mm dia 60grit 80grit 120grit all @ £3.13 for 10 see https://www.tation.com/search?q=self%20adhesive%20sanding%20

5 years ago by jacko

Forum

Good buy from Lidl

I dont use Lidl much, but Aldi seem do all the sandpaper and bits for their such as belt sanders WHEN they sell the . Maybe Lidl do the same.

5 years ago by Wingcoax

Blog

Keel

Printed out the frames /ribs drawings and outlined each in orange so I could easily see the correct lines. Cut those out and pasted to some plywood. The plywood is Baltic Birch 1/4" -5 ply, very nice quality that I get from a local woodworking supply store. it's a bit nicer than from the local warehouse hardware lumber yard, but that would work also. Used some spray rubber cement, sprayed only the paper back and stuck on the plywood. Spraying just one surface allows quick removal of the paper once cut. I don't have a bandsaw of scroll saw, so I use a sabresaw/hand jigsaw mounted upside down on a surface that secures to my drill press. Works pretty good. My shop is so tiny that I just don't have a space for larger . Maybe someday. Keel board was glued up, will show more tomorrow on that. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

1950s sea commander refurb.

".......If you have a computer, they usually come with some basic drawing like "Paint" or use paint.net.... Take the image and open with Paint, then just use the rectangular select tool to pick what you want to enlarge. Then just crop it and you have a nice separate image to save........" The fully-featured Open Source image processing package is called 'The Gimp'. You can download it for free, and it enables you to perform any image manipulation process you like - matching professional packages like Photoshop. I use it to create full drawings of vintage model boat plans which are often sent to me as a set of partial A4-sized scans. These can easily be re-sized, rotated, matched up and stitched together to make a full-sized drawing. For example, look at any of the Stirling plans on my Old Boats website: http://oldboats.tk/Sterling1.html

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

1950s sea commander refurb.

Collin, What a great project... I have recently been taking small images and blowing them up by selecting smaller areas, say the cabin roof only, then printing that on A4. Usually these files have high enough resolution to make some very readable files. if you have a computer, they usually come with some basic drawing like "Paint" or use paint.net.... Take the image and open with Paint, then just use the rectangular select tool to pick what you want to enlarge. Then just crop it and you have a nice separate image to save. Be sure you save under a different name so as not to loose the original file. I may be giving you information that you already know, don't mean to insult.. See my photo of some I did last night, pasted about six together to see the 1M boat sections. These are rough as they come from an image only 16cm wide, but good enough for me to build from given some drafting. Good luck with the build, I will be watching. Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

RC steam lever

Hi Rick, I have just posted a bit of video on here which I found very interesting, mainly due to the fine detail of the two figures in the boat, and the fact they are animated via servos. The stuff in the boat has to be seen to be believed, from a Bulldog to a shotgun and and stuff everywhere. Very very realistic, and steam beats electric motors every time, welcome to the club. Regards, Gary.

5 years ago by GaryLC

Blog

Tin Work

The tin can that I used is from a small tomato paste sauce from the market. Use whatever tin that you would like or can find. Look at my sketch to see how it needs to function and adjust your design to what enclosure is available to you. Lots of ways to do it, just make sure you have these points covered: 1. Method of attaching a fan to push air into the unit. 2. Place for output stack / tube. 3. Method of mounting a wick with heating element attached that can sit above the fluid level. See sketch in previous post. First photo, I cut three holes, each sized to fit the brass tubes and fan opening. This tin is thin and easy to poke holes in. I start by marking the opening locations with a marker, them I use a small sharp awl or pin to stare a hole. With hand ( power drill will easy shred the can, be careful) I enlarge the holes with small hand drills or reamer, found files, etc, I rotate the slowly in the opening and gradually enlarge it to size needed. Then I cut brass tubing to length with a small hand held hobby razor saw. Our in place, apply flux and solder. Once heated properly the solder flows easily.for the larger fan opening, I then used a dremel tool with sanding drum to make a nice round opening. The fan has corner openings for screw mount. Secure with some tiny sheet metal screws. Next I will build an enclosure around the fabpn edge to fit the round can. Might just use silicone caulk. Note, I did not open the can with a can opener, left the ends in place and poured the content out thru the holes made, Yes, it's a bit messy and wasted the sauce, but it's a cheap way to get an tin enclosure. More to come. Please give me feedback, am I being clear enough? Thanks, Cheers, Joe

5 years ago by Joe727

Forum

U49 mclaren clockwork submarines.

