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[Neil]

Two more quick additions to the fittings list, two life rings cleaned and sanded up, plus one anchor chain bin to be placed under the capstain to let the chain into the underdeck storage,

[Neil]

This afternoon was spent measuring up from the model already here and under repair, the main mast , so that I can replicate it for the Clyde that is yet to arive from Scotland, but having now made quite a few fittings for the shy model it will be a little quicker to put together.

So I shall plod on and detail this mast and once done move on to the next fitting.

Notice I'm leaving the D Type rib till last unless I can find someone to 3 d print one in basic form for me at a decent price.

[Neil]

The main mast and its fittings are coming on.
For want of a better word the steps on the mast up to the radar platforn have been constructed from 1.2mm diameter brass wire bent in to shape and formed around the first one for uniform shape.

The mast was then drilled on the starboard side for the pins to fit in to and the 10 "steps" glued in to place!
Then I made the shape of the stern facing deck/come search light from a small piece of obeche' as the core shape.......I never throw odd bits of timber away, especially obeche unless they become too small for any use, and once I had reached by carving and sanding the shape of the light, I clad it in 0.8mm plasticard to give a grain free surface.
Once that was done and detailed I again used 1.2mm brass wire to form the two brackets, and after sanding all down, drilled the mast to take the brackets in the correct orientation facing aft and set it all in possition.

[Neil]

The next job on the  Clyde fittings set is to  get the D Type boat and its cradle cleaned up, as not only does both parts need it but hopefully I am going to have the actual boat measured up so that a 3D printed model made out of it'd design and measurements.

But also use the cradle used forfor copying measurements, to make a new cradle from obeche' for the second Clyde that I will be building.

[Neil]

I like to get back to a little basic woodwork now and then rather than just relying on plasticard.

And spent the afternoon marking out, cutting and then gluing parts together to make the cradle for the second Clyde lifeboats D Class lifeboat carried in the cradle on the fore deck of the Clyde.

There will be some sanding down to smooth it all off before painting with celulose primer/sanding sealer. That I'l do tomorrow once the glue holding it all together has cured hard and set.

[Neil]

So, last night and this lunch time I did one of the last "easy" fittings that I had to do as most other ones I have left over from other builds in castings...........Those were the two air vents for the cabins, and 2 search lights for the wheel house top.
BUT here comes the hard bit!

The trunking at the front of the main superstructure has so many twists and turns that I have been ponderinh for some weeks on how to produce it.

When I made the original fittings for the Clyde semi kit that has eventually come into the ownership of Mountfleet Models, all the ducting was made from wooden parts made from obeche and then cast in rubber moulds and resin. BUT as a one off I didn't want to go down that way, as it took so long to fashion and sand down and so have decided to produce it in parts from plastic card.

In that case I have made card templates to make sure both sides are the same.

The centre unit will also be made from plasticard, and I shall start on that tonight. Easiest first!!!

[Neil]

Many different angles to cut and glue together and, two hours of scratching my head on every cut,to get it all right, and the middle section of the trunking has been fabricated from 1,2mm plasticard.

Tomorrow, off to the model shop for a sheet of 1.0mm plasticard to make the trunking from the card formers that I drew earlier today will be a succesful day if I can get those fabricated without a problem.

[Neil]

Its a good job I can still muster some concentration at my age, as these two shaped pieces of ducting for the Clydes operations took me 4.5 hours this afternoon to build from the templates that I cut from the one piece that fell off the 1st model when damaged some time before i picked it up for restoration.

AS lot of finerky work went in to them so just show the work today in pictures rather than write reams od boring words.
Just to say the only materials used were plasticard of various thicknesses and EMA poliglue

[Neil]

Two more parts to the trunking fabricated from plasticard this evening, and crossed off the list for the Clyde on the side lines.

