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Author Topic: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT  (Read 44033 times)

John W E

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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #25 on: November 12, 2008, 11:16:56 pm »


We are at the stage now where we are going to fit the rudder and the bottom bearing.  So, if we turn the hull over onto a secure surface and then support it so that it doesn’t move around;  we need to remove a section from the plastic keel on the bottom of the hull to accommodate our new brass bush, but, before we do that we insert the rudder and the rudder post through the rudder tube.  We then fix the bottom bush bearing in place on the pin which sticks out on the bottom of the rudder.    If we move the bottom bearing in line with the keel that will give us an indication of how much keel we need to remove so we can insert the new brass bottom bush.

So, we mark the keel and cut it with a fine tooth saw or a scalpel and then we place the bush over for a trial fit to make sure that it lines up true with the rest of the keel.  We then make sure that the rudder moves freely without any restriction.   Then, when I was happy I epoxied the bush in place on the bottom of the hull.   Whilst the epoxy was setting; I secured the brass bush with 10mm long brass building pins, through the 1/32 holes which I had drilled.     This holds the whole assembly into place, whilst the epoxy cures.

We may as well just leave the brass pins in place, because they aren’t doing any harm.

That is that part of the rudder finished and now we have to make the next piece – the tiller 

The tiller is made up from 2mm thick brass x 10 mm wide – the length of the brass is slightly longer than the servo arm which you are going to use on your servo.   You also need an old ‘dead 3-pin’ electrical plug. We are going to utilize one of the pin connectors of the plug into our build.

If you have a look, I actually used the live connection which has the fuse clip secured to it.  The tools we require are:

Our small electric drill
Soldering iron (25 watt)
Couple of small flat files
Centre popping small hammer
Junior hacksaw
Two drills:  a) 1/8
                    b) 1/16

First of all we clamp our plug connector in the vice and remove the unwanted bit of fuse holder and file the remaining block nice and square.

We then file a chamfer on the 4 edges of the face which has the large hole in it, the one which used to take the cable.  We put that to one side, nice and secure and don’t drop it on the floor and lose it  

We now require brass strip and servo arm.   I use ‘Futaba’ servos and their corresponding attachments.  So, everybody has a preference of what radio gear they use so all servos will have different size and different shaped servo arms.   I tend to use the star shaped servo arm – the one representing the X.

First of all, with the servo arm; I measure right across the arm to the exterior of the 2 linkage holes.   I take this measurement and jot this measurement down; now I turn to the piece of brass the 2mm x 10mm – lying the piece of brass on a flat surface, I take the measurement which I have taken from the servo arm and then add 5mm to it.   I mark this length off on the piece of brass and then cut the brass to this length.    I then divide the width of the brass in half i.e. 5mm either side of the centre line.  The total length of the brass I then divide into half – where the two lines cross I centre pop this position.    Then, I take my initial length from the servo arm divide it into half and from the centre pop I mark this measurement either side of this position.   The two corresponding marks I centre pop, so, now I should have 3 marks on the piece of brass (all in line) which if I placed the servo over the top of the brass, all 3 should line up with the holes in the servo arm.  The centre hole of the servo arm and the 2 outer holes of the linkage arm.

First procedure, drill the centre hole in the brass – this must be a 1/8 hole.  Then drill the outer holes which will be 1/16.  Remove the burrs from the holes both sides, ensuring that you remove all of the burrs from the 2 outer holes.

Now we put a radius on either end of the brass strip with a flat file.

We clean the brass strip up; with some fine emery paper or fine wet’n dry and try to avoid putting our fingers on it because we are going to put flux around our centre hole.    NOW CAN YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU PUT THAT LITTLE SQUARE block you made first off – go on – find it – you know where you put it   What we really need is a 1/8 nut and bolt here.   So, we have applied a little bit of flux around the hole on the brass plate and we push the bolt through the 1/8 hole in the brass plate, and then we slide over the little square block over the bolt so that it mates with the brass plate.   If you have a look at the square block, there should be a tapped hole which in its former life used to hold a little screw that locked the cable in place, this hole must be at 90° to one long side of the brass plate.   

The chamfer we filed on the brass block previously must be mated with the brass plate, so that these two faces are in contact with each other.

Now, over the top of the bolt, we put the nut and screw it down so that it holds the little brass square block in place on top of the plate.   Not too tight – but tight enough to stop the little brass block from moving around. 

We have to have a secure place for soldering; i.e. there is going to be a little more heat involved than we have been using so far.   So, don’t solder it on top of the new dining table!    Maybe a scrap piece of plywood or better still a piece of fire brick – sit our brass assembly securely on our chosen surface –and then with the soldering iron switched on, place the tip of the soldering iron on top or into the corner of where the square block meets the brass plate.   Leave it there, and, then let the heat build up into the work. 

On the opposite side to where your soldering iron is, feed your solder in and watch the solder flow around the joint and into the V shape we have filed in the little square block – don’t move the solder, just let the solder run  -  it will run to the soldering iron.   If it doesn’t THE WORK PIECE ISNT HOT ENOUGH!  Once the solder has flowed all the way round the brass square block in the little V – remove the soldering iron and the solder stick and allow the job to cool down without it from being disturbed.

When it has cooled down, remove all traces of flux and flash from the solder.  We pass a 1/8 drill through the centre hole, to ensure that it is clear of all obstructions.  There is one little job which I do, and that is, the original screw which was used to clamp the cable in the little square block – I disregard this.   I replace it with an Allen head screw of the same size.   First of all, I modify the end of the screw – I put a point on it.  I then get a 3mm nut to act as a lock nut, so I screw this 3mm nut onto the bolt and then I screw the bolt into the small brass block.

Now, for the assembly – clamp your rudder with some G clamps and bits of scraps of wood, so that it is in line with the centre line of the hull and it doesn’t move.   Then, we require 2 brass washers to place over the rudder shaft on the inside of the hole, so that they sit on top of the rudder tube.   Then, locate the tiller assembly on top of the rudder post, so that the rudder post goes through the 1/8 hole in the centre.   The tiller arm must be at 90° to the rudder – TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THIS   double check it.   If you have used the small alnbolt with the point on the way I, you will get only one crack at this.   So, when you are satisfied that the tiller arm is at 90° to the rudder you can do as I do – and where the rudder post comes through the tiller arm, put a little bit of Superglue on the rudder post – where it actually comes through the tiller arm, let it harden and double check and ensure it is square with the rudder again – within  90° to the rudder  & then proceed to tighten the small 3mm alnbolt up, what happens is the point on the end of the alnbolt  digs into the brass rudder post and locks into place.   Then when we have alnbolt tightened up; as tight as we dare without stripping the threads; we then lock up the little 3mm nut which is on the alnbolt to the face of the little brass block.    Then, if you wish, you can put a dab of superglue on the threads of the 3mm bolt to stop the nut from shaking loose.

