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[RAAArtyGunner]

Dave is located in Liverpool, and a lot of good comedians tend to come from there.Ken Dodd (the best) They joke when they steal your car wheels  LOL.
Good to see this post is now coming back to a friendly nature,so lets all let Neil get on with his build,and let him and his stones "get satisfaction"
Mick F

Are you saying Neil and others are stoned????????????

[Neil]

well, I've had confirmation today that the latest colour that I have painted the engine casing of the "Smuts" in is just about right, so after I havehelped my electrician to sort out the wiring to the shower ( which is very perplexing to say the least) I can give it a few more coats.

Yes....any sparks amongst us.....

Scenario...............a few weeks ago the electric shower stopped working.........there was power to the main switch on the landing, and when the electrician tested it all, there was power going to the shower and all through it.
burt when you turn on the power on the shower, the LED on the main switch will go out and the shower still won't work...........water is getting too and through the shower, but the lecki thought it might be the solanoid........so I bought a new shower........he fitted it this morning, and exactly the same problem...the shower won't work and when you turn it on the led light on the main switch goes off............however more disconcertingly, the small auxiliary fuse trip box just doesn't trip out on any of these proceedures,which carries all but the shower and extension lights.........
 and yet if a bulb blows the fuse trips on the main house fuse trip box
any ideas please as we are (excuse the pun) groping in the dark!!

[Norseman]

Just a thought Neil - and this could be the dumb idea mentioned earlier -  is the water supply of sufficient pressure?
Has something happened in or out of the house to reduce pressure? Power is there but a low pressure sensor won't
allow heating to take place is my thinking.

Also you say 'I have helped my electrician to sort out the wiring to the shower ( which is very perplexing to say the least) I can give it a few more coats.'
Painting the shower unit is not a good idea and with your record the colour is probably a shade out too.

Dave

[rottweiler]

forget the shower and have a bath?

[irishcarguy]

Hi Neil if you don't wash soon I will be able to smell you from here, Talk to Dave he is an expert on bathtubs. I would say about your boat colours that when we look at it on our monitors they all have slight colour differences, I have double monitors on my computer & your paint colours look different from one monitor to the other. Also all the painters that I have asked have told me on many occasions to always check your colours under natural light & NEVER under tube lighting of any kind as there are several different colour casts from different tubes & they even change from one manufacturer to another despite been listed as the same light value. As an aside, when you are running machines under tube lighting you should also have incandescent light to eliminate the strobe effect you get with tube lighting for safety reasons. Mick B.

[Neil]

cheers for that Mick..........I'll pull it out into the garden tomorrow to have a look seems like good advice to me , thanks.

well, after an dayus horribillis where I might have to take the bathroom tiles off and the stud walling apart to get at the wiring because ther eis a break somewhere between the switch and the shower......and I don't relish that we are back to having baths for the time being.......don't bother me as I love a wallow.........just like a hippo, but my wife and kids hate baths.....it was down to doing a little modelling.
So!,
Now that the colour scheme has finally been sorted out I can now finally get down to painting and fitting the fittings cast for the models onto the right positions...started this evening by just adding a little detailing to the funnels of the 3 boats..the Klaxon horns, and the support brackets and the mast crutches that fit to the H F Bailey and the Mary Stanford.

The "Smuts" doesn't have a mast crutch as she folds her mast forward. the Klaxons I haven't fitted yet as these will be painted seperately black and brass, but the brackets and crutches will be sprayed with the funnels in a creamy yellowy buff colour

[rottweiler]

please note folks, not only can he build 3 Lifeboats at one time, but he can also watch "countdown" on telly at the same time ! Who said we males cant multi task??? I bet he plays with his submarine in the bath as well!! Up periscope?
Good work my friend
Mick F

[Neil]

no mate...my little lifeboat.........

[irishcarguy]

Hi Neil I should have added to my last post that one in five males are colour blind, that is a medical fact, mostly to the colours of brown, green & red, I am not sure which we see for what or how we get them mixed up, I am sure there is a bit of infro somewhere on the net. This is from my RAF days as you could not have access to drive on an airfield if you were colour blind.(not me I was O/K) Mick B.