The final two parts will be constructed tomorrow

[Neil]

NO Wonder people like kits, and also now getting in to 3D printing to to produce their fittings and models for them, but being old school and class myself as a crafts man, I still like producing the bits myself by thought, word and deed, and like to think I have used my skill and tenacity to produce my model myself.

Its not to say I don't like kits, I DO!, and have built many of them and enjoyed the builds too, all that is except one..............a submarine that sank on its first voyage as i didn't have a clue what i was doing..........my fault.

But just to keep tabs on man hours, the final parts of the duckting for the Clyde were, bar plenty of sanding down and a little filling, took a grand total of 14'5 hours to fabricate

I can now have a few hours of theraputic sanding all those7 parts nice, clean and smooth.

[Martin (Admin)]

 

[Neil]

Next this afternoon were the port and starboardsteps in to the raised doorway of the steering cabin, which after the trunking , was a very simple construction made from 2mm plasticard with no odd shapes...........just boxed upon boxes.

But all needed just the same, to make the Lifeboat sing!

[Neil]

I received a present today from a fellow member on here, Liam Bell.
I bought a rib off Liam a week ago when we met halfway between his home in Manchester and mine upt Fleetwood way.
I HAD TOTALLY MISCALCULATED the size if the D Class rib and when I got home it was too long.
Contacted Liam, and he said no bother he would make one for me if I supplied a plan drawing with measurments, which I did.
Within 3 days the D Class rib arrived this morning ready to glue together as it was printed in slices with hollow sponsons, so able to float and quite possibly be  motorised as I asked for it to be printed with the modern V shaped hull .
He has done a masterfull job and tonight I am looking forward to putting it all together using 30minute 2 part epoxy as Liam suggested.If it turns out as good as it looks with me putting it together I will be well pleased and overwhelmed by Liams help and support. It looks superbthough as i have never worked with 3d printed materials befor, but received so much help from him.

Good on ya mate.

[Neil]

Just as a side from the Clyde build , I took a 325 mile round trip today, via Birmingham old road [not toll road] to meet up with an old and lovely friend, and a friend for over 30 years, Dave Metcalf, of the model boat kit fame........
Some years ago after building a number of one off lifeboats, I asked Dave if he would like them and use them, and he said yes he would. But sadly for the moulds Dave was so busy with the models that he already marketed, and his other persutes, he never got round to marketting them, and so, just before christmas he asked me if i would like them back, and rather than nothing I went down to meet him at a location on the M1 near Leicester.
Anyway, now in my front room ready to be washed and stored away I keep looking at them and wondering what the h--- am I going to do with them.

The boats have all of the cabin/superstructure grp moulds, and one even has a mould for the deck to attach to the hull, and consist of:
1] A full set of moulds, plus the hull and cabin plugs/moulds for a 51.5inch Barnett stromness class lifeboat. Howeveras the hull of the 51' is so very near the 52' Barnett class lifeboat I made an additional enclosed cabin TO turn the boat into the 52 footer...plugs  for the addition I think are still with me, so would go with the mould,

2] The full set of moulds including a grp mould for the deck for the 50' Thames class lifeboat!..........and only 4 mouldings were ever taken from that mould..........and I made them all.

3] a 45.6"/46' Watson with cabins and interior wells [i think but will have to check, with also vac forming tooling for the funnel

4],I can't remember making it, as I can't remember building the boat, but is definately one of mine, a single screw motor sailor lifeboat of the 1920/1930s vintage.She is LOA,43 " and so must be the  43' Watson single screw motor sailor  boat  that i build some time ago,

5] And finally Dave gave me a hull and main cabin for an Ann Lettioa Russell that I am, along side my full kit of the ALR that i have had for 30 years, a model of the lovely looking Abdy Beauklerk that served at Aldbeurgh, Suffolk.
[/i]

[Neil]

Last night I started gluing the slices of the  D Class rib for the Clyde class lifeboat, but not having my glasses with me I chose a pack of Araldite that I already had or so I thought but hadn't recognised. and so used the older pack that had been bought a few months ago to do a slow cure, and so used it..........2.5 hours it took to cure, even sat on a hot radiater.
So today after getting home I used a quick setting epoxy to glue the last part of the rib, the cones on to the end of the boat.

