Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Working Vessels => Topic started by: maso on September 17, 2007, 03:45:39 am
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Well, I just ordered the Model Slipway's Vliestroom. :)
At this stage ( I change my mind frequently ) I will have working lights, radars and the crane. The crane is what I am most looking forward to.
Looking forward to starting, can't wait. O0
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Excellent and welcome to the Mayhem!
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there are a couple already on here, one of which was made by "Farradays Cage" and has a lot of working parts
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Here's the latest photo of my version of the Vliestroom. Photo taken at the Pontins Modellers Week. September 07.
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OK Faraday's Cage, tell us about the working crane! O0
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Yes, I've just started to build the Vliestroom, and would love to know how you made yours work. I plan on my crane working, but it's always good to get ideas from other people. ;D
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Maso,
You need to decide how you are going to control the crane functions. I decided due to the delicate nature of the moving parts that normal radio control was out due to possible interference problems, so I went for a 499mhz 4 way switcher(Similar frequency to central locking systems on cars). I've found this to be totally reliable.
I have 3 functions on the crane - Arm slew, arm raise/lower and hook in/out. All controlled using camcorder motors and gearboxes from gash units off ebay. I got 3 motor/gearbox combos out of 1 camcorder alone. The hook unit is fitted on the back of the arm in place of the white metal fitting supplied. The slew unit is fitted under the deck and connected to the hub of the crane via a large cog. The arm raise / lower unit is located inside the main housing of the crane body and uses a threaded push rod to raise the arm.
"Tug Kenny" is building the same and posting through the build. If you type Vliestroom into search box you will get further info on contruction which may be of use to you.
Terry.
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Hi Maso
Yes, it's a lovely build. The boat skids are the hardest to get right section. I did it three times before I got near the desired result. ;D
The paint sections are all down to my inexperience, and I needed Stavros's help to achieve a better result.
I still have not done the crane power-up due to fright !! and have left this till the very last. (I've got the hole in the deck ready 8) )
Cheers...Ken
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Well, I think it's about time I uploaded some photos of my build.
This will be my first boat, yeah I know, not really a good one to start with, but what the heck. So far I'm really enjoying it.
I also don't follow plans very well, I follow them, but not in the right order. If I need a break from something I'll move on to another part for a while then come back. Anyway, here's some photos.
No 1. I've installed the rudder tubes and have glued them in place.
No 2. Here I've glued on the bulwark liners and am adding the deck supports, pegs come in real handy for all sorts of things.
No 3. I decided to have a break and move on to the crane, it's what I was most looking forward to building. The plan is to motorize it.
No 4. I am replacing the plastic rod that was to be used for the pivot with brass rod. No real reason, just looks shiny.
No 5,6,7. Here's some shots of the jib head, I've replaced the white metal pulley's, with brass ones as they are so much better, since it will be working, they turn much easier.
Well, that's it for now. More to come soon. O0
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Here's a few more photos. Done a fair bit.
No 8. Soldered the two halves of the rudders together then filed and sanded so they are nice and smooth. That was a lot of work, but I think they look good.
No 9. Rudder tubes in place and beginning to build up some body filler.
No 10. While the rudder tubes are setting, I've started to assemble the superstructure.
No 11 & 12. A couple more views of the superstructure.
So far it's coming alone nicely. ;D
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It's coming along nicely. Looks very tidy and accurate workmanship.
One tip (if I can call it that) is to leave the inside window shapes a little larger that the matching outside windows at the moment. My reason for saying this is they will need lining up together when you come to glaze them, other wise you see the edges through the window. When they match up at the corners, you will find they moved the thickness of the plastic join and go out of line. I undercut a few on mine and had to remake the section to match up better.
Also worth noting is the inside wall cabinets and tables must not come up to window height because this will not leave enough material to glaze properly. (it happened to me !!)
I also filled the circular windows with little glazed portholes which looked super with the little rivits showing. (I found the plain hole looked a bit uninviting). 8)
I'm in the middle of a maze of motors and linkages for the crane now, and having sleepless nights as well. It really is an engineering nightmare. I have the feeling the boat will be Bow- heavy !!
All the best
Ken
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Thanks for the tips Ken.
I also noticed that the portholes don't look quite right without glazing. So I'll be adding that.
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I've started on the wheelhouse furniture. The goal is to try and have a fair bit of detail in there.
In photo 13, I wanted to have one of the drawers working in the chart table. So I just cut a opening out of the top and made up a draw, it was quite easy really and looks good.