No mate,just an old brass caster off an old sofa. its fitted to a file handle, then you just roll the tin on a rubber mat on the bench it takes a bit of pressure initially but once you're away its easy after practice. No special involved and its disgustingly cheap to do! Cheers Neil

5 years ago by mactin

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

I'll probably go for a laser cutter in the end. A big CO2 one - but these are powerful , and i'd like to have a reliable cutting bed before experimenting with something that might cut the shed in half! The obvious answer is to use some driver software that does handle tool radius compensation - I understand that the Tiny board firmware is now open source with a new name - G2Core. I think it needs a bit more poke than an Arduino Uno, though. I intend to simply slot sheets of balsa into it and crank out kit parts - which means a single pass cut. One issue is how to hold the sheet of balsa down without interfering with the cut. I was wondering about a vacuum base. If you want to observe a laser cutter safely, I hear that the Yank modellers are sealing them in enclosures, and viewing progress through a webcam, which is one answer....

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Having built (well, assembled really) i am currently building a small CNC router with 3D printed parts. See https://reprap.org/wiki/Cyclone_PCB_Factory. Currently redesigning to be driven by GT2 belts and pulleys as I have some reservations about using 3D printed gears from the point of view of back-lash and wear. The stepper motors are driven from an Arduino Mega running the GRBL g-code interpreter. There are a host of free g-code generator to be found on the internet. Some of them are a bit "knife and fork" but there are some useful ones out there and there is lots of helpful information too.

5 years ago by Delboy

Response

Cabin detail part 5 speed control & compass

When you look at the last picture it could almost be a full size cabin control panel. Beautiful bit of work there. I just wish I had the to do all that turning on a lathe. Awesome.

5 years ago by BOATSHED

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U48 Tinplate Clockwork Diving Submarine

Mactin, I had a look at your web site, very impressive work and with only minimal . regards Michael

5 years ago by mturpin013

Forum

Are these any good

Hello John I got very similar from Maplins now sadly missed and they work well and look much like the featured on your website. Not sure they would cope with an 8 hour day 7 days a week but wonderful for the modeller. Not a bad price either. Regards Chris G

6 years ago by ChrisG

Forum

Allen Screw Removal

Try using a left handed drill I have a couple from Tracey Devon. Very Useful

6 years ago by Ianh

Forum

Metal sanding plates

Hi mike wow l think l will have to give your sanding sheets a try my perma grit were £20 to £30 quid over 20 a go years ago. As in the name of my boats l seem to have more money than sense. thanks for the tip jim.

6 years ago by jimdogge

Forum

Metal sanding plates

Hi nonsuch are the sanding plates your describing the same as the Perma Grit tungsten carbide sanding . I have had my block sanders now for over 20 years and they are as good now as they day l bought them. quick coat of nitromores then a rub with brass wire brush good as new these are probably some of the best l own.

6 years ago by jimdogge

Blog

Vintage Model Works 46'' RAF Crash Tender

Here's the history bit so pay attention... Many years ago as a boy in the fifth year of my north London secondary school, circa 1971, our woodwork class was given the option to make something of our own choice. Having mastered the majority of joints, wood turning, finishing techniques and the making of table lamps, s and bookshelves etc. this seemed a good idea, so myself and a fellow classmate and model making chum asked if we could construct a model boat. The teacher, on hearing that it was to be from a kit and not from scratch was a little surprised but agreed. So my friend and I jointly invested about 20 quid in an Aerokits 34.5 inch RAF Crash Tender from Blunts' model shop in Mill Hill (long since gone like many others) and we set about construction during lesson time and sometimes at break times. I recall we used "Cascamite" to glue it all together on the advice of the woodwork teacher because neither 'Scotch' glue nor PVA was suited to marine construction. Good progress was made over the course of our last year at school but it was never fully completed, only requiring painting, running gear and detailing. My friend decided that he needed to withdraw from the project as he was enrolling in a college away from home to study for a career in the merchant navy and I agreed to buy out his share and continue with the project. And so it was that I carried on with the painting and installing the running gear which consisted of a 1.5 cc marine diesel engine, water pickup, prop shaft and rudder and a MacGregor radio system with a stick for steering and a single button for speed control. The engine and radio came from Michael's Models in Finchley (also long gone) for £20 as my elder brother, who had started a Saturday job there, was able to get a staff discount for me. The diesel engine was noisy and smelly and a pig to start with a leather thong around the flywheel and I decided to abandon this means of propulsion (I foolishly ran it for slightly too long 'dry' and melted the soldering around the brass water jacket!). By now I had graduated from my part time job in Woolies to an engineering apprentice with Post Office Telephones and my new income of 20 quid per week could support my modelling and electronics hobbies after my contribution to the household for my keep. So off to the model shop to buy a Taycol Supermarine electric motor, two 12v volt lead acid batteries and a suitable charger. The diesel came out and was sold on Exchange & Mart and the mount and coupling re-made to accommodate the new Taycol motor. What an improvement that was! I can't remember now what speed controller or servo I used but whatever it was did the job, and it went like the clappers on Friary Park boating lake (also long since gone) even though the radio control system was a bit crude with the non-proportional steering and 'blip' throttle control. The boating took a back seat when I acquired my driving licence and my first car (a rusty old Cortina Mk 1) and I also got involved in sound recording for radio. I decided to sell the boat and bits for £60 through Exchange & Mart and bought an Akai 4000DS tape recorder and a 'Chilton' audio mixer, built a home studio and along with a good mate of mine started making radio commercials for the new commercial radio stations including London's Capital Radio. We even won a 'Campaign' advertising award for one of our efforts! And so after several years as a 'phone engineer I moved into professional recording for A/V and broadcast and then into TV production. Fast forward to today. Semi-retired with grand kids and with more free time on my hands I still had an interest in model making so in Jan 2016 went to the Model Engineer exhibition at nearby 'Ally Pally'. It was there that I saw an RAF crash tender just like the one I built all those years ago and got into conversation with the chap on the stand. This re-ignited my model making interests and I researched the hobby and that model in particular.

