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Author Topic: Model Slipway Shamrock  (Read 3732 times)

chris holley

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Model Slipway Shamrock
« on: October 14, 2009, 09:39:09 pm »

i am waiting for this model to arrive, i want to no if any one has built it, what pictures an setup ideas you have? Also can i use a twin motor setup or just the one> many thanks chris
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riggers24

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Re: Model Slipway Shamrock
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2009, 10:34:59 pm »

Taken from the model slipway site

Shamrock is being promoted as an introduction to the skills and techniques of constructing a model boat from glassfibre and styrene deck, superstructure, with major fittings either vac-formed from styrene or cast in alloy. The model is loosely based on the full-size Halmatic M160 class fast patrol boat, three of which are in service in the Caribbeans. The Shamrock is operated by the police on the island of Montserrat. So, what do you get for your money? On opening the box, the superbly moulded glassfibre hull is the first item to impress. This was a high quality moulding, with a very crisp finish and would need little, if any, preparation; three die-cut sheets of styrene, two of which were identical plus two printed sheets, were provided to make up the major components of the model. A sheet of vac-formings was also provided with a pack of styrene strip, prop shaft and metal rod. Also provided are the rigid Inflatable Boat (R.I.B.), the clear vac-formings for the windscreen etc., and a bag of white metal fittings.

The designer, Dave Milbourn, has gone to great lengths to provide a first class set of perspective drawings. These were contained within the Assembly Instruction, which also contained the packing list, (against which the contents should be checked) advice on which tools and adhesives to use, guidance notes on working with the various materials supplied, colour scheme, a detailed parts list, drawings of the white metal parts to aid identification, layout of the die-cut sheets, how to solder white metal and last, but not least, how to construct a stand for the model. A full size plan is also provided.

MAKING A START: So, where do we start? I began by checking that everything that I should have received in the kit box was there. Using the packing list, the parts list and the illustration and list for the white metal fittings, I ensured that the kit was complete. I spent a couple of evenings reading through the assembly instructions, referring both to the text and the diagrams. This helps to get the build sequence sorted out and also to resolve any queries before construction begins. I then built the stand. Not a work of art but robust enough to support the model, longer than the model to help to protect it when carrying it through doorways, and built so that the waterline of the model is parallel to the workbench. This will help to ensure all uprights are perpendicular to the waterline.

The hull was then rubbed down with wet and dry paper, used wet, to dull that lovely smooth finish. This would provide a key for the paint later. By doing this it also removes any release agent used to remove the hull from its mould. The next step is to fit the running gear - prop shaft and tube and rudder. Masking tape was stuck to the hull where the holes were to be made and the positions marked onto the tape. This serves two purposes: 1) it enables the positions to be marked out easily - and if a mistake is made the tape can be replaced and the process started again - and 2) it helps to stop the drill bit slipping off the hull.

After the holes are drilled and filed to shape and size, I placed the hull in the stand. From the vac-forming provided I cut out and prepared the motor mount. I had to hand one of the motors from the range by Electronize who advertise in this magazine. I suppressed and wired the motor ready for installation and fitted the drive-coupling. With the prop shaft assembly and motor mount (with motor) loosely installed, I checked the dimensions as in Fig.4 of the instructions. When I was satisfied, I drew around the motor mount and removed it from the hull. The prop shaft was then tacked in place with Deluxe Materials Roket Rapid Superglue. Where parts were stuck to the hull, the fibreglass was roughened first with coarse sandpaper.

After checking again, the motor mount was stuck in place with Super Crylic adhesive, and the prop shaft secured with Isopon P38. The rudder support SC1 was glued into place with Super Crylic ensuring the rudder was perpendicular. The rest of the internal fittings were assembled from the plastic parts - battery tray, receiver, servo platform and the receiver battery pack platform and positioned in the hull as shown in Fig.8. Plastic Magic was used to glue the plastic and Super Crylic was used to glue them to the hull.

The next step was to fit the deck supports. The instructions and diagrams proved again to be very informative. The first plastic strips were roughened up to provide a key for the adhesive and stuck to the top edge of the hull with epoxy adhesive and held in place with bulldog clips. When set, they were scraped level to the top of the hull using a Stanley knife held at 90 degrees and drawn along the edge. The next strips were glued to the first with Plastic Magic, and scraped level as before. Final leveling was done by rubbing the inverted hull onto wet and dry paper glued to a flat surface.

The various cross beams and coamings were made up next. The deck parts were glued into place using Revell Contacta Professional. The decks were held down with masking tape until the glue was thoroughly dry. When the tape was removed, the decks were trimmed flush to the edge of the hull using a miniplane and medium grade wet and dry (used dry) on a sanding block. Any small gaps were filled with Revell Plasto.

