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[Canterbury Coxswain]

A good number of years ago now I purchased a 1/12th scale Trent Class lifeboat from Adrian Gosling of Speedline Models. The big attraction was the seven sheet photo-etch set. However, I did not want the full kit and it was possible to buy component parts of the full kit - a great idea - as it allowed the various levels of modeller to 'pitch in' where they felt comfortable, both in experience and cost.
Before I get 'under way' I want to give the reason for only now putting this on MBM. Firstly, I always record my boat and other model builds photographically, so the record was there. Secondly, like a lot of folk, other matters take over priority in life generally. Alongside this, many modellers just have to buy another 'kit' when they see it and it joins the growing collection in one's workshop, hence slowing down the build! Lastly, in the last few Shows I attended last year as a Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society [LBES] member a number of people asked after my Trent and some, in general conversation said they had a Speedline Trent and their project had 'stalled'. Having found how easy it is to access this wonderful site [thanks Martin!!] and the ease with which photos can be added [usually when I am watching sport on the TV late at night] I decided I would add this to my growing list of builds too!! Hopefully it might inspire some to try this as their latest build project and more importantly give the incentive for others to blow the dust off their 'stalled project' and enjoy the build of a not too cheap initial investment.
I decided to buy the hull with fitted deck, wheelhouse, etched brass set, vacuum mouldings and resin cast sets and the brass tapered stanchions. The running gear and other components I wanted to 'scratch build.
The build so far will take me some weeks to fully catch up to where I am at present, and by the time that happens I am hoping that I will then be in a position to keep it going by actually continuing the build itself and getting it onto the water!!
So here we go. Started off by:-

• First making a solid stand to keep it in the upright position and transport it when necessary
• Look at what I had purchased and make a plan for the way forward against my research and photographs taken - having been to Ramsgate and taken their boat on a number of reels of 35mm film. In those days I still lived at Staines in Middlesex, was about to retire and had wanted a new project to tie me over during my expected move to Canterbury [in the workshop was a Metcalf Mouldings 1/12th scale Arun Class - my very first model boat build. The Trent was to be my second!
• Start to bring together the main components on which to build the main detail.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves, before I continue.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Back with some thoughts and processes that support the photos above.

• I had already purchased the set of RNLI plans for the Trent class, which actually features 14-02 [the first production boat put into service] based at Ramsgate in Kent.
• When measuring the boat against the plans I had the hull was slightly out, but more importantly the wheelhouse, against those plans, was 5/8ths of an inch too narrow, 1/4 of and inch under in its height, and the big thoingthat hit me was that the nose of the wheelhouse was sloping and that the 'back wings' coming down from the flying bridge did not follow the correct line! Then the 'penny dropped', this looked very much like the original prototype 14-01's shape in places.
• This was a mixed blessing as the wheelhouse was very heavy and of varying thickesses, so I just 'Dremmelled' the flying bridge off and reconstructed it in styrene card, moving it backwards by 1/4 of an inch to its correct position. I also sanded off large areas of thick fibre glass and painted on a thin coat of resin to seal. This made the wheelhouse a lot lighter and not so top heavy. It also gave the correct join line seen on these boats when they have to take the boat apart and the telecomms tower and flying bridge has to come off, revealing all the electrical looms.
• At the same time I removed the two back box sections - engine ventilation [starboard] and XP boat locker and tow rope wheel housing [port] - to make these at a later stage in styrene and at the same time allowing the 10" air-conditioning exit vent shafts to be put in place [not shown on the plans]. I also added a new styrene, wood and glass fibre / resin stern wall to the wheel house.
• Another thing that had been immediately noticed and visible in the pictures was the ill fitting wheelhouse to the hull and the stern transom area being out across the back by some 1/8" along the vertical centre-line - nothing that some good old P38 car body filler wouldn't put right!
• All of these 'little' inaccuracies were marked onto my plans, including my remedial actions [the height loss was divided by three and therefore spread across the whole height, but this would impact on items being made later. I also added the centre line and would live with the width problem, but it does mean the etched brass instruments on the flying bridge only just fit across, with hardly any space between them and it's hard to make the mahogany frame to the left of the helmsman's wheel. Likewise the little ledge that extends from the flying bridge side walls onto the angled instrument 'dashboard' has to be left off.
• I then marked out the windows and other aperture areas, noting that the rope locker hatches on the nose of the wheelhouse would have to have their hinges straddling across the angled sections on the port and starboard sides, due to the width loss of 5/8ths of an inch.
• The bilge keel locations were short and the 'Perspex' keels were 1/4" out in their height, so I added this to the undersides in bass wood at this stage to make them conform to the plans.