We then remove the clamping arrangement from the rudder, which we have put on to hold the rudder in place.  Then we check & remove the rudder – fully over to one side and then fully over in the opposite direction – to ensure that nothing snags/fouls.

This is our rudder assembly completed.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #26 on: November 12, 2008, 11:22:21 pm »

more pictures showing the rudder assembly  :-))
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #27 on: November 12, 2008, 11:26:42 pm »



We move on now to fit the servo, which actually drives the rudder.   As a side note; there are many different sizes of servos – as well as different makes.   On normal models which I have built, varying from 8 foot down to the smallest one - I have always used the standard servos, which  comes with the radio set.  I have never had the need the use metal gear/hi-talk servos on rudder linkages.   Like everything else in life, everyone has their preference.

For this build I am using a bog standard Futaba S3003 standard servo.   Now, along with this I have also been asked, do I use the little rubber insulation pads which comes with the servos – do you need to use them.  Well, yes I do use them, because they are there to be used, but, do we need to really use them – well, in this particular model we are not using an I.C. engine (internal combustion engine) so, therefore there is no vibration.   I cannot see any shock loads being applied to the servo.   So, therefore no we don’t really need them -  and sometimes it can be a bit of a pain to fit them  I have actually done a web search to see – because to me the way the little pads are fitted is wrong due to the fact they sit on top of the servo rather than underneath on the locating face.

Okay – I have put a couple of photographs on here which show how you fit them – how you fit the pads on top of the servo – then you place the steel grommets from below – through the pads and this is how they fit.   The servo on this particular model is actually mounted between frames 1.5 and 2.    The tray which holds the servo is made from ¼ thick ply; with the correct size hole cut in it to take the servo.    Now the size of hole, mustn’t be too tight – so as to distort the sides of the servo.   It mustn’t be too slack so the body of the servo moves around freely! When we have fitted the servo into the tray, if we drill 4 small pilot holes  through the locating holes in the servo; and, then we can use the supplied screws to secured the servo in place – BUT, DON’T OVERTIGHTEN THE SCREWS.

We then locate and secure with 4 screws the plywood servo plywood plate in place to the frames; now the next stage is to make up the linkage arms, but, before we do anything else – we need to centralise the servo and if you are lucky enough to have one of those little gadgets called a Servo Checker, we can plug the servo lead into this, switch on, and then centralise our servo this way.  If not, the alternative way is – the radio receiver we are going to use for this particular model – we need this along with the receiver battery and also, our transmitter.  We connect the rudder servo to the appropriate channel on our receiver & in my case this was channel 1.  We then go to our transmitter & the stick which controls channel 1 we ensure that it is truly centralised, and, also the trim tab is centralised as well NOW, MAKE SURE!  We then switch the transmitter on and our receiver on also.  This will automatically centralise the servo.  Now, if you are using a Futaba servo with the cross-arm, you will find there are several positions that you can fit the cross arms on the splines of the servo, to ensure that the arm is at a true 90° to the servo body.   When this is correct, we lock down the servo arm with the screws provided; now…the rudder tiller arm must be directly parallel to the servo arm – and, if we measure the distance between the holes in the tiller arm and the outer holes of the servo arm and jot that distance down….we can then switch the receiver off first followed by the transmitter ensuring that the servo arm doesn’t move.  Now we have to make up the linkage rods.   If you like, you can purchase the little servo clips which go on the end of the push rods and locate onto the end of the servo arms.   I prefer these myself, because, I don’t like not having any adjustment on the linkage arms, and with these little clips you do get a certain amount of adjustment.

Also, you can buy threaded rods – which make up linkage arms.  But, if you are like me, I go and purchase the thin 1/16 welding rods (the plain ones without any flux) and I use them for linkage rods.   What I do, is, I calculate the length I require and don’t forget to add on the length for the little locating clips – and then when I have the linkage rods cut to the correct length, I rough up either end of the linkage rods.   I then mix a small amount of epoxy resin up and coat the ends of the steel linkage rod and locate it into the end of the plastic clips.   But, I do – do only one rod at a time.

I then connect up the tiller arm to the servo arm, with that one rod, and, then what I do is check the distance is equal on the other side of the tiller arm and servo arm.   When I am happy that the two distances are equal, I assemble the 2nd linkage rod and put it into place.

Once this is all done, I remove the two spare arms off the servo arm; replace it, reset everything back up and either re-connect the servo checker or the radio gear and give it a good try to ensure you have full movement of the rudder in both directions from the servo.

One tip is, move the stick on the transmitter full over and listen for the servo juddering/struggling.  This is an indication that there is something fouling.   If there is no indication of any noise or any restriction on the servo, move the trim tab which is for that particular channel, over in the same direction as you have moved the stick.   This will increase the throw of the rudder a little bit more, and watch for any restrictions.   

When you are happy that you have no restrictions to the rudder; in both directions; then we are finished with the assembly of the rudder.

Now are have done our electrics and installation of a bit of hardware – move on to another stage of building – and another few choices  ok2

We are now going to fit the deck.    :-)) :-))
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #28 on: November 12, 2008, 11:37:12 pm »

............. these pictures show the assembly of rudder & servo components into the hull
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #29 on: November 12, 2008, 11:42:42 pm »


Before we do fit the deck though – who is itching – go on stick it in the test tank – what harm will that do?   Make sure all of the edges of the plastic plates which we put on the outside are sealed with Liquid Poly!

What can we do with the model in the test tank – apart from play with model for 1 ½ we need an amp meter – something like 10 amps capability.    We then require some extension leads to clip on, because, how many times have we done something and it hasn’t turned out right – like trying to balance the amp meter on the model and its fallen off – right into the water  :-) so, we connect the amp meter between the positive side of the battery and the motor.  The negative side of the battery is connected directly to the motor.    There is no speed controller in the circuit at this stage and this is what we want to find out – how many amps the motor is going to draw under full load?  So, with the weight of the battery and perhaps a few heavy bits and pieces to bring the model to around about the correct water line – when the motor is running, we observe what the amperage is.   This is the running amperage of the motor at full speed.

