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[JimG]

I was looking for a short project  and found some of the etched steel kits on line, I had previously bought one of the Ukranian kits from Time for Machine this summer to make up a "Luxury Roadster" car. This is a representative design from the 30's ? and is clockwork powered, it made up a good looking model although the mechanical fitts are best described as loose. These are quite expensive so when I saw some smaller designs from China at a low price I decided to get a couple to try, a boat based on a European and a twin 40mm mount.
As the lifeboat looked less fiddly I decided to start on this, It came as 2 sheets of etched steel, supposedly stainless but is attracted to a magnet. Both sheets are 22.4 x 11.2 cm and contain around 70 finely detailed parts. Many are quit small so will prove a challenge for my fat fingers. I have decided to take my time with this instead of completing it at one go so as not to run the risk of making mistakes. 
I have added some photos of the car first. The polished surface of the steel does make it a bit tricky to photograph.
Jim

[JimG]

With a lot of small parts I won't attempt to show all the stages but probably just a few major sections. The parts are cut from the sheet and then the cut is cleaned up with a fine diamond needle file. The marked bends are made with a pair of small pliers that came with the car kit. Some parts need to be rolled round a rod so various screwdrivers of different diameters were used. Parts fit together using tabs through slots and the tabs are then twisted to hold them in place, sometimes the tabs need to be folded over to allow clearance with other parts.The first major section in the lower section of the cabin What started as a flat sheet soon becomes 3 dimensional after a few folds and slotting in tabs and a few smaller parts can be added.
Jim

[Ralph]

But will it float Jim?


Looks like a nice display model.  I've built similar, but smaller and simpler, from a company called Metal Earth.




Ralph

[JimG]

Going to be a bit too many holes for floating.Got a bit more done this evening, fitted the upper half and roof of the cabin then some of the smaller bits. The instrument consoles at the back proved tricky with a lot of bends then several tabs to fit in slots at the same time, the access to the back to twist the tabs is becoming restricted but eventually they fitted. The wheel proved tricky to fit with 2 folded sections making up the support, each with 2 tabs which proved difficult to fold over and give a secure fit. Fitting this to the console proved even harder with 2 pairs of tabs to fit into a cross shaped set of slots which were mostly blocked from view by fingers. Once the tabs were in I realised that I had gone out of sequence and there was no access to the back so this piece was held in place with superglue. The seats were again tricky to fit with another 4 tabs to go into the deck and even when fitted and the tabs twisted were a bit loose so some superglue gel was added under the deck to lock the tabs better. Not a lot done but fitting the smaller parts took longer than expected as they were so fiddly.
Jim

[JimG]

Managed to getsome more done over the last few days and lots of little fiddly bits added. The cabin/wheelhouse is completed and the deck has had its fittings added. Luckily many of the smaller parts have extras on the sheet as I managed to lose 2 of the cleats while trying to get them bent to the correct shape to fit the deck. The nice shiny steel does have a drawback when trying to locate tiny slots to fit the tabs. A bright light is needed for the work but does cause unwanted reflections at times.Again apologies for the quality of the photos, a phone camera does have difficulty in close up and with the indirect light needed to stop reflections.
Jim

[Ralph]

Looking good Jim.  What's the overall length of the complete model?

[JimG]

Length just under 15cm and around 4.5cm beam.

[JimG]

Completed the last stages and it's now finished. The cabin was fitted to the deck with plenty of tabs to be fitted, it was a case of fitting a couple at a time then locking them in place before doing the next until they were in place all round. One had to be folded out of the way as it proved impossible to get it lined up for fitting, luckily it was hidden away and didn't add any strength. The hull was folded up from one piece with a transom section added after, there was some tricky curving of the flat sheet in places to get the sides to fit the bottom. With the tiny tabs the joins were not that secure so I added strips of fine glass fibre cloth inside the hull and glued them in place with superglue. (I used masking tape on the outside of the seams to stop the glue eascaping to the outside of the hull.) Once the glue had fully hardened I used a Chrome marker pen to colour the glass so it would blend into the steel sheet as the deck has large holes allowing the inside to be seen. The last small pieces to be added were a couple of folded sections resembling rudders but acting as a stand when sitting upright.
The deck was finally added to the top of the hull, starting by fitting the tabs at the stern and moving forward until the bow was secure. Once all of the tabs were secured it gives a more rigid structure. The final stage will be to put it in an ultrasonic cleaning bath to remove the fingerprints from the external surface.
Jim

[Mark T]

Hi Jim that looks fantastic