Well, been silent for a while but not sitting idle, I have finished the Y-boat and have to say it was a really fun little build.
I used a load of photos I took and a bunch of very useful photos of the Newhaven and Dover boat supplied by Kim (and Alan I believe) as reference for the build. Newhaven have a new boat now, Y-207 but I have modelled the previous boat, Y-231.
Newhaven seem to keep a few "optional extras" on board such as a fisherman's anchor and two plastic oars so they needed scratch building along with all the lifting gear. I figured I'd model it as the boat sits on the back of the Severn ready to be hooked up to the Hyab crane and lowered over the side, the block and tackle makes the final drop to the water.
The Speedline kit supplied fuel tank bag was way too small, not sure if I got a 1/16th scale version but it looked tiny in there so some hard insulation foam was carved into shape, dents added with course glass paper then painted, filled and sanded smooth.
The floor mat is made from rubber pond lining material and I purchased some new rope as the kit one looked the wrong colour to me. The lifting straps are packing ribbon available from ebay on 92 metre rolls for around £4. The tie down straps when the Y-boat finally meets the Severn will be the same ribbon.
I fired up my Chinese laser cutter again and made a clear stand and all the parts for the block and tackle. It cuts ABS sheet pretty well but does tend to melt it if you try anything too small. It marked the rubber pond liner mat and made a great smell but didn't get through it.
Anyway, a few photos and the next post will be the finished item.
Craig.