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[nhp651]

where abouts in Ayrshire do you live Chris.............do you ever sail at Largs on the prom.........might see you this summer if you do

by the way that beautiful clean green laithe isn't mine........mine's the cruddy rusty old thing covered in dust.....similar model but it get's used, lol (ooops sorry peter),

neil.

[irishcarguy]

Hi Neil I thought the word you needed was abused not used LOL, Mick B.

[nhp651]

yeh...yer probably right there Mick..........

[nhp651]

Now that all the cabins fit onto their combings and the decks reasonably well, it's time to fit the "king plank"....the centre plank on the deck running from stern to bow. It is interupted by the cabind but it is a centre point to which the deck planks are laid.

However on these boat models the kit will be supplied with a printed deck overlay and they will but up to that King plank.

This was made from a strip of 1.8mm ply 10mm wide, just wider than the printed ply planks on the overlays, and was glued down with aliphatic resin glue.

As I had made the original main decks from templates that I had drawn and cut from card, I used these again to make the templates for the overlay decks. They had to be marked and cut down as they have a gap around the combings for the cabins to sit between and also a small space between the edge of the bulwarks and the deck, and so all templates had again to be marked , cut to size and then drawn on to 1.8mm ply before the ply was cut out and finally offered up to the boat for final tweaking.

The will then be marked as per plan in pencil, lightly with all planking and hatch markings, before being given two or three coats of cellulose sanding sealer to seal the markings in.

Once rubbed down with wire wool the markings will be drawn over with black draughting pen and ink as would the planks look after being caulked.

Finally each piece will be photocopied at my friendly print shop, and it will be the photocopies of the deck overlays which will be traced onto draughting paper for making the screen prints for the production deck overlays.........a bit of a long drawn out( excuse the pun) process but aty least I'll know that the overlays will fit to the decks the way they should, if the model is built the way it should be.

The photos shown below in order show the king planks being laid where the deck and cabins allow, the templates for the overlays,the overlays on the FM & Mrs S, and then the overlays of Mary Stanford, Field marshall and Mrs Smuts and H F Bailey, in that order.

[nhp651]

today I've been marking out the planking, filler cap holes, deck lights, bollard bases and the access hatches on the deck overlays.
To get the planks marked off in line running the full length of each boat, I marked the measurements for the planks on a scrap piece of ply, and then laid a 600mm steel rule on a building board.
I could then tape down the piece of timber so that the edge making up to the king plank was fitted snugly to the steel rule( which took the place of the King plank.)
then marking off the plans for measurement, all the small areas were first marked on, and finally the planks marked onto both the bow and stern pieces of overlay. Finally I inserted the centre section of each deck side, and ran the plank lines from these two pieces over the centre piece, thus getting the plank lines running through the whole deck in a good straight line.

All 18 pieces of deck will now be taken off to the print shop tomorrow for photocopying, so that I can eventually trace them onto draughtingpaper for making screen prints for the kits.
Quite a monumental task, it is now 23.45......and I started the process at 14.00 hopurs this afternoon, with a break of 30 minuted for my evening meal...................time for bed said Zebedee...boinggggg

[irishcarguy]

That is sure one big pile of work in one day Neil, I find my best working time is at night late, usually after midnight, sometimes until 3pm. Mick B.

[nhp651]

I slept well last night Mick, knowing that task was out the way, lol

[nhp651]

Took the timber overlays to my mate's at the printers this morning.

He photocopied them to A3 size paper, which will now be traced, giving the exact size of deck and planks, etc for screen printing.

The timber overlays can now be glued to the main decks.

[nhp651]

this morning I have been preparing the printed  deck overlays for gluing onto the main deck.

This entailed sealing in the printwork of planks etc with cellulose sanding sealer. once dried and rubbed down, I drilled the holed in the due places marked for the petrol filling scuttles and bilge pump outlets which come as white metal fittings.

Drilling undersize with a forstner bit in my pillar drill, ( so as not to chip the edges of the timber ) I then enlarged the holes with 120 grade grit paper, wound into a tube around a piece of dowel rod and sanded the holes to accept the fittings.
Finally I cut the tags for the fittings with a craft knife.

[nhp651]

yesterday was deck fitting...yet again, lol


what would I do without old batteries and parcel tape.

deck overlays have now been glued to the main decks.just allow it to all dry for the next few hours. before removing all the weights.

However, even with the weight I had on the decks, AND the parcel tape that I used to hold the deck edges down, when I pulled them all off this morning...I still had a very small piece of deck on each model that hadn't grabbed down and stuck, so great care has to be taken to hold all down to the main decks.
Also on the bow of the Mary Stanford, there had been a small amount of "slip" on ther port deck sheet, and this left a gap between the deck overlay and the king plank, which had to be filled with a thin slither of 1.8mm ply.