This is the important bit; this is what we want to know, so we can make some calculations from this measurement of what size speed controller we require.   We can now lift the boat out of the water, dust it down and do a bit of calculation.   The actual motor was running at 4.2 amps; at full speed.   So, if we double that amperage for safety that would be approximately 8.4 amps – a 10 amp speed controller would be quite adequate to drive this motor.   What we must also do, is, when we fit the speed controller, fit a fuse of 8 amps in theory.  However, we cannot get an 8amp spade fuse – the commercial one is a 10 amp fuse.  So, if we put a 10 amp fuse in, that will give us a safety margin.  That, if the propeller was to stop/stall completely the motor amps would go up, if allowed, to somewhere in the region of say 60 amps – but with us having a 10 amp fuse in, it would blow the fuse long before it reached that amperage and therefore in theory protecting our speed controller.   That is that little bit of theory – and – now we have to make some choices with regard to the deck.  More construction work – as I say we have a few choices now.   On this particular model, the main deck is planked – and now we can assimilate this planking if we desire by purchasing some nice thin mahogany faced plywood or we can use birch plywood.   There are numerous veneered plys we can use and what we can do is cut the plywood to shape to fit the deck and then once we have glued the plywood onto the deck of the boat, we could draw on the lines to represent the planks.   I have seen one or two high class models done this way, and, if the time is taken and it is done correctly it can look lovely.  The only draw back with it is the grain of the plywood follows on between plank to plank.  That grain doesn’t look natural.  Have you ever seen a real boat where the grain flows from plank to plank?   There is a ‘newish’ product on the market – which I haven’t personally had my hands on yet, to have a good look at it.   But, I have seen several photographs of it, on the web and in magazines.    It looks to me like a form of ‘sticky on’ plastic which has already got the planks embossed in it.  So, literally, you stick it onto your deck after cutting it to shape; and that is it apart from drawing your butt lines in of the plank.   The pictures I have seen of this used, looks very impressed – how difficult it is to use, I have no idea yet.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #30 on: November 12, 2008, 11:45:31 pm »


Now we come to the third option and this is the option I used and that was to plank the deck with individual planks.   I kid you not, it is not a job you do in 5 minutes!   Also, like everything else in modelling there are more ways than one in which to do it.   So this is my way of how I planked this model.

I began by laying a sub-deck made from light ply 2mm thick.   This light ply bends easily, so, it could take the shape of the camber of the deck as well as the curvature from bow to stern.   What I did was cut a piece of light ply slightly longer than the hull and slightly wider – laid the light ply on a soft surface, don’t tell the Mrs it was on top of the bed pillar – the Mrs wasn’t in bed at the time!    I then laid placed the light ply on top of the pillar and placed the hull on the light ply upside down.   I pressed the hull firmly into the light ply and then drew round the outside of the hull, giving me the shape of the deck.    Then, I cut around the mark which I had drawn on the plywood leaving about 1/16 in size.    I then sat the hull firmly in its building cradle and then I spread the yellow PVA glue onto all of the frame tops; and around the edge on the top of the deck stringer.   Centrally, I then placed the plywood on top ensuring that there was an even overlap all the way round.    I then weighted the plywood down to press it firmly onto the hull with various heavy objects.   I used batteries etc., anything heavy I could lay my hands on, I fitted it on, to press the deck firmly onto the hull.    I left it overnight for the glue to dry.   Once the glue had dried in the morning, I removed all of the weights.

With a sanding block I gently sanded the edges of the plywood flush with the side of the hull.   Be careful when doing this; don’t forget we have plastic plating on the side.   Once I had finished doing this, I then drew a centre line down the centre of the deck from bow to stern.   

I then referred back to my plan and on the plan I picked an item off the deck to use a reference i.e. to form a reference mark on the hull and this was the front of the bridge where it meets the deck.  So, I took a measurement form the stern of the vessel to the front of the bridge.   Now, from now on, all measurements I make on this deck or off the plan will be made from this central mark The reason I do this is, if your hull is slightly bigger/smaller than the plan, it is a lot easier to adjust the measurements and correct your mistakes working from a central mark.

I have marked the position of the bridge front and now I need to transfer positions of every item which is on the deck of the vessel.   When I say Items I mean the positions of the fish hold, forward hatch, companion way and I need to draw in the bridge superstructure the little cabin at the aft; and the small circular fish holds, the position of the bollards – everything must be drawn onto the deck.

Last but not least, we must draw in the edge of the deck planking, where it meets the side of the vessel.   Now, if you notice, the deck planking doesn’t go right up to the edge of the side of the vessel.   It stops short.   It does on 99% of large vessels.  This gap around is where the water gathers when water is running off the deck of the vessel.   It runs to this part and then from here, it will either run down through drains overboard, or, through scuppers overboard.  We must mark this border line around the deck.

The next stage, we must decide on what lengths of plank/planking we are going to use.

I decided that the scale length of the planks I was going to use were going to be 12 foot, giving an actual length of plank of 4.5 inches long.  Now, the other thing we have to take into consideration is, what they call, the butt line.   Don’t panic – WHATS THE BUTT LINE – this is where the 2 planks butt together.   If we have a look at any deck planking we will see that none of the planks butt together and align across the deck.  They are all staggered.   There are two common butt patterns as they call them – a 4 butt pattern and a 3 butt pattern.   Imagine us then standing on the deck of a real ship and looking down at the deck – we are looking at the planking.   We will pick a joint on the first plank we are looking at; we will count 1 plank in front of the first plank and we will see that the joint is further down the vessel.    We will count 2 planks away – so that is 2 planks from where we are standing and the next joint will be further down the plank again.    We will count a 3rd plank from where we are standing and we will find that the plank joint on that particular row is further down again.    Yet, when we could the 4th plank – the joint we are standing on is directly in line with us.   If we look back, we will see that the joints are like a set of stairs, working their way down.   The same will happen and we are standing on a deck and it had what is known as a 4 butt deck.   The only difference is - it would be the 5th plank that would be in line with us that would be for a 4th butt joint. How do we achieve this?   First thing we must do, decide if we are going to have a 3 butt deck or a 4 butt deck.   I picked a 3 butt deck.

