Cabin windows and frames. What a nasty fiddly job this can be. As always, I look for an easy solution. Except that there isn’t one. The holes cut into the main structure were supposed to be accurate….but sods law being what it is, they weren’t. But that’s my fault. All squared up now and the windows are fitted. The large windows (about 1.5” x 1”) are framed within plastic channelling…the actual “glazing” is 1mm sheet stuff and is glued into the plastic channel with “Modellers Glue, very effective stuff. The plastic channel as bought is white, and took perhaps 6 coats of Ronseal coloured varnish to make it look like wood. But this is where my inaccuracies when cutting out the window “holes” became an advantage…I had room to sand down the holes to enable a snug fit for the framed windows. If you’ve never done this before may I suggest that you leave the backing film attached to the glazing. This prevents all sorts of unwanted marks appearing on the windows. ( It took a couple of windows before this simple fact hit home). The backing film peels off quite easily when the glue is set.
It’s been awhile since I totted up the expenditure. But as a few of the purchases are mainly for experimental reasons the figures are a bit skewed. I last reported that I’d spent £300. This has increased a bit. Another £50 has been spent on such mundane “stuff” as new paint brushes, glue, 1.6mm ply, plastic strip of various sections, ¼” balsa sheet (more on that later). But anyway, as of June 24th I’m now up to £350. That’s all spread over 3.5 months since I started in March.
Two subjects have been exercising the brain for awhile now. One is the removable roof for the cabin and the other is (are?) the seat cushions.
This is where “experimentation” comes in. The “real” boats had the seat covers made from “hide”. That was a bit of a poser until I remembered from years ago that I’d bought and used a product made by “Fablon” that was a self adhesive mock leather. A seat cushion is generally about 3” thick, so at this scale I’m looking at a ¼” thick base. But the cushions were “buttoned”. So a flexible “padding” was needed. I tried dense foam….no good. Try Balsa. Magic. But here’s where one of those “needless” expenses comes in. I only needed about a square foot of the Fablon..but had to buy a square metre. Yikes! Pricey. Same with the Balsa (not a wood I generally have to hand)…another fiver for that. See how the cash evaporates. I’m going to end up with more “left-overs” than I actually used.
The “Fablon” stuff, although supposedly self-adhesive is as adhesive to Balsa as a “post-it” note. Although it does conform to creases around sharp edges. Belt and braces time. Double-sided tape and lay the Fablon over it. That works. Now for the “Buttons”. I’d already realised that the button pattern is arranged at the cross point of 2 diagonals. Easy (I thought …wrongly). I “sort-of” drew the diagonals in what I thought were ½” squares. Looked ok until I pushed in a few brass pins and saw what a horlicks it all was. Lesson learned. But using the edge of a steel rule pressed down on the Fablon and into the Balsa did give a “quilted” effect. So that bit works.
The photo shows the crap first effort that will be junked. I’ll try harder next time!
I was going to put up a pic of the window framing….but then, they’re just window frames, and we all have them.
A much more complicated thing is the cabin roof with its double curvature. Easy if permanently fixed…not so if removable.