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[Tug Man]

Great News! I just got a call from Dumas telling me that they pulled the hull and it is being shipped today. I should have it next week. This hull unlike the hulls they were making is pulled out of ABS material. I have never worked with this before and I don't know what glue to use. Can I use CA to glue wood to it? I hope I don't need a special glue.

Don

[DickyD]

Don
Probably the best thing to glue ABS and wood together is 2 part Epoxy Resin.
Remember to rub over the ABS witjh sandpaper to provide a key before gluing.

[Tug Man]

Thank you DickyD
 That should make building a bit easier now that I know what to use.

Don

[Pat Matthews]

Um, on that ABS hull- eschew epoxy, it will peel right off the plastic when nudged... even roughing up the surface won't help.

CA works well if the joint allows... for example, Dumas has a two part hull with their "Whitehall", the center flange is clamped and CA'd, then reinforced with a bit of fiberglass tape and more CA.

Best general purpose adhesive for sticking things to ABS are the methacrylates- either Henckel's Stabilit Express, or Fusion from Deluxe Materials.

Pat M

[DickyD]

Um, on that ABS hull- eschew epoxy, it will peel right off the plastic when nudged... even roughing up the surface won't help.

CA works well if the joint allows... for example, Dumas has a two part hull with their "Whitehall", the center flange is clamped and CA'd, then reinforced with a bit of fiberglass tape and more CA.

Best general purpose adhesive for sticking things to ABS are the methacrylates- either Henckel's Stabilit Express, or Fusion from Deluxe Materials.

Pat M

Hmmm I'm amazed my boats are still in one piece. Must have done something wrong then.  ???

[kendalboatsman]

I was after a similar glue to repair a Graupner Lotse I purchased off ebay. At the weekend my local model shop recommended Devcon Plastic Welder and said use it sparingly. Will let you know how I get on with it.

Clive :)

[roycv]

Hi all, I was given a Dumas kit as a present 6 years ago,, it is the American Beauty, a tow boat, now discontinued.
I had the same problem with fittings and they were replaced with items hardly better than the ones I rejected.
Unfortunately the wood is not so great either.  The additional price of the underwater fittings was horrendous.  They consist of 2 x fixed kort nozzles and 6 rudders, tubes and tillers.   I made these myself, it took a couple of days but I reckoned I was very much in profit.  I like the model but keep saying to myself "Do I want to build it from this wood"?
They have some good prototypes, let down in my case by poor quality and old technology.
regards Roy

[DickyD]

I was after a similar glue to repair a Graupner Lotse I purchased off ebay. At the weekend my local model shop recommended Devcon Plastic Welder and said use it sparingly. Will let you know how I get on with it.

Clive :)

I've used that Clive. You definately need to use it sparingly as it doesn't go very far.

[red181]

Back on the subject of chrome fittings, I have spent HOURS trying to locate chrome (plated) fittings for a Huntsman refurb project, but can't find any anywhere! Yesterday I tried plasticotes chrome paint from B&Q, it is rubbish, just looks like a very bright silver!
I dont think paint will look right, SOMEONE SOMEWHERE must manufacture some sort of chrome plated ( on plastic?) simple fittings, cleats, failleads etc. Hopefully I will find something at next months show at Warrington!

[PSSHIPS]

Have a look at some of the old Billings stuff ??? It sounds to me that you are not looking hard enough and call anything "rubbish"
 Please correct me if I am wrong and have fun at Birchwood.

[cdsc123]

White Ensign's suggestion is very good; I use aluminium to make fittings which should look like anything between aluminium and chrome, including stainless steel. The degre to which it is polished is the key, I use the stuff which comes with a Dremel and it is just amazing. See below, ALL fittings are from scratch (and are sealed with a coat of UCP, universal clear primer, I dare say lacquer or varnish would do);

[red181]

PSSHIPS, I have spent ages looking for the fittings in chrome on the internet, so dont tell me I have not tried hard enough. Seeing that you are a regular on this forum, maybe some help rather than criticism would be better for a newbie like me? . If you know of some billings fittings, which are not on their website, is there any chance of some more info, ie, where I can get them, or at least see pictures of them please?
The plasticotes paint has a lovely shiny chrome finish on the lid, when painted, its a shiny silver, not chrome finish, so to me, thats mislesading, and is rubbish! I was just trying to stop anyone else wasting their time and money!

[Martin (Admin)]

I think you may be forced to make your own fitting for the Huntsmans, no one seems to make them despite there being hundreds of the perpetual Precedent kit around. As I've said, 'never seen a true scale model of one yet'!

These been quite a bit of talk on here about "Chrome paints":

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3627.0

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1713.0

Some people have spoken highly of "ALCLAD" but I've not seen any actual examples so far.
Agree with you about the Plasticote "chrome spray" being rubbish, it almost against the trade descriptions act!

[DickyD]

There's loads of fittings on Billings web site and a lot of them appear to be chrome. No scales just dimensions. No prices you have to get them from their British distributor:

Amerang Limited
Commerce Way
Lancing, West Sussex BN15 8TE

Phone: 01903 765 496
Fax: 01903 765 178

Billings web site is:

http://www.billingboats.com/fittings.htm

[PSSHIPS]

As I said Billings and I thought I was helping by saying that, it is obvious that you havn't looked hard enough if Dicky D can find them

[Reade Models]

Hi

I've re-joined the Forum, probably against my better judgement, to offer a little input on the subject of chrome fittings.

As a lot of you will remember, Reade's (In those days, The Northern Model Supply Company) used to produce a range of chrome fittings when we were the main suppliers to Rip Max Marine - going back to the 1950's and 1960's.

