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[Rincewind]

HI All,


First of all thanks to Martin, Peter and the Moderators for allowing me to join.

I have never built a model boat, in any format before, so you may feel my intentions are somewhat ambitious.

The reason I have joined is, I followed a link to John's build of the 63 foot RAF air sea recue launch by Bluebird, and I was interested enough to want to see the photos that accompanied it. I WANT TO BUILD THIS!

Obviously this is no kit build and with no prior experience of boat building its going to be a challenge. I do however have extensive model building experience (mainly aircraft, mostly from plans, no kit building here) and I have a back ground in engineering so I feel that with time and a little help where necessary I might be able to do this.

The reason I am so specific about what I want to build is that my dad (who passed away 10 years ago), had always said he was going to build one when he retired, but unfortunately his retirement was cut short by cancer and he never did. I didn't realise why he was so into the idea of the ASR Launch until fairly recently. My dad would often take me to pay a visit to harbour, when on holiday, where the current versions of the launches were moored (1960's and 70's) to admire their lines etc.  My dad had long career in the RAF as a motor mechanic but I have since found out that he had been earmarked, in the late 60's to transfer to working on the ASR Launches as a Marine engineer. Unfortunately the transfer fell though due to the post becoming available shortly after he had been posted to AFCENT (Holland) and he was told that because the move had been completed (we had all moved out there and settled into married quarters) that they were not prepared to post him a second time so soon and he would have to complete his tour. No further opportunities ever arose again before the service was phased out.

So, if I feel I'm able to go ahead, its going to be a labour of love in memory of my dad. Yes I've had a look at the kits on the market but, for me, there is too much pre formed plastic and not enough building involved, so I'm hoping to be able to follow Johns build techniques, over a very long period of time no doubt, to come up with something that I truly built in honour of my dad.

Am I MAD attempting this as a first foray into model boats, most probably. So the first thing I need to do is revisit Johns thread, now I can see the images that accompany it then purchase the plans (Yes I know they are not build plans, but those of the actual vessel), then do one great big REALITY CHECK. If I come out of that, still enthusiastic and determined then I will start collecting together necessary materials and tools ready to begin the build.

Wish me Luck! Oh and I'd appreciate any advice anyone might have who has gone down this or a similar route before.

Thanks for reading
Rich

[SailorGreg]

Firstly, no you are not mad.  Well, no madder than the rest of us here    .  A scratch built ASR launch is certainly ambitious as a first project, but if you are comfortable scratch building aircraft you probably won't have too many issues.  The trickiest bit will probably be creating patterns for the bulkheads, but following Bluebird's log should help a lot.

When I embarked on building a clinker hull (something I had never done before, and which caused me a degree of trepidation), I got some scrap timber together and started out on a trial hull which I never intended to finish but allowed me to practice a lot of the building techniques.  And make a lot of mistakes without too much grief.  You might want to try that, at least as far as getting the hull framework done so you can see where the difficult bits are.  And having that trial framework there you can practice other little bits on it before committing to chisel and glue on the actual masterpiece.

Good luck - I hope you go ahead and are able to fulfil your dad's ambition.  You will get heaps of advice here if you do go ahead.  Crack on!

Greg

[BrianB6]

Deans Marine do several ASR boats at 1:24 as kits including a 'Whaleback' as in the article.   Also useful for guns etc.

[canabus]

Hi Rince


A good reference for  RAF Boats is:- www.rafboats.co.uk


Welcome to the forum.


Canabus

[Colin Bishop]

Greg's suggestion of a trial hull is an excellent one. One risk of jumping in at the deep end as you are doing is that as the model progresses, your abilities and standards improve and you can come to view the early stages as not being up to scratch; wrong shape, poor finish etc. by which time it is too late to do anything about it.

I have discarded a hull in the past because I just felt it was not up to the standard of what would have been the rest of the model.