All of this said, it made me understand both the boat, plans and model a little better. As I have said elsewhere, Phil Warren's quote, 'it's only a hobby, just build to your own speed and standard, then it doesn't become a chore!' Very true, it's meant to be enjoyable. That's where this Forum comes into its own - look at the exchanges on help and ideas on the Severn Class builds going on here between Craig [Craggle] and Les [Lesfac].
More information and photos tomorrow.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

At this point I had decided that:

• I would get my running gear [shafts and outer casings, thrust bearings, propellers, rudders and rudder shafts] from George Sitek [part of the former business set-up and run by E.[Ted] Radstock], but I would make my own 'A' frames for the shafts.
• I would use brushless motors for my set-up and not Buehler motors
• I would have a digital sound system, not a synthesised one

Here can be seen a few sheets of the superb etched brass set [although not shown is one with nickel silver pieces].
I then made up the flying bridge staircase, just to make sure it fitted and did not stand higher than the floor at the top, seeing as the wheelhouse was lower in height than that shown on the plans. I used small engineers' parallels and crocodile clips to disipate the heat from those areas already soldered - a tricky liitle project, seeing the closeness of parts. I had also been bought as a present the American made product 'Etch-mate' for bending my items, ready for soldering - a very useful tool. All worked well and the staircase fitted.
In cutting off the flying bridge I was given the opportunity to add make the floor slope from forward to aft and also put a slight curve from port to starboard sides - something that was not in the original one. At one outdoor show a few years ago a naval architect commented on the fact that this was the first time  he had seen this on a model, I felt that that one comment alone had made it all worthwhile - I'm easily pleased!
With the wheelhouse 'wings' now added at the rear and the flying bridge moved backwards by 1/4 of an inch, the P38 had been added and sanded down to regain the wheelhouse roof profile.
I had also removed the moulded in stern deck engine removal access panels [which were too narrow - this could not be remedied due to the width problem and too long [this can be seen as a forward lighter patch in the photos, where I had sanded it off, giving the corrected length]. This would provide an easier access to the hull for fitting the rudder tubes / shafts and possible placing of the sound system.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

The 'eagle-eyed' readers will have noticed that the third photo down in the last post did in fact contain some of the nickel silver etched parts - sorry.
I started to build the front of the flying bridge in styrene, then I cut out some of the etched brass instruments and, with the use of double sided tape, dummied up the front flying bridge area. This meant I would have to make a few compromises due to the width. You will also see that I have cut out the inset areas that take the navigation lights. The little access doors for these can be seen on both sides inside the flying bridge for easy maintenance and also the search light storage door.

[craggle]

Looking great so far Kim, keep up the good work
So, How many in-build models do you have now...? 

Will be following this one closely to get ideas for my build as well.

Craig.

[Starspider]

Looking very nice 
I'll tag along too
Colin

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Craig and Colin, it's good to have you 'on board'.
Craig my builds are:
Slipway 1 - Arun Class 52-25 [1/12th Metcalf Mouldings hull and deck, the rest mainly being scratch built]
Slipway 2 - Trent Class 14-02 [1/12th Speedline Models]
Slipway 3 - Solent Class 48-010 [1/12th Aerokits secondhand - rebuild, refurbished and restored].
Slipway 4 - Severn Class 17-21 [1/72nd Airfix radio control conversion]
Slipway 5 - Arun Class 52-02 [1/20th Metcalf shortened BP Forties 54' model hull and deck - secondhand and being refurbished and completed
Shipyard - Mersey Class 12-20 [1/12th Special commission built hull with deck and wheelhouse - by very good friend - only three made] - build start awaits
Shipyard - Shannon Class 13-02 [1/12th Models by Design] - soon to be on Slipway 5.
Shipyard - Atlantic '21 [1/12th Lesro kit - old secondhand kit - to be stripped and re-builts
Shipyard - Atlantic '75 [1/10th Models by design - started, but stalled]
Shipyard - DGzRS 'Gillis Gullbrannson' [Graupner 1/20th - being re-motored and refurbished].
Keeps me out of mischief and allows me to work on what I want, when and how. I love making the bits and pieces, putting together like a 3D jigsaw.
Will I be given enough years to finish any one of them?

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Back with the Trent on Slipway 2.
One part I was looking forward to was the building of the really superb set of Speedline Models laser cut Perspex windows. They are not cheap, but there are none better! The detail is incredible and each is made up of five parts, and they come with comprehensive instructions for their build. I set-up a small 'jig' using small wood blocks, on a plate glass base so that the glue would not stick to it. They came out perfectly aligned - a nice clean few days of modelling. I used 'Plastiweld' and a paint brush to allow capillary action to 'suck' the glue into the joins. The inner cross head screw and outer flat head screw detail can be seen clearly. Painting and the technique I will use will come later.
I then started to 'chain drill' the window areas on the starboard side and then moved to the front ones, creating the 'hole' and then filed to the lines. After this I 'fettled' to get a snug fit. The only problem was that the two front windows, either side of the central one, had the wrong dihedral angles which meant they had to be put in parallel to the wheelhouse sides and upright to the central window, thereby losing the 'snoopy - hang dog' look. Pity. During this process I did have to 'sand back' the thickness of the wheelhouse glass fibre in a number of places, especially the front window areas, as it was very inconsistent throughout and did not allow the windows to sit with an even thickness surrounding them.
Next will be the start of the telecommunications [and lighting] tower build in brass.

