Model Boat Mayhem

The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Navy - Military - Battleships: => Topic started by: unbuiltnautilus on November 01, 2016, 08:53:22 am

Title: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 01, 2016, 08:53:22 am
It was a glorious day yesterday. There was a spring tide and a light easterly wind. The ideal conditions for another visit to my new sailing venue at Locksway Road in Eastney. Just me this time, so a bit more risky in case of problems. Worst case, the tide would go out and I could recover the model.
It did not come to that.
So, once more before its refit, HM(C)S Snowberry/flake..
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 01, 2016, 09:02:05 am
With the higher tide, plus less weed than previously, I decided to get adventurous!
The big picture shows a view north east across Langstone Harbour. With Havant and Hayling Island in the distance.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 01, 2016, 09:07:25 am
Following a quick pit stop to sort out the onboard failsafe, which I had managed to get a splash of salt water in, knocking it out, it was off to venue two.
Hilsea Lines at Hilsea Lido. It is little known that Portsmouth has a moat, not sure if that is to keep everyone else out, or us in! Makes a good sailing venue though. This is the western most part of the Lines.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: derekwarner on November 01, 2016, 10:53:20 am
Irrespective o f the venue.......that is a superb looking vessel on the water UBN  :-)).....from afar could be mistaken for the full scale vessel..... Derek
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: littoralcombat on November 01, 2016, 11:30:26 am
Great weathering effect!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: Plastic - RIP on November 01, 2016, 01:39:59 pm
Look brilliant on the water. Great rust effects.  :-))
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 01, 2016, 08:15:21 pm
Cheers guys, much appreciated :-)) , I shall, of course be painting over it later!
Let me explain...I purchased the model from a fellow member during the summer. I have been trying to get my hands on one of the Display Teams corvettes for about two years. Every time one comes up, I miss it. luckily ( for me! ) one of our members had a flyaway with his brand new racing quad, lost forever on it's second flight. SWMBI ordered him to thin out to pay for the loss, and in stepped me!
The model was his first build, and is better than my first build was back in nineteen hundred and frozen to death. However, eight years of hard running and it was starting to show the strain. Paint was flaking off everywhere! As I wanted to run the model first, rebuild later, I decided to disguise the flaking with much    ' Atlantic' rust. This needed to look like bare steel work with rust on, and took a bit of effort to get it right.
However, it is only temporary. when converted to HMS Snowflake, the camouflage will have to change. Depending on the amount of 20mm pop guns I fit will dictate the camo scheme. Late 1943, Western Approaches B55 and White with wiggles, or mid 1944 onward, Standard Scheme C, B55 and white (ish). In the form of a long almost horizontal dividing line, fore and aft, main deck downwards dark, upwards light.
I consider every paint job practice for the next paint job. Therefore nothing is lost, it is just improved upon next time....hopefully %)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 08:58:04 pm
Chapter Two: Oh my god, what have you done!!


Today it was time to start on the bow. HMS Snowflake was one of the last four standard Flower Class Corvettes to complete. As such, she incorporated a number of the design features soon to be amalgamated in what was to be known as the Modified Flower Class. One of these changes was an increase in the flare of the bow and sheer of the fore deck. I have been looking forward to this part like a visit to the dentists!


Today, I started with my reference books, mostly Anatomy Of The Ship, Agassiz, which very usefully shows a comparison between standard and modified hull forms. Also very helpfully at 1/192 and 1/96 scale. Making scaling up easy, times 4 and times 2, or so I thought. It turns out my hull is slightly over size on the beam, by an amount I am not going to talk about :embarrassed: , so some hasty re-jigging was needed.
I started with a paper template, just for size. This was followed with cutting out a new profile from glassfibre sheet. Then the existing fittings were carefully removed with a big chisel and a hammer! The bow anchors turned out to be pinned on with brass nails through their top horns. One pin is still visible as it was more than a bit of a pig to remove. Once the deck was clear, I could offer up the fibreglass part. This was then cyanoed into place.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:09:06 pm
I then used the existing deck outline to produce cardboard templates, remember, with the hull being too beamy by 'an amount', I couldn't use my existing plan to produce a new deck pattern. This is how I bodged it!
The cardboard templates, once cut out, were offered up to the bow, and moved forward to match the new keel position. They were too skinny at the mid point. The Modified Flowers increased the flare forward to better handle Atlantic swells. I needed a cheat.
Luckily, and in the absence of a set of French Curves, the answer was to be found on the off cut of cardboard, by inverting it and offering it up to the existing deck profile, a very pleasing curve could be completed on a modified, new profile. By following from contact point 1 through the new points 2 and 3, a better profile revealed itself..bodged to perfection ok2
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:14:15 pm
More fibreglass sheet, this time for the deck, cut out and offered up. I preparation for the next part, much roughening up was required. Brutal but important.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:21:30 pm
Now for my favourite product in the world, that isn't P40! Plastic Padding Glass Fibre Paste, or as we refer to it in the Portsmouth area, Green S**t!
This is a very effective structural adhesive, with shorter glassfibre strands than P40, a little easier to clean up after applying IMHO ( Humble, that's me!!).
An application on the deck of the model, plus a corresponding skim on the underside of the fibreglass, ensures maximum sticking. An old trick drummed into me by an ex-Halmatic man.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:25:17 pm
Okay, this next bit, not drummed into me by anyone, it just came to me, in fact, don't look, look away, this didn't happen :o
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:30:09 pm
Now I had something for the rest of the Green S**t to bond to. It all makes sense, to me at least...