You can see what it looks like nearly finished in photo 14. The draw slides in and out nicely. Not that you will be able to when the boat is finished. But I'll know you can. ;)
In photo 15, I've started to work on the seats. I glued some emery paper on them with the rough side down. That way you see the texture on the back of the paper. So hopefully you will still see it when they are painted.
Well, thats it for now. O0
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I managed to do a bit more this weekend.
No 16 - shows how I've shaped the filler around the prop tubes. Still needs a little more, but it's nearly there.
No 17 - From L to R - Model Slipways spotlight, you cant see it on that angle, but it was an oval shape, so I purchased a couple of after market ones, but they are too short as you can see by the middle one. I chopped them off under the light holder, drilled a small hole and soldered in a brass tube. The bonus with that is I can run the wires from the light down the tube. ;D
No 18 - I've added a 3 doors to the back of the com/power panel.
No 19 20 & 21 - I plan on using LEDs for all the lights. In No 19 you can see the 3 stages. 1st is the original LED, second, I've chopped the top off so it's flat. And the last one, I've sanded the outside of the LED so it gives off a softer more even light.
You can see the difference between two LEDs. No 20 shows an original LED and photo 21 shows one that I modified. :)
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Great looking build. O0
I do the same thing, filing the LEDs, but I also paint the tops and sides that will be 'hidden' white, I find it helps reflect the light out through the 'open' sides.
Andy
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I've also used a brass pipe to feed the wires through. Also, I have the problem with the LED's (see pic).
I didn't know you could file them Meechingman. Thanks for that. How far down can one file them please ?
Ken
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Hi Ken.
I just went out and cut down a LED. You can nearly cut them in half, as long as you don't go too close to the semiconductor. I left about a mm, so I ended up cutting off about 4mm from a 10mm LED. Just have a go and see what happens. O0
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Well, Ive been pottering around and made up the hydraulic lift rams for the crane. I didn't use the plastic tube supplied in the kit for the rams, I made mine out of brass tube, for no real reason. Inside the rams, I glued in a smaller brass tube for the hydraulic rod to slide in.
They have come up quite good. It was a nice way to spend an evening in the shed with the fire going. :)
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It's been a while, but I'm back. Just a couple of photos for now.
No 24. I've started working on the mast, the lights will work, so I'm trying to sort out the best way to go with that. It's coming along though.
In photo 25, I took a break from the mast and started working on the life rings. I didn't use the white metal ones supplied. I made up a couple from styrene. They have been painted and now I'm wrapping some rope around each one in 4 places, should be done tomorrow so I should have a finished photo. But I think they will look good. It's the little things. ;)
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Ok, I made some changes to the way I made the life rings. I decided that they look better with rope wrapped all the way around the outside. Of course I'd finished them, so off came all the rope and I started again.
No 26 shows how I started with a short piece of rope that was long enough to go around the outside of the life ring. Then I wrapped that in place. After wrapping around the ring 6 times, I covered the rope in pva glue and held it with my fingers for about 10 minutes.
No 27 shows the next step.
In no 28, After wondering what I was going to do with the ends of the rope, I just cut them off at an angle.
No 29, Nearly there.
No 30, This is how I finished off, Just tucked the two ends under the rope that wrapped around. Very fiddly.
No 31 shows what the finished life ring looks like. A lot of work, but worth it.
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I thought the Vliestroom will need some padlocks here and there. :)
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brass shim makes good hasp and staples.
Peter
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Nice work. O0
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Yes indeed. Your attention to detail is exemplary.
Ken
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Thanks for the comments.
This is what it looks like so far, Thanks for the tip on the brass Peter, will look into that. I'm going to have to start painting soon, as soon as the silly season is over and everything is back o normal. :D
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Well, it's been a long time since i posted an update.
The build slowed down for a while while i was waiting for the motors and gear reduction sets to arrive.
I didn't want to put the deck on until i had the running gear in, i thought it was easier to sort that out without fighting my
way around the deck. I've also been working on the crane, got the motors worked out and it seems to work, I'll post a photo
of the setup soon. Anyway, here's a photo of where I'm up to.
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Been busy working on the crane motor. I have used a Tamiya motor and gearbox to control the raising of the jib via a cam system, I have also added a micro switch under the plate that goes up and down with the cam, that is connected to a second motor that controls the rotation of the crane. So, when the crane jib is down in it's cradle, the power is cut to the motor that controls the rotation of the crane, I have to raise the jib about 5mm which activates power to the rotation motor. That way i can't rotate the crane while it's in the cradle, So i won't be able to break the end off it by mistake. Anyway, it all works.
