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[17-09]

looks like Kel in the front row as well as Fella....
17-09

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Two months has elapsed; it's all been model boat shows, MMI magazine articles to write, Shannon lifeboat research and photography, some Shannon 1/12th lifeboat modelling and of course my main love of choral singing.
Back to this Trent build I am now looking at the RNLI plans and my photographs to get the bow pulpit rail bent to shape, soldered and fitted. Then the wheelhouse nose railings with the Delta anchor fittings. I think that the photos will speak for themselves, but please ask if there happens to be something not explained. I will be using the silver soldering technique for these railings as they make for a stronger joint and we are liab;e to knock both of these in both cinstruction and when taking backwards and forwards to the water [pond or lake].
You will notice that I have started placing the kick-boards in place - more of this soon, on the way I have constructed them.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

You will have noticed that I mark up lots of items from the plans onto the actual model. This helps, as the 'symbiotic' nature of our 'builds' concerning fixtures and fittings, especially when the basic hull and wheelhouse are slightly out and are beyond one's wishes of correction. This means there has to be a little give and take in positioning of items, however, with judicious movements there will always be those that have to be in the correct place and others that can be a 'smidge' out of place. Now as a founder member of the E.R.C.U. [Elite Rivet Counters' Union] this hurts me a little to say, but as 17-09 [another ERCU member] would say, 'if it looks right, it is right'.
Notice also the use of masking tape to both mark out onto and also stop the drill from sliding when drilling holes. Others will have seen that at times I use BluTac to hold items in place, but do not do this if heat is to be used in the close vicinity - a very sticky mess ensues!!
You can see the corrections and modification I have made to the shape of the nose of the wheelhouse - two reasons, firstly the width was 5/8th" too narrow and also it had the shape of the prototype Trent 14-01. Styrene card was use, then 'tack' welded into place and finally resin and glass-fibre tape applied internally to strengthen. The main thing we are left with is a more square fire-hose connection alcove on the port side of the nose, where it should have been more rectangular in shape, something I will have to live with.
Off to vote in the EU Referendum now! More to follow soon.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

One small point I did not mention - I make all of my uprights that attach to the deck slightly longer and then I use a die to thread the ends, normally with a M3, M4 or M6 thread, so that when the circular deck footplate is added soldered on] they can be fixed to the deck from beneath and removed at a later date, if required. This also is done for bollards and sometimes stanchions, should the access to the side of the deck be possible from the internal access.

[RMH]

Your brasswork is fantastic. Did you silver solder in situ? I'm struggling to get enough heat into the brass rod, I'm using a flux and a small solder torch but it's just not happening.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Hello RMH,
Thanks for your reply. I enjoy all types of soldering, but for silver soldering I use mostly a Walkover 555 for the larger jobs and have micro tips for smaller rod and tube and the normal tips for the larger rod on 1/12th scale models. I use Tenacity 5 flux powder and mix with tap or distilled water as required. I do not often solder in situ as the heat [can reach 3,000C] will affect the items around the item being soldered. I normally solder off the model, using Skamolex [ceramic fibre / Vermiculite based] sheets and blocks [bricks]. This material stops most of the heat transferring to worktop and also retains and reflects the heat from the flame, thereby keeping the item being soldered hot. This material is very soft and I use paper clips [cut up] to push into the Skamolex and hold the items together whilst the soldering takes place. It can be purchased from Squires Tools of Bognor Regis, but they will not send the board through the Post system as it gets broken. It is sold on eBay too. I also use a small hand gas [oxy/butane] torch which I picked up at the Dortmund Intermodellbau a few years ago for about £5 and this works very well on the smaller rod and tube items. Wished I had bought a few! I use a 0.5mm and 1mm silver solder wire from Blackgates Engineering and absolutely swear by this. It goes on quickly and flows well around the joint, leaving very little to 'clean up' afterwards. However, I do get a bit fussy in this area, as I like the end product to look good - something you commented on.
Finally, a few friends heat their work up on the bench with a large plumbers torch and then quickly transfer to their smaller torch for the actual soldering part of the process.
Hope this might be of some help.
Kim

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Sorry about the 'crossing through' lines, don't know what I did wrong - never happened before. Kim

I have removed the error in the type.  The 'strike through' was caused by the plural letter  'S ' being enclosed with square brackets,  indicating the following type must be 'struck through'. 
Cheers
ken

[RMH]

Thanks for the info Kim I'll give it another go

[derekwarner]

Hey Kim......your are again performing excellent silver soldering of brass work

You have unintentionally hit the strike thru button in the text bar  ...that's all........... Derek

[Charlie]

Hi Kim, that looks like a well equipped workshop you have there. Any chance you can give us a little tour? I'm looking into purchasing a Lathe, so would be interested to see which one you have.