You can see trough the deck, the extent of the bonding. This stuff cures fast, and allows me to proceed quickly on to the next stage. If you want it to cure at a slower rate, just use less hardener, and avoid hot summer days.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:33:56 pm
When this stuff reaches its 'green' stage, which is the point at which you can no longer spread it, I start to remove any excess with a sharp chisel. It peels easily at this point, however you can also easily over do it, peeling too much away. Always helpful to have a critic in attendance, to tell you how you are doing it all wrong O0
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:38:46 pm
Time for my favourite filler, which isn't P38! Mostly as this is what I have left over from the SS Ohio filler work of five years ago ( soon to be finished, promise..). I made up a profile tool ( balsa wood with a curve ) and a mixing tool ( oak scrap, I think ), and got to work.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on November 20, 2016, 09:45:05 pm
With the new bow almost complete, it was time to look at the mess I have, once again, created...don't care, got my new bow. :}


Next job to complete will be reclaiming my plating detail. I did plating effects on SS Ohio, these will be similar, just more extensive. Tune in next week and all that jazz :-))
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 07:48:07 pm
First the upper bow area. The fibreglass deck went on last time. I now had to fair it in with 1.5mm plasticard. Now it was time to start referring to the plans again. This time to establish how far back the breakwaters had to be. These would provide a disguise that would hide the deck step, from the original timber decks aft, to the new deck forward. I have a copy of John Lamberts excellent plan for the Modified Flower Class Corvettes, the measurements from which need to be scaled up 1.4 times to match the model ( 140% on a copier ).
The infill of deck was bonded on with Cyano glue, after pre-activating the deck area with a spray activator. Getting it right first time as there is no room for error doing it this way! Slap some filler on and roughly cut it back with coarse sandpaper, then leave it to harden off proper like!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 07:56:02 pm
Reclaiming the plating time... I have over filled all the existing plating on the bow area of the model, while in pursuit of my 'Atlantic bow' modification, fitted to later Flower Class vessels. To get them back I used car filler and masking tape. The idea being to lay five or six layers of masking tape, one on top of the other, where the plate edges previously were. I then fill up to this raised edge with car filler, nice and neat (!), then rub the worst excess off, then remove the tape and finish off till happy.
This is how it went...


Tape on first. Initially I laid the tape on the hull, layer by layer. With the overhang and fairly poor light, I struggled a bit to marry up layer upon layer of tape accurately. Therefore, second time round, I laid the tape up on a flat surface, lifted it and then applied it to the model. Problem being that it was now so thick that it did not want to curve up toward the bow, without creasing in a number of places. Lesson learned. I didn't do that again!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 07:59:17 pm
With the filler in an advanced state of 'green-ness', I first went over it, lightly, with some coarse grade old belt sander paper. Cutting down any large lumps before they became a problem. Next, off with the first of the lengths of tape.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 08:05:59 pm
The basic effect is now starting to show. The problem this time is the number of very obvious, vertical, plate joints on the rest of the model. I have not tackled this before, and had to make something up quick..
I put three layers of tape where needed, to simulate the plate joints. Also. I had to put single layers of tape horizontally, where I did not want to encroach on the next vertical plate upwards..wherever I could.
It started to look interesting..in  fact I had to mark with pencil, which bits of tape needed filling up to, so to avoid something of a b***s up occurring, while joyfully slapping filler everywhere %)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 08:09:21 pm
Success :-)) , happy noises could be heard as I muttered "I've got a new bow..wow!" Childish I know, but I have!
Anyway, sanding and fettling followed to get it looking a bit more, uniform.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 08:12:51 pm
I have lost a number of portholes under the filler, and was bullied into making them good again. So, using a round metal grinding bitt on my hobby drill, I proceeded to make holes in the filler, stopping at white gelcoat..
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 08:19:04 pm
So that brings this sessions work to an end. My next challenge is Hawse Pipes for the anchors, and drilling them at the correct angle, plus Rigols above the portholes ( umbrellas for naval round windows! ).
More nautical education here soon :}
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: Yarpie on December 04, 2016, 08:39:00 pm
Great job there m'dear!!

Although "only to be expected" with your skills, it is however a very well thought-out modification.

Well done and keep up the great work. ok2

Rigoles were also affectionately known as "scuttle eyebrows" by the way .............. or so my great grandfather (a seafaring type) told me.

Sandy.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 08:46:03 pm
Great job there m'dear!!

Although "only to be expected" with your skills, it is however a very well thought-out modification.

Well done and keep up the great work. ok2

Rigoles were also affectionately known as "scuttle eyebrows" by the way .............. or so my great grandfather (a seafaring type) told me.

Sandy.




Yup, the umbrella thing, not much based on fact that!!


Many thanks Sir :-))
I am always keen on a challenge, although having cut models in half after completion (twice!), added new bows (once), glued a depth charged corvettes two halves back together (once!) and built a tanker in three bits (once, ongoing!!), I may be running out of challenges..and filler :}
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: ballastanksian on December 04, 2016, 08:56:16 pm
Cripes, a whole book full of hints and tips there Mr Nautilus. The technique for doing plating detail is a star. It is similar though more obvious in effect to the use of filler primer that some modellers use to simulate plates. I will try the filler technique out on future ships. Thanks for sharing  :-))
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 04, 2016, 09:09:01 pm
You are more than welcome, it is always nice to share!
More interesting stuff to come on this thread, I have seen the Trailers :}


(referring to movie trailers of course, not boxes on wheels..)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: ballastanksian on December 05, 2016, 10:16:30 pm
Coming to a forum on model boats near you........
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 11, 2016, 10:05:52 pm
Previously, at One Corvette; Cardboard Funnel.


I replaced the original funnel on the model as it was too small a diameter, and looked all out of place. I had two options available to me, one was an old plastic tube for storing drawings in, the other being a thick cardboard tube. For some reason that still escapes me, I went for the cardboard tube!
First it had four coats of sanding sealer applied, to help waterproof it, and help disguise the spiral, toilet tube look, associated with cardboard tubes..it was not from a loo roll!
Then this was treated to a similar technique to that which produced the plating effects, only on a more subtle level. Using two layers of masking tape and plastic kit filler, in this case Squadron Products Green Filler. I produced a plated effect, which is there but difficult to see.
Also, it is very helpful if you know someone with a 3D printer. Request placed for a funnel cap, following a quick sketch covering parameters, such as fitting inside the cardboard tube etc, and I awaited its arrival.
Very nice to be able to do this, and much appreciated. However, when it arrived, it certainly needed some fettling! You have to dig the item out of the 'swarf' that surrounds it, good fun actually.
Following the addition of steam pipes, whistles, ladders etc, plus little eyelets for later, when proper wire stays will be fitted to the deck, it was out with the spray paint and dry fit it in place.
Happy with that..onwards.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 11, 2016, 11:23:00 pm
I have found some photos of the first part of the build. They show the funnel with filler on it, yet to be rubbed down. Also, I didn't use Green Filler but a standard Humbrol Model Filler, it's grey, not green!
The photos also show the rather brutal mod that I carried out to move the superstructure back 2". It had been built slightly too far forward, and I really needed to move it. Luckily, it came off clean in one part. A quick re-bonding exercise followed, allowing me to run the corvette at our next Canoe Lake show at Southsea. This was the first time they let me be a corvette driver, much fun was had, also very helpful that I knew the commentary off by heart. Should do, I wrote it :-)) .


