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[Macsmouldings]

Evening Kim, Looks really good fella, keep up the good work and stay well, talk soon fella

Regards,

Martin.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Thanks Martin, good to hear from you......will be in touch in the next couple of days.


So, this afternoon I made the second hinge and tidied up the first one. Tomorrow will have a look to see which bolts to use for the hinges and fix [temporary of course, as these will all need to come off at various stages and also a hand rail will need to be attached]. The first photo shows the second hinge in a 'dry fit' and then the progression. Used the Proxxon belt sander for this - bit OTT, however, one gets used to the balance problem after a while with such small items.....but it worked.


After this I might then make a few detailed smaller items for a change.


C.C.

[Taranis]

Nice job Kim
You likely noticed I used that grab rail as a means to fix it all in place without glue until after final painting.
I'm producing nothing of late due to shingles being quite a distraction.
I'm looking forwards to your smaller items 

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Thanks Andy, sorry to hear of your ailment and hope your are fully back to sound health and comfort very quickly.


Yes, like you, I had realised some time back that these pieces [with their very tight fit] will need special attention. Mine has a 1.2mm thread in both ends of the handrail and this will act like a captivated bolt, hence fitted from the other side to pull it into place. The holes just have to be drilled..........
......however, with the Covid 19 situation, the gardener I had just employed to do my 'small patches' has to remain at home. Thankfully he had given the front and back gardens a high and medium cut last week [first cut after the winter - ha, ha], so the biggest job done. I will now have to keep this going until matters return to 'normal'. I cut both yesterday [it's like summer down here] and attempted a little edging and pruning, but my hip and back gave up!! So, time for modelling very slightly reduced, just after I had started to make progress. That's life though. A few thoughts later tonight though.


Take care, Kim

[swiftdoc]

I have built some rails during the last few weeks. The upright of the pulpit rail is a brass tube which contains the leads for the LED. I used 3mm LEDs which fit into the tube after some sanding. The rounded cap was sanded flat and then polished.
The gate is only a trial fit, the bottom hinge will be correct in the final fixing. The hinges are fixed using M1.2 hex bolts (same for the backside plate). I chose M1 bolts for the plate which accepts the locking pin. The bolts, washers and nuts were bought from Prime Miniatures (UK).

The rails at the roof were silver soldered. I chose soft soldering for the other parts and soldered them in situ. The gate is a mix of silver and soft soldering. The insert was glued in using epoxy glue. Should other Shannon builders be interested, Kim might supply some gate inserts. He has a few of them left which could be completed with the laser cut lettering from a German jeweller (might need some time  but we still keep the data files, so should be no problem).

Bending the brass rod was easier than I had expected it to be. I used my Robbe bending tool, a vice for the 90 degrees angles and  pliers for the areas where only a slight bend was needed.

[swiftdoc]

Kim kindly permitted me to post some photos of my radar scanner before he will get back on his Shannon build in about two weeks time.
I used the original Furuno plans provided on Kim's DVD, zoomed them to the appropriate size on my printer and cut them out as templates. I tranferred those to a box made from 4 mm styrene using a pencil. Sanding the item to the correct shape was not easy as the shape is quite complex and this took me several hours. The sides were cut from 0.5 mm styrene and fixed by cyano glue.
I wanted to get as little friction as possible and used ball bearings of 3 mm diameter (1 mm shaft) from Knupfer. Two of them were inserted into a brass tube, fixed by Loctite.
The motor is from sol-expert in Germany, it was a kit of its own with this tiny gearbox, great fun to assemble and to see it working in the end! Sol-expert provide a small ESC which allows to run the system at a maximum voltage of 18 Volts, adjusting the speed to about 26 rpm as per the original.
The bolts and the ground lead will be added later.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Arno, that's a superb bit of building and mechanics. I'm so glad you have added this and it will 'close the gap' time wise until I get back to my Shannon build  .
As you know, and have seen, I am having a break and currently building, preparing and painting a couple of my 1/10th scale historical figures - a Teutonic knight and Boudicca - Queen of the Iceni tribe.


Kim [C.C.]

