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[rmaddock]

I've just received my new toy!

Courtesy of Mike Mayhew of Waverley Models, it's a GRP hull for a Morecambe Bay Prawner......affectionately know as "Nobbies".



Now to work out what to do with it  

I'm hoping to go and have a good look at a local restored boat called Hearts of Oak and base by model on that.


I've shamelessly borrowed this picture. I bed the mercy of the owner and will remove it on request. As compensation, I'll mention that the boat is owned by a trust which can be found on Facebook....I've no personal link with them though.

So, I'll have to get busy whittling.

[Brooks]

Looks like a beautiful boat. Hope you post photos of your build.

For us dialup guys, could you please post small versions of your photos that we can then click on if we want to see larger copies, thanks. These 2 shots were fine, I am just thinking about various boating threads I have had to abandon because the photos take too long to load.

[rmaddock]

Looks like a beautiful boat. Hope you post photos of your build.

For us dialup guys, could you please post small versions of your photos that we can then click on if we want to see larger copies, thanks. These 2 shots were fine, I am just thinking about various boating threads I have had to abandon because the photos take too long to load.

Never fear Mr Brooks, I had intended to post only thumbnails from now on. These big ones were just a teaser 
I shall try and post my progress but I can't promise that it'll be very fast.

[rmaddock]

As it's now the holidays, and I've finished and submitted my essay, the time has come to do some serious work. 

First things first, a stand. I don't have any lines for this model so I've had to invent the shape for myself.  I've jury-rigged a drawing thingy...as shown below. It's hardly precise but worked well enough for what I was doing.



It produced a series of dots which I joined...being of simple mind. 



Et, voila!  Some cardboard templates for a nice stand. 



I'll have to dare the cellar next and see if there's a suitable bit of wood, or three, down there. And then I'll have to see if I can synthesise (sorry, been writing academic papers) all the jig-sawing advice you've been giving me to make a straight cut. 

[rmaddock]

After taking much advice about jig-sawing from another thread, I've cut out the stand proper.

And here, with the Nobby delicately balance atop.

Nothing's sanded, glued or screwed yet, but you get the idea. It needs a little fairing (faring?) with a file or rasp to fit the hull contours, and if I can find the router I'll tart up the edges, but I'm rather pleased with it.

[Brooks]

Thanks for showing your neat way to take off ship's lines.

[rmaddock]

Thanks for showing your neat way to take off ship's lines.

You're very welcome, but it's not all that accurate. I was intending to use a small spirit level but I couldn't find it

[BlueWotsit]

Heres a picture of my Prawner - this is the original that Mikes (Waverley Models) moulding was cast from I believe (I didnt build it I hasten to add).

I thought he had plans for a Prawner, it would be well worth asking the question.

The one thing I would give careful consideration to is the location of the rudder servo - I have had to replace the original one recently and how it had been installed was a nightmare to resolve.

[rmaddock]

Hi Wotsit!

I knew that the hull was cast from a real model...I can well believe it's the one you've got there. It looks fantastic! I'm quite inspired.

Thanks for the warning about the rudder. I actually invested extra money for Mike's patent prawner rudder servo installation...hopefully it'll make things easier. It certainly copes with the rather extreme rake on the rudder post an limited space.

Cheers!

Robert.

[rmaddock]

As I understand things, one of the first things I need to do if fit some inwales to the GRP hull at deck level.
Before I do this, however, I'm putting in a temporary cross-brace at the (approximate) mid point to keep the hull from spreading or contracting due to the inwales.

[rmaddock]

I've applied the first glue! HOORAY! 



A nice bit of 9mm ply in the bows as per instructions.  I've roughly carved slots into the back edges to take the deck supports.  There's another piece to go in the stern.  I know it looks very, very boring to everybody else, but can you not feel that first actually gluing thrill? 

The pegs are resting on the moulded ridge that runs round the outside of the hull...I must learn the proper names for things. Anyway, there are 3mm spacers on the ply piece to allow for the ply sub-deck and then cosmetic planking to go on top. It should all then line up.....fingers crossed.

[rmaddock]

More progress! 

The deck supports have gone in.

Having jumped the gun asking about motors and the like, I thought I'd better see to the ballast first, and that meant working out a waterline. Before that, I wanted the rudder fitted.

I bought the rudder kit from Waverley Models with the hull. It came with a nice brass bottom bracket. I've let this into the keel with my mini grinder (not Dremmel) and glued and pinned it into place.  Then it's all been smoothed out with filler.

The rudder tube has been glued in but is yet to be properly faired.

I added some fake planking lines to the ply rudder and reshaped the bottom edge to follow the line of the keel.

Finally, I've tried to mark a waterline with tape (it's the lower edge as seen here) based on what drawings I've got.  It seems to leave the boat sitting very low in the water. In fact, the top of the rudder tube is underwater  I think it might need a slight rethink.  Perhaps I could extend the tube upwards although there's not much room below the deck. Otherwise I'll lover the waterline.

Having said which, the pictures of the full-sized boat show it floating very high anyway. I guess the waterline is for when fully-laden. So I could waterline it as is but ballast it to float higher. Hmm. 

[rmaddock]

Do people think that running the waterline level with the top of the hull strakes would work?

[sinxalot]

the straight waterline looks fine ,just lower it  an inch or two the upper tip of the rudder should be just under the water )youre doing a fine job on a really beautifull sailing hull,a real boat with loads of character, unlike the modern,look alike sailing machines that I have,now I want one!
Cheers Col

[rmaddock]

Thanks for the kind words Col.  Your opinion is much the same as mine vis-a-vis the water line. Dropping the back end would certainly make the WL level with the strakes too.

