Falmouth Severn Class

The idea of having the side boxes bonded to the hull and not the wheelhouse has turned out not to be entirely practical as the slopes of the sides makes fitting and removal for access to the interior of the hull very difficult and time consuming so its back to them being bonded to the wheelhouse.  

The wheelhouse has now been completed, the lockers bonded to the sides not the hull. the front lockers cut out, the mdf given two coats of mdf sealer and the first coat of primer done.


The hatches for the front lockers have been made and are removable so that the batteries and switches for the lighting circuits can be fitted inside.


The upper steering position floor grid has also been made. This is in two sections so that it can be fitted as the sloping sides and the mast support boxes do not allow it to drop straight in.


Finished grid trial fitted.

What can I say? I am getting more and more exited with each stage of this really special to me,build
Once again thank you so much
Mick F

The numerous panels and lockers on the outside of the wheelhouse have been made and fitted.



The steps on the inside of the port rear box have also been made and fitted.


On the starboard side the steps have been cut into the panel. These steps are only on the Severns with out the Hiab crane as is the locker on top.


The bases for the large aerials made and fitted on each side of the upper position walls.


Upper steering position panels fitted along with the steering box/ compass stand. The rest of the panels are for instruments and will be added after the painting is done.


The rear access door to the wheelhouse has been made from multiple layers of styrene.


Door painted, along with the front locker lids, and ready to fit later.

I am getting lost for words.Again Mike,Thank you for keeping us and particularly me,up to date
Mick F

looking absolutely brilliant mike..........those little bolt heads are crystals are they not.........can't find them anywhere.........but not being ofe' with orange boats what are the round silver things on the door and hatches,

nhp651 wrote:

looking absolutely brilliant mike..........those little bolt heads are crystals are they not.........can't find them anywhere.........but not being ofe' with orange boats what are the round silver things on the door and hatches,

Look up diamante on fleabay. I use the 3mm for the larger panel bolts and 1mm for around the windows. Use the filters to see only UK suppliers and forget the self adhesive type (they are a pain in the butt to use!!)

3mm diamante

1mm diamante

Buy them by the thousand and stick them on with blobs of styrene cement to plasticard or thin superglue to timber/grp.

The round silver things on the door are the pivot points for the locking dogs inside the two door skins, on the hatches they are press and twist to open/lock handles.

cheers mate........shall have a look.......why pay hundreds of quid for 16 ba heads when no one will see them from 50 metres out..........they look great.

thanks.

With the slight improvement in the weather over the past few days the large grey mdf lump has been painted, first with two coats of white undercoat and then three coats of gloss orange.



The two sets of steps at the rear that give access to the upper steering position have also been made, painted and fixed in place. The rails that the Y boat launch system runs on have also been fitted.

So you don't spray with rattle cans then Mike. ....looks a superb finish.....great stuff.

nhp651 wrote:

So you don't spray with rattle cans then Mike. ....looks a superb finish.....great stuff.

This one has been done with cans.

Just spent four days learning not to like Mick French !!

Got over it now though.  

The main arch for the launch system was made from solid styrene rod bent to shape with heat. It took four attempts to get it right in all dimensions and directions!


Main arch glued to the sliders that run on the rails fitted earlier.


The stiffening plates and secondary arch made and fitted.


Main arch fits on the slide rails fitted earlier.


The boat slide rail guides on the upper deck fitted and the positions for the stanchions marked.


Basic frame that carries the boat made.


The carriage frame fitted onto the upper slides and fixed to the main arch.


Before anybody asks, yes it does extend as it should!



The rest of the launch system, which clips onto this section, is carried onboard strapped onto the stern rails and will be made later in the build.

Bit more done on the Severn.

The large air filters that sit on the rear side walls under the upper deck have been made using styrene sheet and corrugated craft card.


Painted and ready to fit later.


The very thin vac forms that are used for the Y boat have been carefully cut out, reinforced and assembled along with much filler to fill the gaps and defects. Still have a few more details to add before painting.



Now having the hull the chocks for the boat on the carriage have been made and fitted along with the rear guide bars.


The Y boat in position on the rails. Now the rest of the rails can be fabricated that allow the boat to slide into the water.



Also the parts for the outboard have been assembled and given a coat of primer.

amazing work, mike........truly superb.........gives me inspiration every time I see your work.

The Mariner 15 outboard has now been painted, the control arm added and the logos printed and added.


In the kit the 'rubber mat' that the crew sit on was just a slab of perspex, not very good looking when painted, so I added a layer of rubber mat onto the top.