[rottweiler]

ok I admit defeat on this one  of course it had to be a lifeboat

[Neil]

Now folks ....here is a cunundrum ( speaking of Countdown)....that I have no answer to. and is open to all Lifeboat officionado's, anoracks ,  the very knowledgeable amongst you all and just about any one of you that might have an idea

Pictured below is a shot of the RNLB Field Marshall and Mrs Smuts on her naming ceremony around 1945/6.
In fact she was on station by the 25th September, 1945 just 6 weeks after the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. So the country was still at war.

She was therefore built during the war period....something rare indeed as there were few built

She was also out of the many hundred's built over the years, only 1 of three boats built by a company called Morgan Giles of Teignmouth in all the years of motor lifeboats for the RNLI.

She was also one of only three boats of this design to be penned, and one of only two to be completed...the other being the RNLB Millie Walton earmarked for Douglas I O M but eventually stationed after the first few months of her life at Cromer to become the RNLB Henry Blogg.

So here is the question, and reading between the lines are the clues I think....and quite unusual.

On the port side of the forward cabin at the aft end, can be seen a plate ( looks like a steel plate ) rivetted onto the wooden canopy/cockpit of the boat.  
This doesn't appear on the sister boat, the Henry Blogg, but on the starboard side of boat boats in the center of the same position sits a motor driven capstan.
Was this a cockup on the part of the builder ( and therefore never offered another build contract) where they put the capstan on the wrong side originally, or was it war damage of some sort or even protection for the helmsman...........more questions than answers I think........but it is safe to say........I'll not be putting it on my model, as it would spoil what she should have originally looked  like.......and apparently this steel plate was kept on her throughout her whole service life............very strange...........and I have never seen this on a lifeboat before.

[RAAArtyGunner]

Hi Neil if you don't wash soon I will be able to smell you from here, Talk to Dave he is an expert on bathtubs. I would say about your boat colours that when we look at it on our monitors they all have slight colour differences, I have double monitors on my computer & your paint colours look different from one monitor to the other. Also all the painters that I have asked have told me on many occasions to always check your colours under natural light & NEVER under tube lighting of any kind as there are several different colour casts from different tubes & they even change from one manufacturer to another despite been listed as the same light value. As an aside, when you are running machines under tube lighting you should also have incandescent light to eliminate the strobe effect you get with tube lighting for safety reasons. Mick B.

If Australia, if you want good colour rendition with fluorescent light tubes we use "daylight" tubes and not "warm white" or "white".

Daylight tubes are installed in work environments where colour is important eg Bank tellers handling bank notes.

I use daylight tubes in my model  and workshop areas. You can also get daylight bulbs in the small compact energy saving fluoro tubes.

They may appear brighter but equate to natural light hence name daylight

[HS93]

I use the Full Spectrum Daylight Bulbs , great for reading colour codes etc great bench lights and handy for taking Pictures

Peter

[irishcarguy]

I use the daylight tubes too & you can buy extra bright ones that give far superior light than the regular ones @ double the cost though.The 4 ft. ones are now been discontinued & replaced with skinny 2 ft ones for energy efficiency but @ double the cost too. Mick B.

[heritorasphodel]

I suppose they could have mistakenly put the capstan on the wrong side, but is it likely that the boatyard would make that mistake? Granted this was one of three boats they had the contracts for, so maybe they weren't particularly good.

War damage I think is even less likely. Were there any raids in Teignmouth in '45? (it's a bit before my time). I'dve thought that if any raids would only be reaching as far as London if that at that point.

I think protection for the helmsman is least likely, as the Millie Walton was built first and she didn't have it.

I think boatyard error is probably it, but that plate looks fairly crude.

Andrew

[Netleyned]

I wouldn't think a yard like Morgan Giles would have made a mistake like that.
During the war they built over a 100 MTB's Harbour launches and pinnaces.
After the war they built two Gay class,two Dark Class and two Ham Class so I
think they knew what they were doing!