In those days, my dad used to send loads of fittings off to be chrome plated - it's actually vacuum metalising, but used to suffer around a 50 percent wastage rate.  Half of everything he sent to the platers was ruined by them.  In the end, it just became too expensive, both for reasons of waste materials, and time, to carry on.

I still have a lot of samples of our own plated fittings in various display cases in our workshop.  They've survived the last 30 years in perfect condition.

We are still often asked when we are going to re-introduce the range, but frankly, sales of fittings generally have been so grim over the last 18 months, that I have deliberately decided against going down that route.  I honestly don't think that there would be sufficient demand to make the effort worthwhile?

To respond to Dicky D regarding scales, manufacturers like ourselves do don't like specifying scales for any of our fittings.  The reason for this is simple.  If you were to log onto our web site and see (say) a bollard 1inch long, and we had pinned a scale on it of 1:12 (making it 1 foot long at full scale), you probably wouldn't buy it even if you needed a bollard 1inch long for a different scale?  That's why all fittings are rather dimensioned - they can be used for a variety of scales.

It's highly unlikely that you'll see any plated fittings at Ellesmere Port in August, but do come and see us anyway - I'll bring the old chrome fittings in the display cases with me for you to drool over.

Regards, Malcolm Reade

[DickyD]

As I said Billings and I thought I was helping by saying that, it is obvious that you havn't looked hard enough if Dicky D can find them

Oy Paul what do you mean "it is obvious that you havn't looked hard enough if Dicky D can find them " I had to look really hard I'll have you know.

[PSSHIPS]

 

[red181]

well at least we have livened thing up a bit ! Dont forget, you experienced guys know what you are looking for. My background is helicopters, and I am not very good at that! The boat thing is very much a learning curve. I seem to have wasted a lot of money on the 2 boat projects I have through what I feel in hindsight was poor advice from some model shops, wrong motors, esc's etc etc. At least this type of forum offers abigger perspective, and thats why PSSHIPS I was annoyed by the "have not tried hard enough" etc comments, ask my suffering wife ansd kids how much I have hogged the computer over the last few weeks!

I have had contact from another forum that "nickel plated" fittings are available, Euromodels, aeronaught fittings. I would like chrome only because the "real" boat had these, and it seems a pity to compromise, but I can't afford to get fittings chrome.
plated.

Malcolm, are you going to Warrington instead of Ellesmere Port? I want a jjc sound system, but thats for another thread!, oh, and I am sure I can look after your chrome fittings showcase!

[slewis]

Calm down chaps please ! I only started this thread because the fittings I recived WERE  rubbish (scroll up to the top of the thread for pictures) With broken bits and obviously unfinished parts sent .
My intention at the time was to find out if this was the normal standard of bits sent out to boat builders and now I see that it isnt . I have recieved replacement parts that are much the same as I have now but are workable .
I never intended this thread for anyone to have a go at any supplier who supplied sub standard fittings it was more a case of help what can I do now ?
So in retrospect I think that maybe I should start another thread along the lines of " Who do you reccomend for scale fittings"

Have fun chaps and stay safe

Shane

[PSSHIPS]

No worries PmD. It annoyed me that "everything" was rubbish. Everything is not rubbish, you being new to the hobby, needs extra advice. I would have thought that there is someone on here who uses shiney fittings in their boats, I would be very supprised if there is no one. I was just saying of one I have used and know of and I know what you mean by looking for hours, I am still at it with some things. It does seem to take for ever and is frustrating when you can't find it, but, I don't tend to bite at someone for no real reason because I can't find something on the net. Its a case of knowing what you are really looking for and even if you google something it gives you everything you don't want before you find what you want.

[Reade Models]

Malcolm, are you going to Warrington instead of Ellesmere Port? I want a jjc sound system, but thats for another thread!, oh, and I am sure I can look after your chrome fittings showcase!

Hi pmdevlin

If enough people pleaded with me, I might be persuaded to go back to manufacturing chrome fittings - but I couldn't organise it in time for the August show.  I would have to make moulds for 'trees' to mount the fittings, racks to hold the 'trees', frames to hold the racks, and then drive very carefully to the vacuum metalisers factory with the whole lot in the back of my gas-guzzler.

We are going to Ellesmere Port EPIC event - but I don't want to get involved in that old perennial again.

We haven't stocked JJC Electronics products since the end of last year - we decided to take our business in a different direction. I read somewhere on the Forum recently that Jim Casey is going to the Risley show?

Malc

[Bryan Young]

Maybe this is just a question of how much attention you gave during the Physics lessons you should have had at school.
Plating of an object is basically quite a simple operation.
All to do with one material passing to another via the medium of a sort of battery. I remember doing it as a 15 year old....but cannot recall now how I did it. We have many people on this forum who could perhaps shed some light on this process, especially for "one-off" items. Must look up some old text books!

[dougal99]

All to do with one material passing to another via the medium of a sort of battery.

Surely that only works for conducting materials? 'plating' plastic must be different, must it not?

Just curious

Doug

[Reade Models]

By way of enlightenment...

Plastic components are plated by the vacuum metalising process.  This involves first spraying the components with a thin laquer.  The components are then placed in a vacuum chamber which is pulled down to full vacuum.

Within the chamber there are coils of pure aluminium mounted between electrical terminations through which a high voltage is then passed.  The aluminium vapourises and is deposited, not only on the components, but also on the complete interior of the chamber.  The components are then removed from the chamber and re-laquered.  Hey-Presto! 'chrome' (actually aluminised) plated fittings!

The tricky bit is spacing all of the components so that they each receive an even coating both of the laquer, and the vapourised metal.

Other metals can be similarly vapourised to give brass, gold, copper effects.

Regards, Malc