So, what I had to do first of all was to take a scale length of plank which I was going to use and divide equally into 4 segments.   This works out at 1⅛ for my particular model.   Now, on the centre line of the deck which we have drawn previously, remember where I have said – we put a reference mark on – well, from this reference mark we mark off the length of equivalent to one of the portions of the plank as referred to above.   We repeat this dividing of the centre line all the way up to the bow and from our reference mark all the way to the stern.   So, now we have divided the full centre line into small segments which is equal to one portion that our scale plank has been divided into.

Now, at each mark, on the centre line we draw a line at right angles to the centre line – right across the deck – we repeat this operation all the way up to the bow ensuring that the lines that we are drawing are at right angles to the centre line.    Now, the lines we have drawn on now are our plank butt spacing lines.

Okay – so now we are near enough ready to begin planking our deck.   Now, the material I used was 1mm x 6mm maple.   The glue I used to secure the planks to the deck was just pure white PVA – I didn’t use the yellow PVA because it tends to stain the timber.    I also had a permanent black-felt tipped marker – it has a broad tip to it & used that – so first of all I cut about 5 planks to my scale length 4.5 inches long; on the very edge of the plank – you know where the plank is 1mm thick; I drew on here with the black felt tip marker.   One long edge and actually did the 2 short ends too with the marker.    This will eventually represent the black caulking which is in between the planks.

Now, where to start the planking – we must first of all put the marginal planks in which run all the way around the outside of the deck.   These planks are the ones which run next to the waterway which runs around the deck.    So, the first end of the plank – or the first butt must coincide with the reference mark which we originally first put on and it must coincide with the butt line which runs across the deck.

So, it is really up to you which way you plank – either towards the bow or the stern when you are putting the margin planks on.

We have now completed our outer planking, putting our outer deck marginal planks on.   If we have a look at pictures of decks on life size decks, we will see that the planks do not run straight up and butt against a hatch or a bollard or even the side of the cabins.   There is another marginal plank around all of these fixtures and fittings on a deck so, we must reproduce this marginal planking on our scale deck.    This is where time must be spent because when we put marginal planking around the likes of a hatch or a bollard the planks have a neat 45° angle on them.    When we come to round objects such as a capstan or a round fish hatch – or a coal scuttle, this also has marginal planking which is in a circular form but it is put in – in sections.   It is always good to try and have to use real size decks as a reference so you get it as true to life as possible.    It is the end result which matters and it is worth the extra effort.  REMEMBER NOW – KEEP THE MARGINAL PLANKS TO SCALE LENGTH & remember also if there is a butt in the length – it must coincide with the butt joint which you have drawn on the deck.  Once we have all the marginal planks in position and secured, we can then begin to do the main deck planking.  Normal tradition of laying a deck is to start with the very centre plank – also known as the King Plank.   This plank runs all the way up the centre of the vessel on the deck.   We can start by laying this plank first from the centre line so half the width of the plank is either side of the centre line which we have drawn on the deck.   I began at the reference mark which I had drawn on the deck – just in front of the bridge.

This turns out to be a very short plank, due to the fact that there is a winch in front of the bridge.  The actual end of the plank would finish somewhere in the middle of the hatch, if it were a full length one.   So, what we do is, we go along to find where this plank would end and there should be a butt line drawn across the deck.   What we do is we carry on and find out where the next plank ends after the hatch – we start to plank from the marginal plank which butts up against the hatch, to the next butt line.   We carry on with this procedure until we come up to the marginal planks at the bow.

Now, this is where we have to do a sequence called plank-jogging or nibbling  what it is you actually take half the width of the plank which is square to the inner edge and from the half way mark, it is angled to coincide with the angle of the marginal plank.   When we have cut this angle on the end of our plank – we cut the corresponding angle into the marginal plank.   So, we have our first run of King Plank from the front of the bridge superstructure to the bow and we repeat the process from the rear of the superstructure to the stern.   It is always handy to have some dressmaker’s pins handy and some heavy weights to put on top of the planks to keep them in place while the glue sets.   I then moved on and began to plank the next plank to the king plank and don’t forget – the butt moves up towards the bow – it is not in line – before we lay this plank in place, we mark 3 edges of the plank with a black felt tipped pen.   Those who would like to try the method of using electrician’s tape or black card – now is the time to try it.   To use the electrician’s tape cut 5-6 planks, clamp them all together and lay them edge down on the sticky side of the electrician’s tape.   Rub the electrician’s tape firmly so that it bonds with the edges of the planks and then trim off the edges to suit.   

Carefully then, with a scalpel blade, cut down the length of the plank through the electrician’s tape – so – you are left with a very thin strip of electrician’s tape on one edge.   The same procedure is done with the black card, but, you use PVA glue to bond the black card to the edge of the planks.

I did originally begin cutting all of my planks to the scale of 4.5 inches.    However, I found, when I was working around all the hatched and the bollards and so forth, I was left with a lot of waste pieces of planking.  I therefore opted to actually keep the full plank in its full length and just cut off the required length; this I found was less wasteful and easier to do. It took me 3 days to plank & in some cases re-plank this deck – so, be prepared – it is not a job to do in 5 minutes.

Finally, as we are planking towards the deck edge-  we will find that our jogged planks – the taper becomes excessively long and care then must be taken whilst doing this. One of the best methods I found was to cut the angle on the plank to be laid first – and then lay this plank over in position and lightly score with a scalpel blade the outline of the plank onto the margin plank.

I had one or two planks which did split down the length – so – finished the deck, we allow the glue to dry – what is the next stage.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #31 on: November 12, 2008, 11:51:12 pm »

and here are some further pictures - they show the process of planking the deck  :-)
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #32 on: November 12, 2008, 11:53:56 pm »


Well, we sand the deck with some medium sandpaper.   Then with a blade from a Stanley knife - held vertically and 90° to the deck plank – I drew the blade down the length of the deck (going with the grain of the planks) scraping the deck – this levels the planks properly.   After I had finished this, I gave the deck 2 coats of sand ‘n sealer – and this is the stuff – don’t get it on your wife’s draining board – I DID  :-) making coffee for the rest of the week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  %% %%

That finishes the deck – for the time being
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #33 on: November 12, 2008, 11:55:38 pm »

– so, what is the next thing we do.

So, the next stage in the build – we must finish off the side bulwarks and the plating.  The bulwarks are made from 1/16 ply and in hindsight I think I should have made the bulwarks from 0.8 mm ply.    For the ease of bending around the stern the thinner ply would have been a lot better.    I started the procedure off by marking a line 1/16 in from the side of the hull, all the way around the outer edge of the deck.    According to the plan, there is an angle stiffening piece / bulwark support every 36 inches – so I scaled this down to the scale I was using and divided the line I had drawn around the deck – so that it gave me equal spacings equivalent to 36 inches in scale.

