Topic: Seahunter- The Big Refit! (Read 163573 times)

Brian60 · « **Reply #175 on:** August 05, 2015, 12:14:42 pm »

So I have added on the air cylinder on the fore part, Not too sure what this is for, it could be built in safety redundancy ie, the hydraulic pump fails so it can be switched to pneumatic operation, or it is fully pneumatically operated for the in/out swing of the jib?

The control panel has been added along with the winch drum as well, all that is needed to finish it off is some thread to form the lifting cable on the drum and over the pulleys and of course two outrigger supports to hold the outer most face of the fast rescue craft once it is on the hoist. I began adding hydraulic pipes and electric cables, but then I thought where do you stop in detailing a piece, especially when they will not be seen when finished.

So the last photo is the jib set in its place on the deck, not yet glued down yet as I want to attach the boat to it first - yep got to make the boat as well.

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #176 on:** August 05, 2015, 08:29:50 pm »

Looks just the part.

Nice workmanship

ken

Brian60 · « **Reply #177 on:** August 05, 2015, 09:00:30 pm »

Cheers Ken. I've moved on to the anchor handling/towing winch now. Thats hidden away under the rear superstructure but as it can be removed to access the hull, it will get the same detailing.

Brian60 · « **Reply #178 on:** August 10, 2015, 11:48:18 am »

OK strap in this is going to be a photo heave instalment. The last few days has seen me hard at work on the double drum waterfall winch. I have about 40 hours work in it at the moment, I know she who must be obeyed has been moaning like Hell because we have our son visiting and I'm couped up in the hobby room!

Anyways lets begin. Its a double drum waterfall winch with active heave compensation, which would be really great if it were operational, but it isn't its just a static model. Remember how I said way back in the beginning not to get carried away with detailing when at the end of the day the item is not going to be seen? This is one of those items. I'm detailing like mad, yet it will be hidden away inside the winch house with a roof over it. The only time it will be on display is if it has to be removed to access the electronic modules under the deck!

So first up, is the piece of removeable deck and on to it I have built the base of the winch, this has been built up using U channel plastic strip and sheet. Then to add detail I used rows of pins all the way through as securing bolts, the other side pointy bits trimmed off flush.

Brian60 · « **Reply #179 on:** August 10, 2015, 11:53:13 am »

Then I cut out the side plates, I needed four of these all the same shape. I made up a sandwich of inner and outer plasticard with 3/32nd ply in the centre, to form the sides of the winch. In the first photo you can see the outer plates in place, then the second and third show the sandwich construction. More detail was added with L shape plasticard, these were copied from the photo's I have.

Brian60 · « **Reply #180 on:** August 10, 2015, 11:56:14 am »

Next up was to fit the centre drive spindle and its gearwheels, the two coloured plastic rods will be the drive spindles for the drums, these were kids lollipop sticks from our local bar, never miss an opportunity!

Brian60 · « **Reply #181 on:** August 10, 2015, 12:02:18 pm »

Now for the difficult part, all the end plates for the winch drums and the guards to drop over the gearwheels. This is how I did it. I marked out a series of circles using my compass on to 1mm sheet plasticard. Then I went for my circle cutter - which is missing in action, so then turned for my trusty dividers - which are also missing in action, I can only assume they never got packed when the move happened.

So I turned to an old trick, this works better if your compass is all metal, mine has plastic lower legs so is open to movement. Take out the graphite drawing bit and replace with a spare pointy bit that is very pointy and sharp. Then using slow light strokes circumscribe the circles until the point cuts through the plastic. Being heavy on the pressure will only make the point wander and not give a good cut.

Brian60 · « **Reply #182 on:** August 10, 2015, 12:08:59 pm »

OK some more detailing. I added the two hydraulic pumps that drive the centre gear shaft which in turn is coupled to the the two drums. Also on the other end of this shaft is the anchor chain gypsey, only one on this, some winches have two. This is very large as it is used for pulling in rig mooring anchor chain and not the standard mooring chain of a ship. It has also been given a primer coat of brown. This is so that I could see any flaws that might need attention on the outside, but also to leave this brown on the inside surfaces.