[Delboy1958]

Hi Kim
I thought I had a lot of models on the go 

Derek

[spongie]

Craig and Colin, it's good to have you 'on board'.
Craig my builds are:
Slipway 1 - Arun Class 52-25 [1/12th Metcalf Mouldings hull and deck, the rest mainly being scratch built]
Slipway 2 - Trent Class 14-02 [1/12th Speedline Models]
Slipway 3 - Solent Class 48-010 [1/12th Aerokits secondhand - rebuild, refurbished and restored].
Slipway 4 - Severn Class 17-21 [1/72nd Airfix radio control conversion]
Slipway 5 - Arun Class 52-02 [1/20th Metcalf shortened BP Forties 54' model hull and deck - secondhand and being refurbished and completed
Shipyard - Mersey Class 12-20 [1/12th Special commission built hull with deck and wheelhouse - by very good friend - only three made] - build start awaits
Shipyard - Shannon Class 13-02 [1/12th Models by Design] - soon to be on Slipway 5.
Shipyard - Atlantic '21 [1/12th Lesro kit - old secondhand kit - to be stripped and re-builts
Shipyard - Atlantic '75 [1/10th Models by design - started, but stalled]
Shipyard - DGzRS 'Gillis Gullbrannson' [Graupner 1/20th - being re-motored and refurbished].
Keeps me out of mischief and allows me to work on what I want, when and how. I love making the bits and pieces, putting together like a 3D jigsaw.
Will I be given enough years to finish any one of them?

you need to build a 1/12th scale Thames... Everyone needs one of them!

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Spongie,
Don't! Don't!! There used to be one stationed at Dover. An unusual and rare boat, even more so as a model. Yours look great sitting there - did you make them?
However, I did leave one off my Slipway listing! Slipway 6 - FCB2 Shannon Prototype [1/16th scale Models by Design]. This has been stripped out and is gradually being put back together and detailed fixtures and fittings made and fitted. Here it is as part of my display on the LBES stand at 'Warwick' last November. Now the Shannon is sitting in the workshop at 1/12th scale, I'm not sure how much will get done now!!

[spongie]

I'm chairman of the charity that owns the ex Dover one, one of these is for me one of them for the charity. Got to try and have it PR spec by April 16th when we go to a show fundraising for 50-001s future role as a youth training vessel.

At the moment I don't think I've a hope in hell's chance as I have never built a model and the trust can't afford to buy all the bits for it :(

www.50001.org.uk

[spongie]

Oh the plug was built by Mike Pendlebury, the mould by Neil Pritchard and the mouldings by David Metcalfe

[Netleyned]

Darn fine pedigree there Spongie. 


Ned

[Flundle (Speedline Models)]

Nice to see the build of the Trent Tim. Your right about it being based on 14-01. The Trent was Speedline,s first kit and I might add, my first model boat too.
The Trent is a super looking boat and up to the Shannon, my favourite.
All your criticisisms (all completely valid and fair) have been taken on board and a new Trent is on its way. Also I am going to make a 1/16 version.

I am getting better at this nowadays.......

[Canterbury Coxswain]

I promised the start of the telecommunications and lighting mast build next.
First, it was to be built in solid brass rod [4.80mm - 0.188" - 3/16"] and bent. Then I had to remember that there was a difference in the width of the wheelhouse of the RNLI plans to the model in front of me by 5/8ths of an inch. Thirdly, all four bends had to be of a consistent radii. So I heated the brass to a 'cherry red' and let it cool slowly to make it softer [anneal].
Then came the hard bit, finding something the correct radius of 'that bend' that would also take the pressure required to form the bend of solid brass! I looked and tried everything. Then, there is was in front of my nose in the workshop on the bench - a plastic pot with some resin [with grey talc powder added to do another job] residue in the bottom. I offered it up to the jaws of the chuck in the head-stock of my mini-lathe and it just fitted. I turned it to the correct internal  radius, put a couple of flats on opposite sides so that it would not rotate in the vice and hey presto a jig!! With this done I then made up the required spacer braces and soldered these in place from the plans, correctly forming the 'cod mouths' on the ends to make good joints. The base plates were made for the floor standing, holes were drilled and tapped to 12BA [the heads being 14BA - a special consignment of 1,000 I had made up and not cheap, but worth it].

