Hi,
I was going to reply on another thread but felt a bit guilty of hipocracy putting un-associated things together on one thread...
I am building a 1:48 Clyde puffer and some have said the 3-D printing is a black art; just to say I DO build from traditional materials also although I tend to pick a prototype I don't necessarily have to follow a plan so hard for it to look reasonable. In this case,
no plans, I just went freelance measuring from photos.
- Hull is from balsa and bass wood with an outer skin usual style in lightweight glass cloth and Z-Poxy resin.. Everything else from bass wood and polystyrene sheet, brass bits etc.
- I DO use or re-purpose commercial fittings. Actually some of the things on here were made once then pressed into 2-part silicone putty as a mould then I simply used red araldite adhesive to cast the parts
- Lifeboat on the stern was a major feature. Made from carved and sanded balsa blocks with tissue and Deluxe polyurethane watever faux Dope. The tarpaulin on top is from a small square of aluminium HVAC duct tape I pinched from the scrap bits on a job. I'm actually very proud how it turned out!
- I fitted single screw and rudder for simplicity
- 385motor at the moment -I am experimenting with a couple of 4 and 5 blade propellers
- Drive line is awful! An example of how not to align with a double universal joint. It is awful but works as the depth is so low. I need to find a way to raise the motor up above deck and hide it if I can find any 1:48 / 1:50 vehicles to hide it in! If I could do it again the propshaft would be at a much shallower angle but ho-hum this some of us like the challenge in freelancing
- I fitted a ships horn module from Mike at Model Radio Workshop which sounds just the part. The radar scanner turns also. I don't do lights any more these days!
- The fore mast should probably be at least 4" higher according to my scale! I cut it down as didn't want anything I would almost certainly catch on!!
....Calmac lettering I cut from vinyl myself on my Sillhouette -probably the most nerve wracking part of the whole build was applying them neatly! The yellow lion on the funnel was extremely tricky. I've sealed all the hull afterwards with polyurethane varnish after as I hope they never
ever try to peel off!!!
I am stuck at the moment finding some 1:48 / 1:50 vehicles. I have two which are die-cast but they're a bit heavy. I printed one myself which was not much better and was too modern anyway. Preferably trying to find something that looks roughly right I don't have to modify too much.
There is / was a GRP hull available for this but I think managed a better job in terms of proportions. Mine is about 600mm long which I could get from a single obeche sheet at the time, very stable but a little bit tight on available weight inside vs displacement.
Rich