AMBULANCE LAUNCH FLYING CHRISTINE.

About 3 1/2 years ago I was asked by the St John's Ambulance,Guernsey to build them a model of their ambulance launch, Flying Christine 111.

It was a boat with a difference, and totally alien to what I had been building.

It was also a very nice clinical [ excuse the pun] looking boat with nice lines and I really enjoyed building it for the charity.

The real boat,











And the model,

























Anyway, the model was completed in time for me to personally deliver it to Guernsey last april, 2010. As I made no charge for building the model, the Ambulance service said they'd pay for our ferry [myfamily and I] to go over there and stay for a few days, which was fantastic, and what a beautiful place Guernsey is. Can recommend going there if you have ever thought but not taken the plunge.

I digress. Whilst there the coxs.n of the boat took us out on the real FC3 for a two hour "training cruise" complete with full paramedic team [ for training purposes of course,], Took the kids on a full tour of all the lifesaving facilities including ambulance, ribs and control room, and then on the second day.they held a reception where i handed the boat over..embarrasing as the island's big chief was there along with the press, and it was there that the coxs'n, and also cox of St Peterport Severn lifeboat put me on the spot, in front of about 30 guests, and said, "well, we now have models of both Flying Christine 2 and 3...how about making a model of Flying Christine 1, the original from 1952.

What a bummer, as i wasnow looking forward to building some of those lifeboat models that I have waiting on stock, but in front of all those people, he knew I couldn't refuse.

So my excuse was, only if I could find plans and photos.

At that I was presented with a full album of photos from old clippings, and immediately recognised the old boat as a converted ST 200 series Sea Plane Tender. I was stumped, and so after completing the Clyde I am now directed to make a start , but not only that, my daughter also likes the boat, and so am now building twins..............so this is the start of a build log for a SeriesST200 Sea Plane Tender.

I made a start on construction today, so hope you enjoy it, as much as I am beginning to.

neil.

As I haven't worked in timber for some time, except to make plugs for GRP moulding I realised that I would have to be damned accurate when cutting the timber for the static display model, and spoke to Steve Tranter of MODELBOATBITS, about his water jet cutting service. see here on MAYHEM http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=28280.0

As I was building for charity again, Steve offered his services free of charge......just send me the plans and timber was all he asked.
The finished product is absolutely superb and very accurate indeed.
My second set, are, well should i just say, adequate to take filler for a grp mould, which the working boat will be made from.a moulding.

so here are the frames and keel, cut by Steve from MODELBOATBITS.







And set dry fit onto the keel is the second set i copied and cut from the first set of frames.





I copied a second set from these, but leaving in all those intricate holes that Steve had cut out, as this set would make up the plug used for a mould.

The most important job when building plank on frame is to get the frames set up correctly, and true and straight before any planking is commenced.
Over the years I've seen some amazingly bent boats around, because initial care wasn't taken, and even when straightened out with filler, they never sail right or sit well, because their hulls are unballanced with the weight of the filler, so that extra hour in marking out and being particular in the initial process is always worth while.

I always start with a good sturdy building board, and having just refitted our kitchen, I had plenty of good chipboard to go at.



the holes are for taking screws to fix the frames to the board from the underside, which makes the hull removable once planked










the board is then cut to a basic deck shaped piece and countersunk from underneath.

Frames have then a piece of 15mm square pine screwed to them to enable the frames to be screwed to the building board, and then, all screwed up in sequence.
























and hey presto...with a little extra work, i now have two frames to practice my planking on, lol












and this is what the real Flying Christine 1 hopefully will look like when finished.......hopefully.

Roadrunner wrote:

Crack on buoy ( pun intended ) wanna do triplets if i knock a few kegs your way?

Looking forward to this one! now get building!

RR

NO, NO NO!!!

Having said that I'll be handing the plugs/mouldings over to Steve Tranter for him to produce once i've finished the plugs.
neil.

As RR says crack on Neil, this is one build I am going to follow blow by blow.