My other boat is a German Pre-Dreadnought battleship, never won a battle, not one <:(
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 11, 2016, 11:28:10 pm
I needed a transmitter suitable to control the extra functions the corvette will be fitted with. I have a bit of a collection of sets, including 2.4G stuff. Instead, I have opted for a 40Mhz set, a Robbe Futaba FC16 Boat and Truck set. I have married it up to a Futaba 8ch Dual Conversion Rx...however, I had to do some mods, couldn't leave it alone..
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 11, 2016, 11:45:49 pm
Today my first job was to drill and fit the anchor hawse pipes. Plotting the centre from my set of plans, I started by drilling 3mm dia holes, straight in to the hull and deck at 90 degs. I then marked a visual guide, to what I assumed would be the line for the drill to follow. If I did a visual line up, with the two lines appearing to be one line, I could use this to get part of the angle correct, while best guessing the other angle, with a little bit of help from others.
This all looked very clever, until I realised, I could put another pair of lines on the hull and deck, also do a visual line up on these, as before, but they followed a different line, so, I just drilled the holes. Got them nearly on target with a 4mm drill bit, then worked up in 1mm increments, until I got to a 8mm diameter drill bit. This matched the brass tube and lined up with my original marks, so all was good. The jury is, however, still out on my line up method...
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 11, 2016, 11:53:28 pm
This was followed by fitting the brass hawse pipes. Firstly I got the lower angle correct, by marking with a pencil, and then using a bench grinder to get the angle correct. These were then dry fitted and the upper cut line marked with a pencil. This line had to be hack sawed, rather than ground down, too short to safely hold now. I left the pipes slightly proud, so I could do my filler trick again. They were then secured with cyano glue, with a quick spray of activator after about 60 seconds. This gives the glue time to wick properly into the joint before going off.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 11, 2016, 11:58:20 pm
I suffered a little bit of damage on the doubler plate around the starboard hawse pipe. I was a bit too eager with the removal of the masking tape. I shall make it good with air drying filler during the coming week.
Test fitting the white metal anchors, resulted in an excess of twisting of the anchor to fit snugly up the pipe. Still, no one can see it once it is in the hawse pipe :embarrassed:
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 12, 2016, 12:03:23 am
Porthole 'wiggles' next. I had some stainless wire, which I wound round an 8mm dia drill bit. From this I cut thirteen replacements for the portholes lost in the bow filler job previously. These were cyano glued in place, mostly straight (!), and will have a final fairing in with Humbrol Plastic Filler later this week.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 12, 2016, 12:05:12 am
Happy with the result so far..
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 12, 2016, 12:14:26 am
Final job today was to start planning the new superstructure build. Working from the Lambert plans, I was scaling up 1:1.4. However, the hull is over 20mm too wide, so I had to add 'a little' to the width, while retaining the lengths as calculated.
While working on the forward gun platform, an interesting something came to light. It seems the entire gun platform is slightly off centre, more port than starboard. It is not by much, about 7 to 8mm, but it is there. I assume it has something to do with the starboard mounted Hedgehog launcher. The gun itself is on the centre line though. It's quirky, I like it, it's staying..
And that is it for the time being.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: derekwarner on December 12, 2016, 05:27:48 am
UBN.......the plan looks contradictory .......it would suggest that the axis of the mounting is on line with further aft references, together with the aix of the foredeck plating

What is apparent from the plan view is that the foredeck plating is not symmetrical with the axis of the vessel relative to the sides of the mounting platform.......so is the mounting sides distances different?.....I cannot see it from the image of the plan

I would agree to believe the gun mounting axis was on the same axis of the vessel....irrespective of what the plan suggests 

Derek
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 13, 2016, 11:05:25 pm
Having checked the plan, the entire gun platform is a scale 12" offset from the centre line. It seems not enough to be worth the effort for any shipyard. I can see no reason for it. Luckily, I have a different set of drawings, by another draughtsman, in the book Anatomy of the Ship Agassiz. A Modified Flower is featured near the end of the book, this shows the forward gun platform arranged down the centre line of the vessel.
There are still some anomalies concerning the placement of the Hedgehog launcher. However, with a seventy plus year old design, plus the sheer number of variations in the class, I think I can understand the problems in producing definitive plans for us to work from.
Many ( many ) years ago, I knocked up a set of plans for the Soviet Navies Osa I and Osa II missile boats, just for me you understand. Little useful information was available at he time. It would be interesting to see how they hold up against, say the latest Merit models of the same vessels. Considering the Chinese have variations of the vessels preserved as museum ships now, ripe for inspection by anyone with a tape measure.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 09:34:57 pm
Back to the grind. Over the week I added some fore deck detail, mostly what had been there before, following a bit of a spruce up. I was impressed with the jackstaff originally fitted. It was steel with about 12mm drilled into the deck. Seemed a shame to waste it, so back it went. I also spray primered the new bows, as there was a chance the model would be going in the water on Friday. This didn't happen, but the primer coat allowed me to see the imperfections in the filler work. I have yet to make that good however..


She does look nice though...soon fix that <*< literally!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 09:46:16 pm
Part of my big refits goal is to up the waterproof standards of the model. This will allow me to play in the 'rough stuff' from time to time. It has been many a year since I had a really waterproof model for that sort of fun! My SS Ohio is waterproof enough, I am just a little scared of stressing the two hull connection points between the three sections of the model. Don't want to do serious damage to her just for a play on the lake.
So my rough weather boats will be Snowflake and U37.
To this end, a bulkhead needed to be fitted, just aft of the main superstructure. The previous bulkhead is only about 12mm high, adequate, but not good enough for me :} .
I first made up a cardboard template, from this, a bulkhead was cut from an offcut of fibreglass sheet. This was bonded in with my favourite product 'green s**t'....that's not its name, see previous posts for a proper description. Finally, I used a coffee stirrer to provide a nice radiused fillet of the green stuff, up the bulkhead joint..must pinch more of those..
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 09:58:16 pm
The aft deck has a hatch to the rudder. This currently has the safety and test circuit for the underwater charges that this model is fitted with. However, one of the LEDs has failed, and I do not like its position on this low deck. So, It is being moved up a deck. At the same time, I have plans for an extra 'function' on this deck. If it works, it will be very cool. If it does not, the switches are going back on and I shall not speak if it again!!
So, stage one. Replace the deck with one made of Tufnol. Strong and also electrically insulated, could be useful ;)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 09:59:47 pm
Doesn't she look nice?
This didn't last.......
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: derekwarner on December 18, 2016, 10:51:40 pm
Yes UBN....looks excellent  :-)).....just what are the two copper tubes leading down to either side the rudder?.......

