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[Steve Mahoney]

Thanks Ballastanksian, glad you're enjoying it. Attached is shot of the hook finished and painted. It's worth putting in the extra effort but doesn't seem so at the time.
Things are starting to fall into place quite quickly now. Glazed the windows without too much bother – that part can be a nightmare if it goes wrong, and was able to knock out the railings in an afternoon. I had thought that they would take longer but they came together pretty easily, considering the complex form of the top rail. They are brass rod, soldered and filed clean.
All painted and glued into position so the cabin is stating to look the part.
Still deciding whether to put the canvas siding onto the flying bridge railing. Tending towards yes at the moment.
The grab rails on the real boat are stainless steel but I've upgraded my Hikurangi to polished brass. She deserves it and it goes well with the polished teak.
Lots of touching up and tweaking left to do...

[dreadnought72]

Very crisp - sweet lines! How did you get the prop shaft in? Would it have been easier to build the keel/framing/planking around it?


Andy

[ballastanksian]

Did you solder the parts whilst mounted on the roof and superstructure before removing it to fettle and paint? Otherwise your jig must have been as complex as the superstructure!

Excellent work Steve 

[Steve Mahoney]

Dreadnought – this one is just for display so the shaft's only about 50mm long. Just enough to let the prop spin freely. I cut out a section of the keel halfway through construction and added a short shaft tube. I probably could have planned that better. Hindsight is always 20/20.


Ballastanksian – dead right. Luckily it only has 2 rails so I took a punt and made it in position. Positioned all of the stanchions and then formed and put the top rail on, doing the 4 corners first. The top rail and stanchions were held in place with tape and blocks of balsa. Then I took everything off the roof and added the lower rail. If it had been 3 rails I would normally have made a jig and used etched brass stanchions, however the real Hikurangi has welded tube railings and I wanted to match them as closely as possible. Worked out OK but more to good luck than good management.

[Steve Mahoney]

I've finally got the little 'Hik' back on the bench after 15 months of languishing in a cupboard. Turns out I can't work on two projects at once, had to wait to finish my last boat before I could get back onto this one.

Didn't take too long to get back up to speed, once I had figured out what was left to finish. I started working through the 'box of bits', glueing on the last remaining items, and re-aquainting myself with the model. The ventilators were printed at Shapeways - turned out alright.

This is where I'm at now. I had forgotten what nice lines the boat has. It really is a good looking hull design.

Still need to rig the derrick, install the wire railings, and the fenders are looming as a major task. I had initially thought that they were rubber but on closer inspection of the the old photos, they are rope. There are several places that sell model rope fenders but not small enough for 1/50. I experimented with a couple of ways of representing them but nothing looked even remotely decent. Looks like I'll have to make them in the traditional way – thousands of tiny hitches.

That should push the eyesight to the limit.

[tigertiger]

Lovely job 

[Steve Mahoney]

Finally got this project back on track.
It has been sitting in a cupboard waiting for the last couple of items to be built. The main one being a rope fender.
I tried a couple of ways of making them but nothing look right so I ended up making them in the traditional manner – hundreds and hundreds of tiny hitches.
After a week's worth of evenings spent tying tiny hitches it is all completed – and dyed.
The Hikurangi was supplied with one large rope fender but the photos show it being used on the bow, and the stern at various times. I've opted to have it on the bow – as it was on the day when the Hikurangi first sailed into Gisborne port.
All I need to do now is attached it – hopefully that won't take another 12 months.

[Martin [Admin]]

Can't wait to see this lovely tug on the water!   

[Steve Mahoney]

Thanks Martin, but this one is for display only so it won't be getting wet anytime soon.

I had a look back through the last few posts and realised that the thread is not totally up to date.
I had completed the derrick and finished the railings around the bow.
The pulleys for the derrick were made from some etched brass that I had made at the very start of the project. The components can be made into a single, double or triple pulley block, the hook is attached to a wooden block.
Rigging the derrick was more fiddly than expected although it turned out OK.
The railings around the bow on the real boat are wire through steel stanchions. Mine are nylon thread and PE brass. They are fairly delicate so it's 'handle with care' from now on – I'm amazed that I haven't snapped off the bilge keels yet.
Only the towing bow/arc and fender to attach, and one small mast to make and it'll finally be finished.

[Martin [Admin]]

Ah, shame.   

[Steve Mahoney]

I had a reasonably good weekend finishing a few little jobs on the Kumea and Hikurangi. Hats off to you guys who have several projects going at once. I find it difficult to jump between them – can't walk and chew gum at the same time I guess. My wife's been telling me that for years.

With the Hikurangi's fender all finished I fixed it onto the hull. I put a couple of U bolts into the rubbing stip and attached them to the fender with some lengths of chain.

The fender is dyed very black and photos don't capture too much detail but up close the fender looks good. I'm happy with it. The weeks of hitching might just be worth it.

Also glued on the towing bow. 

Just about all finished but it has been over 2 years since I started this one and the rub-down dry transfers I'd had made for the ship's name on the transom have gone off – lost their stickiness. They come from Vancouver and are not cheap so I'll have to wait until I'm ordering some other transfers before I get them reprinted. Hopefully it won't be another 12 months.

And I realised that I have lost the searchlight – I know I had made one but I can't find it anywhere. Have to remake it.