However, hopefully this will all look well once all has been sanded and the coats of varnish have been applied.

[irishcarguy]

Hi Neil, I am surprised @ the amount of work you get done in one day. The boats are looking great, you really are a master craftsman, & nice guy too.( most times,LOL) Keep up the good work. Mick. PS = You never called me back.//,..//?:"_+-=.

[nhp651]

Hi Mick, thanks for the comments..............you didn't email me with your phone number...........I can't find the email that had it on last time...........send me that and I'll phone you over the weekend...kids start hols tomorrow so will be otherwise engaged tomozz and will be off to bed in about 20 mins...kerknackered..
neil.

[nhp651]

It's amazing how what looks to be a simple job/task takes so much work and so many attempts are thrown away before you get the pieces to fit just as they should.
I thought theat the bow bulwark boards which will eventually incorporate the bow Gobeye and the two Fairleads as shown in the pics.

They have to follow the sheer of the boat, and also the curve of the bulwarks whilst standing virtical to the deck.
Finally got it right at the second attempt and then tried to "dry" bend one of the boards once cut....it didn't go well.....as I had cut accross the grain, leaving a "short" grain to the timber, and it snapped.......so back to the cutting board and  yet another was made.

I then decided that it would be easier to pin the boards with 0.5mm brass wire and then glue the piece into the deck with cyano.
the fairleads were also glued into the boards to give them strength.

The white metal fairleads are generic fittings taken from my fittings bin....and those which were used on the Anne Letita Russell. However they have been re cut to the design used on the other two larger Watson boats of the period.

So a shortish job became a longer one than I thought it would.

[nhp651]

Plans can be wrong!!!!

It's always wise when building from scratch to check ALL information before blundering on in your own little world of conceit and self importance.

|I thought that by following the plans for the only one of two of the boats produced that the boat would be built as planned........

I spent time making the bow bulwark boards for the Field marshall and Mrs Smuts yesterday, glued them on and ONLY THEN  did I look at the photos that I have of her............only to my annoyance that I had made them far too long, so I then checked the photos of the other Watson H F Bailey, which were the same on plans.....only to find that the photos showed that they too, were wrong..............so this morning, both boats will have the snip......and they should look something like this.

the moral of the story is.........always check all forms of information before going further.

[nhp651]

well, after the cock up last night of the bow bulwark boards, I set too and decided to look at the photos of the models I am building rather than use my imagination...so after much trimming marking and cutting of the pieces of 1.8 ply to conform to the sheer of the boat I was able to cut the six pieces thsat make up the curves of the kick boards lodged between the fairleads down the length of the boat.

the sections for the other two boats will be different and so the whole process will begin again tomorrow.

the kick boards are held in place onto the decks using pins made from 0.5mm brass rod drilled into the kick boards carefully and then will be cyano'd to the decks once other bits have been painted.

[nhp651]

Today was the turn of the Field Marshall and Mrs Smuts for the kick boards.

However, unlike the H F Bailey where there are broken runs along the length of the deck with this boat, it is a continuous run virtually from bow to stern.

On the real boats the length would have been sections of plank scarfed together in a longitudinal joint..........but as I am working with 1.8mm ply, I didn't fancy that so one length it is.

It was a little problamatic getting the correct sheer line to the deck cut, but with a little sanding and cutting it was achieved.

On the fm & ms there is a gap at the bow end of the main longitudinal boards, port and sarboard, which on the boat is filled with a short length, recessed and fastened to the inside of the bow bulwark boards and the main kick board. thesae are shown on the first photo.

The planks were then transfered to draughting paper for later screen printing and then pinned in the same manner as the bow bulwark boards..

[nhp651]

Thirty three years ago this morning, at 02.24 hours, the final survivor, the captain of the cargo vessel....."Revi" was grabbed from certain death by the crew of the RNLB City of Bradford 1V, coxs'n'd by Brian Bevan of the Humber lifeboat.

Four minutes later in hurricaine force gales and 40' waves, the "Revi" turned turtle and sank within seconds.
As the captain was ushered to the survivors cabin of the 54' Arun, he said to the crew who had grabbed him from the aft rails just 5 words........which just sum up the bravery of the RNLI crews around the country..

"THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE"

Please support Ryan on his fund raiser for the lads, just as you did for us on the Loch Ness  sail last year.
Neil.

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=35151.msg353426#new

[nhp651]

And finally I have done the kick boards and breakwater for the Mary Stanford...again different from the other two and using the same techniques to construct the kick boards for the H F Bailey and the Field marshall and Mrs Smuts.



