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[Capt Podge]

Hi All,

I've had a rummage through my plans collection and decided to build something relatively easy for a change.

So, this model is from a free plan by Glynn Guest, issued with Model Boats magazine Vol 47 #555
The prototype was built with balsa wood but I've opted to build with some old plywood, at least for the basic hull...

To get started I cut a board of ply, applied 2 coats of sanding sealer and sanded off smooth. All the parts needed for the hull were traced from the plan and transferred to the ply.
All were then cut out, close to the lines and sanded down to final dimensions...

Here's a few photos of the little bit of progress so far...

I know it's not much but it's a start.

Ray.

[Sven]

Hi Ray,


pls go [size=78%] on and don't forgt the pics[/size]


b.r. Sven

[Capt Podge]

Hi Sven, hope you are keeping well and yes I'll certainly keep posting, along with some photos, as we progress.


Thanks for looking in as well. 


Regards,
Ray.

[Capt Podge]

The lower deck portion of the quarter deck, with the cut-out for siting the rudder servo bottom, has been fitted and the sides of the lower hull have now been skinned.
At this point I thought it a good idea to get the proptubes fitted - as will be seen in the photos I misjudged the alignment of the stbd tube, with the resultant gaping hole in the side skin.
Undaunted, the tube was removed and another attempt made - successfully this time.

Now, the motors could be fitted and the propshafts aligned with the tubes. I've used some thin tubing for the couplings and some shrink tube on the inboard ends of the shafts for a good tight fit. Used a piece of scrap plastic as a temporary spacer for the motors. Test run carried out with direct connection to 6v battery. All appears good so far...

Foredeck now in place and the bows skinned with some thin ply, just need to get some filler applied now.

Here's the photos...

Ray.

[Capt Podge]

Next - the rudder.

A piece of scrap balsa was drilled through to take the rudder tube then epoxied in place. The rudder shaft was made from a scrap length of stainless steel welding rod and the blade made from 3 bits of off-cut plasticard. The inner core was secured first by cutting out a vertical section to accept the shaft and epoxied in place. When this had cured the other 2 pieces were glued on and the whole trimmed to final shape.

This is a fairly large rudder to catch the wash from the props when turning. (Hope this works in practice).
For the tiller assembly I used a washer, a 3 pin plug pin (cut away to leave just the head c/w screw) and a piece of flat brass bar, suitably drilled for attaching the tiller rods and a centre hole to fit on the rudder shaft - these were then soldered together.
The rudder servo was then screwed into place, tiller rods made up and fitted then tested by hand- it works!

Now the whole assembly was removed, a hole cut through the bulkhead for the servo cable, the rudder shaft cut to final size and then, with the shaft suitably greased, the whole assembly was refitted and tested with the r/c gear - works a treat...

...so here's a few more photos to hopefully maintain the interest.

Aye,
Ray.

[ScottW]

One thing is for sure, this ship is going to have a sturdy frame.
Will be fun to watch it come together.
Each manner of model has its own style of appeal, all the way from that fabled 'museum quality' to the fun and simple, "Let's go play model boats" genre.

[Capt Podge]

With the rudder sorted, the next thing to do was to get the quarterdeck upper fitted.

This was turned upside down and 3 pieces of scrap ply were made up as supports and glued in position and some more scrap cut and fitted as extra support for the hatch coamings. This gave a good 6mm of depth for the coamings to attach to.
When all glue had hardened off the afterdeck was turned right way up, clearance checked for free movement of the servo/rudder assembly and the deck glued on square...

Same for the main deck opening and the for'd hatch...

[Capt Podge]

The sheeting of the hull could now be attempted - starting with the side sheets of the quarter deck and working for'd.
There's not a lot to say with this part of the build but here's a few more photos of some of the work in progress...and the way the stern of the vessel sheeting was tackled...

[Capt Podge]

Still some filling and sanding to do but we're close to applying primer now.

Ray.

[ScottW]

close to applying primer now.