The Y boat has been painted in an early colour scheme to match the period of the build I am doing, removable oars made and placed in their holders and the numbers added, on top and under the keel.



Outboard fixed onto the transom, rubber floor in place, rubber fuel cell connected to the outboard and the grab ropes added.


Y boat back on the launch rails.

brilliant.............just brilliant.

Outstanding Mike. 

Just leaves us speechless and in total Awe of your craftsmanship 


Dave

Bit more done on the Severn.

The casting for the rear tow post has been cleaned up but the mounting plate is not correct..........


So it was removed and a new plate made.


Bolted in position through a wooden beam under the deck.


Also over the last few days I have made the lower section of the Y boat launch rails. These go from the stern rails (folding section in the centre) down into the water. The centre section will be made later as it needs the exact distance between the sliding upper section and the stern rails to be known.


This morning the rudders, shafts and props were replaced in the hull.


The brushless motors were also refitted along with a temporary control setup for testing.


This afternoon the engines were tested in the tank. The power available on 7.2 volts is quite incredible and the boat tired to climb out of the test tank !! At this voltage the props are turning at about 3000 rpm.

Short clip of the test propwash.


Going to be interesting when I get it into open water on the lake!!!!

The fore deck mooring post casting has been cleaned up and its base plate added along with an M4 stud underneath for bolting to the deck.


The positions for the fittings/stanchions on the fore deck have been plotted out. There is a small compromise in some of the placings as the length of the fore deck moulding is 14mm too short when checked against the 1/12th scale drawings.


The large urethane block for the emergency escape hatch has been cleaned up and the centre milled out. This will allow the fitting of switches for some of the lights to be fitted and avoid the need to have cables joining the hull and the superstructure. The section of the deck under the hole has also been removed as can be seen to the right hand side of the picture.


The hatch cover has been built and plugs into the hole in the casting.


Escape hatch in place ready to paint.


The mooring post bolted in position with a spreader plate under the deck for strength.

Been busy whilst all the snow is about but only two pictures to see.

The arch sections for the main mast hoop have been cut to size and silver soldered together whilst bolted to a board at the correct spacing to fit onto the mast boxes on the flying bridge. The aerial holders and aerials from the early electronics fit have been made and soldered in place. The main mast section is also in position.


As requested by the client, all the aerials are removable for easier storage. I have also made the main mast section hinged so that the highest part of the boat will be the top of the radar scanner. No more pokes in the eye/nose when moving a large boat!

The mast has been finished, painted and fitted onto the flying bridge. The aerials made and fitted. The two large whip antennae are the same length it's just the angle of the photo!!


The working navigation lights, blue flashing light and radar have been made and positioned on the mast.


Finally for now, the aerials removed and the upper mast section folded down for easier storage as requested.

BOOTIFUL MATE........LOVELY DETAILING.

Spent the last few days making a vital component for the deck, the central part of the stern rails.

The pattern was traced from the plans and marked out on a sheet of heavy gauge brass sheet ( a large door push plate, car boot sale, two pounds, bargain!)


After much cutting and filing the base plate is done.


The lower section of the rails made and soldered/ brazed together with many burnt finger ends and old Anglo Saxon words !!


The upper rail section and rollers made and fitted.


Whole unit given a coat of primer and placed on the stern of the boat to see the effect.


Yes the upper section folds down to allow the Y boat to be launched on its slides.


The rest of the stern rails can now be built in place around this central section.

THAT...............is a work of art..........rather look at that than any piece of crap in the Tate Modern any day, mate.........................soft or silver solder...........and how did you jig it all. amazing stuff.

nhp651 wrote:

THAT...............is a work of art..........rather look at that than any piece of crap in the Tate Modern any day, mate.........................soft or silver solder...........and how did you jig it all. amazing stuff.

Main oval and outer supports silver soldered (600 deg), next smaller parts (working inwards) 300 deg soft solder, then 180 deg and finally the little bits using 70 deg solder as used for joining white metal castings. Just a matter of thinking ahead plus lots of metal clamps and wet cloths as heat sinks.

Main rail section built flat on a heatproof brazing tile then fixed onto the base, then the soft soldering bits in situ.

The top rail between the stern gate and the bottom of the steps was bent from a single  length of brass rod. Rail in position with wet sponge cloths surrounding it to contain the heat transfer.


Another way of controlling heat transfer to parts that should remain as cool as possible is to use a very large, but controllable, gas turbo torch capable of reaching 1300 deg C.