From now on there isn't much construction left....more a case of using the fittings that I have made and cast, plus the generic ones ( some of which I have already used on the kickboards) and fine detailing the boats, so before I get round to that, i'll now have a good clean up of my workshop so that I can lay all fittings out ready for painting and arranging............in the immortal words of Cptn Oates.........I might be gone some time/"

[nhp651]

Someone asked me by pm on another forum exactly how I pinned the 1.8mm ply with a brass pin so thought I'd put it on here for those with a steady hand.

I first used a tool (really it's a bit like the old bradawl for making holes to start a screw off).that I confiscated from a child one day who was throwing it at a bunch of other kids.............lethal thing but it has come in very handy. the steel tip is ground to a point, and I use this on the end grain to make a dimple into the ply.

once the dimple has been made, the very fine 0.5mm drill bit will not slide around on top, and can be drilled into the end grain of the ply to a depth of around 5mm....

make sure that you drill slowly and keep both the timber and the drill bit ( mounted into a dremmell drill) vertically.

finally cut some lengths of 0.5mm brass rod for the pins, put a little cyano onto a block of scrap timber and dab the ends of the pins into the  cyano before inserting into the predrilled holes.

finally using a guideline for the centre of the kickboard position, mark off the positions of the pins in the kick boards, 3 at a time from one end, and just set the kickboards into those holes, before proceeding onto the next three hols in turn......a slow but sure process, that needs to have a firm hold for the kick boards, as these boards will, although bracketted with white metal brackets of those fitted to the Anne Letitia Russell, will need to be sturdy as they will also carry the brackets for the white metal stanchions and cleets/anchors etc.
they will eventually be painted and set in position with cyano once the hulls have been painted.

1. The first pic shows the tip of the "bradawl" with the indentation just to the right of the tip

2. Next is the drill bit going into the end grain of the 1.8mm timber....a steady hand needed

3. The pins have been set into the timber

4. The pin positions have been marked on the deck and drilled.

5. The kick boards set into position and the kick board brackets added.

[irishcarguy]

Hi Neil, you certainly did not have a few beers before drilling those holes, the workmanship is first class & I am watching with very keen interest, thank you for the tread it is brilliant. Mick B.

[nhp651]

thanks Mick...

.I haven't forgotten to ring you.

it's been half term this week and my elder daughter has been out in an evening for a dance show and practices so the time I would have phoned have been taken up....will do so this weekend, matey...have a chat.........sorreeee.
neil.

[nhp651]

Today I did very little except to "cobble " up the surrounds for the bow gobeye fairlead.
It is the fairlead that ropes would be passed through for such practices as veering down on a casualty and as such is quite a heafty fitting made from bronze in real life.....but here it is a generic fitting with the Anne Letitia Russell, however it will have to be modified before it is finally set into place, and also the whole assembly will be filled and faired in to make a smooth entity in it's own right before passing "muster"

[DickyD]

gateway 504, Dicky................and there'sanother copy on the way.....


please Mods delete the two extra posts...thanks.
neil.

Glad its not just me, I was getting a 504 complex Neil.

[nhp651]

I get it every time i try to post Dicky.....normally I just back click, and then press refresh and it clears and posts my stuff......but not today..for some reason it posted multiples again.

ceste la vie.

[Tug---Kenny]

I have cleared them for you.

If it happens again then go to  'Modify'  on the unwanted post and delete the words and pictures and, as you have to have something posted, just put up a smily.

I clear duplicate postings as a way of life nowadays.   


ken

 

[nhp651]

cheers Ken... I'd ( in my simple self mind).........not thought of doing that.................      derrrhhhhh

[nhp651]

Once I have faired in the gobeye fairlead, I will need to paint the thing, and any of the other fairleads with a bronze colouring.
Some years ago, Humbrol did some "authentic" metal colours including "polished Steel", bronze and polished alluminium to name a few, where you painted them on and then scuffed them over with a stiffer brush such as a tooth brush.....does anyone know where I can still buy the bronze paint...or a similar substitute..as I need to achieve the colour as shown in the next few shots.

Thanks in advance.
neil.

[Norseman]

http://www.humbrol.com/paints/all-paints/aq0171-171-antique-bronze-50ml-metallic-enamel-tinlet-aq0171/

Hi Neil - very hard to match colours on a monitor but that above is a Humbrol antique metallic bronze.

Dave

[nhp651]

cheers Dave..that's exactly the stuff I want.........a tin is on it's way.

thanks again.
neil.

[nhp651]

yesterday, spent cleaning up the edges of the printed decks to the kick boards and readying them for the kickboard brackets..........also  making up the bow fairlead for the Mary Stanford.