Inboard of this line, I drew a 2nd line, which was 3/32 from the edge.   This gave me the centre of the 1/16 brass pins I was going to use to support the bulwarks.

I started off at roughly at the centre of the hull and worked drilling a hole with a 1/16 drill to take the brass pin.   I also made a jig up to give me a height for to set the brass pins too.  This height was roughly ¼ inch below the overall height of the bulwark.

As I drilled one hole, I fitted one pin; this is the procedure which I adopted throughout and also, I checked that the pin was in line vertically up and down, but, it had the same angle as the exterior of the hull.  Once I had completed fitting all of the brass pins (also I was using superglue to glue the brass pins in) – I then began at the stern and made a cardboard template up of the shape of the stern bulwark.

I then traced this onto the 1/16 ply ensuring that the grain on the outside was vertical to the height of the bulwark.   Once I had traced this shape on, I cut it out.  Now the next procedure I used for those who are reading this UNDER THE AGE OF 12-15 – ensure that an adult is there with you.     I half filled a large saucepan with water – I boiled the water up one the water was boiling I placed the stern section of plywood, for the bulwark into the boiling water.   I allowed it to boil for approximately 15 minutes.

After the 15 minutes was up I removed the plywood from the boiling water with a set of tongues, and, I quickly wrapped it around the stern section of the vessel – where the brass pins are.   I also clamped it in place, using clamps and clothes pegs.    I allowed it to cool down and dry out.

With us using 1/16 ply I actually had 2 attempts at this – as the first time I tried it didn’t bend properly to shape.  So when it had cooled down – I removed it from the model – I then repeated the procedure and the 2nd time it did conform to the shape of the vessel much better  .

When the stern section bulwark had dried out, I then glued it into place using PVA for the joint between the deck and the bulwark and super glued between the glass pins in the bulwark.  Once this had set securely I moved on to produce the side bulwarks up towards the bow in as large as possible sections.   The other thing would add is the overall height I was producing the bulwarks at – were approximately 1/8 taller than they should be.    I followed the procedure the same as using PVA between the deck joint and the bottom of the bulwark – and super glued between the brass pins and the sides of the bulwark.,  I managed to do the bulwarks in 3 sections.   Once the glue on the bulwarks had completely dried out, I then drew on with the aid of a pencil and guideline, the overall height from the deck of the bulwark.    I then sanded carefully down to this line – ensuring that I had a smooth curvature from bow to stern of the bulwarks.   That was this stage completed and now the next stage is to finish off the side planking.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #34 on: November 13, 2008, 12:03:03 am »

and these pictures show the fixing of the bulwarks around the side of the hull.....
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #35 on: November 13, 2008, 12:08:31 am »


The first thing we do is the exterior joint where the bulwark meets the deck on the outside of the hull – we must fill in any gaps and unevenness with car body filler; which I did do – and I very carefully with wet ’n dry  sanded this flush with the exterior of the hull.   

The next stage is to complete the plating on the exterior and this is done, again with Plasticard, cut to the correct scale of the plates, but slightly higher so they overlap the top of the bulwarks.

You will see, on one of the photographs, where I am using a flat piece of plywood to push out any air bubbles in the superglue which is trapped between the plate and the hull.

Once we have completed this, we must also complete fitting the bow post which is done with two strips of Plasticard – glued and pinned as we did with the main keel; once we are happy and the glue has set on the plates, we can move on to fitting the exterior rubbing half rounds.   There is a piece which runs at the same level as the deck joint and you will see I made a jig up which was a piece of plywood with a piece of softwood glued at one edge to form a hook – which hooks on the top of the bulwark and there is a hole in the plywood at the correct distance for the level of the deck.  So, I place a pencil through the hole and place a hook in the bulwark and draw a perfect line all the way round the outside of the vessel on both sides.    This is where I glue my first strip of Evergreen Plastistrip half round – the size I used was 125 thou wide.   This was glued straight on the hull side using poly-cement.  Below this rubbing rib, there are two more rubbing ribs – to be positioned and glued on in the same way  - but they do not run all the way up to the bow and stern – like the deck rubbing straight – they stop short at the bow and stern.   
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #36 on: November 13, 2008, 12:14:30 am »


The next thing we must do (doing this now also makes life easier) is putting the wash ports in /where the water runs out from the deck overboard / holes in the side  :-) of the boat.   To do these; it is a simple operation of actually just drilling 3 holes; opening the holes up with a scalpel and then filing the hole even with the aid of a round and flat file.   Now, there are one or two problems here – on the plans; it shows a scupper or wash port – a drawing of one and also a drawing of where it is located but this is ‘end view’ and it doesn’t state the positions along the hull of these wash ports.   So, this is where we do require some more illustrative photographs for this type of vessel.   Although when we look at photographs, the position of these scuppers is not immediate.   What we have to look for are rust/water marks down the side of the hull to locate the position.   The photographs I have, which although are not many, I could only find the position of approximately 8 – even one of these scuppers was a bit ‘iffy’ – so, I knew there was rough position of 7 of the scuppers for definite – so I opted to make 7 holes per side.

The other thing to make life easier is, I made another plywood jig up (see photographs) which hooks up over the side of the bulwark and this gives me the position from the top of the bulwark - & where to drill the first hole.   Once I have the first hole – from this hole I can work out and mark off the location of the 2nd hole to be drilled.   This gives me the overall length of the scupper.  I then mark the centre between the 2 outer holes and this gives me the position to drill the 3rd hole between the 2.   As I have said - it is just a simple procedure to open the holes up and file them to shape.   

Now, what I did, to make life a bit easier, was fit the angled supports on the inside of the bulwarks which made from Evergreen angled strip 100 thou x 100 thou – cut to the correct length and then super glued so that they were hard up against the brass pins;  Once I had completed all sixty-odd of these  :-) I did the next thing, which was to add the stay bars, which glue onto these angles and go down at an angle to the deck.   This was made from 100 thou x 40 thou flat strip Plasticard – there were another sixty-odd of these to make – and these were glued into place but the top of this angled piece comes flush with the top of the bulwark.    Once all of these have dried out, I then painted the inside of the bulwarks to make life a little easier  :-) once I had had 2-3 coats of red paint on – which it says in the plans – I put the bulwark top capping piece on and these pieces were made from Plasticard as well 40 thou thick x 125 wide.  The reason I used Plasticard is it is easy to achieve the tight radius at the stern.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #37 on: November 13, 2008, 12:21:45 am »


Now this top capping is flush on the outside of the plating – because there is another half round section to go on the outside yet again; this half round section was glued on with liquid poly & goes from bow to stern.   Now, if you wish, like me, you can begin to do a little bit of painting – and – the techniques of painting & finishing are well covered elsewhere in this forum, but, what I have posted a picture of is the height gauge and how I use it for marking the water line.

