Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length.

[derekwarner]

Looking great progress Carl

If I am not mistaken, the designers of this Vessel chose the more conventional arrangement for the deployment of the stabilizer fins  in that the pivot is FWD of the fin blade

Derek

[ballastanksian]

Good news Carl. Upright with the mounting battens still on makes her look a bit like an aircraft carrier minus the flight deck!


 The details you have added should make her easy to build 

[carlmt]

That is correct Derek - the opposite to how they are on the Norland.

[Mark T]

Carl that is just absolutely lovely 

[carlmt]

Well lookee here what turned up in the Linkspan Models workshop today................


The prototype hull for our 3rd kit offering of the Spirit of Free Enterprise 

[Howard]

Great Hull Carl,
   Just wish I had room for one, still got the SD14, and three bath tubs to do, well that's what the wife calls them, Northsider, Wearsider, and Gragsider.
       Regards Howard.

[ballastanksian]

I didn't realise the hull had such a sheer Carl. Very nice and crisp. Air bubble, bobble and chip free  Is the additional end detail taped on a cast or printed item? Looks to fit like a glove 

[carlmt]

Hi Ian
She has a very 'angular' sheer - it isnt a smooth flowing curve.  It's purpose was to bring the centre of gravity as low to the waterline as possible.  The main truck deck is at the level of the top of the hull belting and it was this feature that 'did' for her sister ship in that, once the water found itself onto this deck it flowed down to the lowest point and we all know what happened then.


The end detail you refer to is a 3D printed item and will supplied as such in the kit.  I admit, I was surprised at how closely it actually fitted the f/g hull but it will need a little tweaking here and there to fit better  .  There is a similar one for the stern too.  I felt that it would be better to add these as details as opposed to trying to mould them in with the hull.


C

[ballastanksian]

It gives a straight edge to mark along at both ends as well.

[carlmt]

It gives a straight edge to mark along at both ends as well.

Aye - that is true!  I have yet to trim the hull down to the proper 'top edge' yet so that bow fitting is sitting slightly higher than it should.

[carlmt]

Been a little while since I posted an update here.  What with the full-time job, buying a house in France and then Christmas, time seems to have flown by!  Not been idle on the development front though - drawings to be created, parts to be tested (especially the framing for the superstructure!) and ideas to be gone through.


Have now progressed to marking up the hull and cutting the top edge to create the finished deck level.  This is quite critical in that it will dictate the finished levels and angles for the whole superstructure.  These photographs will all be included in the kit instructions as they graphically show the critical dimensions to be worked to:

[carlmt]

After marking out the hull top edges, these were then cut down initially with a Dremel with drum sander attachment followed by careful sanding with a medium/coarse paper attached to a wide-ish flat piece of wood.  Doing this, it is essential that the hull is stable and level in both directions (hence the heavy batteries in the hull) and constant checking is done to ensure that both sides are sanded to the same level.  Once all the hull top edges have been reduced to the correct levels and angles, the inside edge is sanded back to give a smooth-ish (not too smooth otherwise the adhesive will not bond) and even finish.  Aim to achieve a hull edge thickness or between 1mm and 1 1/2mm - this will ensure a neat edge to the deck, not to say an easier life when actually fitting the deck!

[carlmt]

Following all this, it was time to fit the wooden hull framing and deck supports.


I have found that it was easier to construct these frames off the ship.  The advantages of this are that a strong structure can be built ensuring that the parts are square and that, once fitted, it is easier to centralise the amount that the hull sides have to be pulled in - without distorting the hull or building in a twist.  These wooden frames are then glued into the hull using 24hour 2 pack epoxy - ensuring that they are 2mm below the top edge of the hull to allow for the thickness of the deck:

[cos918]

Hi Carl
Looking Good
John

[carlmt]

Cheers John     Getting there slowly


Got your message re Dortmund - just as soon as I hear back from the organisers I will be able to work out what is happening.  Should hear something very soon now!  Even Ron and the Peterborough club have not heard anything yet.

[carlmt]

Bit of an update needed methinks - now that I have Photobucket working again!!


Following the delivery and testing of our 3D printer, we have managed to print the larger parts needed for the hull : anchor pockets, linkspan platforms, rudders (bow & stern), bow rudder frame and propshaft A frames.  The stabilisers have been designed and will be printed in the next few days.  I have designed these to be one-piece units which, following a shaping of the housing box to fit the inside of the hull, can be fitted in one go - no constructing a housing box like what has to be done on the Norland.  The 3D system we have allows us to print fully working parts in one go - lets see how they turn out!


Anyroad, here is the hull with most of the 3D parts (the dark grey parts) fitted :














And these are the parts printed so far :





All these, and more, will be included in the kit.


 

[hama]

Looking good Carl!
Hama

[carlmt]

Looking good Carl!
Hama

Thank you my good friend! 


This material that is used for the printing is certainly tough enough to produce the housings for the azimuth pods for the Dalaro.  I really cant wait to get stuck into working on her 

[carlmt]

Mounting the bow rudder frame permanently today:


Double and triple-check the locations of the parts of the rudder frame that locate in the hull, mark with a pencil and then cut and drill as necessary.  Then to locate the exact spot to drill for the rudder post, insert a suitable length of 3mm dia plastic rod or wood dowel into the bottom bearing cup on the frame and offer the frame to the hull.  Ensuring that everything is upright and square, where the 3mm dia rod touches the keel, mark with a pencil and drill a 4mm dia hole to take the rudder post tube.


Ensure that the hull sits level in the stand, tape the rudder frame into position, drop the rudder tube through the drilled hole and then insert the rudder post and rudder - these last two are not glue yet - just fitted 'dry' to help align the tube.  Now make sure that the rudder frame is vertical, drop the rudder tube down so that it just touches the top of the rudder when the rudder is packed up by 1mm from the frame.


All should be nice and vertical now so a healthy helping of 5 minute epoxy was added to the joint between tube and hull inside the hull.  Once that has had a good 24 hours to dry, it will be reinforced with fibreglass resin.


A few shots to illustrate :











 

[Dreadnought]

Looks great!!! 

[Akira]

Great looking 3D printed parts! Fun build to follow as well

[carlmt]

More development this evening on the Spirit of Free Enterprise kit....


After lofting out the deck plans for the ship, I came to the conclusion that the superstructure parts at the level of the upper car deck would be just too complex and prone to compound error were they to be made up from flat styrene plastic parts in the conventional way.  These superstructure elements form the port and starboard walls of the upper car deck and contain deck-housings for vents and fans as well as stores and other small machine rooms.  Additionally, the crew access decks to the lifeboats is at this level.





Consequently,  I have decided that, to assist the modeller with setting out the superstructure correctly, this whole level will be formed from 3D printed components.  These are the first out of the machine - port side as viewed in the photo above:








As the rear of the car deck is open, it is possible to view the entire deck from the stern so it is important that the interior detail at least approximates the real interior of a card deck on a ferry.  Hence the framing on one side of the component.  An additional benefit to this is that the framing adds stiffness to the 3D part.  You will note that the stairway has been printed as a part of the wall component. This was an experiment to see if it would work. I am pleased to say that it did!


More soon 

[Dreadnought]

Very Good Carl!

[ballastanksian]

I forsee a time when kits like this will equal Tamiya or Dragon in fit of parts and ease of construction Carl! You are doing a lovely job with those 3D parts, and some of them are clearly major components.

[Howard]

Hi Carl,
 In a word just Amazing as I have said before your becoming a MASTER CLASS. I only have one problem with your boats Carl after down sizing to a bungalow and only now having a single  garage/hubby model room I just no longer have room for them.
                   Regards Howard.