SUPERSTRUCTURE: The superstructure is made up of mostly flat panels, which help to make construction quite straightforward. I began by removing the various parts from the die-cut sheets. They were marked out as shown in Figs. 22, 23 and 24 of the instructions, ensuring that I made up a left hand and right hand side to the cabin. The various supports were glued into place, and then the parts were glued to the base which had been marked out as in Fig. 25. I used a square and right angled blocks to ensure that the parts were vertical. The structure was built up in the correct sequence, taking care to ensure a good fit or problems with parts 52 and 53.  The roof assembly Fig.27 was made next and glued into position with front window 61. The other two front windows and roof sections were added. I left the front windows centres in place until later. At this point, I filled and rubbed down the superstructure where required. I cut out all of the windows frames from the printed sheet at this time and put them to one side until later.

The wheelhouse screen was trimmed and fitted next followed by the two bridge wings. The window frames were left off until after painting. The side lockers and seats Fig. 32 and 33 were built up. It is advisable (with hindsight!) to paint the seats and fit after painting the rest of the superstructure. The console assembly was made up of pre-printed parts. They were cut out and assembled using Plastic Magic. I left this off the model until after painting. I made up the wheelhouse doors remembering to make one left hand and one right hand. The access steps were quite straightforward, I ensured the step treads were parallel to the deck when offered up to the superstructure.

MAST: The parts for the mast spacers were cut out and assembled. The rest of the mast assembly was made up from the plastic tubes and brass rods supplied. Both parts were bent to shape together so that the front and back were identical. The spacers were glued using Roket Rocket Rapid Superglue. The mast assembly was offered into position and I noted where the fixing holes were to be drilled. The holes were drilled and the mast glued into position.

CANOPY: The canopy frame was next. The rounded corners were bent around a dowel. The outline of the frame was drawn on the bench and the parts taped to the bench top. The joints were wired with 5 amp fuse wire and soldered with a gas iron using ordinary electrical solder with additional flux to ensure the solder flowed into the joints. As with all soldering it was important that the joints were clean before solder was applied. The frame top was temporarily fitted to the mast so that the length of the supports could be ascertained. The supports were put in place and soldered to the canopy top. This framework was removed, the flux and surplus solder cleaned off and the framework refitted to the superstructure, Supergluing into place. The windscreen (with the dimple) was covered with masking tape and marked out as shown in Fig.43 of the instructins. The windscreen was left off until after the superstructure was painted.  I had now reached the stage where I was going to use more of the white metal fittings. I removed them from the bag, cleaned them up using a fine file and finished with a brass bristled brush, suede brushes are good for this job. The fittings were then primed ready to take the final colour.

HANDRAILS: The handrails were fitted next. A piece of 5mm square wood was used as a spacer for the side rail at the rear of the superstructure. The front rail was formed around a paint tin. The front rail and the side rails were joined by the brass tube, which was superglued to the white metal supports. The other supports were fitted in place in the front of the superstructure and part 114, the 1mm wire rail, was soldered to the supports, which were in turn soldered to the handrail. The battery was used as a weight to keep the whole thing stable.  The rear side rails and pilot rail were made up by using jigs made from scrap wood and MDF. Again, dowel was used for the radius and please note the rear rails are handed, port and starboard. When making up the pilot rail, Fig. 45 shows the position of the legs. Note that the forward legs are not positioned on the corners of the frame, but are set inside.

DECK FITTINGS: The davit winch and anchor winch were made next. Where two parts were identical, e.g. the sides of the winch, I stuck them together with double-sided tape to ensure they ended up the same shape after trimming. The plastic parts were glued with Plastic Magic and the drums fitted with a touch of superglue.

When making up the liferaft canister, Fig.50, the two halves of the canister were rubbed down on wet and dry paper to get them flat. When the canister was assembled, I did not glue it onto the supports, as they were to be painted a different colour.

The helmsman's seat was next to be made from the plastic and white metal parts. The vac-formings were trimmed on the wet and dry as previously described and superglued onto the white metal base. I then cut out all the parts to the davit and marked the part numbers with a soft pencil on each part. Again, where there were identical components I held them together with double sided tape while trimming. I glued the parts together and fitted them to the white metal bases. Please note that the two arms, 153 and 154 are not identical and that the thread representing the lifting rope should be able to pass over the pins 162.

RIGID INFLATABLE BOAT: The R.I.B. is a complete kit in its own right. I checked the list of components and then began by trimming the plastic parts to size, smoothing on wet and dry where appropriate. When the upper and lower hull parts had been trimmed, I held them together with masking tape to check for fit, the lower half should fit inside the upper half. The end caps should fit over this assembly. When I was satisfied, I glued the parts together with Plastic Magic and left aside to dry. The R.I.B. was filled where necessary and the other parts made up. I did not fit the seat assembly etc. until after painting.

PAINTING THE MODEL: I had to decide whether or not to use Humbrol paints or aerosol cans from Halfords. Before I had made my decision I was given the opportunity to try a new range of paints from Model Master. Produced in the USA by Testor, these paints are pre-thinned ready for spraying or they can be brush painted. Supplied in a sachet, the paints fit directly onto the Model Master Airbrush or with a suitable adapter, the majority of other manufacturers products. The paints themselves were acrylic and available in matt, satin or gloss finish. So I sent off my list of colours to the UK importers and they sent me more than enough for the model. I found it necessary to use quite a large jet for airbrushing and relatively low pressure to prevent the paint drying out prematurely. I was advised to thin the paint a bit more using windscreen washer fluid as this was a suitable solvent for acrylic paints. The paints used direct from sachets did give a satisfactory finish.

