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[gregk9]

Rather than just upload some pictures of the brass railings in construction and then on fitting to the deck, I thought it might be better to just show them fitted and with the superstructure placed back on the deck and give you an overall view of how the build is going.

NO, not finished yet, still loads of things to make and fit.

[gregk9]

Sorry, but not much to report on the build update as I have been away from my workbench for a few days, having to deal with , er "other items" of importance.
In the meantime heres a few pics of its latest "outing" on our club pool. The deck rails and deck painting certanly help move the build on, but still loads more to do!

[gregk9]

A freind of mine kindly offered to use my camera this afternoon, whilst i was sailing the Mersey, so heres a few more "live pics".


















I've had a week off from touching the build, will have to get back on track shortly, before I loose the plot ! [ha ha].

[derekwarner]

Well Greg.... ...your friend is NOT a great photographer.........but your vessels certainly looks the parrt....even life like!.................. .......Derek

[gregk9]

Thanks for your comment Derek, much appreciated.
it is often quite difficult to gte decent pictures of your own boats. you personally know what would be a "good shot", but having to leave it to others, you just have to be grateful for what you get [ha ha].

I have made a start on the stern lifebelt hangars today. to again keep weight down, i have used plasticard for the backing plates, but reverted to using some thin brass strip to shape and form the rounded hangar hooks for the belts them selves. I soldered a couple of 12ba brass bolts in to 2 holes drilled in the brass hangars, purely to make them easier and stronger to assemble to the plastic backplate.
As additional security, I also made up soem brackets that pickup on the back of the bolts, and loop round the handrails.

[gregk9]

I have been modifying the tubular fender protectors that i managed to purchase, as the ones i bought only had rope attachments on one end, the ones fitted to my boat have one either end. So after a bit of thought i came up with the following idea of how to modify them.
firstly cut a small piece of plastic tube, same diameter as the original eyelet. then drill a hole in the side of the cut tube, to accept a small piece of plastic rod, this rod being about 15mm in length. then drill slightly larger diameter hole to the plastic rod size through the end of the fender. Plastic weld glue the rod in to the side of the cut tube piece and leave to dry fully. Once dry, mix up a small amount of epoxy resin, sufficient to do the right number of fenders you are modifying, dab some resin on the sides of the plastic rod, then insert in to the holes drilled in the fender and allow to dry. Once the resin is dry, simply build up the side edges of the fender eyelets with a bit of putty and once dry, sand to profile.

I have now also painted the lifebelts for the stern holders, just need to apply the RNLI lettering.

[gregk9]

Ive had a bit more practise sailing the boat over the weekend.
a freind managed to capture a bit more video for me, hope you like!

http://youtu.be/zLDt7UWD0gA

[irishcarguy]

Looking really good & I like the rate your radar antenna rotates @. I was wondering how your arm is coming along too. You have built yourself a very nice boat & it seems to sail very well. I am building the Model Slipway Tamar & I am finding it a great kit to build. Like you I have made some changes too, mostly to add some strength in a few places & have made some bits from brass instead of white metal, I will be watching you complete your boat, what have you planned next,?. Mick B.

[gregk9]

Hi Mick,

My arm is coming along "slowly". I have good days and bad days with the nerves working properly in my fingers. so when its a good day, i can work on the boat, when i have a bad day, i could slam a door on my fingers and not feel it at all [ha ha], so best to leave the boat build alone on those days, dont want to either drop it or break something.

The radar motor rotates at 30 rpm, to be exact, but once the twin "aa" batteries drop a little bit of charge, it drops to about 20 -29 rpm, just right from what i can ascertain.
the geared "micro" motor is superb, I oiled it well before fitting, but mad a little access pilot hole i can still drop a bit of oil down on to the brass geartrain if ness, once in a while.


As for next build?

Well to be perfectly honest, I fancy a Tyne Class !


Think there is more than enough Severn's, Arun's, Trent's and Taymars  for everyone to read about and see.

[gregk9]

Firstly, appologies for delay in update, but I have been waiting patiently, for "holiday break", to arraneg a "site visit" to the Barmouth Station. My build is getting to a stage where I need to check if any particular items may be different [in any way] from the Standard format mersey, as I do agree each station can and does request specific items for their location/duties.

So My sincere thanks go out to RNLI Customer relations and many thanks to Llewelyn Griffin [Lead Mechanic] for his time on Tuesday, whilst I interrogated him and  aimed my camera in who  knows how many different and unusual places and angles!