Could these be......"I have plans for an extra 'function' on this deck" ?

Are the exit port of the tubes underwater? :o...

Derek
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 11:00:23 pm
The tubes could be a......a magneto hydrodynamic drive..but they are not!
They are used to tow two simulated depth charges, these are streamed between 50cm and 1m aft of the stern. Then fired to produce a column of water to represent a depth charge attack on an enemy U-Boat.


 The new function is related to our submarine attack....in some way.......


....... ok2
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 11:06:59 pm
Part of the conversion from Snowberry to Snowflake involves the replacement of the entire bridge structure. I have been putting this off as I wanted to keep the model available if needed, for any upcoming club events. The last of these has passed, so I have run out of excuses to avoid moving to the next stage of construction...So, it was out with the hammer and chisel!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 11:17:58 pm
Next job was to cut an extra hatch. this will be under the new forward superstructure and fitted with fibreglass hatch coamings. Also, I needed to straighten out a dip in the deck, before bonding in the coamings. I epoxied a length of oak under the deck, while clamping to a temporary above deck cross beam, all to help drag everything into place. It looked great, I forgot to photograph it!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 11:24:23 pm
The four sides of the fibreglass hatch coamings were a tight push fit, then cyano glued in position. Finally, I mixed an epoxy/bulking agent mix, which was filleted into the joint using my patented stirring stick and a wet finger :-)) .
While mixing epoxy, I also added a mahogany strip to the top of the big bulkhead fitted earlier. It didn't need it, but looked better with it fitted.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 11:27:25 pm
Epoxy/bulking agent..very good :-))
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 18, 2016, 11:37:31 pm
With the destruction over, everything that follows is construction. All that is left is a very rough mock up of what Snowflake will look like, using existing bits. Squint and imagine!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 28, 2016, 11:39:13 pm
You know those types? The ones with the tee shirt that says 'GENIUS AT WORK'. Well, I am sending mine back..doesn't fit! I have got my 'Proud Member of THE GUILD OF VILLAGE IDIOTS' one back out..perfect fit. I shall explain..
I decided that today was silicone moulding day. I have been preparing a number of items for moulding. Not just for the corvette, but for SS Ohio and a friends model of MV Southsea.
Here is an overview of the items, all in their nice little boxes. I was initially going to mould without any release agent. Then, I was going to use a silicone release spray for PU Rubber. Then I decided to check online first, just in case..Good job really, DON'T use silicone release spray with silicone rubber, after that, many options exist, from using nothing to using many different things. I opted for a beeswax based furniture polish, lightly sprayed on, brushed about a bit, and left for a while.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 28, 2016, 11:49:23 pm
I have a range of items to mould, including a carley float, made from plastic rod, heat formed into two 'U' shapes, then glued together and strung up. I could have bought them, but where is the challenge?
Also, 3D printed bollards and fairleads, get someone else to do the tedious stuff (Shapeways}, then mould them. When the mould is shot, do it again, nice..
Oil tank hatches for SS Ohio, I still need 22, so moulding five seemed a good idea.
The two dark green seats top left, are Hornby Station Benches, but with the addition of two fully strung liferafts under each, these are for MV Southsea. Orange if memory serves me well??!
Also, some very old Aerokits Fairleads, I had them and needed to fill the box. I am not planning on selling them so shouldn't cause any upset to anyone.
A nameplate for SS Ohio, made out of Slaters plastic lettering, and my most ambitious item, the 20mm Oerlikon gun shield. Plus a turned Aluminium base for the gun, plus about seven assorted ammo boxes.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 28, 2016, 11:59:31 pm
Okay, Village Idiot bit. You know, when you read on something 'Use Within Six Months', and you think , that's only a guide, surely? It is, but it doesn't mean use within six months, but you should be okay with four and a half years, just cos it's you %) .
What happens when you accurately measure out the best part of the tin, onto a set of digital scales, purchased for the job, I must add. Drop in the required 11 grams of hardener. Start stirring, trying to get a good mix throughout the pot. Even brush a bit on the carley float in all the hard to get to bits...and then within 90 seconds it starts to set. Within 3 minutes it was all over bar the swearing and blaming everyone else. I now own a rubber lump on a stick :-)) .
Fresh stuff ordered for delivery later next week, must buy a cat so I can kick it.


Not really, I like cats.




Getting a hamster, they're just stupid...I can ask it advice on model making :-)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 29, 2016, 12:02:02 am
Ohh, forgot this bit.


Lump Of Rubber On A Stick, I am so proud..
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: Capt Podge on December 29, 2016, 12:09:45 am
Lump Of Rubber On A Stick, I am so proud..

Sell it on fleabay - maybe a genuine Village Idiot will buy it. {-)

Regards,

Ray.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on December 29, 2016, 12:13:17 am
We could have a presentation, with flags and stuff, a sort of passing on of the flame type of thing..
"From one village idiot to another, I present thee...." etc, that could work. Collection only, of course!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 01, 2017, 10:48:28 pm
So, the silicone is now confirmed as being VERY old, about six years in fact. Following three more attempts at varying the mix, all are curing in about eight to fifteen minutes. Rather than cry into my tea about it, I have decided to put it to good use.
My hull penetrating tubes for towing underwater depth charge effects, let water in when going astern in choppy water. What I need are a couple of rubber bungs. Thanks to a pack of nic nacs bought from Hunter Systems about three years ago, I have a suitable mould. These appear to be some sort of lid for something. Now they are bung moulds..
First attempt failed, air trapped, second attempt failed, less air trapped, third attempt, I cut the bottom of the ice cream cone off and let the rubber flow. Success.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: ballastanksian on January 02, 2017, 06:57:24 pm
Yup, I did the silicone release spray onto RTV and wasted £70.00 of rubber and spent an hour cutting the masters out  <*<

If I could have bent my leg around to kick myself down the street and back I would have. Still, your masters look great and your progress on the main build is impressive so fret not and don't harm any hamsters:O)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 09, 2017, 01:52:06 pm
Hamster amnesty still in force.
Decent silicone arrived on 4th Jan. I have been pouring, waiting, pouring, waiting, and after a couple of days per mould, de-moulding. All has gone well.
I started with the two part resin a couple of days ago. Practice makes perfect, the first ones out went in the bin!
Air bubbles were the cause, as expected. I don't have a vacuum chamber and the rapid cure time of this resin probably rules out the use of some sort of shaker. So, it was down to learning where they hide and chasing them out with a cocktail stick. Now I am getting the hang of it.
The best bit by far, the 20mm gun shield and supports have come out fine, that will save time now, plus give me the option of easily produced spare parts, if they break in service.


