I don’t know whether I should do this because if I start this and it all goes wrong I have egg on my face. But on the other hand I’m hoping that by going this I’ll get some help when I need it and some inspiration too. A bit about me I’m retired, I’ve no skills in any of the disciplines needed to build model boats, I’m an ex AV producer and latterly a IT manager. I’ve got a basic set of hand tools plus a newly acquired Scroll Saw and a tower drill.
So a bit of history I’ve scratch built two boats in the past. A French customs boat, I never fully completed, although it went really well, for two reasons, firstly the joints in my hull construction showed signs of cracking after its first outing, which was just a ply on frame assembly. I tried to coat it with fibre glass but because I had painted the boat fully the matting did not stick to the hull successfully. So I abandoned that and tried again with a tug - Le Caux. The choice of boat was mainly because I had started to take an interest in Tug Towing which I thought would give an extra dimension to the hobby. I built the boat according to the plans and it worked and still does but I struggled with a few things. Firstly I realised that compared to other people’s tugs mine was under powered, despite following the plans. But with a few mode to props and speed control It works well as on a scale steering course but hasn’t the power for serious towing. The basic construction seems sound but it’s only with a good helping of filler paste that it looks something like, I followed the same technique as before ply frames and a thin ply skin then glass fibre matting. The upper section of the boat is from plastic card therefore I’ve only had to paint the hull and deck for the boat to look OK. That’s the end of the history lesson. Oh one final thing when I built the tug I didn’t realise this forum existed and I hadn’t joined a Club both of which I hope to now get some help from.
So I’m going to have a go at Ross Daring scratch build from the plans in MMI but being silly I’ve decided to change a couple of things before I start. One I’m going to build it at about 1/33 the plans are at 1/50 so I’ve enlarged them to suit. Secondly I’ve scrapped the French customs boat so I’ve got 2 motors 2 rudders and 2 prop shafts, and because I like steering events I like the idea of two props and the control over the boat that this gives so she’ll have twin screws fitted (all being well).
I’ve come up with one problem already – Apart from the plans and two picture of the boat published with them I can find very little else out about the boat, Apparently their were three boat built of the same class Ross Daring, Ross Delight and Ross Dainty, so if anyone has any further information I would much appreciate the help. From what I understand from the drawings is that the boats were stern trawlers but without the cutaway stern associated with more modern boats.
As for the build don’t expect this to be a quick affair – her indoors can always find me something else to do – so far I’ve cut the keel (right word?) out of ¼ inch ply that I had lying about, and started to cut the frames from 1/8th ply recovered from the skip of a local sign maker, I’ve also made a build board from some spare ¾ chip board. I’m trying to do things as carefully as possible and I have spent a good deal of time sanding the frames to a reasonable degree of accuracy and trying to ensure they are a good fit to the drawings. (see pic)
I’m starting to worry about all sorts of problems that I’ve not reached yet For instance there are no photos of the back of the boat only the drawing, will I be able to get enough detail from that. And never having been to sea in a trawler or been near one will it all look something like it’s supposed too.
Mike