Charlie

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Derek and Ken,
Many thanks for your explanation of my error, must have just touched the key in my haste - now I know - thanks for amending it Ken.
Charlie, you really don't want to see it at the moment, too many things being attempted and not cleared away before starting the next job - hence mess. However, the lathe is just a mini-lathe from Clarkes [same as Chester, Arc Euro] - it's a SIEG - Shanghai Industrial Engineering Group. Go onto the internet and look up the American site for 'Mini-Lathes' - wonderful, with plenty of information, which I downloaded into a couple of folders for reference. I used this gent's info. on taking the 'back lash' out of the various parts. It is more than adequate for this type of work and scale - great fun and rewarding. Come back if you want more info.

Having got the railings on the front of the wheelhouse in last Post, I then attempted to make the Delta anchor from the etched brass nickel plated set. However, the shank would make up into a part too thin, so I used another piece of 'sprue' off the sheet, traced around it and cut it out. Then 'sweat' joined the three parts of the shank together and you get a more realistic looking anchor shank. I used the gizmo bender to form the flukes - make sure they are in the same shape as a plough! Many folk bend these in the wrong directions. Also fill the bend furrows [holes] in with solder. Drill the various holes out for the fixings supplied and then the correct sized bolts and nuts [14BA] to attach. I only used ordinary soft solder here, as there would be no requirement for strength in the final product. Lastly I used an old well worn out wire brush on mandrel from my Dremmel drill and randomly whizzed it all over the anchor, you will see from later shots that when this dulls off it does look realistic and 'galvanised'.

[rocket ron]

Hi KIM
The quality of your modelling is off the scale, I feel like turning the light off going to bed and never leaving my bedroom again.
Well done, please tell me how you achieve such perfection on the welded joints on the hadrails uprights etc.


once again fantastic modelling


Ron Carpenter

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Ron, thanks for your encouragement, but don't let it put you off - please, turn the light back on and come out of your bedroom! Let it inspire. You ask 'how?'. Firstly I have been doing this for over 50 years in various types of modelling, now it's boats. I always use enough heat to do the job of a good joint, but also so that the solder [soft or silver] flows around the joint in a think layer, no lumps, hence using jsut enough solder for the job. Then I use a small file to remove any excess, then using old Swiss [Vallorbe] files to take it back to the original brass or stainless steel. If it's a round [tube or rod] joint I use a small Swiss 'rat tail' file. Then I finish with wet and dry glued to old lolly or coffee stirrers, moving on to a Dremmel drill wire brush or polishing pad and the final clean-up with a cloth and Cif cream [used to be Jif]. Maybe that's why I am a paid up member of the ERCU! It can be therapeutic, but it is time consuming - maybe that's why I haven't finished a boat yet!!
Another bit of detail I wanted to do [and it might have been noticed by a few] is the profiling of the kick-boards - I have never seen it on another lifeboat yet. I fettled the 'T' section sent by Speedline, the hardest being the front ones which bend in three directions - they needed a lot of patience, vice, small oak square length and a small ball pane hammer. Then when they fitted the deck I added cut some gray styrene sheet lengths, 'super' [CNA] glued them on and then again with various grades of wet and dry, took the top edge off and gradually, by hand, made them slope down at an angle. They will eventually be primed and sprayed the correct grey.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Next, using the RNLI plans enlarged to 1/12th scale, I made the starboard side of the wheelhouse handrail. I started with the main forward section, using 2.5mm brass rod, this i bent to the correct shape. Then I made the rods that 'stand it away' from the side off the wheelhouse and tapped a 6BA thread on the end of each. After this I soldered the plates that on the real boat would fix it to the wheelhouse. These I originally soft soldered, but after pulling a few 'through' by over tightening with the bolt on the other side, then I silver soldered them - much more secure. Once this had been done I moved onto the aft section, having drawn the relevant markings onto the side and then drilling it through. It all seemed to work and means that I have been able to take it off when cleaning for a display day, and later when I want to paint the wheelhouse and handrails separately.