8 years ago by robbob

Forum

Painting

Mornin' Martin, We musta had the same Grandad! And he musta had a bicycle!! 😉 Mine was a master carpenter, made a lot of church furniture amongst other beautiful things, and used such techniques and similar sayings.👍 I inherited a few of his , chisels and planes and his W.H. Marsh wood stamp. Granny unfortunately sold the rest before I could get down to Folkestone and prevent it 😭 I was in the middle of A Level exams at King Ed VII Grammar in Kings Lynn at the time. Cheers, Doug

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Response

BRAVE BORDERER

Very nice, shame they are not on the internet for sale. Well done for such fine work. I'm shocked by some of the work I see on this site and wish I also had the expertise and do such fine work. I'm watching your build with eagle eyes. Please keep posting. Will you be adding video of her running at some point ?

6 years ago by BOATSHED

Forum

Taycol Supemarine Resurrection

Shucks! An I was hopin' you'd build me a little 4 cylinder diesel for me to run a brushed motor as a Genny for all the lighting on my ships! Or for the diesel electric propulsion on my Type 45. Now wouldn't that be cool!?😁 BTW Some of Nick Carters tips an tricks showed me how to convert one of my to something that'll do what I want! So, out with the Proxxon mini-grinder😉 Cheers, Doug PS it wasn't a wrong steer cos it led me to all sorts of useful 'stuff' and above all helpful info👍

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Taycol Supemarine Resurrection

Ah, some of my Taycols are also plastic capped, so nice move trying to fit brass bushes invisibly. BTW, if you're after small tooling for your lathe, try Carter in the States who deal in Taig lathes like mine, although I got mine from a company called Peatol. Carter are a great company and sent me spares for a very good price when I needed a new drive belt and an indexing attachment. Cheers, Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

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 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

Elaine motor update/assembly pictures

Colin Come on mate Spill the beans. What did you clean the motor with? And % of diesel to Methanol. I want to try it. Re engine cleaning I am using rubber buffing from Mano Mano as the post above to Doug. Shifts the oxides nicely. Good on copper, brass and pewter too. 6 in 3 different shapes.Cylinder Conical and rounded cylinder.Get into the nooks and crannies. They do wear away but they are cheap enough.

6 years ago by onetenor

Blog

'The Stripper'

It seems that the proper procedure for fixing the leak and then moving on to “the good stuff” is to strip all the paint off and see what we have. So the heat gun has been obtained ( I already had the fire extinguisher..) as amongst other reasons there would be less dust. Time for a few tentative steps. Now at this point I am not only well out of my comfort zone, but up to my knees in my “slough of despond”………………………. After all, I bought a boat to sail this month and so far I have drilled holes in it and am now about to set it alight! First image shows efforts with lower heat and using the supplied and the next two show temperature taken up to 450 degrees c and a ¾ inch chisel used to remove paint. A much better outcome. Now who suggested that would be the answer I wonder??? 45 minutes spent to get this far and although I did remove the plastic props ( being replaced by brass anyway) I wondered if I should remove prop shafts? I have used a bit of a deflector to reduce the heat anyway. On the final images, I wonder whether I am down far enough to start sanding or to go further. Now that I have started I hope to complete at least the general stripping tomorrow. TTFN. NPJ

6 years ago by NPJ

Forum

A return to the hobby!