So back to the model. The waterline was drawn around the hull in time honoured fashion of mounting a soft pencil in a suitable clamp or fixed to a block of wood of the correct height. I used as usual my minidrill stand. The line was masked using Tamiya tape, one of the best for this purpose. This tape was backed up with a cheap masking tape from B&Q and paper. Do avoid using newspaper as the print can come off and mark the model.  When the major areas of painting were complete, I masked the edge of the deck and carefully hand painted in the white deck edging. The kickrails shown in Fig.21 were also added after painting.

FINISHING OFF: I was now able to complete the hull. The positions of the fittings were marked onto Tamiya masking tape, which had been suitably positioned. By making the marks onto the tape it ensured that if a mistake was made I only had to replace a strip of tape, rather than try to remove a pencil mark from the deck. The components at the stern were fitted in a similar manner.

The R.I.B. parts were now fitted to the R.I.B. and the whole assembly fitted in place. I made sure the whole thing hung OK and secured the R.I.B. to the support frame with two blobs of silicone bath sealant. The superstructure was completed with the addition of the windows and glazing. Do not use superglue for the windows! It will cause the clear plastic to fog. Use a styrene adhesive like Plastic Magic sparingly. The wheelhouse area was also finished off with the addition of waterslide transfers to represent the instruments. The kit, as supplied, was now finished, all that remained was for me to install the drive motor and radio gear.

RADIO INSTALLATION: The first step was to install the rudder servo. This was attached to its platform using Sticky Fixers. This method is quite OK for an installation where the rudder is not likely to suffer knocks or other hefty forms of treatment. With the servo in place the linkage to the rudder was made up with a metal clevis at the rudder end and a ball and socket joint at the servo. I used a ball and socket because of the slightly angled alignment.

Next to be installed was the motor. As I mentioned earlier I used one of the motors from Electronize. This was a standard 545 type of motor and matched the motor mount supplied and it was held in place with elastic bands (note, the 540/1 motor used by the manufacturers is perfectly suitable). I used a standard Futaba 40MHz two-channel radio. One channel was used for the rudder servo, the other for the Fleet electronic speed controller. I have switched this controller between different models and it has always performed reliably. The radio, speed controller and radio battery were all fitted in place with Velcro.

The speed controller was fitted with male and female Tamiya connectors, one going to the motor, the other to the 7.2v Nicad pack. As I try to avoid where possible wiring between the hull and removable superstructure, the aerial was  fitted around the edge of the coaming. All that remained was to fit the on/off switch for the radio in an accessible position.

It was now time for the bath test. Floating the model in the bath enabled me to check that it was sitting on its waterline, without any list. Sure enough, the model sat nice and level across the beam, but a touch too deep at the stern. I could have rectified this by adding a small weight in the bows but I decided to leave it until after testing at the lake.

AT THE LAKE: The first operation at the lakeside was to carry out a radio check. With the boss (wife!) watching operations I walked a distance away (further than I would normally operate a model from) operating the rudder and throttle. With confirmation that all was working OK it was time to get it wet in anger! With the boat in the water the throttle was opened in small increments and the rudder operated gently from side to side and the centre position checked for straight running. I then applied more throttle and while it's true to say that Shamrock didn't take off like a rocket, it had a reasonable turn of speed. It would probably be worth experimenting with different motors if you were after a more lively performance but I found the existing motor gave reasonable duration from the 1400mA battery pack and sailing the model was enjoyable.

CONCLUSIONS: The model lives up to its promise. It is a straightforward build using plastic, fibreglass and white metal materials. Its semi-scale appearance has a well-balanced look to it and it is an excellent intermediate model that fits neatly into that grey area between beginner and expert. In fact the skills used to build this model readily transfer to building one of the more demanding models in the Model Slipway range. The greatest accolade must go to the instruction manual - fully comprehensive, virtually idiot proof (I only made a couple of mistakes!) It puts the offerings from some other manufacturers to shame.
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John W E

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Re: Model Slipway Shamrock
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2009, 11:19:38 pm »

hi there

Although this is not the kit, this Shamrock is built from the plan.  I am in the process of making this model at the present time.The plan I am currently working from I am certain may have been used to produce this kit (as there are certain dimensions drawn/written on the plan marking positions for a fibre glass hull).    Here is a photograph of my build so far - it is an enjoyable build I must add.

aye
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zetec

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Re: Model Slipway Shamrock
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2009, 07:01:34 pm »

I built one, nice model. I fitted an Graupner 600 Eco and 7.2v 3300 cell and get about 20-25 mins full throttle. Wouldnt both with twin motor as good single is plenty for the design.
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