Unlike the two Watsons which have a white metal fitting, the M.S. is just made up from two printed pieces of 1.8mm ply with a final addition of a bow roller ( not yet fitted) inbetween the two upright flanges of the fairlead.

Also Ispent time filling the small gaps between the edges of the deck overlays ready for spraying the areas of none slip grey onto the decks and gunwales before also painting the kick boards and finally the decks.

For filling these small gaps I used knifing putty from any car accessory shop, which is cellulose based and covers light scratches and gaps well.

Today's job will be to sand down and fair in with milliput , the white metal fairleads, the Mary Stanford fairlead and the decks,and then adding a few brackets and such for the fenders, grab ropes and rudder before possibly painting the hulls later this week.

[nhp651]

you would not believe how long it has taken today, just to mask up the decks of three models ready for spraying the antislip areas to the decks, and the deck surrounds..........just unbeleivable, but now it's done, some colour on the models will encourage me to get on with the topside cabins and detailing.

I sprayed the antislip to the parts of the deck needed with a textured paint which dries with a gritty type look, and although not the colour I need for a classic lifeboat, the texture isn't far from what I need, so, not being a true purist, I'll settle for it, with a colour wash later to the lighter grey that I want to match the kick boards.

And in the order, the photos are:

Masking up.

the inner parts of the front cabins of the H F Bailey and the Mary Stanford posed a little dilemma as I had no combings to stick the tape too......so I coated the inner walls with masking tape and then shoved an old rag into the well to cover the floors.....hope it works, lol

And before I sprayed the textured paint which would almost certainly bung up the small 0.5mm holes that I had drilled to take the pins for the kick boards I inserted some longer brass rod into the start and finish holes to locate the kick boards once the paint had dried.

And then using the textured paint and here is a picture of the textured paint can I use for the none slip deck coatings I did a little shaking and then got down to the serious stuff, and added my first colour.

OOOOHHH.can feel the sap rising, lol

With the end result.
Just have to leave it for 24 hours now for the paint to set solid.

[irishcarguy]

Hi again Neil, this tread is  one of the best I have followed on here. I am really looking forward to the painting & finishing work.(one of my really weak points among a lot of others). It was a pleasure speaking to you today on the phone, I really want to get over & meet as many Mayhem members as possible, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, so to speak, LOL. I really owe some guys a few pints after all the help I have been given on here I will even buy one for Dave @ ACTion & I want to know if Martin is a real person or not, there are rumours that he is an Android, thats why he never has to sleep. Back to your build, it is the prep work that takes the most time & determines the quality of the final finish, ask any autobody painter. Do you spray with an air brush or hand paint with a brush ?, just curious. Mick B.

[Norseman]

Hi Mick - I would like to meet you - you did invite the ugly 

Brush or Spray surely can't be the issue here ...............
How does Neil paint anything in his dust shop ........ er work shop I mean?

Seriously though - Paint is something I really need to learn about Neil. I have
had some good advice on paint from Peter but it would be nice to also see it
done before I have a go.

Dave

[nhp651]

Do you spray with an air brush or hand paint with a brush ?, just curious. Mick B.

And nice to talk to you as well Mick.
I use automotive sprays from Halfords car care shops, mainly, but do use a brush for such things as the kickboards and have some nice cammel haired brushes for that. I use Humbrol enamel paints for this job, but these paints are the last to go on, as they are fine to paint over and on top of acrylics and cellulose paints..........however,as the age old question of which paint first........you can't paint an acrylic or cellulose paint over and on top of an enamel or oil based paint as the cellulose or acrylic will eat into the enamel and oil paint and leave an "orange peel" effect, and ruin your paint work.

I'll phone Adrian tonight about your Tamar, Mick and then get back to you.........as someone said recently I suppose I'm one of the "clique" that he will talk to....suppose it's because I don't malign or abuse him on open forum every chance I get...

[nhp651]

Hi Mick - I would like to meet you - you did invite the ugly 

Brush or Spray surely can't be the issue here ...............
How does Neil paint anything in his dust shop ........ er work shop I mean?

Seriously though - Paint is something I really need to learn about Neil. I have
had some good advice on paint from Peter but it would be nice to also see it
done before I have a go.

Dave

I normally sheet up and hide it all when I spray, Dave.

As for lessons on painting..........don't look to me for those.........I'm the last one to ask........am sadly very impatient and usually cock it up more that once.
Welsh Wizzard is the man to give lessons on this, and has many times on here and other forums, kindly offered good advice and his knowledge on the subject of how to paint well.
My ignorance of the subject is well known, and that is one of the reasons I prefer to build classics with "wooden" cabins more often than not..they only need varnishing.

neil.