Mat

had i put it up before barry..........i truly am loosing my marbles.....and i thought my misses was just joking

No problem....I could say it was so good it was worth seeing it twice, but that would be plain creeping!!

I needed to find the timber for some stringers now, and weighed up the costs of purchacing balsa ( which I hate working in anyway) from my local model shop, Redbank Models, when I suddenly remembered that some years ago, I had been given a stack of timber by a friend who used to own the Hobby Shop ( long since retired and sold up) before he closed.
Looking in my wood bin, there it was, correct thickness, just needing ripping down to the same square thickness (about 5mm), so out came the bench saw and 10 minutes later I had my stringers (in lovely pear or cherry.not sure which.)

The four stringers for the prop shaft guides were glued in last night, (see previous photos) and the longitudinal stringers holding the frames together have been put into my "steaming tank" and will be left for a couple of hours to soften up in hot water ready for dry pinning to the frames, befor gluing to them when dry and reset into shape.


My wood bin.


Timber in raw planks ready for ripping down.








great what 10 minutes on a bench saw will save me in money.







and then into my "steaming tank"






I'll leave it in the bath in hot water for a couple of hours and then remove one at a time to "wet fit onto the frames, before leaving to dry and set.

Frames with stringers "wet fit".

just need to leave them to dry out now and then adjust the slots in the frames and glue in place.



















all going suprisingly easy so far,


just watch something come along and carp it all up, lol

Looking good Neil


Alan

I have a feeling when Neil makes the mould for this .. I will be sending him a nice cheque for one at discounted rate of course!

looking great bud keep going, you may even have it finished in time for your lochness sail

Sorry Neil but its probably me being dense again but why build a grp blank etc when you have
made such neat job in the wooden version. Can't you just continue building the boat as it is.

Geoff

hi geoff,
well, i was in conversation with Steve tranter who cut me the frames, and he was interested in making a semi kit of the boat, and as he'd helped me out i thought that if he fancied a grp mould to make the hulls i'd do that for him.....also, as the boat will be my daughters boat with two brushless in her, i can quite see it hitting the side of the concrete pond a few times, and grp will be easier to repair, lol
but the static boat will be of timber.

neil.

WOW! what an amazing build Tonyw

If anyone's interested in the St-John ambulance model you can view a few more pics here....

Click me

right Thanks Neil - is she a typical women driver - I would have to re-inforce the stern
of mine as my wife can't reverse to save her life.

Geoff

Just reverting back to the original no.1 post about the Flying Christine 3 that started this little sojourn off 3 years ago, I received an email this morning from my mate Buz....( coxs'n of the boat and St Peter Port Lifeboat ) and he sent me this email and photos........impressive

Hi Neil

F C 3 has just had new engines fitted. I tell you what, I have been working
on my boat [ashore on the east arm out of action after picking up fishing
gear - all stern gear and gear boxes fxxed] - just about to go home when SJA
called for a medivac from Herm. The call came at 1647, we left the p/h's at
1649, arrived in Herm at 1707 [8 minutes], left Herm at 1710 and arrived
back in SPP at 1717 [7 mins]. It is like a new boat - bloody hell don't it
go!!

I said to the officer [can't remember his name] when my boat is back in we
must do some photos. These are brill.

Cheers for now,

B


Flying christine 3 leaving St Peter Port on a medivac




and returning twenty minutes later......quicker than scrambling a helicopter from Jersey

It motors doesn't it, i wonder how many knots it does?

I've just sent an email asking him that one tony.she used to do eighteen knots, but she looks more like 25 k now

I'll let you know when I get a reply.

neil.

Cheers Neil

Congratulations on your commission builds

Will be following this build with great interest ...

Keep it coming ...

Great Build, watching with interest.

hi tony, got this reply from buz the other day.


Hi Neil

They fitted 2 x D – 9 Volvo Penta – 500 hp each.

Models look good!

Looking forward to seeing you again.

Cheers

Buz



She'll do 25 knots at a push now!!!..................keep up with his Severn lifeboat, lol

well, it's been ages since I posted anything on this model, but I haven't been lazy.