Somewhere in this house (is everything imaginable) I have a laser level. If only I could find it, it'd make doing the water line so much more accurate.  Unfortunately, if you count the cellar and attic (and you must) then we've five floors of junk to search through.

[rmaddock]

YES!

I have found my laser level and all thanks to Scottish Power!  I went into the deepest, darkest room of the cellar to read the electricity meter and, on the slate cold table was my laser level. I have no idea why it would be so far from civilisation. 

Anyway, I'm happy now. Once I've fitted a prop shaft and primed the hull I'll be able to mark on a properly level water line. 

[rmaddock]

I've been to see the real boat!   I phoned the person in charge last night and my luck was in. Normally, she'd be on a mooring out in the channel but, due to engine problems, she's tied up to a pontoon instead.  I asked nicely and was given permission to go and pay her a visit. 

I've taken LOTS of pictures...of everything...from every angle....until my wife was begging for mercy. I must go back again with a ruler next time. 

Here are a couple of samples:







I'm glad we made the effort as I've already spotted one major difference between her and the model; namely that the deck is a lot higher than I thought. So alterations will be required. At least I hadn't fitted much yet.

I had been wondering about modelling her as she was originally, or as she is now. However, having seen her, she's lovely as she is. There's nothing modern about her so I'll go with what I've got oodles of first-hand data for.

[rmaddock]

Okay.
Hull levelled.

Laser level set up and levelled with line-projecting prism attached.

The projected line was adjusted and the hull raise at one end to achieve the desired waterline.  The masking tape helps the laser light to show up on the black GRP surface. I drew onto the tape with a pencil and then cut the desired line with a knife and steady hand. repeat on other side.

Et voila! A level water line. Cool.  I've sprayed the top (so far) with a matt primer. It's actually quite a good finish for an early 20th century working boat so it might not get any shinier.  Mind you, I think the stern might to too high...especially once I've raised it to a scale position.

The decoration is partly a P.R. exercise. When discussing the boat the other day, my wife said: "Is that the ugly black lump in the dining room?"    And wated to know where the glossy, sleek boat that bears her name had gone.  In consequence, I thought a little bit of paint wouldn't go amiss. 

[sinxalot]

she's looking good amazing what a touch of paint does,the waterline looks good too!
does the full size boat have canvas over the deck, or just bare planks?
Cheers Col

[rmaddock]

Hello Col. Thanks for the comments.
Yes, I've always found painting (or otherwise covering) models to be fantastic. It makes all the component parts into a whole. Since the photos, I've painted the lower hull a sort of mid grey....which looks rather good too.
The deck was bare boards. Surprisingly narrow which accounts for the apparent smoothness.  The deck's painted a sort of creamy beige colour. According to the history of Nobbies book, that is an authentic colour scheme.

[rmaddock]

Right! My eldest started high school today, I was awaiting two sets of essay results and my back was hurt. It started out a bad day.
Number one disappeared into school before I could even say goodbye.  I've managed to walk my usual running route without my back hurting. And I've passed both essays! 
So now I can get on with the new boat for as long as I've got left before I have to go back to college.

I've making a plug for casting the ballast today.

My own calculations tell me that her all-up-weight should be about 11kg. This, rather coincidentally, equates to just about 1 litre of lead. Now, I know I've got other weight to include eventually so I won't put a whole 11kg of lead in. Instead, I've mixed up 750ml of plaster for the plug. That should be about 8.5kg of lead.  I've got 1.2kg of battery going in if nothing else and I can add more to get balance right anyway. Should it prove too much then the removable weight should be drill-able.

So here she is, with 3/4l of plaster going off in the bilges. I lined the inside first with special plastering membrane  (that's cling-film to you).

I carefully teased out the film to try and get a smooth(ish) finish and also held the ends slightly high to stop the plug getting ridiculously thin at the ends.

Now, I'm twiddling my thumbs. 

[rmaddock]

Having seen and photographed the real boat, I realised that Hearts of Oak is slightly different in design from the model I've got. She's slightly wider at the stern and slightly higher at the bow. These things I cannot easily mend...nor do I want to.
However, as mentioned earlier, the deck is far too low. On the real boat, the deck is 6" above the hull moulding, not level with it as per the model. Also, said moulding continues lower at the stern on the real boat so that it almost touches the bottom edge of the counter.

This shows the line of the moulding on the real boat.

I was going to put a picture of the model here, but photobucket wont upload it.....BAH!

So, I think the order of the day is to grind the moulding off the stern and replace it. Then, I'm going to attach a 16mm strip inside the gunwales all round atop the already glued spruce bearer. This will give me my deck line. However, the ply plate in the stern will have to be allowed for as this follows the undesired line of the moulding.

This shot of the bows shows where I've marked where the deck line should be.

Forgive me if all of this is dull, I'm really talking to myself. 

PS, I managed to get the plaster ballast plug out in two pieces....could be worse. 

[tigertiger]

Forgive me if all of this is dull, I'm really talking to myself. 

You are not alone.
At time of this post the thread had received over 740 views.

[rmaddock]

You are not alone.
At time of this post the thread had received over 740 views.

But how many of those survived the experience? 

I've been back to the docks, in the sunshine, with a tape measure today. 

[rmaddock]

  I bit the bullet and took the not-dremmel to the hull this afternoon.
I've removed a section of the moulding around the stern as planned. The replacement will follow the line of what's left and be much lower.  What a glorious mess it made in the cellar! I had to shower and change afterwards......and yes I was wearing a mask.