The trick now is knowing when to stop :}
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: T888 on January 09, 2017, 04:22:58 pm
Alan,
I've sometimes painted the resin in to the fine detail ares, then poured in the remaining resin, to reduce blow holes, it helps when doing this to be in a cooler place as it will help Increase the curing time. But you will still need to be quick.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: Capt Podge on January 09, 2017, 05:30:10 pm
That's quite an impressive display of moulded items. Good to see and just goes to show what can be achieved with decent materials, and good masters of course. :-)

Regards,

Ray.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 09, 2017, 05:38:21 pm
Alan,
I've sometimes painted the resin in to the fine detail ares, then poured in the remaining resin, to reduce blow holes, it helps when doing this to be in a cooler place as it will help Increase the curing time. But you will still need to be quick.


I have been using small shot glasses for measuring quantities. This has proved quicker than pipettes, that I used last time round the block. What I have found is that this is a quick method to turn around mixes of resin. If needed, my first mix could be a brushing in coat as described. Before this fully cures, I could have the second mix ready to pour on to the prepared surfaces of the mould.

That's quite an impressive display of moulded items. Good to see and just goes to show what can be achieved with decent materials, and good masters of course. :-)

Regards,

Ray.

Many thanks. It proves that it is worth the preparation time in producing these fittings. Even with all the time involved in preparing the masters, making the boxes, and finally pouring and waiting for the silicone to cure. I feel it is still faster than producing all these items individually. I may well be a convert :-))
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: Korp1010 on January 09, 2017, 06:10:57 pm
Hello


Those moulded items look great, could I please ask where you get your silicone rubber to make the moulds and the resin to cast the items?



Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 09, 2017, 06:54:22 pm
I got my polyester resin from Sylmasta, www.sylmasta.com. It is called Polycast Casting Resin G26.
However, the silicone came from Easy Composites, www.easycomposites.co.uk. It is called CS2 Condensation Cure Silicone Rubber. In future I shall also get my casting resin from them. Theirs is called Xencast P6 and looks to be a bit cheaper. Also bundling the two together should help with p&p costs.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 10, 2017, 10:57:34 pm
Having spent well over an hour trying to locate all six brass 20mm guns. I found three, then lost one, then found four, but couldn't find the first two, which were now in a safe place..anyway. Time to marry them up with the resin parts. They are not super detail items, but I am most chuffed with the look of them.

Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 10, 2017, 11:00:21 pm
I couldn't resist fitting a pair of them on the model, along with four Carley Floats. It does look a bit of a work in progress, with everything scattered about the deck, mostly as it is a work in progress :-)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: U-33 on January 11, 2017, 12:54:24 pm
Absobloodylutely top quality work, old chap...very impressive.


(Our hamsters (Sid with an I and Syd with a Y) are pleased to note that they will still be safe...)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 11, 2017, 02:07:06 pm
Absobloodylutely top quality work, old chap...very impressive.


(Our hamsters (Sid with an I and Syd with a Y) are pleased to note that they will still be safe...)

I am working my way up from small furry mammals now...any squid lovers here??!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: U-33 on January 11, 2017, 02:22:39 pm
I am working my way up from small furry mammals now...any squid lovers here??!


"small furry animals"...wasn't that a Pink Floyd track? Way back in the days of Ummagumma?
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 11, 2017, 06:08:26 pm
Sorry to make you feel old, but I only discovered The Floyd after Pulse Live at Earls Court. On the recommendation of a work colleague..best thing he ever did!! So, now I save the early stuff for when I am working with very smelly glue, it kinda all meshes   on       a spiritual           level   man                ....


 :o
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 11, 2017, 06:10:05 pm
                                                and                      .......




                  Where was I?
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: ballastanksian on January 11, 2017, 09:46:53 pm
Way out flower chile'  %%   Having the guns at different angles is attractive. I can imagine them firing at a Fockw Wolf 200!

Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on January 11, 2017, 11:35:31 pm
I noticed that 20mm guns are often at rest at a high, often vertical angle. This also helps when moving the model about, less stuff to snag!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: ballastanksian on January 14, 2017, 02:09:22 pm
Good idea. A friend of mine at club said at around the time I joined that he did not like military vessels because it seemed like something got broken off every time you moved the model anywhere! I can understand this with models of capital ships with all the AA weapons and mine net arrays etc all clamouring to be snagged.



Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 04, 2019, 11:47:34 pm
Hello Two Years Later :-)) . My excuse as follows; In some of the posts you can see me doing the messy stuff at our clubhouse in Eastney. We got booted out of there in August 2017, and we spent the last four months refurbing one of the Display Teams explodey merchant ships, so Snowflake went on the back burner. We moved to the Royal Marines Museum in Eastney temporarily, but were unable to undertake any smelly, dusty or dirty work there. So we just pottered on doing Poldark and stuff, and I build a Martian War Machine out of trash.
We moved into Explosion in Gosport March through April 2018, opening to the public in May. The new site had a static display for the public, a store area AND a workshop. So me and my mate spent last summer building a 78" tall Steampunk robot called Boilerplate ( look him up, he really existed.......... %) ), and I refurbed an Our Lass 2 into Boll Weevil 2. Then we got kicked out last autumn! However, we are now in a longer term home where stuff can be made, mess can be created, and the creative juices can flow again. We are currently refurbing our big Mulberry harbour complex in time for the D-Day 75 commemorations, and I have started working on HMS Snowflake again, and very happy it is making me :-))
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 04, 2019, 11:56:07 pm
So, the next job was a new superstructure, out of plasticard. Now I am no fan of plasticard, preferring the feel of 1/16 and 1/32 ply for superstructure builds. So, I decided to use plasticard, cos I don't like it!
I am fast becoming a fan of this nasty, white, smooth, easy to glue, easy to paint material..