Colin

[John W E]

hi ya Rich


I note you have some modelling experience in model aircraft from plans - and to be honest there isnt a great deal of difference - still the same rules count PATIENCE in both hobbies.    One of the big differences is - you wont build the model boat over the plan, like you do on a lot of plans for aircraft.  What I would strongly recommend is that you make yourself a sturdy building board to build your hull on.   This keeps the frames nice and vertical and square; it does stop everything from twisting when you are building the hull.   I know a lot of people build their hull without a building board and some people built their hull the right way up - for a beginner though - its good to using a building board.   I have said building board many times - make sure you use only one. 


What I strongly recommend you do, is, chose your method of copying the frames from the plan onto your choice of building material and the choice of building material, try and get the best quality plywood for the money you have to spend.   Use dedicated modelling ply - and not light ply and not the stuff from the DIY shops - I know a lot of people do build with this type of plywood.    As a newcomer to model boats you will find it brings heartache as some of the cheaper plywoods tend to delaminate and split when you are working with it.


Next thing when you skin the model, use good quality materials - some people skin models with balsa wood which is brilliant; I have done it myself - but it does have its own rules.  As you will be aware of (its softness etc., and you will have to seal it very well - inside and out ). Planking the hull diagonally is fairly straight forward; just remember the more stringers you have in the hull, the more the planks will conform to the shape and also keep the inner planks as narrow as you can.   I think I use about 10 mm wide. & about 1.5 mm thick Obechi.   Outer planking was mahogany 4mm or 6mm wide (I cant remember off the top of me head) and about 0.5 mm thick.   This was all glued with Aliphatic glue.


When I built this model originally, I used Z-Epoxy finishing resin - and today there are water based resins that can do the job just as well - there's another bit of food for thought.


Last but not least (for the time being) when I originally did this model - brushless motors were just coming onto the market and I had toyed with the idea of using them and keeping the model at the small scale.   It would have worked out expensive at the time.  But, as has been said, time has moved on and now brushless motors are cheaper and have become a viable option because of the size of them and their power output - plus - now we have lipo batteries which are lighter and give even more power.


Before I forget have a look into getting the gun turrets 3D printed; or at least the birdcage - I am sure someone on this forum could print off for you for a reasonable sum - beats the heck out trying make them out of plasticard and Vacforming the dome.


Just a couple of things to keep you going.


John

[Rincewind]

Thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement and suggestions.
Next step is to purchase a set of plans, unfortunately, as the result of an unexpected browser shut down, I lost all the links I had open so I'm going to have to search again for a current supplier.


Rich

[Colin Bishop]

The plans are here:

https://www.sarikhobbies.com/product/raf-rescue-launch-mm1320/

Colin

[clivef]

Rich
With a background in engineering and having had a Dad who wanted to build an ASR Launch - you have two excellent reasons for putting your strong enthusiasm (third reason) into action! I joined Mayhem a few weeks ago and got lots of positive advice that helped me go in the right direction (?) (some of it from the same people who have replied to you so far - that excellent advice is your fourth reason). I don't have an engineering background and my Dad was in the army for 35 years .... personally I would not build the hull myself, I would purchase a suitable kit or just the hull. But we are all coming from different directions. I returned to model boat building when I retired - presently just started building Model Slipways Loyal fleet tender, which I got 25 years ago (and converting it to the 'Isla Nublar' - the Jurassic Park Safety/Tours/Observation Boat - the only way I can justify piling the anti-(Tyrranasaurus Rex) aircraft cannons on it). But seriously, my following build will be HMS Bellerophon 1:96. Good luck with your build. The ASR launches are wonderful boats!. Be interesting to hear what you decide to do.....
Clive
PS I am actually going to build the 'well-armed, steel-caged' 'Isla Nublar' - probably to the surprise and disappointment of those who gave me sensible advice. The first boat to tow a deceased Tyrannosaurus. However, I am a pensioner, and as such I can do what I like.....   

[davejo90]

Hi Rincewind

Welcome to the forum.

I was not too different from you as far as being a novice is concerned, I had built a kit a few years ago and then late last year I started on a scratch build.

As the others have said test and test again is the best way.

Hope it all goes well for you