When i'm back on my feet I intend building another Speranza. (was that a Veron kit?) I can get the plans from Model Dockyard and Cornwall Boats etc but does anyone know if the kit is available somewhere? I have all the needed to cut frames etc but want to do it quickly. Awaiting reply from SLEC👍

6 years ago by onetenor

Forum

useful and their sources

See how cheap these are now.----https://www.amazon.co.uk/BestDealUK-Tester-Consistency-Master-Checker/dp/B00B8MERS0/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_bmx_0_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00B8MERS0&pd_rd_r=66X5NM29JAPF7WKTFQYB&pd_rd_w=D8cM0&pd_rd_wg=nmSMo&pf_rd_i=desktop-rhf&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=294f6c5e-839b-4f3a-a750-a3df2bf35c67&pf_rd_r=66X5NM29JAPF7WKTFQYB&pf_rd_s=desktop-rhf&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=66X5NM29JAPF7WKTFQYB

6 years ago by onetenor

Forum

Mahogany in Scale

Doug, I don't generally "do" foreign and Pete certainly wouldn't. As you say, most are model railway or strictly stick and string model ships. What we wanted to do was a general model hobby museum with a bias toward the RC hobbies. Ain't none of them. History of RC, RC cars, boats and aircraft. Materials, , etc. Mags and books, that kind of thing. Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Response

20th Scale ELCO 80ft PT boat part 7

Hi RNinMunich, Should not be too bad as will cut ply slit/profile from tubes to the transom then reinforce inside under rudder compartment. rest of the tubes length are already supported. I really wanted to make sure the motors and shafts were in excellent alinement, and being able to see through the hull is a good advantage. (note. do not have facilities to make alignment ). In previous models I have left it towards the end of the build to fix motors couplings and have found alinement to be a bit difficult, especially on smaller boats.

6 years ago by CB90

Forum

Another useful site for all 'Woodies' ;)

Doug, I do most of that with veneers, which just require a sharp scalpel. No need for too much precision woodwork, but if there is, you just treat the timber as metal, using metalworking to cut and work it. it really isn't difficult. What MIGHT put some people off are all those shiny deck fittings and hull furniture. They have to be done by hand in brass, then polished, then sent off to be plated. Each of my Rivas had over 150 separate pieces of polished brass and nickel silver to be plated! Martin

6 years ago by Westquay

Forum

useful and their sources

It's the crimping part I'm more concerned about. I have those others and then some. in my various tool kits.Saves me getting to a job without the right . There is quite a crossover from one to another. I'm not hunting these they pop-up. Here's another 4--- https://www.banggood.com/High-Quality-Cable-Wire-Stripper-Cutter-Crimper-Automatic-Multifunctional-TAB-Terminal-Plier-p-1328879.html?gmcCountry=GB¤cy=GBP&createTmp=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc_fashion&utm_content=lucas&utm_campaign=cdm-account-60&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-dawubnj3AIVOBLTCh2Zpws6EAEYASADEgJDjfD_BwE&ID=554768&cur_warehouse=CN👍-- See also general resources😊

6 years ago by onetenor

Forum

useful and their sources

Here https://model-boats.com/forum/hobby-chit-chat/44932 😉

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Multi tool Kits

Just as I thought Thanks. I agree re Hilda too. Excellent product although there a various ones. Go for best you can afford.👍

6 years ago by onetenor

Forum

Multi tool Kits

These look handy I wonder if good quality?--https://www.manomano.co.uk/multi-tool-accessory-sets/216-pc-rotary-tool-kit-bit-set-polishing-drilling-grinding-cutting-with-case-6231761 The rubber buffs are good from #mano mano although supplied from UK etc in Wallasey👍

6 years ago by onetenor

Forum

Leaking Boat!

Hi John, I just did, see Useful & their sources in Hobby Chit Chat 😉

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Useful & their sources

Prompted by Onetenor's diligence in scouring the net for which may help us build our masterpieces! 'BRAVO ZULU that man'!👍 Last of John's discoveries, carried over from NPJ's 'Leaking Boat' 😲 "Would this be any good for RC wiring--https://www.banggood.com/Drillpro-Multifunctional-Ratchet-Cr... or this one--https://www.banggood.com/New-Multifunctional-Automatic-Wire-... If not any suggestions?" My first impressions- Link #1 Great, IF you do a lot of LAN cable stripping for RJ45 connectors and the like. Overkill for us? Link #2 OK, but still a little overkill but the price ain't bad. Pic shows the wire stripper I've been happily using for 30 odd years. (Some years were VERY odd😁) adjustable for all wire gauges; squeeze, twist & pull and you're good to go! The pic shows the four I use (plus soldering iron of course) for all my 'Lectrickery' and LED Magic etc. Not one is less than 38 years old (neither am I by a very long chalk🤔) Cheers, All, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Leaking Boat!

Evenin' John, I have one suggestion!😉 Continue these 'tool' 😲😁 posts in a new thread, e.g. under Hobby Chit Chat, title 'Useful and their Sources'. Then they'd be easy for all to find and we wouldn't be Hijacking other threads. Cheers, Doug 😎

6 years ago by RNinMunich