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[Neil]

[
Hi Neil.
 Going to take a hacksaw with you to bring back a souvenir ?

  And this might be handy.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/coast_and_sea/tide_tables/5/456#tide-details

might just do that Baldrick.........but a small piercing saw with a few blades......cut a small bit off and mount it on a little plinth.as a keepsake.


as for the moulding..........well........Just finished the second set of end boxes for the second hull.......had a bit of a dilemma as my daughter rung me just before I was due to start laying up and asked if I could pick her up from a friends house where she stayed last night after a night on the razz........so left me little time.....

 so I added another 2 mills of catalyst to the mix to send it off a little quicker........once laid up  I then added a little accelerant.....a trick that my GRP tutor taught me when I was on a course building my 1st 16' Canadian style canoe in Canberra, Australia in 1976.......use a hot air gun once the mix has started to gell on the brush....used lightly, the extra heat won't damage the layup.

 So that is it..........two sets of mouldings predicted, two sets made, and now I can bolt up the mould to stop it from being damaged and  deformed and then I can put the moulds and plugs away and get on with the building of the lifeboat with a little space to spare in the workshop.

[Baldrick]

As a thought. With a steam powered lifeboat I can only presume that they had to keep the system fired up 24/7. At least with a damped down firebox and a small head of steam. The essence of sea rescue is to be quick of the mark , not have to wait an hour for a good head of steam.

[Neil]

As a thought. With a steam powered lifeboat I can only presume that they had to keep the system fired up 24/7. At least with a damped down firebox and a small head of steam. The essence of sea rescue is to be quick of the mark , not have to wait an hour for a good head of steam.

that's correct Baldrick.......they were kept under steam constantly, but apparently they could be got ready from cold within 20 minutes, which was at that time of the late 19th century as correspondingly as quick as a shore launched pulling and sailing lifeboat against an onshore gale.....all were afloat boats, obviously and I believe from reading subsequent materials of their history they were good sea boats but the expense of keeping them fired up and expensive made them somewhat of an "experiment" rather than a good run of multiple boats like we saw into the turn of the 20th century and the coming age of motor lifeboats.


and to finally close the section on moulding.............tidying the rubbish and getting rid of the none needed stuff and the trimmings.


Martin Kinghoward, aka Baloo, is making his model, (from who's plugs were supplied to me at no cost to me, in return for a set of moulds for martin) as the QUEEN, which has one funnel, and so I have decided to build my model [because I have a love for the city] as the CITY of GLASGOW, which has two funnels.

[Footski]

Blimey Neil, if that workroom gets any fuller, there will be no room for you! A bit like mine actually.

[tonyH]

Dunno if these are of any use but they're contemporary from Grace's Guide of the Duke of Northumberland and the boiler/engine for same. Both 1890 illustrations.
I've only been checking them out for an A/S trawler built in 1918 using roughly the same system.

[kinmel]

There are a number of photos of the Duke of Nurthumberland hulk at Widnes here .....  http://picssr.com/tags/exlifeboat/page8

[Liverbudgie2]

Here is the late Les Jones example of the Duke of Northumberland, as the Holyhead LB, in action at Colwyn Bay in 2010.

LB

[kinmel]

Was that really 7 years ago? 

Time flies

[BFSMP]

WOW!!!...What a beautiful looking model.


how did he produce his power to the jets, LB. do you have any pictures of the propulsion unit.


Jim.

[Neil]

now that the hull has cured into it's permanent state for modelling I need to put on the belting..made from timber before I do anything else, for reasons later. I am going to try making them form 2 pieces of but jointed obeche 15mm square in section.

 because it is quite a lump of timber  that has to bend I have first fixed the hull shape temporarily with pieces of timber, duct taped in place, and placed the obeche in a bath of hot water for a couple of hours to wet and make pliable.. then I shall take a piece at a time and offer it up to the hull an clamp in place. should it not bend to the bulwark shape, then I shall cut it again into 19 X 7mm strips and try laminating the belting in two parts.

 what I don't want to do is cut the timber cross wise to aid bending.