[Starspider]

very neat 

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Like lots of us, we all wake up each day feeling in a different mood, hence on my builds one day it might be just to cut some etched brass items off their sprues / trees and then neaten the edge ready for either bending or fitting. Another time it might be make an item from styrene against the plan or start to get the shafts ready for fitting to the hull, again it might be some silver soldering or the wiring-up of the electrical system, even if it is just to see if everything works before fitting inside the hull. This is another good reason [or excuse for me!] to have six 1/12th lifeboats on the go at the same time. This way there is always something to do for most moods.
Here I have just marked up the position for one of the ventilation plates on the starboard side of the wheelhouse nose. Then it's a drill out, followed by removal and file to shape. Then I have tapped some fitting bolt holes into the hull using a 12BA tap. I had 1,000 of these hexagonal brass bolts made to order by EKP Supplies in the West Country [they normally make bolts, nuts and rivet for the steam model fraternity] - mine are 14BA heads with a 12BA thread, hence the special order, this means they do not strip the thread so easily at this size [just don't ask the price!! Worthwhile though. They will eventually all be nickel plated.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Again, using the RNLI plans and my photos I made the starboard 'A' frame for casualty recovery. I used tube for the main arms, then styrene for the blocks behind the pivot brackets, 14BA hex brass bolts [with 12BA thread size] for these pivots [having drilled and tapped the threads in the fibre-glass wheelhouse. Not normally recommended, but they have been on and off many times and still work. They will be finally glued and screwed when the wheelhouse has been sprayed!! I used a couple of little etched brass items for the pulley system attachment plates and some larger tube that slid over the main tube diameters to make the bottom ends.
Having marked out the side of the wheelhouse a dry assembly was made. So far so good.
In preparing for the future I have purchased some minute springs that are used in 'N' gauge model railway trains for their couplings. These are just the right size for the small mechanism that works like an inverted plunger that releases and locks the system into the upright position. Now where did I put those??????!
A point worth noting at this stage is that the Port side 'A' frame is at the same top height, but is shorter in the 'arms' and mounted slightly higher on the wheelhouse side wall. Now how many have noticed that off the plans and have it correct on their model [a rhetorical question!!] I bet Mk1 would have noticed if he had built a Trent.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

I came across these two photos in my Folders yesterday, they were taken when I had stripped it down to exhibit at another show and needed to get the brass work clean and dust out of the corners.
The first is where we are at in this build 'thread' and the second shows what I will be covering from now on - the stern wheelhouse 'pods' [that's what I call them], the two air-conditioning ducts, the portable salvage pump cannister and also the engine cover fixing plates, as I have noticed these holes were cut out in some very early photos, but I have not covered my methods and what small problems were encountered.
Most of this work will be constructed using styrene card [something the late Brian King - a legend model boat builder in his own lifetime - was adamant about, 'it is not plasticard!'].
Those that have either bought my Trent DVD of photos or the Trent build ones [here now being used for this 'thread'] have told me they found most useful, as the air-conditioning ducts are not even on the RNLI plans. They are simple to construct and I did enjoy making them - it's sometimes the little things that give most pleasure and contentment.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

The first matter I will deal with are the moulded engine covers on the stern deck area. When measured off against the RNLI plans these were one quarter of an inch too long and one quarter of an inch too narrow. This is where the word 'symbiosis' comes into play. I concluded that I would [and could] leave the width matter and marked my plans accordingly. However, where the hatch covers sit, the front edge should 'exit' out of the aperture which allows deck water drainage from the aft area of the stern door wall of the wheelhouse. As it stood, this would not happen, so I sanded them down to the deck level - this can be seen as the light glass-fibre cream band at the front. I then cut these out, making clear acetate copies, but with a half inch extra surround on the outside edge and likewise on the inside edge [cutting out the internal aperture]. I know of some modellers that have not done this to their models, but these actually give access to look at and maintain srevos, sound systems, rudder assemblies and water-cooled exhaust matters - something not to be passed up in my mind. I 'glued' the acetate ledge into position with a thin layer of P38 car body filler, having first roughed up the underside of the deck and also that part of the ledge that would not be seen. When this had all 'gone-off' [hardened] I drilled holes to then tap the 12BA threads that would allow the hatch covers to be fixed in place. Remember, these were the special brass 14BA hexagonal bolts I had made, but with a 12BA thread. There are 110 on each hatch cover, but only 14 used on each [this differs from the photo as I needed to have two on each corner, finally] - the others are just dummied up. Note the exit of the front of the covers on some of the following photos. Another matter worth noting, if you are new to this, is the brass strip in the bottom of the hull that are drilled out to 'spread the load' when the bilge keels were fitted and bolted on.
Again, those that are 'eagle eyed' will see through the photos areas and batons of bass wood glued to various parts of the deck and wheelhouse to get them to marry up - a lot was desired in this area when I received them!