[swiftdoc]

As Kim is still having a break from his Shannon build, he encouraged me to post some photos of what I did in the meantime.
The stanchions were silver soldered. The eyelets will be fixed with soft solder later. I have turned the sockets from brass tube (inner diameter 3.5 mm) on my lathe and will fix them with glue onto the deck. The stanchions themselves have a very tight fit so that inserting a pin will hold them in place as per the original.
I have attached some photos of my mass production.

[swiftdoc]

I built the navigation lights from a clear 8mm Plexiglas rod (I think in the UK you call it Perspex). I fixed a piece of the rod in the chuck of my lathe and milled the hole using a 4 mm endmill in the tailstock. In order to achieve the rounded shape I used a hand file at very low revs. Then I used some sanding paper, beginning with a 240 grit followed by finer grits. You have to cut the piece from the rod also at very low revs otherwise it will kink. Then I polished the item with metal polish (toothpaste should do the job as well). I have also polished the inside so that it looks clear as glass again.

I will paint the lights using Tamiya clear red and green and black for the housing with a brush. Later red and green SMD leds will be used for illuminating.
The blue beacon light is from Pistenking in Germany. It has 12 SMD leds in blue which replicate the revolving effect very realistically. I have painted the cap using Tamiya clear blue with a brush.
We are not sure whether the orange light should be revolving or light in a flashing mode. Kim will check this after the pandemic at the Dungeness lifeboat station. Meanwhile we think it should have a flashing mode. I have used a Chinese light bought from e..y and modified this (sanded the housing down and milled the inside so that it will accept the electronics of 5 leds again) It can be programmed either in a revolving or a flashing mode so that can be adjusted later. I have painted it using Tamiya clear orange as this is more glossy than the bought item.

[swiftdoc]

Finally, I have made a start on the Bosch camera using a 12 mm pearl which has been flattened on the sides and the front where the lens is situated. The shield was made from Tamiya 0.2 mm plasticard. I will have to replicate the wiper though probably using some styrene profiles. On the photo I have attached the different parts with masking tape only to show what it will look like later.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Wow Arno!! Those stanchions and their 'deck feet' are superb and all the lighting is progressing so well too. Then the Bosch video camera. Who said scratch building was dead??
Thanks for keeping the interest here going.....just wished I could have visited Germany and seen you a few months back. C'est la vie! [as they say in France!].
I had a Zoom Meeting with my Military Modelling Group last Saturday and it was so good to be able to show them my small progress on the 'figures' and 1/48th jets side too. I will get back to the Shannon soonish, but with no Shows on the horizon and other matters, it gives me a chance to do something different..............
Keep it going though and thanks for the Post.
Kim

[swiftdoc]

As Kim's build is still on hold he encouraged me to post some of my latest progress of my Shannon build. The stanchions were silver soldered, the fittings for the shackles soft soldered. The shackles are from Knupfer (they are the casting ones, not the brass rod items). The sockets were turned on my lathe.

[swiftdoc]

The foot switch for the capstan was a lovely small item which came out pretty well. I turned the'washers' from aluminium, drilling a hole of 4mm diameter first. Then I machined them down to 14 and 10 mm outer diameter. I then fixed each of them using a screw as a shaft in the rotary table of my milling machine and drilled the 0.6 mm holes, adjusting the start with my laser point edge finder. You can see the tiny tap (M 0. I used for tapping (Swiss made and bought from Knupfer as well). The screws are M 0.8 mm stainless steel and were fixed with the Horotec screwdriver. Mind that you have to bring the slots of the screws all in a circular position (now this is rivet counting, isn't it ) if you want it to look like the original item on the Dungeness boat! The rubber cover of the switch was replicated using a 4 mm pearl which my daughter gave me (flattened the top and painted using Revell black semi matte, thanks Anke ).