Have to say what a lovely little model it makes in to and all segments glue in to each other perfectly.
just some light sanding now to rid it of its light printing lines to smooth it off.

[Neil]

This evening an easy job was to make a paper template from 3 peices of paper and then stick them together to form a single shape for the deck of the D class  rib.

This was then transfered to a piece of card and cut out an almost perfect fit apart from one very small area which can be rectified on fitting permenantly.

[Neil]

The rib, has been given a good sanding to get rid of the printing lines and then the card deck  has been replaced for a wooden one as the very early D's had so early photos show. It was glued in place using epoxy glue.

This was then masked up so that I could spray the bow area inside the rib before fixing the spray sheet. The spray sheet had been prepared by spraying the underside black to match the inner bow of the hull and with two thin strips of plasticard glued to the hull at the bow to the same curviture as the spray sheet so that the sides of the spray sheet could but up to them, as a brace to stop it slipping down the sides of the sponsons and all kept in place.
That has now been left to glue using epoxy and allowing it to cure for an hour or so.

[Neil]

Painting almost there on the D type, filler primer this morning, and the grey primer this afternoon.
the orange went on to the spray sheet and upper sponson tops this evening. and tomight i masked up the points where the RNLI stickers and boat number go on to the orange painted upper sponsons with green masking Duck tape.
Tomorrow I'll mask off the spray sheet to keep that orange and then spray the rest of the boat black.

[Neil]

Apart from a few detailing parts to be put on the D-91, the second of the two D class ribs to go onto the model that has yet to arive from Scotland, and the outboards fitting the ribs are finished, paint wise

[Stavros!]

Looking Darned spiffing there young man top marks off Me 




Stav

[Neil]

thank you kind sir........fit and ready for a Clyde.

[Neil]

Now that the rib is ready bar the shouting i decided to bring in the main superstructure to repair some of damage and parts that had fallen off when i picked the boat up.


The boat launching derrick was repaired and put back in place.


One of the pieces of trunking was glued back in place as was the framework that the D Class rib sits on, and measurements for the cabin side rollers were taken and the 4 rollers fabricated from plasicard and plasstruct tubing.


Some of theport side upper rails had taken a nock and come apart on the top rail, and so I glued it back in place using Araldite metal glue rather than try soldering the 3 joints that had fractured.


Finally one of the upper superstructure search lights had brocken at the base of the frame, and that was repaired

[Neil]

Another small fitting done but as important as all the others........the navigation light boxes , made from 1.5mm plasticard.

Just need the legs fitting on to the undersudes, and a good sanding smooth and they'll be ready tonight.


And the "feet" have been attached

[Neil]

I have been busy with a few fittings over the past couple of days, using anhealed copper rod, wood, plastic card,plastic tube, filler, precast fittings, Milliput and some different types of glue, and all to produce some fittings for the two Clydes. the process was easy and straight forward but just a little boaring and tedious just to go through them all and where, so if you want to ask any questions about any of them, just ask away.

But i'm tired now and just fancy a beer........ so here are some photos of the fittings.

[Neil]

Been measuring up for some more fittings this afternoon for the Clyde, and one of them is the hand rails to fit to the steps leading in to the cabin sides.

This set of rails is to be fabricated from 2,5mm brass rod, and softened on my portable brazing hearth and gas torch to a cherry red.

Once cooled naturally it was lovely and plyable, and ready to shape.

For that I had drawn at full size, a template the shape of the hand rail, and bent and cut the brass to shape.

The "games room" is now shut for the night as I have other fittings to make this evening, and so will be silver soldered together tomorrow. I use soft grade silver solder and liquid flux rather than soft plumbers solder as it is far stronger and no harder to get a good finish than plumbers solder