Ned

[Neil]

as you guys say.....it's a mystery....but a very strange one and the crew at the time didn't know why it turned up from the builders yard with it covering a large proportion of the cabin?...I don't think it was meant to be there unless a repair.........Possibly because it was built during the war, where natural rescources were very scarce, that was the only way to go, if a mistake had been made.....this was the only boat of class that Morgan Giles built though.they didn't build RNLB Henry Blogg

[bluebird]

hi ya Neil

You are doing a good job on 2 fronts

1 with the build and the other with converting me from a 'grey boy' to an orange and blue boy

Ive been thinking about the picture that you have put on concerning the plate which is fastened to the side of the cabin.   How does this grab you for a theory.

Knowing the lifeboat guys are a lot like the navy guys - if its not right - they dont accept - so I dont think this plate has been put on as a bodge by the builders.  Wondering if the initial design of the lifeboat required an opening in the side to facilitate the removal of say, buoyancy tanks for repair/inspection or fuel tanks.  This is one possibility; the other one is that without what was supposed to be on the inside of the cabin - was there supposed to be some heavy machinery mounted there originally? that is a possibility - I favour the idea of an access hatch for the removal of something out of that area of the boat.   I have seen this done before, where 2 boats have been built in different yards, supposedly from the same set of plans but one boat has been modified because its been further through the build than the 2nd boat.

just food for thought there

aye
john

[Neil]

John.the cabin is just an open space inside, with two pedistals with wheels on top for forward/reverse of the engines, and the pedistal for the compass and wheel....also there is a steel bulkhead to the front with a w/t door leading down below. the bulkhead contains all the dials and switches for the engine controls.
the cabin at that point is just two 3/8" thick diagonally planked on battens......so I personally think that the capstan fitted to the side of the cabin on the starboard side, was mistakenly put on that side, and had to be covered and reinforced just prior to handing over.

and hey lads.how about a Mayhem holiday boat...we all chip in and draw straws for holiday times......cos this beaut is for sale..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXd9Gp55LjE

[F4TCT]

Price?

[Neil]

no idea Dan.......I couldn't find one......Iain Crosbie owner of 002 who sent me the link might know if you are interested.....are you a euro lottery winner though....you'll need it for fuel costs, lol

[Neil]

hi ya Neil
You are doing a good job on 2 fronts
1 with the build and the other with converting me from a 'grey boy' to an orange and blue boy
john

John..we're always happy to receive converts from the grey funnel line

[F4TCT]

Well interested and not interested Neil. 

Im more of a bayliner guy although an ex rnli trent would be very nice indeed.

Fuel seems to be killing everything these days..

Dan

[Neil]

nah..matey..you want steel under ya.

Trents go soggy on the bottom after a while,

[Neil]

well, less of the dreaming about big boats......and back to reallity.
I set out my vents, cowls , funnels and other larger bits and pieces this evening and gave them a first coat of primer....had to make a start as there are so many fittings to go on......if I can get all the fittings sprayed in batches whilst I put three transport  stands together it will make life easier once I have sprayed the hulls in the next week or so.

[tt1]

By 'eck Neil the speed of your progress still amazes me, got a spare mug of whatever your on?

        Credit to you mate, keep it coming - most enjoyable and very enlightening.        Regards, Tony.

[Neil]

I'm not that speedy Tony....

these fittings, and all the other ones that I have to go on the boats have been made and cast over the last few years......I'm a fake really..........in the immortal words of Valerie Singleton....."here's one I made earlier", lol

[essex2visuvesi]

I'm not that speedy Tony....

these fittings, and all the other ones that I have to go on the boats have been made and cast over the last few years......I'm a fake really..........in the immortal words of Valerie Singleton....."here's one I made earlier", lol

Now Im devastated... I had visions of you up untill all hours manically casting, muttering to yourself

[Neil]

a few more of those "made earler " fittings now painted up and readtyfor sticking onto the jigsaw puzzle.

[Neil]

Well, I decided to get away from the painting of fittings this afternoon and get down to some "decorative" woodwork  for a change, and so decided to make the rope bins for the "Smuts".

This consisted of a framework at deck level to attach the sides too...I doubt wether this was anything like a feature on the real boats as no positive photo is available of the bins at deck level but to aid the structure I have used a little modellers liscense or the thing wouldn't have stood a chance of remaining together. For the base I used some mahogany strip of 6 x 3mm and for the uprights some 3 x 3mm mahogany. For the rails I used some 4 x 2mm obeche that I had cut many years ago for some reason or other.