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Now to build the next stage of the telecoms / lighting tower. This is hinged along the back edge in real life to allow for it to be dropped and any maintenance work to be achieved easier. Hence in the last photo you will see it in the 'lowered' position. The hinge was just three pieces of brass tube soldered into position, the central one on the lowest section of the tower had the central one and the section just built had the two outside ones. They were joined using an old stainless steel drill that had been broken and now cut to length.
All items were cut from brass rod and tube and then mated with the base plate supplied on the Speedline Models etched brass set and soldered.
You will also see the little oval cross member ends - from the etched set - in place, these will take the brass shackles for the lines to be attached to.

[kees de mol]

Wow nice build

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Thanks Kees.
The third and top part to the telecomms mast. Using the RNLI plans and my photos of the Ramsgate lifeboat I made up the top aerial, using brass tube, styrene card, plastic tube, small brass washers and 1mm carbon rod.
From the previous post you can see that I used tube on the section beneath, so that this structure could be inserted, but taken off for transporting.

[Starspider]

Superb work, very neat soldering 
Colin

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Thanks Colin for your encouragement.
To anyone wondering about soldering I would say - 'have a go'! A lot think it is a 'black art', but if you remember the three following points you are half way there:-

• make sure that all parts are clean that are to be joined together - and use the right flux
• the right amount of heat for the job to be attempted
• the parts to remain absolutely steady throughout the soldering process until the solder [only moments] has set

I really enjoy soldering, both 'normal' and the silver variety [up to 3,000C degrees] using oxy-butane equipment. The latter I use when more strength is required, especially as us model boaters usually transport our models to the pond, lake and shows quite a lot! The use of 'normal' low, usual and high melting point solders + the silver soldering type gives a great assortment when completing components in stage by stage building. Then of course various types of heat shunts give further help.

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Here are a few bits that were made 'ad hoc' style - what ever took my fancy on the day!
I am not an engineer or anything like that in a former life [some might see that when looking close at some of the following!], however, when we moved to Canterbury my wife bought me a mini-lathe for my sixtieth birthday. Long story, but I had a gent [ex-engineer] come and teach me how to use a lathe, grind the tool blanks etc.,. on my machine, in my own workshop - 3 two hour lessons 'one to one' - absolutely wonderful and money well spent.
Here are the first two offerings - the bow and stern bollards for the Trent in aluminium. This taught me how to 'face off', 'drill', 'bore', 'turn' and 'part'. Each item has been drilled and tapped with a 6BA thread so they can be fixed to the deck and removed [if necessary].
I also decided that the ends of the PropShop cast propellers were not the same as my photographs of the props on the Ramsgate Trent when she was out of the water on the quayside. So I set-to and machined the ends to resemble what I saw, removing the 'bullet' style end.
I also thought I would turn my new found skills to action on Teflon white rod, to make the insulators at the base of the two main flying bridge aerials - this would then mean I would not have to paint them. I also made two 'washer' type bolt plates to go on them and then drilled and tapped the 12BA threads for the 14BA hexagonal headed bolts. These were then put on the etched brass set of triangular bases. However, I noticed that they were created round the wrong way, as the books say that the lines you bend should be on the inside. I therefore bent them and then let some solder flow into the exposed bend lines and then gently, using 'wet and dry', finished them off. These also had stainless steel inserts made for the top so that the aerials could be bolted onto them. The 'insulators' too were drilled from below and tapped so they could be bolted onto their traingular bases.
You might not get much for a week or so now as I am off to the Dortmund Modellbau tomorrow with 17-09 [to look at some of Michael Ruettels' superb 1/10th scale DGzRS lifeboats - now they really are models to the highest order!]. An inspiration and a tonic. 

[Starspider]

nice machining sir   looking a very good model


colin

[Canterbury Coxswain]

Thanks Colin,
How about these though from Michael Ruettel at 1/10th scale [DGzRS] - this one takes two full size car batteries and has working servo powered rotating main quartz lights, daughter boat [tochter boot] launch and recovery and water cannons - BUT no sound system - I can't get over that. It takes three to four men to lift it into the water! I keep making him offers, as it's my most favourite model in the world, but so far 'no can do' - I shall try again Wednesday. Will it go in my hand luggage with back on easyJet?
The man himself is in red, but can anyone spot a 'famous' trader in the back row of the audience [fella!] in the first photo.

[Starspider]

I will admit it is a very nice model, just not my cup of tea I am afraid sorry    I prefer the RNLI boats must be xenophobic or boatist.
I also could not manage such a huge model. You could try a bit of    on him it may work lol but could luck getting it on your flight.
btw did you get my PM a couple of weeks ago?
enjoy your trip.
colin