I have assembled the three deck houses of the 'almost' Modified Flower Class as separate sections that slot together. This should aid detailing and painting when I get to that stage. I have been on this build for just over a week now, and I am impressed with how easily plasticard can go together if you are accurate with your cuts, use a square and decent sanding/filing equipment etc.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 04, 2019, 11:59:49 pm
I never miss an opportunity to dress up the model for the photos. Either with the new resin parts, or the salvaged fittings from the original Snowberry build.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 12:05:42 am
The low level shield curving round the forward gun platform is a good advert for the ease of use of plasticard. I made this part out of two laminated layers of 0.5mm plasticard, bonding the first one in place, and within a few minutes attaching the second layer. Once it had cured, it has proved to be properly strong, if maybe just a bit too thick! I shall disguise it and no one shall know!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 12:11:03 am
The white, semi opaque nature of the superstructure has been playing havoc with my white balance on the camera, daytime or night, it comes out as a big bright blob. The sooner it has a primer coat on the sooner I will be a bit happier. Still, lots of fiddly bits to go on before that.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 12:17:45 am
I have settled on HMS Snowflakes 1945 guise, which includes 6x20mm Oerlikon guns scattered, defensively, around the ship. The extra platforms, bullet proof shielding, and simple camouflage scheme, won me over in the end. This is where I am tonight, apart from a motor mount and Olympus belt drive, which is causing me issues..but more of that later.
The other two photos show Snowflake entering Portsmouth harbour in 1945 flying her paying off pennant, and represent her final wartime configuration.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: derekwarner on April 05, 2019, 01:42:01 am
ubn......a little off thread.........where did they store the 4" projectiles for the main gun on the Flower Class?


Those 2 hinged lid steel box's  just behind the gun don't appear to be waterproof, sound or of sufficient volume........or what is that a waterproof bulkhead [door] on axis under the bridge?....[the 4" live magazine?.....but partially blocked by one of those tin lidded boxs]


So are these 4" projectiles [second image] that have been loaded into the for action rotary magazine [presumably, just before engagement or action?]


NB......WIKI lists the 4" projectile as a 'Shell' and of 14.1 kg each........with the magazine as shown, the mounting may have needed 4 man minimum in an action scenario


If the live magazine is behind that waterproof bulkhead, one of the steel lidded box's may need to be moved a little to the port side


Derek
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 09:17:18 am
Morning Derek. Right, item one, until I have glued things down, you can consider locker placement as just temporary, mostly to get me motivated for the next part of the build! The Bertie Bassett looking black and white hatch is a plastic offcut, from a bag of plastic offcuts that I purchased at a show recently, just trying it out for shape and size only!


The second image shows the ready use 4" shell racks which were standard on the early Flowers, I am still looking for any reference that they were still used on the Modifieds or even the Castle Class. That will be enough confirmation to place them back into position on the new gun platform.


Checking My Anatomy of The Ship book on Agassiz, the drawing for the Modified Flowers show an ammunition hatch on the main deck, just in front of the lower bridge structure and directly below the gun platform.This leads down through two decks of crew accommodation, finally reaching the 4" shell room, down in the bottom of the ship. There is also an access hatch and ladder down from the gun platform to the main deck. This and a series of lockers are clustered just to port of the centreline, where my Bertie Basset is currently located. These include two different sizes of 4" RU lockers, plus a Hedgehog RU locker which is a different shape to the two that are on the port wing structure.
The different apparent shapes of these lockers point to the Hedgehog and 4" shells being stored in bits, then assembled? Or are they just big and small lockers with the munitions already assembled for use?


All good fun...
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: tonyH on April 05, 2019, 10:01:44 am
Don't know whether you've seen this. It may be of use for the gun deck plan. http://www.rogerlitwiller.com/books/white-ensign-flying/bonus-material-white-ensign-flying/hmcs-trentonian-ships-plans/
Tony.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: derekwarner on April 05, 2019, 10:05:19 am
ubn......


There is a photograph [somewhere] of the 4" projectiles [12 x pointy end up] in a wooden lined steel box being loaded by shore crane onto the Foredeck of a Flower Class vessel.....[this would have been approx a 200 kg box lift]


I understand they would have stored in a shell room, pointy end down ....then [as needed] each projectile would have been fitted with an Impact Fuse [similar to a 303 bullet] in the blind end of the shell casing....so these were then live projectiles & moved to the live magazine


[Only a guess, but I suspect the live projectiles came out from the waterproof bulkhead on the gun deck level and just aft of the gun]


Due the the shape of the projectile, they were a 1 man lift from the live magazine to the rotary horizontal storage around the open mount ...


So @ some 14 Kg each projectile would have been hard YAKKA  <*< for the Sailors in the Gun Mount Crew


Looking forward to your continued build


Derek
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 11:29:05 am
Don't know whether you've seen this. It may be of use for the gun deck plan. http://www.rogerlitwiller.com/books/white-ensign-flying/bonus-material-white-ensign-flying/hmcs-trentonian-ships-plans/ (http://www.rogerlitwiller.com/books/white-ensign-flying/bonus-material-white-ensign-flying/hmcs-trentonian-ships-plans/)
Tony.


Some really useful information there, cheers. It looks like the 4" rounds are probably stored in the lockers only, rather than the racks around the platform. Also, I may have to break the breakwater away and re-do it...too much information, not always a good thing!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 11:38:06 am
Motor change out. When I got the model originally, it had a Decaperm fitted. Don't like them, too noisy, so I took it out. Replaced it with a Johnson 600 ( always popular with the readership! ), with a 6:1 reduction gearbox on the end. It proved a good combination, except at slow speed, hunting submarines, in our displays..you could hear it resonating through the hull, and it was annoying!
So, after considering a Graupner Brushless upgrade, which I talked myself out of, still not convinced that such a tiddly motor will do what I want, I opted for a 70 turn crawler motor on an old Olympus belt drive. This has a 2.3:1 reduction ratio and is nice and quiet. However, my first Olympus to hand had a rusted solid bearing, and had melted the outer casing, as had the second one! I think I had salvaged them out of an old scrapper without properly checking them first.
Luckily, I had a third one, unfortunately it had the older 1/4UNF thread rather than the newer M6 threads of the later units. Luckily, I had an old 1/4UNF coupling end, so all is good with the world again!
And it gave me the chance to work with some wood again for the motor mount %)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: tonyH on April 05, 2019, 11:47:03 am
Sorry about that!