As you will see from the picture, it is 2 pieces of plywood glued at right angles to one another – and using a G clamp to clamp a soft tipped pencil to the vertical piece of plywood.   The trick is with water lines; is to mark from a known position, normally the bottom of your keel of the water line at the bow and at the stern.  If we turn the hull upside down and support it so that when we set the height at the bow with the pencil on our gauge, we can move our gauge to the stern and the pencil will line up with the mark on the stern – we achieve this by using packing pieces to either lift the bow up or the stern up which ever is the case.

I was lucky with this model, because a 6 volt battery - just forward of where the main hatch is produced the correct height and angle for me to mark the water line.

Once we have the two marks to correspond with the height of the gauge it is a simple matter of drawing a line all the way round.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #38 on: November 13, 2008, 12:24:31 am »

couple of pictures showing how the washports were cut in the side of the hull  :-) ....
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #39 on: November 13, 2008, 12:30:16 am »


The next stage:  Well, I think it is about time we gained access to the inside of the hull, so we can open up the area under the main super structure and we can open up the area of the fish hold.    This is easily done with a sharp scalpel and a razor saw.

If we cut with the scalpel around on the inside of the marginal planks, we can easily cut through the layer of ply.  Where we require the use of the razor saw is when we reach the tops of the ribs underneath the decking, we must carefully use the razor saw to cut through these.   Once this has all been done, this allows us to remove the centre sections – we then – need to clean the edges up, where we have sawn through with a medium piece of sandpaper.   Next stage – re-enforce underneath the deck; with suitable material.   I use ¼ square Obechi.  This is glued between the frames – with one edge of the timber flush with the opening of the hatch; and the adjacent face pressed hard underneath the deck.    The next stage is to actually add the combing; these are the pieces which stick up from the deck and prevent water from flowing in the hatch/hole.   If you look, you will see that the combing I have fitted around the superstructure opening is in actual fact the same height as the bulwarks.   This is because I am going to try and seal this model virtually water-tight to enable me to sail her in some unforgiving weather  :-)) ;) ;   The fish-hold combing what I actually have done there is build the inner combing up using 1/32 ply for the inside and around the outside flush with the deck I wrap the combing in 1/16 ply.   This is 1/8 inch taller than the inner combing.  This forms a rebate on the inside of the combing to allow the hatch to locate into.   The hatch lid is made up from plywood and Obechi strips.   The plywood was first cut, so that it sat neatly inside of the combing.   The underside of the hatch – there was a ¼ square edging put underneath, and, this locates on the inner walls of the combing.

The top of the deck where we have to assimilate the hatch boards, this is divided down the centre and a spar glued into place.  This spar is where the edge of the hatch boards butt against.   I then divided the length of the hatch, into 6 equal portions, per side of the centre spar.    In between these portions, I glued 10mm Obechi strips; 2 at a time.    Every 2nd strip I glued 3 sheets of black paper between them, this represents a joint between the boards, very similar to when we did the decking.

When all the hatch boards have been fitted into place (all 12 of them) I sanded it down with medium sandpaper.   I then marked off the positions of the hand holds and with a small drill I drilled through the Obechi planking to the plywood.   All 24 positions  :-) .

Then with a rounded milling bit I opened up the drilled holes to produce a cup shape into the Obechi.    Once I had finished all of the holes; producing a cup shape in all of them; I then gave the hatch top 4 coats of sand ‘n sealer.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #40 on: November 13, 2008, 12:36:01 am »

and these pictures show fitting combing around the openings on the deck....
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #41 on: November 13, 2008, 12:37:24 am »


The next stage was to make the hand grabs – this is the rod which goes across the hole – enabling the little sailors to lift the hatch boards out  :-) .

It was basically a piece of very thin copper wire, bent in a square U shape which fitted across the holes.  So 2 small holes were drilled either side of the large hole 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions.   The handle was inserted in and glued from underneath with Superglue.  This then takes care of the hatch, apart from the last thing, a rubber band, glued on the lip to form a water tight seal.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #42 on: November 13, 2008, 12:45:25 am »


Now we move on to the superstructure; in the past I know that this has caused a lot of people some problems  :-) defining shapes and so forth.   So, let us have a little think about superstructures – if we go back to the earlier days of steam powered ships, we will see that the superstructure basically consisted of a wooden square box and sometimes you would have platforms either side of the box for lookouts to stand on.    This was possibly paneled with various woods to decorate it – as we move forward in time we see the superstructures becoming larger and incorporating the exhaust funnels of the vessels – sometimes the superstructures would be in the middle of the ship or at the stern of the ship.   Also incorporated an area on top of the superstructure for steering wheel and compass – in the early days the steering positions were open to the environments – but, they were basically still the same, square boxes.   If we come to the late Victorian times, especially in the passenger liners – you will see elegance creeping in as far as the design of the ship /superstructure and curves coming in as far as the area of the bridge front is concerned.   Then, you will see also angles coming in – have a look at how the funnels are beginning to slope slightly towards the stern.

So, this trend normally carried on up until the early 1950s, apart from the war years – when then they were built to replace lost vessels – so there was a building time-element in it.   Designs seemed to go out of the window.

As we move on from the 1950s we see we are moving back to the squareness now, look at the modern liners, more like a square box on its side with large windows in the side.

Have a look closely at the superstructures and we see we can break them down – in our mind’s eye – into square boxes / boxes with rounded edges on /semi-circles or some form of cone shape for angles.

This is the principle we use – we look at the plan and see where the actual superstructure resembles either a square or an oblong box.   

If we look at our particular plan and look at the superstructure and the bridge area, we will see it is basically an oblong box – with a radius on the bridge front.

Now look at the wheelhouse top and this is 2 semi-circles, back-to-back – when looking at the bird’s eye view.    So, what we shall do – we will begin with the bridge front first – the most difficult part to construct -because of the radius and angle in that area.