This joint was made from cold to cooled down in only eight seconds.


Top rail in place ready to trim to size.


The lower sections added, again silver soldered.


The opening stern gate made and hinged in place.


Now have to repeat the process for the other side when the fingers have cooled down a little!!!!

Boatyard closed until after Easter!

I am going to Chatham tomorrow (Monday) for a few days and will be visiting, for the first time, the National Lifeboat Collection at the Chatham Dockyard. The camera batteries are fully charged and the memory cards formatted and ready.

enjoy yourselves......................we EXPECT  plenty of pics of your visit, 

Back to some more heating, bending and burnt fingers!!

The pulpit for the bow is next on the agenda. A copy of the GA drawing at 1/12th was prepared and glued to a thick piece of mdf. The positions for the vertical stanchions were drilled to take the brass rod. The vacant end holes are for the top rail, when bent down. The top rail was bent to the pattern and then brazed onto the uprights.


Sections of the lower rail were cut to size and added.


After cleaning up it was given a coat of etch primer and two coats of satin black. Now ready to fit onto the fore deck after the deck has been given its textured finish.

ahhh, now...…………..I beg to ask...………………..is that the right gage...………...or should it be 0.3mm thicker in diameter...……...very critical, Mr Pendlebury...………..I mean, that point 3mm makes all the difference to us rivet counters...…………….oh, I forgot...……...i'm not one
 

excellent job mate.....excuse my pee taking...……….not meant towards you.

nhp651 wrote:

ahhh, now...…………..I beg to ask...………………..is that the right gage...………...or should it be 0.3mm thicker in diameter...……...very critical, Mr Pendlebury...………..I mean, that point 3mm makes all the difference to us rivet counters...…………….oh, I forgot...……...i'm not one
 

excellent job mate.....excuse my pee taking...……….not meant towards you.

Same reply to everybody who rivet counts Neil....... I don't give a shit!! It Looks right and it's what came with the rest of

the gubbins. If they can do it better then they can get on with it and show me theirs as I actually don't care what they think, it keeps me happy and off the streets. 

 



I actually managed NOT to burn my fingers this time, I must be improving. I'll get good at this building lark in time.

I just run out of words to say about this! Every addition is a step closer to the finished article,and am I really getting excited even more now.
Out of this world workmanship.The new owner is going to be so proud to have this one thats for sure"
Mick f

This afternoon a second copy of the pulpit drawing was positioned on the fore deck and the holes for the uprights drilled.




Joy of Joys!!! All the legs fit without having to bend them out of shape. The block of wood is a spacer that was first used to set the upright lengths on the first jig and now will be used to set the top rail height above the deck after it is painted.

The weather today was perfect for painting, warm, dry and no wind, so, the Severn was taken outside and masked up ready to paint the deck. It took over an hour to mask and only 5 mins to spray with the textured finish !!


Texture coat dry and masking removed.


The deck was given two thin coats of matt grey and allowed to dry.


Final shot for now. It's looking like a Severn in the sun.

am I seeing double and suffering dementia like my mum did...…..or have you got two on the go.

nhp651 wrote:

am I seeing double and suffering dementia like my mum did...…..or have you got two on the go.

No, you haven't forgotten to put the water in the Whisky. The boat at the back is David's "Pride of the Humber" under construction.

have you seen a set of drawings like this before Mike...………..

I came across them when I was sorting out some old general plans that a good mate gave me about a year before he died from cancer...…..think he knew they would be in safe hands.

they were in the middle of a full set of 37' Oakley plans...……..mouth watering. 

nhp651 wrote:

have you seen a set of drawings like this before Mike...………..

I came across them when I was sorting out some old general plans that a good mate gave me about a year before he died from cancer...…..think he knew they would be in safe hands.

they were in the middle of a full set of 37' Oakley plans...……..mouth watering. 

Not seen them before mate, can I have a copy please. I am looking for a new "oddball" project to do alongside my other builds. 

I have the carriage set for the Mersey which was a later development for the one you have and would look good with an early tractor unit.

of course you can matey...………..

do you want the full set of Oakley plans that it was wrapped up in...………..if so I'll send you the full set, and then you can copy them at your leisure and give them back to me at Blackpool.

just let me have your address again...……….never keep them, sorry...……...saves me sending  Christmas cards, 

i'll send them guaranteed next days mail as I reckon they are damned rare as rocking horse poo.

email sent mate !!