[Neil]

Just tried bending the 15 x 15mm obeche dry..........and not a hope in hell, so those timbers can be used for the deck framing, and I have cut some 15 x 7mm obeche, and even dry fit, this works well so that is now in soak in the bath.

[Neil]

the stern quarter pieces have been placed onto the hull, and then overlapping this and the bow section I have also lad a centre piece overlapping both fore and aft sections, to give the sectional thickness of the belting, and clamped them all down. I'll add the bow and stern second layer later, if I have enough clamps left.


the reason I chose 7mm thickness is that the belting is going to be screwed onto the hull from the inside  and the shortest screws I can find are 1/2 inch countersunk. if I have thinner wood for the first layer, I'm afraid that it might crack along the grain when the screws penetrate through it, leaving no purchase to the hull. if knocked at any time allowing it to spring off the hull at a later date. That would be disastrous.

 with the thickness of the first layer of belting and the thickness of the grp mould, the screws, hopefully won't penetrate the first layer and leaving it a weak point.

[Neil]

both layers of the belting are now clamped up and drying out, to take a reasonable shape.


once dry, the outer layer will be glued to the inner layer first to keep it stable and to the position akin to what it is now.


oh it feels good to have a few clamps.

[Capt Podge]

Neil, a question, if I may...is it ok to leave the releasing agent on the hull at present ?...or should it be washed off at the earliest opportunity ?

Just curious because the other hull appears to have had it's bath.

Regards,

Ray.

[Neil]

I've left it on before this long, Ray.........longer in fact at times..........and the bath has been cluttered for a day or two with wood soakin..........only time it comes out is when the kids take it out to have a shower.........I haven't had a bath for 3 days......beginning to pong, lol.............but now it's done i'll take the remaining wood out, and take the plunge.................


the "blue" is a water soluable pva, and on larger surfaces, can  be sprayed on.


as part of my course when I was in ozz 40 years ago we visited a boat builder and watched the separation  of a set of moulds.......the boat hull had been left in mould for 4 days to cure, and to release the mould............couldn't use little wedges like I do........they connected  pipes to nozzles glassed into the moulds, and injected at pressure, warm water.........boy did those 3 section moulds[ one section was across the transom stern of the boat] pop.............took about two minutes for the warm water to circulate between moulding and mould, and then they injected compressed air through the same nozzles, and with a shower of water, the boat hull popped out as the moulds fell back into their respective cradles..........was a brilliant sight to see..........

so yes.the answer is it washes off with ease.

[Capt Podge]

Thank you for your answer Neil - and the information as to how the "big boys" did it all those years ago. Most interesting to read. Would love to have seen that "in the flesh" - great stuff.

Regards,

Ray.

[Neil]

i'd have loved to have seen the popping of one of our old GRP minesweepers.....that would have been a sight to see.

[baloo]

The Question has been asked on numerous occasions,myself and other people have asked for photos of the inside of the Duke of Northumberland, but  to no avail,is there a reason for this,I thought it was in every bodies interest to see what other modellers have done to the inside of there models,for future reference.


Baloo

[Neil]

Like me or like me not for what I have to say, because I don't say this  lightly!


I do not speak ill of the deceased but Baloo has a valid question as to why the information that model makers have sought for a number of years is not fortycoming.


I first met  Les Jones at the (probably) one of the last "lifeboat regattas" that Southport model boat club ran on Rotten Row.