[swiftdoc]

First I intended to use Tamiya black cable for the railings but could not really get that to a straight line. So I decided to take carbon tubing instead (supplied by R&G Faserverbundwerkstoffe, Germany, you can see the item no. on the photo). The turnbuckles are from prime miniatures (UK), flattened the middle section in order to get closer to the real items. The fittings are made from 3 mm aluminium rod, drilled the hole of 1 mm diameter, then fixed in the key chuck of my Foredom motor drill and sanded down. The opposite side was shaped using a hand file (you have to make 36 pieces of that, real mass production ). I will use the Tamiya cable only for connecting the first stanchion to the pulpit rail.
I hope you like the teaser and Kim will be able to continue his build soon

[Taranis]

Great ideas Arno thank you 

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Arno,
Very many thanks, bro'. The stanchions look wonderful and you have certainly made a good job of the silver soldering. Likewise the detail on them is superb. However, that deck foot-switch for the capstan is a little 'gem' [actually that's a pun in the circumstances!! Good 'old' Anke!]. Your approach to the turnbuckles is a good approach too [I have similar on my Arun and Trent class models also] and these will help a number of fellow builders, especially as you have put the techniques and traders' details there too.


I can tell you are enjoying it, so maybe I will have to get back to mine soon.


As you know I sent off £210 to RNLI Dungeness recently from my DVD monies and a speaking engagement fee. Since then I have had two more requests for various DVDs of my photos and both gents were very generous and I now have another £55 which I will send when a bit more has accrued. These are very difficult days for the RNLI's funds, as the Stations and their shops are closed, due to Covid, and these bring in a vast amount, alongside the Open Days each year. So thanks to all of you over the years that have purchased the DVDs. Over £1,000 has been raised in the past twenty years from them.


I shall return........


Kim [C.C.]

[swiftdoc]

I have been working on the survivor's gantry and the lights at the top of the wheelhouse. In order to keep it lightweight, I have used carbon tubes for the gantry. The item is moveable like the real thing and can be hold in position fixing the small arm at the hook at the side of the wheelhouse. I was not sure if the mix of materials would result in a rigid item, but it is indeed. I have used epoxy glue for the tubes.
The lights are made from acrylic pearls. I fixed them in the rotary table of my milling machine and using endmills for aluminium  (those are much sharrper at the edges than those used for steel) lead to a crisp result. As the pearls had holes for putting them on a thread, I had to close them with car body filler. The ring will carry the lens and then be glued to the body of the pearl.

The smd led's have three chips in one part. I decided to solder all three of them in parallel and they are very bright indeed. The lights can be adjusted as they are fixed with a hex bolt to their brass holders.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Arno, that gantry is absolutely magic. So glad it is all going well bro', 
Kim

[swiftdoc]

As Kim's build is still on hold you might be interested watching some of the items I have been working on recently.
I used carbon tubing for the aerials and styrene tubes for the top caps (putting a small amount of car body filler at the top and sanding this down to a rounded shape). The antenna sockets were turned on my lathe using knitting needles as a donor (copied that from 17-09 who probably will read this - bringing back happy memories of our visits...). This material is quite solid and can be turned to a very crisp surface. The clevis parts were bought from prime miniatures in the UK (placed a huge order right before the Brexit to prevent customs ).
Small ball bearings were used (3 mm diameter, 1 mm bore) to replicate the vent shutters. I inserted them into brass tubes, fixing them with Loctite glue. The shafts now can be turned very easily.
The tools were made today and will need some more finishing. When I showed them to my ladies they asked me why I had not done such items several years ago for their doll's house I have used spruce strip for the handles and styrene for the axe. I milled the slot into the styrene with my milling machine at very low revs. The slot in the handle of the knife which accepts the blade was made with a fret saw. I am not sure if the knife has the right shape as you cannot see that when it is fixed under the hatch at the wheelhouse front.
I hope the photos can be of some help for other Shannon boat builders.

[17-09]

Lovely work Arno.....Alan

[dpbarry]

The detail work is second to none. I'm working on the Mersey and completed the base of the aluminium stand. (Apologies for plagiarism LOL!) Currently working on the spacers to level it up plus I've decide to go with U channel in the centre as I don't have an acceptable way of cutting the Aluminium at all the angles I may need. I need the U Channel first before I get the spacings right for the pivot arms. I did try to see how the chop saw performed at work (School) but there seems to be an issue with the electrics isolator in the room.