The US mod's of the Canadian ones used deck lockers only, at least as far as I could see, for the 4" gun and that's how I worked on my 1:144 model of USS Intensity.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 12:23:06 pm
Sorry about that!

The US mod's of the Canadian ones used deck lockers only, at least as far as I could see, for the 4" gun and that's how I worked on my 1:144 model of USS Intensity.


Not your fault chap, I had my suspicions I had done that bit wrong, looking at the drawings just confirmed it.
I think I have got to the bottom of the ready use rounds in their individual holders around the gun deck. Looking through my many photos, I have found a number of pictures of an early Flower, with the crew working the gun. I did not take into account that the early gun platforms were not connected to any other deck, being stand alone upstands. They had no space for easily accessible lockers, so needed the RU rounds to be close at hand. The only option being individual shells around the gun deck edge. The later ships, having the enlarged gun decks, had space and easy access for the big RU lockers.
All makes sense in my head anyway!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 03:07:35 pm
Error mostly made good. My breakwaters are now angled back a bit more. The forward gun platform now has a weather shield below it ( let's call it that anyway..), and I am now waiting for one part plastic filler to set off, so Snorkers and The Cruel Sea in my immediate future, while that ever so slowly sets hard ;)


And, boy, did that old breakwater put up a fight..didn't want to come off!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 05, 2019, 10:37:23 pm
Happy days. Bow breakwater now looking much more accurate. I also have a couple of mint shaped hatches for the ammunition hatches, which are directly below each other, with a davit in attendance. All to feed the 4" gun. All discovered thanks to Mayhem and input from its members. Good stuff indeed!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: gerritv on April 05, 2019, 11:33:25 pm

Here is a link to detail photo of 4" shell storage:
1-  https://www.facebook.com/rogerlitwiller/photos/a.346620075385326/1856312391082746/?type=3&theater
2 - https://www.facebook.com/rogerlitwiller/photos/p.1927157830664868/1927157830664868/?type=1&theater


The 4" ammunition was not separate on Tribals but seems to have been case and shell separate on Flower Class?. (The 4.7" Tribals were definitely separate).


You will also find https://www.hnsa.org/manuals-documents/ordnance-gunnery-and-fire-control/ for the BR257 and BR932 books very handy for enabling you to spend hours on further detailing :-) I accept no responsibility for any potential detours in your building time.


Gerrit

Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 06, 2019, 08:33:26 am
Here is a link to detail photo of 4" shell storage:
1-  https://www.facebook.com/rogerlitwiller/photos/a.346620075385326/1856312391082746/?type=3&theater (https://www.facebook.com/rogerlitwiller/photos/a.346620075385326/1856312391082746/?type=3&theater)
2 - https://www.facebook.com/rogerlitwiller/photos/p.1927157830664868/1927157830664868/?type=1&theater (https://www.facebook.com/rogerlitwiller/photos/p.1927157830664868/1927157830664868/?type=1&theater)


The 4" ammunition was not separate on Tribals but seems to have been case and shell separate on Flower Class?. (The 4.7" Tribals were definitely separate).


You will also find https://www.hnsa.org/manuals-documents/ordnance-gunnery-and-fire-control/ (https://www.hnsa.org/manuals-documents/ordnance-gunnery-and-fire-control/) for the BR257 and BR932 books very handy for enabling you to spend hours on further detailing :-) I accept no responsibility for any potential detours in your building time.


Gerrit


Thanks for that, truly it will keep me busy!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 09, 2019, 09:22:17 pm
Today I realised I was being held up in the construction,as my three decks are still un-attached,and I need to start bonding them in place.So,internal detail was needed on the chart room/radio room.
I installed a dividing wall,some general clutter in roughly the right places,plus two holes in the floor! These are to let the 'pings' out! To aid the pings escape into the world at large,I will be omitting the glazing on this deck..if it was good enough for George Lucas,it is good enough for me. ( for those unaware of that reference, back in the Star Wars/Empire Strikes Back days,the effects models did not use glazing, as a reflection off of the high gloss surface would cause a 'hole' to appear in the model when blue screen/matte effects were applied...so what's good for the goose..)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 09, 2019, 09:27:10 pm
Support struts are a bane of my life. They look good but snap off far too easily, and I have not been looking forward to this bit. But,if I take it one stage at a time, allowing drying time between adding parts, I am hoping it all goes swimmingly.
My plan is to hang the basic strut first, once dry, back it with some square section, finally beefing everything up with a triangular fillet or similar..the job begins.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 09, 2019, 09:30:14 pm
Final job of the day, some Milliput flak padding for the bridge wings. Once set I shall lift a silicone mould off of these.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 13, 2019, 02:58:15 pm
Charthouse now primered and a bit of internal colour to make it look all up and together. The radio room is all finished to represent wood cladding, while the other rooms have basic grey walls. Tables got a dose of the wood effect also. This uses Revell Aquacolor paints, one a red brown, the other a sort of ochre. These were put on, red brown first, then the ochre while the red brown was still damp. Finally a bit more of the red brown to blend it all in the direction of 'the grain'. After that had cured  I went over with a Humbrol Dark Brown oil based wash, not too heavy, mind.
Then I just picked out some other colours for things, bearing in mind not much will be visible when it is all together.
I also took the opportunity to mould some more deck lockers off.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: gerritv on April 13, 2019, 03:04:38 pm
Excellent. You could always add some internal lighting? Would add some oomph when on static display.
My dad did that on his models of Endeavour, Nonsuch and a Statenjacht. In those days it was grain-of-wheat bulbs, LEDS are so much better.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 13, 2019, 03:20:01 pm
Bilge keels next. These were a bit of a pig to install but they are now fitted.
I used an odd, slightly fibrous plastic for these. About 3mm thick, it has a bit of flex to it, which I hope will prove resilient over time.
One keel was offered up and the hull marked. I abraded the smile into the hull, as I need as good a bonding surface as possible for a plastic keel on a fibreglass hull, the two materials are not friends! The keel was pinned with 1.5mm brass rod in three places, holes drilled into the hull accordingly, and the whole thing jammed into place. It was a bit of a fight as the pins are not parallel with each other, rather at 90 degrees to the inner face of the keel. So, when offered up the holes did not quite match the heads of the brass pins. God job the plastic had a bit of give to it!With one keel in place, I then measured down from the deck to the pin holes for the other keel.
Final job, bonding them in place. Luckily the mating surface was not 100% perfect, if it had been It would have been a messier job. I taped underneath the keels and fed in a mix of epoxy and bulking agent, with the rounded end of a lolly stick. This was then warmed up with a hot air gun. This encourages the epoxy to become a bit more liquid, and wick into the joint. Once this had tacked off, I turned the boat upside down to repeat the process from underneath.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 13, 2019, 03:24:03 pm
Excellent. You could always add some internal lighting? Would add some oomph when on static display.
My dad did that on his models of Endeavour, Nonsuch and a Statenjacht. In those days it was grain-of-wheat bulbs, LEDS are so much better.


