Derek has been having some posting problems so I have submitted this on his behalf - Colin
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Here goes (and obeying lawful orders, Barry) with an update of my MMM Gribbin Head/Ingleby Cross build. The photos show the progress to date with timber rails set up for the rudder servo and battery/radio/ESP. I make these up by cutting the appropriate size piece of ply and screwing it to the rails which I have cut to length. I then use a belt/disc sander to gradually sand the rails down to a shape which is a fairly close fit to the hull interior. I then tack them in place with 2 part epoxy and, the following day, unscrew the ply and finish off the installation with P38, which holds the rails securely in place. The only thing you have to be careful of is not to accidently glue the ply to the rails as it may be necessary to remove the ply sheet to install more ballast underneath, if required. I have decided to fit a kort nozzle rather than the standard rudder and the support/bearing for that is also fixed with P38. I know the full size tug did not have a kort nozzle but I am sure it will make the model much more manoeuvrable. The deck support consists of strips of styrene (courtesy of Metcalf Mouldings
). The first strips are clamped in place and then glued with cyano. The next strips are clamped over these and fixed with Plastic Weld. To make the deck I cut a template out of cardboard and used this to cut the deck to shape from lite-ply. I cut the ply deck in half along the centre-line and then sanded the outer edges away until the centres butted closely together and then joined the two halves with lite-ply strips underneath. These joins can, eventually, be filled to hide them. I followed MMM's instructions regarding deck openings and now I wish I had not done this as, having seen the full size Golden Cross, there are obvious joints in the after deck which are not hidden in any way and it looked as though they may have been removeable to get at the prop shaft, etc. I may well modify the model deck to be the same. I have made a start on the deckhouses out of styrene, mainly because I think that it is easier to get a good painted finish than with ply. Again I am not adhering strictly to MMM's instructions and modifying as I go along.
As I have to do my spraying outside I am waiting (with fingers crossed) for a fine calm day so that I can have a go with Mr Halfords paint cans - I think that this is going to involve a fair amount of work as, I am sad to say, the hull moulding requires a fair amount of fettling (that's being polite). ???
Progress does not seem to be very quick at the moment but we are getting there, slowly.
I would not profess this to be a 'Masterbuild' - just my way of doing things.
Derek.