Not the cheapest but, I like it. Have ordered the 3030 aluminium profile for the Shannon (when I get around to it) as it allowed me to purchase the profile lengths and the pivot arms from a  company in UK although had to buy the 2020 Pivot arms from Germany. Can't seem to find any in N. Ireland selling it. Probably loads will pop up now. For both stands, its set me back about £250 LOL!


Learning so much from everyone and it's greatly appreciated.


Declan

[swiftdoc]

Thanks for the kind words, Alan and Declan!
@Declan: I am happy that you liked the stand, that is what this forum is about: a source of inspiration for other builders

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Arno, yet again you are inspiring the 'scratch' builders amongst us....great detail and pieces. Thanks. As has been said before, both here and elsewhere, it's always good to see what is 'under the skin', before the paint goes on. Helps to understand the build techniques. Thanks for taking the time to share your Shannon build with us all.
Kim [C.C.]

[dpbarry]

Pleasure is all ours.

This may be of interest (or not) to anyone looking to build one (from my perspective. LOL!)

I ordered up another set of Aluminium profile lengths - This time 3030 style from the same UK firm mainly as they also sold the pivot joints (didn't seem to sell the 2020 pivot joint) - more or less to see the difference in size of the stand (20 versus 30). Either suits me but with one wee niggle on the 3030 – although easily rectified.

The 3030 pivot joints (and those 2020 versions you can get on ebay) are slightly different to the 2020 joints which I purchased from Germany as I couldn't seem to get them in the UK.  I prefer these German Joints for the following reasons.

The 3030 pivot joints are solidly made with the same locking bolt mechanism as your 2020 Joints but they don't have the recess built into them for the plastic insert to allow the joint to be rotated in the aluminium profile if so desired. They have little metal tabs that you knock off to allow the joint to sit perfectly in the channel but it’s a one shot in that if you decide later that you wish to reposition the joint to one of the smaller cross arms on the main base, you have to snap off the other metal tabs to get it to fit thus now, you have no tabs to keep the pivot joint in position as such - just relying on tightness of the T bolt to keep it in position. It’s not a major inconvenience but the German 2020 version allows you to rotate the plastic insert to suit and if you don't like the position, you just move it back and rotate the plastic insert. 

In fairness, there is enough meat in the 3030 version that you could mill out a 'cross' and make you own insert to keep the pivot joint from moving about if the bolt came slightly loose.

Just an observation – especially as the pivot joints aren’t exactly the cheapest. LOL!


p.s. No issue with goods arriving from Germany - Excellent service!

Declan

Thanks for the kind words, Alan and Declan!
@Declan: I am happy that you liked the stand, that is what this forum is about: a source of inspiration for other builders

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Well, I have returned! After many months off from my Shannon build [and for a number of good reasons] I will be resuming, in the next couple of days, on a number of 'butterfly' smaller items, just for the fun, and also a slightly more intensive scratch build item. Last photo - here is a small clue - answers on a Post Card.................
And, no, this is not a Military Modelling section!! However, a number of close lifeboat modelling friends, including the 'triumvirate' from the West Midlands, have suggested I show the Teutonic 14th Century knight [10th scale] that I have been making [resin parts] and painting [acrylics] for the past few months. I shall be using these new found techniques in making my own lifeboat coxswain and engineer for my Dungeness Shannon class model............so watch this space! I hope you enjoy what is here and can see the potential. I am now moving on to using oil paints [mainly] for my latest bust figure, a Sikh Infantry soldier of the British Army.
So, as you can see I have not been idle. I have also enjoyed the many number of of requests for details, measurements, photos and advice on the Shannon, Tamar, Severn, Mersey, Solent and Arun classes. The income on the DVDs has brought in another £105 [on top of the £210 sent last October], mainly due to some generous modellers adding an extra donation to the basic cost...many thanks to each!
Hopefully I will have a few shots at the beginning of next week on my Shannon progress....but the garden is also demanding my attention and my gardener will not be back until the end of April, hey-ho!


Kim - Canterbury Coxswain