I DON'T LIKE plank on frame building, and am really out of practice.hence the crap job that i have done skinning the first layer of the twins.

I used 0.8mm [1/32] birch faced ply for it and skinned as fast as i could...but the results aren't pretty and hopefully once i put the second diagonal layer on it might look better, but hey ho once filler has been added i hope it won't look too bad.







obeche' blocks were added to the bow before filling.






















these were then filled and sanded before the gunwail edging strips were added and glued before i begin the second layer of planking with diagonal planks this time.

Hi Neil 1st another cracking build mate. I note that you mention 2 brushless motors are going in your daughters and wondered what motor your using. if your not decided yet then perhaps you might want to keep an eye on my "lady sarah II" build as I'm trialling a 26a 12v max 900kv watercooled brushless inrunner that in a static test pulls 19a while spinning a 60mm 3 blade brass prop driving through a toothed belt reduction from a 16 tooth to a 22 tooth pulley and from the effort required to hold the boat still I'd suggest a really good performance is in the offing.



Just as an aside while out and about this morning I noticed a car parked up the street reg number RN11NHP not yours I presume mate

just caught up with this one phil been on my hols. I haven't a clue about brushless motors..........absolutely nothing about them so will follow your guidance.

will ask when nearer the time.



as for the rego......I WISH IT WERE!!!

No Worries Neil I will hopefully have a vid of the 1st live motor trials by the end of the weekend

It's been ages since i posted on this, but not to say i haven't been busy on it both before and after my holiday in Scotland.



The next process was to diagonally plank the hull with 0.8mm ply cut into12 mm wide strips.







































I used Aliphatic quick grab resin glue to fix them to the first layer, asnd then i skimmed the bow section with polyester filler. Once i'd left it all for a few days i trimmed any overhangs on the planking and went to town using a small minicraft sander with 40 grit and sanded both hulls that i'm building for a good few hours.............once sanded i skimmed the whole boat hulls with cellulose sanding putty rather than polyested filler as the unevenness was now small enough to not warrent major filling.









after leaving this putty to harden whilst on hols i came back to more sanding to get the hulls smooth.



once smooth i added both top stringer for belting and the bottom stringer for the spray rail that follows the hard chine. again using aliphatic resin glue, i double layered these strips using obeche........finally sanding them to shap and filling where needed.





















visible is my little new pin hammer i picked up at Paisley model centre whilst on hols..........i just love buying tools...misses thinks i'm ga ga.lol

Hmm looks like a ball pein planishing hammer to me Neil but hey ho it prob does whatever job you want much like my hammers each has about 6 uses

there are too slightly different hulls here. the one shown above is the one i'll be using for the display boat and i have built her up tp deck level so that the stringer for the protective belting is level with the deck.

However the second hull is to be used as a plug for a grp mould and i needed an upper bulwark above the belting strip so that the moulding could be taken up to this height and then trimmed back, giving a solid hull side without air pockets in it..



this is shown as an extension of the side of the boat protruding above the belting strip on the shot below.

















Next step was to detail the showcase one wioth a belting along both port and starboard side. I put these on with pva glue and 120 gram cartidge card, and fixed with cellulose sanding sealer.



















and the deck was then preliminarily dry fitted.

phil winks wrote:

Hmm looks like a ball pein planishing hammer to me Neil but hey ho it prob does whatever job you want much like my hammers each has about 6 uses

oh it is, phil.....but beautifully ballanced and makes a good pin hammer

thats the main thing Neil as long as it does what you want mate.



the hulls seem to be moving on at a pace now your back from your hols btys fully recharged no doubt

phil winks wrote:

thats the main thing Neil as long as it does what you want mate.



the hulls seem to be moving on at a pace now your back from your hols btys fully recharged no doubt

batteries.....well a bit soggy after the rain up there..........



i believe that hurricaine irene has just been downgraded one point to a catagoty 2....scottish summer,

Nice to see it coming along Neil.



Geoff

next step was to make the cabin for moulding rather than try to construct in ply as supplied.nothing wrong at with the wooden parts supplied by Steve Tranter, but after working on the hull, I know where my strengths and weeknesses lie!!