I don't have a gear on the botom of the crane in the photo, but it's on now and running. Hope that all makes sense. ;)
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I thought I'd get on to some painting, sprayed on some undercoat today. Haven't done the big bits yet, will see how these come up with some colour on first. It's looking good so far.
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Got to do a bit of painting over the last couple of days, it's starting to get there now. Hopefully will be able to do some more tomorrow. :)
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Beautifully detailed Maso, the crane motor set up looks good.
regards
Gary :)
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I'm glad to see an another person building with high quailty the same model I do. Can you please post more photos of the crane motor?
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i'll do some more crane motor photos in the next couple of days. O0
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Here's some more photos of the crane drive system. The main gearbox that lifts the jib up and down is a Tamiya 6 speed gearbox kit.
I had a bearing shell laying around, so filled it with car body filler after inserting it through the output shaft of the gearbox. That way, when it set, it's on there for good. It's off center as far as it would go, so it would act as a cam. There's a hinged steel plate that sits on top of it, so as the cam goes around it moves the plate up and down. The pushrod that lifts the crane jib is sitting on top of the steel plate, (which is part of a gate hinge actually). The other little geared motor drives the rotation of the jib, it also has a micro switch under the steel plate, so when the jib is down, it cuts power to that little motor, that way I can't accidentally rotate the jib while it sits in it's cradle. I have to lift the jib up about 10mm before i can get power to rotate it. Well, I thought it was a good idea.
Hopefully the photos will explain it a bit more and it might make sense.
The last photo shows the gear on the bottom of the crane shaft, that comes into contact with the little motor when I slide it in place.
I made little rails so I can Slide the whole unit in and out, in case I have to remove it for maintenance. ;D
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I spent most part of the day and built the boat skids, wasn't looking forward to it, but once I got going it wasn't too bad. I've also painted the outside of the wheelhouse. I didn't want a nice smooth finish. So I painted the first coat with a soft brush then stippled the brush over the top to cover the brush marks. After that was dry, I airbrushed a couple of top coats on it. It looks good, so I think I'll repeat that for the whole boat.
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Some of the wheelhouse furniture has been installed. I drilled some holes in the panel where some of the buttons are and installed a couple of LEDs behind them. They are switched on in the second photo, you can't see them very good but they do work and look good. I'll take a darker photo so they stand out more.
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Smashing detail Maso - you can see the yellow LED's.
Did you build the wheelhouse detail from memory / photo's? Only my Marie Felling has no interior details supplied and I've not come across any on the net and wanted some idea's.
regards
Gary :)
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Fortunately the Vliestroom comes with etched brass panels, also on the plan they give ideas for scratch building some interior parts. The other good thing is, I've had a look on the net at other peoples Vliestroom to see what they have done. I'm not too worried if it's 100% correct, I think if it looks good, then I'm happy. I've still got a few more bits to make yet.
I have just painted the Superstructure, it's drying at the moment, will put some photos up tonight hopefully. It's come up quite well so far. :)
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I'm slowly getting there, it's good to see some paint on it. It's starting to look more like a boat now.
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Added a couple of computer panels to the main panel and some maps to the map table ;D
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i thought i'd better keep the crew happy, so I made them a coffee cup. It's 3mm high and 2mm in dia. At this stage they will all have to share. ;)
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Here's an update photo. Been busy working on the crane, most of it's done, have to add the hydraulic lines and the winch. I have the winch motor ready to go but I'm still trying to work out what to do about the winch drum. I've had a go at making a couple, but I'm just not happy with them. Of course, if I had a little lathe, anyway, I'll keep at it.
I'm at the stage now that I should paint the decks and the hull, which is pretty much the rest of it. I think I'll try to get that done this weekend. That way I can start adding all the good bits. ;D
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Made up some of the railing today. I decided to solder them together, then brushed on some undercoat and sprayed on the final colour.
I've never made rails before, so I'm quite happy with the way they came out.
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Nice job.
The top rail on Drumbeat sat on top of the stanchion rather than go through a hole in it as your picture. Its sometimes a good idea to use a couple of crocodile clips either side of the solder joint to act as a heat sink but the MSW stanchions are quite sturdy. The lower rails can just be super glued in place.
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Been busy painting the hull, wasn't looking forward to it, but I enjoyed it.
I painted the top of it white first, then red oxide car primer on the bottom second, masked off the white around the top, then painted the black last, it seemed to work ok.
I've also done some more rails and stairs. ;D
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Looks fantastic Maso, was painting the water line (between black and red) hard - it looks like there are 'fins' to negotiate.
regards
Gary :)
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Yeah, it's those damn ribs that i wasn't looking forward to as they are on an angle. I used 6mm Tamiya masking tape which worked really well.