Print

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

[Stuw]

Wow! No excuse but to keep building? Or do you have to clear a path outside! Snowshoes at the ready..

[Backerther]

Cherry has started to blossom here in Tokyo with 19 degrees C of outside temperature.
Spring is coming surely.

[jpdenver]

No need to cut a path.  The small house in the back is my wife's garden shed. 
Doubles as a playhouse for the grandkids when they are able to visit. 

My shop is in two places, the machine shop is in the garage -  Too cold for now. 
The heater in there just keeps the temp a little above freezing. 
The boatworks is in the basement.  Right next to the furnace room.   All mine.  No Sharing.     

20F  (-6C) today.   Denver is basically closed, 24" of very wet snow came down yesterday. 
Technically the whole state is in a severe drought. So any moisture is welcome. 
The mountains got 4 feet.  All of our water comes from water in the snow in the mountains. 
So more snow - means the reservoirs (lakes) will fill up and our ponds down here in town will too. 

Now - if we can only get all the Canadian Geese to go HOME - the water we sail on will not leave so much slime on our hulls.      

I worked a little on the name plaques that hang on the railings up at the bow. 
The ones provided in the kit were supposed to be wood, with photo-etched letters. 
That was a fail.  The PE letters were so thin and flimsy that they were impossible to work with. 

I tried to paint the name on the wood,  and that was a fail too. 

So I decided to switch to a brass plaque with a black letter decal applied. 
Coated with a little clear spray. 

I am also working on the storage racks for the dock bumpers. 
They have metal straps and need to be sized to allow for removal of the
bumpers if I actually use them while running her. 









   

[jpdenver]

Worked some more on the bumper storage. 
Gave the metal bands a coat of white, then
mounted the pair on the fore-deck. 

The bow has a number of different views in the various publications. 
In some there is a mast, and in some there is a davit for use with the anchor? 

Anyway, I played with one of each. 

The build is slowing down, not too much to go. 
Some work on the stern, a couple of masts, a flag on the stern and a lamp pole at the rear
of the raised deck. 

I also have decided to re-work the electrical to split the lights off to a couple of receiver-
driven switches.  One for navigation, one for cabin. 

Tomorrow I get my second vaccine shot.   
Thanks for reading. 

Jim

[jpdenver]

Tested the rear deck removal process. 

I Have decided to re-work the electronics to add
a couple of receiver controlled switches for the
navigation and interior lights. 

I use some medium sized units from a local source, 
Polulu.  Took two and linked them to the same channel.

The FlySky unit I am using has 6 channels, 2 are linked to Switches.
One of the switches has 2 positions,  That is what I am going to usefor the lamps,  Navigation Lamps first and then the Nighttime Cabin Lamps. 

More to come, but I have to go off and do my "day job"  for a couple of weeks.
So it will be a little while before I post more "finishing touches".

[jpdenver]

I need a little information. and perhaps a history lesson. 

The kit came with two flags.  See the photo. 

Would someone over on your side of the pond please provide me with a littlehistory of the flags, when do they get flown, and on which "mast"?
I see three possible locations:
Bow Maststaff.
The main mast w/ cross arms - amidships. 
coming off either the port or starboard sides.

Stern Maststaff. 
So which flag should go where?
I think I read somewhere that the small, red cross on white, was for being a "little ship".but I am not sure.
Many thanks,
Jim

[Colin Bishop]

The Red Ensign is the UK national merchant navy flag and normally flown from the stern.

The smaller flag is the cross of St George but the Dunkirk Little Ships would fly it defaced with the arms of Dunkirk flown from the bow jack staff, known as the Dunkirk jack.

https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/Becc-Model-Accessories-Dunkirk-Little-Ships-Association-Flag-150mm-B-GB25H.html

Coiin

[Capt Podge]

Colin is quite correct - I would just add (out of interest) that the plain cross of St. George would be flown atop the main mast when a full Admiral(RN) is on board a Royal Navy vessel.


Ray.

[jpdenver]

So, with the two flags, is the Merchant Navy Flag the correct one for the Bluebird? 
Does she qualify as a merchant ship?  If not what flag is correct? 

Does the plain Cross of St.George ever get flown on this size ship -
does the Owner qualify as an "admiral" on a private vessel?

Looks like I need to get the Dunkirk Flag from Cornwall. 

Regards,Jim

[Colin Bishop]

Yes, as I said , the Red Ensign is right for Bluebird as it is for all UK yachts. The smaller flag needs to be the defaced version.

