Belated happy new year everybody!!
Whilst I havent been on here updating every 5 minutes, I havent been idle. We moved house up to the Midlands just before Christmas and with all the upheaval, modelling and development had to take a back seat for a little while. Suffice to say, at our new abode we have space for a half decent workshop, which is now about 50% built.
In the meantime, I have been drawing, designing and researching for numerous models but particularly FEV, Norland and Spirit of Free Enterprise.
For FEV, I have now completed the design-work for the ships fittings (vents, bollards, winches etc.) and have had a first batch 3D printed by a UK firm. The material is nylon and, whilst they will need a little fettling to remove manufacturing dust etc., I have to say that I am impressed with how things have turned out. To get economies of scale for the cost, I had sufficient parts made suitable for 10 kits! Total cost in the region of £100. At a scale of 1:96, they are small components and the limitations of the 3D printing process and tolerances does not allow for ultra-fine detail at this scale. Let me know what you think? For me, once fettled and painted I am sure they will be fine.
Here is what we have had done so far:
Warping drums for the mooring winches:
5 cylinder 'radial' motor for the mooring winches:
The mooring winches themselves (1 has been removed ready for painting):
Car deck gates - we tried to make these from 0.25 styrene sheet and strip, but the glue just destroyed them!!
P & S navigation light boards for alongside the bridge:
Inter-deck companionway stairs - complete and ready to just fit between the decks at the rear quarters of the vessel:
Traditional bollards:
Single fairlead rollers:
Double fairlead rollers:
And finally for now, various vents that can be found on the decks of the vessel:
More to come...............................
Carl