You are the second person to suggest that!
I am aiming to fit working signal lamps on the bridge, so may well run in a couple of low power LEDs into the chart house. Just as long as it doesn't lead to me having to fit a full set of nav lights! Mind you, I think they ran with minimal lighting during convoys anyway, with just one or two low power position lamps showing forward and aft.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 13, 2019, 03:27:47 pm
Final job today, so far! Varnish the stand. It only got a wood stain originally, now a nice coat of Rustins Polyurethane Matt Varnish, that should keep the sea water out.
Also, I tested the pinger this week, I may be able to detect real submarines, it is so loud!
Final shot with some details back on..do like those bilge keels, makes the whole thing just that bit more........
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on April 13, 2019, 08:24:54 pm
2.13 amps in the water at 7.2v. That is causing me to rethink a few things. It is fitted with a 6V 10 Amp Gel battery at the moment, but I could easily get a 2 hour run, and a bit more speed from a 7.2V 5300mAh NiMh...we shall see.


Anyway, final little gift today....RE380 motor under a Tufnol deck, I will let you work that one out for now!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 15, 2019, 09:57:28 am
Work has continued apace, just photos have been a bit lacking.
Railings and signal lamps now fitted to the charthouse deck. Much respect to stanchion installers the world over, I got into a right sweary mess with these! However, once painted, most of the sins are obscured..
Funnel is now fitted as are some of the deck details. Primer has revealed one or two areas which will need a little fettling with filler, but nothing serious. My crooked port fwd gun tub is now levelled up. I try not to worry how easily I was able to remove it though.. Brass mast also now assembled, with the crowsnest fashioned from a bit of 22mm copper pipe.
And the rear motor device..not working yet..curses.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: ballastanksian on June 01, 2019, 02:09:39 pm

That is a huge amount of work you have been doing there UBN! I recall when you were hacking stuff off to rebuild it.


Looking great  :-))
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on June 01, 2019, 07:30:18 pm
Never one to rush a project :}
Rebuilt the tanker for this season as well, it's a wonder anything gets finished really!
Anyway, Snowflake had a day out last weekend at Bucklers Hard as part of the D-Day 75 events. Much Blutac was in use for this outing!! Also in attendance, U-37, lurking up the Beaulieu River...must put a new pump in it and get it back under the water %)
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 10, 2022, 10:43:48 am
Its been a while but the project is back on.
I have cleared the baffles of almost every other job that I seem to keep volunteering for, finished a couple of other projects, and now have an impossible deadline to complete by!
When this project defeated me more than a couple of years ago, I had a number of complex constructions blocking me. Therefore it made sense to hit those first. The superstructure blocks required painting before assembly, inter-deck struts fitted after assembling, glazing before painting and assembling and so on. Plus multiple support struts fitted for the 20mm gun platforms.
So I started by removing two and a half years of dust followed by a coat of my chosen deck colour, Humbrol RAF Blue. Then masking and bonding of the three decks to one another.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 10, 2022, 10:52:56 am
Some of my support struts had departed from the vertical of the last couple of years. These were plastic 'l' section Evergreen plastic strips with a re-enforced square section bonded out of site at the back of the 'L'. It looks like these had expanded slightly, forcing the strut out of shape. Initially I was going to replace with more plastic section, but against my better judgement I opted for brass 'L' section from Albion Alloys. This being bonded to the plasticard bulkhead with either epoxy or cyano. I was less than confident with the cyano option but if offered the tidier option, so I risked it.
No need to worry about a weak bond as I managed to glue one on slightly out of position, then spent five minutes trying to remove it again! Faith is restored in cyano/plastic joints.

Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 10, 2022, 10:59:51 am
The interconnector struts between the bridge deck and the deck below were making me nervous. I was not sure how to line them all up neatly. In the end I decided to fit inverted 'U' section plastic profile under the bridge deck. This would act as a easy bonding receiver for the 4mm square struts. Then all I needed to do was sort out the bottom angle and employ my newly purchased Amati Master Cut mitre cutter. This bit of kit is worth its weight in gold with this type of repeating structures.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 10, 2022, 11:07:04 am
The 20mm gun platforms each had sis support struts. Due to the shape of the hull, the aft ones would have to be bespoke cut one after the other, to take into account the curve of the bulwarks. Another job that stalled the build. As it turned out, not a major job with the use of the mitre cutter.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 10, 2022, 11:11:45 am
I have now been able to add the cast flak padding around the bridge wings. Turns out I may have misread the plans and assumed the bridge wings were thin steel plate. Turns out they were actually stanchion rails. Too late to fix that little issue, but I might have a way to partially represent railings, we shall see.
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 10, 2022, 11:15:45 am
So that is me all caught up today. The impossible deadline, June 5th, D-Day event at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard. The chances of being ready in time.. no idea.
It's starting to look good though!
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: derekwarner on May 10, 2022, 11:59:33 am
You should get the Commander to dismiss the Crew, or congratulate them  :-))  ...super job on the hull weathering so far  O0 ...... Derek
Title: Re: One Corvette,. A sequel to Two Corvettes.
Post by: unbuiltnautilus on May 10, 2022, 03:46:37 pm
You should get the Commander to dismiss the Crew, or congratulate them  :-))  ...super job on the hull weathering so far  O0 ...... Derek


It has been in reserve for two and a half years, they do get tatty over that time!