From the plan we can take the front angle; from the side elevation drawing; from the deck level just underneath the wheelhouse area.   This height & angle is then transferred to a suitable piece of plywood.  Now we look at the deck plan; where we can trace off the radius of the front of the bridge.   Also, along with the radius, we can obtain the width of the superstructure – these two dimensions which have been traced, are now transferred to a suitable piece of plywood and we mark the bottom radius along with a section of the side length (which will give us the width of the superstructure). Then what we do is we draw the front angle of the superstructure on – this will of course give us the angle of the superstructure and also the height.   We then cut these out from our plywood; and then glue our vertical angled piece at the centre of our bottom radius piece of plywood and this gives us an inverted T shape and if we look down on it from above – you will see it gives us our radius from the front and if we look at it from the side view – it gives us our side angle.

We must now construct the top of our former which we are making; which comes from the bridge deck area plan.   You will see that the radius there is smaller than the radius on our main deck plan.    So, we trace this section off and this becomes a sub-floor for the bridge deck.   We have to then beef it up with square bits of wood; approximately either ¼ or ⅛ square.   This is how we produce our former to manufacture the front of our superstructure.

Have a look at the photographs; and, you will see exactly how I did it.   :-)   
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #43 on: November 13, 2008, 12:52:43 am »


The next piece I did was to construct a lid which would fit over the combing where the superstructure sits on, and, this in turn was glued to the back of the former which we had made.    Also, you will see how I strengthened the joint using gussets.    Once this had been glued and securely set, the next stage was to fabricate the superstructure sides.   When they were cut and shaped to the correct profile – they were then glued either side of the lid which I had built.   Again, these were supported by using ¼ square softwood timber along with plywood gussets.   
The next stage was to apply the plywood which goes around the bridge front; first of all there was a cardboard template made (by bending cardboard around the former which we had made) and then drawing around to give us the approximate shape and this was then transferred to a piece of 1/64 plywood.    The plywood was then glued and clamped in place around the former and allowed to dry – when completely dried – it was sanded to shape and blended in with the sides of the superstructure.

The bridge top deck is the next thing – this is simple enough – the actual bridge itself is actually wider than the superstructure.   We then repeated the process in a similar way – by building a former – from plywood and square Obechi to produce the wheel house front.    When we apply the plywood to the front, we do not go all the way up to the actual wheel house roof, we go just below/or just to the level of the windows.   Where the windows are, there is another piece of plywood applied separately - to which we draw on and then cut out the window openings.   

When I came to the stage of cutting the window openings out, I actually made them 1/16 larger than the window itself; this is because when we come to apply the window frames, there is a framework which goes on the exterior holding the glazing in – the window aperture is then cut to the correct size on the exterior window frame.

The area aft of the wheelhouse (or the funnel casing area) is made in a similar manner to which we have produced the wheelhouse.    The funnel is yet again constructed from 2 ovals, but, instead of using plywood to cover the funnel – I blocked it in using balsa wood – and then sanded it to the correct shape.   
I did not at this stage; try to manufacture the top of the funnel, which is the angled piece.    To finish off the exterior of the funnel I wrapped it in 0.5 Plasticard, gluing the Plasticard onto the balsa wood with Superglue and then cutting and sanding that with wet ‘n dry.
We now come to making the cone which fits on the top of the funnel; I made this through trial and error making paper cones. :-)   Once I had the correct cone shape in paper, I transferred this to 1/64 plywood.   I cut the shape out and tried it without gluing it, to ensure that it fitted.   Once I was happy with the fit, I placed this shaped piece of plywood into boiling water and then allowed it to boil for approx 10 minutes and then, I wrapped it around the top of the funnel and held it in place with various clamps and cellotape – I then allowed it to cool off and dry.    I then glued it into place once it had cooled/dried and then sanded it with a piece of very smooth sandpaper – to bring it to its correct shape or near enough correct shape.
When I had finished this stage, I went on to making the window frames, which I have already mentioned and also you will see I also had to produce bent timbers to form the windowsills and drip rails which go to top and bottom of the windows.   Three of these timbers were made from 1/16 square Obechi – I had to boil these in boiling water so I could bend them and you  will see in the photograph how I have clamped them to the top of the bridge (temporarily) to form the bends in them.   Once these were dry, 2 of them were laminated together, to form the broad windowsill for the bottom of the window frames and the single bent piece goes on the top of the window to form the drip rail.   Above this rail there is a 3rd rail which has a half round on it, this goes round the edge of the roof of the wheelhouse – this bit – I cheated and made it out of Plasticard.  :-)
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #44 on: November 13, 2008, 12:56:42 am »

When happy and we have finished sanding the superstructure; I gave it several coats of sand ‘n sealer.   BE CAREFUL HERE DON’T GET SAND AND SEALER ON YOUR WINDOWS.   The other thing I will mention is, I didn’t put any interiors (such as steering wheel, instruments, etc.,) inside the bridge – I feel this is the preference of the builder.   There is adequate information on the plan if someone wishes to do this.
After that, we give the superstructure a couple of coats of the appropriate paint.
That is the basic superstructure made.
Obviously there are sub-superstructures to make, which fit the main superstructure, such as engine room skylight, water tanks and so forth – and doors to be made which I have made for the bridge as well.  Whilst on this point, I would mention, on the photographs you can see I have drilled the positions for the portholes as well.   The portholes were purchase - the actual port lights themselves – which are going to be inserted into the holes, when I have finished painting the model – I intend to leave them as brass – but with a coating of clear varnish over the top of the brass.
We now have to make another small superstructure which is literally a small square box, and that is the aft deck house.  :-)   5 bits of plywood  :-) …. The same goes for the forward hatch  :-) ….
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #45 on: November 13, 2008, 01:05:08 am »

These are some pictures of the construction of the wheelhouse ....  :-))
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #46 on: November 13, 2008, 01:14:24 am »