[Flundle (Speedline Models)]

I have just read through all this thread again and its pretty clear that what I need is a set of your photos Kim.
I still have some plans somewhere but I would rather measure a real one, as built as it were so they would be very welcome.
I understand that you sell a CD of all your photos with the proceeds going to the charity and I would be most happy to buy one off you.
Just let me know how to go about paying etc.
Many thanks
Adrian

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Adrian,
I'll send a PM later tonight [if I don't drop off to sleep with the tablets taking effect - still bad back, but getting better - I think].
Other readers of this thread, I said in the last Post that the hatch covers were too long and too wide, I should have said 'too long - hence adjustment mentioned - and too NARROW, which I decided I would leave as an alteration would impinge on too many other wheelhouse and deck related items.
I did actually get up on my feet for an hour or so yesterday, so took the stern aluminium stretcher off the hull and altered it down to the correct height [took 1/12th of an inch off the upright height] and when now re-positioned it looks and feels good with no 'high spot', yet it has a correct camber down to the actual deck edge [not rubber fender height]. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able [physically] to get the other two stretchers altered. I really am hoping then to get the deck temporarily fitted on Saturday and Sunday [diary full for the next three days] so I can measure off, cut and custom fit the wheelhouse to the deck! Just can't wait, then I can start cutting out the window apertures and get the frames and inserts in with a temporary fix.
Mind you, all the above has to be tempered with getting the gardens back to normal! Being flat on my back for two weeks and the rain and sun has turned it into a jungle again!

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Sorry, I have just realised I have started talking about the Shannon build in the second part of the Post above - I'll blame the tablets. I will try and add some more to this Trent build later tonight, as promised.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Will start to cover how I went about replacing the heavy glass-fibre pods that were attached to the back of the wheelhouse, where in actual fact they are spaced 10" away, to allow for the air-conditioning ducts to exit on both sides. So this again saved weight and was relatively easy to replicate in white styrene card and the use of Plastiweld liquid cement. The first photos show the areas on the actual boat and then a few to show the build and positioning of these parts on the actual model. I've also included the electrical shore input point / coupling. The etched brass grills will be shown on the exits of the air-conditioning ducts in later shots, just above deck level. They will later have their respective door flaps fitted too.
The next few 'Threads' will show the rest of the build, including the little XP inflatable boat [two persons] locker, the tow rope drum and locker below on the port side and the same on the engine room filter pod on the starboard side. You will also see the centre line for the wheelhouse has been marked on as the width was undersize, hence the spacing and positioning of the door against these areas and the stairs to the flying bridge needed to 'look right' in both ratio and balance. Do not forget to mark your decisions on these matters for your model onto your plans.

[Delboy1958]

Hi Kim
Looks like real progress keep up the good work and hope the back gets better soon.


Regards


Derek

[Canterbury Coxswain]

You will have seen from a previous photo and one that comes below that I have used P38 [easy-sand car body filler] to flatten off the stern end of the wheelhouse and also now the new end wall of the wheelhouse. Best done at this stage, as other items are going to be added and it is best if they fit against their final 'neighbour' surfaces correctly.
You might also have noticed that I have added the 'bat wing' [as I call them] - the extensions to the wheelhouse that cover the port and starboard 'pods -, by bolting them onto 'L' section styrene lengths that have been tapped with a 12BA thread, to take those custom brass hex-bolts that have a 12BA thread, but 14BA head. Likewise I have used a small length of the 'L' section to bolt the towing rope drum enclosure onto the wheelhouse - just like the real thing.
Another little tip here. As you progress and make parts, offer them up as a 'dry fit' so you know they are correct, before painting and fitting, because if they are wrong they can be more easily sorted at this stage - I know of someone who did not do this recently and that person is still wondering whether to continue or bite the bullet and start again - only time and the 'rivet counter' running through his blood will tell! Remember, too, I mentioned that the wheelhouse was too narrow and also out on the height [against my plans by 1/4"] - I marked this on the plans and have 'lost' 1/12th of an inch in the area from deck to top of rope locker, then rope locker to floor of flying bridge and then from that floor to the top of the flying bridge helmsmans' instrument sloping facia [top bow facing level] - this makes for 1/4". The width,as explained before, I am going to have to live with as it affects the etched brass window surround, instrument panels and the laser cut windows. However, an allowance will have to be made on the telecomms. tower being 5/8" narrower, likewise the stern wheehouse wall and the door positioning and the two pods and their width, all this has to be planned and noted as there is a 'symbiotic' relationship between all the parts - great fun!!
I also dummied up the rope drum locker in cardboard first [as a template] - then as it had worked, cut it from styrene and that was then ready.
Next time I will make the rope drum itself and the little door that goes on the front of it.