Once the winch drum assemblies are in place it will be impossible to reach any of it with paint. So contrary to how I like to paint my parts - at the end when all is assembled and finished I am having to do this part by part. The outer surfaces will be finished in the same green as the hull.

Brian60 · « **Reply #183 on:** August 10, 2015, 12:16:37 pm »

Next up start assembling the drums/drive gears/brake drums. The first photo is making up a 4 mm thickness to look like the brake drum for the assembly, the drum on the left end of the shaft and the winch drum itself, two end plates and the centre made up with some 22mm tube I had lying around, this will eventually carry the wire rope once finished and painted before final gluing into place. Then on the far right is the gearwheel with its guard in place over the top. I was unsure whether to add this guard or not. I have a fair number of photo's of various winches as reference, some have a guard, some don't. This may or may not be removed before final assembly, again what's the point of adding the gear wheel if it is then hidden!

Brian60 · « **Reply #184 on:** August 10, 2015, 12:20:29 pm »

So the last three for today. The brake drum now has all its actuating arms and hydraulics added to it and mounted on the drum shaft. Also more detail added with lubrication pipework to the various bearings etc and my deck supervisor added for a sense of scale. I now have to finish the front drum and add more detailing before final paint and adding the wire cables to the drums, then job done and another item to be ticked off the list.

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #185 on:** August 10, 2015, 05:14:49 pm »

A lot of work there.

Looking great.

ken

Brian60 · « **Reply #186 on:** August 11, 2015, 07:42:40 am »

Cheers Ken. I have stopped viewing it as a ship, more like a series of small assemblies - ignore the big picture and do something small, finish it and move on to the next small part.

My mind is on the installation of the electronics, trying to make a jumble of parts look neat and tidy and all in one place. That will be approaching soon as I want to get the towing pins operating shortly.

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #187 on:** August 11, 2015, 09:47:10 am »

That's the view I take as well.. Each module is like a modelling course of it's own.

The last two weeks I was Crane builder and soon I'll be the lighting technician.

Keep going ....... you are an inspiration.

ken

Brian60 · « **Reply #188 on:** August 11, 2015, 07:07:23 pm »

OK the winch is now complete (almost) and ready for installation. Today I finished the front winch drum and brake mechanism. Its been given its final coat of paint, all that is left is to wrap suitable towing cable on the drums and then fasten the drums in place with the four bearing caps. I did in fact remove the gearwheel covers as mentioned in my last update, I decided it was better to see the gearwheels rather than hide them. So here are some photo's

Brian60 · « **Reply #189 on:** August 11, 2015, 07:13:47 pm »

Now I've mentioned this time and time again but i still never learn

Don't bother adding detail to parts that can't be seen! This is where the winch now lives, as you can see or can't as the operative word!

first photo the top of the winch house, the second photo is the winch in place and the last two from the work deck. As you will deduce after all that work there is not a lot on show - just like the two tugger winches at each side of it (the two square openings) Even worse, there is the spooler mechanism to be built yet which actually stands between the winch and the square opening!

oldflyer2 · « **Reply #190 on:** August 11, 2015, 07:37:58 pm »

Excellent job Brian ... love the winch.

Tom

ballastanksian · « **Reply #191 on:** August 11, 2015, 08:28:29 pm »

Brilliant work Brian! I do like the winch a lot and think you can see enough to be proud of your detailing efforts. Its a big'n isnt it.

Brian60 · « **Reply #192 on:** August 11, 2015, 09:47:21 pm »

Thanks for the compliments guys. Ian, the winch is on a par with others fitted in various ships, the drums can each take 1500 metres of 76mm cable and have a stall pull of 300 tonnes and a brake holding pull of 450 tonnes. The latest crop of anchor handlers, the X-Bow types have even bigger up to 650 tonne winches

When you are handling rig anchors or indeed moving rigs across oceans, power is everything!

ballastanksian · « **Reply #193 on:** August 12, 2015, 10:02:06 pm »

Three inch cable! That must cost a few mounds per meter (Excuse the crossing of measurement systems) Thanks for the information Brian, you cannot imagine such dimentions, but given thought, large things like platforms etc are huge and need equally huge kit to handle them.

