My Gry Meritha refit- construction has finally lifted off the ground at last!!!. This could not have been possible or somewhat labored if not for the help of "John Lambert" who has allowed me to borrow his plans to build my model, this guy is a legend. I can not thank him enough for his help and advice so far allowing me to make a start on my next project.
Its worth mentioning that this kit was brought second hand and had clearly been in storage for along time and had suffered considerable damage to the various areas, with this in mind I decided my best option was stripping model right back to bare basics and starting all over. My major decision in this factor was the running gear. First phase of my refit was dismantle of decks and beams carefully as will later use as templates for replacement parts.Once decks removed; this allowed me to remove the shafts and A-frames etc, with a little help from my heat gun. The epoxy was very soft and made this job very easy. Shafts will be upgraded along with rudders & props.
I had to remove the Gry Meritha letters on side of the hull. these were glued on very well and broke when i removed them. I had replacements laser cut.
After all metal and plastic fittings had been removed, my next phase of the build was removing all the paint on the outside of the GRP hull. To do this I used a paint stripper that can be used on GRP. This worked extremely well but took a couple of days to complete i.e. red one day and blue the next.
Once washed and cleaned it came out okay. I stayed was clear of using wire wool as not to scratch hull. I used a stiff stable brush and cellulose thinners for any stubborn areas that the stripper had trouble lifting, mainly in corners.
During removal of the shafts I noticed there was a break to the left on the starboard shaft entry point. To make life easier for me, I decided to glass fibre the inside and fill from the outside. This will allow me to install the new shafts etc without hassle later stages of the build.
After this I could finally make a build stand out of MDF, cheap and not bothered if paint/glue deposits during construction. I will make a solid wood stand near the completion of the build. Templates used are provided (DRG:14)
In my next update, I will begin installing the running gear including bow thruster and fabricate two new aluminium rudders. Then i can turn my attention to construction of the deck beams and decks.
All the best for now.
robbie
Author
Topic: Model Slipway Gry Meritha 1/40 (Read 3549 times)