Some interesting information was gained and in fact lay true to the way the Model boat sails too.
The full size Mersey tends to wander to Starboard, funnily enough, mine does too, even with a slight adjustment of rudder trim, it still wanders!
I asked about "trim tab" angles and was told that they either run "fully down" when running out to seaward, or return with them retracted fully, which also acts as a failsafe to ensure they don't get damaged on the shore beaching.

The 12-26 also has an addition/specific, A grab handle is mounted to the forward engine deck, for additional hand support for the forward escape hatch entr/exit.

So hopefully now, I can start on the long awaited update to complete the remaining items.
I also go to see the new lifejackets and found that these are the first to actually have a pocket ! The zipper is just above the RNLi badging, and has a yellow fabric tag on the zipper end, just for those building to 2012 spec.

Just a few pics of my visit for those interested in 12-26 Moira Barrie.


Trim tab in Fully Down position.























You will note that the stanchion rails now have a large black nylon disc, set against the stanchion, to prevent the stanchion coating getting chipped. [worth a note on its own].
the rail wires have new style clip locks, not fully accepted yet and prefer the older style, the RNLi format is for P clips and not the older style split pins, I won't got further in to that argumant here !

I now have over 300 photo's and over 3 hours of chat info to work on. definately well worth the visit and the 3.5 hour train ride each way.

One other bit of "techno info".
Cruising speed [10 knots] the twin cats slurp 10 gallons of diesel an hour.
At full throttle, it gulps down 22 gallons an hour!

Now thats a lot of nectar points !

[heritorasphodel]

One other bit of "techno info".
Cruising speed [10 knots] the twin cats slurp 10 gallons of diesel an hour.
At full throttle, it gulps down 22 gallons an hour!

We heard from some of our friends that on her way to the Thames pageant the Caister lifeboat (a Dutch designed Valentine) took about 3 hours to get there and used about £500 worth of fuel.

They are all fairly thirsty!

[gregk9]

I have now started on the modifications to, er a "standard" Mersey, firstly with the forward deck grab handle. I first formed the handle from plastic rod, gently heating the 2 bend points and shaping to measure. the base plates are plasticard, with 3 drill holes. the centre hole was angled to accept the angle of the handle arms as it passes through the deck [to be secured underneath with epoxy resin]. the other 2 holes had a smaller piece of plastic rod inserted and bonded in place to replicate the mounting bolts.

Once dry, it was painted to suit and the epoxy applied underneath the deck to secure the grab handle arms. I prefer to pass such items through the deck ans secure below/underneath, as you can get a much better bond this way, rather than just rely on a sufrace bonding, where it can easily get knocked off later.














And finally, "the real thing".

[gregk9]

 The latest modification to take effect is the chequerplate addition, forward o bow tow post and tow cable hook.   I first cut a paper template to make things easier, rather than just measure and cut straight from the plastic chequerplate. Then simply used the template over the chequerplate, scoring first and rechecking before making a deeper cut to seperate it from the rest of the sheet.
This, I then bonded down using 24hr epoxy.

[debssnal]

Hi  your Mersey is looking good.
Can you let me know were you get the plastic chequerplate from.
Thank you
Alan

[gregk9]

Thanks for your comment about the build.
I wish it was not taking so long, but id sooner it be right thsn rushed so to speak, especially as a lot of the items to go on now are more final detailling, than major components.

The chequerplate I  purchased some time ago, from a model exhibition stall. its available in different scales too, so you can get an almost perfect  representation from 1/24th upwards to 1/6th if you really want. its also available in "single" or "double" diamond, depending on the floor grip you are trying to represent. the one I used in the build is "double" pattern.
I have seen it available on ebay and presume some stores who sell styrene sheet/plastic sheet may well also sell this stuff.

If I see a link anywhere, I will be sure to post here for you.
[not unless some other kind person beats me to it - hint].

[gregk9]

Sorry to all those eagerly watching this build thread, but due to work comittments and also attending a few different model boat events of late, I have had little or no time to do any major work.
I will add however, that I have just purchased a "planet 7 ch" radio set, as I have now decided to operate a few more "toys" remotely, rather than use manual switches.

No, sorry, I won't say more than this, untill the rest of the switcher gear has been installed and working.

[gregk9]

Im carefully and slowly constructing the interior at present, sorry but no decent pics to update on this, but heses a couple of pictures taken of the boat on our club pool, in near darkness.
See what you think...........