Colin

[jpdenver]

Back in the shop. 
I ordered the Dunkirk Jack from Cornwall and it took a couple of weeks to come in.Just fine because I needed to spend that time doing my "day job".

Mounted the flags on cords and fastened to the appropriate masts.

Continued on to the rope coils for the deck.

[jpdenver]

The "Lifeboat", "dory?", rowboat? 

What to call it? 

Anyway, the kit included a set of ribs, planks, and seat, but they were so thinthat the ribs disintegrated when I tried to get them out of the laser-cut sheets.

So, I rummaged around in my "left overs" and found a hull that was just about right.She is not as fat as the plans call for, and maybe a touch longer, but I think she will do.
I fitted her out with seats and added a few "blocks" for the suspension ring attachment points. 

Then I worked on the davits.  Again the junk-box came thru and I found a pair that would do just fine.
Attached the base plate, then use some "JBWeld Epoxy" to secure the davit to the base.Let that sit over night and then this morning added the brace pieces and followed upwith a coat of paint.

So far so good.
Thanks for reading,
Jim

[Stuw]

Good to see you back at it. I’ve missed the progress reports. Almost done!?

[jpdenver]

Thanks Stu. 

My day job is for the US Air Force as a contractor in a special area. 
I sometimes need to go "away" for a bit.  But at almost 70, I can not keep 
doing this all the time.  So I build boats, and long for the snow to melt. 

Here in Colorado, most of our ponds are actually water reservoirs and the levels
change with the season.  During the winter the snow builds up in the mountains,
and then in the late spring begins to melt.  The water department allows the various
ponds to partially drain during the winter, and then re-fills them from the snow-melt. 

So right now, my favorite ponds have low water levels, and I would have to walk out
in the muck to get to the water.  So we wait.  and keep watch. 

Back to the Bluebird. 

I am a little out of order,  but before I started the final assembly of the stern deck area,
I made sure I could actually service the electronics inside the hull.  It only took a little bit
of sliding the knife along the top of the hull under the deck in a few places, the varnish had
acted as glue.  but with just the removal of 2 little screws, the entire rear deck slides out to
expose the inner guts. 

I have never run dual motors before, so I have been reading up here to see how to accomplish
control over two motors with the ability to trim the speed to make them match. 
I saw how to use certain mixing capabilities on the FlySky 6 channel.  I just happen to have one that I
bought at last years club swap meet, so I chose it for the Bluebird. 

The end result can be seen in the pics.  A 5000MAh NiMH battery fits in front of and between the two motors. 
The lead attaches to the power distribution board and after the fuse gets split between the Speed controllers and
a voltage regulator (set to 5V).  The regulator feeds the receiver (via a switch) and also provides power for the various
lights.  The Speed controllers have BEC circuits, so I have disconnected the red lead so as to not conflict with the regulated source. 

The lights are controlled by a pair of switches linked to the channel on the TX that has a two position switch. 

I linked the second motor to the first using a mixer on the TX and assigned a knob to trim it. 

It all seem to fit together pretty well.

[SailorGreg]

Fine job Jim.  Those wire connecting blocks certainly help to keep things tidy under the deck.  Come on snow, hurry up and melt and we can all see Bluebird in her natural element!

Greg

[mike_victoriabc]

I've been watching this build  very neat and tidy work!


I started building this model a few years ago but it has been on hold - time to get back to it!



Where did these connecting blocks come from? Don't think I've run across those.


Certainly appreciate your posts.

[jpdenver]

The connecting blocks:   

EBAY: 75Pcs 221-412 Lever Nut Compact Splicing Connectors - 2/3/5 Conductor For Wago 

They have a wide selection of them all different sizes. 

One thing - make sure you study the way they work and the length of stripped wire needed. 
On larger stranded cable (10 and 12 ga) I needed to trim a little from the "bundle" to get it
to fit deep.   

I do like them,  makes re-wireing and changes easier. 

Thanks for the comments. 
A little more to come. 

Jim

[jpdenver]

Back to finishing up the Dinghy Davits.  (say that 5 times fast)
After studying the Article and the Plans from Dave Metcalf, 
I searched around for a "best approximation" of the way the
full size Bluebird suspended the dinghy. 

I saw that they pulled it in tight against a horizontal bumper,
and had loops of rope over the davits. 

While doing this I noticed that I had not applied her name to the stern.So that had t be taken care of first.