I was showing and sailing the newly developed Liverpool class lifeboat that I had built for Metcalf Mouldings to produce and Les was showing his Duke of Northumberland off for the first time. As I had made a hull from original blue prints ( not copied plans) that my granddad had given me around 1960 (he worked on original patterns for the boat as an apprentice in the early 1880's with the company he was apprenticed to as a pattern maker) I wanted to build a model of the boat. I walked over to Les who had had the top off  the boat showing to someone the mechanics of the drive system. As I approached he put the top on the boat, precluding me from seeing the internals. I asked him if he could show me how it worked and he refused saying he might damage the boat if he keeps doing it. And so I left him in peace.
I then saw him a couple of years later at either Blackpool or Ellesmere, (can't remember) and again asked him if I could look at the internals but he refused again saying he had now "fixed the cabin on permanently", but I could see from the model that it was still loose as one end was slightly up as though he had had it off recently. Again I just left him to it.
The final time I had words with him, I had an Ann Letitia Russell, converted to Edmund and Mary Robinson the relief Gold Medal winner when stationed as relief boat at Molfre for sale. He rang me late one evening close to 22.00 asking about the model and whether I could supply him with one of the same at cheap rate as he wanted to build one for a cousin whose father had served on the boat during that gold medal rescue to a cargo vessel called the Hindlea. He introduced himself as I', Les Jones, have you heard of me?
I told him yes, a fine modeller, and that I would gladly help him obtain one from Metcalf Mouldings with a discount, but in return would he allow me to have a look at the interior of his Duke of Northumberland?
The phone was put down on me and that was the last time I ever heard of or saw Les Jones again.


In recent times I did contact Holyhead Museum as I had heard that he had donated the model to them, and asked if I came down from Fleetwood, would they allow me to photograph the interior of the model. They replied that there had been a proviso made by the donor that the boat would not be photographed for interior detail.


I don't know why he was so adamant  that one should not photo the mechanicals but sadly that info will be forever lost to modellers, which to me is against all that I believe to be decent.


We are all here with special gifts that I for one share, and find it sad when others with great talents won't share them with others.


Neil.

[baloo]

Thank you for your reply Neil,
 it's a terrible shame that people want a favour from you and they cannot repay the favour, but we will find out one day.

[Neil]

The starboard side belting has been removed now the glue adhering the two strips together has set. the belting has kept much of it's form and curve.

the hull has been sanded smooth and 2.5 mm holes drilled into the hull centrally along the flat face of the upper bulwarks to take the 1/2" x6 screws.

the hull was wiped with a damp cloth and the glue, called Gater Glue and totally waterproof, so it says lol [similar to gorilla glue] was applied to the timber. it was reclamped up to the hull and screwed up tight to the grp moulding using the screws from the inside.

hopefully I'll get the other side on to the hull tomorrow.........going to give it a good enough of time to set solidly.

[Neil]

i'm cracking on with this at the moment as I just want to get a few basics done for a forthcoming show in Blackpool near home in 2 weeks time........just need to get the belting on, and the deck beams in plus the end boxes on.........

the first side has now been glued on and set. it has also been screwed in place from the inside of the hull.

on to the second side now, but before I do.......off down to the tool shop to get a decent cross head screw driver, as the one I have is knackered and keeps slipping out of the screw.

[Neil]

you'll notice in the background of the last shot, the stern of the ferry, that took me close on 4 years to build..................it's now collecting dust.


I sailed it once at the summer open day at Southport model boat club open day. I thought that I had set the voith units up  properly..........sadly I made a complete ass of myself, as the model sailed like a dog chasing it's own tail......I couldn't get it to sail in anything like a straight line........never has a lion turned to a lamb so quickly, lol.......and since then, the weather has been so bad at Fleetwood that I just haven't been able to sail it to set the voiths up......even took it to New Brighton and the waves were coming over the wall of the lake...............looks like I'll have a lemon on my hands until better weather next summer......bahh, humbug.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Looking at the Voith videos on YouTube , it all looks so easy and totally controllable.  Obviously it is not.   

Cheers

ken

[Neil]

 hardest thing to setting the voiths up on a ship with open decks with little freeboard is getting decent weather to put it into a calm lake, ken.........


it's been absolutely awful up here since July 1st.........has rained at some point during the day/night EVERY SINGLE DAY and, though we are used to wind, even the palm trees all the way down Fleetwood prom have wind burn to their leaves.............been appalling..........and Scotland has been even worse.........our holiday was a wash out............global warming my bum.