And the first stages of the cabin were fored in my old favorite for plug making..obeche







cut in layers they wee glued together with aliphatic resin.

























They were then filled and sanded, ready for detailing with 120 gram card with window and port hole detailing.

Once the cabin had been sanded to shape, filled and sanded again I added the detailing of all the windows as per plan with 120 gram card glued with aliphatic resin and then given liberal coats of sanding sealer to seal the timber and harded and set the card ready for taking a mould.











































Next step will be to use wire wool to flatten the coats of sealer down and then spray the hull and cabin with grey undercoat to see if there are any irregularities......if so.....fill and sand the hull , if not then onto the waxing up stage ready for steve to mould them in GRP.and then deliver them to him........don't trust parcel farce!!!

the hull and superstructure for the ST200 Sea plane tender which the Flying Christine was based on has been waxed up with 6 coats of None silicon based release wax ( silicons in wax such as furnature polish can effect the gell coats of most polyester resins and form a wrinkling and rippling when curing).



the plugs were then polished and I delivered them to Steve Tranter of Modelboatbits at Telford shropshire for moulding.



Steve was very kind enough to water jet cut the frames of the boat for me, and expressed a wish to produce this boat at some stage as a semy kit, and so I asked him that if he wanted the plugs and gave me a mould for a working boat, he could have them as payment for the work he did for me. he kindly accepted, saving me a lot of work in moulding grp.

I see someone been busy

Looks like another smashing model is about to be born!!

RR

Yep sure is looking good Neil

Roadrunner wrote:

Looks like another smashing model is about to be born!!

RR

thought you were talkin' bout my daughter for a moment, lol:lol!:

prop shafts and p frames set in place and the tubes glued and filled.......the p frames have not been fixed yet as i need to wet and dry the hull and fill before painting........but the big problem is, no one knows what colour the underside is yet.........there's no record of it....may be guess work,

the rudders are made as I always make them..............in three thicknesses of plasticard/HIPS.(high impact polystyrene)



I first choose a rudder stock that will be beefy enough to do the job and an outer rudder shaft for the rudder to move in without too much play to allow water ingress.



Then I bend that rudder stock at right angles on the bottom where it fits into the rudder blade....this will prevent the blade spinning on the stock should the glue become useless at a later date.



I then take a piece of plasticard/HIPS the same thickness as diameter of the rudder stock, and after cutting it to the actual shape of the rudder, cut a slot into the rudder so that the stock with it's bend will sit into the plastic.



I then cut another 2 thinner pieces of plasticard to be the outer sheathes of the rudder blade and glue one piece onto the inner section.



































placeing the stock into the item I glue with cyano/superglue before gluing the outer sheath onto the rudder assembly, and allow it all to set and dry for a couple of days.























It can then be sanded and tapered and shaped to a fine cutting edge for the rudder to do it's job. Later I'l fix the tube into the hull, but not before wetting and drying it all down smooth to take some top colour paint.

fascinating idea for a non skeg rudder Neil I get the feeling that we may be looking to you for some advice on lots of build issues as the forum grows I think I'll link this post into the how to section if you don't mind mate

that's what we are all here for Phil.....I never stop learning from others,



neil.

Interesting build Neil, like the rudder bit, ill be using that on my next build



Alan

they are so easy to make, very light in weight so that any servo can operate them, and you can make them any size and shape you want,



AND if you want to use them in a skeg at the bottom you just add a small piece of rod the same diameter for the bottom pintol.



neil.

The aft well deck has been fitted out with more hull side supports and then painted.



A deck was made from 1.6mm birch faced ply and has been fitted and notched into the side frames. It was made in two halves and also lined with pencil marking to simulate planking before it was stained with a mahogany stain and glued in place.



I then laid the pre cut main deck and glued in place using aliphatic resin and plenty of masking tape and clips to hold whilst gluing.






I must say at this point that this boat is the static model for the charity and as such I have made no provision for installing motors which would have protruded through the well deck floor.