So this is what I came up with. 



 

[jpdenver]

I am starting to wrap this up.     I went on to Ebay and see that there are actually 2 versions of the kit available.
Typical of the Chinese,  they do not fix their typos.  So both models are listed as 1:18, when in fact
one is 1:18 (like mine) and one is 1:12. 

The 1:18 : https://www.ebay.com/itm/254716286136?hash=item3b4e4614b8:g:hBMAAOSws9dfgWkF 

The 1:12 : https://www.ebay.com/itm/254947576912?hash=item3b5c0f4c50:g:QI0AAOSwuClgfNtP 

Those of you who have been following my build will remember that I found a couple of issues with the 1:18 kit.
Most of these were due to the fact that the kit manufacturers first created the 1:12 kit and then scaled it down in the computer to 1:18.  In some cases this left the laser cuts VERY thin, and delicate.  With my big fingers, and
sometimes shaky hands, I found the manipulation of the tiny, thin pieces to be frustrating. 
However - I really enjoyed this build.     Would I recommend it to others?   YES.

What were the good things about it? - 
1. The laser cuts were very exact.  These saved me the trouble and time of layout and fabrication.  I know that some
    enjoy the engineering of the craft, layout of the frames, working from plans and scratch building.  This kit allows the
   builder to focus on the actual assembly techniques. 

2. The engineering of the kit was meticulous.  The pieces fit together very well.  Very little adjustment needed.  The challenge    was the interpretation of the instruction manual, (even after I translated it) - what saved me a lot of time was the pictures. 

3.  This is only my second Plank-on-frame hull.  so again, having the pieces so well planned kept the project moving along. 

So if you enjoy the "construction" over the "design" facets of this hobby, then you will find this kit enjoyable.  It is not an easy
build, and you do have to THINK.  but when you figure out what the piece is supposed to look like - it will be there.  You need to
be a careful builder, as there is little room for "slop".  I encountered a number of times where the amount of glue made something too tight,
and I needed to shave to make things fit. 

Here is a final tour of the Bluebird of Chelsea: 

[Stuw]

The detail is stunning.  Thanks for your build log it’s been great to watch all your hard work! Hoping to see footage sometime of her on the water once the reservoirs are at a more usable level.

[Ralph]

That is a  beautifull model, you must be justifiably proud of it.


Really enjoyed following your build log, thanks for posting it all.


Ralph

[DJW]

Amazing build Jim. Inspiring.


I add my name to the list who can't wait to see it on the water.


Best regards
David.

[jpdenver]

David, Ralph, Stu and
all those who have taken the time to glance thru this thread.
Thanks. 

I think most of us post here for a combined number of reasons.
1. "Look what I did"   
2. "Don't make the same mistake as me"   
3. "This is how you can solve your hiccup"   
4. "My wife/spouse/partner doesn't understand this so it is nice to get positive feedback"  and on and on. 

Finally there comes a time when you can say -
"Doesn't she look sweet on the water?" 

The weather here at 5000+ feet above sealevel is getting warmer. 
I watch the pond levels every chance.  I even bought a new pair of Wellies. 
(just in case I get impatient and want to wade out in the muck.) 

So - as this thread starts to go idle and tread water waiting for the snow to melt. 

I say once again -

Thanks to all the viewers and reply-ers on this thread.  You are welcoming, and your
kind comments are appreciated. 

I will post movies as soon as she launches from drydock. 

Regards to all -

Jim Pope
Denver, Colorado USA   


---  Here are some final pics of the "Bluebird at Night"  ----- 

[jpdenver]

Well, 

I just wanted to say "fare thee well"  for now. 
My winter build is done,  and the ponds are filling up. 

I have enjoyed my time here among the Fairey Folk. 
you have all been welcoming and I appreciate the camaraderie.

But - Time to get back to my true love - STEAM. 

Now that the weather is warming up and my machine shop is habitable.
I am going over to the Steam forum and Hang out until fall when I start my next "Winter Build" 

So take care, get your shots, wear your masks, keep your keel in the water. 
I will post pics and movies sometime this month of the maiden voyage of the Bluebird. 

Regards to all,
Thanks for reading. 

Jim Pope
Hilltop Boatworks 
Denver, Colorado USA 

[SteamboatPhil]

Brilliant Jim, I have followed with great interest, a great conclusion congratulations. I look forward t seeing it when it gets it bottom wet