The same goes for the forward hatch  :-) …. THESE are made from 1/16 ply – which have little angle strips on the inside to keep them square.   The forward hatch is made in an identical way to the way we make the main fish hatch, but, we do not cut through the main deck – we leave the main deck solid underneath.   Think about this – I made the mistake here of gluing the hatch boards in on top of the small hatch and in hindsight I wish I hadn’t – because this area here (underneath this little hatch) is a perfect place for concealing a switch for our main electrics.   Whilst we are on making the small hatch for the forward end; we can also manufacture the small forecastle companion way.   This is that ‘segment of cake shape’ stood on its end  .  The basic shape was made from 1/64 plywood first of all; then I covered it with mahogany strips – 4mm x 0.5mm this represents the planking; if you have a look on the plans, you will see this particular companion way doesn’t have doors on it – it has boards which locate into slots at the front.  When I had finished manufacturing this item; I gave it 3 coats of sand n sealer.  This in turn has brought it up to look as though it has been varnished; I then moved on to the rears of the main superstructure, where we make 2 access doors.   These are made from Plasticard; first piece of Plasticard is 0.5 thou thick and this makes the backing framework of the door and it is cut to the same shape as the door – only 1mm larger than the actual door.   The door is then manufactured from 1.5 mm  cut to the same shape as the framework, but, obviously 1mm smaller all the way round.
The door was then glued on top of the frame centrally – so that the 1mm gap was evenly spaced all the way round – the next thing is – make 2 small hinges/assimilated the hinges – these were made from 2 small pieces of brass rod 1mm thick x 5mm long; glued on the framework between the framework and the door at the correct height.   The hinge strap was made out of the 0.5mm Plasticard cut into a thin strip 2mm wide x 12mm long.   This was glued across the door in positions, opposite the brass rod we had glued on.  Finally, I drilled a small hole opposite side to the 2 hinges; which in turn takes a small brass pin which represents the door handle.   These 2 doors were then glued into the correct position at the rear of the main superstructure.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #47 on: November 13, 2008, 01:25:03 am »

and some more pictures to show fittings on the hull......and deck too.
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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #48 on: November 13, 2008, 01:27:44 am »

The next thing I made was the duck board which runs behind the main superstructure on the deck.  This basically was 2 pieces of Obechi 1.5 thick x 75mm long x 8mm wide; these 2 pieces of Obechi were set apart standing on their edge – and there were the laths which go across the duck board – they were all cut to 20 mm long and they were manufactured from 1.5 mm x 4mm Obechi.
This was all then assembled and glued together with white PVA glue and set aside to dry – it was all then sanded down very carefully – it had 3 coats of sand n sealer on it to protect it.   Once the sand n sealer had dried – the duck board was set in place – and glued at the rear of the main superstructure where the 2 rear doors are located.

The next thing I made was the steering chains and steering linkages; for this we need 6 small rollers of approx ¼ inch diameter x approximately 1/8 inch thick.   Now I had these manufactured from brass; but, I have since found (in an old scrap box containing parts of a plastic kit) in actual fact its an old old Airfix Sherman or Churchill tank – and the track wheels just happen to be of the exact size for these rollers.     Also, along with these rollers we need a tiller arm, small housings to hold the deck rollers and also the housings to hold the guide rollers in place on the side of the superstructure.   Also, we require some very fine chain – plus some plastic tubing of about 2mm diameter.   So first off, I made the tiller arm; which is really just a long arm with 3 holes in it – supported in the centre by a fake rudder shaft.   This arm I glued to the deck and slightly bent it in an arc shape.   
The deck roller housings were the next thing I made, from Plasticard and they are just an ‘open ended box’ with a shelf on it where the roller sits in.   

I made the supports for the rollers which are located on the side of the superstructure next and these supports I made similar to a ‘U’ shape – I made them from brass but, you could as well make them easily from Plasticard.

I superglued the 4 rollers either side of the main superstructure; the 2 go at the aft of the superstructure (either side) the 2 forward ones go at the front end of the superstructure but they are in line with the steering wheel and the bridge inside the wheelhouse.   With the Plastic tubing I made the chain guards – these are the guards which go around the chain to protect the sailors from being caught up in amongst the chain!   2 lengths run between the two pulleys either side of the main superstructure and there are 2 shorter lengths run after the superstructure and terminate at the deck roller supports.

So the next stage basically is to add a bit of fine chain from the tiller arm – through your deck guide roller; into the end of the chain guide tube.   
The next bit of chain comes from the end of the long bit of guide tube which runs along the sides of the main superstructure.   It then goes around the end roller and goes up underneath the wheelhouse.
This is how I assimilated the chain steering for the model; there are two pieces of mesh to glue in place, which assimilate the checker plate covering.   This goes over the tubing at the aft of the vessel where the duck board is.

The next part of the build; I purchased a commercially available item to do this with – it is the grating which covers the tiller arm at the stern of the vessel.   This grating can be purchased from a good model shop; it is easy to assembly – because one piece locks into the next to form a grate.  They look a lot like the ramparts of a castle.  As I say, I built up sufficient grating to cover the tiller arm.   See the main drawing.   
The trawling capstan was next on the agenda to be made.   One thing when building a model; is to try and equip yourself with as many photographs as possible of the vessel plus items on the vessel (such as fittings & etc., anything you can lay your hands on).    Some vessels you will find there are very few photographs, and, you may possibly get a distance photograph of that vessel.   As far as I have found, it is the same with this particular vessel – so, I had to do some Sherlock Holmes’ style detective work – i.e. looking in books etc., the web – you name it.   As it happens, I found one or two good photographs on the web & actually on Mayhem Model Boat forum; Grebuval (Mike) when he built his capstan for his fishing vessel – you tend to download a lot of photographs of different vessels with similar equipment and this is what I had to do for the capstan.

With the aid of photographs & plans  we are working from – we can begin to plan out how we are going to make this and what materials we are going to make it from.

I opted for Plasticard, balsa wood – some brass building pins – so, first of all, what I did was cut a circular base unit out from Plasticard – 1mm thick – then I made the stand for the support which fits on top of the base unit and forms part of the base unit – out of two smaller circles cut from 1mm Plasticard.   Also, a circle cut from 5mm thick balsa wood – of the same diameter.

I glued the 2 plastic circles (one each side) of the balsa wood and therefore sandwiching the balsa wood between them.  Then ‘trued’ the outside diameter up – using a bolt for a mandrel through the middle of the base and the whole assembly was then clamped in a Dremel drill and with a piece of course emery/sandpaper – the outside diameter was ‘trued’ up.  It was then removed from the Dremel and the mandrel was removed.

I then wrapped the outside diameter in 5mm Plasticard – then – what I did was glued the larger diameter circle on the bottom of the base; creating a top hat shape.  This is the base unit.

Next to construct is the actual capstan itself, which sits on top of the base.

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Re: PLAN BUILD NUMBER 4: DRIFTER/TRAWLER FREDERICK SPASHETT
« Reply #49 on: November 13, 2008, 01:34:08 am »

and here are some more pictures .....
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