I started off by glueing the rectangular frame ( mitred at the corners) onto a piece of 1/64th ply to hold it all together, and left to set under a 12v battery.

Whilst these were setting(using quick grab aliphatic resin) I set about making the sides using the mahogany and obeshe strip........these were also left to set for an hour or so.

To fit the sides via the uprights to the bottom frames I cut recess slots into the frame for the uprights to glue into, before leaving them to set in the upright position.

Next was to glue the end rails in place to make the whole construction rigid.

A capping rail was glued to the top of the uppermost rail and left to set.

Tomorrow there will be a section cut out of the rope bin on the inner sides next to where the cowl vents go for access to the bins and the rope inside.
Finally they'll be sanded and stained teak in colour before varnishing.

[Neil]

The rope bins have now been trimmed up to fit the curvature of the cabin , sanded and pvarnished with a teak coloured varnish.......

I think it might need a couple more coats, but will let this one dry first.

The access sections to the bins have also been cut out where they sit next to the cowl vents.

[rottweiler]

Going back to your metal plate Neil,someone mentioned wartime bombing could have been a factor? I am not sure if you meant the yard was in Teignmouth Devon,or Tynemouth? If it was in Devon,It is more than certain that it did get bombed,as German Aircraft just followed the river to get to Exeter,so some bombs would have been dropped early by mistake. It is the 70th anniversary today of the  start of the German raids on Exeter,which suffered 18 air raids continuously,with great damage.
If the yard was Tynemouth,then sorry for wasting time, but it may be information for your many readers.
 Keep posting your amazing work ( you will have to have time off for the Bank Holiday!
Mick

[Neil]

Hi Mick..........yes it was from the Boatyard of Morgan Giles in Teignmouth, Devon..so could have been as she was delivered in the summer, but having said that it was delivered in the august of 1945 so the war in europe was all but over with the Luftwaffe completely stuffed by then....so unless it was damaged much earlier, the mystery remains, and I can't find a date on the plans, which usually signifies that it was either close to being built or in build process.

as for bank holidays.....what are they, lol

[Neil]

I have now come to the stage where I have to make the stands for my boats so that I can protect the hulls once I have painted them this week.
I have to admit that of all the models I have ever built, no two stands have ever been made the same way, or have ever looked the same.
However the best stand that I ever made was for a 57" model of the old WW1 HMS Kent, County Class cruiser.
At the time I hadn't a car but had reverted back to my carefree days and was riding a BMW r100s motorcycle.....it had a carrier rack on the rear, and I needed a stand that would sit on that.
It didn't concern me in those younger days that the model would have to sit crosswise across the bike, nor did I count the number of wing mirrors on cars that I took out.....wooops......it was the fact that I could still ride like a maniac and that my model wouldn't slip off the stand.
So I devised a stand that would support the model via rubber straps..............these tended to grip the hull rather than let it slide, and I could go round a bend or roundabout at 45* and the boat would still be there when I got to the lake......more than can be said for many things I carried on my bikes....lol.
Also in all the times I carried the model, the hull never got one scratch from being carried, and the whole stand acted like one huge shock absorber.
So today ( not that I am going to carry these models on a motorcycle, unless I get a Harley donated from some kind benefactor) I decided to make the stands for my lifeboats in a similar way......using pedal cycle innertubes for the rubber supports, and pine for the frames....I also left enough space under neath for the R/C gear, batteries etc, plus the odd tinny or two .....And I have to say that they look snug and safe cocooned within the frames, to boot.
simple to make, take all the shocks from motoring especially if the boats are put in a trailer for transport and they get there without scratches.....tried and tested in the most hairiest of ways, 

[irishcarguy]

Hi Neil your stands are brilliant but I am disappointed that you have not built in space for the beer & jam butties. Seriously though I have now been on the forum one year (how time flies) & your builds have been the year's highlight for me. The amount of information you have given so freely has been the best hands down, once again thank you. Mick B.