Brian60 · « **Reply #194 on:** August 14, 2015, 09:02:45 pm »

The first photo is for Ian, A couple of workers assembling a towing winch. This is a small one 150tonne pull capability but still shows how massive these things are.

Then the others are my completely finished winch, with bearing caps holding in the drums and with the cable now wound on to the drums. I've had to use orange as that is the only stuff I could source locally, I would have preferred white, but it may turn out ok in the long run. I have been sent by a 1st officer of an anchor handler (facebook is a wonderful place) a photo of the Venture showing it with what appears to be a dirty orange sleeve over the towing cable for abrasion protection.

ballastanksian · « **Reply #195 on:** August 14, 2015, 09:10:48 pm »

Thanks Brian, they are definitly not for mounting on landrovers! I would have thought that a sleeve would have provided snagg and tangle issues in the hawses and mechanisms, but I suppose modern polymers prevent this.

Lovely work Brian, Face book is indeed good if used sensibly and it allows you to have a good rant unlike Twitter.

Brian60 · « **Reply #196 on:** August 17, 2015, 09:57:40 am »

Well after the disaster of last week ( in chit chat forum) the grp has set up on the plug of the fast rescue craft, but it has distorted badly. SO its now in the bin and back to the drawing board with that. At a crossroads I felt like giving up - I seem to have been at this day and night for months. SO I moved on to simpler things.

I was in the plumbing section of our B&Q type store (Leroy Merlin over here) a once a month outing as its an 80 mile trip there and back, so gets lumped in with SWIMBO doing the big shopping at a Tesco type store (Al Campo)

I had been at a loss how to tackle the liferaft pods, then I saw these plastic inserts that push into the ends of plastic central heating pipework before clamping the compression fittings on, Ideal!

10mm in diamter and about 20mm long. All I needed to do is cut off the flange and reduce them down to 15mm. Then plug the ends with Isopon P38 car body filler. Once it had hardened a quick sanding to a flattened dome shape and I had the basic shape.

Brian60 · « **Reply #197 on:** August 17, 2015, 10:04:04 am »

Then trimming down some .05mm plastic sheet into 1mm strips I glued them around the length of each to form the opening lip of the container, then wrapped another around the diameter to make it look like the reinforcing bands..

Then it was on to the racking for them. I made up six of the first photos. Measuring off six lengths 80mm of 1mm diamter brass wire. The top loop was formed by making the 90° bends simply marking off the centre and holding in mini pliers then bending both sides down. The next bend along, all six were lined up in my vice and bent together. I held them all at the same level using a piece of sellotape.

The next bend in what would eventually be the leg of the rack in the same way.

Brian60 · « **Reply #198 on:** August 17, 2015, 10:07:23 am »

Once I had the six bent to shape the next problem was holding them while I soldered the cross bracket in place. I got a scrap of wood and as the photo shows, placed the cross piece in to drilled holes in the wood. Then slipping the brackets under it, marked where the legs should be and drilled similar holes. That held them allowing soldering to go ahead. The last two photos show the finished brackets.

Brian60 · « **Reply #199 on:** August 17, 2015, 10:13:49 am »

So that was the brackets completed and the pods completed. I just needed to marry the two together. I dabbed each item with superglue and they - fell apart! No way would the round pod glue to the round rail. I ended up filing grooves in the underside of the pods to increase the surface area for the glue to adhere to. Then to make doubly sure I dabbed a couple of drops around the bracket and pod interface as well, as its underneath it can't be seen especially once painted. In the photos you can see the first side complete and the next 3 pods waiting for sanding and attaching.

All that was left to do was add some thread to similate the securing bands on them.

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Author Topic: Seahunter- The Big Refit! (Read 163573 times)