Whether it happens to everyone, I don't know, but once the primer is on is where a point of, "Hey, this is a thing after all!" happens.

[Capt Podge]

Yes, you're right Scott however, we can never be certain as to whether the hull will need further working or not but hey, it's all part of the hobby. Primer is the only realistic way of finding out anyway - fingers crossed.


Aye,
Ray.

[Capt Podge]

Managed to get the primer applied...

[Capt Podge]

...got on a roll so decided to press on - here's what happened next...

The bottom of the hull was sprayed with Halfords BMW IMOLA 11 red below the waterline (3 coats). Hardened off for 48 hrs then Matt Black boot topping sprayed, again 3 coats.
Once that was dry, the hatches were made, using clingfilm around the coamings to avoid gluing  the hatches to the deck.

Now the mini disaster - decided to attempt the hull plating with 0.5mm plasticard, stuck the 1st 'plate' with contact adhesive and made a right mess of it
Plate removed, along with paint/primer and in places right back to bare wood. ...

[Capt Podge]

So, more rubbing down required. To add insult to injury, I managed to put a few more dents into the hull while moving stuff around so, rather that patch/repair, just went for another complete rub down, fill and repair.

Got the primer applied again so, while that was drying, decided to try a different approach by not bothering with the shell plating and just go for bulwarks instead.
I've roughed them out on 2mm plastic, ready for sanding down - hope to get a bit more done soon.

Ray.

[Capt Podge]

Oops! missed the photos off

...and just noticed, the boot topping wasn't broad enough anyway

Ray.

[ScottW]

Isn't there some famous speech that goes something like "When in the course of modeling events it becomes necessary for one person to dissolve the adhesive bonds connecting one part to another because what was assumed turned out to not work and separating the recently applied parts against the laws of the adhesives nature in hope of making a decent rescue ..."Or something like that?
We'll feel your pain, but are forced to leave you to do the recovery labor alone.

[Capt Podge]

  but you're right Scott - I've taken that onboard for sure!

Still, life is for the learning.

Aye,
Ray.

[Capt Podge]

A minor update and a couple of photos...

The bulwarks have been sanded down to the lines, in sections, then glued up into 1 continuous run on each side. Some 2mm quadrant plastic strip has been attached to the outside - this gives a total of 4mm of gluing area and, once the bulwark vertical supports are made and installed, should give a good strong bulwarks.

These 2 photos show the bulwarks just sitting loose on the deck...

[Capt Podge]

The next step is to mark a 4mm line all around the deck edge and mask off for painting the deck - should get that done this coming week.

Thanks for looking in...

Ray.

[Tug Fanatic]

................. this gives a total of 4mm of gluing area and, once the bulwark vertical supports are made and installed, should give a good strong bulwarks......

Is it easy to bend 4mm of styrene for the bow shape?

[Capt Podge]

Is it easy to bend 4mm of styrene for the bow shape?

Not really sure yet - hope to do that part with the aid of a former and hot air gun.
If that doesn't work we'll go to plan B - whatever that is 


Ray.

[Tug Fanatic]

I might have put the styrene around the former before gluing the 2 parts together. I am guessing that you don't think that the adhesive that you have used is heat sensitive.

Your way is definitely more interesting.

[Capt Podge]

Hiya Tug Fanatic, I'm not certain what will happen when the heat is (gently) applied, the bulwark parts were 'welded' together with plastic magic... Hmm, and as you say, interesting  .


Aye,
Ray.

[Capt Podge]

The next step is to mark a 4mm line all around the deck edge and mask off for painting the deck

Having given this a bit of thought, came up with this: Mark up a line on deck 4mm all round, masking tape on the line and over the sides and cover the hull....

couple of photos to show the line marking of the line...

[Capt Podge]

...and so masking tape was applied on the line and over the sides, then masking the hull in order to spray the deck with Ford Riviera Blue.
The idea was to paint the deck first as it would be very difficult to paint it once the bulwarks were in place - bulwarks will be painted white.

Photo of the deck sprayed....